Monthly Archives: December 2005

Blog

Free icons, but we need to share…

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so I came across this cool site called Icon Buffet.

I’ll be honest I’m not even a big icon buff, but royalty free stuff has always excited me. Basically every week or two iconbuffet will give you a .zip file to download with a bunch of icons. They release five different .zip files of icons each time, but the only way you get others is for someone to share them with you.

So I could use a few friends who want to share icons with me. Leave a comment and I’ll send you the icons I’ve already received.

[sign up at iconbuffet]

Blog

At least one new years resolution.

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For my faithful readers. This is my new years resolution for you all to see:

Become a better blogger.

I know there is a big difference between a personal journal type blog (like my xanga is meant to be) and a more professional, thoughtful, and informative blog (like I’d like this to be). Truth is I’m not very good and doing the later and I could use some help. I’m going to make an effort in that direction this next year. Maybe I’ll develop a solid and interested reader base. Maybe not.

For now it’s time to work on another goal, go to bed earlier.

Blog

is it worth fixing an ipod?

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About 13 months after receiving a free ipod from one of those infamous online sites, my ipod died. Straight up died. The apple warranty conviently for them lasts only 12 months. This means I’m stuck at home with a broken ipod.

I’m waiting for another free ipod (I’ll let you know if it ever comes). Meanwhile, what should I do with my broken ipod? I’ve got two options:

1) Sell it on ebay for about $80 (broken and all)

2) fix it for $100 (and then maybe sell it?)

[fix your broken ipod]


eBay Sniper

Blog

A short break

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sorry for the short break.

I was in Minnesota with my wife’s family for the weekend. It sort of took me a little while to get back on track after getting back to Nashville.

I then got a little carried away and decided to upgrade to WordPress 2.0, which I’m not sure if I like it just yet, it seems a little too bulky. I wish I could downgrade but it doesn’t look like it’s gonna happen.

So as you can see the layout looks a little different, and i’ll probably change it again soon. Sorry about the dust.

Blog

Geez Magazine and art

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Geez has the look and style that immediately makes me think I’m missing something. It’s that artsy, reflective sort of feel that I have in the past called pretensious. The first six pages feature large, simple pictures with reflective phrases placed across them.

I’m a pretty matter of fact kind of guy. When I was twelve my parents took us to the Chicago Art institute to see the Monet exhibit. I had no idea who Monet was, but I was quite irritated that we had to wait in line for two hours before we got into the exhibit. Needless to say, fifty plus paintings of a haystack where thoroughly unimpressive to me and I found a nice bench to nap on at the end of the exhibit just twenty minutes after stepping into Monet’s exhibit. I didn’t no Monet, and unless his work was uniquely “cool” all on it’s own, I didn’t care much about it either. This thoroughly disappointed my mother.

Years later I caught wind that Professor Jeffery Thompson’s Art 101 class was a must take (it was also a required Gen Ed.). Just one week into it I called my mother and gave her the exciting news, “I like art!” Sadly, I can’t remember now what it was he said or did to change my thinking, but I had grown a definite appreciation for art and artist, and I excitedly entered the Art Insititute at the end of the semester to enjoy my new found appreciation. (I’d pay someone to get a hold of some thorough class notes, or better yet, a recording of Thompson’s class).

What does all this have to do with Geez magazine? Geez is artistic, it is not a straight to the point publication. The publishers of Geez are not pretensitious. They are reflective, they are humble, the do philosophize, and think deeply. I’ve subscribed to their magazine this year because I support their mission, I believe in what they are doing and I’m excited about what they have to share with our faith community. Thanks Geez.

