Dynamic Yet Consistent

The following is from John Donne’s Thoughts on Emergent Occasions.  The common phrases “for whom the bell tolls” and “no man is an island” come from this piece.  In its entirety  it is a refreshing read.  It is my hope it continues to aid in our discussion of human worth, human rights and the way we should view humanity.  Points of emphasis are mine.

XVII. MEDITATION
Now, this bell tolling softly for another, says to me: Thou must die.

Perchance he for whom this bell tolls may be so ill, as that he knows not it tolls for him; and perchance I may think myself so much better than I am, as that they who are about me, and see my state, may have caused it to toll for me, and I know not that.

The church is Catholic, universal, so are all her actions; all that she does belongs to all.

When she baptizes a child, that action concerns me; for that child is thereby connected to that body which is my head too, and ingrafted into that body whereof I am a member.

And when she buries a man, that action concerns me: all mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated.

God employs several translators; some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice; but God’s hand is in every translation, and his hand shall bind up all our scattered leaves again for that library where every book shall lie open to one another.

As therefore the bell that rings to a sermon calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come, so this bell calls us all; but how much more me, who am brought so near the door by this sickness.

There was a contention as far as a suit (in which both piety and dignity, religion and estimation, were mingled), which of the religious orders should ring to prayers first in the morning; and it was determined, that they should ring first that rose earliest.

If we understand aright the dignity of this bell that tolls for our evening prayer, we would be glad to make it ours by rising early, in that application, that it might be ours as well as his, whose indeed it is.

The bell doth toll for him that thinks it doth; and though it intermit again, yet from that minute that that occasion wrought upon him, he is united to God.

Who casts not up his eye to the sun when it rises? but who takes off his eye from a comet when that breaks out?

Who bends not his ear to any bell which upon any occasion rings? but who can remove it from that bell which is passing a piece of himself out of this world?

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.

If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were.

Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.

Neither can we call this a begging of misery, or a borrowing of misery, as though we were not miserable enough of ourselves, but must fetch in more from the next house, in taking upon us the misery of our neighbours.

Truly it were an excusable covetousness if we did, for affliction is a treasure, and scarce any man hath enough of it.

No man hath affliction enough that is not matured and ripened by it, and made fit for God by that affliction.

If a man carry treasure in bullion, or in a wedge of gold, and have none coined into current money, his treasure will not defray him as he travels.

Tribulation is treasure in the nature of it, but it is not current money in the use of it, except we get nearer and nearer our home, heaven, by it.

Another man may be sick too, and sick to death, and this affliction may lie in his bowels, as gold in a mine, and be of no use to him; but this bell, that tells me of his affliction, digs out and applies that gold to me: if by this consideration of another’s danger I take mine own into contemplation, and so secure myself, by making my recourse to my God, who is our only security.

I used to worry about what was true.  Now I spend more time trying to figure out what truth is.

At this stage of the game I find if I strongly disagree with someone, especially on theological matters, is often isn’t because we have come to different conclusions, but rather because we are asking different questions.

This tension has been made all the  more clear as I have wandered into the world of post-modern epistemology (if there is such a thing).  Many of my close friends fear that doing so has driven me to a place where any concept of truth is discarded; yet for me, I have made no judgments on truth itself, only on our own ability to comprehend truth.

So what does this have to do with type design?

Helvetica Documentary

The other day I watched a 1.5 hour documentary about the Helvetica typeface. Despite the seemingly mundane subject manner, the movie was quite interesting as it followed the rise of this Swiss font from the 1950’s to its ubiquitous status as the work horse of graphic design in the modernistic era.  You see Helvitca is an extremely “clean” font that supposedly could be used to convey pure meaning without getting in the way.  Rather than using hype and idealism, modernistic design (and the Helvetica font) could simply tell things as they were.

To put it visually, just look at these two coke ads:

1950s: Idealistic, life is beautiful. You drink Coke because it will make everything great.

