Reading 12-26-4

      I finished Umberto Eco's Focault's Pendulum, which was an exciting, though rather information laden novel. It definately had a bunch of references to arcane fraternities (as that was kindof the plot of the book). Anyway, it was an interesting read, and it will be interesting to someday read The Bible Code, to see how much fiction he lifted from Eco.
     I finished Vol 1. of The Complete Works of Jonathan Edwards. That signifies that I am halfway through with reading Edwards. Some spectacular highlights were his sections on Religious Affections, Justification by Faith Alone, and the preface of the Humble Inquiry: Communion. The list of theological questions at the end of the volume was pretty impressive, also.
      For the upcoming reading, I will be delving into the second volume of Edwards. I also ordered the book Alamut by Vladimir Bartol, Trans. by Michael Biggins. It is the history of Hassan ibn Sabbah. From whom we get the words Assasin, and Hashish. What a colorful character! I have a few other books added to my reading list, that I have yet to acquire: Ivanhoe, Quentin Durward, The White Company, Sir Nigel, Treasure Island and Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard.

Website Stats

The website has almost reached almot 40,000 page hits. I think that googlebot and some indexers helped a bit with that. Still, it is nice to see some decent traffic on one's website. It's been really nice to have a camera again, also.New additions of late include the "Mystery Photo" section on the left. There are also some improvements to the member interface, for those that have registered. The theme was revamped for the holidays! Hoping everyone has a Merry Christmas!

Reading 12-19-4

     I picked up Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco. It's been immensely interesting. It is certainly a well written book, with thousands of allusions to other books and topics and learning in general. It seems to be in the same genre as the bible code, though it was published in 1987. I've also been keeping up with the Jonathan Edwards, and am now about ¾ done with volume 1.
      I've also been looking through The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Monarchy, which is more interesting everytime I read through it. Especially after reading the Black Arrow, having to do with the war of the Roses. The first time I read through it was in preparation for my trip to Europe in 2002.

Indian Bathtub 2 Hot Springs

After my trek to Bruneau Sand Dunes, I was off to find the fabled Indian Bathtub 2 Hot Springs, which I knew to be in the area. After hiking about six miles up the side river, because my Ford Mustang Covertible 4x4 kit and lift kit didn't arrive in the mail yet. Otherwise, I would have sped down the four wheel drive roads to arrive at the springs post haste, but the four inch clearance on my car doesn't agree with that. After finally locating the springs, I then relized i was on the other side of the river, and had to ford the river. However, it was not deep, and it was totally worth the minute of freezing water. The upper pool even looks a little like Mickey Mouse.

Bruneau Sand Dunes

I visited the fabled Bruneau Sand Dunes, as per my earlier plans. The weather was excellent for December, a high of 52° with the low there being around 35°. The dunes were excellent, and it was quite a workout hiking around them. The wind was blowing at the top, so some of the pictures appeared grainy, but there was good reason for that. I had the entire state park to myself, as the photo of the parking lot will attest. It was a great experience to have your own state park, and that is one of the reasons I really love idaho.

Sam and Max

So, the latest computer game I've been playing is Sam and Max: Hit the Road!

Reading Railroad 12-10-4

     Well, I haven't cracked Edwards in a couple weeks and instead made myself busy with Herodotus and Vanhoozer. Now, I've descended back into Historical Fiction. I just finished the Black Arrow, by Robert Louis Stephenson. It was a great read! It was on a list of many great books that motivated Terry Brooks to write. And there are more there! I'm hoping that Santa might leave a few for me to keep busy with.
     In other news, I've been reading about classical sculpture for a project I am working on. Mostly about methods of carving and working with stone, particularly marble and granite.

