scary dream

I had a dream I was terrified of banana spiders. But in the dream I thought the spiders were inside the bananas crawling across the ground. The thing is, I'm not normally scared of spiders. I have even held a garden spider in the palm of my hand, though it was a little smaller than the banana spider pictured.

Where's the forest gone?

This was the quote of the day on my google home page.

Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them.  - Bill Vaughan

Evangelical Quiz

You scored as Baptist. If you've landed here, then you are probably a well-informed Baptist. You know what separates you from other Evangelicals and why it is important to divide at certain points. You see the church as a missionary organization whose job it is to preach the gospel to a lost world. Baptist 95% Fightin' Fundy 60% Conservative Evangelical 55% Evangelical Presbyterian 55% Reformed Baptist 55% Presby - Old School 45% Moderate Evangelical 35% High Church Nomad 25% What Kind of Evangelical Are You created with QuizFarm.com

I am what I am...C or K

Have you ever wondered why we say Cephas (sē'fəs) instead of (Kē'fəs). I started saying Cephas (with a K sound) and I like it. I shall take my stand on my mountain of 'C" should be "C" and "K" should be "K". okay...I'm not making enough sense. Well, look at the time. I think I took my meds already too.

Then there are all those Bible names I am going to learn. I have a good dictionary that will help my with the pronunciation.

[EDIT]This is what happens when I don't go to bed straight away after taking my medicine at night.[/EDIT]

Starship Builder

I started playing this starship (i.e., Startrek) builder program that I've had forever and only used one time...and now I'm hooked. I've built my own starship (I have several others too) cristened the U.S.S. Shakespeare, NCC 23455. It is Akira class, very cool looking, maybe I can upload a picture somehow.

Anyway, there's not much action to the game. You just have to go through numbers and statistics, then fly missions to get credits to build your fleet.

It's amusing enough. Plus the missions can be run in stealth mode so you don't have to sit there and stare at the screen. It runs in the background and you make money (or lose it depending on your outfitting choices) without knowing it.

dreaming of fun

My brother and I are fascinated by dreams. I often have dreams because I don't sleep in regular cycles. This morning was something of a break through for me. I used to be a lucid dreamer. And am still to some extent. The definition of lucid dreamer pretty much means the concious mind of the dreamer controls the dream. This allows complete control. The first step is recognizing you are dreaming. This can often be the most difficult part. Usually you train yourself to recognize dream signs. These can be many things. Things that could not or likely would not occur in real life. Or it can be more personal to you. Something that you know that would "wake" you up inside the dream.

I am often aware of myself in my dreams. For instance, one of the things I first learned to do was wake myself up at will. Now, this came to be necessary for me, because I feel pain in my sleep. So I often wake myself up to move, to moderate my pain.

But over the years I lost most of my control in the dream even though I was aware I was dreaming. All I could do most of the time was wake myself up at will. But today...

Today was the day. I was dreaming a very extended drama that I won't go into, suffice it to say, at this point a precious lady in my church had asked everyone in the church to watch dogs that had been abandoned in the hurricane. And that meant like twenty dogs each. I was house-sitting for someone, and had dogs in the backyard and some inside.

In the morning, some of the dogs outside had been killed. Enter Micah C.S.I.
I was trying to discover evidence of the killer, when I stepped barefoot on a dangerous looking plant acidentally.

[Sidenote: this is one of the most often recurring themes I have in my dreams. I wind up barefoot outside and step on nails, glass, needles, spiky plants, or spines. You can imagine it isn't fun. And usually I pull them out in the dream, or wake myself up.]

Well, I was about to pull my spiny needles out when I decided, WAKE UP. Now, that is exactly what the conscious part of my mind says to wake myself up. Call it uninspired if you will, but it usually works on the first try.

This time it did not. So I tried, WAKE UP, I TELL YOU. Then I realized I didn't really need to wake up. Because even though I felt pain, I was still in a dream and I could do anything. Yes, folks I was truly becoming lucid.

