"Good work"

I've been at the Gordon Conference on Phosphorylation & G-Protein Mediated Signaling Networks all week. Although maybe only one of the ~six people who read this blog will have any idea what that title means, it is actually quite and important conference in my field. My advisor presented my data the other day and then I presented a poster on Monday and Tuesday. I had lots of people come by and talk to me about my results. In fact, I was talking for most of the two hours each day. I think that it was well received. This morning as I was walking back from breakfast a fairly well respected leader in G protein signaling, whom I have not met personally, walked by me and said, "Good work." I have to admit that this put a bit of spring in my step.

Mark Roberts on Hitchens

Mark Roberts is now posting a series of blog entries detailing errors, distortions and exaggerations from Christopher Hitchen's Book. I could think of additional arguments to some of the ones that he lists, which are based upon my faith and understanding of the gospel, but Roberts pretty well reveals Hitchens for what he is.

Maybe Hitchens will do us all a favor and ask for a sign

I just listened to a debate about the existence of God and the evils of religion on the Hugh Hewitt show. This debate was between between Christopher Hitchen's, journalist and author of "God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything," and Dr. Mark Roberts, evangelical pastor and author of "Can We Trust The Gospels?" I also recently heard a similar, but less lengthy, debate between Dennis Prager and Mr. Hitchens. Hitchen's is not only an atheist but also a a very strong, almost militant sounding, anti-religious bigot. Although he has made a number of anti-Mormon statements, mostly inspired by Mitt Romney, he seems to despise all religions equally.

As I listened to Mr. Htichen's arguments against religion and a belief in God, or should I say his smoke and mirror arguments, I was reminded of a number of individuals in the Book of Mormon. The first, Sherem, went about preaching against the doctrine of Christ and was described in Jacob 7:4 as follows.

And he was learned, that he had a perfect knowledge of the language of the people; wherefore, he could use much flattery, and much power of speech, according to the power of the devil.

Mr. Hitchen's was educated at Oxford and is a very articulate speaker. His magniloquent speaking style and staccato use of literary quotes and half-truths can be very persuasive if one does not look closely at what he is saying. He has a way of using only partial-facts to support his thesis. For instance, during the Hugh Hewitt debate he notes that Hitler was born into the Catholic church and never denounced this faith, but dissembles about the truth that Hitler's actions were really more representative of his pagen views and likely his psychosis. The fact that his parents were Catholic does not mean that the teachings of the Catholic religion led him to become what he was or to do the things that he did. Mr. Hitchen's arguments also reminded me of Zeezrom who tried to trap Alma and Amulek by asking them questions and then misstating and warping their responses.

Finally, while istening to this debate I was minded of Korihor who said, in Alma 30:

O ye that are bound down under a foolish and a vain hope, why do ye yoke yourselves with such foolish things? Why do ye look for a Christ? For no man can know of anything which is to come. Behold, these things which ye call prophecies, which ye say are handed down by holy prophets, behold, they are foolish traditions of your fathers. How do ye know of their surety? Behold, ye cannot know of things which ye do not see; therefore ye cannot know that there shall be a Christ. Ye look forward and say that ye see a remission of your sins. But behold, it is the effect of a frenzied mind; and this derangement of your minds comes because of the traditions of your fathers, which lead you away into a belief of things which are not so.

Of course, Korihor went on to ask the prophet Alma for a sign of the existence of God and wasn't very happy about the results of his request. Maybe if we are lucky, Christopher Hitchens will also run into a prophet and ask for a sign. Unfortunately, many people today are easily persuaded to evil and the damage done by just one Mr. Hitchens would have lasting effects even if he were no longer able to continue in his anti-religious ministry, much like the priestcraft of Nehor persisted long after his death.

Spider-man III for free

Last night I went out with the Old Married Man's Club. We intended to see the movie Disturbia, however, upon arrival at the cinema we found out that the projector for this show was broken. The young man working the ticket booth informed us that he was supposed to try and convince us to see another one of their great films but if we could not be swayed then he was supposed to give us free passes to see Disturbia on another night. We had him get his manager and Brad used a little smooth talk to get us into Spider-man III at no charge. I can't say I was particularly impressed with the story line, but the movie is based on a comic book, after all.

New skill for Dec

Let me start by apologizing for taking some time off. Things have been very hectic at work and at home and it is really easy to get out of the habit of making time to type a few words about what is going on.

Last night I took Dec over to the nearby school, which, by the way, is not the school our kids go to. Our school district is a big believer in the idea of trying to make schools more equal by shipping kids all over the place, so our kids go to the 13th closest elementary school, which is only 10 miles from our house. Regardless, Dec and I drove a quarter mile so that he could practice riding a bike without training wheels in the local school's flat parking lot. I have tried a couple of other times to teach him how to ride a bike, but he isn't very patient when things don't go as he would like and so I didn't push the issue. Despite a few minor tumbles, he did very well last night and should now be able to peddle around the cul-de-sac at home. I have to admit that it is a bit saddening to see them growing up, especially considering that I'm being told in no uncertain terms that we are done expanding our family.

