Dave Update

For the one or two of you still reading this, here's a little update on the expanding jonesian world here in South Hamilton, MA.

mayTen: Isaac David Jones was pulled by the headSholdersAndTorso into this world by Eva, a midwife at Beverly Hospital ten minutes before two o'clock. We got to hold him too; and take him home with us. Ha! Crazy. Since then it's been the kind of go-go-go you feel when you're in the passenger seat of the car, and you're already ten minutes late to a meeting you don't want to screw up. So it's been hard to sit down and write because writing usually calls out for some sort of settledness vis. one's subject. Yet here, even in theory I don't have the mental capacity to settle down around any subject, much less around the subject who just woke up screaming since Andrew is crying because he doesn't want to go to bed because his grandparents and his aunt are here with their computers, their projects, their conversations and their help. No longer mayTen, I know, but how did I get here? Crazy. But beautiful; Isaac is startlingly beautiful because he is here, and because he is my son, and because his head is so incredibly small and well defined that he looks like he is a shrunken 900-year-old man who glowers around the room with his strange expressions.

mayFourteen-mayEighteen: Even though she knows I am an new father, my boss scheduled me to open the coffee shop every day this week. That is, to get up at five-fifty AM after a night of waking up between sleeping. It's bearable for two reasons. First, I know I won't die on the job: I've already passed through the gauntlet of the worst-possible-scenario-actually-happening (i.e. there by myself, ten customer-deep waiting line of impatient stares, wrap order, frappe order, "oh, can you make that two wraps?" and then the register runs out of paper without warning (rendering it useless until the paper is changed)) and didn't die. Two, because I know I won't be working there past the summer. In fact, I have managed to secure a web-development contract (retainer based) with my brother-in-law's branding company in Cambridge, MA. So it's bearable.

mayFifteen- the house my Grandmother gave sold. This is good news because it means I am no longer in debt; though it won't pay off all of next year because the house is in Eureka, Kansas, and who wants to live in Eureka, Kansas? Exactly. So we didn't get very much, but what we got helps.

maySixteen- As I mentioned, I was able to get initial agreement toward a contract with Soldier Design, a branding company in Harvard Square. I am now cramming my head with as much knowledge of PHP and MySQL as possible so that I can begin building database-driven websites. I've gotten pretty good at Flash since I began contract-to-contract work (mainly writing actionscript in flash) and I've done a number of sites and components for Soldier Design with this. The contract will give me a fifteen-hour-per-week retainer so I can quit my other jobs and focus on web development as my sole source of income (which is very very nice).

OK, we're going to watch dream girls now. Maybe I'll add more in the comments soon, depending if anyone signals that they actually read this!

finis

Today I finished the requirements for the Master of Arts degree at the Univeristy of Texas at Austin. I guess it requires some stamping and filing before its officially official, but I'm pretty much a master of the univers(ity). I can feel the power flowing through my veins. Andy, why didn't you tell me about the power. It's incredible. It's intoxicating. I feel... just capital.

I also started looking for a different place to live. All this power can't fit in an apartment anymore, so I'm trying to find a house to rent. I'll need a roommate or two to pull it off, but I'm sure that with all this power I should be able to persuade someone to pick up part of my rent.

I shot a roll of film this afternoon, so I might have some cool Austin pics to post in the near future. We need some more pictures up that aren't of me in a skirt. In the meantime, I'm out, Reno style!

breaking and entering

So someone broke into my car today. I have a case number and everything. The cops took fingerprints. Which I find hilarious. I don't know what they thought they were going to steal. They didn't even take my Altoids. Or the sweatshirt in the back seat. I think they might have been after my ice scraper. But I fooled them. I always keep it in the trunk.

I turned in the master's report yesterday, which is splendid. Sort of had my heart broken the day before, which isn't. No worries. A few days, a few more pages written, and I can seek the heavenly bliss of oblivion. Consciousness. Burden. uhg

Summer Book?

So here's an idea: since we seem to be struggling to find topics that capture our collective attention, and given the fact that academic semesters are drawing to a close in the next couple of weeks, is anyone interested in selecting a book of general interest (theology, ethics, politics, etc.) that we can read together and discuss this summer? We could agree to read a couple of chapers a week (or whatever seems feasible), and post responses, questions, observations--all that good stuff. Even if only a few of us do it, it might be a nice way to transition us from a current events/anything that strikes our fancy format (which seems to be struggling) to one that is more organized and content- and discussion-rich. Clearly, I'm in. Any other takers? If so, what books do you suggest?

Chairman

I thought I'd let everyone know that my former roommate, the Chairman, will be living in Los Angeles and attending UCLA this coming fall. It looks like a very good gig for him since his brother is already living in So Cal and they can share an appartment, etc, etc. We should really try to get him to post his own updates now that he isn't in the PRC. I'll work on it.

Goodbye

Hi friends, the time has come for me to spend a semester off of the floor. My attempts to start a doctoral program this fall did not pan out, and I will be starting a job search as soon as I can find some free time. I am removing myself from the online community soon since it might hamper my job search. I thought I might not have to take this step, but the most recent prior post made my decision an easy one.

