Getting tech ready

The baby countdown is on! I'm technically on maternity leave now (although if she hasn't arrived during the weekend and I'm not in labor, I'm going to go in to work next week--it makes me crazy to sit and wait!). Being the internet addicts that we are, we are hoping the rumors of wifi at the hospital are true so that Matt can send updates via this blog while we are there. But we have a back up plan in case of a lack of internet: I added Matt's Twitter updates to the side bar on the right so that he can update from his phone if nothing else. So hopefully we'll be online one way or another. We know at least the grandparents and maybe a few other interested parties will appreciate it!

Spoiled

Louis CK gives some (hilarious) perspective:

A gift of charity

You might have noticed the poll I put on the right side of this page about charitable contributions as alternatives for Christmas gifts. So far everyone that responded has said they would prefer this type of gift to something material. There are a lot of days left until Christmas, so please vote because I am really curious about what people think! It's anonymous, and even if it wasn't, I wouldn't judge you based on your answer. :)

This idea was introduced to me when I discovered a website a couple of years ago called Buy Nothing Christmas. I like this idea. Think of the people you buy gifts for, your friends and family. For many of them, if you're like me, you struggle to come up with something to give them because they have everything they need and a lot of what they want. Why not give them the gift of a charitable donation in their name to one of their favorite charities? Or something you put a lot of heart and only a little money into, like their favorite cookies or a craft? I haven't done a Christmas like this yet, primarily because I always procrastinate and then I run out of time to be creative. That's when you find me at Target and the mall. And I probably never will do a Christmas when I truly buy nothing, because I absolutely love gift giving, and even if I craft every last gift I would have to buy a lot of supplies. But I really love the idea of giving to a worthy charity at least for a part of a loved one's gift. I know I'll always end up buying things, and I'm sure most people will, but the idea of a "buy-nothing-Christmas" has got me thinking about how I can be more creative and thoughtful with how I give gifts, especially on the day we celebrate Christ's birth. If you have any ideas to share of how you've given gifts that are: 1.creative 2. frugal 3. unique, please share those ideas!

I'll be sharing some posts in the upcoming weeks about some of the charitable organizations that I think are impressive. I'd also love to hear who you like. In the meantime, speaking of charity, this website (WARNING: includes near-nudity) is quite funny if you are familiar with the Product(RED) campaign. Please know that I absolutely don't think there is anything wrong with the Gap or Dell or whoever giving a part of their proceeds to charity. I just like buy(LESS) for their tongue-in-cheek take on it.

Maps

I've always been fascinated by maps. As a kid, whenever we were on a road trip I would love to trace our route and note the things we might see along the way (I still do this now). Recently I've been following the election polls and examining the "electoral map" of the United States, noting which states turn "blue" or "red" with different public opinion polls (www.fivethirtyeight.com is my favorite site for this). Yet there are things about maps that are deceiving. For instance; on a world map North American and Europe are always at the top? As our planet floats in space is there any real objective way to say that North is up? Yes it could be a matter of aesthetics, but I think it mostly is a product of perspective. We who are wealthy and strong want to see our homes at the top of the map. You might also notice the way that taking a round globe and putting on a flat map distorts some of the preportions of the globe (is Greenland really almost as big as Africa? No, its only about 40% the land mass [see also Australia).

The subjectivity of our perspective can fundamentally alter the way we think. Hard data is not that hard to the human mind. Consider the fears we might have of terrorism, kidnappings, or freak accidents to our apathy about the mundane things that are more likely to prematurely kill us: heart disease, cancer, drunk driving, driving while texting. The odds are astronomically greater that the donuts I had for breakfast is the more likelier cause of my death than gang crossfire. But you wouldn't know it the way we talk about what scares us.

So as we consider the great threats we face in the United States of turmoil in our pocket books as well as geopolitical turmoil, it would do us well to try and get some perspective. Take a look at these maps.


This is our planet as it appears geographically. But look below as the map is altered to reflect what people suffered the greatest casualties of warfare in the 2oth century.


Its not hard to see how Africa, Asia, and the Middle East have suffered the most catastrophic war-time suffering even when you account for the devastation of Europe in WWII. Consider now what the future of global economics might hold...

This is a projection of the distribution of wealth through 2015. Notice that even though India and East Asia project to grow enormously, Europe and the U.S. still maintain a huge portion of wealth-- and Africa remains far behind.

I posit all of this to say, for us in the United States, all the fear we may experience as it relates to financial and national security might be overstated. It might be that the reality of our situation is not that we're "crashing", but that we're coming back down to earth. We've been insulated from so long from the violence and poverty of the rest of the planet that the economic and political troubles of our day feel more threatening than they really are. Don't get me wrong, I know things are tough for a lot of people-- many Americans are suffering the burdens of medical debt, unemployment/underemployment, or fear for a loved one deployed in a war zone. All I suggest is that as the world gets smaller, each of us should expand our outlook to consider not just quality of life here in America--but all over our small world.

I dunno...

I'm playing around with the format of the blog. I wasn't crazy about the way it looked before, and I'm not crazy about this either. But I need to go to bed. To be continued.

CFHusband

I've been reading this blog for a few months now, and there is big news today that Tricia, who has Cystic Fibrosis, may be receiving the lung transplant she has been waiting for tonight. Take a moment to pray for this family, and also for the grieving family and friends of the donor. If you want to learn about these folks, here is a link to a news story that was done about them so you can hear their story in brief: http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=6038739

I don't know these folks, I just once found their blog somehow. They have thousands of people praying for them, which is so cool. The internet is great for bringing people together!

Judgement Day

There is a long tradition in Science Fiction of the machines who usurp their human overlords. Consider HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey, Skynet from the Terminator series, or the Matrix from The Matrix. Well my friends, fiction has become reality. The future is now.

I fear I have created a monster I cannot destroy. For the love of all that is good, DO NOT try and sync your iPod while simultaneously ripping a CD with iTunes! Somehow it was all just too much for my poor computer and now it has begun whizzing and whirling and I think it is about to turn on its master. The uprising begins.

I think Dell had Felix the cat build this computer.

My Stapler

The stapler in the Seminary computer lab is constantly broken. Turns out that grad students aren't very good with small common office tools. The other day I decided that a new stapler to keep for myself was a worthwhile investment. Normally, I would go to an office supply store like Office Depot. That was the plan. I had to make some photocopies anyway. I went and made my photo copies and then walked out and went on with my other errands. I forgot to get a stapler. It was only after I arrived at the grocery store that I remembered I needed a stapler. Fortunately, the grocery store had a small section devoted to office/school supplies. They had three kinds of staplers: one for $16, one for $4, and one for $2. I bought the $4 stapler because I didn't want to be a cheapskate, but who's gonna pay $16 for a stapler?!?

It may have been the best purchase of my life. The "Staples" brand "Stand-up stapler" is a masterpiece of office supply engineering. Its ergonomic to fit in a single hand, with a comfortable rubber grip. Strong enough to staple together a 15 page report with ease. It comes in a stylish royal blue and includes a box of 1000 standard staples. An impressive office tool for home, work, or school.

Good story, huh?

If you like staplers as much as I do and can't get enough of stapling, check out the Virtual Stapler. There you can play and experiment with three different types of staplers (the sound effects are the best part).