No wonder Science couldn't publish my paper

They've been busy publishing "serious" research on global climate change.

"The research, published in Science, identified changes in wind patterns caused by climate change as being the direct cause of the weakened ability to absorb carbon dioxide."

In other words, climate change is now causing further climate change. We should outlaw climate change to prevent it from further propagation.

Buried in the last few lines:

"The researchers accepted there were limits to the data available from the Southern Ocean and that “the magnitude of the CO2 sink is heavily disputed”. Professor Chris Rapley, director of BAS, said uncertaintities remained, but the findings were “a serious concern”."

Ignorant Democrat alert

I just had to post on this comment from an AP story about the Democrat's failure to cut off funding to our soldiers fighting in Iraq.

"How many more soldiers do we have to bury? How many more do we have to bring into our military and veterans hospitals? How many more thousands of innocent Iraqis have to die before we finally accept our responsibility to bring this war to an end?" asked Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois.

What an ignorant statement. Does he suppose that if the U.S. just puts its tail between its legs and runs away from Iraq that innocent Iraqis will stop dying? Last I check, the reason we are still in Iraq is to protect the innocent Iraqis. If we leave there will be a bloodbath.

Another example of why the Democrats are not capable of running our country.

Images - Can loved the hike

Another picture of Can with his typical big smile. (taken 04/06/07)

Family Photos - Big swing and a miss

After missing the ball, Dec's swing carried him all the way around.

Can is cast free

Can went to the doctor's yesterday and they finally took his cast off for good. The doctor said that he isn't allowed to jump or rough-house with his brothers. Good luck with that! Hopefully Nae can keep him off of the trampoline until it gets stronger. He walks a bit funny. He still point it out to the side like it was with the cast on. The doctor said that this should go away soon.

Rascally Stupidity prevails in the Country

"The Rascally Stupidity which now prevails in the Country at large is beyond all description."

"I despise my Countrymen, I wish I could say I was not born in America. I once gloried in it but am now ashamed of it."

"The Insults and Neglects which the Army have met with from the Country, Beggars all description. it must Go no farther, they can endure it no longer."

"... all this for my Cowardly Countrymen who flinch at the very time when their Exertions are wanted, and hold their Purse Strings as tho' they would Damn the World, rather than part with a Dollar to the Army."

Nope, these are not words written about the current Democratic leadership in Congress, but excerpts from a letter written by Colonel Ebenezer Huntington to his brother Andrew on July 7, 1780, during the Revolutionary War.
(I initially read some of these excerpts on the title page of "Rabble in Arms" by Kenneth Roberts and then found a transcript of the original letter on the web.)

Children are bad for the environment

The population control freaks have jumped onto the global warming bandwagon. From a recent article out of London,

"'Having large families should be frowned upon as an environmental misdemeanour in the same way as frequent long-haul flights, driving a big car and failing to reuse plastic bags', says a report to be published today by a green think tank."

"The decision to have children should be seen as a very big one and one that should take the environment into account."

"as a general guideline, couples should produce no more than two offspring.

Maybe we should all have a few more children.

Images - Dec in the outfield

Dec is having fun in the outfield. He must have been telling jokes with his friend out there. At least he is in the ready position and not playing with the grass.

Family Photos - Goin' around #9

This was from last week's soccer game. I was coaching again, so Nae was taking pictures. She had a hard time getting one of the front of Sul because the field is so big. Sul is just about to juke number 9. They lost this game but the team won the next day (Sunday) when Sul couldn't be there. The team they played today stomped them by a score of 8-0. This team was really good and the defense on Sul's team just couldn't slow them down. Sul got scored on twice while he was in goal, but there isn't much he can do in a one-on-one against a really good shooter.

Images - I can't believe he missed it!

I took this at Mad's game last week too. The ball looks like it is just about to hit the bat, but somehow it he missed it. He ended up getting walked both times up to bat and scored one of those times. His team still lost that game, but won today's game. The team they beat had been unbeaten so far this season, but now they have a 5-1 record. Mad hit one this week, but it popped up and the pitcher caught it.

Family Photos - Dec's first T-ball game

I can't belive that I haven't posted any new entries in a whole week. This picture was taken at Dec's first T-ball game last Saturday. He had his second today. They tied won both games. OK, they don't keep score but all of the kids on both teams think that their team won. I have to say, the kids are cute but it isn't a very exciting game to watch.

Family Photos - Cool Mad

Mads thinks that it is pretty cool that he can wear sunglasses now that he has contacts. (taken 04/06/07).

Images - kinked vine

I just thought that this was an interesting looking vine.

Still in a Cast

Can went to the doctor again yesterday. They took his cast off, which was a good thing since it was getting really dirty and worn out from having him walk on it. Unfortunately, after looking at the X-rays the doctor decided to put another cast back on. Nae said that he could still see the line of the fracture and he is worried that a small jump off of the couch or something similar would put us right back to square one. Needless to say, Can was not happy when they started to put the new cast on. He is, however, getting around pretty well even with the cast. We'll see how things look in two more weeks.