And I took off into the air. There is nothing like flying in a dream. I dodged some helicopters and admired the beautiful vibrant fall colors. It was so beautiful up there over the city and countryside. By the time I got to the ocean, I had decided to do something else. I went underwater. I figured I didn't need to breathe under there. I saw some fish, some whales. And then woke myself up. I really was in pain. I needed to move.

It was a great adventure. Plus, I woke myself up only a few minutes before my alarm went off anyway.

stargazing

I was about to go to bed tonight, but Kyle called me outside to see the night sky. Before we went out, I opened my Sky Calendar to check the position of the planets. Saturn and Mars are very visible this time of year, and after midnight very easily seen. Saturn was a bright bluish twinkle. I have never seen it twinkle so much. And Mars was actually red! The full moon looked beautiful too straight over head and Mars right near it. It was beautiful. We could see quite a few stars, which is unusual here because of the airport and city, but I guess it was late enough and clear enough to see them.

We think we saw several famous stars. I consulted my chart inside afterwards, so I didn't have a clear picture in my mind. Anyway, it was fun, and I am so grateful for the marvelous beauty of God's creation.

graduation

I forgot to put this picture up. Mr. Sweede took it at Bob Jones Graduation on May 7, 2005.

Dianna and Greg are getting married a week from Saturday! And thank God, I am done with the music!

welcome to jbo

Thanks to Cross Training for the fun.

Word of the Day

un·put·down·a·ble adj. Informal

So well written and entertaining as to be difficult to put down.

Source: The American Heritage · Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright·2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.

Dictionary.com/unputdownable

contest x2

So now I'm hooked on this contest. I've wanted Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology for a while now. So I guess it can't hurt to try. If you would like to enter the contest here's a direct link. If you would like to help me out a little just click the banner or enter my referral id (41503) when you enter.

The Symphony Strikes Back

My family went to hear the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and Chorus (and the Virginia Children's Chorus for a few numbers) perform a tribute to John Williams last night. Yes we went to hear movie music. It was wonderful though.
Here's some of what they played:

• Olympic Fanfare from the 1984 Olympics
• ET
• Theme from "Schindler's List"
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
• Star Wars Suite
• Jaws
• Superman March
• Hymn to the Fallen from "Saving Private Ryan"
• Amistad
• Star Wars Episode 1: "Phantom Menace" Duel of the Fates
• Indiana Jones

It was a very nice concert. And a lot of fun. Even if we were a little warm in the balcony.

pictures of a white Christmas

I mentioned before in my p.s. that Alvin, TX (well, a lot of Texas) got snow for Christmas.

I finally have pics.

Holiday Proclamation

Merry Thanksgiving and Happy Christmas!

My Mother made strawberry pie for us today. She is the best!
Dinner was superb as well.
Everyone seemed to have plans, so it was just the five of us today. With Christa back from grad school, it was nice to have the family all gathered around the table together for Thanksgiving.
After dinner Christa, Kyle and I went to the park and threw the football around. It was cold though. It was nice to get out of the house though. I haven't done that in a while.

 1Praise the LORD!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
   praise him in his mighty heavens!
2Praise him for his mighty deeds;
   praise him according to his excellent greatness!
3Praise him with trumpet sound;
   praise him with lute and harp!
4Praise him with tambourine and dance;
   praise him with strings and pipe!
5Praise him with sounding cymbals;
   praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
6Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD!

Farscape is over...

Well, Farscape is now over...Alas...it was a good ending. I'll miss it. Fond memories of Moya and the crew.

On to other things.

foxtrot

those cool michiganders

These are my friends from Michigan, Josh and Jen. They are to be married soon.

hear me roar?

Here is my lovely kitty. Vicious...man-eating...did I mention the roaring? Okay, who am I kidding. He was yawning.

chart on html

I bought a chart on HTML. It is pretty cool. It has all sorts of tags and info on CSS and Web colors and notes.

