SIL Giants

...and they called them the Giants of the Academic World:
Hey folks! So yeah, a few people from my work organized an outing to Giants' Stadium! Thirteen of us from SIL saw the SF Giants edge the Detroit Tigers in that beautiful bayside park! If you haven't been to the park, you're missing out on one of--if not THE--best parks in MLB. They host other (sometimes cheaper) events there too, including free opera tonight and a free concert tomorrow night! As you can see, us teachers and a few sig-others all huddled together for warmth, which is great for building rapport between colleagues...and perhaps a bit of funny business.

The cluster to my right includes department chairs S. Riley (Science), J. Wilmore (History...one of my 5 bosses), and A. Sarver (English...another of my 5 bosses). Also represented are the Country of Australia (R. Gowers, the very old man to my left - English, literature, history), Nick ? (math) + fiancé (Stephanie?), M. Harker (biology, Spanish) + boyfriend (?), recently departed K. Chew (science) and her friend, A. Press (literature, history, whatever), and of course my beautiful bride Kirsten (Christmas-themed blanket, center). By the profuse question marks you can see that i know all of my co-workers very well...

Behind us sat a dude who brought a nice shiny trumpet on which he showcased his skillz for crowd-riling, "CHARGE!", the Dearth Vader theme song, and other fun jingles. From Richard i learned why "Lou Seal" is the Giants' mascot instead of, well, a giant! Apparently in the days before MLB came to SF a local coast league was called the Seals and/or played at Seal Stadium and Lou Seal is an extension of that local history. Plus, as Richard also added, a seal is much cuter and not as homely and intimidating as a giant might be! Besides, how would they actually pull off a giant, anway?!?! Summer project...

For my regular readers out there: i may have already reported this, but my current job is at a place called the School for Independent Learners (SIL here and above) where i teach/keep attention focused on: Spanish, Modern American Music History, Language and Composition (English), and anything else they throw at me that i think i can handle. I hope to get a German curriculum approved for the fall so i start teaching Deutsch, too!

TTFN!

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Dish Hike

So! Two Sundays ago Kirsten and i conquered the locally renowned "dish hike" at Stanford University before heading off to church at PBC. 'Twas hot and schweaty (and a little rushed), but we made it out alive!

A few days later we took on a smaller portion of it in the evening right before closing time. We found out the 2nd time from a slightly grouchy security guard (they were closing and he probably just wanted to go home) that the main dish path loop is 3.7 miles. There are some other side trails which give access from different directions around the open space and which add a bit more distance to that number.

It's really quite beautiful and if you have a chance when you're in the area you should really check it out. There are some great views of the SF Bay and peninsula (especially on clear days). Enjoy some of my photos:

Golden rolling peninsular hills, Silicon Valley below and the East Bay's Diablo Mountain Range in the distance:
Stanford University with its landmark Hoover Tower and more of the Peninsula:
The Dish from afar (there are actually at least two dishes--this is the big one):A beautiful tree in bloom:
Kirsten on the trail, oak trees, golden brown hills, and dish:Cragged oaks + hills + dish:Another wide shot:Extreme close up!On the northerly side we came across this curious round building with some solar panels on top. From a distance and even close up it looks like the roof is only three feet or so off the ground! I suppose it must go under ground--let me know if you know anything about it!

Mystery Spot

Last Friday, Kirsten took me on what was publicized as a "Mystery Date"... i should have caught on.

Anyway, the drive up into the Santa Cruz mountains was BEAUTIFUL and destination #1 was the famous Mystery Spot. Needless to say, it was and is mysterious!

I had heard of this place growing up and often saw/see the bumper stickers gallivanting about, which the Mystery Spot shamelessly distributes to each tour (IF you remember the tour guide's name at the end...or even if you don't).

It messes with your perception or your magnetism or whatever. There is, like, molten magnetic lava under the Earth's crust in that 75 foot (23 meter) radius which rotates opposite the Earth's rotation in space or there are magnetic alien spacecrafts under the soil or whatever. All i know is, both Kirsten and i felt a little dizzy and weird. Apparently compasses and other instruments don't give correct readings over the patch of ground. 'Twas great fun!

