how now brownpau
It was an engaging afternoon at Valerie’s today, as she, Joel, Laurel, Sarah, Daniel, and I lunched on sandwiches and salad as we discussed philosophy, theology, tech talk, and many other things too unspeakable to blog about. They’re all bonzer folk, they are, and I had a great time with them all.
And I think rural American courtship rituals scare me.
Oh, and here’s a photo from after Martin’s wedding. The happy groom is in the center, flanked by friends from through the years. I’m the fashionable odd man out.
Home now, showered and unpacked. Well, that was a nice vacation. I met up with old friends and made new ones, watched The Two Towers and Nemesis at Metreon, saw the sights of San Francisco, got reacquainted with my brother, ate clam chowder at Pier 39 and In-N-Out in Union City, and generally had a nice, warm Christmas.
Oh, and the Loot:
– MicroTrac trigger-type trackball mouse
– Poseable MiniMates figures of Captain Kirk and Dr. McCoy (I still have to Search for Spock)
– Solid oakwood chess set
The Micro Trac has been seeing much use as I process the San Francisco photo album: coming soon. I’m also recoding the template for the travel log section; that will go online as soon as I’m done writing my log for San Francisco.
But now, I’m off to bed, to get up bright and early for that get-together over at Valerie’s tomorrow.
Air travelers taking ATA, a word of advice: don’t be in a hurry to board the plane, unless you have a music player with good earphones, or a high tolerance for flip-down video screens playing soppy Lee Ann Womack, Elton John, Tony Bennett, and Vanessa Williams music videos at semi-loud conversation-level volume.
On every flight. Back and forth. Layovers too.
That was a fast flight. I slept right through it, and sleepwalked through the layover at Chicago to my connecting flight, waking up only briefly to breakfast on scrambled eggs and sausages at the airport cafe.
Now I’m back in the office. Yes, I go straight to work after a red-eye trip. Then I blog. I’m hopeless.
I’m posting this from a high speed internet phonebooth at SFO. Red-eye flight back to DC is leaving in a couple of hours. After I land in DC tomorrow morning, I head straight to work for the rest of the day. Been snowin’, I hear. Fun fun.
Today we celebrate the Word made flesh who dwelt among us: Jesus Christ, God made man. We were sinful, wretched, lonely, separate from God; and he came to give us a way, Himself, the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all, that all would be forgiven. To the person who receives him as Lord, professes him as Savior, and holds to an unshakeable faith in Christ alone, he promises life eternal, blessings aplenty, and unspeakable joy.
Take heart and be of good cheer! We celebrate His coming, and cry out with joy, “God is most certainly with us!” Merry Christmas to you all.
Little girl on the cable car tracks, downtown San Francisco. “Schindler’s List” style color effects applied.
Photo taken with an Aiptek Mini Pencam 1.3MP SD.
Gollum versus Jar Jar Binks. Who would win?
(Personally, I think Gollum makes Jar Jar look like Lawnmower Man.)
I met up with Rhesa yesterday for a lunch of clam chowder at Pier 39. After attempting — unsuccessfully — to wolf down our entire bread bowls, we window-shopped the pier and talked about school, faith, work, cute kitties, and other bloggers. But alas, the afternoon was over too soon, as I had to meet up with my old grade school friends for yet another viewing of The Two Towers. It was even better the second time around.