End of the year means end of the year lists...

All the magazines and newpapers are publishing their "best of 2005" lists for various categories. However, since I didn't really care for 2005, and since I do enjoy drawing attention to myself, I've decided to create a list of my own. Nothing to do with 2005.

Aeijtzsche's Top 10 songs that clearly rip-off the Aeijtzsche & H Hitt Facktory

10. Yes: Owner of a Lonely Heart

If the Hitt facktory were slightly guilty of overuse of Orchestral Hits, then Yes needs to be locked up for life for the outrageous orchestral hits that adorn this song.

9. Weather Report: Teen Town

Ridiculous, meandering barely melodic bassline. Total rip-off.

8. Jan & Dean: Batman

Jan and Dean actually stole their entire schtick from the Hitt Factory. A duo writing music that can bring a grown woman to belly laugh.

7. Snoop Dogg ft. Pharell: Drop it like it's Hot

They used an aerosol can as a "snare drum." Gimme a break. So Aeijtzsche and H.

6. The Beach Boys: Good Vibrations

Brian Wilson recorded tiny snippets of music, then later patched them together to form a semi-cohesive whole. Sound familiar? I thought so.

5. The Police: Spirits in the Material World

The skipped first beat followed by nice little guitar up-beats and an off-beat bassline make for a hitt facktoryesquely unsettling rhythmic experience.

4. Mahavishnu Orchestra: John's Song #2

Long, fast melodies, followed by a tight 7/8 groove. Way to be original, guys.

3. Bjork: Where is the Line?

Mouthdrums.

2. Brian Wilson: The Vege-Tables Arguments

Brian taped a whole series of friend Michael Vosse arguing with session drummer Hal Blaine about vegetables. Mommy Mommy?

1. The Flaming Lips: Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Part 2

If you only seek out one song from this list, let it be this one. The Flaming Lips actually took a time machine into an alternate future, where the Aeijtzsche and H Hitt Factory have a huge recording budget. They stole a final mixdown of a Hitt Facktory song completed in 2017. This is that song. Gurgling synth bass, screaming, animal noises, childishly coincident ascending and descending melodies into eternity...


Happy New Year, everyone!

hey

You guys should join the MySpace community.

An old conversation

Since this is our 1 year aniversary month on the blog, I thought I would add a little to one of our previous conversations. I heard this on NPR (Fresh Air) last Wednesday and thought it would be interesting for several of us here. It's called "Misquoting Jesus" and here it is: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5052156

Alan in the Archives

I was searching the 611 online archives for certain tour de force performances featuring our friend AG. You can imagine my disappointment-- despair, actually-- when I couldn't hear the beloved Fed say things like "stop playing games with my face" and "is that really my voice?". I assume their disappearance has something to do with verdak. So, Dave... can you possibly make them available somewhere else? Please? I'll beg. I'll whine. I'm not above flattery, bribery or empty threats. It would be like a giant anniversary present for the blog. And Andy would be happy. Very happy.

New Post

This is long overdue, considering how often I check the blog and how much (really) I care to keep my friendship with you guys.

I am back in America and living now in my hometown, Tyler, Texas. It is a great place. And I am friendly. Come visit.

:-)

Midway In Our Life's Journey

If you want to know the truth, I began this disorderly and almost endless collection of scattered thoughts and observations in order to gratify a good mother who knows how to think. But even that’s not the whole story. Actually, in my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since. "Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone," he told me, "just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.” What’s this about advantages? What is it that you’re trying to say? If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. So I won’t. I’ll begin in medias res, with this reassurance only: You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings. I know now where to begin, but when… ah, that’s a different question entirely. At the beginning of July, during a spell of exceptionally hot weather, towards evening, a certain young man came down on to the street from the little room he rented from some tenants in S--- Lane and slowly, almost hesitantly, set off towards K---n Bridge. Or maybe it was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. No, no it was September—of that I’m certain. On a day during which we celebrate labor with recreation. Yes, those were halcyon days. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity. Well, let’s not get carried away. But although I stood at the brink of darkness and fear, I was not nearly so bad off as Gregor Samsa, who awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. In sooth, I know not why I am so sad.

So the beginning of September, as I said, opens this tale of woe. I found myself steadily losing weight. 180. 178. 174. 170. 168. 162. 159. I took my belt in a notch. I tightened my watch. I started eating and drinking more. And I went on with my life, but decided to visit the doctor. This doctor poked and prodded and relieved me of various and sundry bodily fluids and diagnosed me with an incurable disease. Call me Ishmael. Incurable, but treatable. Treatable, but deadly. Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of York. Why did this happen to me? No one knows. All they would tell me is that all children, except one, grow up. Should I take comfort from this promise? I don’t know that either. When shall we three meet again In thunder, lightning or in rain?

In the beginning…

wow

This place needs something new to spice it up. You can't tell me that no one in the group has something new and exciting to talk about. I know someone must be hiding something.

161

I am back in Amarillo at my parents' house for Thanksgiving. Hope everyone had a good one. I'm taking advantage of this being a holiday as an excuse not to do any work (I have a tidy stack of books and journal articles in the guest room (that's strange. It's one thing to leave home and go off to college and come home on holidays to your own room with your own stuff, but it's quite a different thing to take all your belongings with you and then stay in your parent's new guest room. Austin feels more like my home now (as I sit in Amarillo) than it has at any point over the last four months of living in Bat City (a nickname for Austin, based on the number of bats that live in the area (there are over 2.5 million bats under the Congress Avenue bridge alone)). I'm really looking forward to going HOME at the end of the weekend, taking the bus through my new city and sleeping in my own bed in my own appartment. It wouldn't be that strange at this point to tell someone that I'm from Austin (unless of course I was speaking in Spanish (in which case you are always FROM the place you were born (soy de (I now have 161 views of my blogger profile (beat that chumps)) Amarillo))). At the same time, I haven't really seen as much of Austin as I would like (grad school keeps one rather busy), and I am looking forward to spending some time at HOME in AUSTIN over the Christmas break. At any rate, I feel much more independent, more... grown I guess. It feels nice.)-- a combination of books by and articles on Philip Roth, Jacques Derrida and Emmanuel Levinas. It's good reading, but it's all I've been reading for a very, very long time. Centuries perhaps.) I know it seems stupid to try working over a holiday break (you probably noticed that that was the last closing parenthesis, if you were paying attention), but I have two twenty-page rough drafts due next week, and I can't afford not to work at least some. Happy Thanksgiving!

Have we lost the plot?

So... I was at Bible study tonight, and come prayer time somebody in the group said that we must pray for "In God We Trust" to stay on our money, as though all good Christians should be praying for that. It bugged me a lot.

It was presented as a need for us to pray about it because it's part of a slippery slope of persecution. I don't want to see Christians in America persecuted, but I do not think that defending In God We Trust on money is a matter of persecution. Also, I think that praying for relief from true persecution is perfectly acceptable, but where do we get off thinking that the Christian life is supposed to be cushy? Some persecution might be part of God's plan for the Christian Church in America in order to strengthen it. Not that all topics of early church prayer made it in the Bible, but the prayers from the early church recorded in the Bible seemed to focus on significantly different matters than where the government allows reference to God, let alone much more significant forms of intolerance/persecution. I hate it when Christians hold the opinion that all good Christians must go along with and pray for whatever stance the political Christian right takes, while failing to pray for so many other things that we should!

In God I do trust, and happy Thanksgiving. Let the fireworks begin.

Another Austin Afternoon

I stood facing my appartment from the bus stop across the street. The bus wasn't scheduled to arrive for several more minutes, but I was enjoying the wait. A cold front finally blew through last week, and today has an almost perfect mixture of cool air and sunshine. I looked left to see if the bus was coming-- I could see it a couple of blocks up the street, one more stop and one traffic light away. I looked right and saw a middle-aged man, clean-shaven with a fishing hat and a pair of New Balance shoes, jogging towards the bus stop with a trumpet in his left hand. He stopped under the little shelter, tucked the trumpet under his arm and produced a small bottle of Lord Calvert from his left hip pocket. Unscrewing the white-plastic lid of the half-empty bottle, he made a moments eye contact with me, took a sizable belt and slid the bottle back into his pocket, replacing the lid with one fluid motion. I commented on the weather. "The weather's perfect," he said, sitting down on the bench. "Did you see the sunrise two days ago?" "I saw the end of it, I was waiting here for the bus." I have to be on campus before eight on Thursday mornings. "The clouds were stacked up in layer on layer, and the color was unbelievable!" He went on to describe, quite accurately, how the sunsets this time of year take on a color that isn't quite pink but isn't exactly red: "We don't even have a word to describe what it is, but it's beautiful." All the time he spoke, he fingered the keys of the trumpet absentmindedly. I think his hands were playing wordless colors, silently. Just before the bus pulled up, he put his head down to the trumpet and blew out a couple of smooth Jazz runs. "I love this trumpet; only sixty dollars." He boarded the bus behind me and took a seat near the front. Glancing up to make sure the driver was distracted, he took another quick pull from the bottle, settled back into his seat and fingered out a melody with the trumpet's mouthpiece resting under his chin.

