Entries by David

As I was laying on the couch with my cat on my lap basking in the beauty of the sun coming in through the livingroom window, it struck me how funny it is that we as human beings can let animals cast all forms of affection upon us and we return in kind without even a hint of "passion" crossing our minds but we don't allow that type of interaction between people. Why is it there is something "sexual" if I were to lay next to a friend and nap holding that person? Why is it "sexual" if I caress someone's face or back? Why is it "sexual" for intimate touch? It seems we as humans are so deprived of such a connection with others that we have relegated all such touch or contact into a specialized category. We need to lighten up and open up to the wonderful world of human interaction. Hug someone, kiss someone, nap next to someone, massage someone... be a true friend to someone.

I haven't been feeling so well as of late but this keeps me going. It's a blast from the past and sometimes that's all we need for a little security.

I'm feeling a little pompous today... and so this song (let's hope the subtly is not lost):

Back in my younger days, when things were going wrong
I might sulk, I might pout
Now I've learned if I just pitch in and do what's right
Things will always work out
And if we all could spread a little sunshine
All could light a little fire
We all would be a little closer
To our heart's desire

Lord know's we've seen enough troubles already, we've
Had our fill of grey skies
So put down the vinegar, take up the honey jar
You'll catch many more flies
And if we all could spread a little sunshine
All could think before we strike
We all would be a little closer
To the world we'd like

I know the parables told in the holy book
I keep close on my shelf
God's wisdom teaches me when I help others, I'm
Really helping myself
And if we all could spread a little sunshine
All could lend a helping hand
We all would be a little closer
To the promised land.
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo

I was purchasing some Christmas presents for my family and while doing so couldn't resist getting myself something. I am so glad I did! As you can see to the left, I've gone and purchased a 15" MacBook Pro. It came with some pretty cool features; built-in camera; remote control for iTunes, iPhoto, iDVD, and iMovie; a magnetically attached power cord; and the ability to actually run Firefox2. I'm so excited

In other exciting news, I've been asked to teach Core 4 at SJC. You don't know the joy I feel to be able to actually use my masters degree in my job. Sweet Action!

Oh, and don't mind me... I'm just playing with the camera.

[rant]...is that God is capricious. I have yet to find a modern religion in the "civilized" world that doesn't believe this lie: God is a judge and we need to "do good" or "be good" to earn his [sic] favor or a place in heaven lest he [sic] rain down affliction upon us the children he [sic] apparently loves. To think that one could fall out of existence is simply ludicrous. If you exist "now" in timelessness you exist always. God is the sustainer and root of all existence. Existence (you) can never move away from existing (God) by the mere fact that God loved you into being once and for all. You can do nothing that displeases God because you can do nothing that takes you out of existence. We have believed the wise serpent in thinking we can define what is good and what is evil. Our definitions of these two concepts are based on nothing but fleeting human experience. There is no good and there is no evil that we can define all definitions are subjective. Further, if God is good and God is the root of existence then evil by definition would necessarily be non-existence and I don't know about you but non-existence doesn't seem like it could exist to me. The goal of human existence is not to please God for we can never do that but rather the goal of human existence is to become aware of the love of God that is all around us, within us, throughout us in all of creation. True we can remain stagnant in our awareness and choose not to learn which religion has traditionally called sin but standing still is not evil... just boring and God will love you no matter how boring you are.[/rant]

The CUTAP committee on campus is trying to impart the urgency in the current crisis with bandwidth we have at SJC. The problem is many fold but when we brought it up to the faculty it was after a huge argument about working on Sundays. Instead of letting the admissions people determine a plan of action the assembly tried to micromanage. Thumbs Down At any rate, the administration got flustered at our presentation and so now the committee is writing a response to the faculty so as to clear up any mis-understandings.

On another note, I just recently discovered that during the time of the apostles the greek term christos which we translate as Christ had a meaning of "ointment" to all but the Christian and Jewish movement during that time. In other words, when someone read or heard yesu christu it would sound like "Joshua the Ointment" or translated into our common vernacular 'Jesus the Gold-Bond-Medicated-Cream.' It brings a whole new meaning to Jesus the healer.

Acid Jellies, or at least that's what Alton Brown calls them, were a little project I took on the other night. It took a total of 5 hours to make them. I thought they turned out great and so did the people at my office. My roommate says they tasted like pig tendons. Never having eaten pig tendons I just picked another one from the bowl and enjoyed it's sweet lemon and limeyness. I did make one mistake in that the zest of the lemon and lime were too big and they became chewy in the candy but fortunately they all floated to the top of the candy so one could just bite off the yummy goodness underneath and throw away the zests. mmmmm candy!