Camera + Batteries + Epoxy

After not taking pictures for about four months (since August really), I got out and took some today. The rain was pouring horrendously, so it made for some cold and wet weather. I treked downtown to the park, and took some photos. It was deserted. This summer, the battery door on my camera broke, so that it would pop open at any time (and lately, if it wasn't taped shut or being held). Anyway, I sold the camera on eBay, with a good description of its problems. However, the buyer was not able to get it working, and maybe helped it along a little, so that when it was returned, it did not work at all. I took it apart, and have played with it, and let it sit for a few months, and it seems to be working now, apart for the battery door. That is, until yesterday.

Ye Olde Wyntertyme

It's about time for a news update! As the holiday season is upon us, i've been working on reading and drinking coffee. I've also been thinking about being a security guard of a baggage handler until I go back to school. I think I would enjoy either one of those. I've fixed numerous people's computers. I redesigned the webpage for the church I currently am attending. They now have a database driven website, where the administrators have the ability to upload files, pictures, video, and information without having to do any html. Although, a little html always helps things look much better. Plus, database driven means dynamic content, which is far easier to change things. As you can change one thing in one place that affects the whole site, rather than having to change them all. While there are programs that make it easier to do this in html (dreamweaver, frontpage), database driven is a far easier option.

Herodotus - Reading 12-3-4

Finished The Histories by Herodotus. A nice overview of the events of the middle east and Persia from a Greek view circa 425 B.C. Herodotus writes mostly about the cultures of the middle east and the mediterannean. He give his theories, some of which are rather hilarious, about the origins of many different things. Such as the vicious Arabian flying snakes! The Histories deal alot with the Assyrian and Persian conquests, and the Greek battle of Thermopylae and Platea stand out strongly. It was interesting to read of the Athenians and the Lacedaemonians (Spartans), particularly from a Greek viewpoint of the timeperiod. Herodotus chronicles pretty much all the interesting or notable events up to the beginning of the Peloponnesian wars.

Music Box 11-30-4

 U2 - How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb came out recently. I am excited about the new U2 cd, i listened to a lowbandwidth preview version and liked it, so I added it to my list to send off to Santa Claus. It certainly hearkened back to pre-Achtung Baby days. You can really see the Edge working his Edge type guitar method, from what I heard. The shape of the total ablum reminded me of Joshua tree, and the way the songs felt with one another. It was interesting to hear Bono wanting broken hearts.On a completely different level, I love Baroque Organ Music. I hate contemporary piano music, but I love Organ Music. Such as the likes of Purcell, Clarke, and Bach. Today, a friend let me borrow some Buxtehude, which I am happy about, and after previewing it, am impressed by some of the good stuff therein other news, i was thinking the best band of all time was: the beatlesthe best album of all time was:U2 - Achtung Babymy favorite solo artist of all time is:Phil Keaggy

Squirrel Melt

When i was in junior high they grilled these hamburger patties to look like road kill squirrels.  I am totally not joking.  to illustrate, i attached a picture to illustrate as best as i can remember. it was pretty funny, thinking you were eating ran over squirrel instead of grilled beef. 

Is There MEANING in This TEXT?

     If you've read any books about hermeneutics in the last few years, you've probably encountered a fair ammount of philosophy. Philosophical systems influence the way we think, the way we measure, and the way we act. One of the most recent philosophical climes to work itself over to the biblical realm is postmodernism. The effects of postmodernism can be felt everywhere in our post-modern culture. The lack of absolute authorities, the breakdown of objective meaning, and the pluralistic attitudes to life, logic, and reality. D.A. Carson wrote a rather large tome on the current theological trends called, The Gagging of God. I would recomend it to anyone who is interested in postmodern hermeneutics. However, that book only deals with the problems, and really does not point a way out of the miasma.

However, Carson states about book by Kevin Vanhoozer:

What starts off as a contemporary hermeneutics to justify the move from the biblical text to systematic theology becomes a full-blown, highly sofisticated, theological hermeneutics. Vanhoozer is one of the few contemporary scholars who take a balanced measure of postmodern thought within an unflinching Christian confessionalism. Here you will find neither mere traditionalism nor faddishness. This book points the way forward-the Christian way forward- out of the contemporary hermeneutical morass.    