Wipe too much, warm the world

"I have spent the better part of this tour trying to come up with easy ways for us all to become a part of the solution to global warming"

"I propose a limitation be put on how many squares of toilet paper can be used in any one sitting"

-Sheryl Crow

And rationing T.P. is what she came up with? This illustrates perfectly why celebrities should have no place in the real life of real people. Stick to the pseudo-life of the entertainment world.

New music toy

If you look to the right, you'll notice that I found a new music toy. The website finetune.com lets me customize a music playlist with just about any song I want. They also provide the widget that I've pasted in at the right so that anyone visiting my website can listen to my playlist. Go ahead and give it a listen. I can't personally vouch for all of the songs because I made this list by picking a few songs from artists that I like and then I had the finetune algorithm fill in the rest of the songs based on similarity to those that I picked. You can also visit my finetune page to see additional playlists or you can sign up with finetune for free and make your own playlists.

Two Wins

Today was another game day and both boys won. Sul's team shut out the opposing team with a final score of two goals to zero. He made one good save in goal where he had to dive on the ball to gain control of it. Afterwards he punted the ball all the way to the other end of the field. He also had an assist on one of his teams goals, so he had a productive game.

Mads' team won by a score of 3 to 2. They were leading 3 to 0 for most of the game but their last pitcher hasn't had much experience and he let a couple runs in before he could stop them. The final play of the game was a big pop fly to right field. It was actually going foul but the boy out there caught it. He looked in his glove and realized that the ball was in it and then got really excited. The whole team ran together into a big pile. A much better day than last week. Each team now has a 1 win and 1 loss record.

Can has started walking on his cast. He and Mom are counting down the hours until his visit to the "broken-leg fix-it doctor" on Tuesday. Hopefully the cast will come off and stay off so that he can go back to running instead of hobbling.

Lifetime book reading list

Highly suggested reading by David Allen White and John Mark Reynolds from a recent Hugh Hewitt show. It is suggested that every college freshman and sophomore should read the books discussed in these transcripts.

Family Photos - Sul Posing

(taken 04/06/07)

Images - Bridge over Reedy Creek 2

Another view of the bridge over Reedy Creek (taken 04/06/07 at Umstead State park, NC).

Family Photos - Riding the Bent Tree

We found this funny bent tree on our hike through Umstead State Park. It looked like a good place to have the boys line up for a picture (taken 04/06/07).

Images - Bridge over Reedy Creek

We crossed over Reedy Creek on this bridge as we hiked through Umstead State Park (taken 04/06/07).

My ignoble debut as an assistant soccer coach

Saturday morning marked the start of baseball and soccer games for Mad and Sul, respectively. We were supposed to be at the baseball field at 8:15 for an 9:00 game. The coach is a pretty zealous and wanted plenty of time to warm up and go over strategy. I was on my own with all four boys for this game because Nae was busy running the Cary Road Race 10K, which she completed in just over 50 minutes (I told you that she is a wonder woman). I brought gameboys for the non-baseball playing boys, which seemed like a good way to keep them entertained except that they spent most of the time fighting over who got to play which games. The only toilets available at this field were porta-johns, so I had to force Dec, kicking and screaming, to stand in one long enough to complete his task. After I got to the field I realized that Can hadn't gone yet that morning, so I tried to get him to go in and he wouldn't release the death grip from my neck long enough for me to get his pants down past his cast. I tried to talk him into peeing on a tree but he didn't want to do that either. Fortunately, he has an iron bladder when he wants to hold it, so we didn't have any problems there. Oh, the baseball game. It wasn't a very good start to their season. Mads' team lost 4 to 1. There wasn't much action on the field for most of the game. Nobody could get a hit on either team because the pitchers were throwing too fast. They've instituted a new rule where each boy can only pitch 2 innings, so after four innings we had to resort to our third string pitchers and they walked a number of runs in before we could get out of the fifth inning. We managed to get one run in the sixth, but that just wasn't enough. We all survived, despite the fact that I was on my own.

In the afternoon we went to Sul's soccer game. I sort of wandered into being appointed as an assistant coach, since no other parents stepped up to help the only coach. I'm not sure that you can blame me for the 4-1 loss of this game, but I probably didn't help much either. Sul played two quarters in goal. He was scored on twice in the first one, but he had no help from the rest of his team and the goal is at least twice as big as the ones he was defending last year. He made several really good saves and even stopped one with his chin. After the game the ref said that the other team was the best he had seen all day. They had better ball handling skills than our team and they definitely out hustled our team in getting to the ball.

Dec doesn't start his T-ball games for a few weeks, but he had his first practice on Friday night. Although he is catches and throws the baseball right-handed, he has always swung the bat left handed. Nae said that when the coaches put him up by the T to hit the ball, they lined him up right handed and so he had a hard time swinging the bat correctly. We'll get them straightened out at the next practice.

Dream of what the western world used to be

Another good post by Victor Davis Hanson on his dream that the western world of old still lived on today.

And then I woke up, remembering that the West of old lives only in dreams. Yes, the new religion of the post-Westerner is neither the Enlightenment nor Christianity, but the gospel of the Path of Least Resistance — one that must lead inevitably to gratification rather than sacrifice.

