Booyor’s BLOGgh!

Here are some quotes that I sent out to get my group to get ready for what we’re doing.

“Throughout history, an authentic faith has been marked by a compassionate response towards those the world tends to forget” (Thomas 103).
“In a self-based Christianity, faith is almost entirely about how we learn to overcome our sins, grow in the spiritual disciplines, and build healthier, happier families” (Thomas 106).
“…Jesus stresses that our parties need to be the kind that will reap heavenly rewards” (Thomas 110).
“There is an increasing interest in Christian spirituality today, including the prayer life, but any growth in prayer without a corresponding concern and demonstrated compassion for the down-and-out is a sham, according to the teachings of Jesus” (Thomas 111).
“Yet in the midst of all of this, Lewis still took time out to spend many hours trying to teach a mentally retarded boy to read and write” (Thomas 113).
“The poor, diseased, and dispossessed can be as arrogant, ungrateful, bitter, and cruel as anyone else” (Thomas 116).
“If there is no evidence of social mercy in your life, if there isn’t a single poor person, prisoner, man or woman with a disability, or refugee who can stand up and testify that you have lived out and continue to live out your faith with compassionate care, then know this: Scripture, the Christian classics, and contemporary faith all stand in one accord to challenge the sub-Christian religion that you have adopted” (Thomas 120).
“Their income is limited and many of them can’t make it to church because of physical constraints, but they still need spiritual and sometimes physical care” (Thomas 121).
“…And the difference that makes helps you understand why God hates injustice so much. If you had to be there, day in and day out, and sit and watch it and hear it and smell it, you would hate it, and you would want it to stop” (Thomas 123).

Who have you personally forgotten?

Simple question, right?

“If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:17-18)

“‘It’s the thing that breaks [God's] heart. And then we have to ask, why is something that is so passionately important to God only mildly interesting to us’” (Thomas 123)?

I hope that we can

know God more through our actions

for just knowing him.

Yes, yes, I know. This is as Internet classic as Kirk and Picard, Mulder and Scully, or Putin and Gorbachev. (And Mike…this one’s for you.)
But this time it’s really funny. Here’s a sample:

24. The Music. The Star Wars soundtrack is legendary in the realm of movie soundtracks. In fact, it is probably among the most recognized orchestral music of all time, right up there with Beethoven’s Fifth symphony or that Requiem for a Dream string music that, legally, every movie released after 2003 must use. It uses a sophisticated series of musical themes to evoke certain characters at certain times, and adds a great deal to the overall feel of the series. Conversely, the pinnacle of music composition for Star Trek is two minutes of synthetic whistling. Good job.

I like BBSpot’s description of these Ewoks from Myst.

The Zinnikers and
Reallymeanpeople are now
waiting for the draft.

A teacher asked me

to create a lesson for

her absence Thursday.

I decided to create a “run it yourself, sub” lesson that I think is pretty cool.

Before I review this awesome book, I wanted to share this library gem:

I will avoid the obvious “Harriet the Spy” references. But doesn’t she look like she should play opposite Keanu Reeves?

Keanu: Tubman, look out!

Blam!

Harriet: He just bought a one-way ticket.

Thought you might appreciate what comes across our scanners daily.

Genesis Alpha (almost as exciting as the Underground Railroad) is about a young boy who was created for his stem cells. His birth was sped up at month 8 to be able to save his older brother who had cancer.

Flash forward to his teen years and now his brother is on trial for murder. Should the older brother have been saved at the expense of the victim? Crazy questions arise throughout the entire book. This is suspense in the M. Night Shyamalan sense, less Clive Barker or Darren Shan. The reader constantly has to guess who’s crazy, who’s hurting, and who’s a mix.

One of the coolest parts for me is that the killer, whoever it is, left clues inside a World of Warcraft-esque MMORPG. The main character has to investigate in game (but it’s not one of those lame, “If you die in the game, you die FOR REAL” books). What’s really cool is that violence in video games is brought up but discussed quite eloquently. Yay! (for a change)

Questions of if we are more than just our DNA show up as people freak out about the genetic similarities between the two brothers.

Unlike my in-person library reviews, I can’t give too much more detail. It would be like saying, “Bruce Willis is already dead.”

D’oh.

(We’ll see what the 7th grade class thinks about it as I’m brought in for a second round of booktalks.)

Today’s Haiku:

Sharing DNA

Can it make you a killer?

Or just a big freak?

eight, nine, ten - NACHO!

is what she says when she hears

the bell at the end

Pretty much it’s a flurry of fists as my daughter cracks skulls and undercuts knees in Wii Boxing. She’s rather quite good. Her last match was a Tie by ref decision, but usually she hits her opponents so randomly that they flail like rag dolls.

I’m really digging Madden 08 for the Wii. My father, brother, and I dealt a handsome defeat to the Cologne Centurions. My theory, that there are more emotions involved when flailing your arms, maintains in this Wii title.

I’m not a football guy, but man! I just got done setting up my NFL Hall of Famer for the RPG part of the game. QB? Nope. WR? Nah. CB? Most definitely. 8 sacks last game. Big offense plays are no match for the thrill of a 20 yard loss for the other team.

Librarians are
people who need to make time
for reading at home

It’s like the Twilight Zone episode “Time Enough at Last”. I’m learning how to manage my schedule to free up some enjoyment time.
I’m listening with one ear at the meeting and one eye on the laptop updating a Robert Girard sermon.

BRWNCTS license plate

and Serenity glass cling

they would be my friends

“Like Fine Wine” billboard

to advertise gasoline

“but it tastes nasty”

I’m trying out the
new version of Safari
Looks the same to me.

Stewart’s Muddle-Earth

Is a great parody of

all things elf and dwarf