Here are some photos of the pre-tour mountain beauty:
Ah, beautiful, fragrant redwoods! In the second photo above you'll notice all the branches grow on one side of the tree only. Our guide said this was due to the mystery of the Mystery Spot (there were other leaning trees and still others with weird crooked growth patterns, probably due to abnormal magnetism or your hallucination).

And now! The Spot!
This pendulum swung further on one side and was more difficult/heavier to push that direction than the other:These are just some other random blurry people on our tour being perspecto-magnetized:
Although this last photo of us at the Spot is slightly blurry too, the blurriness is not due to the mystery, but rather our tour guide's unsteady hand and/or ineptness at taking clear photos with a digital camera!


Then we went to destination #2 which was the beach--that patch where the Boardwalk is in Santa Cruz--where we relaxed and enjoyed the crashing waves with rainbow mist being blown back off the crests.
Before we left i snapped a shot of my beautiful ballooning bride and our little baby bundle (we found out earlier that day too that it's most probably a girl--there's always that chance of error, but the ultrasound doctors seemed pretty sure!):
Destination #3 was See's Candies for a half-pound box of chocolate and at Dillon's recommendation destination #4 was Seabright Brewery where we happened to catch a cool blues band called Swing Shift in addition to some yummy eats.

All in all, a grand day!

He makes the sign of the Z!

Ye few frequenters of this blog may have noticed that i have an occasional flare for slightly gross, certainly bathroomy humor from time to time. My standard disclaimer will appear again here: if you don't want potty images, skip this and read another post!








So! This particular bathroom seems to have proven magical as this is the 2nd story inspired from within its hiney hiders--Lo! Ye Olde Menlo Park Public Library Bathroom!

Today something came out of me
that made the sign of the Z!

I thought to myself, "Self,
Zorro has been here!"

That is all.

If you want the happs, Kirsten's blog is best

Because of my newly quite busy work schedule, i have been finding less free time to ruminate on things and subsequently post about them on the 'net. However, Kirsten has recently posted a barrage of life and pregnancy related blurbs and photos on her blog, and for her part has captured pretty well how thing are going for us right now and what the happs are. Check it out!

This weekend Kirsten's dad Stan is in town visiting us and we also had our good friend from Chapman Kelly Mahon in the house Saturday. Last night we all went for an excursion up to San Francisco which included: meeting up w/former roommate of mine Chris Paizis, driving down the famed windy section of Lombard Street (i think that was my fifth or sixth time, probably--i should start keeping a tally), and dining on various delectable chowders in bread bowls at the Blue Mermaid restaurant near the water. Afterward, we witnessed several night battles between loud, obnoxious, lumbering, giant beasts. Oh yeah, and a shouting match between some angry humans. Huzzah!

Wisdom of Ear, Disappointment by Way of Eye?

Yesterday as i was biking to work, i passed an auto repair shop.
I probably subconciously heard--but it didn't register--a loud, massive airplane overhead.

...that is, until an older mechanic came barreling out of one the two open garage doors.
Hand sheilding his eyes, up he gazed.

I looked up myself and saw (and now really heard) the multi-engined lumbering beast.

Then he turned back. Dejected? Relieved? Disappointed?

Those ears must have heard something these ears did not.

what a ride it was!

An out-of-body experience

Zombie Culture

*Disclaimer* This piece didn't turn out quite as well as i would have liked, but in the interest of keeping material flowing and preventing my brain from damming up i'm going to leave it up here. I feel like it's too preachy or something. Too cynical perhaps? Maybe the basic idea is just BAD.... I may tinker with it a bit later, but for now it stays as such. If anybody cares to let me know what they think from a writing standpoint, feel free!
Admittedly, i sometimes want to do this. Maybe it's more like often i want to do this. Especially in my younger days (hehehe...read: middle school and high school) i'd put music in my CD player and try desperately to zone out. Sometimes i still do i guess, every once in a while, just for the sake of zoning out.

I saw this message on an airplane not too long ago and it really struck me: how much does our media culture affirm this way of looking at media?! I suppose perhaps printed media such as magazines or (comic?)books don't have as much of a "for entertainment only" bent to them as say popular radio or film, though obviously some films and songs more than others inevitably draw the listener or the viewer out of themselves and into another world. Certainly some forms of media issue an unavoidable challenge or call for change and all forms contain some--if not a lot of--material intended to entertain.