Bruneau

I've been wanting to take a trip down to the Bruneau sand dunes for quite some time.The dunes at Bruneau Dunes State Park are unique in the Western Hemisphere. Others in the Americas form at the edges of natural basins; these form near the center. They include the largest single-structured sand dune in North America, with a peak 470 feet above the lakes. In addition, there are some local hot springs to explore also. Such as the Indian Bathtub. Anyway, hopefully I'll get this all organized and underway soon. It would be nice to have a camera, so I could chronicle the exploits, too.

Reading Rainbow 11-20-4

     I picked up the Histories by Herodotus. It's been a good read so far. I'm about two thirds done with the Vanhoozer book, and over halfway done with the works of Jonathan Edwards, vol.1 (of 2) . So that's been keeping me busy. I've been switching back and forth to keep it all interesting.

Reading Update 11-10-4

     I started reading Is There Meaning in This Text?: The Bible, the Reader, and the Morality of Literary Knowledge by Kevin Vanhoozer. It's a pretty heavy book, very technical and full of the latest philosophy. Very good read though. It seems to be a good sucessor to the Gagging of God by D.A. Carson.      Finally finished reading The story of civilization: Louis XIV. It was great. And that along with Jonathan Edwards has given me some fun stuff to think about, and new stuff to ponder.

World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft comes out later this month!
Currently I am a beta tester for it, and it is really quite fun. I am enjoying it immensely. You can play on Player versus Player servers (PvP) and the server pits the four good races against the four bad races, so that the PvP action is more global. There are pets and fun things of all sorts. Not to mention the game is astoundingly beautiful!

Kirkham

Went to Kirkham hot springs today!On the way there, we found a truck overturned in the road (Amazingly, no one was really hurt). So we stopped and directed traffic in the canyon until the police took over (around 40 minutes). It was pretty cool standing out in the middle of the road. Then we got there, and we were the only ones there for the whole duration. Although there were people across the river, on the scenic highway. The temperature was excellent. The sky was crystal clear, and it was a beautiful sunny day. After lounging around for a bit, I started jumping in the river for the shock therapy of it. Everyone decided to do it. Then, I swam across the river. Then of course, everyone had to do that, which was really great fun. However, it was brrrrrr. There were pools with ice on top of them. Kindof crazy! It was complete and total awesomeness. A great day of super-relaxing Idaho fun.

All Saints Eve Eve - Reading Reporting

     I've finally finished Pascal's Pensees. They were very, very good. Very reminiscent of Jonathan Edwards. I'm thinking maybe Edwards read them at some point. So, I think perhaps I'll dive into the work of Edwards for a while. I also finished Timequake and Hokus Pocus by Vonnegut. They were really good. I think I enjoyed Hokus Pocus the most out of what I've read of Vonnegut's works.
      I finally got a copy of Christ in the Old Testament; Old Testament Appearances of Christ in Human Form, by James A Borland. I got it used from Abebooks.com. It was a good read. It was formatted like a thesis, and very thorough. Thus, it was also pretty dry. But overall and excellent book. I also finished Paul  by E.P. Sanders. This is a "New Perspective on Paul" book. I find there are alot of interesting things, and many I do not agree with. One of the most interesting things is that Sanders rejects Luther's Simul Justus et Peccator, because it is a concept foreign to Paul, but later in the book, states that there is an 'anthropological dualism' which prevents people from doing the good that the law requires. Mindbender.

Final Fantasy 5

I've been playing Final Fantasy 5 lately. It's kindof like my fascination with Terry Brooks and the Shannara genre, but with role playing games. Final Fantasy 5 is an RPG by Squaresoft that came out for the Super Nintendo in 1992 (in Japan). The unofficial English translation was first released sometime around the mid 90's. It was completed sometime during 1998. This title was one of the first to be entirely translated by fans so its left quite a mark in classic gaming history. Squaresoft thought about bringing over FF5 to our shores but decided to bring over FF6 instead. In 1999 they finally decided to bring over; they released it as a part of the Final Fantasy Anthology.