Family Photos - Sul Dyeing

Sul dyeing Easter eggs. (taken 04/06/07)

Michael Yon reporting from Iraq

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this site before, but Michael Yon is a citizen journalist who is posting some interesting first hand pieces on happenings in Iraq. His latest post tells about his experience tagging along with some British soldiers.

Its nice to hear from guys like Yon, since we're never going to get any unspun information on Iraq from the main stream media. I can practically quote what I hear every night on the local WRAL newscast here in NC. "Today was another violent day in Iraq. X (insert the daily number) of soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in Bahgdad and Y (insert the daily number) of civilians were killed as a suicide bomber detonated an explosion in a crowded marketplace."

I know that bad things are happening, but I'm also equally sure that there is good being done. Good news is news too. Why not report it too?

Lileks on Hugh on Romney

Lileks' bleat starts a bit slow today. It sounds like he's suffering fromt he same sort of spring cold that I've got, runny nose, etc. Then he gets into a review of Hugh Hewitt's latest book "A Mormon in the White House?: 10 Things Every American Should Know about Mitt Romney." His review of the book leads to a few statements about Romney and Mormons that I found interesting. For instance:

"Romney’s religion isn’t the main reason his campaign isn’t out front by 10 points. There’s something else at work; could be the YouTube flip-flop problem. But I think I know what it might be. He’s in a hard position: he’s too good to be true, but he’s truly that good."

Lileks mentions that he recently had a pair of Latter-day Saint missionaries knock on his door, and although he wasn't interested in their message, he adds this comment about their desire to offer service if he needed any help.

"If at that moment I had some sort of domestic emergency that required me to leave the house but also required someone to stay at the house – I don’t know, to watch a scientific experiment or take a cake out the oven (a cake – for the Pope!) – I would have trusted both of them to hold down the fort until I returned, and I know I would have found both of them sitting in the living room when I returned, with nothing in the house out of place or moved to a pocket.

Surely how one lives one’s life is as important as the things the curious things they believe, no?"

Say what you want about our beliefs. Hey, I know that it takes a lot of faith to believe and live as we do, and if you don't have it then you can't be expected to understand or accept the many non-emperical aspects of our religion. But, you can't argue with the fact that we, as a whole, are a good and wholesome people. I don't say that with pride, it just naturally follows from living how we're taught to live, and very many Mormons do.

I haven't yet read the book myself. I haven't decided if I will or not. I don't think I can learn anything about Romney's religion and the fact that he was a Stake President tells me an awful lot about him personally. I could buy the book to loan to friends, but most of the people I work with are so far to the left that Romney isn't on their radar screen and most of my non-Mormon friends are not interested enough in Politics to read a whole book.

A warmer climate could prove to be beneficial

I haven't blogged on global warming for a while, so here is a good article by Dr. Richard S. Lindzen (Professor of Meteorology at MIT) summarizing some of the common misinterpretations of global warming data and addressing other fallacies of global warming alarmism.

The current alarm rests on the false assumption not only that we live in a perfect world, temperaturewise, but also that our warming forecasts for the year 2040 are somehow more reliable than the weatherman's forecast for next week.

Many of the most alarming studies rely on long-range predictions using inherently untrustworthy climate models, similar to those that cannot accurately forecast the weather a week from now.

Family Photos - Nae in the Forest

Nae in the Forest (taken 04/06/07 at Umstead Park, NC).

Images - Wildflower

Wildflower (taken 04/06/07 at Umstead State Park, NC).

Images - Reedy Creek

I captured this image of Reedy Creek on our hike at Umstead State Park, NC (taken 04/06/07)

Family Photos - Dyeing Easter Eggs

Can and his brothers had fun dyeing Easter eggs last Saturday. The trick was getting him to put the egg in the dye gently enough so that it didn't break or splash all over the place.

A soldier's eye view of Iraq

I would much rather trust the word of a soldier who is on the ground in Iraq than the main stream media, which has proven itself untrustworthy time-and-again. (Thanks to Hugh for bringing us the positive news and not just the bad)

Easter Morning

The morning Easter egg hunt at our house. Sorry for the poor quality and lack of sound. Our video camera is broken so I had to use the video function on the digital camera and I forgot to turn on the audio setting. Can was a little slow with the broken leg but seemed to manage just fine.

Family Photos - Happy Easter

The boys look very nice in their new Easter outfits. It was a little tricky getting them to all hold still long enough to take this picture, since they were all hopped up (pun intended) on chocolate.

Images - Dogwood Blossoms

I love that the dogwoods are blooming. (taken 04/06/07 Umstead Park, NC)

Images - More Strange Forest Creatures

Besides the trolls I saw in the forest, these nascent ferns also had a bizarre appearance as they begin to emerge from the ground following the winter freeze.(takne 04/06/07 Umstead State park, NC)

Family Photo - Our Little Troll

I apologize that I've not been very good at posting for the last couple of weeks. We did have a couple of noteworthy heppenings.

