andrew

To Wii or to PS2

We had decided to get a PS2 for the kids for christmas. Old technology, but so cheap. Andrew and I both like smart new shiny toys, so I've felt a little unsettled about the PS2 decision. Feels like buying a 486 computer.

But today Jean mentioned that she's bought a Wii... If her family has gone the Wii way, maybe it's not a bad direction to move in. And there is the argument (that I've always laughed at) that Wii is a healthy option. But Jean works out to Wii fit. Hm.

I've been unexpectedly called into work today. The money I'll earn would be the difference between a PS2 and Wii. Maybe...

Suggestions?

working today

Which dvds should I take in? Can't imagine there is any work for the kids to do.

as surely as the dawn (version 8,465,326)

As surely as the dawn will come
as certain as the day
there's comfort for the weary
hope for all who stray.
The father holds his arms out wide
and bids the sinner come
find shelter in the storm
as certain as the day
as surely as the dawn.

As surely as the dawn will come
it was for me he died
my hands drove in the nails
my selfishness, my pride.
And though my heart is black with sin
the morning's light breaks through
and hope has been reborn
for mercy comes anew
as surely as the dawn

As surely as the dawn will come
we'll rise to meet new life
redemption's price is paid
God's wrath is satisfied.
Now kindness is the air we breathe
forgiveness, grace will come
new to us each morn
as certain as the day
as surely as the dawn.

sar 2009

Lego dudes are really expensive...

... but they come with a whole lot of free bricks.



[thanks megan.]

cleaning

Today I cleaned out the big boys' bedroom. It was awful. I think I filled an entire wheelie bin with rubbish.

I realised again how much stuff the kids have that they never even touch. Our project for the school holidays is to play with every toy in their toy cupboard, play every game and do every jigsaw puzzle. On top of that we want to see if Joel, Micah and I can read every picture book on the shelf. Nathan's job is to see how many of his chapter books he can get through. This is no small project and will ensure that I don't neglect the kids. I'll need to play with them, otherwise the toy cupboard that I just cleaned out will be out-of-control messy again.

We don't need any more stuff! Please don't give us anything for christmas!

[Actually, some itunes money would be nice!]

I've been away...

... in Bundaberg for a wedding. Was great. Back to normal blogging very soon.

advent calender

I made these with a year 7 class on Monday. Fairly simple. 25 little origami pockets stuck on a piece of cardboard and decorated. Teachers - suitable for year 5-7, most kids had finished in 90 minutes.

farewell song

I wrote this for school. It's a bit sucky, but does the job. It will be performed tomorrow.

wedding anniversary

#14 today.

Well done to us.

We ate gourmet pizza for dinner. I had a delicious rainforest pizza. Andrew had a spicy chicken thing which was so hot it was almost inedible. The kids had ham and pineapple.

Bad time of year for a wedding anniversary. Andrew has three sermons to write and give between now and Sunday morning.

As sure as the morning

As sure as the morning
as certain as the day
there's comfort for the weary
hope for all who stray.
The father holds his arms out
and bids the sinner come
so come to him for mercy
find shelter in his love.

My sin drove the nails
my selfishness, my pride
were thorns upon his crown
the spear within his side.
And though I'm scarred by sin,
corrupted through and through,
the morning's surely coming
with mercy ever new.

As sure as the morning
we'll rise to meet new life,
redemption's price is paid
God's wrath is satisfied.
Now all is grace, each moment
is kindness undeserved
So I will live to thank him,
I'll live to praise my Lord.

sar 2009*

* Kind of 2009. It's a reworking of a song I wrote a couple of years ago that we couldn't make take off. New meter. New title line. New words. Hoping for better things this time.

how twilight should have ended

struggling

Warren the word overuse watchdog is amazing. It's true that he sees through us like glass.

new internet plan

No more maxing out! No more slow ends of month!

We have lots and lots of internet!

Now I can watch silly youtube clip after silly youtube clip and not worry!

(New plan does limit our phone calls though... Oh well. What are real relationships compared to kelly clarkson videos?)

spam skypers...

...go away!

I do not want your products or your advice.

this week...

...I may not post that much.