Reading report 10-25-4

     Recently finished The Story of Philosophy by Wil Durant. Some good insight on a selection of philosophers. Also finished The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. That was interesting, especially with an election looming. And also finished The History of the Kings of Britian by Geoffrey of Monmouth. Which I am reading for a side project. Which I am hoping to turn into a book one day. I've also been really enjoying Pascal's Pensees.
     I also picked up Timequake and another paperback by Vonnegut, Hokus Pocus. I also am still reading Louis XIV by Durant still. And perusing through those World Book Encyclopedias (circa 1980).

Wanderlust

Driving 500 miles a day for the last six days, minus saturday; I am now feeling as though I should not drive so much. Really, it was great to go to my friend Sameer's wedding. It was an awesome wedding! There was a string quartet, something like fifteen groomsmen, and the reception settings had more glasses than forks! And it was great to go to comedy sportz in Hollywood, with the General. It was great to visit Ken and Michelle, and see all the Southern Californians that I've missed while away. It was great to stay at the Fly Factory in Pottervalley with Chris. It was great to visit Salem for a month, too. But best of all, it is great to be back in Idaho.

West Coast Tour '04 - Autumn Rally

Off to California, via Pottersville. Then to Santa Clarita, and hopefully to comedy sportz in Hollywood. Then on Saturday, Sameer's wedding. Then, I will be retracing my steps... all the way back to Idaho.

Seattle

I have returned from Seattle. And am currently in Salem, Oregon. I rode around in the Boar's Head delivery truck as Matt dropped off meat products all over north seattle up to the Canadian border, eh! Then we went to the greatest coffee spot outside of Italy;
http://www.caffelusso.com/
It was awesome. And, they ship coffee, so feel free to get in on the action. Although half of the action is talking to the roaster to zero in on coffees of interest to the imbiber. The next day we went and saw the movie, Napoleon Dynamite (my second viewing). An excellent movie, especially if you grew up in a small town in the west.

Pascal Quote

Man is obviously made to think. It is his whole dignity and his whole merit; and his whole duty is to think as he ought. Now, the order of thought is to begin with self, and with its Author and its end. Now, of what does the world think? Never of this, but of dancing, playing the lute, singing, making verses, running at the ring, etc., fighting, making oneself king, without thinking what it is to be a king and what to be a man.

Salem

Well, pretty much as soon as I got to Salem, things took an unexpected turn. So, I don't know if I'll be staying. C'est la vie. In other news, an apartment was pointed out to me, and that job at Old Navy i've been thinking about getting is open, and they are hiring. So perhaps I'll stay in Salem. God has a plan, and maybe that means to be in Salem for a while.This weekend, starting today, I'm off to go visit Carpenter in Seattle. He has found the Greatest Coffee house/Roaster in Seattle. Better than the Crooked House of former days, I hear. Then the next weekend, I'm headed down to California for my friend Sameer's wedding. I'm going to stop at Aplet's in Northern California for a day, and perhaps he will ride down to LA with me.

Book Review 10-6-4

     Finished coming up for air. a little dark humor for the pre-WWII Britian era. It was alright, and reminded me of Vonnegut. He used some vivid descriptions ofthe main character and the oddities of life in general. I didn't like some of his subject matter, and the first half of the book kindof dragged until he got to his war experience.
     I also finished the anthology of English Romantic Literature. I found some great poems in there that I liked. Particularly, I Am by John Clare. There was also some great stuff by Byron, as usual, and Percy Bysshe Shelly.     I picked up some great books to peruse through of late: The Story of Philosophy, by Wil Durant. Another book that is about the New Perspective on Paul. The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rosseau. I also picked up Pascal's Pensees / Thought's, though I'm looking for Provincial Letters.

I'm leaving in a Mustang...