Dec really is a cute kid even if this picture makes him look a little troll-like. He needs a haircut and notice the gap in his teeth. He lost his first tooth on Monday. (taken 04/06/07 in Umstead State Park, NC)

Mad's appearance was altered on Monday too. With his new contacts he isn't wearing glasses anymore. I'll post a picture of his new look tomorrow.

LDS Church is a Christian church

From a USNews article about Mitt Romney by Michael Barone:

"The LDS Church is a Christian and an American church"

I would have thought that the real name of the the church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, would have made this an obvious statement, but many "Christians" don't agree.
This article talks about how a lot of the money Romney raised in the first quarter of 2007 came from Mormons. I love how many people want to say that the Mormon Church helped provide the money, as if Bishops stood up and read a letter from the First Presidency telling us to donate to Romney. I'm sure that individual Latter-day Saints donated to Romney, but that is on their own and not as a result of any church influence.

Hugh Hewitt was doing his part to point out that not all of the Utah money is from Mormons, but some comes from individual who saw Romney in action with the SLC olympics. The HH post also links to a Washington Post Q&A about Hugh's new book. When someone said that core LDS beliefs (Joseph Smith seeing visions, etc.) was weird, Hugh responded with a reference to more mainstream Christian miracles and then this:

"Lots of Americans believe lots of weird things. Democrats believe raising taxes will help the economy. We should decide debates on the weirdness of beliefs in the public policy arena, not the theological."

That was great.

Images - Mossy overhang

This is similar to one posted a few days back but emphasizes the cavelike nature of the mossy overhang at this little pool (taken 03/25/07 near Lake Pine, NC).

Family Photos - Scootin'

Dec rode his scooter while we walked around Pine Lake (taken 03/25/07).

I'm married to Wonder Woman

My wife is amazing. Yesterday morning she got up an ran eight miles. That is an amazing feat in and of itself, but then she came home and helped me with shoveling mulch up onto the hill. If there was any chance that I could somehow complete eight miles of running (which there isn't) I would spend the next week sitting on the couch until I could move my legs again. As it is, I ran/walked about 2 miles on the treadmill. I've been doing this beginner training course that involves running for some period of time and then walking for some period of time. The running periods gradually get longer and the walking gets shorter. I'm up to 4 minutes running with 1 minute walking, repeated five times. I still have pains in my left shin and right foot when I do it, but I think that starting slowly with this training course is minimizing this. I don't ever expect to be able to run eight miles without stopping, or with stopping for that matter, but maybe I can avoid adding my standard 15 pounds as I go through my fourth decade.

A few months ago we had some other Latter-day Saints move in right next door. It has been nice to have them. Last night, after the Priesthood session of General Conference, I came home to find Can in bed and the big boys watching "Pete and Pete" on the TV. Mom had gone next door to help get a room taped for painting, and I went over there for ice cream. At about 11:30, Mads rang the door bell and asked when we were coming home. In talking, we didn't realize that it had gotten so late. I decided to see if they could get themselves into bed without direct parental supervision, so I told him that we would be home later and I informed him that he was welcome to go to bed. We stayed for another hour and were wagering with one another one whether they would be in bed or up playing video games. They were all in bed but Dec still had on his clothes. I guess that we still have some more training to do before we can leave Mads in charge all on his own.

I have noticed that ever since Can broke his leg he has been demanding things. I'm trying to teach him to say please, but he is digging in his heels. We bought some grapefruits the other day (first time in years) and Mom was eating one this morning. Can started ordering her to get him one, so I said that he needed to say please. It took a lot of persuading to get him to mumble a please but once he did then he got a grapefruit half. He didn't want to eat the segments with a spoon, but instead, turned it over and tried to take a bite of the skin. After a very screwed up face and a loud "blech," I think he has now decided that he doesn't like grapefruits.

Great letter from a US Marine in Iraq

This letter should be required reading in schools and they should read it on every television news broadcast. Of course, these bastions of leftist thinking would never allow such truth and positive thinking to be promulgated in their domains. Here are a couple of clips.

I'm thankful that I was born and raised in the United States of America, the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. We Americans have been blessed with such a unique and special country to call home. The United States is truly an exceptional nation that has been a blessing to the entire world. When you see America's power amassed in war, like I have, it's no wonder that America's enemies should tremble at our strength and power. At the same time, there is no more generous country than the United States of America. As the Marines of the 1st Marine Division from Camp Pendleton, CA say: there is "no greater friend and no worse enemy." I wish America's greatness and "manifest destiny", as well as the values of our Judeo-Christian values system which are the foundation of Western Civilization, were still taught with pride in our public schools.

Just yesterday, one my Iraqi interpreters, who is from Baghdad, told me that most of his Iraqi friends desperately want to know about America and Americans. I told him that Dennis Prager taught me that everything that Americans value can be found on a coin: "Liberty, "In God We Trust" and E Pluribus Unum" (out of many one).

Brief history of "Yankee Doodle Dandy"

Lileks is enlightening me yet again. Referring to the song "Yankee Doodle Dandy."