I think it will be helpful in my future blog editing and web designing. After all, we are not all Mr. Big Blue Hats.

attempt

After Stephanie's beautiful attempt at drawing (see also this post), I feel encouraged to post my first attempt. I saw this picture on a website and tried to draw it. I've never drawn anything before, so you can imagine I was pleased that one can tell it is actually an elephant...with a mohawk, but yes, an elephant.

big brother is watching

I wonder if the Offices of the Dean of Men and Women can zoom in?

well, so much for the pictures, I tried to shrink them, wasn't paying attention and saved over them with blobs.

This is what I was talking about though.

Gives new meaning to in loco parentis.

natural bridge, part II

Natural Bridge, VA was amazing. It is a testament to God's handiwork, really. It certainly looks hand crafted to me.

The presentation at night was interesting. They did a light show on the rocks as they read Genesis 1. It was interesting to hear

And God said, "Let there be light!"

booming down from the bridge. Oh, and when you see the pictures realize that there is a road going over it for perspective's sake.

You sit on one side of the bridge for half of the show, and on the other side for the finale. The ending starts with the song The Lord's Prayer, then the last days of Creation. The finale is more singing; beautiful renditions of two songs: God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again and one of my all time favorites Holy, Holy, Holy.

Christa and I couldn't help but sing with the choir at the end. And the bells resounded all the way down the path. It was one of the most lovely arrangements of Holy, Holy, Holy I've ever heard.

Thomas Jefferson used to own the bridge, back in the day. Christa and I were wondering who owns it now that this highly religious performance can continue. I haven't found out yet.

Well, here are the pics.

assorted thoughts and pictures

Okay, so I haven't posted in a while. I'm sorry. I need to write more. And I don't mean fluff. I want to really write some of the crazy things in my head. For posterity. And for your amusement.

I have been working on my constructed language. That has been nice.
And I composed a new tune for Fanny Crosby's poem To God Be the Glory. I have been "working."

And as a special treat I have pictures for you. These are from my little vacation to CO for Ben and Stephanie Young's wedding. The pictures are not that good. I'm working on the whole photographer thing.

pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Things I've learned about cameras and taking pictures

1. recharge camera before you leave


2. turn off flash when taking pictures through windows


3. push Kammer out of frame


4. recharge camera when you have arrived at hotel


5. don't forget the 35mm

3 in 1

This was from June 2 when we were just coming into St. Louis. Kammer was sitting next to me (I had to do some editing, let me tell you), so I'm sure he has all the good pictures of the Arch. But I at least got the Arch, City Limit St Louis, and Missouri State Line--all in one picture.

Our Mutal Friend

I had the pleasure of watching the movie retelling of Our Mutal Friend last night. It was long, but well worth it, in my estimation. I have not read the Dickens book, but now after seeing the movie, hopefully the book will be better and not worse. Here is my revised list of movies and the post that provides explanation.

Movies to Watch

1. Our Mutal Friend. Charles Dickens.

suggested by Hillary
2. ROTK. J.R.R. Tolkien; and Second Hand Lions

suggested by Joy
3. Powaqqatsi

suggested by Kammer
4. Unbreakable

suggested by apelles
5. Shadowlands

suggested by Christa
6. LOTR extended verserions: Fellowship; Two Towers; Return of the King. The Recruit

suggested by Cruv
7. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

suggested by JRC
8. The Pianist

suggested by Valien

jbo: simon says

pictures finally

jbo: a party to remember

Here are some pictures from the party that I promised so long ago.

music making

I got my casio set up on my desk. We will see how well it works out. Maybe I'll take a picture. That's probably the best way to "describe" it. To be continued...

happy mail

I got my MIDI cable adapters today. I shall write a song in jubilation. And I shall call it In Jubliation

a few pics from Bible conference

I really was going to take a memory stick of photos when I was at BJU/ in Greenville. But I haven't gotten over my camera shyness yet. When I pick up a camera I feel like everyone is staring at me. In other words, I only took a few pictures. I could kick myself. I might yet. But hopefully, I'll get some more pics when I'm down for graduation.