I suppose "zone out" could be interpreted in that way too--that we would be entertained by something, be drawn into an entirely new world and forget our problems, our bodies, our self-addiction, or our physical location at least for a time. And hey, i enjoy being entertained as much as the next guy. But after a while it starts to seem like the getting lost becomes the point rather than perhaps experiencing something that might have some truth to speak into our day to day experience. Personally, when i get too accustomed to the "plug in. zone out." mindset, it becomes more difficult for me to see films or hear music or even listen to other people talk and realize, "Hey, this might have some sort of light to shed on life, existence, the cosmos, the Divine!"

Lastly, (my eco-conscious self needs to sneak in another possible interpretation here) one could say "plug in. zone out." were a call to drive electric vehicles powered by renewable energy. Then maybe we'd be able to "zone out" from conflict in the Middle East, relax as we're able to breathe a little easier, and...because the world's not going to melt? Eh, i guess it's destined to melt anyway regardless, now it's just a matter of when.

What do ye think?

In any case, note to self: remember to breathe, remember to notice.

My Dad as Brad Pitt

The written caption reads: "Have you seen Paul Choate & Brad Pitt in the same room? Huh?"

I'm famous on the internet! Again!

I'm not sure if i've officially shared this before, but i added a link to the left navigation section for one Bethany Keely who maintains a terrific quotation mark abuse blog. Definitely worth checking out. Here's what i wrote her:

"Hello Bethany!

My name's Aaron Choate and i'm currently a resident of Menlo Park, CA. I found out about your website from an article re-run in the Honolulu Advertiser (copied from an AP press release in NY by Jocelyn Noveck) while my wife and i were on our honeymoon on the island of Kauai. When i saw the article, i immediately identified with your pain and in fact had already begun photo-documenting such "occurrences" myself. One such photo i had taken (and it's taken me 6 months to send it!) is the attached photo taken in the "restroom area" of the Catalina Express landing "lounge" in "Long Beach, CA". A friend of mine--Kyle Warner--grew up on the island, and we were going to visit some of his family and enjoy the Catalina Island lifestyle for a few days. He was witness to the "restrooms" as well.

Thanks for your stellar work!

-Aaron-

p.s. please let me know if this one is honored with an appearance on your blog!"

And guess what? She did!
Not only that, someone else had seen that exact sign too and i beat 'em to the punch!

"Restrooms"

Yes, she will triumph nonetheless.

Neither of these photos does the sight justice. That ivy has crept up the telephone pole ever so slowly, ever so steadily, with nary a soul to pay much notice. I like the first photo i took because there's a tree in the background which could very well be *El NUEVO Palo Alto* (The NEW Tall Tree) someday! (though likely not...see future post regarding El Palo Alto for more specs) The second photo i think shows a little bit better how the weight is causing the whole thing to lean over and i also like the framing and the cross-top look and cross-hatch feel of the telephone wires. More than a small part of me hopes that no one will notice and so it will remain untrimmed and sometime during the night or whenever the whole thing will come crashing down. It's the small victories in life you treasure. Even if they are just hypothetical. In the recent words of one Kyle Warner: "WELCOME TO MY MIND!"






flashback (see fourth picture down)

Communicating Via Morse Code With My Inner Arborist

Yet another case of photo documentation seriously failing to do a sight justice. This is actually the second pair of Tree Friends i've seen in Menlo Park. The first i noticed was in the Fair Oaks neighborhood. In real life they look like they're actually leaning in to talk with one another. Either Mr. Tolkein is continuing to excite my imagination, or i've just always known deep down that the trees could talk with each other...even move. Unfortunately, the Treeherders around here have either long since lost the Entwives, or (more likely) have been chopped or burned by metal-minded wizards-gone-wild. Or alternatively, the Last March of the Ents really was the last march. Whatever the case, i can't wait for Isaiah 55 and Psalm 96 to come to pass.

