"The people filled with the spirit of capitalism today tend to be indifferent, if not hostile, to the Church. The thought of the pious boredom of paradise has little attraction for their active natures; religion appears to them as a means of drawing people away from labour in this world.
If you ask them what is the meaning of their restless activity, why they are never satisfied with what they have, they would perhaps give an answer, if they know any at all: 'to provide for my children and grandchildren.' But more often and, since that motive is not peculiar to them, but was just as effective for the traditionalist, more correctly, simply: that business with its continuous work has become a necessary part of their lives. That is in fact the only possible motivation, but it at the same time expresses what is, seen from the view-point of personal happiness, so irrational about this sort of life, where a man exists for the sake of his business, instead of the reverse."
- Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
This is going to be a good semester.
We had another CSN meeting today. The goal gets closer every day.
Peace,
Sam
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Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Saturday, August 26, 2006
The Past Few Days
Well, the first week is over. It's been pretty crazy. Thursday had some pretty amusing moments. For example, I went to a class that I thought was Medieval Studies but was actually 19th Century Europe. The funnier part was that for some reason I was actually registered for 19th Century Europe instead of Medieval Studies. How did that happen?
I also had an amusing French experience. I went to FRE 2420 (Second Year French Conversation) and the professor had us do more introductions. This time, though, she asked us questions (in French, naturally). The jig was up. She started asking me why I am a religion major and if I'm religious. I had nothing to say - I just sat there blinking at her and saying, "Quoi?" It was pretty awesome, especially since I didn't think to just respond in English to show I understood.
I took the SAT II on Thursday and I did alright. I placed into "Preparation for Intermediate French," for which I have now successfully registered. I'm still pretty worried about it. My ability to render French is so much weaker than my ability to read it. Oh well.
Friday consisted in going to various classes and getting my cell phone operational again. I have such a love-hate relationship with those things. However, then I went with Alan to the RUF party at Steven & Co.'s place. It was pretty fun, but too many people for my taste. They did have some excellent food, though.
I slept in today, talked to Mom for a while, and then went to a barbeque Matt was having. It was a lot of fun; lots of great food and people. I got to meet a lot of people that I heard about for months and have some very thought-provoking conversations.
Tonight I may be having coffee with some SE friends and then heading to a party. Should be fun.
I'm not in a very insightful mood right now. I did have some interesting conversations over the past few days, but I'm still digesting them and figuring out what to think about them. Hopefully you'll hear more from me soon.
I've really been enjoying The Mountain Goats recently. They just came out with a new album and it's very enjoyable. I've also just downloaded the new album by My Brightest Diamond. I'm excited.
I have some serious textbook purchasing, calendar updating, and iPod overhauling to do.
Peace,
Sam
Click to read the rest.
I also had an amusing French experience. I went to FRE 2420 (Second Year French Conversation) and the professor had us do more introductions. This time, though, she asked us questions (in French, naturally). The jig was up. She started asking me why I am a religion major and if I'm religious. I had nothing to say - I just sat there blinking at her and saying, "Quoi?" It was pretty awesome, especially since I didn't think to just respond in English to show I understood.
I took the SAT II on Thursday and I did alright. I placed into "Preparation for Intermediate French," for which I have now successfully registered. I'm still pretty worried about it. My ability to render French is so much weaker than my ability to read it. Oh well.
Friday consisted in going to various classes and getting my cell phone operational again. I have such a love-hate relationship with those things. However, then I went with Alan to the RUF party at Steven & Co.'s place. It was pretty fun, but too many people for my taste. They did have some excellent food, though.
I slept in today, talked to Mom for a while, and then went to a barbeque Matt was having. It was a lot of fun; lots of great food and people. I got to meet a lot of people that I heard about for months and have some very thought-provoking conversations.
Tonight I may be having coffee with some SE friends and then heading to a party. Should be fun.
I'm not in a very insightful mood right now. I did have some interesting conversations over the past few days, but I'm still digesting them and figuring out what to think about them. Hopefully you'll hear more from me soon.
I've really been enjoying The Mountain Goats recently. They just came out with a new album and it's very enjoyable. I've also just downloaded the new album by My Brightest Diamond. I'm excited.
I have some serious textbook purchasing, calendar updating, and iPod overhauling to do.
Peace,
Sam
Click to read the rest.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Quoi?