So tommorow, I am moving back to Salem. I'm amped about the whole thing really. There was this one time, in the dawn of my college days that we all went down to the capital. It must of been some intense Aurora Borealis, or lightning, because at midnight we all caught sight of the golden man turning into the Golden Bowler. It was pretty spectacular. This photo is apparently an actual sighting of the Oregon State Capital Bowler.

Book Update 9.25.4

     I finished Tanequil, the sequil to the previous book I was reading. It was a good read, and those two were a needed change from what i had been reading.
       I picked up a book at Savers for 1.99, it was bound upside down. It is an anthology by David Perkins called English Romantic Writers. I has alot of great english poetry and has been fun to browse through.
      Rocky gave me a copy of George Orwell's Coming up for Air, although i don't know if i'll be able to work through it. The borland book is still delayed, i think i'm going to let amazon auto cancel it, maybe see if i can have someone pick it up who will be at ETS.

Latest Construction

     The website is about to experience its 20,000 hit. It's taken about a year (Oct 9th), so that makes about 55 hits per day (hpd). I redid the main theme. I will probably turn on the personal theme option in the user menus so that you can change it to something simpler and quicker loading if desired.     In other news, my dad is getting his arm operated on today. Yesterday and the day before I started up the '66 Ford. I am hoping to go out shooting sometime. I am also hoping to plan a campaign to conquer all of the hot springs.

Reading Report 9.15.4

I finished Breakfast of Champions. It was a fun book, but alot of the subject matter was a little too forward and harsh. He does present things with new and different perspectives, though. I picked another of the Shannara Saga to read through. I've been reading Terry Brooks since grade school, and he turns out a novel in the genre every year or two. I'm a bit behind though. I really like Brooks. He writes similar to tolkien, and with a very similar universe, however, he is alot more exciting, action oriented, and dramatic than the exhaustive Tolkien. Brooks was the first fiction writer to appear on the New York Times trade paperback bestseller list.

World of Warcraft

I was over at my friend Andy's last thursday night, and he was showing me the beta stress test for World of Warcraft. Now, Blizzard's games are among the best ever made as far as computer games go. They are extremely impressive, and alot of fun to play! Anyone who has ever played a few games of starcraft (especially multiplayer) knows that. The World of Warcraft game is a MMORPG. It is set in the warcraft saga, and has the characters from Warcraft 2 & 3. It looks like it has the same, or similar engine are Warcraft 3, and the characters have been finished up nicely for 1st person interaction.

Breakfast of Champions.

     So, having finished the Brothers Karamazov, and still waiting for my Borland book, I went over to the local Barnes and Nobles to browse around. I often see alot of books that I might be interested in, but none that I want to read at the moment. Anyway, after being a internet connected citizen for so long, I had heard about Kurt Vonnegut many times, and even seen his visa commercial. So, I decided to get one. I picked up Breakfast of Champions. It is definately reminiscent of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (the best Science Ficition comedy ever written). It has more allusions and sarcasm and satire in it, and it blacker. But it is fun, too. And he puts entities in different and interesting perspectives.

Perhaps a New Camera?

Well, it looks like i might be starting to drum up some interest in Ion Idaho. So that is exciting. In other news, I sent an application to a Internet Provider to do onsite technical support (fixing computers). I'm kindof happy about that. I would get to work with cool people, too. Like Andy Simmons. Also, there is a friend of mine's church down in Twin Falls that might need some help, so I might be heading down there to help them out a bit.

Brothers Karamazov is done...

     I finished the Brothers Karamazov last weekend. I was going to finish it at our backwoods bungalow, however, there was a little adventure, so I ended up finishing it at the Moxie Java that overlooks the lake. Quite a scenic place!
     I remember when I learned how to spell the word Apple. It was my first word they taught me to spell at school. I remember liking books before I could read (for the pictures, of course!). I especially liked the encyclopedia; specifically the letter 'S.' 'S' had all the cool stuff. Submarines, the Sphinx, Sahara. Yeah. 'S' rocks.

