geekery.of.all.sorts

There's a fellow named Edward Tufte ( long 'E' - Tuff-tee ) who is the expert regarding how to make pictures that mean things. If you're into graphs ( aka 'information graphics' ) Tufte is your man. One of his concepts is that when you want to represent variation between similar things, you should take little snapshots and stick them side by side - he calls them 'Small Multiples' Here are some examples: Alex Rodriguez batting over three years Example showing payroll expenses for groups of departments As you can see, in both examples multiple similar pictures are grouped together to highlight the differences between them. So in true geek fashion, I will now explain my affinity for romantic comedies. When I look at a romantic comedy, I see small multiples. Movies like French Kiss, Hitch, 50 First Dates, Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail share so many qualities that many people ( men ) will look at them and say 'Seen one? Seen them all!...

Hurricanes are still relevant, though Gustav has passed. Hurricane Ike is on the way - headed for Texas. I find it amusing that I know an Ike...I play music with him every week. I've thought of him a lot this last week - good excuse to pray for him, since his namesake is planning on dumping 4 inches of rain on Dallas this weekend. I'm sure my friend has heard enough of hurricane jokes by now to last him a lifetime. So given the recent posts by my friend William and myself, it seems appropriate for me to raise some of the larger questions in my mind: Who's in control of the weather? Satan? God? Nobody? Natural Law ( the consequences of the fall ) {Your Father in Heaven} makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust- Matthew 5:45 Job 36, 37, and 38 are full of references to God's control of the weather - keeping hail in storehouses, dispersing lightning, making paths for the thunderstorm... The plagues of exodus and the ...

My buddy William got a comment the other day on his blog post about Hurricane Gustav, which asked about the journey into prophecy. William posted a good response to that question , outlining his gradual journey into experiencing the Holy Spirit and His gifts.  The only thing I might add is that the most baby christian can exercise spiritual gifts - and I mean 1st Corinthians gifts, like prophecy, tongues, healing, words of knowledge. My parents are seasoned and wise believers of many years, and have introduced many new believers into the things of the Spirit with some exciting results.  Praying for healing is a simple way to explore this stuff...pretty non-threatening, and less weird than jumping up and speaking in tongues in the middle of church.  But you can do that too, if you want. But here's what I really want to say: Eagerly seeking the greater gifts, especially prophecy, is less about 'BAM' and more about 'shhh'. My own journey into prophecy ha...

As of around 12am Monday, Gustav is only a 3. I wrote previously that it was a 5... I don't want to make a misinformed statement, especially related to sin and judgement, and then just gloss over the details. Credibility and details matter in these circumstances...and Gustav is a 3, not a 5.

I just read a post by my good friend William - I was gonna comment on his blog, but my comment grew into a post of my own. How often does that actually happen. Congrats, William, on initiating my first blog post of substance in 10 months or so. Enjoy: William correctly identifies that Ray Nagin and the government of New Orleans don't seem to behave any differently than they used to, despite Katrina. Now here comes Gustav, and maybe they'll get the message. To quote Chuck Pierce, 'God's going to keep washing New Orleans until it's clean'. So I'm in agreement with that...but I'm going to bring a slight nuance to defining Sodom and Gomorrah's offense against the Lord - and hence, New Orleans' as well. I feel like it's important to point out that homosexuality is not the scripturally defining sin about those cities. Even though the current usage of the word 'sodomy', or 'sodomite', etc points to homosexuality as the distinct...

So both people that will read this blog ( William and Jennifer, at this point ) already know that I worked all night to meet a deadline. Jenn says I have to go to bed now...so I can't blog anymore. Not that I had anything to say in my current mental state. night night.

So the fine cadre of friends that I have are now all on blogspot. So, due to peer pressure, I'm now a blogger once again. I don't have much to say right now, as I'm deep in a project and haven't had any thoughts that wouldn't put the rest of you in a coma for several days now. Curly braces, anyone? However, here I am, blogging away...or am I blah-ging? Ponder that, will ya? In all truthfulness my main question is how long I can keep doing what I'm doing ( day job, side job, family, church ) without one of those taking a serious dive. It's at a point where I don't feel like I'm doing any of them well. When I feel that way, Jesus just says 'ummm, you are, in fact, doing it...' so I guess I need to keep on doing it and not worry so much. This season is a wonderful exercise in breathing deeply while things feel wildly out of control. Talk about blah-ging. Go read Williams blog , or Jenn's . Eeeeyore.