So today was perhaps the craziest first day of school I've experienced. However, before I delve into that, I have to promote Little Miss Sunshine. It's a great movie, and I saw it with several of my favorite people. I haven't laughed that hard in a theater since Napoleon Dynamite. But it's not primarily a comedy - it has a great plot. I even cried at one part. I'll leave it to you to figure out which one. So, go see it and then talk to me about it.
Okay, so Day 1 of fall semester. I woke up around 8:30, had breakfast, took a shower, and headed to campus. It took about 20 minutes to get there by bus. I walked over to the RUF table in Turlington to hang there for a few minutes with some of the RUF crew. Then I walked with Will H. over to Matherly to sit in on a Chinese class. That was a fun experience - particularly when I had to take a placement test and left the entire thing blank. I would absolutely love to take Chinese. Why? For several reasons: I love China, I love missions to East Asia, it's the most spoken language in the world, and China is going to be the one of the most influential countries in the world very soon. Hopefully I can switch into a section that works with my schedule. We'll see.
After Chinese I met up with Chris, Sean, and Emily. Chris, Sean, and I had some good old fashioned Krishna Lunch (regrettably, Emily did not join in the fun). All was right with the world at that moment -- except that we were caught in the middle of a freaking monsoon. From there I headed to the CSC to hang out with Pat Sell. What a guy. We had a great conversation.
I traveled in the monsoon to Matherly, where I went to a Medieval Latin class. I don't know whether I'm going to take this one either. The first few weeks sound pretty interesting, but after that...I don't know. However, my friend Katie (who rocks my socks off) is in it, so I may be persuaded to stay. I just don't know.
After Latin, I headed to Anderson to sit in on a French class - FRE 2200 I might add (NOT FRE 1130). This was the most humorous part of my day. I walked in and realized that the entire class would be in French. I will say, proudly, that I understood about 30% of it - at least enough to know what was going on (which was just explaining the syllabus and such). Then she started having people introduce themselves. At first it was just voluntary, but then the professor decided to have everyone do it. So it gets to me. I blink a little bit, think, "Pull yourself together man" and bust out with "Je m'appelle Sam. C'est mon troisiemme anée. Mon...(insert professor helping me)...specialization est religion." It was pretty funny, but I think I pulled it off. However, she then had an activity for us all to do. You know the type: everyone has to get up and find a person who has done something on this list that she gives everyone (gone to a French country this summer, took a French class this summer, etc.). I could read everything on the sheet, but the jig was up whenever some happy girl would bounce up to me and say, "Bonjour! Avez-vous...?" I would have to lean in and mutter, "I...can't...speak...French...." But I left with a smile on my face. Tomorrow I'm going to take the SAT II and try to place into some sort of class.
So then I walked to Little and attended a linguistics class. This was extremely interesting, but I don't think I'm going to be able to take it. Then it was time to begin the trek home. And I do mean trek. For starters, I waited a good 20 minutes under Little until the torrent of rain eased up. Then I walked to the Hub and got on the bus. Little did I know what was in store.
The bus ride took an hour. Seriously. An hour. On the bright side, I made a new friend. Her name is Jessica. She is cool. I somehow managed to invite her to both RUF and Krishna Lunch in the course of our conversation. It was fun.
I stopped at the apartment to eat some dinner, then Chris and I went to Bagel Bakery to see our friend Melissa (who records with Justice Road) and the infamous Mo Leverett from Desire Street Ministries do an acoustic show. It was great. Melissa is such an amazing musician (and an amazing woman, for that matter). I was sad she didn't get to play piano/keyboard, though. Oh, and of course Mo was awesome.
So that was the first day. Pretty fun. I need to do some serious schedule altering, though. Pray/think happy thoughts that things would work out. I may be dropping the history minor - I am pretty in love with languages and feel like I need to invest more time and energy into them (Chinese and French in particular).
Oh, and here's a CSN update for those interested: Chris, Matt, and I met up yesterday for several hours and hammered out lots of details, content, and logistical things. It's starting to really look good. I'm excited. We're going to meet again soon.
Peace,
Sam
P.S. Does anyone else feel like there is a Rachel-shaped hole in their heart? She really needs to be in Gainesville. Bah.
Click to read the rest.
Okay, so Day 1 of fall semester. I woke up around 8:30, had breakfast, took a shower, and headed to campus. It took about 20 minutes to get there by bus. I walked over to the RUF table in Turlington to hang there for a few minutes with some of the RUF crew. Then I walked with Will H. over to Matherly to sit in on a Chinese class. That was a fun experience - particularly when I had to take a placement test and left the entire thing blank. I would absolutely love to take Chinese. Why? For several reasons: I love China, I love missions to East Asia, it's the most spoken language in the world, and China is going to be the one of the most influential countries in the world very soon. Hopefully I can switch into a section that works with my schedule. We'll see.