Here are a couple from our picnic on the grounds that turned out.

Dianna and Greg

bible conference picnic

animal blogs

Leave it to me to post an internet e-mail on my blog, but I found this too funny not to share. (For any of those who are wondering, I have a cat.) Thanks to Jen for sending it to me.

The following are excerpts from a dog and cat's journals.

Dog's diary:

8am -- Oh Boy! Dog food! My favorite!
9am -- Oh Boy! A car ride! My favorite
10am - Oh Boy! A walk! My favorite!
11am - Oh Boy! A car ride! My favorite!
Noon - Oh Boy! The kids! My favorite!
1pm -- Oh Boy! The yard! My favorite!
3pm -- Oh Boy! The kids! My favorite!
4pm -- Oh Boy! Dog food! My favorite!
5pm -- Oh Boy! Mom! My favorite!
7pm -- Oh Boy! Playing ball! My favorite!
9pm -- Oh Boy! Sleeping in master's bed! My
favorite!

Cat's diary:

Day 183 of my captivity...
My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre
little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on
fresh meat, while I am forced to eat dry cereal.
The only thing that keeps me going is the hope of
escape, and the mild satisfaction I get from
ruining the occasional piece of furniture.
Tomorrow I may eat another house plant.

Today my attempt to kill my captors by weaving
around their feet while they were walking almost
succeeded -- must try this at the top of the
stairs.

In an attempt to disgust and repulse these vile
oppressors, I once again induced myself to vomit
on their favorite chair -- must try this on
their bed.

Decapitated a mouse and brought them the headless
body, in an attempt to make them aware of what I
am capable of, and to try to strike fear into
their hearts. They only cooed and condescended
about what a good little cat I was. This did not
work according to plan.

There was some sort of gathering of their
accomplices. I was placed in solitary throughout
the event. However, I could hear the noise and
smell the food. More importantly I overheard that
my confinement was due to MY power of
"allergies." Must learn more about what this is,
and how to use it to my advantage.

I am convinced the other captives are flunkies,
or more likely snitches. The dog is routinely
released and seems more than happy to return. He
is obviously a half-wit. The bird on the other
hand has got to be an informant, and speaks with
them regularly. I am certain he reports my every
move. Due to his current placement in the metal
room, for now his safety is assured. But I can
wait, it is only a matter of time...

Time is my friend, I can wait, I will repay them
all.

masterminded

I found this test on esin and mind the gap.

thinker quiz

I found this test at transparency and decided to take it. Here is the gist and you can see the complete results in the extended entry:

I am a Musical Thinker which makes sense. And an Existential Thinker which I can see that too.

Musical thinkers:

    * Tend to think in sounds, and may also think in rhythms and melodies
    * Are sensitive to the sounds and rhythms of words as well as their meanings.
    * Feel a strong connection between music and emotions

Other Musical Thinkers include
Mozart, John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix

Careers which suit Musical Thinkers include
Musician, Music teacher, Sound engineer, Recording technician

Existential thinkers:

    * Like to spend time thinking about philosophical issues such as "What is the meaning of life?"
    * Try to see beyond the 'here and now', and understand deeper meanings
    * consider moral and ethical implications of problems as well as practical solutions

Other Existential Thinkers include
The Buddha, Gandhi, Plato, Socrates, Martin Luther King

Careers which suit Existential Thinkers include
Philosopher, Religious leader, Head of state, Artist, Writer

hey y'all

So I took this Yankee or Dixie Quiz tonight and my score was "78% (Dixie). That is a pretty strong Southern score!"

The test is based on dialect. I don't think it is rigged, but some of the choices seem limited. Anyway, I have always found dialect fascinating...but I guess not enough to study it closely. I'd rather sit down and invent my own language.

boxes

I know this sounds silly, but I like these boxes.