Briar Patch! if you know what I mean

Here's a neat Where's Waldo game with an interesting ending when you find him. (hint: it's not the effeminate look-alike eating cotton candy in the front).

http://www.office-will.com/freewill/w/

still hot

The calendar tells me that the season is changing, but the weather around here apparently hasn't got the message. To paraphrase Henry Ford, calendars are bunk. I want to wear sweaters. I want to be cold. I'd settle for not sweating. I will see. In other title-related news, I'm still hot. But the ladies apparently aren't getting the message. To paraphrase Henry Ford, Coye is bunk. Speaking of bunk, I'm interested what kind of odds you guys are giving Bush's new Supreme Court nomination. I kind of want her nomination to fail just so I'll feel like the congress still functions and isn't just a rubber-stamping machine. So, I'm going to suggest an optimistic 60/40 chance that she gets the boot instead of the bench. And speaking of changes, I like the all black layout. Tres chic.

whew

Sweet action, my CPO box is MINE forever! I think I will somehow integrate this fine piece of American workmanship into the decor of my house.

Dave Update

The first brave leaves outside my window have already begun their pilgrimage toward the soil; they've given up their green without a sound, and slowly they're loosening their native bonds and waiting for that sudden moment of release. It won't be long before all the host of leaves follow in these fading steps-- before the skeletons of bare bark are left standing in the fragrance of this yearly sacrifice.

Fall: my twenty-sixth. I find it's the season with which I resonate most strongly--there's a strange hope about its dance toward death: an silent longing for rebirth--a longing which turns dreadful decay into a beautiful altar of love.

+++

If you have google earth (pretty much the coolest program out there), and plug in 142 Essex Street, South Hamilton, MA, you'll see the earth tilt and turn and the camera will zoom in toward the northeastern coast of the United States. You'll see Long Island and Cape Cod grow and disappear below view, then northern Boston and Cape Ann, and then you're all inland with streets, clusters of trees, and clearings. When you stop, you're hovered just to the right of Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary's main entrance. The campus is to the North. A small road drifts up past a rectangular pond and splits into a circuit around the "great field" where we play soccer and Ultimate Frisbee. The field is shaped like a thin pear; my apartment is up where the imaginary stem would be. To the west (up on top of the hill), you'll see the administrative and academic buildings.

So that's my little world. Any of you are welcome any time.

This coming week is reading week, so classes are off and we're all trying to catch up on papers and readings and so on. I'm taking four classes: Biblical Hebrew I, Systematic Theology I, Church to the Reformation (History), and The World Mission of the Church (Missions). It's been interesting to go over in the classroom all the material that we've discussed on the blog (things like Tradition and Scripture, Truth and Method, Love and Presence). As you can imagine, the contours of the conversation are quite different here. I hope we're not finished talking about these things; they're important.

That's what goes on up on the hill, down in the apartment the world's a bit different. Andrew's now 14 weeks old. He's talking all the time (though I have no idea what he's saying), and laughing. I love it when he laughs; its one of the most incredible feelings in the world when he's laughing and I'm laughing and we're simply enjoying the beauty of this relationship that God is giving to us.

The major bummer has been that I've been unable to find a part-time job around here. That's been hard. It's like holding your screaming and inconsolable infant: you know that there is a terminus--it will end--but that doesnt exactly make it less horrible.

OK, maybe it's not that bad, but it's not fun not being able to get the work you want.


+++

As you might imagine, it's taken a few sittings throughout the day to finish this little update. It's dark outside now, humid and warm and dark. Another day has passed, another day will come. My body's tired and achy--my mind is warn and fading--sleep comes soon, and with it: the grace of letting go of my weary mental grip on this massive world.

The Law and the Body

I remember the Logemonster bringing up some issues about governmental control of the body-- particularly the force of the law over particular bodies. (I think it might have been during the Schaivo power grab.) Anyways, I saw this news piece today on the AP news-wire, and I thought I would see if anyone has comments or ideas about this sort of invasiveness. I'm not entirely comfortable with the ruling myself, but I'm not sure whether or not to blatantly condemn it. Let's just say that it makes me anxious...

sad news

http://www.wheaton.edu/Athletics/mbasketball/will.html

NPR: Music from Iraq

Fellas,
I heard a story on NPR la otra dia about an army reservist who is a jazz musician back in the world but who continues to compose music while in Iraq. He composes electronically-- not unlike 611 studios-- and posts his music on the internet-- not unlike 611 online. I thought that this would be particularly interesting to a lot of us here (especially Dave, Steve and Aeijtzsche), so I'm puting up a link. You have to love "All Things Considered."

Lifestyle changes for Jon

Hello guys, in the last month I've made some pretty radical changes (for me) in my life and am finally here to give everyone an update.
But first I'd like to say a huge thank you to Strauss, Dave DeGroot, Brett, Liz, and Carrie for giving me places to stay during my vacation in August and for spending time visiting with me. It was an awesome trip and very relaxing. It felt great to see such good and dear friends again. Hopefully it won't be another three years until I can see you guys again. And now the update....

As we went into September and right before my vacation I turned in my notice to McDonald's. While the job certainly filled a need for me in the past it had become a great source of trouble for me in the past six months or so. It was almost impossible for me find ways to keep advancing myself musically except for the odd lesson or so because I had to schedule everything at least a month in advance. I was also almost never able to attend church because there were only three of us salaried managers to cover all the shifts in a week. And I had zero time to unwind with friends and family whom I was seeing about once every two weeks or so. Add to this an ever growing sense of frustration and depression and this job had to go.
I'm now doing several things part-time to earn money. On Monday through Wednesday I'm teaching piano lessons and accompanying a few singers at East Central College. I only have a very few students or singers right now though so it's not as much money as it will hopefully become. And for the other part-time job I'm now a bartender at a local restaurant called the Pasta House Company. It's been a lot of fun lately and once I learned the different alchohols and drink recipes it got a lot easier and while I'm not the best bartender they've got I definitely not the worst either.
Since I can no pretty much set my own schedule I auditioned for a select choir in St. Louis and made it in. They're called the Bach Society Chorus. You can check them out at www.bachsociety.org if you want. It's really been a great choir to be a part of everyone in it is such a high caliber singer that it's really a joy to be in rehearsals with them. And almost everyone in the choir is a Christian and most of the pieces that we perform and sacred in nature. Almost all of our concerts are performed in the great cathedrals and churches in St. Louis. All in all it's going to be a blast I think. Hopefully if I'm a member again next year I can actually earn one of the paid positions but we'll see.
I'm also able to take lessons right now from two really great teachers, Dr. Leon Burke and Jim Uselman. They are both really great guys and I feel blessed to have them both as mentors and teachers. Which I've been sorely lacking for the last few years. I think that under their tutelage I'll be able to grow both as a musician and as a person.
I'm going to go now but I'd like to leave a note of encouragement for anyone who might need it. If circumstances in your life are making you feel miserable and depressed, whether they are from a job or whatever the cause. Don't be afraid to change your life. It can be pretty scary to leave the safety of the known for the uncertainty of new things. But if you don't make the changes you need to, then the only thing you can be certain of is that no one else will do it for you. Think hard, pray hard, and then act. You'll be much happier in the long run if you listen to your heart and what God is telling you. Bye guys I'll talk to you all later.

The Struggle to Find Us

I decided to see how hard it is to find our site using the new google blogsearch.

It couldn't find us using Traber 6 or Traber6.

It couldn't find us in a search for TEFKAMS.

It couldn't find us in a search for Traber Wheaton either (but it did provide some mildly interesting results).

Nor could it find us in a search for Strauss Greenspan or Glubby Jones.

I did find us when I searched for Dusty Marlett.
Dusty rollin' in the dough
16 Jul 2005 by Stephen
Dusty, what happened to your site?? http://www.marlett.net/ Did you sell the
domain name for the big bucks?? "This site is currently under contruction If you
are looking for Dusty's personal site, it has moved to a folder inside of this ...
611 Online! - http://traber6updates.blogspot.com

I also found us when I typed in 611 online.
611 Online! - Welcome friend! Consider this your online Steve-and-Adam's room! Traber 611 Online! So kick back, grab your favorite SAGA-esque snack,...



