The Italian Job

Kristen and I just finished The Italian Job. It was quite an enjoyable movie; however, I have a sudden urge to test drive some Mini Coopers, if I can fit. I found the shots of them next to non-Mini's great -- such tiny cars.

This actually reminds me of when we had to get the Volvo registered here in Texas. We went to French Revolution -- a European car specialist -- to get a tail light fixed, and he had a copy of the "official" owners manual to a Mini. It was filled with cute humour cracking jokes about the size of the car. Fun times.

The Way the Cookies Crumble

What's the deal with the Girl Scouts changing the names of their classic cookies? I spent a few lean years in college buying only thin mints (they're the most economical of my favorites-- lots in a box!). This year, I decide to get the holy triumvirate: Samoas, Tagalongs and Thin Mints. I was disappointed to learn that Samoas are now Caramel Delites and Tagalongs are now Peanut Butter Patties. How... bland.

DVD player for Linux

I've heard that DVD companies don't want to license their technology to anyone associated with Linux or any "open-source" software. Hence, one could never really play DVDs on a Linux system.

However, I googled and found, rather easily, the Ogle DVD Player, which apparently is made for a Linux OS. Does anyone know anything about this software -- other than what I can find on the website?

UPDATE: I've been doing a little more searching and actually found a review of a handful of Linux DVD players ... does anyone have a preference?

Working Outside the Home

I thought before we were married that I'd enjoy working until we started having kids, but I find working outside the home to be pretty awful. Somehow, it drags down my whole demeanor and saps my joy. It makes it hard for me to get things done around the house, even with ample help from Mike. And we only have a little 1 bedroom apartment! I feel so bad for working moms.

From the Second Council of Nicaea - 787

Anathemas concerning holy images:

If anyone does not confess that Christ our God can be represented in his humanity, let him be anathema.
If anyone does not accept representations in art of evanglical scenes, let him be anathema.

Blog Maintenance

The links are updated, and we're keeping track of the books we read in 2004. Email if you want details about a specific book. Many thanks to all of our closet readers who commented on the Bradley Method post. It's fun to know you're out there!

Affirmative Action Bake Sale

I remember reading about a group attempting this at UT, it didn't work out. Apparently it worked at William & Mary.

Sick

I've been laying around (mostly in bed) since Friday night. I have a cold, my third of the season, one of the hazards of working with germy elementary students. I'm not particularly adept at being sick in any circumstances, but being sick while being pregnant is a whole new level of selfishness and misery. I want the real drugs! Dayquil and Nyquil and Tylenol PM... Being sacrificial is not natural. Despite efforts to eat without ceasing, i'm losing weight again, back down to 5 pounds under my pre-pregnancy weight. That scared me, so it was off to the doctor to give blood for tests. When I'm frightened for the baby's sake, it's much easier to be sacrificial. In reality, I'm only trading one sin (selfishness) for another (anxiety). So what I'm finding is that being pregnant and sick is really all about my sanctification.

Offshore Outsourcing of White-Collar Jobs

Perhaps Dorothy Sayers is a prophet? According to Bob Herbert's Op-Ed in the NY Times, corporate America is outsourcing its white-collar jobs to countries such as China, Russia, and India -- countries with "strong educational heritages."

Whether it becomes a boon to the U.S. economy or not, the trend toward upscale outsourcing is a fact, and it is accelerating. In an important interview with The San Jose Mercury News last month, the chief executive of Intel, Craig Barrett, talked about the integration of India, China and Russia -- with a combined population approaching three billion -- into the world's economic infrastructure.

"I don't think this has been fully understood by the United States," said Mr. Barrett. "If you look at India, China and Russia, they all have strong education heritages. Even if you discount 90 percent of the people there as uneducated farmers, you still end up with about 300 million people who are educated. That's bigger than the U.S. work force."

He said: "The big change today from what's happened over the last 30 years is that it's no longer just low-cost labor that you are looking at. It's well-educated labor that can do effectively any job that can be done in the United States."

What will the response, if any, of public education officials be?

Updates

+ At the recommendation of several friends, we bought Husband-Coached Childbirth by Robert Bradley, M.D. today. Any thoughts on the Bradley Method® of Natural Childbirth?
+ I added two more albums to our pictures page.

