how now brownpau
This weekend, ******* and I celebrate our seventh year as a couple. Happy anniversary, my luv! To commemorate this occasion, I present Index 28. The blue straw is in memory of all those Manang’s iced teas from the Ateneo cafeteria, where we discovered together that we both like to pick the bendy blue straws. :)
(And thanks to Tiff’s sister Rian for the excellent close-up photos!)
Now I must get off the net and study for my GRE, which is tomorrow. Panic.
The name of my site is based on the popular phrase, “How now, brown cow,” which, to my knowledge, comes from an old poem which starts, “How now, brown cow, grazing in the green, green grass.”
Update: Used in elocution teaching to demonstrate rounded vowel sounds.
I’ve never found a copy of the full poem, which I’m understandably eager to peruse. A quick search turns up only passing allusions to said text, but nothing full or pertinent. I did, however, find this cute little stanza by Alice Schertle, surprisingly evocative in its simplicity, from a children’s book titled after the phrase I so love:
The Cow, by Alice Schertle
You come across her standing there
as common as a box. As square.
Her lower jaw revolves the cud;
her hooves stand foursquare in the mud.
Come closer. View with mild surprise
the gentle softness of her eyes.
Cute, eh? Look for a cow layout sometime soon.
I almost forgot, in 9 Truths and a Lie, the lie is number 6.
I have two left feet, I cannot dance for peanuts, and I will not be made to embarass myself by even trying. At the high school prom, my date and I were content to talk. Actually, we didn’t talk much either; I was an awkward kid. Well, what do you expect? Dressing up like Parker Lewis and playing too many fantasy role-playing games were not exactly socializing factors. But at least I could whup you good with a Level 4 Summon Lightning. Assuming the dice rolled right.
And yes, I do use women’s deodorant. Rexona Confidence, because of its delightful powder-fresh scent. (I’ve been trying Rexona Fresh-Cotton Dry Stick lately, and I like it too.)
If you desire further expostulation on any other points, just ask.
(Any Incredible Hulk queries will be disregarded. Don’t make me angry. You… you wouldn’t like me… when I’m angry.)
He should not have died. He did not deserve the death they gave him: bereft of honor, glory … or hope. But… it is not too late… He can still… come back.
*snort*
*giggle*
P. Andrew Sandlin has an engaging Reformed critique of the Fundamental Baptist movement, but many of his concerns about the FBM don’t apply to Berean Bible Baptist Church, where we’ve been attending for the past three Sundays. As Sandlin says, “there is a great deal of diversity within it [the FBM]. Certain descriptions and criticisms I make of the FBM will surely not apply to everybody within it.” Indeed, BBBC has few of the problems ennumerated in Sandlin’s account: there are no controversies regarding pastoral tyranny or legalistic authoritarianism, and the KJV is not a hot issue, as we are allowed to use our NIV’s — albeit with some implicit reservations.
History, however, is of greater concern to me, particularly where the much-touted “Trail of Blood” Baptist lineage is concerned. As Sandlin puts it,
I quickly discovered… that the FBM had a woefully inadequate approach to… church history. Many of its supporters held to the “trail of blood” thesis, that true, Bible-believing Baptists enjoyed great precedent all the way back to the early church and John the Baptist himself. Interestingly, however, many of the groups claimed by the FBM or by almost anybody’s standards – including many of the FBM today – are heretical. I refer to the Novations, the Albigenses, the Cathari, the Anabaptists, and so forth. The Anabaptists, for instance, had no doctrine of justification by faith alone…. The FBM seemed to glory in always being outside the established Christian church, and notably the Church of Rome. This opposition to Romanism is most commendable, but the FBM apparently did not recognize that the doctrines of the very groups they hailed as theological predecessors were in no case less egregious and in some cases more egregious than those of the Church of Rome. (emphasis mine)
The pastor of the church, a solid man, well-grounded in Scripture, has himself stressed that BBBC doesn’t derive its sense of baptismal authority from this “Trail of Blood” heritage, but rather from its own being as a believing Christian church, saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. If that is so, however, why continue waving around the “Trail of Blood” booklet? More disturbingly, why will they regard me as being unequally yoked for fellowshipping with Christians from Reformed and non-FBM churches? Why do I need to go through yet another immersion baptism? Is it because my old baptism at GCF was not authoritative, having been conducted by a non-FBM pastor? The exclusivist FBM mindset is still there, though it is not readily apparent from the first few attendances.
It is not something to which I can reconcile myself in good conscience. Not yet.
