The Obligatory Earthquake News

For any of you who are wondering...yes,  we did feel the earthquake this week.  At least, the boys and I did.  Somehow Michelle missed it all together while walking around the house talking on the phone. 

The boys and I felt it...and it was pretty cool.  Just a couple of waves of rocking earth.  About 5 seconds...

None of us were hurt and we feel like official Californians now.

Guilt-free play

My wife and I have a consistent discussion about the value of "play" and "down-time". This often occurs when one of us starts a new book. Its hard for us to fall into the book for hours on end without lots of guilt. Same with most any other leisure activity.

This week's "Speaking of Faith" addresses this issue with an interview with Stuart Brown, the Director of the National Institute for Play. He argues that "play prepares us for an evolving planet," and that without sufficient play time we will find that we are fixed and rigid in response to complex stimuli. Play is universal across the human species as well as almost every other intelligent form of life on the planet.

Take an hour and listen to it. You'll be glad you did.

How the rich get richer

This week's Word for Word has an interesting speech by David Cay Johnston about how the US tax system is one of the most regressive in the world. Interestingly, he notes that professional sports team's owners essentially buy their franchises for free after tax rebates.

Providence in the Key of B

It was a pleasure to preach at my home church this week. I truly enjoy preaching a few times a year. Every week is pretty tough...but every six months is wonderful.

If you're interested, here's the text of my sermon. (Props to Ed for the great food for thought for this sermon).

Thanks to Sys Admins...a tribute in song.

The Brain Thrashing Threshold

OK...Facebook must have reached critical mass this summer.  It seems that what started as a social app for college students a few years ago has somehow become the platform of modernity. 

Over the past eight weeks several friends and family (some who would be classified as Luddites) have suddenly shown up on FB.  Surprisingly, this has had an impact on my own productivity.  I find myself checking their status throughout the day and commenting on their interests.  Totally a distraction.  I'm nearly at the point of "Brain Thrashing". 

Here is a wonderful article about the direction this is heading...

Thank you to our SysAdmins!

Today is SysAdminDay...the one day a year when everyone gives thanks for the heroic efforts of their System Administrators. These are the people who keep your networks, PC's, and even Macs up and running. So, be sure to at least say "Thank you!" and maybe even buy them lunch...

To all of you who make it possible for us to get our work done...THANK YOU!