I got two guns, one for each of ya

True story: The neighbor shot at me last weekend. I was inspecting the septic tank (in the process of being installed) at 11 pm and he had arrived home, slightly liquored. I heard some noise, so I aimed the flashlight over at his property, and Boom! a pistol went off. Needless to say, i didn't stay the night at our backwoods cabin that night. Instead, I drove to the beachfront paradise and went waterskiing the next morning. That did make me miss out on the hot springs though.

Too much sunshine makes deserts

The weather here is now taking a turn toward autumn.  It has already started to become cold.  I have forgotten what it is like to experience the true cold here.  The complete lack of humidity helps to make the cold behave differently, than say Oregon or California.  At this time of year, it makes you colder, but in the middle of winter, it seems to make o­ne more comfortable.  I really am glad that I'm starting to experience seasons again.  Southern California certainly has a way of making one feel like they are experiencing eternal summer.

check out the Annual Spotted Owl Hunt.

Fab

     I've been perusing through the official beatles anthology, it's always fun to read about the patriarchs of Brit-Pop. What a great genre.
     I finished, 1066 and all that. It was definately a fun read, as people don't write in that style anymore.
     I also finished Messiah in the Old Testament, by Walt Kaiser. It was excellent, although it was dry in the usual Kaiser style. I'm still waiting for the second half of my amazon order, Christ in the Old Testament; Old Testament Appearances of Christ in Human Form,.
     Again, I'm still working on the The brother's karamazov, by dostoyevsky. I'm about half way through, and the story is picking up a little better now. I'm also still working on Will Durant's The story of Civilization: Louis XIV.

Free Tribes!

One of my favorite older 3D accelerated PC games is now free for everybody to play. So, if you have some free time, check it, you'll probably enjoy it, if you like futuristic first person shooter games.

They seek him here, they seek him there...

     I picked up a book called 1066 and all that. It's a tongue in cheek history of England, and is very funny, but i think it might require reading some English history before reading it, in order to get some of the puns and such. " Memorable History of England, comprising all the parts you can remember, including 103 Good Things, 5 Bad Kings and 2 Genuine Dates"
     I recently thumbed through the maze and the warrior, by Craig Wright. It is about Symbols in Architecture, Theology, and Music. It was pretty interesting, but not of any real value unless you enjoy the history of mazes, and music theory/history.
     I also recieved from Amazon; Messiah in the Old Testament, by Walt Kaiser. I'm hoping it will be enlightening, and it is already pretty informative, although it is in the kindof dry old kaiser style. I'm excited for another book i bought at the same time, Christ in the Old Testament; Old Testament Appearances of Christ in Human Form, by James A Borland. I also received a new Mounce Greek book from Amazon, as I am teaching a friend of mine Greek, and there is a second edition now.
     I'm still working on the The brother's karamazov, by dostoyevsky. Although, I'm taking it slowly, as Dostoyevsky is really obnoxious to me. I'm also still working on Will Durant's The story of Civilization: Louis XIV.
     And I read the The scarlet pimpernel, by baroness orczy. As an escape from Dostoyevsky. And it was absolutely delightful. Reminded me of the great movie that had Ian McKellan as Chauvelin.

xBox Entertainment value

After visiting The Mint Farmer last weekend, and playing some halo with linked up xBoxes, i've started to get enthused about the new games coming out for the xBox. Firstly, there is Halo 2, which is due out around novermber 9th.
     http://www.bungie.net/Games/Halo2/
     http://www.xbox.com/en-US/halo2/

And then there is Starcraft Ghost, hopefully due around February 2, 2005, although it's already been pushed back quite some time.
     http://www.blizzard.com/ghost/
     http://www.starghost.com/
     http://xbox.gamespy.com/xbox/starcraft-ghost/

FYI: Spring Cleaning...