1970: Direct, unassuming, to the point. You drink Coke because it is authentic.

For a while people soaked up this simple, direct style where everything had its place.  But eventually people began to realize that not everything in life fits into clear categories–in fact, life is hectic and chaotic and to ignore these aspects is not to be authentic.  This led to post-modernism where all the rules were thrown out and meaning was understood to be more in the experience than the text itself.   Unfortunately this way of thinking (and designing) eventually spiraled downward into a subjective mess of jumbled words and ideas.

Postmodern poster design with multiple fonts, jumbled information and chatoic layout. Credit: Dustin Parker

In this way modernism was a response to the idealism of the 1950’s and then postmodern design emerged in contrast to the orderliness of modernism.  While each stage developed as a way to be “more authentic” in the end, each failed because it refused to take in the whole picture.  Life is not perfect, life is not always orderly, but at the end of the day it is not complete chaos either.

I have found many approaches to Christianity mimic these stages of design.  Some people preach a Christianity where once you are “saved” all your problems go away.  This is just n0t true and breaks down under the smallest amount of scrutinizing.  Some people think that Christianity is very clear cut and if you study Scripture close enough, you will be able to categorize all things into right and wrong / black and white / in and out.  This too is niave as it fails to take into account the complexities of the world and the ambiguity of scripture.  Finally, some people approach Christianity in their own way and refuse to acknowledge the coherence and direction it does provide.  These people are willing to throw the baby out with the bathwater leaving a religion stripped of its power and uniqueness.

In design, the best pieces are those that can open a window to a better world, clearly convey information and emotion, and at the end of the day, strike a personal chord that is rooted in authenticity.

Clean, powerful, authentic. See other great posters that combine these attributes here.

Our approach to Christianity needs to be similar.  We need to believe the faith we follow is moving us to a better place, yet acknowledge the pain and suffering of this current world.  In fact, the vision we have of the ways things can be is what should drive us to make it so.  When it comes to scripture and truth, we need to trust in the power of the narrative of scripture, yet also be willing to acknowledge its short comings and the holes in our own understanding of it.

I believe scripture does paint a clear picture of what it means to be the people of God and participate in the will of God.  At the same time, am not willing to assert simply believing in God will solve all the world’s ills, nor am I confident in saying we can distill pure truth from the Word of God.  Instead, I think Christianity is messy, yet follows a clear direction.  I don’t have all the specifics, but I feel I am wandering the right way.

In the midst of a super-busy week I experiencing a heart-sinking feeling: I opened the lid to my macbook pro and all I got was a blank screen.  Earlier in the day I had closed my computer to take it with me to meeting.  Every other time it simply went to sleep and then “woke up” when I opened the lid.  If I had left it unplugged for a while it would take a bit to start up, but this time I got nothing.  I tried charging it, but then when I tried starting it, I would get the start up sound, but then just a black screen staring at me.  It would accept some start up commands (like zapping the PRAM), but beyond that it was dead.  I thought it might just be the screen went out, but it was obvious no other functions worked (i.e. volume, keyboard brightness, etc.).

Blank Screen on a MacBook Pro (obviously not mine).

After trying everything I could think of, I finally found a message board that suggested it could be a corrupted sleep image.  After deleting the corrupted file, I was able to get things running.  It was such a frustrating and nerve-wracking experience, I figure I could go through the steps I took and hopefully save someone else some grief if encounter a similar problem.  Here is what I did to fix my problem.