Personally, I don't see what the big deal is. I'm not ashamed by our site. Plus, our site is stinking hard to find even with blogsearch unless you know to type in 611 online, or you have a fascination with Dusty. If we really feel that this situation needs to be remedied, the easy solution is to expel Dusty from the blog and wipe out all 611 online records of his existence. I don't see wordpress as necessary.

For Dusty: John 15:13*


* Disclaimer: Expulsion of Dusty is a tongue in cheek suggestion that I do not feel should be carried out yet.

Tabla

Steve and I went to an new Indian restaurant in our area tonight. We were the only ones there for most of the time, so we started talking to the (Japanese) owner and asked him if he had any cool Indian music to play on his CD player there. He played a 'tabla' drum CD and the reason I'm telling you this is 1)Steve made me, because I never post to the blog and 2)I'd like to know what other intellectual-friendly tear-inducing brooding and esoteric music you guys know about and I don't...said music retaining intricate chord structures and penetrating and voice-shatteringly high melodies and at the same time remaining radio-friendly.

If that's not clear, just tell me and the rest of us some music worth listening to that we don't know about. (And for me, remember, I really know nothing.)

I Have Seen the Future...

Alas, fair friends, it is true. For those of you, like Dusty, who have been fearing this for some time, I bring to you grave tidings of a new and insidious search engine, developed by Google, to infiltrate our fair blogosphere. I can bearly bring myself to speak its name... blogsearch. Oh, the humanity!

Adam's Road Trip

Adam, I expect you to fill this post or a new one with an personal update if you ever get some down time while in Wheaton. I hope you got there safely.

Coye

Coye, I will be in Austin this weekend! Just think, we will be in the same great city at the same time! Do you ever cruise down 6th street?

H

H, How is Meyers coming along? Still working there? I know I probably spelled Meyer wrong, and I sure have no motivation to attempt the proper spelling of your name, but oh well.

Does anyone have a digital copy of the Wheaton song? I am referring to the one in the college hymn book. Thanks

Look at what's hot!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8939242/site/newsweek/page/3/

HOTTEST CHRISTIAN COLLEGE Wheaton College, Wheaton, Ill. This is not a Bible college, Wheaton officials say. Bible colleges mostly train ministers. Wheaton, with 2,400 students, instead is a place committed to evangelical Protestant Christian faith, as part of the education of students going on to hundreds of different vocations. "We all have one thing in common: our love and our devotion to Jesus Christ," says junior Erin Tanana. The school is known for strong academics and its honor code. Alumni range from evangelist Billy Graham, '43, to Michael Gerson, '86, a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush.

Proof of My Son's Absolute Cuteness!

Post on UK Acts of Hate

Acts of hate: full list of 'deportation' actsBy Times Online
The Home Office today published a list of "unacceptable behaviours" which will lead to the deportation or exclusion of any foreign national who commits them from the UK.

According to the Home Secretary the list is indicative rather than exhaustive and covers any non-UK citizen whether in the UK or abroad.

Terrorist violence
Cannot foment, justify, glorify terrorist violence in furtherance of particular beliefs

Terrorist acts
Cannot seek to provoke others to terrorist acts

Criminal acts
Cannot foment other serious criminal activity or seek to provoke others to serious criminal acts

Inter-community violence
Cannot foster hatred which might lead to inter-community violence in the UK.

Method
Individuals who do the above by any means or medium are caught by the legislation, including:
- writing, producing, publishing or distributing material;
- public speaking including preaching
- running a website
- using a position of responsibility such as teacher, community or youth leader

138

Hook 'em, Horns! Well, I made it. The drive was long, the weather was hot, the furniture was heavy, the weather was hot, the unpacking was tedious, the weather was hot and the weather was hot, but I made the move down to Austin. I am still getting a few things set up in my appartment, but it is starting to fall together pretty well. I am spending this week trying to get as much of the tedious preparatory things done for school before everyone else shows up and I have to wait three hours in line to jump through the same hoops. I got my UT id on Monday, which lets me ride Austin buses for free, and I got my keys and my computer accounts and my financial aid worked through and the list continues. It has been strange to be in a city where I don't know anyone and not really have anything to do (the above chore list sort of counts, but it's not exactly a full time employment). This living alone thing could get sort of lonesome, although I'm sure it will be better when I start classes and have tons of work to do all the time. If anyone knows any tall, attractive young women between 21 and 24 who are looking for a place to live in Austin... just kidding (not really). Actually, the problem may be that there are too many single twenty-somethings in Austin. And I think we may have all missed out on some things by not going to school in the South... Anyways, I am really looking forward to starting classes and academic life in the next couple of weeks. I'll let you know how it's going when it gets going.


138 is the number of times my profile has been viewed since we started the blog in December. That means that either you guys can't get enough Coye and read my profile compulsively, or we must have had a number of interlopers on the site. Either way, I think it's pretty cool. Love you guys!

Weddings bring reunions

I was at a Wheaton wedding a couple of weeks back, and a couple of T6 guys (sahv and Jon Steimel) mentioned that what interests them most about this site is the personal updates, so I'm just going to say that weddings are great. You get to celebrate two people getting married, and you get to see old friends.

In this case, the wedding was Vince Campbell and Diana Mojica's, and the old friends were Jon Steimel, Steve Hunter, Kristin Brostrom, and Carey Stamps. Wheaton probably would have loved having a photographer there to advertise Wheaton's efforts at diversity and multi-culturalism. It was very evident that Diana and especially Vince did a great job of breaking down color barriers while at Wheaton. Guests backgrounds included Puerto Rico and at least a dozen Latin American nations, various regions of Africa, Korea, China, Japan, probably some other Asian localities. Of course, us people of European descent were represented as well. Wedding guests were encouraged to dress in traditional clothing of whatever country they come from. I could not help but think a little bit of the wedding feast of the Lamb, while at the wedding. The entire ceremony was in both Spanish and English. For those of you if any who knew Kerlie (pronounced Curly), she did a great job translating.

The wedding being on Friday left another two days, before we all had to get back to our lives. It wasn't hard to convince Jon Steimel to come in to St. Louis from Gerald, MO. to be our tour guide for the day. It was a wonderful day, mostly because of all of us just enjoying each other's company. (The weather was perfect, too, which helped.) The day was so pleasant and relaxing, that I would go so far as to call it therapeutic. We went to the St. Louis arch and learned about Lewis and Clark through a movie before going up to the top of the arch in the most clausterphobic elevator that I have ever been in. They were more like pods than cars. We had lunch at the Hard Rock and wandered around the mall next door to it, before meeting up with coy. There was a shallow pool outside the mall where you could lounge around and feed the fish for a quarter. I guess we were easy to entertain. That night, we hit the St. Louis city museum, a one-of-a-kind place that Jon highly recommended. We spent the next few hours exploring tubes, caves, slides, planes, fire engines, and other types of art designed to be played on. The place had an indoor, and outdoor bar to boot. If you have any kid still in you and you are in St. Louis, that place is a must visit. The fellowship was broken at Steak 'n' Shake very late that night with goodbyes to the girls. Then, Steve and I said goodbye to Jon back at the house that we were crashing at. Steve and I parted ways. Goodbyes were easier for me than they might have been as I am seeing Jon in a week when he comes to DC, and I've seen Steve 3 times now since graduation. Then, Carey is just down the road in Baltimore.

In separate wedding reunion news, DeGroot, Brett, and myself met up with Dusty and his girlfriend Liz when they were in town for Andrea Ratzloff's wedding, on a Sat. night a few weeks back. I have very little to report other than what Dusty has already told everybody other than that Liz is tall and evidentl self motivated based on the fact that she is already almost done with dental school at the age of 22 if I remember right. I'm sure Dusty will correct me if I am wrong.

If anyone wants a more personal update, I'm giving one, but I'll keep it short. Work is going well. I restart part-time graduate school in the fall. I'm praying about how to get more involved at church as my current responsibilities ended when the summer started. I'll likely help out with youth ministries in some capacity. Given the lack of school and church commitments currently, I've had a lot of free time, which I've largely filled with fun. I saw Chelsea of the British Premier League take on DC United with Dave and Brett. Very cool. This past weekend I tubed down a river near Harpers Ferry, WV with some non-Wheaton friends, and next weekend I'm taking Monday off from work for a two day hang out at the ocean with Jon Steimel and Dave De Groot. Here's hoping that other people's summers have been as good as mine or better.

what are the odds?

Guys, do you think he can pull this off... Hyde's spot would be a tough spot to win, don't you think? I wonder if this is more of a show run, just to tell the students and grandkids?