To everyone, I wish you the best. Given what I know of a few dating relationships, I am hopeful to be reunited with some of you in 2008 for a wedding or two or three. Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this blog. I have a lot of good memories - the P, WC, and MK cards; Logey's house on fire; our mission for Greenspan; naming Dave's child (good final choice); the personal updates; I could go on. Please pray for my job search. Keep centered on Christ.

Grace and peace, Strauss

My contact info is available through the college's alumni website except the email address is yahoo or verizon.net, not juno. I will likely continue reading the blog.

fishing

this should get a response

YHWH

Since it is the season of lent, we said the decalogue during the liturgy this morning. The third commandment is translated like this: "Thou shalt not invoke with malice the name of the Lord thy God." (The answer, of course, is "Amen. Lord have mercy.") Now, my fundigelical upbringing ingrained it into my head that the third commandment (always given as not taking the Lord's name in vain) means essentially "don't curse, don't use profanity" (or, since I was raised in west Texas, "don't cuss" would be more verbatim). Invoking God's name with malice sounds like something quite different. It sounds more like, "We need to make sure that homosexuals can't get married in this country because God said marriage is a man and a woman." It sounds, in short, like using God's name as an excuse to follow your malicious heart and not welcome your neighbor. Less an arbitrary restriction of personal piety and more the royal law of love that commands love your enemy, welcome the alien, I have washed your feet (next Thursday) go and do likewise. Just a thought, but a hospitable thought.

The Importance of State's Rights

You might recall that last year an international group of astronomers concluded that our solar system does not have nine planets as was previously thought, but eight, plus a whole bunch of sub-planetary detrius floating around. This was particularly bad news for the space-object-formerly-known-as-Pluto (SOFKAP), which was reclassified by this body of astronomers as nothing more than a big rock and is no longer considered a planet. My very educated mother just served us nine pizzas, indeed!

For concerned fans of the planet Pluto, it seemed that nothing could be done to save the little fellow from demotion. Science had spoken. All was lost.

Until now. The state of New Mexico, in a courageous assertion of state's rights, has decided to thwart scientific opinion by recognizing Pluto as a planet while SOFKAP is in its jurisdiction. Forget gay marriage-- if the New Mexican legislature has its way, the SOFKAP scandal will become the biggest issue in state's rights for a long time to come. As the Las Cruces Sun-News reports, "Under a measure approved by the House on Tuesday, Pluto will regain its status as a planet as it passes through New Mexico skies. The joint memorial also declared March 13 as "Pluto Planet Day."" That's right, whenever SOFKAP, the little planet that could, finds itself over the New Mexican skies, it can hold its head up high, a planet once again. And I, for one, am glad that New Mexico has taken a position on this issue. When will other states, or even the federal government, stop wasting time with absolutely pointless legislation and get on with the important work of governing? Thanks to New Mexico, planets of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. Bravo!

Living on a Prayer

So I'm watching George Mason play in the Colonial Athletic Association basketball final. If they win, GMU gets to dance again. It's fun being a student at a D1 school. As for further school, I still don't know if I get to go on for more school. Hopefully, I will know soon.

Happy Birthday, Steve!

Happy Birthday, Stephen!

As you creep ever closer to your late twenties, keep in mind some of the people who died at twenty-seven (Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain) and get everything you can out of twenty-six. Suck life from the marrow bones.

Sake wa doko desko.


and then there's this...

Believing Scripture but Playing by Science's Rules

Today’s New York Times has an interesting article about Marcus Ross, a paleontologist who earned his degree at the University of Rhode Island, Believing Scripture but Playing by Science’s Rules. There’s nothing particularly interesting about his dissertation (at least to me), but what is generating some controversy is his methodology—you see, he wrote a perfectly normal thesis about paleontology, separated from his religious beliefs. Or, as the NYT tagline puts it: “As a paleontologist and a creationist, Marcus R. Ross has produced academic work that contradicts his own beliefs.” I wonder if this article raises any thoughts for us about the ethics of positioning ourselves in academic discourses, of “passing,” to borrow a term from critical race studies, in order to get degrees, jobs, grants, promotions, etc. when we know that full disclosure (i.e. “I graduated from Wheaton College”) would be, as they say, the kiss of death.

Some excerpts:

“Dr. Ross is hardly a conventional paleontologist. He is a “young earth creationist” — he believes that the Bible is a literally true account of the creation of the universe, and that the earth is at most 10,000 years old.

“For him, Dr. Ross said, the methods and theories of paleontology are one “paradigm” for studying the past, and Scripture is another. In the paleontological paradigm, he said, the dates in his dissertation are entirely appropriate. The fact that as a young earth creationist he has a different view just means, he said, “that I am separating the different paradigms.”

“He likened his situation to that of a socialist studying economics in a department with a supply-side bent. “People hold all sorts of opinions different from the department in which they graduate,” he said. “What’s that to anybody else?””

from Tyler

Hey, who wants to go canoeing?

The coolest thing EVER!

