yeti speak…

  • day 5

    "Oh, the WHOmanity!" Not quite the original animated classic, but there are a lot of great one-liners in The Grinch movie.  Christa and I watched it the other night.  It’s not really for young kids; luckily we watched it while ours were nestled "all tucked in their beds."

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  • day 4

    For me the emphasis of Christmas centers on the fact that Jesus (as God) came to earth as man, whereas Easter (in my mind anyway) stresses that Jesus (a man) was acting as only God could–and therefore was truly God.  I know you can’t divide the two that easily–i.e. the age-old 100% man-God paradox persists,…

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  • day 3

    One of the best (most memorable) Christmas toys I ever received… The Star Wars  "Empire Strikes Back" AT-AT Walker (shown here): You know you’re getting old when you say stuff like this (but I’m going to anyway), "They just don’t make toys like this anymore…" Question is: How will Christa top last year’s gift of…

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  • day 2

    Zacharias (The Precursor’s Precursor) Bells jingle on the ephod’s sleeve,the lot falls and YHWH appoints meShepherd of the Holy Flame.I am clothed in Israel(where people are jewels in the eyes of God)Topaz, beryl, rubies, sapphire,jasper, jacinth, agate, emerald.The holy men, my kin, suit me upturban, tunic, sash.A jingling symbol, entering the holy placeI am tied…

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  • day 1

    Angelic Empathy For Chuck’s Tree Lucy, please don’t mock the tree of the misbegotten,unfortunate souls with scant optionsand track-marked T-shirts.O, Charlie, the light still twinklesmajestically, on bended wire and plastic stem.Look at their small handscupping color and sphere,adorning your bane with their delight.Linus, lay your blanket downat the naked sole of angelic feet,hovering and flutteringthey…

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  • kids these days…

    I started my life in the era before the prominence of VCRs and cable TV.  Before my family bit the bullet and bought cable, I remember that you could only catch cartoons (or children’s programming) in the afternoons usually sandwiched between reruns of Gilligan’s Island and (ugh) Andy Griffith.  (Note: In the 1980s, if the…

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  • gator says YES to crack…addict

    Here’s an article about this poor guy in Florida who was just minding his own business (smoking crack!) when an alligator attacked him.  Ouch. My favorite quote from the article:  "We were pretty much playing tug-of-war." (I.e. the policeman who arrived at the scene vs. the alligator.  Guess who played the part of the rope?)…

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  • hibernation, anyone?

    The high temperature in Xining today = 35 F / 1 CThe low temperature in Xining today = 2 F / -16 C All I felt like doing after returning from class was hibernating… (I’m sure all you folks in Seattle who are getting buried in snow can relate.  Happy hibernating…)

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  • capture the flag (or leggo my ego)

    The last (lengthy) post was about the book-that-wasn’t from this past summer.  In that post I shared how I was prevented from writing about our Asia experiences due to the lingering effects of culture shock. I also mentioned that I had come to this conclusion by pondering a seemingly unrelated topic. Not too very long…

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  • a book derailed

    I started writing an auto-biographical "piece" this summer about our first year here in China.  I had a lot of free time to work on this project and I was excited about the prospect of writing a short essay or (if things went really well) a book.  At first, the pages seemed to just roll…

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