WWJD for Congress?
By The Duke
From: 2006 Elections Table
Wheaton College professor Lindy Scott is exploring a run for retiring Illinois Rep. Henry Hyde's seat in Congress. Prof. Scott is the Director of the Center for Applied Christian Ethics, and he apparently is taking his own teaching to heart."I would want to serve as if Jesus were serving," Scott says. A pastor in the Evangelical Free Church, Scott was a missionary and an author before joining Wheaton's faculty.But before all of you blue-staters get your britches in a bunch, you need to know that Scott is a Democrat. He calls himself a compassionate Christian who is conservative on some issues and progressive on others. He opposes the death penalty and privatization of Social Security, and supports gun control, increased education funding, and steps towards universal health care. Foreign policy experience? Scott is the author of a book called Terrorism and the War on Iraq, and he lived in Mexico for 16 years. As the Duke has said for a long time, the evangelical community is not the monolithic conservative institution that Republican political strategists would have you believe. Wheaton College is a strong academic institution that is the alma mater of both Billy Graham and Denny Hastert. Some even call it the "Harvard of Christendom," a reference to its prominent standing among Christian colleges, so do not underestimate the impact this announcement could have across the evangelical community. The Washington media have accepted the Republican spin that people of faith are all conservative Republicans. In part this may be that there are too few Democratic elected officials who are comfortable speaking from an evangelical perspective. Lindy Scott in Congress might begin to change that.

Click on the following link!
Lindy Scott for Congress

Viva la Revolution!

For those of you who may be unaware that the revolution is upon us, that the kingdom of God is at hand, I bring to you a very important announcement. As you well know, we do a lot of talking in this space about community, especially Christian community—how to define it, what principles govern it, the ontological status of its participants (is this sounding at all familiar?)—but what you didn’t know is that while we have been talking, others have been acting, and now it’s time to put your money where your mouth is and move to the great state of South Carolina. That’s right, the kingdom of God is here, or at least it will be, and you can join up in the Palmetto State. A group calling itself Christian Exodus (see media coverage), disillusioned that even with a Christian president and Republican majorities in both houses of Congress, America is still sliding into a morass of moral decay, has proposed establishing an authentic Christian community in SC with the eventual goal of seceding from the Union! (Has this been tried before?) To be fair, secession isn’t their primary goal, but it is on the table according to Mike Sawyer, a member of the group: "The thought of secession is a last resort strategy. We hope to work within the system as much as possible in order to restore a true constitutional government."

According to their website, “ChristianExodus.org offers the opportunity to try a strategy not yet employed by Bible-believing Christians. Rather than spend resources in continued efforts to redirect the entire nation, we will redeem States one at a time. Millions of Christian conservatives are geographically spread out and diluted at the national level. Therefore, we must concentrate our numbers in a geographical region with a sovereign government we can influence through the electoral process. ChristianExodus.org is orchestrating the move of thousands of Christians to reacquire our Constitutional rights by electing State and local officials who will interpose on behalf of the people and refuse to enforce illegal federal acts. Click on our Plan of Action page to find out how we can experience God-honoring governance once again…

“South Carolina can secure the rights of her citizens by interposing her authority under the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The federal government operates outside its delegated powers in the areas of education, religion, abortion, domestic behavior, intrastate communication, intrastate commerce, taxation, welfare, healthcare, gun regulation, and a host of other subjects… ChristianExodus.org will continue to move Christians into South Carolina until we possess a representative majority in both houses of the General Assembly. Such a strategy will make the sovereignty debate public, and the influence of our membership will tip the scales in favor of constitutionally limited government founded upon Christian principles.”

I have to admit, I give these people high marks for creativity, but what do you make of all of this? Should we be trying to turn America into a Christian theocracy? Is that what Jesus intended for the church--in this century or any other? Again, according to Mike Sawyer, “The USA is God's country, the greatest nation of modern times. We've fed the world, fought its wars, sent out more missionaries to spread the word of God than any other. Our Declaration and Constitution were divinely inspired.” I’d love to hear if anyone is motivated by this to think about moving to South Carolina, or any other commentary on this new movement.

almost...done

So... I get to come home in another day or two... or five. Sooner or later, anyway. Hope to see you guys soon.

Dusty rollin' in the dough

Dusty, what happened to your site??
http://www.marlett.net/
Did you sell the domain name for the big bucks??

"This site is currently under contruction If you are looking for Dusty's personal site, it has moved to a folder inside of this site."

This is hilarious.

Austin

Well, I went down to Austin last week and did a bit of apartment hunting. I don't suggest trying to find and pre-lease an appartment in two days. It gives you headaches. At least, it gives me headaches. Also, for those of you who might be changing cities in the near future, it's probably worth your time to find out if there are appartment finders where you are moving. I found out (after I had spent two and a half days driving all over Austin) that there are appartment hunters in Austin who will drive you around and show you a bunch of properties at no cost to you (the property owners pay them if you rent a place in their building). That would have been nice to know. Anyways, I'll figure out my mailing address when I get down there next month (Aug 12!!!) and make that available to anyone who wants it at that point. I also got my first cell phone while I was down there, so if you send me an email, I will send you my Austin telephone number (I'm also using it in Amarillo until I move). And it's a Cingular phone, so if any of you have the same service then we can talk to free. Yippee.

More Andrew Pictures

Click Here.

I must say, from my objective standpoint, my son is quite possible the most beautiful human being ever produced.

: )

Andrew Nathanael Jones - Born: May 29, 2005

I'm pretty tired right now; my heart wants to wax poetic, but I lack the energy to fit the right words together to bring you into my current world.

Here's some of the story:

After 30 hours of initial contractions (!) Sarah went into active labor around 6:00 am. We went to the Beverly Birth Center where her contractions became quite a bit more intense--she went from 4-6 cenemeters within three or four hours there. She was bleeding a bit more than the midwives were comfortable with, so we moved over to the Hospital (which is right next door to the birth center). Then she entered the final and most intense phase of labor and pushed our crying, bloody, beautiful son into this world at 3:50 pm.

How can I describe the moment of birth to you? The agony of seeing my wife go though the most intense labor mixed with the extacy of seeing my son come, push by push, as first a small sliver of hair, then head, then shoulders, arms and legs. Incredible.

We spent two days in the hospital, and now we're home. Tonight's the first night in our own place with our own son.

As I said, I'm exhausted, and ready to sleep (we'll see how much I get!).

Life is such a gift; how incredible it is that we all began this way! Our God is so full of life and grace; may we never cease to wonder at the beauty and mystery of life!

You can see some pictures that my father-in-law took on his photo site...

More details coming soon!

So Dave, is Emmanuel Jones breathing air yet or what?

Andy in Japan

I finally fixed my photos site and uploaded pictures from Andy's visit to Japan:

Where do you stand on the flag burning amendment?

And why? For those who don't know what I'm talking about, there have been groups in the United States pushing for an amendment banning desecration of the flag for many years now. It has never received the 67 votes required in the Senate for amendments, but the amendment only needs a couple more votes to pass, which it is close to now. Granted there are more critical issues to vote and debate on, but this one strikes me as controversial, yet less consequential than many political issues.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-06-22-flag-burning_x.htm?csp=24&RM_Exclude=Juno

Our TV is broken. gems like this make it hurt.

Japanese birdman.

A little tid-bit from Bowling Alone

I'm working my way through _Bowling Alone_ by Robert Putnam; I'm sad I haven't read it sooner. Have any of you read it? What did you think? Do you know of any similar studies?

anyway, here's a little bit about online communities ; )

"Computer-mediated communication is, to be sure, more egalitarian, frank, and task oriented than face-to-face communication. Participants in computer-based groups often come up with a wider range of alternatives. However, because of the the paucity of social cues and social communication, participants in computer-based groups find it harder to reach consensus and feel less solidarity with one another. They develop a sense of "depersonalization" and are less satisfied with the group's accomplishments. Computer-based groups are quicker to reach an intellectual understanding of their shared problems--probably because they are less distracted by "extraneous" social communication-- but they are much worse at generating the trust and reciprocity necessary to implement that understanding" (176).

A worthwhile project ? I think so

"Thanks to the automobile, the American dream has become the American nightmare. If you are like most Americans, you drive alone to your job, drive your kids to school, soccer practice and music lessons, and jump in your car for every little errand because no stores are within walking distance.... To compound the frustration, it's no longer safe for your kids to play in the street like you did as a kid because the traffic has become so fast and reckless. You don't know half your neighbors because you never see them except when they zip by at 35 mph.

...CarFree City, USA's goal is to provide Americans with an alternative: carfree cities. By creating new neighborhoods and cities or redeveloping existing areas on a scale that is for people and not cars, yields a host of personal, community and global benefits. It's an ambitious task, but not mere wishful thinking..."

http://www.carfreecity.us/home.html

This might hit home for many of you...

http://www.elsewhere.org/cgi-bin/postmodern/

Check it out.