Never understood that as a kid, but I accepted it. Yankee Doodle was silly, so he thought his feather was cheese-drenched pasta. Of course, it meant something different; the Macaronis were fashionable young men who’d been to Italy and picked up Continental Affectations; famous dandies given to peering with exaggerated longeur through glasses mounted on a stick, they were regarded as amusing fops by real men. So when Mr. Doodle thought a feather made him a member of the Macaroni Society, it just showed what a provincial hick he was. I loved learning that. It made the past seem so much more real in a brief and vivid way – until then, perhaps, I didn’t think they had slang.

Maybe not an authoritative source of history, but it sounds good to me.

Images - High Centered

I don't know the mating habits of turtles, but it seems like the right time of the year. Many of the turtles looked to be getting close. I'm not sure if these two were trying to neck on this log or if they were two males squaring off, but the one on the left looks like it may be high centered.

Family Photos - Mads

at the lake (taken 03/25/07)

Baseball is starting again

Tonight was Mad's first baseball practice of the spring season. He is excited because coach Jim is his coach again and he has some teamates from his previous two seasons. His throwing and catching skill were a bit rusty but he demonstrated that he remembers some of the things he is supposed to be doing out there in the field. It was good to see him giving advice to some of the new kids.

Mom went to the middle school open house, so I took all four boys with me. This was a little tricky because I had to keep Can entertained, since he can't get around very well with his broken leg. Also, I had to leave in the middle to take Sul over to the cub scout pack meeting and then I had to come back and pick up Mad.

Sul's soccer coach called tonight to let us know that his team name is the Flames. His first practice is Thurs. We're headed for a busy time. Fortunately it is fun to watch them play.

Child care and bad behavior

This NY Times article reports on the findings from a recent study of children in daycare. Not surprisingly, at least to me, they found that child care had a detrimental effect on the children's behavior.

Refering to the debate over whether sending kids to daycare is harmful:

The debate reached a high pitch in the late 1980s, during the so-called day care wars, when social scientists questioned whether it was better for mothers to work or stay home. Day care workers and their clients, mostly working parents, argued that it was the quality of the care that mattered, not the setting. But the new report affirms similar results from several smaller studies in the past decade suggesting that setting does matter.

An interesting quote:

“They knew this would be disturbing news for parents, but at some point, if that’s what you’re finding, then you have to report it.”

But will parents do anything about it?

(HT to Dennis Prager)

Images - Spring Stream

Spring Stream (taken 03/25/07)

Family Photos - Much Mulch

Our town was giving away free mulch on Saturday, so I borrowed a pickup truck and got three loads. As much effort as it was to unload the truck, I was glad that I paid the $5 to have them load the truck with a backhoe. Now we just have to put it on the hill.

Images - Turtle Pile

There were dozens of turtles at the lake by where we walked today. They would pile up on logs and on top of each other. (taken 03/25/07)

The home of the future

This article talks about what homes will be like in 2037. I'm not sure if this is only meant to project homes in Minnesota but it is actually quite humorous. Actually kind of scary, if you believe any of it. Especially the family of the future. Of course, this is probably only the tip of the iceberg if the Democrats/liberals/global warmists have their way.

(HT to Lileks)

Family Photos - All of Us

We took this while we were out on a walk today at a neighborhood park. (taken 3/25/07)

Family Photos - Its Broken

As we feared, Can's leg is broken. Mom took him to the doctor's yesterday for an X-ray. One of the bones in his lower leg is cracked all of the way through. It is quite a long break as it is split diagonally across the bone. I didn't see the X-ray but Mom said that the bone is separated at the bottom part of the fracture. He has been quite a trooper through it so far, although he is whining right now because it hurts and because he cannot get himself around. He just has to sit and cry for things.

Family Photos - Cheeky Boy

Decl had a visit to the dentist's office on Wednesday to get a cavity filled. While his mouth was numb he bit the inside of his cheek pretty badly and now it is all swollen. He complained about it hurting badly on Wednesday, but I think that it wasn't as painful yesterday.

In other news, Can was playing at the park yesterday and hurt his foot/leg. It seemed pretty sensitive and he wouldn't put any weight on it last night. Our nurse friend suggested that we give him some ibuprofin and see how he is today. If he still won't stand on it, Mom is going to take him to the doctor. I update when I find out more.

Mad's autobiography

Mad had to write an autobiography for a school project. He wanted to print out some pictures of himself to illustrate his chapters but had a hard time finding any where he wasn't making a funny face.

For years now we have been telling him that he shouldn't make faces every time we take his picture but he just took that as encouragement to look goofier. Now that he has to show his classmates pictures of himself, he is concerned that he looks silly. Oh well. We managed to get a few pictures that I took when he wasn't looking.

Family Photos - Two of Four

Can and Dec on my lap (taken 03/17/2007)

Why I still like President Bush

Stories like this explain why I still stand behind President Bush. I know that he has made mistakes. Tell me a president that hasn't. But he governs based on principles that don't change based on the latest poll. He tries to do what he thinks is right and best for the country.

Images - climbing vine

We couldn't find any leprechauns but some of the vines in the forest are starting to put on their green. (taken 03/17/07).