(see especially v. 12 in Isaiah 55 and also starting in 12 through 13 in Psalms 96--showing the effects of v. 1-12a. A further note on Psalm 96: check out the album Enter the Worship Circle: Second Circle track 13 "Sing to the Lord" Enter the Worship Circle was/is a collaborative effort between Waterdeep and 100 Portraits ...and perhaps others?).
These beautiful, gnarly, local oaks are some good specimens similar to those which undoubtedly inspired the design of the Menlo Park official city logo.
Try to ignore those combustion engine machines in this otherwise excellent photograph:
Triple tree fiesta! Some red-barked thing, what i believe is a Colorado Blue Spruce, and some sort of cactus-tree thing.
Detail of the bearded cactus-tree thing!
Old magnolias, i believe, on Noel near our apartment. Look at those snarled old roots! If you come visit us, i will show you the "tree within a tree" phenomenon taking place in these babies. In my view, trying to take a photo that would convey the awesome factor in this case is simply not possible.

Blurry Bees!

And across the street: more of the same trees! Probably also swarming with amiable honeybees!

When i was taking these i was thinking to myself, "MAN, these are going to be so great!" ... turns out they were a bit blurry. Maybe one day i will grow up to be a real insect and wildlife photographer. In the meantime, hopefully you still like these shots. :)

Friendly Flowers Part 2

A nice wall of purple velvety looking flowers near our place. Occasionally i've sat for several minutes mesmerized by the honeybees who frequent this flower wall around this time of year. They are both numerous and awesome.

A lone pink azalea outside the Menlo Park Public Library.

Birds of Paradise on Laurel St.

Some sort of flowering tree, also on Laurel. I think it's a type of fruit tree, perhaps a cherry or an apple. If someone knows, please leave a comment and let me know! I guess i'll find out as spring flowers turn to summer fruit. Oh yeah, and i'll include more shots of these in an upcoming post featuring blurry bees!Some cheerful daffodils near the curvy part of Noel Drive. I've seen several of these as well as the flowers featured in Friendly Flowers Part 1 in the roundabouts in the Fair Oaks neighborhood near one of my previous jobs.

Also! Kirsten and i are presently in Monterey! Today we saw a lot of beautiful CA poppies, both before departing Menlo Park as well as upon our arrival here in Monterey. Hopefully i'll get a chance and some good light to photodocument them with!

Being a Wizard

You may or may not have known or even suspected, but i am a wizard, in the most good, noble, and truest sense, of course; à la Gandalf, et. al

Super Mario 3 - THE END

Now, it may come as a shock to some of you, but despite my fondness of the original Nintendo Entertainment System, and Super Mario Bros. 3 in particular, i have never actually played the game from start to finish without using a whistle. This means that up until a few weeks ago, there were levels in the game which i had never even played, let alone defeated!

I have also been known from time to time after i got really crazy about the game to "cheat" using the Nintendo Power guide. This basically means that i used the NP level maps on the rare occasion that i needed or wanted them and especially for obtaining and stocking up on powerup items through the card memory game (awarded each time Mario racks up 80,000 points). This time, however, i was determined not only to beat the game by playing from start to finish, but also not to use the NP guide for any purpose whatsoever during the course of my fantastical journey to defeat Koopa (a.k.a. Bowser, King Koopa) and rescue the princess!

I am now proud to announce that i have now (mostly) completed said feat. I didn't use the Nintendo Power, but instead tried my hand at the memory game using my own, um, memory. I say "mostly" because when i got to World 7--Pipe Land--i had been playing the majority of the day and Kirsten and i were supposed to go on a date that evening. I was really close to beating the world, but needed to shave some time off before finishing, so i finished stocking up on lives at the mid-world (secret coin stash!) castle and *gasp!* blew the whistle.

*Doo-doo-doooooo-doo-doo-doooooo!*

Bah! I would have given the rest of the world a beat down anyway...

So it came to pass that i as Mario heroically braved airship and flame, fireballs and Bullet Bill, molten lava and Thwomp!, Bob-omb and Boo Diddly, and finally faced the evil master himself! Besting Koopa with a surplus of 86 or so lives, Mario-me smote his ruin upon the mountainside...er, defeated him...er,HE FELL DOWN THE HOLE!