Another Question [trying to stir up a fight...I mean discussion]

Is the Church a product of Scripture, or is Scripture a product of the Church? Which one founds/legitimizes/is logically prior to the other? Why is the answer to this question important?

Storewars--funny!!

I'm not talking 'bout nothing but STOREWARS!!!

An Open Letter to the President of the United States of America, George W. Bush

As most of you probably already know, President Bush gave the commencement address at Calvin College yesterday afternoon, encountering unexpected opposition from the students and faculty. Nearly 1/3 of Calvin’s faculty signed on to a letter published Saturday in the Grand Rapids Press welcoming Mr. Bush but taking issue with his handling of war, the environment, and social justice issues—points at which, these Christian professors argue, Mr. Bush’s conduct diverges from how Christians are called to act in the world. (If you haven’t been following this story, see the coverage in Christianity Today for a quick rundown).

The text of the letter follows:

On May 21, 2005, you will give the commencement address at Calvin College. We, the undersigned, respect your office, and we join the college in welcoming you to our campus. Like you, we recognize the importance of religious commitment in American political life.

We seek open and honest dialogue about the Christian faith and how it is best expressed in the political sphere. While recognizing God as sovereign over individuals and institutions alike, we understand that no single political position should be identified with God's will, and we are conscious that this applies to our own views as well as those of others. At the same time we see conflicts between our understanding of what Christians are called to do and many of the policies of your administration.

As Christians we are called to be peacemakers and to initiate war only as a last resort. We believe your administration has launched an unjust and unjustified war in Iraq.

As Christians we are called to lift up the hungry and impoverished. We believe your administration has taken actions that favor the wealthy of our society and burden the poor.

As Christians we are called to actions characterized by love, gentleness, and concern for the most vulnerable among us. We believe your administration has fostered intolerance and divisiveness and has often failed to listen to those with whom it disagrees.

As Christians we are called to be caretakers of God's good creation. We believe your environmental policies have harmed creation and have not promoted long-term stewardship of our natural environment.

Our passion for these matters arises out of the Christian faith that we share with you. We ask you, Mr. President, to re-examine your policies in light of our God-given duty to pursue justice with mercy, and we pray for wisdom for you and all world leaders.

--Concerned faculty, staff, and emeriti of Calvin College

I wonder, first, what reactions people have to this letter in particular, or the vigorous support evangelicals have shown for this president more generally (and surely, it goes without saying that we should treat these responses with respect and tact). I also wonder what relationship this situation has to our current discussions on what it means to be a Christian and to follow the teaching of scripture, or the law.

notes from my moleskine

OK, first off, I need to tell Adam (and the rest of you, I suppose) that I acquiesced to his request and posted a sizeable response to the comments on my "Question". This post is not entirely unrelated to that response (as you will see if you read them both), so you can probably use this to fill in some of the gaps in my thinking in said response. Or maybe they're both unintelligible...

This is a little different kind of post for me. I am for the most part just copying a page out of my moleskine notebook, but it's something I wanted to share and I would appreciate responses to it. So, without further ado:
05-12-2005
from Auden's "Sir, no man's enemy, forgiving all":
"Prohibit sharply the rehearsed response
And gradually correct the coward's stance."
-- leaping from the "ethical" to the "spiritual": no safety in laws, no easy answer in ready imperatives
--the terror of the spiritual leap lies in leaving the ethical but not returning to the merely aesthetic: responsibility without regulations. "I was just following orders" is no longer an excuse. Christ, save us in the time of trial! Let us find that Justice which the Law could never bring. Justice, the to come. Come. Oui, oui. Come.
--this "leap of faith" is a leap into doubt, from certainty (uncertainly rejected) into a place where the answers are not known before the particular question is asked (if they are ever "known" in the way you used to know things), where Justice arrives at an unexpected time and in the form of a stranger. Faith is an unlocked door.
--It's like stepping from a boat and walking on the water: impossible, perhaps, but it has been done.
--Faith and Doubt aren't opposites? Is faith, then, more like responsibility than it is like certainty? Like openness to the Other?

Am I the only person posting on this blog? I mean, come on! (j/k of course)

Adam, this is too precious. I wish I was one of those kids, getting stuffed monkeys thrown at me by you. I MISS YOU BUDDY.

Graduations

Hey, I just got back from my sister's graduation at Messiah College today. I have to admit it made me a little nostalgic at times. The commencement blew the commencement of the Wheaton College class of '03s out of the water. If any of you haven't done it recently I encourage you to take stock of how you have or haven't been living your life for Christ since our own graduation. I got reminded that my personal accomplishments since graduation have not necessarily done much for the kingdom. My preaching is done now.

Also, apparently the Christian college world is fairly well linked. In a minivan of 3 Messiah girls other than my sister, driving to a night before graduation celebration. I started getting the inevitable peppering of do you know so and so. I think it's the first time that I was able to say yes to knowing all of them. The names were Tim Mitchell, Kristen Hauber, and Ben Courtemanche. Dave, it took a little prompting, but I managed to get Tara Vanderploeg to admit to knowing you and Sarah. Apparently, you are expecting a baby. I hope all is well in the T6 community, especially you guys in Iraq.

Dear friends

Dear friends, I am pleased to announce my intention to leave Japan. It has been a good year and a half , but I'm ready to get back to the people and places I know. In fact, I feel like I'm ready to "settle down." I will leave in October, shortly after the end of the current teaching semester. I'll probably go to Dallas then to live with family or friends; but, on the other hand, I'm willing to go where I'm called, wherever that might be, if it's the right person doing the calling.

I've still got months ahead of me here, though, so I'm trying not to daydream but rather focus on the things at hand, work, rest, and play, mainly work. I am teaching a lot more classes than I have before and I can already feel pressure on my weak organizational and planning skills. I'm sure I'll make it through all right, but I do ask for your prayers.

I'll keep you posted as I decide where I'm going and what I'll be doing in America. I'll be home over summer vacation to work this out.

Right. Banek in Japan, out.

BTW, I updated my photos, which was why I started this post in the first place: http://photobucket.com/albums/v464/RyanBanek/

Page 39

As much as I usually think of the Wheaton alumni magazine purely in terms of ridicule, I found this fantastic picture on page 39 of the current issue. It has these three really good looking guys somewhere in the far east... Japan, or something like that. You might want to check it out.

Question...

Is it OK for a Christian to be romantically involved with someone who is not a Christian? If not, why not? I grew up, like I'm sure most of you did, with admonitions from several sources against dating unbelievers. Why? Are there good reasons for such a prohibition?
Sincerely,
Attracted in Amarillo

Where is everyone?

Here is what I know based on recent communications with people.

Steve and Ryan have sworn off blogging because they discovered that they are allergic to high speed internet.

Dusty is too busy scrolling through eharmony.

Steimel is just working too much at McDonald's and his second job. He may have a third job, too, for all that I know.

So I would like to apologize for dropping off the blogosphere and encourage the rest of the missing to come back. Post what you've been up to lately if nothing else.

Personally, I'm feeling sort of blah. My job is good, but the honeymoon phase has worn off. I could really go for a date. It's been a while since I had one of those. Actually I could go for about any positive social activity that consists of more than video games with the guys or drinking with coworkers. Last weekend I got to see what life might have been like at some school other than Wheaton. I went out to celebrate the birthdays of a couple coworkers, and after going out to dinner. One guy convinced almost everyone else to ducttape a bottle of 40 oz malt liquor to one's hand which couldn't come off until the bottle was completely drunk. I can't say that I really enjoy watching out for drunk people. Hopefully my whirlwind of May activity will liven me up.

My sister's college graduation is two weeks away. Then, I get to try out being in a wedding the next weekend, before i take off for Japan a few days later to visit Steve and Ryan. I feel like this is a crappy contribution to the blog, but I wanted to post something since it's been a while.

Senate

The US Senate is presently considering legislation that would create a Federal Marriage Amendment to the Constitution, banning same-sex marriages in all 50 states. Ironically, the bill is being co-sponsored by MY senator (needless to say, I've already written and asked her to reconsider her position on the subject). I thought some of you might like to know that our conversation about same-sex marriage has ceased to be a hypothetical problem, so now is the time to figure out where you come down on the issue and write to your senators. Another issue that the senate is currently deciding (the House already passed this nifty bit of legislation) is whether to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. They tacked that on to an energy bill that is currently being debated in the upper house, so if you have any strong feelings about that, you'd better make them known post haste. [I feel like such an activist... almost like Ryan Schiffer or something!]