Family Photos - leprechaun

Dec decided that he needed to make himself pinch proof yesterday, since it was Saint Patrick's day. I'm not sure where he got the idea but he wanted to go on a leprechaun hunt. I told Dec that he looked like a leprechaun himself but I couldn't get him to lead me to his pot of gold, so we decided to go tromping through the woods behind our house in hopes of locating one of the little fellows. We never saw any leprechauns but we had some fun jumping streams and knocking over dead trees.

Not my best week

Last week was not my favorite. I have to say that I'm glad it is over. After the indoor rain last week, I used a lot of silicone caulking and a new bathtub spout, but I managed to repair the bathtub. Now I just have a hole in the bathroom wall and some water stains on the sunroom ceiling to fix.

We finally decided to try and buy tickets for our trip to Utah and found that prices had gone up substantially. This left me feeling pretty down, and I was dreading telling my kids that we couldn't afford to visit grandparents this summer. Then on Thursday we found a really good deal. We decided that this was an answer to prayers and we decided to buy the tickets before it was too late. Whew. That is a relief.

Two weeks ago I was asked if I would present my research at a seminar on March 19th. I agreed to do this and spent all last week getting the slides ready for the presentation. Yesterday I got a flier for the seminar and my name was not on it. I emailed the administrator to ask if I was supposed to present and she told me that she forgot that I had accepted, so she scheduled someone else. I can't say that I'm completely disappointed not to have to present in front of a bunch of other people, but it was a little frustrating to waste all of that time getting ready for a seminar that I don't have to give.

Images - Tongue Wagging

Can (2) took this picture of Dec acting silly at the American Tobacco trail. (taken 03/10/07)

Images - Green Creek

From the woods near the American Tobacco Trail (taken 03/10/07).

Images - Spring Blossoms

More blossoms from the Bradford Pear tree. Lighting adjusted for effect (taken 03/14/07)

Images - My brother the pillow

The other day Dec and Can were watching TV when I came home from work.
Can had obviously not had a nap and Dec thought he looked like a soft
and cuddly pillow. I thought it was cute.

Image - Spring is Here

This morning these blossoms decided to burst forth on our Bradford pear tree (taken 03/14/07)

Images - Treebeard the Ent

The trees are watching you.
(taken 3/10/07 at the American Tobacco Trail)

What a day

Not a lot of good to report from today. We woke up to get ready for church and while Mom took a shower I went down to get breakfast for the boys. I heard dripping and thought that it was raining outside until I saw the water dripping from the ceiling in the office/sun room. I quickly got the shower turned off, but the water kept flowing from the ceiling. I had done some minor repair work on the pipe leading into the bathtub water spout last night so that there wouldn't be a gap between the spout and the shower wall, but hadn't done anything that should have lead to all of the water in my ceiling. When it kept coming after turning off the shower my first thought was that I had somehow broken a weak plumbing connection, because I couldn't figure out where all of the water was coming from. I turned off the main water inlet but still a lot of dripping. I cut a hole in the water behind the tub to see where the water was coming from and turned the main water back on, but couldn't see any leaks. As it is, the only thing I can think is that a rough spot on the water pipe prevented a good seal with the water spout, which lead to water spraying back through the hole in the wall when the shower was turned on. There was so much water coming from the ceiling that I just couldn't believe this was the problem. I sanded the pipe to improve the seal, put huge gob of silicone caulking around the pipe to plug the hole in the shower wall and then put the spout back on. I haven't tried it yet because I wanted to wait until the caulk dries and I have to admit that I'm a little scared to turn the water on. Hopefully things won't leak, but I still have a hole in the wall and a wet ceiling.

As if this weren't enough for one day, we were invited to have desert with some friends. Just as we were getting ready to leave, the chair I was sitting on collapsed underneath me and punched a hole in their wall. I know that I can stand to lose a few pounds but I didn't realize that I was smash a chair overweight. Our friends tried to assure me that it wasn't really my fault and they had had problems with the chairs before, but I think that they were just trying to make me fell better.

Right about now I'm ready to head to bed in hopes that tomorrow is better than today.

Images - Buddies

Dec and Can taking a break during our American Tobacco Trail run/walk/bike trip. (taken 03/09/07)

Images - Left in the Dust

Can had to watch as Dec sped away down the trail. We went out for a family run/bike ride on the American Tobacco trail today. Mom ran 7 miles. I only ran one, jogged one and walked two, but I've only been run/walking for two weeks. My time on the mile was 8:07. Pretty slow, but it was my first timed mile in a long, long time, so hopefully I will improve. (taken 03/10/07)

Images - Dec Swinging

Dec Swinging in the backyard.

"Abortion is better for the baby" Huh?

I was listening to the Michael Medved show yesterday and he was talking about another report that denigrates marriage as a just a quaint tradition of the past and a trifle for the rich. The report is based on a skewed interpretation of statistics which show that wealthier people tend to get married. As Michael points out, the more accurate interpretation of these results is that those who get married tend to do better financially.