1. Start your macbook (pro) in target disk mode
   • Connect your computer another mac via firewire.
   • Start up the working mac and then press the power button on the mac that is not working
   • While it is starting, hold down the “T” key.
   • Your mac should show up as an external hard drive in the finder of the other mac
2. Delete the Sleep Image
   • Open Finder in the working computer
   • Press CMD+Shift+G
   • Enter “/volumes/Your Computer/private/var/vm/” where “Your Computer” equals the name of the broken mac as seen in Finder.
   • Delete the “Sleepimage” file
     • I also deleted the “swapfile0” file which was there, but I am not sure if this is necessary.
   • Empty the Trash
3. Delete the Extension files
   • Navigate to the /System/Library folder on the broken mac
   • Delete the “Extensions.mkext” file
     • I also deleted the “Extensions.kextcache” file which was there, but I am not sure if this is necessary.
   • Empty the Trash
4. Eject the broken mac just like you do a regular external hard drive.
5. Press the power button on your mac if it is still running and remove the firewire cable.

If everything goes like it should, your macbook (pro) should work like normal.  I immediately backed up all my important files and disabled sleep mode via the preferences pane.

Note: The first time I tried this I followed the directions found here, but it did not work.  I tried it again and deleted the additional files noted above and emptied the trash can and everything worked that time around. HT to ariejan.net for getting me in the right direction.

UPDATE: For me, this problem escalated from a one time thing, to a frequent occurrence, until finally I could not shut the computer off without getting the blank screen.  I took it to the IT Department at the University where I work.  They ended up sending it off to Apple who replaced the Nvidia graphics card.  Even though my MBP was out of warranty they replaced everything free of charge because this is a known issue for them.

It is almost midnight.  I tried going to bed 3 hours ago, but I keep mulling things over in my head.  After an hour of staring at the ceiling I decided to get up and try to distract myself on the internet.  Hopefully my mindless surfing can serve to enlighten you.

As I was browsing a list of natural oddities in the world, I came across The Tree of Ténéré.

When it was still alive, this tree was the only vegetation in the Sahara within a 250 mile radius (That’s Bowling Green to St. Louis or Atlanta in all directions!).  As the Sahara dried out further, all other vegetation died… except for this tree.  A well dug in the area revealed the roots went down over 120 feet into the water table.  At the time, it was the only tree worthy of mention on major maps, and was a primary navigational tool for caravans.  An official in the area described it as such:

One must see the Tree to believe its existence. What is its secret? How can it still be living in spite of the multitudes of camels which trample at its sides? How at each azalai does not a lost camel eat its leaves and thorns? Why don’t the numerous Touareg leading the salt caravans cut its branches to make fires to brew their tea? The only answer is that the tree is taboo and considered as such by the caravaniers. There is a kind of superstition, a tribal order which is always respected. Each year the azalai gather round the Tree before facing the crossing of the Ténéré. The Acacia has become a living lighthouse; it is the first or the last landmark for the azalai leaving Agadez for Bilma, or returning.

Despite its noble existence, the tree came to an end in a very ignoble way.  In 1973 a drunk driver lost control of his truck and hit the only object in hundreds of miles.  After surviving (perhaps) hundreds of years of some of the harshest elements imaginable, this tree meets its end because some idiot has too much to drink and gets behind the wheel.  Unbelievable.  Surely there is a moral to this story.

I stepped outside this evening to get something out of my car and was blown away by the dancing beauty of an electrical storm lighting up the night sky.  From my vantage point the cloud-to-cloud lightening was non-stop.  I have no idea how long it had been going on or how long it lasted, but I spent a good 15 minutes mesmerized by the sight.  I did not have a tripod for my still camera, nor our good video camera so I had to settle for the video setting on my point and shoot.  You can certainly get a feel for it, but in real life each strike lit up the entire sky.

…sometimes literally.

By the way… Mikayla’s temperature was normal.

What would happen if we were honest about character flaws?

How would things look different if we were willing to admit our shortcomings and if we were able to have honest conversations with those we love about theirs.

I know I have my issues.  I can be arrogant and self-centered.  I am over critical of others ideas and too often insist things go my way.  I am better at coming up with ideas than I am with implementing them.  I can be too goals-oriented and overlook the people involved.  I don’t always give people the benefit of the doubt and am impatient.  I procrastinate and sometimes don’t follow through with the things I commit to…. (I really could go on much longer, but that is the point of this post).