University of Texas, Austin

Here is a little picture I found of the (in)famous tower of the University of Texas in Austin (set against a rather lovely sunset, I think). This iconic structure stands only yards from Calhoun Hall, the home of UT's graduate English department-- that is, MY department starting this fall. For some reason, I can't seem to get away from academic institutions that are primarily symbolized by towers (I can't wait for Andy's Lacanian reading). There is a difference, though, because while Wheaton's tower is iconographically synonymous with marriage, UT's tower is a reminder of August 1966 when Charles Whitman shot 45 people in downtown Austin (killing 14) until his 96 minute reign of terror ended with his own death. Not quite so romantic and pastoral, is it? Although some would see both as incidents of male agression, in which case the tower is an all too fitting symbol.

Proposal to Move

Proposal: Let's move our discussions to a Word Press format
Why? Because Word Press categorizes and sub-categorizes posts.
Imagine: Having a discussion that continues for more than a week.


How we would do this: Someone (*Cough* dusty) who has MySQL on their server would start the wordpress blog, tell us about the domain and upgrade us to posting status as we join. I'd be happy to move older posts from this blog over as a labor of love. I just really want to discuss through categories; it seems like the blogger format exagerates our natural propencity to forget, we need some nice catagories running along the right side telling us what discussions have been started.

So what do ya'll think?

Benedict XVI

Well, the smoke poured white from the Vatican today, and a German Cardinal became the 265th Pope, the 16th to bear the name Benedict, but only the second in our lifetime. Watching the CNN coverage of the new Pontiff, it almost seems like a farse, like someone is making a joke of impersonating the pope. For me, the title "Pope" has always been synonymous with the name John Paul II and the face of the man who took that name for his papacy. Today, it really feels like JPII is gone-- more than when he died, more than during his multiple funeral masses, more than when they laid him in the crypt beneath St. Peters. Today, he is both gone and replaced, and the title "Pope" has been taken from his shoulders and laid across those of Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI. It will take a little time before my heart hands the mantle over. [Yes, it's true. I'm not a very good protestant, but I'm better as a popish Anglican than I would be as a skeptical Catholic. The irony is much more healthy this way.]

Sein und Name

Dave has asked me for an essay on the functional similarities of a person’s name and her being. On one hand, this question is not fair. Consider the 250-word requirement: he asks me to tell him about something, but he does not ask me to tell him whatever I know about it; instead, he says, “Tell me this much: no more, no less.” The topic, also, is not one I have chosen but one forced upon me by Dave’s inquisitive mind and questions that are important to him (but perhaps not important to me). He either assumes that there are similarities between a person’s name and her being (itself a problematic construction), in which case he is asking me to walk sans guide into a land he has visited before, or he does not believe there is any connection, in which case he has led me into a trap. You can see why I have “every right” to refuse Dave’s question. Or do I? The question is, unarguably, something forced upon me, something of which I had no participation in the formulation or even whether it would be formulated. It is presented to me unexpectedly, and I am left standing alone with this question and, strangely enough, the responsibility to respond. And this is exactly the similarity shared by a person’s name and her being: she receives both “gifts” or “questions” unsolicited from an other, and she finds herself in an undeniable position of responsibility to respond.

Greener Fields

Here's another web blog opportunity for anyone that's interested. It's a bit more focused than this one. It's set up to specifically discuss what Christian Community might look like if we became a truely sharing people in Christ. The site's hosted by Ariah Fine and it's located here.

Let me know if you have any questions.

No it's not a replacement for this dead site. I still have hopes that the great 611 will one day rise from the ashes and attain to its former glory!

drifting in space

I have a glove and a ball. I throw the ball. I walk to the ball. I turn around. I throw the ball. I walk to the ball. I turn around. I throw the ball.

I say hello, I turn around I say hello, I turn around I say hello.

I tell a joke, I laugh unusually loud for a long, long time. I cry. I laugh. I tell a joke.

I look at the time.

I hold my left foot in my right hand. I jump through my left foot and right hand with my right foot. I fall over.

"Spotter ready?" .... "Falling"


I wake up. I walk in fast circles. No, I cannot see my back no matter how fast I walk. I run: same results.

I open my mouth in an elongated "O." I knock on my head with my right fist. It sounds hollow. I chuckle.

I ask questions out loud that I do not know the answer to. I begin to whisper them into my cupped hands. I hold out my cupped hands and let them fly away.

I sit and wait.

(i.e. I check the blog site)

Fort Campbell

TEFKAMS 1 Satalite image of Dusty's helicopter!!!!
AAAAHHHHH!!! I can see you Dusty!!!

Hello?...(hello...hello...hello...) 

Kangareynolds 

King of infinite space (were it not that I have bad dreams)

I'm sorry if this bores you to tears, but I'm pretty sure that at least a few of you (Stephen, Andy, Dave) will find this interesting. I've been doing some more reading through Jack Caputo's commentary in Deconstruction in a Nutshell (a book that I would place at the top of Dave's book list if he has any bookstore gift certificates left), and I thought I would try sharing enough of this fabulous book to entice you into reading it for yourselves. Everyone who plans on spending any more time in the university (or who ever feels tempted to comment on Derrida, "deconstruction", or "post-modernism") would benefit immeasurably from this relatively short and lucid book. It is very difficult to pick only a few sentences to represent either deconstruction or Caputo's work in this book, but I chose this collection of passages (from pages 54-55, if you're interested) because they are related to a post I've been wanting to write but never found the right time (I would have called it "Is Enlightenment Rationality a Phallacy?"). Anyways, I hope this is as good for you as it is for me:

"While Derrida is often made out to be the sworn enemy of the Enlightenment, he would contend, and we with him, that in fact the deconstruction he advocates is a continuation of what is best about the Enlightenment, but by another means...For it may be that what the Enlightenment seeks cannot be found on the basis that the Enlightenment lays...Derrida's doubts about the absolute judicial authority claimed by and for Enlightenment Reason, by and for 'pure Reason' (capitalized), do not constitute an outright attack upon reason, upon giving good reasons, the best you can under the circumstances. If the old Enlightenment makes everything turn on 'Reason,' the New Enlightenment wants to know the reason for reason, wants to take responsibility for what at a specific point in history calls itself reason and the age of reason, and to consider carefully what is being declared 'irrational' in the name of reason...But the effect of this new Enlightenment would be not to jettison reason but to redefine and redescribe it, for example, by steering clear of the simple opposition of reason and faith and seeing the extent to which reason is deeply saturated by faith...In the new Enlightenment, things are always more unlikely and complicated than the simple oppositions favored by the old Aufklarers-- like Kant and Marx-- might suggest."

Other fantastic titles for things I need to write (or wrote but gave a more mundane nomenclature) include : "Banging in the Bower: Ante-lapsarian Depictions of Human Sexuality in Milton's Paradise Lost" and "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Beings unto Death: When Stoppard Stops Hiding Heiddeger".

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Isaac Watts, 1707

Dave Update

Ok, so it has been a while since I've written anything of an autobiographical nature on this site; and since I have five minutes to spare, I might as well do the ditty now. "Do the ditty" is a phrase which I just coined, I believe it means, "write an updated autobiographical blurb."

David Jones is currently sitting in the Buswell library of Wheaton College writing his most current autobiographical blurb. Recently, he's been hard at work putting together a groundbreaking training website for the ten Salvation Army corps who have entered the final stage of grant applications for Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Centers. "I've learned a lot of things as I've worked on this project," says Jones, who is known for his earthshatterly concrete descriptions of his vocational activities. The inside scoop has it he's currently writing articles and researching existing web-resource to help Salvationists incorporate wise principles in everything from urban ministry to fund-raising.

Jones lives with his wife Sarah on the third floor of the Amli apartments near the Danada shopping center. The Danada shopping center was named after Dan and Ada Rice. Isn't that interesting?

Sarah Jones is currently growing at an exponential rate in her general midriff area. She attends a weekly birthing course with her husband, David. This course involves a stuffed placenta, ambient music, and bloody videos, and may not be suitable for anyone under the age of 12.

David Jones is now currently wondering why, this autobiographical sketch is 1) written in a biographical style 2) not so much about David Jones any more 3) thinking how he should go pick up his wife because it is now 5:00

---

Oh yeah! Guess what? I got into Gordon Conwell a few months ago! So we're planning to move to the Boston Area May 15. Feel free to move out there with me!

OK, time to go now.