After Chinese I met up with Chris, Sean, and Emily. Chris, Sean, and I had some good old fashioned Krishna Lunch (regrettably, Emily did not join in the fun). All was right with the world at that moment -- except that we were caught in the middle of a freaking monsoon. From there I headed to the CSC to hang out with Pat Sell. What a guy. We had a great conversation.
I traveled in the monsoon to Matherly, where I went to a Medieval Latin class. I don't know whether I'm going to take this one either. The first few weeks sound pretty interesting, but after that...I don't know. However, my friend Katie (who rocks my socks off) is in it, so I may be persuaded to stay. I just don't know.
After Latin, I headed to Anderson to sit in on a French class - FRE 2200 I might add (NOT FRE 1130). This was the most humorous part of my day. I walked in and realized that the entire class would be in French. I will say, proudly, that I understood about 30% of it - at least enough to know what was going on (which was just explaining the syllabus and such). Then she started having people introduce themselves. At first it was just voluntary, but then the professor decided to have everyone do it. So it gets to me. I blink a little bit, think, "Pull yourself together man" and bust out with "Je m'appelle Sam. C'est mon troisiemme anée. Mon...(insert professor helping me)...specialization est religion." It was pretty funny, but I think I pulled it off. However, she then had an activity for us all to do. You know the type: everyone has to get up and find a person who has done something on this list that she gives everyone (gone to a French country this summer, took a French class this summer, etc.). I could read everything on the sheet, but the jig was up whenever some happy girl would bounce up to me and say, "Bonjour! Avez-vous...?" I would have to lean in and mutter, "I...can't...speak...French...." But I left with a smile on my face. Tomorrow I'm going to take the SAT II and try to place into some sort of class.
So then I walked to Little and attended a linguistics class. This was extremely interesting, but I don't think I'm going to be able to take it. Then it was time to begin the trek home. And I do mean trek. For starters, I waited a good 20 minutes under Little until the torrent of rain eased up. Then I walked to the Hub and got on the bus. Little did I know what was in store.
The bus ride took an hour. Seriously. An hour. On the bright side, I made a new friend. Her name is Jessica. She is cool. I somehow managed to invite her to both RUF and Krishna Lunch in the course of our conversation. It was fun.
I stopped at the apartment to eat some dinner, then Chris and I went to Bagel Bakery to see our friend Melissa (who records with Justice Road) and the infamous Mo Leverett from Desire Street Ministries do an acoustic show. It was great. Melissa is such an amazing musician (and an amazing woman, for that matter). I was sad she didn't get to play piano/keyboard, though. Oh, and of course Mo was awesome.
So that was the first day. Pretty fun. I need to do some serious schedule altering, though. Pray/think happy thoughts that things would work out. I may be dropping the history minor - I am pretty in love with languages and feel like I need to invest more time and energy into them (Chinese and French in particular).
Oh, and here's a CSN update for those interested: Chris, Matt, and I met up yesterday for several hours and hammered out lots of details, content, and logistical things. It's starting to really look good. I'm excited. We're going to meet again soon.
Peace,
Sam
P.S. Does anyone else feel like there is a Rachel-shaped hole in their heart? She really needs to be in Gainesville. Bah.
Click to read the rest.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
paul & renoir
The past few days have been a blur. I did a lot of unpacking, so I finally feel moved in. The apartment is really nice. So far I'm enjoying living off campus.
Yesterday I hung out with my friend Devon. She's a delight. We went grocery shopping at Mother Earth on 13th, then went back to her apartment to make some pasta and salad. It was delicious. We also shared the stories of our summers. She did a lot of road tripping with her family and then did a study abroad program in Mexico. Very exciting.
I had a very interesting experience when she took me home. Only the windshield wiper on the driver's side is functional on her car, so I rode the entire way watching the rain make patterns of color on the windshield. It was like driving through a world composed of impressionist paintings, not unlike those I saw in Chicago. Traffic lights were especially cool, as the greens and reds would literally flood the windshield as we approached them and then vanish when we passed. It was beautiful.
It's the little things, you know?
It reminded me of that verse where Paul says that we see dimly like in a mirror. The world is just an impressionist painting compared to redemption. One day we'll see clearly, but for now we're just riding in a car with a broken windshield wiper, trying to piece together reality from blurs of color.