While taking calls, the discussion turned to children born out of wedlock. Then a girl called in who said that she had been living with her boyfriend for two years before finding out that she was pregnant. She stated that after weighing her options, "The best thing for both me, my boyfriend and ultimately the baby was to have an abortion." Am I missing something here? How is abortion ever better for the baby? What she should have said is that she and her boyfriend are so selfish that it was better to kill a baby than to take any personal responsibility for their actions. Instead, she tries to make it sound like she is doing something noble for the baby by sacrificing it's life.

Those icky Mormons

An article by Alex Beam of the Boston Globe explains why he thinks that a Mormon, Mitt Romney, could not be elected as the President of the Unites States. He attempts to cast a shadow on Mitt Romney and all Mormons, but really only ends up rambling through a few stale "insights" into Mormon theology, doctrines and history. It was a pretty poor attempt to slander the church, but I found a couple of quotes amusing.

"The Salt Lake City-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as the Mormons call themselves"

Like we are really "The Mormons" but just refer to ourselves by some other name. Alex Beam, as the Anti-mormon calls himself.

Another good quote.

On the plus side, Romney and many observant Mormons seem to lead exemplary, enviable, and productive lives centered on the traditional nuclear family.

We only "seem to" lead exemplary lives. Don't be fooled by the appearance that the Mormons are an enviable and productive people. The really only "seem to" lead exemplary lives. They really believe that founding prophet Joseph Smith received a "revelation that the Garden of Eden was in Independence, Mo., and that Jesus Christ visited America shortly after his resurrection." How shocking.

I kept expecting the author to say, "Don't tell anyone, but do you know what I heard about the Mormons?" Maybe he should have submitted it as a fourth grade language arts essay.

Mark Steyn summed up Mr. Beam's hightly intelectual rationale as:

"The Mormon church creeps out Mrs and Mrs America. It’s all just too freaky weirdy icky."

Mark also provides some interesting information about LDS population and demographic statistics.

Images - Spikey Dec

Another picture of Dec on crazy outfit/hair day. (taken 03/01/07)

Images - Boys, Sticks and Water

Boys, sticks and water. Plenty to smile about.

Can doesn't like Mom sweaty

Yesterday morning I brought Can in as we gathered for family prayer and proceeded to set him on my lap. He immediately balked and wanted to sit on mommy's lap until I told him that she was sweaty from working out. Then he stopped, made this disgusted face and decided that my lap wasn't so bad after all. He has been turning into a momma's boy lately and wants her to do everything. However, he doesnt' like it when she gets "wetty," as he says. When she puts on her excercise clothes, he asks, "Mommy get wetty?"

VDH compares Iraq to past US wars

Another perspective check by Victor Davis Hanson on the current situation in Iraq.

The high-stakes war to stabilize the fragile democracy in Iraq is a serious, costly and controversial business. But so have been most conflicts in American history. We need a little more humility and knowledge of our past — and a lot less hysteria, name-calling and obsession with our present selves.

Dentist week

This is dentist week in our family. Yesterday morning I went and had three more cavities filled. Fortunately, these were not deep and so they were not as painful as the one from last week. Only one more to go for me. Dec is going in today to have some cavities filled and Mom gets to go for some fillings tomorrow. One might think that we never brush our teeth but for Mom and I it has been over 10 years since we have been to the dentist, so it is surprising that our teeth aren't worse than they are.

French scientist now against global warming

The real scientists are starting to jump off of the man-made global warming ship, or should I say circus train (via Drudge). Its only a matter of time now till the pendulum swings and we start hearing about immanent man-made global cooling. Expect the headline: "Subarctic temperatures will force us underground for a billion-billion years."

Also, a new documentary is set to become the antithesis to Al Gore's work of fiction.

More of Sul's B-day party

Here is another picture from Sul's birthday party.

Yummy jello

Can likes to get into the pantry to find things to eat. Yesterday while Mom was taking the bigs to the bus stop he came to me with two boxes of Jello and wanted to eat them. I don't think that he has ever had Jello before so I told him what it was and said that Mom could make it for him when she got home. A short time later I found him sitting on the couch dipping his finger into an opened box of Jello. He held up his finger and said, "yummy Jello." Fortunately he hadn't had time to pour it all over the couch.

Yesterday was "culture" day for spirit week at the boy's school. Since we are only plain old boring Americans, Dec decided to dress up based on his Mormon culture. He went dressed in a shirt and tie with a missionary name tag. Mom expected a call from the school saying that he was not allowed to dress as anything overtly religious, but I guess that they were feeling unusually tolerant today because he said that nobody made him take his name tag off.

I heard a story about homosexual, but not religious, tolerance on on the Dennis Prager show yesterday. An exerpt from the news report that he was discussing:

When a few classmates razzed Rebeka Rice about her Mormon upbringing with questions such as, "Do you have 10 moms?" she shot back: "That's so gay."
Those three words landed the high school freshman in the Principal's office and resulted in a lawsuit that raises this question: When do playground insults used every day all over America cross the line into hate speech that must be stamped out?

Lets bend over backwards to prevent "hate speech" against homosexuals, but never mind the religious insults. Of course the kids who teased her about being Mormon didn't end up in the Principal's office because Mormon's aren't a "protected" minority.

Images - Colorado Aspens

I took this at the YMCA near Winter Park, CO (09/20/03).