The website is being prepared to stop using the address:      http://www.balm-of-gilead.org/
Instead, the website will use as a root address:     http://www.hettinger.us/

However, the balm-of-gilead.org address should continue to work until sometime in the near future. You might want to update your bookmarks/links, just to be safe. This also means that if you had a login at the balm-of-gilead.org, you will need to make a new one at hettinger.us, as any user information has been deleted with the old database.

The Old/New Plates

      We had the giant garage sale about a week ago, carting a load of junk up to McCall to match the load that was already up there. It was a success. Then headed back to Boise to partake in assorted errands. After that, I headed back up to McCall, where I dug trenches and pulled wires through conduits in order to make our cabins tech savvy. Kindof a contradiction in terms, but the cabin now is under surveillance, which is cool. Fun, although I had to crawl around under the foundations and through the roofs filled with insulation pretty extensively. Bleahh!

Digital Surveillance

YAY!1! The Phil Keaggy DVD arrived today in the mail. I can't wait to get a portion of Keaggy acoustic goodness. It was great going to his concert in Eugene in March, and I hope that he gets to come back to the northwest soon. Hmmm.. better check his itenerary. Uh oh, it looks bad 'til 2005.

Being out of school is great, as I get to read what I want. That said, I am just about to finish islands in the stream by hemingway, and previously finished up toilers of the sea by victor hugo. And have the Brothers karamazov and the second half of Anna Korrinniinnnaina to work on nextly.

Aeroplane

A plane ride through the mountains is a beautiful thing. Especially, when the mountains are in Idaho, and the valleys are filled with rivers. Big Rivers, like the Snake and the Salmon. Anyway, we had a fun plan ride from McCall to Hell's Canyon, up to the confluence of the Snake and the Salmon, then north to Lewsiton, then to Orofino, then to Grangeville, and then back to McCall. And in the afternoon, we took a boat ride around the Little Payette lake. It was pretty interesting, the lake was dammed up and there were standing trees that became silent column, and rotting pillars out in the midst of the lake. There are submerged stumps and trunks everywhere on one side of the lake, making for a slow boating experience. And a few days earlier I journied up to Slick Rock.

Jughandle Exhausted...

Went to McCall for the end of the weekend. We put up a new ceiling fan, which is really cool. Also, the power went out. So the sprinklers didn't exactly work right. But the Hai worked like a champ. I hooked a speaker up so when the burglar alarm goes off it tells the burglar what room they are in. "Burglar alarm, front room, motion detector tripped, sending klingon death squad..." Pretty cool. Today I went hiking up east of McCall, up to a place called Louie Lake, and then up to the top of the Mountain, Jughandle. Louie Lake is a pristine, deep-blue lake that sits at 7,004 feet beneath Jughandle Mountain. Jughandle's elevation is 8,310-foot. Which was a bit of a hike, as it took four hours to go up (since I positively had to make my own path though the bushes and rocks), and two hours to descend (down the semi-steep rock slide). Anyway, I'm really sore now.

Reading report...

I went to McCall for the fourth of July. It was beautiful. I also have finished the man in the iron mask. the musketeers saga was delightful. Adieux Musketeers! I am also on the verge of finishing the complete hitchhiker guide to the galaxy saga. Then, perhaps, i will ripost to toilers of the sea by victor hugo. Also, I got a Sharp Zaurus, which has been fun toying around with and getting all organized -n- stuff.

Storm Warning

A Giant Size? storm just rolled into Boise, they Meteorologists are saying stuff about an inch of rain in an hour and flash floods on the tv. I took some great photos of the pressure front moving in!
In other news, I finished Louise de la Valliere, and have moved on to the finally of the Musketeer series, the Man in the Iron Mask. And just in case you don't know, the movies reflecting Alexandre Dumas' work never, ever, do his work justice. Take the Count of Monte Cristo for instance. Most of the names of the characters are the same. Character, however has been totally replaced with a modern equivalent, depravity.

Franklin Starbucks and step on it!

It's been good to be back in Idaho. Hit the hotsprings last weekend, and they were great! Went garage selling also! Woohoo! I've also been having fun going to starbucks, selling things on eBay, and reading Louise de la Valliere.