Seeing as how jocular he always is, the moment i rescued Princess Toadstool, Toad said (as he tends to do at the demise of each preceding Koopaling-run castle), "Thank you Mario! But our princess is in another castle!" But added this time... "Just kidding!" After which ran the REALLY GREAT credits featuring the complete cast of characters and specs on the game. After which fell the wondrous Red Curtain complete with excellent 80s/90s tag font reading: "THE END". Observe:And here is a shot of the console in action! The SMB3 copy of Nintendo Power looks on from the shelf neglected while the Super NES makes a guest appearance in the background. (Needless to say, so much playing of the NES gave rise to Kirsten and i later putting in some time under the aliases of Donkey and Diddy Kong... Oh, and prior to that we had been playing the Super NES Mario All Stars version of SMB2! Also a most excellent game!) But wait, there's more!

The following day i was feeling a little guilty on having skipped out a *tad* early on my quest, so guess what i decided to do?!

That's right, i jumped right back into the thick of things, whistled my way to World 7, and defeated it from start to finish, no gimmicks, once and for all. And boy, am i glad i did! Do you have any idea what happens when you beat the castle in Pipe Land?! Well let me tell you.

Ok, so after the defeat of all 6 other Koopalings, Mario or Luigi (alas, when playing 1 player, one has no option to play as Luigi in SMB3, but it is possible for Luigi to receive this congratulatory letter in 2 player mode) receives a letter from Princess Toadstool with a head's up on what's to come and enclosed is a jewel that helps protect you (usually a P-wing or a cloud to pass over a particularly hard level). This time, though, there is no note from the princess! Just a note from Koopa which starts off with a surprising, "Yo!" and then explains that he's got your regal babe, you'll have to come get her, yadda, yadda, yadda.

In closing, here is a cool image i gleaned from somewhere: If you haven't played SMB3 or if you haven't played in a while, well then, play it, damn it! And of course you're welcome to come visit us and use the system (call or write first!).

Friendly Flowers Part 1

Seeing

reminds one of

What the spider?

Among other crazy things that have been happening lately, Kirsten was recently bit by a spider of some sort (we think) which left a big gross pusspoint and large red mark on the back of her right leg. We finally got her to a doctor yesterday who prescribed some antibiotics, which i hope did at least some good. The swelling has gone down a bit and i think after some rest and nourishment she'll feel better and the wound will continue to get better as well. She has decided not to continue taking the antibiotics though, because they are making her *puke* and feel naseated. :(

If you are the praying sort, please pray for her as she heals and us as we continue to transition between jobs and try to figure out what the spider is going on in our lives.

Fortunately we are going on vacation next Saturday for a week in North Carolina with The Jameses! So we'll get to relax and see some of our relatives and our new neice!

What's the Big Idea?!

*Disclaimer*
WARNING: This post may or may not contain material involving me in a restroom setting. If you do not wish to read such material, please kindly skip this entry and move on to the next (or move on with your life, whichever is most applicable). This post also may or may not be humorous...

*End Disclaimer*

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So there i was sitting on the John at the Menlo Park Public Library contemplating the meaning of life and science. It had been a pretty good day so far, things running as smoothly as can be expected during days like these. As i was, uh, lightening my load, i heard the bathroom door squeak open. Footsteps. To my horror i knew that those footsteps and the person attached to them were headed straight for the stall door! Quick as lighting i wondered if i had remembered to bolt the door properly at the exact moment the former realization popped into my brain and only seconds before said person attempted to open said stall door.

*whew* Fortunately i had remembered.


♪♪* Sploosh! *♪♪


And only seconds after that as i sat there finishing up the job, i immediately wondered how horrible, how completely terrifying it would have been if i had forgotten. Mystery Man would have seen me naked on the Crapper. There would have been an awkward verbal altercation. What would have been the best way to fend him off? Shout some obscenity? Something along the lines of "Hey!" or the probably too-polite "Excuse me!" even though he would have been the one needing to ask to be excused (funny how our language gets twisted around like that, isn't it?)?

I suppose i subconsciously decided that the best response would have been, "Hey! What's the Big Idea?!" probably because it's in a movie someplace or it just sounds so classic and great in my mind's ear. Which got me wondering...