Since Mikayla was born, I have been much more introspective about who I am versus who I want to be.  I am idealistic by nature and want things to be the best they can be (which probably is as much a contributing factor to many of my flaws as it is a solution).  The problem is I don’t always know when I am exibihiting these behaviors.  What is worse is I am sure there are others I have not listed that I don’t even know about.

I want to work on these issues, but I also know that owning up to them is painful.  Towards the end of my high school years, I began realizing areas where I had been a jerk (and by jerk, I don’t mean just saying something hurtful… I am talking about being a real asshole).  I tried to make apologies where possible, but I know I was never able to right the wrongs.  Even now, I will be telling a story a cringe when I think back to some of my choices, or how I treated people.  It is painful for me to realize these flaws, but it is worse to not acknowledge them.

I not only want to be willing and able to examine my own life, but I want to have the kind of friends who are comfortable telling me when I am being an ass, or when I have stepped over the line, or when I need to buck up and apologize, or admit I was wrong.  I want to be a better person even if that means having some painful conversations, or having my pride hurt.

On the other side, I wish I was better at being honest with those I care about about things I see in their lives that concern me.  I have always been a direct person and rarely shy away from conflict.  But, if I am honest, most times I am direct it is for my own selfish reasons.  I have been hurt, and I want them to know.  Well, I want to be direct because I love my friends and family and want them to be better people — whether or not it affects me directly.

I have never really been one to gossip and talk about others, but I do find myself judging others actions much more frequently than I would like.  I assume people’s motives when I really have no idea.  Often when I have had difficult conversations with friends about why they do things that they do, I have realized my perspective was wrong in the first place.

If I were most honest with those I care about things that concern me, I believe one of two things is most likely to happen.  Either I will gain a deeper respect for them by understanding their perspective, or, they will hopefully take to heart my concerns and in the end be better people.

All too often we are not cognizant of our flaws in the same way those around us are.  We may not even realize we are hurting people with our words or actions.  Equally, when we think we understand someone else and wish their behavior was different, the fact of the matter is we simply may not understand the larger picture.

Being open and honest is almost always awkward and it is often painful, but I feel it makes us better people and allows us to understand and care for those around us in a deeper way.  I have seen friendships fail because people were unwilling to be honest about concerns or hurts and assumed the worst.

So, what would happen if we were open about our character flaws and receptive to others criticism and honest with those we care about about our concerns?

I can’t answer that globally, but I can say that those are the types of relationships I want to have.  I want to acknowledge my flaws and be aware of when they are showing through.  I want to know when I cross the line and when I hurt people so I can be a better person and so I can try and make things right.  I don’t want to judge and be critical of others actions and motives if I am not willing to have a straight forward conversation with them.    I want to be a better  person…. and… I want the same for you.

This is the ninth in a series of ten Top 10 posts that Beth and I are completing.  Today we will look at our 10 favorite websites and tomorrow (or the next day) we will conclude with the 10 ideas that define us as people.  In listing these sites, I am trying to be very honest and go with sites I regularly use rather than sites with philosophical importance.  Enjoy.