I'm working pretty hard on lyric writing. Sometime soon we need to come up with something good. Hoping it will happen this week.

I'm also pretty busy at school. The song I wrote for our school principal is being sung on Friday. There are quite a few rehearsals that I have to squeeze in amongst everything else.

The christmas shopping is not yet started. Oh well.

So you might not hear too much from me. Then again, you might. But don't worry too much about me. I'm doing okay, despite that post last night that I deleted.

ps. The plato-judaisers post, a few down, is worth a bit of thought if you're into that kind of thing. I'll continue the plato heaven stuff when I have a chance.

last night...

...I had ten friends over for a creative memories card making party. My friend Tash is a CM consultant. It was lots of fun and the cards look great.

Because I hosted the party, I get a free product. I think I'll get the tearing tool. It's pretty cool - like a bumpy ruler. Your rip your paper along the edge of the ruler and get a natural torn look, but the tear won't get out of control like it could if you did it yourself. Anyone have one?

judaisers are like...

...the man in the cave looking at the duck on the wall.

Colossians 2:16-17
Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

This is not a nice thing to say. I think the Colossian Christians would have understood this reference to Plato - and the culprits would have felt insulted. But, hey, in Galatians Paul tells the Judaisers to go castrate themselves!

the ideal dude

thanks stuart!

working again

I always expect work to dry up at this end of the year. It generally doesn't.

Today I'm teaching yr 6 at an easy school. Should be fine. Unlike yesterday and Monday.

The things we do to procrastinate!

I found a few lines of something I wrote a while ago and finished it off. This stuff comes so much easier than church songs. What do you think?


With Me

One glance, across a crowded courtyard
You stand, between a hundred heads
Eyes lock, and all else moves to background
I am caught and held and never free again

Chorus:
I stand my heart is ready, waiting
You call 'come shelter here with me'
I fall beneath your branches
faint with hunger, sick and weak with
wanting you
with me.

One tune that's always, always playing
Same chords, a silken thread that binds
All things, they move in counterpoint for
Now what's mine is yours and what is yours is mine.

sar 2009

plato's cave analogy

plato's forms

I couldn't find a bite sized piece of Plato for you, so here is part of Jostein Gaarder's explanation in Sophie's World.

"Let us assume that you have dropped in from outer space and have never seen a baker before. You stumble into a tempting bakery--and there you catch sight of fifty identical gingerbread men on a shelf. I imagine you would wonder how they could be exactly alike. It might well be that one of them has an arm missing, another has lost a bit of its head, and a third has a funny bump on its stomach. But after careful thought, you would nevertheless conclude that all gingerbread men have something in common. Although none of them is perfect, you would suspect that they had a common origin. You would realize that all the cookies were formed in the same mold. And what is more, Sophie, you are now seized by the irresistible desire to see this mold. Because clearly, the mold itself must be utter perfection--and in a sense, more beautiful--in comparison with these crude copies.

... [Plato] was astonished at the way all natural phenomena could be so alike, and he concluded that it had to be because there are a limited number of forms "behind" everything we see around us. Plato called these forms ideas. Behind every horse, pig, or human being, there is the "idea horse," "idea pig," and "idea human being." (In the same way, the bakery we spoke of can have gingerbread men, gingerbread horses, and gingerbread pigs. Because every self-respecting bakery has more than one mold. But one mold is enough for each type of gingerbread cookie.)

Plato came to the conclusion that there must be a reality behind the "material world." He called this reality the world of ideas; it contained the eternal and immutable "patterns" behind the various phenomena we come across in nature. This remarkable view is known as Plato's theory of ideas.

I'm sure you've been following me, Sophie dear. But you may be wondering whether Plato was being serious. Did he really believe that forms like these actually existed in a completely different reality?

He probably didn't believe it literally in the same way for all his life, but in some of his dialogues that is certainly how he means to be understood.

...

All right, Sophie, I'll explain it more clearly: a gingerbread man can be so lopsided after all that baking that it can be quite hard to see what it is meant to be. But having seen dozens of gingerbread men that were more or less successful, I can be pretty sure what the cookie mold was like. I can guess, even though I have never seen it. It might not even be an advantage to see the actual mold with my own eyes because we cannot always trust the evidence of our senses. The faculty of vision can vary from person to person. On the other hand, we can rely on what our reason tells us because that is the same for everyone.