Left Coast Tour '04

Left Coast Tour '04 is at an end, and i need some sleep.
I am back in Idaho, after a tour of Northern California, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. The Loma Linda experience did not work out.
It's great to be in Idaho!

Duke of Loma: Emperor of the Inland Empire

I am going to be moving down to Loma Linda to move in with the General Lee on this coming Monday, the 31st. Loma Linda is in the valley farther inland from Los Angeles. This valley is where all the smog is blown from the coastal winds. As a result, the air quality there is pretty abysmal. Some days you can see the mountains that are a mile away. Bleah! But, it will be very exciting to be out of seminary, and to be living to the General, and in close proximity to my girlfriend! yay! Coincidentally, it is the General's birthday today. And for that I made him an awesome T-shirt.

Loma Linda Land

Well, i am now an official season pass holder at Disneyland.  Then I will live in Loma Linda. And I will drive a red convertible, and maybe get a job at Old Navy. And I will have a pick-up truck, or umm... possibly even...a recreational vehicle, and drive from state to state. Do they let you do that?

Whoa! Anyway, for graduation, i was blessed with many great gifts, but especially, Ken bought me a pound of Starbucks' Kona Coffee. So, I converted our old doormatt into a thank you card.

Classic Mountain Weekend

 This weekend, i went up to the mountains with a group of people, and we had a great time. We did classic mountain activities?, including hiking, and shooting. The hiking was mostly on a uphill valley, where there was a waterfall at the end. The hike continued past the waterfall, with a steep climb around the falls with a rope at the top. However, since there weren't many volunteers to continue onward, this is where the hike ended its uphill journey. On the way down, we met another part of our group, and decided to head back up again for a second time. More exercise! Ack!

When Coffee Makers Go Bad...

When Coffee Makers Go Bad...

Balm Outage

Due to a router failure at our hosting company, the balm went down for several hours today. Email did not get through.The directors of the firm hired to continue the hosting after the other people had been sacked, wish it to be known that they have just been sacked. The hosting has been completed in an entirely different style at great expense and at the last minute.

Domo Arigato Bonsai

Sunday afternoon, my restless roommates decided that they needed to go do something. We settled on the beach, and enjoyed the convertible on the way to Zuma beach. After tossing the frisbee around for a while, and enjoying running from the surf, we headed back, and on the way home, we stopped at a van with a bunch of Bansai trees on racks on the outer sides of it. So one of my roommates and I each bought a tree.

Meow!

Saw Phil Keaggy last night. It was a stellar show. He played, and sang a duet or two with Larry Norman, who happened to be in the audience. They spontanoeusly combusted into "We are Siamese if you please." Amazing! Phil's pedal for his jamman double tapped once, and started a very short loop that was akin to a drum machine doing mach 5. He doubled forward, threw his arms forward and started furiously dancing around on his tippy toes as if it was German Techno or something. It was soooooo coool.

biplane on your trunk

So I was driving down to Loma Linda last weekend, to hang out with one of my medical doctor type friends. And the traffic was the worst. Usually it takes a little over an hour to get there, but this time, I left at 3:30pm and arrived after 6:30pm. Which is pretty mesed up. But on the road I saw ever scarier things. Like this: I don't understand how the biplane affixed to the aft of this front wheel drive VW Jetta benefits its performance? I think this one defies the rules of physics.

New Used Car

So, I traded my blue truck in. And the deal of the moment ended me up with the cliche mid-life crisis car. No, I don't have Dewey Bertolini's wheels, but instead I have a nearly new 1999 Ford Mustang. I guess it is convertible also. It was apparentyl a repossession, and has a few dents, but they're rather smallish. It seemes to be taken care of nicely, and the truck housed what once must of been the mother of all stereos. There is a monster™ cable that runs directly into the battery that has a diameter of 3/4". Yes that's right, there is a big red cable and a galactic sized fuse that is hooked directly into the battery.