thetinymite.com

I’ll have to admit these new iPods are really quite nifty. If I didn’t have this stubbornness about refusing doing the same thing everyone else does and didn’t own Dell’s knockoff iPod, then I’d be trying to buy one, too. But with the increasing availability of music, there is certainly a tragic loss of silence. I hear the question now, “What’s the point? Silence is awkward”. Well, to the American, maybe. Ask a Chinese a serious question, and he would stop to think about it, resulting in a long conversation-less pause. It’s difficult enough to talk to say hi to a friend you see walking on campus when he’s deaf to your existence because of an MP3 player. Perhaps, I’m only a bitter old man… most likely, but the problem, to me, is much larger than a mere downgrade in conversation.

Gone are the days when we spend time in quiet reflection. Gone are the days when we stop, and ask ourselves what we’re doing, where we’re going, and how to get there. How do you know yourself if there’s never periods of extended silence? And what of knowing God?

I guess this brings me to the main point: I LOVE our front porch. Even when the weather is not so pleasant, it’s shaded from the elements. Quite nice during this past week of rain and even more so when summer approaches. In general, it is so peaceful. Even with the occasional car motoring down the street, it is not comparable to the noise of the fans, refrigerator, and CPUs buzzing. It’s in silent moments like these that peace has a way of creeping in. It’s a small whispering voice of peace that I would not trade for any new Top 10 single, even if it’s newest acoustic worship smash mega-hit.

But maybe I’m just bitter for not owning an iPod…

Are Mondays allowed to be this good? The rest of the days of this week must tremble with the standard set by this Monday. Aside from seeing some long lost friends and having an extremly cooperative TA for Ethics, we had 16 new freshmen show up tonight to Journey!! That is 1-6, sixteen. After all the trouble we had losing freshmen, this is extremely encouraging. The only thing that didn’t happen today was training. Career Fair, how I wish you were on another day! Another edition of the Pieces are soon to come. So be on the ready.

Most of today was motionless… very odd considering classes began today. It’s what happens when you spend 4.5 hours in the same classroom. Horrible. 3 back-to-back classes in one classroom!?! I was dying to leave at 2pm. I guess with all that sitting still it is no wonder I took the bike out for a spin. I can’t wait for James to return to full health so he can join me.

FYI - riding into a 15mph headwind with gusts ~25 mph is laborious. Also, biking along University is a death wish, but if you are still alive by the time you pedal to the turn off to Highway 47, then it’s worth it. What a great stretch of road!

I know this has been an erradic and infrequent place of postings. In all honesty, I really haven’t finished the site at all. Like the sidebar on the left… not nearly done. Like the whole “Great Thinkers”… that just needs to be redone completely. Still, I hope that this will eventually be something I get in a habit of doing more often. It’s just easier to write on paper than a computer, and it’s easiest to not write at all. So keep checking in, and you may find a suprise or two. But no promises, expect I hope to be sending a new Reese’s Pieces soon. Until then,

Peace, love, and lots of gravy