1. Google – There is no question this (and offshoots of it) is my favorite online destination.  In fact, I started to write this post earlier, but after 1,000 words I wasn’t past #1 and ended up branching it off as a separate post (which you can find here.)
2. Facebook – I was later than most of my friends signing up for Facebook, but I have jumped in with both feet.  In fact, I did not have it while in college, but not use it to keep up with friends all over the country and the world.  We have so many friends we do not see on a regular basis, it really is a resource for maintaining connections.
3. Zamzar – Probably a site most people are not familiar with, but for me, it is a lifesaver.  I often work with files that are in the wrong format.  Rather than always downloading a file conversion software, Zamzar will do it for you online and then send you the results.  Great for audio, video, documents, etc.
4. Straightbourbon – Most of you know I work in the spirits industry.  While Corsair produces many unaged spirits, we are moving towards being a major whiskey producer.  Most of what I have learned about bourbon (technical, historical, practical) I have picked up from the guys (and few gals) who frequent this site.
5. Mint.com – This site serves as a financial account aggregator which provides a single place to view all your finances.  It also helps you construct a budget and alerts you of irregular spending.
6. Wikipedia – I know this is not a scholarly source, but it excellent for getting a general feel of a subject, or for learning about topics you never before would have been introduced to.  I have to be careful when I get on Wikipedia because it is so easy for me to spend a significant time following endless linked stories.
7. Kiva – In 2006 Muhammad Yunus won a Nobel Peace Prize for his work with micro lending, which provides small short term loads to entrepreneurs in developing countries.  Kiva allows you to get in on the action by choosing who you want to loan your own money to.  The best part is that as your loans are repaid, you can roll them over to other people.  Since we joined a few years ago we have made over 100 loans in 26 countries.  You can view our profile here.
8. Addicting Games – I have not been on here much since Mikayla was born, but sometimes I just need a break and a few minutes of mindless entertainment sometimes does the trick.  I am pretty dang good at Max Dirt Bike.
9. Twitter – First, let me admit, I really do not understand twitter, but I like it.  I don’t use it to its fullest capacity, but I love being able to keep up with people in 140 character sound bites.  Perhaps it is the next great thing in networked communication, or perhaps it will be the downfall of our ADHD society.
10. MSNBC – While I don’t think their coverage is the best, I have consistently found MSNBC gets stories faster than any other source.  If there is a plane wreck, or a shooting, MSNBC seems to have the most information consistently.  I use it to supplement the other news sources I regularly look to (CNN, BBC, BG Daily News, Courier Journal, All Africa).

If you have been following along, Beth and I have been walking through 10 top 10 lists.  Today’s list is supposed to be top 10 websites.  I began writing early this morning and after 45 minutes and almost 1000 words, I had not gotten past #1.  So I have decided to break it off as a separate post.

You see, I kinda have an addiction.  I am addicted to Google.  Not just the search engine, but all the products they offer.  One of the Mentoring Artists at Kaleidoscope even calls me “Google Man.”  But what can I say, the things they create are instrumental in making my life easier.  I would say well over half of the activities I do include google in some way.  So, I have made a list of the google products I regularly use (at least on a weekly basis.)  As for the other post — Top 10 Websites, it will have to come later today.