Terry Schiavo

Ok, since most of our conversations seem to be stalled right now, I want to jump into a new one: the Terry Schiavo situation. It strikes me that this is a tremendously important issue for all sorts of reasons and is on my mind (and probably yours) all the time as the media gives us a minute by minute accounting of this woman hanging between life and death. So, what do you think? Should her husband have the right to decide what is in the best interest of his wife, to interpret her desire to be kept alive or not by artificial means? Or, conversely, should the parents be able to legally trump the husband (who is, after all, her legal guardian) when they disagree with his decisions? And why in the world has this become so politicized? Schiavo has become exemplary—she is able to function as a signifier in this discourse because she is both just like so many other people (and thus, a representative example), and also somehow different from all the rest such that she stands out and is separate from all those in her condition. And it is this difference that most interests me. What is it about her, in particular, that allows hers to be the one “personal” life and death decision, out of the hundreds made each day, that Congress, and even the President of the United States, takes notice of and tries to intervene in? Think about that—Congress passed a law, that Bush quickly signed, that applies to the body of an individual. This use of federal power is, to my knowledge, without precedent. But even as I say that, I think back to the one rainy day we had over spring break when I sat for a few hours and watched as Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa and the rest testified to a congressional subcommittee, again about their bodies. To what extent should Congress be involved in baseball (which, at its core, is business and entertainment) or the Schiavo case? Should the federal government have the right to exert power over individual bodies? And what does it mean that the Republican party, traditional champion of limited government and states rights, is so aggressively seeking to expand the power of the legislature into these other regions? Maybe those of you with more economic/political science backgrounds can help me out with this. But I think we can all agree that, no matter where we come down in all of this, something very interesting is happening in this country of ours. I have my theories, which I will share in a few days when I have more time, but until then… let’s have a conversation.

ok

I'm bored.

The Big Board

I got some great news yesterday in the I-want-my-PhD category: the English department from the University of Texas at Austin sent me an email informing me that I will be offered admission for the fall and they are currently trying to get a funding package together for me! I still haven't heard from the other schools (it's hard to count the wait list at Boston as hearing from them since I still don't know if I'm in or out), so I don't know exactly WHERE I'll be next year, but I do know that I WILL BE IN GRAD SCHOOL somewhere! Needless to say, I'm now breathing much easier than I was a couple of days ago. So, for those of you who enjoy following my future plans or who have placed bets on what schools will reject me, I offer (in no particular order) this comprehensive list of my admissions status:

University of Pennsylvania: admission: NO
Columbia University: admission: NO [weeping and gnashing of teeth]
University of Texas: admission: YES; funding: 6+ years of TA and AI funding; Response: I'm going to UT in August!
Indiana University: admission: YES; funding: full after 1st year; Response: I turned down the offer.
Boston College: admission: Waiting list; funding: waiting list; Response: I took myself off the list.
University of Notre Dame: admission: NO [HA! who cares!]

I will update the Big Board as my status at each school changes.

Uncle Wystan II

This is intended as a companion to the discussion that Dave and I have been carrying on about theology and the Academy (it started in our discussion on Fish). It is also interesting in and of itself for a bunch of artists and (social) scientists like ourselves. Here is the opening passage from Auden's "Postscript: Christianity & Art" (from "The Shield of Persius"); it has some interesting implications for artists and scientists, that is, for the academy:

"Art is compatible with polytheism and Christianity, but not with philosophical materialism; science is compatible with philosophical materialism and Christianity, but not with polytheism. No artist or scientist, however, can feel comfortable as a Christian; every artist who happens also to be a Christian wishes he could be a polytheist; every scientist in the same position that he could be a philosophical materialist. And with good reason. In a polytheist society, the artists are its theologians; in a materialist society, its theologians are the scientists. To a Christian, unfortunately, both art and science are secular activities, that is to say, small beer.

"No artist, qua artist, can understand what is meant by God is Love or Thou shalt love thy neighbor because he doesn't care whether God and men are loving or unloving [Coye: only interesting or uninteresting]; no scientist, qua scientist, can understand what is meant because he doesn't care whether to-be-loving is a matter of choice or a matter of compulsion."

What do you think?

Words of Wisdom from Uncle Wystan

I've been re-reading a collection of W.H. Auden's essays called "The Shield of Persius" (it's part of a larger collection entitled "The Dyer's Hand"). Auden really was one of the greatest minds of the last century (and one of the greatest English-speaking thinkers ever), and I thought I would pass on a few grains of his wisdom from this particular collection:
"Debt or credit cannot be measured in quantitative terms; a relation between two persons is just if both take no more than they need and give as much as they can, and unjust if either takes more or gives less than this."

Guess what still exists...

No silly, not Reebok Pump shoes!

THIS!

Links

I don't know if anyone else noticed, but our beloved Davey added a space for links to the right-hand column of our blog. (Thank you, Davey). I had been thinking for about a month that I should ask Dave if this were possible, and one day I find that it is has become a reality before I even asked. (You're great, Dave). And the green blogskin is pretty sweet. (Nice choice, Dave. [in a Walford voice] "I like it.") Well, I could go on parenthetically praising Dave all day, but I have a purpose to this post. We should all post candidates for linkage as comments on this post, use some system to decide which are link-worthy and then get Dave to link them up on our template. Of course, not everything needs a permanent link, and those things can still be hypertext linked from posts, but this is a way we can share our best bookmarks with each other and anyone else who is eavesdropping/stumbles into our blog. Yippee.

Right with God - Christians in DC

I'd be interested in hearing what some of you think of this article if you are willing to take the time to read it, preferably before reading comments, if any occur. I definitely know the sub-culture that they were writing about. (And if anyone is wondering, the Jeff Hassler in this article is the Jeff Hassler that we went to school with.)

washingtonpost.com
Right With God
Evangelical Conservatives Find a Spiritual Home on the Hill
By Hanna Rosin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 6, 2005; Page D01

Lyric Hassler talks about her Christian rock phase the way some of us talk about crushes on Sean Cassidy, or acid-wash jeans, or the hundreds of hours we wasted memorizing Pink Floyd lyrics. "Uchhhhhh, embarrassing," she says. The gaudy soundtrack of the "Christian ghetto" she lived in as a teenager. Lyric the high school "Jesus freak," chastising her church youth group for wasting time on frivolous pizza parties, ignoring any TV that wasn't "The 700 Club."
"It just makes me wince," she says now that her ghetto self is long gone, now that she's made it here, to Washington, to the languid Friday afternoon tea time in a congressional cafeteria, to her starched white blouse and a stint on the presidential campaign and a husband who works in the Senate, to a salon of what she calls "Christian intellectuals."

click here to read more

Since we're never finished anyway....

Coye, remember this? I want to pick it up again, but I'm too lazy to keep going back to a million months ago.

so it begins

Oh, boy. I was roused from sleep today by a phone call from a representative of Boston College's English department. He was calling to inform me that I am on the waiting list for PhD adsmission and funding and that in a few weeks they should have a good idea about my odds of getting into BC. So begins the agonizing part of waiting. I'm sure that Andy can vouch for me on this: while doing the applications is hell, you really don't feel the pressure of waiting for them from the time you drop the last one in the mailbox until it's time to hear back from the programs. January and February are actually a nice break from anxiety. Once that first school replies, though, the game is back in full swing and everyday brings the expectation of those painfully thin envelopes and a sliver of hope for a fat, juicy fellowship.

Who or What?

Our recent discussion has brought an old philosophical question to my mind. I first remember hearing this discussed by Jacques Derrida, although the question is much older than his work, and I have thought about it considerably in the last year and a half. When we say that we love someone, what is it that we love? In particular, do we love the Who-- the absolute particularity of the person we love-- or do we love the What-- do we love that person's characteristics or qualities or the things they do (ie, something [perhaps even everything] about them)? This is a difficult question, and perhaps one that isn't quite answerable: on the one hand, how can you love someone apart from their characteristics (what is left to love), but saying we love the characteristics and not the person means that we would/could love ANYONE with those qualities (which makes the individual person interchangeable or accidental). The question is equally applicable to friendship as to romantic love, but eros has an exclusive nature (as opposed to friendship's openness) that makes it a particulary fruitful ground for addressing the question of "do we love the Who or the What?" While many of us might characterize our current living situations as "lonely", I know that there are many among us who are or have been in love, so I think we can all benefit from hearing one another's experiences. Apart from being discussion-worthy on it's own merits (its repercussions multiply as in an echo chamber), I also feel that this question has implications for two conversations we are currently carrying on: of course, it has a lot to do with our debate about dating services, but I think it might also have less obvious implications for our conversation about civil unions. So what do you think: do I love her absolute and irreplaceable particularity, or do I love her virtues, qualities and characteristics?

Custer

Custer just sent out another update so i'm gonna share it with ya'll.