Update

Lately, I've been reading and writing like crazy. Sometimes for pleasure, sometimes for teaching applications. I'm rather sad because I haven't started on my fiction list yet.

I'll probably be blogging less and commenting less. I find that I usually don't like the conversations. It is typical that I'm arguing my case against another and, now that I'll be a paid for my wisdom and ability to share it, I'm holding out for a glass of wine.

Also, I'm working on a lot of curriculum writing. It has usually been the case at all the schools I've seen that they REALLY don't like their curriculum. Frankly, I can't blame them. I don't think the ideal curriculum (for Latin, that is) exists -- it certainly doesn't for Greek. So, I'm spending some time preparing my own supplements to curricula that I like. I compared Ecce Romani, Jenney's Latin, and The Cambridge Latin Course, and I preferred Ecce. It appears to be more readable and workable. From my viewpoint, it only lacks grammar and sentence exercises ... and I can create that!

I'm also trying to think about Greek curriculum (all for younger kids, that is). There really isn't anything. I'll have to start working with the kids before I can determine if Wilding's work -- which was created for British school boys -- would actually work with school aged children. From what I see with my friend who teaches from it (to seventh and eighth graders) is that they are completely bored. You can't force a child to learn something if they and the parents don't believe in the subject. You can teach complicated things if you can't force them to do. Latin is a subject where the benefits and results are not immediately clear. Very few parents and students (even in Classical schools) swallow the "trust me, it'll pay off" line easily.

Silly Society

A South African living in Omaha was suspended for agreeing to promote himself for his high school's "Distinguished African American Student" award. I had a friend from Governor's School in high school who got in trouble with the College Board or the ACT people (can't remember which) for bubbling African American, despite his duel citizenship in South Africa and the United States. I think we ought to just stop using the term African American altogether. I don't know of any black people who mind being called black. Heck, my alma mater is building a colossal Black Cultural Center and nobody complained. Tarheels are prone to protest, so, if none of the students there cared, its a pretty good indication that blacks as a whole are fine with being called black.

Phonograms

Andy asked about phonograms, so here's an explanation for all of you who are older than 16 and don't teach elementary schoolers:

Phonogram is a word that, from its roots, means "written sound." The 70 basic phonograms consist of all of the letters of the alphabet and then letter combinations that make specific sounds, such as "ph" "ei" "ea" "ough" et. al. When you learn the phonograms, you learn the written part and all of its sounds. For example, "c" has two sounds, "k" as in call and "s" as in center. "Ch" has three sounds, the "ch" of chief, the "k" of Christ and the "sh" of chef. You say the sounds in their order of frequency. That way, a person trying to decode an unfamiliar word while reading has basic tools to do so. Now we are doing the much more complicated exercise of trying to idenify all of the ways you can spell a sound. You'd be suprised all the ways English can render long a or oo, etc.

Teaching

I am halfway through my tenure, marked by having finished my second set of narrative report cards. We finished Little House in the Big Woods today, so we will celebrate by making pound cake and fresh lemonade from the The Little House Cookbook. I'm excited about starting The Great Brain. We are slowly but surely learning Latin and Greek roots together, and have mastered all 70 basic phonograms. My students were amazed to learn that I never learned them when I was a kid. Schools were different then, I tell them. I feel so... old.

Pictures!

We have pictures posted ... but no wedding pictures. We are working on those. However, if you click over to the images page, you'll find links to the various albums.

Sabbath Reflection

When Christ's appearing was made known,
King Herod trembled for his throne;
But He Who offers heavenly birth
Sought not the kingdom of this earth.

The eastern sages saw from far
And followed on His guiding star;
By light their way to Light they trod,
And by their gifts confessed their God.

Within the Jordan's sacred flood
The heavenly Lamb in meekness stood,
That He, to Whom no sin was known,
Might cleanse His people from their own.

And O what miracle divine,
When water reddened into wine!
He spake the word, and forth it flowed
In streams that nature ne'er bestowed.