After Devon dropped me off, Ryan came over for a while. It was so good to see him and catch up. It's going to be good having him in Gainesville, even though he won't be on campus anymore.
Tonight is some sort of RUF Leadership thing. I'm going even though I'm not "officially" on leadership. Should be interesting.
Peace,
Sam
Click to read the rest.
Yesterday I hung out with my friend Devon. She's a delight. We went grocery shopping at Mother Earth on 13th, then went back to her apartment to make some pasta and salad. It was delicious. We also shared the stories of our summers. She did a lot of road tripping with her family and then did a study abroad program in Mexico. Very exciting.
I had a very interesting experience when she took me home. Only the windshield wiper on the driver's side is functional on her car, so I rode the entire way watching the rain make patterns of color on the windshield. It was like driving through a world composed of impressionist paintings, not unlike those I saw in Chicago. Traffic lights were especially cool, as the greens and reds would literally flood the windshield as we approached them and then vanish when we passed. It was beautiful.
It's the little things, you know?
It reminded me of that verse where Paul says that we see dimly like in a mirror. The world is just an impressionist painting compared to redemption. One day we'll see clearly, but for now we're just riding in a car with a broken windshield wiper, trying to piece together reality from blurs of color.
After Devon dropped me off, Ryan came over for a while. It was so good to see him and catch up. It's going to be good having him in Gainesville, even though he won't be on campus anymore.
Tonight is some sort of RUF Leadership thing. I'm going even though I'm not "officially" on leadership. Should be interesting.
Peace,
Sam
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Friday, August 18, 2006
Back in the Ville
So I'm back in Gainesville. It's been great. I'm trying to write this blog with the sliver of battery power I have left.
The apartment is fantastic. Last night we had a few people over and caught up. Today some friends of Alan's from Jax came over. We joined Steven, Brandon, and Chris and attempted to go to a river, but aborted when it started to rain. We ended up at Steven & Co.'s apartment for a while. Then we all went out to Chopstix (adding Sean, Steve M., and Pat Sell to the mix), which was delicious. It was good to be back. I love those guys.
That's all for now - these few days will just consist in unpacking and reuniting. Oh yeah, and then school starts. Whatever.
Peace,
Sam
Click to read the rest.
The apartment is fantastic. Last night we had a few people over and caught up. Today some friends of Alan's from Jax came over. We joined Steven, Brandon, and Chris and attempted to go to a river, but aborted when it started to rain. We ended up at Steven & Co.'s apartment for a while. Then we all went out to Chopstix (adding Sean, Steve M., and Pat Sell to the mix), which was delicious. It was good to be back. I love those guys.
That's all for now - these few days will just consist in unpacking and reuniting. Oh yeah, and then school starts. Whatever.
Peace,
Sam
Click to read the rest.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Last Night in Orlando
I'm too tired to write much right now, but it would be a shame to not post on this last night in Orlando.
I spent a good amount of time tonight with lots of friends, old and new. I love them all.
More from me from Gainesville, I promise.
Peace,
Sam
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I spent a good amount of time tonight with lots of friends, old and new. I love them all.
More from me from Gainesville, I promise.
Peace,
Sam
Click to read the rest.
Sunday, August 13, 2006
A Blog Post with a Witty, "Random" Title
Today was a very bizarre but good day. While running errands, I bumped into several old friends from middle school and ended up eating a late lunch with them at Five Guys. Wow, what a fun time. I hadn't seen most of them in ages.
I later ended up at Starbucks with several friends, where Alex was confused for Jonathan twice in one night and Mara's older brother was sitting within 3 feet from her for a solid half hour before we noticed.
Sorry for the stretch of uninteresting posts. I've just been lazing around these days. Once school starts, things will pick up.
In other news, Matt is home from camp, which hopefully means more reading material in the near future.
Unfortunately, that's all I have for you. You should probably just go listen to an episode of This American Life or something.
Peace,
Sam
Click to read the rest.
I later ended up at Starbucks with several friends, where Alex was confused for Jonathan twice in one night and Mara's older brother was sitting within 3 feet from her for a solid half hour before we noticed.
Sorry for the stretch of uninteresting posts. I've just been lazing around these days. Once school starts, things will pick up.
In other news, Matt is home from camp, which hopefully means more reading material in the near future.
Unfortunately, that's all I have for you. You should probably just go listen to an episode of This American Life or something.
Peace,
Sam
Click to read the rest.
Friday, August 11, 2006
super furry animals
I'm going to leave it to you to decipher that one.