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Thank you all for your prayers. God is clearly, and at times not so clearly (for my eyes), at work here in Fresnillo.
For those of you just joining us, this letter is intended to connect you with my life, ministry, and the people we minister to here. I have been extremely encouraged recently at the number of people in the last month that wrote me and asked to receive these updates. Thank you!
I have also been encouraged recently in my musical endeavors with my housemate, Chris. We had a rough start last summer and I was not looking forward to spending a whole year living with him. Through prayer and the wise and timely counsel of Jonathan and Doug, we have become close friends. He loves music and I studied voice at Wheaton, so we make a good team. He has incredible natural talent, and I have the ability to tell him what he is doing when he plays something wonderful. I am teaching him to read music and he is teaching me how to cut loose as a musician. We have written two worship songs now and we look forward to sharing them with the team on Tuesday at our worship time. We will also led worship last week at our cell group meeting. Chris has been a great friend over these past few months and a great outlet for my musicianship. Praise God that He gave us hands to play and voices to sing praises to Him!
Cell groups are also a new experience for me here. I joined the “Alpha” group led by Pastor Doug and Juan Camarillo. Tuesday is our fifth meeting and I am excited to see how this group will grow and develop. I felt a lot of encouragement and good spirits two weeks ago, especially in our icebreaker. We played the game Jenga: wooden blocks are built up in a tower and we each take turns removing one from a part of the tower and placing it on top. Everyone in our group participated and we got to 31 levels before it toppled! I have never seen that before. One woman from the colonia in particular, is generally reserved and was very nervous about participating. We all encouraged her, helping her pick out a block, and she did very well! You could see by the smile on her face at the end of the turn that she knew she could trust this group. That is a huge thing here in the colonia. Lack of trusts exists abundantly between neighbors and even within families. Praise God for his relationship-building through the cell groups!
I would appreciate your continued prayers for my decision about next year. I am trying my best to seek out God’s will for this coming year and I don’t yet know where He is leading me. Please also pray for the next team that will start working together in 4 short months. Please also pray about becoming a partner in my ministry through regular prayer and financial donations. We cannot do anything without prayer and funds. My support for this year is not up to where it needs to be at the moment, but I am trusting God for His provision. Please pray about your possible involvement in that provision.
Thank you for your interest and prayers for this ministry that is drawing people closer to the heart of God – growing missionaries (me!) and the families with whom we work. Blessings to you all.

By His Grace,
Stephen

Judge Lefkow

Both Judge Lefkow and her husband were Wheaton grads and first met in the library. Not sure if you guys heard about this story.

Destroy the Earth

http://tinyurl.com/4r67n

Oh, Dusty...

Why don't you tell us all about the world class gymnast with the MBA?

Lazy bums...

So the one guy with the best excuse not to post on here is the first one to post a new string in 10 days? Have you guys lost the fervor of your first love with traber6updates??? So this post requires twofold responses:

1) What's your excuse not to post anything here? Satirical answers welcomed.

2) Do we really have a general consensus condemning online dating services? I'm interested to know. What, if any, are the conditions when it would be okay to meet people that way? My own feelings may be posted at a later time.

I know that these questions don't have the same gravitas as our previous thread based on Coye's article, but maybe we can get people talking again. And you, there in the nosebleed section, feel free to contribute.

God on the Quad

I just received a new book in the mail, God on the Quad - How Religious Colleges and the Missionary Generation are Changing America, by Naomi Schaefer Riley. It just came out in 2005, and is the result of several years of studying US schools. I will let you all know how it turns out, but I have already seen some interesting quotes by Rich Powers and Noel Jabbour.

“In practical terms, these students challenge what has become, since the sixties, the typical model of college-student behavior. They don’t spend their college years experimenting with sex or drugs. They marry early and plan ahead for daily life. Indeed, they oppose sex outside of marriage and homosexual relationships. Most dress modestly and don’t drink, use drugs, or smoke. They study hard, leaving little time for sitting in or walking out. Most vote, and a good number join the army. They are also becoming lawyers, doctors, politicians, college professors, businessmen, psychologists, accountants, and philanthropists in the cultural and political centers of the country. While they would disagree among themselves about what it means to be a religious person, it is assumed that trying to live by a set of rules, generally ones laid down in scripture, is the prerequisite for a health, productive, and moral life.”

Civil Unions II

First, I want to thank Andy, Adam and Strauss for carrying on this conversation with me. I also want to re-extend my invitation to everyone else: come and talk with us. I think this issue is desperately important and increasingly prominent in our social/political climate. I linked back to my original post with the intent of continuing the dialoge that has been taking place there. The original post also has a link to my column in the Amarillo Globe-News and log-in information for that site. I know that there are many, many issues that are related to the justice/legality of homosexual civil unions, so I don't want to place any narrow limitations on the topic that would cripple any genuine attempts at understanding. At the same time, I think that we can benefit from talking through the smaller issues one or two at a time rather than publishing manifesto-length position statements in a series of intesecting monologues. And, in as much as love is a greater than truth, I hope that we can all work towards genuinely understanding one another before we consider trying to change those positions. So...

Hey, old man...

Hey you! the one in Japan... no, not you, I want the other one... the one without the beard... yeah, you, Stephen, happy birthday! You're now firmly entrenched in your mid-twenties, which sort of makes you an old man (not really, but it is well beyond the pale of childhood). They say that youth is squandered on the young, so have fun squandering yours today. Sake wa doko desko.

Wild Nights.

611 Studios: hot-n-steamy, extra-spicy .

Aeijtzsche & H Hitt Facktory involved in world-wide fame.

Taking over the world?

Not exactly the theme song I'd choose if I were the Orlando PR officer...

picture idea

What would you guys think about some type of picture circulation. One person could send their collection of Wheaton photos on a cd to one person, who then copies them and sends them to another. I would love to get some of the great T6 photos and other campus shots that some of you have. Mine will fit on a DVD-R. The small cost of shipping 10 times would be worth it to me, and I would also then get 10 cds worth of pictures in return.

2E T6 Brosis Cult

Ahh....I found a "2E T6 Brosis Cult" blog ring today.

Rock On

I was just asked to pass along a message to you fellas that the many named viking will soon be with us online. You might remember him as Snort, Sota, the human torso, or "you stupid viking", but his mother named him Jordan and his daddy's name is Van Oort. He should be here in just a few days (at least that's what he told me to tell you, but I always find it hard to trust the Dutch). Happy New Year.

interesting link

Hope you guys find this page as funny as I did. A history professor at the college gave it to our class to illustrate that you can rarely, if ever accurately predict the effects or directions that new technology might go. http://my.athenet.net/~jlindsay/SkepticQuotes.html

is it true?

Two different Wheaties have verified that Andrew Kehoe ('02) died in a car accident. That really sad. I had good memories from hanging out with him. He sang that song for Irate, titled VOCAB. I might post the MP3 I have.

weird coincidence

Hey you guys will never guess who stopped into my store tonight. One of our old 1 south sisters Carrie Tanana. When she walked in I thought how weird it was that she looked so much like someone I knew from Wheaton. Then she came and asked me if I'd gone to Wheaton. She's married now and lives in Chicago. Her husband Tom is in Seminary there. Her sister Jill is working at a Christian camp in Branson, MO and Carrie was on her way home from a visit. What's really amazing to me is that she remembered me at all. Strange the people you can run into.

Lucy Larcom

Have any of you read Lucy Larcom's stuff before? I recently received her diary in the mail (published in the 1800s). If you are ever looking for some new poetry or hymns to ponder on, she is a good one. She taught at the other Wheaton; too bad it wasn't ours.

Here sit I, as a little child;
The threshold of God's door
Is that clear band of chrysoprase;
Now the vast temple floor,
The blinding glory of the dome
I bow my head before.
Thy universe, O God, is home,
In height or depth, to me;
Yet here upon thy footstool green
Content am I to be;
Glad when is oped unto my need
Some sea-like glimpse of Thee.

Santori Times

I just re-watched "Lost in Translation" (one of my Christmas gifts [smile]). I couldn't help wondering if Steve and Ryan have seen it and, if so, what you guys thought of it's Japanese aspects. Personally, I love it; there's simply no way in hell that "The Return of the King" is a better film. There's just no justice in Oscar. At least Sofia Copola got best director. And remember, "For relaxing times, make it Santori time. " (By the way, I'm in love with Scarlett Johansson.)

new user

I just talked to Barnes...he is in DC still. You guys over there should give him a call, invite him to this site, or something.

Juicy Software

Google has a great way to gather the latest news on any subject you want. Just go to Google Alerts and select the subject you want news on and how frequently you want a news summary. Using this method I get a weekly condensed email that has many different articles on Wheaton College and other subjects I select. Just throwing this out here in case you didn't know about that feature.
There is another recent software release which I also recommend to you. It is Picasa 2, a free desktop image organizer. Using Google software, it indexes every single image on your hard drive and organizes the data so a user can search easily. You can organize your photos, edit them, or quickly scan everything you have. With all of my digital photos, it has really helped me.
I also like the Google desktop search. This program scans all of your documents, making it easy to find anything.