...

When you see a shadow, Sophie, you will assume that there must be something casting the shadow. You see the shadow of an animal. You think it may be a horse, but you are not quite sure. So you turn around and see the horse itself--which of course is infinitely more beautiful and sharper in outline than the blurred "horse-shadow." Plato believed similarly that all natural phenomena are merely shadows of the eternal forms or ideas. But most people are content with a life among shadows. They give no thought to what is casting the shadows. They think shadows are all there are, never realizing even that they are, in fact, shadows. And thus they pay no heed to the immortality of their own soul."

p72-76

decent verse

Oh grace! It lifts us from despair,
it's comfort when we weep,
and when we lie encased in death,
it wakes us from our sleep.

sar 2009

All the other verses are bad bad bad. And we're onto our 6th chorus - with each as poor as its predecessor.

frustrating...

....stupid, stupid song!

top 5 things I learned from new moon

1. The more aware an actor is of how hot he is, the less hot he is.
2. Life is unlivable if you are not hanging off some guy.
3. Even the best love story is a bit stale in a sequel.
4. Vampires and werewolves definitely add something to a movie.
5. Less is more when it comes to dialogue.

PS2, PS3 or wii?

Anyone have an opinion?

what is the most real?

This world or the next?

The difference between the old Narnia and the new Narnia was like that. The new one was a deeper country: every rock and flower and blade of grass looked as if it meant more. I can't describe it any better than that: if ever you get there you will know what I mean.

It was the Unicorn who summed up what everyone was feeling. He stamped his right fore-hoof on the ground and neighed, and then he cried:

"I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now. The reason why we loved the old Narnia is that it sometimes looked a little like this. Bree-hee-hee! Come further up, come further in!"

C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle.

all in Plato

“Kings and Queens,” he cried, “we have all been blind. We are only beginning to see where we are. From up there I have seen it all – Ettinsmur, Beaversdam, the Great River, and Cair Paravel still shining on the edge of the Eastern Sea. Narnia is not dead. This is Narnia.”

“But how can it be?” said Peter. “For Aslan told us older ones that we should never return to Narnia, and here we are.”

“Yes,” said Eustace. “And we saw it all destroyed and the sun put out.”

“And it’s all so different,” said Lucy.

“The Eagle is right,” said the Lord Digory. “Listen, Peter. When Aslan said you could never go back into Narnia, he meant the Narnia you were thinking of. But that was not the real Narnia. That had a beginning and an end. It was only a shadow or a copy of the real Narnia which has always been here and always will be here: just as our own world, England and all, is only a shadow or copy of something in Aslan’s real world. You need not mourn over Narnia, Lucy. All of the old Narnia that mattered, all the dear creatures, have been drawn into the real Narnia through the Door. And of course it is different; as different as a real thing is from a shadow or as waking life is from a dream.” His voice stirred everyone like a trumpet as he spoke these words: but when he added under his breath "It's all in Plato, all in Plato: bless me, what do they teach them in these schools!"

C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle.

For Kutz and Stuart, following this debate. (some bible next time.)

new moon

Jacob makes Edward look like an anaemic weed. Don't you think?

the one I love

seeing new moon tonight

Scoffers, go away.

I don't want to hear it.

I am going and it will be great.

nothing to say...

... desperately trying to come up with a decent song.

8686. Anyone...

gym pet-peeve #3 - the backless hoodie

A couple of my gym instructors are into these. Seems a stupid garment. Surely?

stan wins!

That's it for another year.

I think Hayley's song was better than Stan's.

idol final tonight

Don't care who wins. Both Stan and Hayley are good.

Last year I fell asleep just before they announced the winner. I'm feeling fairly stuffed already so might sleep through this year as well.

Who are you going for?

feeling like a failure as a human being.

Won't kill me.

new look blog

what do you think?

I tried quite a few, but kept on feeling like I was pretending to be someone else. I'll change back if I can't get used to this. Not sure the blue is really me.

beauty and truth

what are they?

nightswimming