It’s been a long day. We talked to the pastor of Berean Bible Baptist Church this afternoon (no affiliation with The Bereans), and they seem like a good church: conservative and firm, solidly grounded in Scripture, except for this: I am bothered by the exclusivist stand of the Fundamental Baptist denomination (yes, yes, they gave us a copy of Trail of Blood, much to my bemusement), especially that they will not regard as valid my baptism at our last church (GCF), whose doctrinal heritage is not Anabaptist. (Well, at least we’re allowed to use something other than the KJV.)
Any comments my Reformed friends out there can give would be welcome.
Tired. Will sleep now.
I seem to have been nominated for the Philippine Webbies. Thank you thank you, whoever nominated me!
Just as an intro, then, for my first-time visitors: Hello. My name is Paulo, a.k.a. “brownpau” online. This site is my venue to: (1) display my online resume and portfolio, (2) satisfy my own personal journaling itch, and (3) experiment with any design methods and tricks I may learn or discover. The index page loads one of (at the time of this writing) twenty-seven random blog layouts everytime my site is visited, integrating different sections of content (blog, blog-menu, nav-menu, etc.) with server-side includes. All pages rely on standards-compliant CSS code for layout, rather than old-style HTML tables.
I am an evangelical Christian. Many of you may know me from Pinoyexchange, where I moderate two forums. My day job is in the digital video field, and I’m also available for small independent web design projects.
Anything else you need to know? Click around my site from the navigational links at the top of the blog-menu.
I only lately realized the distinction between a journal and a blog. A blog (or weblog) is an ongoing link-list with some commentary, while a journal is a full-blown diary, with or without links. (Any blog-veterans out there, am I getting this right?) As for me, I often switch modes: sometimes I post lists of links, sometimes just personal diary entries.
I guess that makes me… a jolog. Um, never mind. I think I can settle for “blog” as a general catch-all term.
Oh, very well. Since I’ll be working my tush off this week at the office, I’ll entertain you in my absence with an egotistical little meme I picked up from Dani and The Dane.
Nine Obscure Truths and an Outright Lie About Paulo
1. I used to be dead scared of the ocean and the beach until I was 12, when I decided to just take the plunge and go swimming at Bonito Island. I enjoyed it. (I only found out later that Bonito is famous for its gray reef sharks, which like to come close to the beach.)
2. As a child, I used to play “Superman,” running around the house with a towel cape, an “S-logo” shirt, and fake glasses. I brushed my hair like Clark Kent, and I still do today.
3. I would also play “Incredible Hulk,” stripping down to my skivvies and pretending to be Lou Ferrigno — but only in private in the bathroom. Yes, I know that sounds bad. At least there was no green body paint involved.
4. I dressed like Parker Lewis in high school, wearing printed polo shirts, slacks, and (cough) Nike rubber shoes.
5. At one high school soiree, I was aiming to get partnered with a certain girl, and when I didn’t get her, (ill-mannered teenage fool that I was) I asked the guy who did get partnered with her if we could trade — in front of my partner. That was rude, and I regret my lack of sensitivity to this day.
6. I danced up a storm at the high school prom, but not a very nice storm. It was rather embarassing.
7. I was a major role-playing game fanatic from grade school through high school, playing Dungeons and Dragons, Middle-Earth Role-Playing, Robotech, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Marvel Superheroes, and more.
8. I was so easily creeped out as a kid that the sandworm scene in Star Trek II (The Wrath of Khan), where Khan puts the worm in Chekov’s ear, had me cowering and sobbing in fear.
9. I once almost got the bends on one of my scuba-diving checkouts, when a strong current ripped me from the coral and away from the instructor, then swept me right up to the surface from 50 feet. The only ill effect was a splitting headache the rest of the day.
10. I use women’s deodorant for my underarms.
Well, what do you think? Which is the lie? I’ll be back soon, with some expostulation.
Last week, I got to watch Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, and I was quite impressed by the quality of the animation. It’s definitely a big leap towards the creation of virtual actors who, on screen, could be indistinguishable from real, live-action characters. (Think about it: long after Sean Connery or William Shatner are gone, we can re-create them in 3D, down to the shlurred shpeech, or the stop-start… trademark… acting!)
Finally, at the end, stupefied by the graphics (but disappointed by the script and story), I came away from the film with something like a gritty angst settling on my mood. You know that glazed feeling you get after watching a long movie, or playing a challenging computer game? Well, that same feeling was doubled from watching a computer-game-based movie.
(One thing that especially struck me was Dr. Aki Ross’ hair: it stayed soft and smooth all throughout the movie. Whether in zero-gravity, in combat with phantoms, or even newly awakened from a nightmare, her hair flowed like fine silk. Whatever shampoo and conditioner they use in the future, I want it.)
More from Rotten Tomatoes.