You must see this skateboarding bulldog! I'll never be half this cool.

Traber611 Online is dead! Long live Traber611 Online!

Wow. This new format looks great. It's almost as good looking as... oh, never mind. You guys wouldn't want to hear about that sort of thing.

Aeijtzsche Update

Well, Coye sort of asked how I was doing in another thread, so I thought I'd do an official update.

As many of you may or may not know/remember, last April I moved from Grand Rapids to Los Angeles to start working with a small company that handled the Beach Boys archival library. All was well for a time, and getting to know the culture of LA has been fun. What kind of place is this? It's like another country in some ways, or perhaps another universe. For instance, the phrase "no, you can't bring your dog in here" is not understood by naitive Angelinos. A mile in the rest of the country is equal to roughly 2.7 miles here when using powered transportation. People don't understand the concept of "snow".

On the other hand, LA is a place like any other, with lots of completely regular people and such.

It ended up being kind of a tough experience for me in the end now, about a month before Christmas, it became apparent that the company I was working for was about to break up. And, just after the new year, the company formally split up and became a non-entity, and I essentially lost my job, though I still am on call for the occasional errand from my former bosses.

All of that kind of took the wind out of my sails. I don't really feel like living here anymore. I like the area a lot in terms of geography and weather and interest, but I just don't want to be here right now.

I sold some guitars and am living off of the money from those sales. Contemplating my next move. As much as I dislike academia (sorry, Dr. everybody) I'm pretty close to trying to get some degrees and some qualifications. One problem with that is I still don't really have any idea what I want to do with my life, making any sort of specific pursuit difficult to choose.

Anyway, I think I may return to Grand Rapids for a while, do some music-related recording, and whatnot. We'll see.

Any of you DC guys know somebody in the FBI? I wouldn't mind being an elite special agent if somebody could hook that up.

Peace out.

Wilfred Owen

The Parable of the Old Man and the Young

So Abram rose, and clave the wood, and went,
And took the fire with him, and a knife.
And as they sojourned both of them together,
Isaac the first-born spake and said, My Father,
Behold the preparations, fire and iron,
But where the lamb for this burnt-offering?
Then Abram bound the youth with belts and straps,
And builded parapets and trenches there,
And stretchèd forth the knife to slay his son.
When lo! an Angel called him out of heaven,
Saying, Lay not thy hand upon the lad,
Neither do anything to him. Behold,
A ram caught in a thicket by its horns;
Offer the Ram of Pride instead of him.
But the old man would not so, but slew his son...

The DC Informant

Sometimes, people seem to forget that there is a T6 enclave here in DC (among all of the talk of reestablishing a physical T6 community). I'm going to take the liberty of providing a post Morehouse wedding update since they haven't been active bloggers. We (Luke, Brett, DeGroot and myself) were all together last night along with DeGroot's girlfriend for Emily Tangen's birthday dinner at a Moroccan restaurant. Luke, Brett, and Dave all see each other on a very regular basis since they all share an apartment. The hang out of choice is Mario Kart for the GameCube at their place, but Luke and Dave are also big into going to a local soccer bar on weekends and do not discourage Brett and me from joining them. Unfortunately, Dave can't do the athletic stuff much these days, because he is in need of knee surgery and will be out of commission for a couple of weeks after the surgery. Please keep him in your prayers.

It looks like I will be the one most likely to depart from the T6 fellowship first. Brett was considering applying to law school, but he decided not to because working to save his boss's job ate considerably into his LSAT study time. I'm currently waiting to hear back from econ Ph.D. programs after applying to 8 of them. None of the schools are in the DC area. I've been asked a few times if I could go anywhere, where would I go, but I'm trying to avoid answering that question until I really know my choices. Plus, if all continues to be going well, I'm hopeful to be taking someone else's opinion into consideration besides my own. Yes, if any of you are thinking it and don't already know it, I have a girlfriend, who I think is very special. I like talking about her, but if anyone wants to hear more, I'd prefer to fill you in further some way other than the blog. I will say one more thing though that when I went out to Chicago to visit her for a post Christmas vacation I got to see Brad Kaspar. It was very encouraging to hear how his missions work in the Czech Republic is going.

Congratulations!!

AAAHHHH!!! Hearty congratulations to our collegue and friend Coye, who passed his qualifying exam yesterday (no doubt with the flyingest of colours!!!)!!! Although both his and Andy's intelligence pale in comparison to my staggering cognitive faculties (after all, the whole concept of instutionalized hazing...er, qualifying examinations... was my doing!!!), his success is yet worthy of high accolades and much praise.

William Butler Yeats

"Never give all the heart, for love
Will hardly seem worth thinking of
To passionate women if it seem
Certain, and they never dream
That it fades out from kiss to kiss;
For everything that's lovely is
But a brief, dreamy, kind delight.
O never give the heart outright,
For they, for all smooth lips can say,
Have given their hearts up to the play.
And who could play it well enough
If deaf and dumb and blind with love?
He that made this knows all the cost,
For he gave all his heart and lost."

Games, boys. Games.