All glory, Jesus, be to Thee
For this Thy glad epiphany:
Whom with the Father we adore
And Holy Ghost forevermore.
--Caelius Sedulius

[we sing this to a wonderful tune written by Leonard Payton]

Show Me the Heresy

From NT Wright's What Saint Paul Really Said:

[summarizing] For Paul, 'the gospel' creates the church; 'justification' defines it. The gospel announcement carries its own power to save people, and to dethrone the idols to which they had been they had been bound. 'The Gospel' itselt is neither a system of thought, nor a set of techniques for making people Christians; it is the personal announcement of the person of Jesus. That is why it creates the church, the people who believe that Jesus is Lord and that God raised him from the dead. 'Justification' is then the doctrine which declares that those people are truly members of his family, no matter where they came from, what colour their skin may be, whatever else might distinguish them from each other. The gospel itself creates the church; justification continually reminds the church that it is the people created by the gospel and the gospel alone, and that it must live on that basis.

He Just Doesn't Learn ...

I'm not sure what effect it will have on the evangelical masses, but NT Wright has written a new forward to the evangelical staple, FF Bruce's The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?

Will they be outraged that he put his mark on one of their favourites? or will they finally realized that (Hey!) he too is an evangelical?

Books Read

A lot of people have recently began listing the books that they have read this past year. Unfortunately, I have a terrible memory. However, I'm going to keep track this year so next year, I'll know.

I was also cursed by having professors who didn't assign entire books, so I can't say that I've read Confessions, but I did read selections. Same with the Iliad, Odyssey, Herodotus, Thucydides, etc.. etc.. etc...

"Distractions" in Life

There are many who might look at my college career as a failure. I was on track to possibly study in Europe for a year or two, go to an excellent graduate school, receive my PhD and land a decent professorship. Or so I was told. However, there was a time with my GPA received some blemishes and suddenly I graduated with no thought of Graduate School.

In my first three years of college I saw, as a Resident Assistant, countless students throw away or significantly hinder their academic progress for stupid reasons: alcohol, drugs, hot girls, pure laziness, etc... These students were distracted by something in their life and their grades slipped. It would be easy to look at my college career and say that something similar happened. Kristen always does when she looks at my transcript.

"The semester before we got together, you were taking 20 hours and got straight A's."

Well, it's true. Kristen entered my life. However, unlike my residents who engaged in casual dating, casual drinking, and casual sloth, I sacrificed my academics for something worthwhile. I was in pursuit of a lady who I thought was going to be the woman I married. The woman with whom I would raise children. The woman with whom I would grow old. I thought she was this woman, and I wanted to know for sure. Yes, that was a distraction, but a worthwhile distraction. No, I'm not going to graduate school, but I will be a father, raising and taking care of my family.

My advice to those in college: swear off casual distractions, but when real, worthwhile distractions come your way, go after her. I think that true wisdom is knowing when to pick up the books and when to put them down. I thank God everyday that somehow I knew when to put them down and pursue greater things, a great woman.

Recipe

This is a not so hot version of the Cajun classic. WARNING: I am not Cajun. I've been to Louisiana twice, but never to the Cajun parts. I do not make any claims on the authenticity of this dish. It's just a nice, hearty, one pot meal we have grown to love this winter.

JAMBALAYA
2 t. olive oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
10 oz.+ of sausage (cajun or kielbasa), sliced
1/2 of an onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
1/2 t. onion powder
t each of salt and pepper
2 c. uncooked rice
4 c. chicken broth (one carton*)
2 t. worchestershire
1 t. hot pepper sauce (more or less, depending on your preference)

Start all the cubing/slicing/dicing. Heat oil in large pot over medium heat. Saute chicken and sausage until light brown (about 5 minutes). Stir in onion, pepper, celery, carrots and garlic. Season with cayenne, onion powder, salt and pepper. Cook 5 more minutes. Add rice and stir in broth, crank it up and bring it to a boil. Cover and simmer at least 20 minutes, until the rice is tender. Stir in worchestershire and hot pepper sauce**.

Serves 4+.

* Swanson's 100% fat free "Natural Goodness" broth is highly recommended!
** we often throw in precooked shrimp at the end, especially the second day we eat it.

The Web Has Such Bizarre Things to Play With

Make your own church sign.

Sabbath Reflection

Brightest and best of the sons of the morning,
Dawn on our darkness and lend us Thine aid;
Star of the East, the horizon adorning,
Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid.
becomes chorus

Cold on His cradle the dewdrops are shining;
Low lies His head with the beasts of the stall;
Angels adore Him in slumber reclining,
Maker and Monarch and Savior of all!

Say, shall we yield Him, in costly devotion,
Odors of Edom and offerings divine?
Gems of the mountain and pearls of the ocean,
Myrrh from the forest, or gold from the mine?