What is the Big Idea? Who ever thought of saying that in the first place? Was there some Big Idea which everyone at some given point in the history of language and communication knew about and referenced from time to time and which eventually morphed and came to be widely used as an expression of indignation and mild anger? Is this Big Idea still accessible, knowable, quantifiable? COULD IT UNLOCK THE MYSTERIES OF THE FABRIC OF EXISTENCE??!?!?!!!!!!!

Perhaps the world may never know. Some brief research on "the internet" did not yield any immediate results. But folks, perhaps the Biggest Idea yet in the fabric of this man's existence has been this very realization that maybe no one knows where this expression originated and that perhaps with a little bit of concentrated effort, and perhaps some help from magic and science, we may yet again re-discover...

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*******[drum roll!!!]*******

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THE BIG IDEA.

a dumb move

So presently i'm typing at a library computer (thank the Lord for this, at least!)

Here's why:

As usually on Wednesdays, i went to play basketball and brought my usual stuff with me (next to nothing). Unfortunately, i neglected to bring my house key with me. Thus, i've locked myself out of the house until Kirsten gets home (4pm i hope), i have no wallet, no money, no library ID card, and it's cold outside. I told my sob story to the lady at the front desk in an attempt to get my library ID number to at least be able to be somewhat productive on the library computers until Kirsten gets home. Of course she needed a photo ID to do so...which i didn't have! Fortunately, she was nice enough to give me One American Dollar to buy a day pass for the internet. Yay!

So, since it's cold outside and i've been listening to this song lately, you get a snipet of Waterdeep lyrics.

"Jesus, I'm a sucker, I wish I believed less of the lies
Did everything I thought I knew turn out to be true?
'Cause baby boys and little toys are all that I see anymore
Will somebody close the door?
'Cause it's cold outside"

Of course the baby boys part doesn't apply to me yet...

I'd like to post more lyrics, but the compy is about to kick me off and i'm afraid of losing my short blurb here when it does.

See you soon.

*salutes*

Breakin' the Law

Not too long ago i heard a man say, "The Law is like gravity. You don't break the Law, the Law breaks you."

Of course he wasn't talking about martial law or civil law, but God's Law. In addition, this guy took the analogy further to say that the Law actually sets one free, instead of being a set of restrictive or inhibitive rules. Now the Law certainly inhibits us and restricts us from doing certain things, but, perhaps counterintuitively, this is actually liberating.
Here is why: by the force of gravity, we are able to move. We can walk around, jump up in the air, run, skateboard, play basketball, drive to work, bike to school, etcetera etcetera all with the confidence that we won't fly off into space or that if we are temporarily suspended in the air that we will inevitably fall back to the earth; our feet will hit the pavement again. However, if we try to jump off a four-story building or a bridge, we will feel the negative effects of gravity (i.e. we will probably get hurt or die). The law of gravity, in this case, hasn't done anything wrong or differently, we have just behaved differently in relation to it.

Why should we act any differently toward God's Law? Whether or not the law of gravity is perfect, God's Law is. He "lays down the Law", so to speak, for our best interests and protection. He knows that we don't know what's best for ourselves, even though we think we do. It is like a baby trying to crawl across a hot grate and a parent repeatedly keeping them from doing so even though the baby whines, pouts, and still tries with all its might to crawl across that thing. It doesn't know that in keeping the law "don't crawl on something that will burn you" is actually in its best interest. (This example is flawed, of course, because God does not physically prevent us from breaking the Law, but gives us the choice as to whether we will keep the Law or not.) In another example, if a husband and a wife remain faithful to on another, they are free to love each other without fear of injury--the husband will not feel hurt when they are intimate with one another, because the wife cares for him only. Likewise, the wife will not be jealous, because the husband has eyes for her alone. When they keep the laws of marital faithfulness, they are able to freely love one another.

Nevertheless, when we slam ourselves against the Law, it breaks us. The Law is perfect; it cannot be broken. Fortunately for us, the Law alone is not the harbinger of salvation:

"23 Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. 24 So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law." (Galatians 3)

"8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, 9 not by works so that no one may boast." The passage continues to say, "10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2)

Here we see that we are saved from the stairway to heaven aspect of works into the joy of doing good works for God--we become his living, moving, breathing, working masterpieces.

