Mar
29
2006
I was in a serious parent meeting last week (actually, on a Wednesday, as well) and I leaned over to make a point. My phone snapped a couple of shots of the inside of my pocket. This had happened before, when my wife and I were sitting in church together for the first time in a long time. I leaned over to put my arm around her and !snap!
Here is a simulated photo:
Well, I took a photo of my pocket during a department meeting today. To make it worse, I was the one talking:
“As you can see, the testing results from our monthly benchmarks show that !snap!”
And that’s when I was asked the funniest question ever by a fellow teacher: Does your pocket take pictures?
My ruse had failed. As in the parent meeting, I continue talking as if everyone else is the crazy one. I mean, come on, why should there be a snapping sound?
I rolled a ‘1′ on my Bluff check.
On more serious news… Curling is now one of my top ten favorite sports. Yes, it is a sport. If you have ever had so much space between my falling body and the ice you know it’s a sport. Who knew sweeping would be so tough? We were instructed by a crusty old Scotsman who swore at me…In not so polite of terms. It was awesome. You are out on the ice in street shoes. To make it more exciting when you launch the 42-pound stone that can only be found on a remote island in Scotland because no other rock is dense enough, they attach a slider to your left foot. So at least one of your feet will slide out from under you. The target is an entire hockey rink away. Talk about being precise…with a 42-pound stone.
Pete the Scot was able to slide in his street shoes across the entire rink, only pushing off of a runner’s starter block.
I, on the other hand, had a tough time going ten feet without dragging my knee.
As mentioned before, it was awesome. I, obviously, did not take any pictures of myself, but here is a sample before I get everyone else’s photos.
The instructors invited my group to then drink celebratory drinks, as is curling etiquette. I highly recommend Alltell Coyote Den. Good rink.
Mar
19
2006
Here’s Flannigan’s recap of the event:
Low pulls out his back pack and activates ALL his explosives for 12 seconds and jumps on Vader in a wookie rage, summoning all his primal strength while calling upon the Force to aid him in his last seconds of life in this world. The power of his wookie rage is enough to even stun Vader.
Hoodan, still succumbing to the sadness of his clan’s slaughter, and haunted by the partial guilt he shared in the events leading to their deaths, sees one of the most dear people to him (still alive) willingly sacrificing his life for his and other’s welfare. This moves him to act without thinking, but through feeling. He jumps into the fray trying to lend to the pinning of Vader to the ground. We will never know whether it was the nightmare guilt of another close friend dying before his eyes that caused him to act so rashly. Was it that he refused to live with any more personal death? Was it the fear of such a weight??? Or maybe he was inspired by his friend to live one last glorious moment of excellence. To spit in death’s very face and laugh at perdition’s flames as they closed in upon him. And truly, do his motives matter? The actions of a man in such moments of crisis define him. Not the fleeting thoughts which exist in the shadow of such actions.
11 seconds…
…
Vader lays down at the last moment. As if surrendering to something? Reaching out to something? What are the last thoughts of this dark figure?
1 second…
Lowfryyka looks into the eyes of his prey, his victim, knowing that though his people have suffered, and he may have fallen from grace with them, at this moment he speaks for them against the very darkness which seems to be crossing the galaxy. He whispers something in wookie?
Was he speaking to Vader?
Was it to himself?
To the friend at his side?
What words passed between this noble warrior and this legendary anti-hero?
Only Hoodan, Vader and Low would know…
0.
A flash of light expands out in a tight ball 4 meters wide. Then a wave of heat pours over the party. A blast of force knocking the air from their chests. At least those still breathing.
Their eyes clear.
There is nothing but a smoldering crater where death warred with life.
Yeah. Star Wars rocks.
Mar
15
2006
My friend met Alvin Adams, Shooter McGavin, and Josh Billar today. He even “shared a nod” with Shooter. All at a wacky funeral. (At least that’s how my friend tells it.)
and Josh
Mar
13
2006
Here is a mistake that will not be made again:
(Actually, I did it to spice up my character for a mystery dinner set in 1936. I was a mountain climber who had murdered a guy in Austria and then stolen his identity.)
(His name was Fritz.)
(Not really.)
Mar
12
2006
In light of Empire at War (which rocks) and the talk of Lucas doing TV shows, here’s a classic link.
Mar
06
2006
Hey, give ‘em a chance. John Williams will still be there.
Mar
04
2006
My daughter moved out of her crib and into her big girl bed. And by “big girl” I mean extra-long tall bed from Spencer’s. Yep, they sell beds, too.
If you have not done so already, you should purchase your tickets to Kick Mike 2006. They usually sell out pretty quickly.
You should also take this survey. You never know when you’re going to be held hostage in the middle of the desert while racing a tornado while being bitten by a rabid shark.
So I heard a cool allegory from Randy Alcorn on the radio…
Imagine that it is 1865 and you are a Northerner who has been doing business in Tennessee for the past couple of months. All of your earnings are in Confederate dollars. You catch wind that the war is coming to a close and that the Union, your hometown, will win. Once the Confederacy falls, the money you earned will be useless. You keep enough Confederate dollars to do business and provide for your family where you are. But, because you are a wise investor, you put your other money in treasure that will last after the war, like gold and silver.
This is how we should be stewards of what we have now on this side of Heaven.