• Google Search – This one should be obvious.  There is a reason Google has the lion’s share of the search market – it does a great job.  But where Google’s strength really lies is in its more focused searches.  These include:
  • Shopping – Find the best prices online and read retailer reviews.
  • Book – Like the card catalog, except you get to view the book right there.  I even use it to find things in books I already own.  More than once I have cited a book for a research paper using only this.
  • Scholar – Not as roboust as some academic databases I have used before, but I have been able to find journal articles on Google Scholar that I have not been able to get elsewhere.
  • Images – I use Google Image search almost daily.  It has become so ubiquitous I need not say more.
  • Videos – A cross between youtube and google image search.  I am not thrilled with the interface – I like youtube better – but it includes videos on other hosting sites as well as longer videos.  Great for watching documentaries online.
  • Blog search – This has been excellent in trying to find out information on niche subjects (like Swaziland orphanages).
• Google Home Page – Every time I open a browser I am met with Google’s homepage.  Here are the widgets I current have up: Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Reader, BBC, CNN, Courier Journal, BG Daily News, C-Net news, All Africa News, Times of Swaziland, Swazi Observer.
• Gmail – I have every email from the last 5 years archived in my gmail account.  I got an account back when it was by invitation only.  I also have all my other emails (k-scope, kickert.info, broadway, WKU, etc.) integrated into it as well.  It makes searching for past correspondences super easy.  Beth and I even use Gmail to video chat with mom and dad via webcam.
• Google Calendar – Beth and I both keep multiple calendars that we can share and turn on and off.  I have a corsair calendar, a K-scope calendar, an academic calendar (not used anymore), Beth and I share family events and birthdays with a personal calendar.  I can also pull up Beth’s regular calendar to see if she has anything going on to schedule an event.
• Google Docs – I have been so impressed with the versatility and functionality of this service that I have had it integrated into the daily operation of K-scope and Corsair.  It is so easy to share files such as databases, or budget reports.  It keeps an archive of past revisions in case a file gets screwed up, and it doesn’t require multiple versions of a file to be floating around during editing.  Plus, it is great because you can access important information no matter where you are.  We use Google Apps to integrate this into existing domains.
• Google Alerts – Whenever something is posted about a topic important to you, you can have an email sent to your inbox.  For instance, any time there is a blog post or article or website about Corsair Artisan, Kaleidoscope or Ben Kickert I get an update.  Very Useful!
• Google Voice – I am one of the lucky few that currently have access to this service.  It was originally called Grand Central, but google bought it out and has it in a closed beta testing phase right now.  We use it for K-scope.  Google Voice is basically an online phone service.  We have a Google Voice phone number.  When someone calls it, it can ring any number of phones (i.e. your cell phone, your home phone, your spouce’s cell phone).  At K-scope it rings the two administrators.  Once you answer it, you can then transfer the call to other phones if you want.  If you don’t answer, it will go to voicemail which google voice will record and you can check online.  It even transcribes the message for you and you can have it sent SMS to your phone.  At k-scope it has allowed us to have a permanent phone number without having to pay for any service where we can use our cell phones without giving out personal numbers.  If we ever need to switch the contact person, we only need to change the settings.  I also have this set up with a West Virginia number so Mom and Dad can call me on my cell in KY with  local number.
• Google Maps – This, along with the more robust Google Earth, has been a life saver (and a time waster). I love taking a peak around the world and utilizing the various tools and map overlays that can be added.  Of course I use it for directions, but I also use it for research.
• Feedburner – I run my blog feed through Google’s feedburner so I can track subscriptions and get a feel for what types of post people are most interested in.
• Google Reader – This is a feed aggregator that allows you to read multiple blogs/ RSS feeds in one location.  You could argue it saves time because you aren’t having to go to various sites, but at the same time it probably is a time thief because you are more likely to read more entries.
• Goog411 – If you ever need a business phone number dial 1-800-GOOG-411.  With its voice recognition system you can get the phone number and address of any business.  Heck, it will even connect you so you don’t have to write the number down.
• Google Analytics – I have this integrated into my website so I can track visitors.  So far my blog has had visitors from 26 states and 16 countries. Overwhelming the most popular posts are those with pictures of Mikaya… go figure.
• Adsense – With this I can integrate ads into my blog.  So far I have made a whopping $0.03 from visitors like you.
• Software – In addition to the web based services, Google has several software packages that I use.  Here are a few.
  • Google Earth – Explore the world with this geographic program.
  • Google SketchUp – design buildings and other structures without any training.  I used this to sketch the Greenwood Campus and later was able to make measurements from my office.
  • Google Chrome – a blazing fast web browser.  I am just waiting for it to be released on Mac.

That is just my list of common uses.  I did not even get into Blogger, Picasa, Groups, Notebook, or Finance which many people use regularly.  There are also several things in the works that I am excited about, but have not been widely released such as Google Wave (next generation of communication protocal) and Google Andoid (operating system).

If Google really is trying to take over the world, I will be their first minion.

So far Beth and I have discussed what we like, what we want to accomplish, and a bit about who we are.  Today our list of 10 will look at what we like to do.  Here are my top 10 favorite activities:

1. Disc Golfing – I was introduced to disc golfing while I was in college.  I love it because it offers an easy escape outdoors, even if only for an hour or two.  You can play by yourself or in groups.  Best yet… is relatively cheap.  You could play ’til your heart was content for $2 if you buy a used disc.  For $20-30 you would be well on your way.  Compared to my other outdoor activities, this one is by far the cheapest.
   