We still have the Law, yes (Jesus said not the least stroke of a pen will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished [Matthew 5 Luke 16]), but we are now granted pardon for the parts of the Law we have broken and the parts of the Law we will break again. It's not that we ought to continue breaking the Law just so God can have mercy on us, but eventually God wants us to be able to be keepers of the spirit of the Law.

(Übrigens, the Law also tells many things we SHOULD do, not just we ought not do! Also, as i learned during this whole "aha" moment, the Law, (in this case the Ten Commandments) do not begin with "thou shalt not", but rather with "I AM"!)

That first time we say "yes" to Him, he sends His angels concerning us. In the famed showdown between The Christ and The Accuser, Satan quotes Scripture to Jesus from the Psalms, urging him to cast Himself off the highest point of the temple in the holy city: 'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.' Jesus responds with Scripture, this time from Deuteronomy 6, "Do not put the Lord your God to the test." Jesus calls Satan on his bluff, as he obviously has taken the verse out of context (look at Psalm 91 in its entirety, it's quite beautiful!), but what a magnificent picture these words portray of how God will treat us if we make Him our dwelling, if we seek refuge in Him!

Finally, i'll leave you with a cool image i found. Take this shield with you! Keep the Law, break the lawbreaker in you.

On Basketball

Lately i have been playing basketball at a community gym in Menlo Park on Mondays and Wednesdays. This is great because it gets me in shape (i hope), gets me outside (and inside), and it's fun!

Most of the guys i play with work for SRI International, which is a local research institute. Lots of...science? At least one of the guys is a security guard there. So maybe for him working for SRI is the science of safety. Or maybe ass-kicking.

I like basketball because it reminds me of my childhood. And it connects me with my roots. My dad used to play the sport, and perhaps other forebearers of mine, too. When i was growing up, we had a basketball hoop out on the front driveway and we'd play games after school or work and sometimes on weekends. Of course the "cooler" sport of skateboarding at some point took over these play times at least in part, but i have come to realize that while skateboarding is, in fact, cool, the reasons i thought that it was cool were largely affected by Swill Merchants. Still, i have memories of playing into the evening hours and having to constantly try to get the sensor light to stay on after it got dark. We would mostly play one-on-one or two-on-one (Travis and Aaron vs. Dad OR Travis vs. Aaron OR Dad vs. Aaron OR Brian and Travis vs. Aaron) or some other combination of players, usually neighbors and friends. We would sometimes play HORSE (a game i was recently reminded of while playing darts with Mr. Kyle Warner in his abode), but usually it was just first to X amount of points, you have to win by two. And, whenever possible, always end on a swish.

I also like basketball because, as i have recently realized, it is very American. Whether my degree of patriotism be high or low, i am proud of this North American creation. Peach baskets. James Naismith.

According to Wikipedia:
"Basketball, netball, dodgeball, volleyball, and lacrosse are the only ball games which have been identified as being invented by North Americans. Other ball games, such as baseball and Canadian football, have Commonwealth of Nations, European, Asian or African connections."

Did you read that?! Baseball! Ha! Some "great American pastime"! (all you baseball fans: this is not a jab!)

Of course there are sides to basketball which i don't like so much, but i guess they're inherent in any sport and life in general: trash talking and excessive cursing; headaches (for me if i exercise too hard for too long); exclusion or humiliation of players; fights, usually about pointless stuff like, "FOUL!!" "What?!". I suppose i disdained these aspects of Ultimate Frisbee with the Frisbee Takes a Weekend crowd as well.

In college i also played basketball from time to time, mostly on the one-night-a-week intervarsity teams. These were less like intervarsity teams and more like, "lets all go to open gym basketball and play some games...and maybe have a tournament at the end". This was great when it was on, but unfortunately only for part of the year. The rest of the year was overtaken by volleyball, which i guess i like ok, but not as much. Basketball drove me to show up, not volleyball.

And what's more, Basketball drew me to watch the games, not the NBA. Basketball drove me to watch the playoffs, not the hype nor the oft-drug-popping professional babies. In short, i love the game, not the spectacle. I could be totally absorbed in the game and not notice one bit what's going on around me, but sit me in front of a television set to watch a game and i will inevitably get bored. A live game will certainly keep my attention and excitement much better, but ultimately i want to play.












Comic Bonus!