Vainly we offer each ample oblation,
Vainly with gifts would His favor secure;
Richer by far is the heart's adoration,
Dearer to God are the prayers of the poor.

Odds and Ends

+ We've finished the first season of 24 on DVD and are slowly progressing through the second. We're pretty much in the junkie stage.

+ We bought a crib. We had to drive all the way up to wacky Waco to get it.

+ Everyone at work is on the South Beach diet. I'm trying out the beached whale diet, as I still weigh several pounds less than I did before I became pregnant.

Pregnancy Meets School

My students have been pretty funny about my pregnancy. About two of thirteen can pray tactfully for the baby and I, usually it's just "Help the Stewart baby not to die in Mrs. Stewart's stomach." I guess that gets the point across! They lobby for me to name the child in their honor, which makes me laugh. I had the class telling the new students the ins and outs of our class (hand signals, expectations, discipline, et. al.) and one of my students raised her hand and said, "If you're wondering, our teacher isn't fat, she's having a baby." Thanks, dear!

Back to the Grind

Christmas break is over. I'm back to teaching, with two new students to assimilate. At home, Mike and I are spending lots of time engrossed in the first season of 24 and perfecting a family sweet tea recipe.

I'm really looking forward to our church's Epiphany Feast and Service tonight.

Cold, Hard Reality

One of the blessings and curses of my job is that I teach at a school that's considered a part of the mercy ministries of our church. Its a blessing to know that a good Christian education is offered free to those who want it. Its a curse to have to deal with the reality that people don't want it as much as we want it for them. A lot of people don't appreciate what they are given, make rash choices and let their children suffer. In August, three children were on my class roster who came from the afterschool program our church runs. One never showed, one left within the week, and apparently, the third isn't returning after the holiday break. All of these children are identified as ESL, and therefore, stand little chance of making it through the public education machine. (They are completely tracked out here until high school, then are shoved into mainstream high schools where they are years behind their peers, making it difficult for them to earn a high school diploma, let alone go to college.)

It's hard to know that there's not much I can do, and that the biggest loss is felt by those who can't make the decision for themselves. Please pray for these students, and their families.

Post-Liberal Theology

Can someone explain this to me? I've heard it associated with the "Yale School" (through Lindbeck, I suppose), but don't know much about it. Googling usually turns up with conservative responses to it.

Wow

This ashtray made me laugh.

My Confession

I've been reading NT Wright's What Saint Paul Really Said lately, and I have to confess: I enjoy it. I haven't finished, nor have I read any critiques of it. I want to read more of what he has written. However, the reason I enjoy Wright and want to read more of what he has written has nothing to do with conservative, theological circles.

For the past three years, I have been steeped in NT academia. I have had the benefit of tremendous professors here at UT, but it has been challenging. What I have heard from the lecturn and the pulpit were always different, and the two nearly spoke different languages. I imagine that it would be like growing up bilingual. You know how to operate in two diverse spheres, but not how to relate or build bridges between the two. That is why I'm pessimistic about the Church doing evangelism or making a different in academic theological circles. The conservative, orthodox church doesn't discuss or operate at a level where the rest of the world is. It could drop off the face of the earth, and it wouldn't register a bit.

However, NT Wright has been refreshing because he is a churchman. He is a scholar who knows that language, yet he wants to use it for the good of the Church and the glory of Christ. I read most scholars and they could give a rip about how it effects me spiritually or whether I curse God and die -- some, I imagine, would prefer I take this latter route (not the Professors at UT, who are really great). Wright however is concerned about how this effects the Church and the positive influence it would make in understanding what St. Paul really said.

That is why I like him. We need more people like him. Let the excommunication hearings commence.

The Joy of IKEA two in a continuing series

We didn't make it to midnight to ring in the New Year. It would have been anti-climactic without a T.V. anyway (no ball drop). We collapsed after Mike finished putting together our new dresser. Yesterday, we spontaneously drove the two and a half hours to Houston so we could go to Ikea. We haven't had a dresser since we've been married, and we were tired of keeping our dresser clothes in boxes on the walk-in closet floor. Going to Ikea is so much fun, its like Disney World for adults. I plotted our next eight furniture purchases. I think I enjoy Ikea more than Mike, since I never have to put anything together.