"Trust in the LORD forever, For in GOD the LORD, we have an everlasting Rock."
~ Isaiah 26:4 (NAS)

Wheel of Time

I have been reading the Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan again. A new book came out in January (which I got for my birthday, thank you Mrs. Sweede and Danielle). It is a prequel based on a short story. New Spring is fascinating. I don't remember the short story very well, so everything seems new to me.

Spoilers follow. I didn't really think about that fact until I was down with writing this entry. So...if you feel that you are going to read these books any time soon, you may wish to avoid this extended entry. Even though I want you to see my cool genealogy file.

Also, with my interest in genealogy renewed, I've been making charts again. I never realized that Galad, Gawyn and Elayne were Moiraine's nephews and neice. It hadn't occured to me that Taringail was her brother at all (half-brother). Furthermore, when Tigraine left Taringail, she remarried in the Waste and gave birth to the Dragon Reborn himself on the slopes of Dragonmount in sight of the Shining Walls of Tar Valon. So Galad and Rand are half-brothers.

Download file*

* This pictures works in IE, I have had some trouble with it in Mozilla because it is an .emf. If I can't get it to work cross-browser, I'll think of something else.

states

Okay, here are all the states I've been. Some of these may be cheating a little bit. But I still claim them.

create your own visited states map

One thing that I want to be completely honest about. I never visited the UP when I lived in Michigan. I know, I am a loser. Just wanted to speak the truth.

So I tried to do this yesterday. Joy put a link up from her blog. But it wouldn't work. Then I tried later. Still nothing. Then today David had it on his blog, so I thought, I'll try it in IE (disgusting, I know) from the link he has. I don't think it had anything to do with the link on Joy's versus the link on David's. I think it was just the web page project. (I refuse to believe it wouldn't work because of Mozilla, because I tried it in IE yesterday and it wouldn't work.) It just wasn't happy yesterday.

snowcrazy

More pictures from snowy Virginia Beach. I have made them smaller so it will take less time to open them.

My brother's morning labor

Neighbor's driveway from my backyard

Kid on bike

From the front door

bowling

We went bowling again before everyone went his or her separate ways (Danielle to Spain, Christa to Greenville, etc.). Once again, the timing for me wasn't quite right. It was the Sunday night after my procedure. But that didn't stop me from hanging out, as it were, snapping a few pictures and having a great time.

Here's one of Danielle and Ryan. My dear friend, Danielle, is in Spain now. Pray for her as she ministers there. She will be helping a missionary couple. I met Ryan last year a little before Thanksgiving. He's pretty cool and has started attending our church.

I'm trying to catch up with some pictures I was supposed to post but didn't have the time or internet capability to post in the past. I'll do my best not to confuse you with all the "this was this day, and that was that day."

morbid humor

I couldn't resist posting this. It's going around the Internet. Likely, I am the last to see it.

simon says

Stolen from jen,

Please post your recommendations for me to watch, read, listen to, blogcheck, do:

1. A movie.
2. A book.
3. A musical artist, song, or album.
4. A blogger not on my list.
5. Something to do in the next two months; something daring or adventuresome.

If I can keep track of things, I'll let you know what I think when I get done with it.

baking

My Grandmother (my mother's mom) has a pie business she runs from her home. She is amazing. She made 18 pies today (4 while I was there this afternoon) and 16 pie crusts (16 while I was there). Plus, I got to try a key lime (spelling?) pie as an experiment. It was delicious.

birthday list

I wanted to come up with a list of everyone's birthday. I guess the best way is for everyone to post a comment with his or her birthday date (is that redundant?).

You can answer with month and day...and year if you want to.

I am going to post the list on the side bar of my blog as I have seen it on others' weblogs. I'll cross out the day if it has already past, then start over next year.

Post away!