[Geez Magazine]

Blog

Nervous at the airport

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I’m sitting near the gate at the Nashville airport listening to some live jazz music, bouncing my foot to the beat. I’ve got my bags packed (carry on only) and I’m pretty confident there is nothing in my bag that would get me held up at security.
I just trimmed my goatee (to about an inch) so as not to look to “terrorist” like. Most people will probably laugh at that and to some degree I try to as well. I’ll be honest though, sometimes it makes me sad, other times it makes me nervous.
I find it sad that I feel the need to conform to a certain dress and look to avoid what I would consider nothing less then racial profiling. It’s okay with me cause I could care less about what I dress like and it doesn’t bother me much to trim my goatee. For many though their look is a big part of who they are, some for religious reasons, other for image, other for culture, the list goes on. I find that sad.
I also get a little nervous when going through security. Granted, nothing has ever happened to me personally; in fact I’ve been stopped less then most people I know, but I still get a little nervous. You remember what happened in London this past Summer? A Brazilian man, an innocent man, was shot dead in the subway. On a personal level, that sort of situation makes me nervous. I wonder if that sort of thing might ever happen to me; I don’t worry about it muchl but at a time like this, it is on my mind.

podcast

Ariah and Zach’s First Official Podcast

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That’s right folks this podcast has been dubbed “official” so tune in and tell us what you think.

Holiday shopping and other thoughts

Brief show notes:

  1. We talk briefly about holiday shopping and the consumerism of Christmas
  2. We get off on a Wikipedia tangent
  3. We talk briefly about church
  4. And then I plug this blog

Enjoy and please comment on our site with your feedback!

P.S. If you want to find other podcast by Zach and Ariah previous to this one hop over here.

News and Politics

It’s not just an article in Popular Science

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One might say, “It’s just an article in Popular Science, not a statment on gender roles in all of society.” The truth is everything we say and do, and read and consume is a statement (and usually it has something to say one way or another about gender roles as well).

Basically, Ted Kehoe made some colorful bubbles that disappear, thus leaving no stains on furniture and carpets. So Popular Science did an article on it. The article (and this is nothing unique it happens a lot more then it gets pointed out) makes a LOT of gender role assumptions and inferences.

I’ll let A.Z. at the (S)hitlist tell you more:

“So Kehoe pulled out the old pots and powders and set about destroying [wife] Sherri’s new marble countertops.” Now, I thought when people buy a home together, the structural components are collectively owned. Sherri Kehoe must either be really selfish to claim those countertops as her own, or maybe she—like all women, of course!—lives in the kitchen and dreams of marble countertops at night. Clearly, Haney thought it relevant to his topic to communicate that Sherri is the sole owner of the marble countertops, right?

[Read the rest of the commentary]
[read the article]

Blog, News and Politics

Social Commentary

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I think I’m going to add a new section of posts to this blog. Anytime I think about a different section I wonder if I should be writing seperate blogs. Right now we have a sort of tech/web side and a Faith/Christianity side. Something I’d like to add a bit more on is social commentary. Basically what I mean by that is posting about things that are out there, be it things in the media, stores, trends, etc that it’s worth taking a step back and thinking about. I have a few blogs I go to for my own intake of social commentary, and you’ll probably see me referencing them quite a bit. Here’s the brief list and some explanations.

Angry Asian Man– A lot of what he writes about has to do with Hollywood and movies, but he also post “That’s racist!” posts providing insight into all kinds of things for sale, media coverage, and more that is racist, particularly towards Asians. Definitly one of the more insightful blogs I read.

(S)Hitlist- I’m not a fan of the title of the blog, nor the title of the magazine it comes from (Bitch), but I am a huge fan of their content. I’ll leave the title commentary aside and just say that this list is one of my favorites and I really wish they would post more. Needless to say I really like the things that they have to write and you can be sure I’ll be referencing post from here nearly as often as they come.

Also on the list are some sites and publications that provide a lot of insight, but not currently in the concise, regular blog form.

Sojo.net– Sojourners magazine is one of my absolute favorite. They are doing so much good in giving a voice to the large part of the Church that isn’t happy with the religious right. It’s always a pleasure to read their magazine.

Adbusters- Wonderful insight into our consumerist culture. Also not in blog form, but an amazing piece of art and literature.

Wittenburg Door– The only satirical Christian publication that I know of (think of a Christian Mad Magazine). (oh I should throw in Lark News too).

Geez Magazine– Also worth noting, I just got their first issue, so I’m sure I’ll have a lot to say about that soon.

I’m sure there are more I would add I just can’t think of right now. Stay tuned though and let me know what you think of my post.