   Discgolfing with some of Beth's students.

2. Gardening – Beth and I are on our third year of gardening, and the first in our own backyard.  I just got in from harvesting okra, tomatoes, corn and peppers.  Here is link to post I wrote earlier, and some pictures of the garden from today.
   

   Asparagus, corn, zucchini, okra, peppers, broccoli, tomatoes, onions.

   

   Tomatoes, basil, okra, corn.

3. Rock Climbing – My first experience climbing was in high school at an indoor gym.  I ended up buying my own equipment and then getting involved in an outdoors group my Freshman year in college where I got into real rock climbing.  In the four years fighting fire in Idaho I expanded my experience.  Now I only climb a couple times a year, but I treasure each one.  It is not just the activity, but the comradery found sitting around at the bottom of the rocks too.
   

   Climbing in the Bitterroots, circa 2001

4. Backpacking – I was backpacking before I even knew what it was.  I was lucky enough to have parents that valued the outdoors and introduced them to me early.  In fact, my first camping trip was before I was a month old (at least that is what Dad says… but his memory is not what it used to be.)  I try to have one big trip every couple years, but is has been a few years since I have been out.  Just this week I went back through my pictures from a trip to Colorado.  Backpacking is one of those things that is fun to prepare for, to do, and to talk about later.
   

   Purifying water while backpacking in Colorado. (The day before we found an outfitter's stash of beer).

5. Traveling – I have been very fortunate to be able to travel quite a bit in my life.  I visited over 30 states in 18 months when I was in college and currently have visited all of the lower 48.  I have been to Mexico (kinda), Canada, Costa Rica, Germany, Austria and Italy.  I enjoy traveling not only for the experiance, but also because it often forces me to reassess my own understandings of the world.
6. Conversing with friends over beverages – I enjoy good conversations in relaxed settings.  Like the activity above, this includes lots of things.  I enjoy talking theology, philosophy, politics, and anything in between.  I enjoy good drinks and people who enjoy good drinks.
7. Being with my family – One of my favorite activities is simply being with my family.  Not doing anything in particular… just being.  I love a lazy Sunday in a cozy bed, or a evening of talking with my extended family.  I feel very natural with my family and am comfortable just hanging out.
   

   Family picture at Kentucky Lake.

8. Working with my hands – Most of my work is cerebral, whether it is grant writing, or studying, or planning.  After 20 years of schooling, and 5 years of jobs mostly made up of life behind a computer, I find great relief in working with my hands.  If I get stressed out, I will work in the garage; if I have spent too much time writing grants, I get respite from mowing the lawn.  I love my current job at Corsair Artisan Distillery because it includes science, craft, mundane tasks and grunt labor.  My time fighting fire was probably my most fulfilling job at the end of the day (but not in terms of long range impact).
   

   Practice Rappells at Moyer in Idaho, circa 2003.

9. Driving long distances in the car alone – Everyone needs a way to relax and collect their thoughts.  Some people golf, some people go for walks, some people journal.  For me, the most calming time is driving alone in the car.  Often I do this with the windows down and the radio off.  When I was in Seminary, I would often leave at 4:30 in the morning and drive 2.5 hours.  I would have loved my sleep, but seeing the sun come up while I processed my thoughts was the most therapeutic thing I could do.
10. Researching – In all honesty, this is probably my favorite activity because it includes so much.  I enjoy spending time in the Library combing through old journals and abstracts to find a hidden gem of information for a paper.  I love pouring over a map trying to find the best route.  I love browsing wikipedia to learn about random things like historic natural disasters, or the standard model of particle physics.  I often get into a topic and try to read everything I can about it.  I spend hours trying to understand things like PHP so I can edit a blog.  And, if I am honest, much of the time I waste tinkering around on the internet is linked to this activity.