Please include your spouse if you are married even if they don't post, we don't want to forget them.

christmas carol quiz

You are 'Hark! The Herald Angels Sing'. You take
Christmas very seriously. For you, it is a
religious festival, celebrating the birth of
the Saviour, and its current secularisation
really irritates you. And you also look forward to the family
get together on Christmas Day.


What Christmas Carol are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

thanks to joy for providing the link.

open: bohannon bakery

I baked a pumkin roll today. It's remarkable I baked at all. I think I did it because Jen did it first, and I wanted to prove that I could do it too. How shallow of me. Well, Jen, since we can't do a taste test, I guess mine wins. But at least you are still the Skip-bo champ.

for a rainy day

If you need a pick me up, go here:

just for fun

morpheus

I did this silly quiz to find out who I would be from the Matrix. I think out of everyone I like being Morpheus the most. He had faith. [And just in case you are wondering: I know it's just a movie.]

You are Morpheus, from "The Matrix." You
have strong faith in yourself and those around
you. A true leader, you are relentless in your
persuit.


What Matrix Persona Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

thoughts about the Lunar Eclipse

So it wasn't as exceptional as I thought it would be. But what was pretty cool is that you could see so many stars. That's unusual around where I live because the airport is so close, and with the moon shining, it is very difficult to see them.

I've always enjoyed watching the stars and the moon. I wouldn't say that I am an ameteur astronomer at all, though. I did get a telescope when I was a child, and I tried to use it again to see Mars (when it was so close to us), but that didn't work too well.

Anyway, I've always enjoyed looking up. It makes me think of God. How mighty must He be? And He sums it up with "Iam that I am" (Exodus 3:14).

__________________________________________________

(Psalm 19:1 NNAS) The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.

conlangs are fun

I am a fan of constructed languages. No, I don't know Klingon or Esperanto. And my Sindarin isn't up to speed either. But I love language, and since the fifth grade I have been creating words and grammar and syntax for fun.

I don't do it all the time. I have to be in the mood. I hardly know what that means either. Sometimes I like to sit down and create something. And using language creatively is fun. The best page on the net (that I've found, and I've not looked in a while) is here. [I think there is one example with bad language. Just so you are forewarned.]

And so you don't feel left out, here is an example of the language I'm working on now:

[this needs to be updated; I'm working on it...]

A ireo in tedha* ete nimate, cès le peaneïri eti oncendà cide siaritde idarejuï!
A ireo in roscope in aron, re rebitaveneï licanate sil.
A ireo panvrineï di anorait lintýmès vereinès!

Translation:

O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend
The brightest heaven of invention,
A kingdom for a stage, princes to act
And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!

I don't think I should have tried Shakespeare so soon, that was hard. I might have to change that when I work on my rules for poetry. But you get the idea.

*I didn't know how to translate Muse, so I went with "guide."

superhero power

When I posted this, my brother asked me what my superhero power is. Quite frankly, I don't know. Out of these three choices, what do you think you would like the best?

I use Mozilla Firebird (thanks to Benjamin), so if you use Internet Explorer and my post doesn't make sense, please ask me to check it in IE. I forget to do that sometimes. IE isn't smart enough to figure some things out. It took me forever to get this stupid poll to show up. And something that was fun at first became a hassle. Oh well, I still learned things from it.

sticker

Hey has anyone seen these things? It's mindless fun. And I enjoy mindlessness from time to time.

sticker page

Aesop's fables

This is amusing:

Yahoo! News - 80-Year-Old Woman Knocks Rat Unconscious

This is hilarious:

Old Crow from series of doors

artwork

Chronicles of Narnia

Following in Ben's footsteps or web history, I have found out what book from the Chronicles I would be:

The final book of Narnia, you're a sometimes disturbing story about the end of the world and the beginning of a new one. Your characters include an evil monkey, a misguided donkey, stubborn dwarves and all the human characters from the previous books. You manage to be heartbreaking and beautiful at once.


Find out which Chronicles of Narnia book you are.

Interesting.
Follow the link to see what you are.

jmb