Today was an excellent day. Not only did I get some laundry done while talking with the Housworth (yes "the" Housworth) online and listening to NPR, but I then met up with Steven for lunch. Correction: Steven the Warrior. He is back from Kenya, and we had a most enjoyable discussion about missions, life, growing up, and Gator football. It was great.
Then I picked up JT. We spent a bit of time at a McDonalds (shudder), which was transformed into a good experience due to the conversation and the company. After finishing up there, we headed to my house to make some music. It was yet another successful time. JT and I have spent a great deal of time together this week and it's been very good. I am really grateful for his friendship.
To top off the day, Sarah (the sister, as the Ruff is not anywhere nearby these days) and I went on another quest for coffee and/or desert. We started our journey at (shameless plug ahead) Primo Bean, which is down by Gators Dockside on Dr. Phillips (take note, Orlando folks). They had just gotten rid of their drip coffee (it was closing time), but we were able to snag some delicious gelato. Man oh man. It was good. Apparently they have food in the day time, too. And the owners are very nice. I will be going there soon to try their coffee. Of course, then I will bug them about going Fair Trade.
We needed coffee, though, so we ended up at the Barnes & Noble Starbucks-type-thing. It was pretty good, but I'm missing Sweetwater like crazy. Anyway, it was great to spend some time with the sister.
So that's all for now. I'm sure I could come up with something more interesting to talk about, but right now I'm relishing the last days of summer.
Peace,
Sam
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Thursday, August 10, 2006
we're not scaremongering
So, unless you've been living in a cave, you'll know that there has been another plot uncovered. This time, unlike the ridiculous Sears Tower scare, it actually looks real.
Unfortunately, the mass media and the government are having a field day exploiting the fear of the people. And, conveniently, this will most definitely be used to bolster midterm elections. And, conveniently, coverage of Lebanon is difficult to find today.
And have you noticed how the mass media still goes nuts AFTER the threats have been taken care of?
Mass hysteria. I'm pretty sure that's what everyone wants around here. I'm not saying this wasn't a real threat - in fact, I'm pretty convinced it was (which is rare for me these days) - I'm just saying that I feel like we're in the middle of a fable called "The Country Who Cried Wolf." It was originally titled "How to Keep Citizens Paralyzed by Fear," but the publisher didn't like it.
Bush also made the tremendous blunder of using the term "Islamic fascists" in a recent speech. Good news - you can now be considered a threat due to yor religion AND your political views!
In other news, "WTF, China?"
Chinese officials plan to slaughter more than half a million dogs.
Also, as an update to my rant on corporate ownership of online friend sites, I was wrong about MySpace. It's owned by News Corp. now, but you know them better as Fox. You can see the full ownership of this giant here. It's only a matter of time for Fbook. Check this out.
I also shudder at this line from here (which is apparently impossible to link to):
"IPG will also be able to use the site as a data mine for trends in youth consumer habits, by conducting market research on the site."
Pray/think happy thoughts for Tony and his family, as they will attempt to fly home from across the pond on Sunday.
Oh, and don't think that just because the summer is coming to a close that I won't continue to rant on this blog during the year! I'll be posting quite regularly.
Peace (and I do mean peace),
Sam
P.S.
Click to read the rest.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Back in Orlando
Sorry it's been a few days. I'm back in Orlando, where I no longer have constant internet at the tips of my fingers (which is probably a good thing).
I got home safe and sound on Saturday night. After showering and changing clothes, Jenn picked me up and we went to Starbucks for a while. That was lovely, and eventually JT, Mike, and Jonathan showed up. Jenn left sometime after 11, but the rest of us sat outside of Starbucks for a solid two hours talking about theology and politics.
JT and I have resolved to hang out more and play more music together for the umpteenth time, but this time we feel like it's really going to happen. Yesterday we grabbed some lunch and then he came over to jam for a few hours. We're going to collaborate on a few songs.
Technology annoyance #1342: the fact that I can accidentally click on a variety of things on my screen and launch an application by accident or completely lose an email or message.
I also realized that fbook has gone completely corporate, and it's bothering me to no end. There are tons of advertisements now, and they want your birthday "for safety reasons." Whatever. And have you seen the "back to school" section? It's sponsored by Wal*Mart, Bank of America, and a host of other massive corporations. The section is just a host of advertisements. I don't know how much more I can take. Fbook used to be a way for college kids to stay in touch, not a massive advertising and marketing research dream for retail stores:
Can't I message a friend from elementary school without being worried about corporate tools writing down the fact that I listen to Devendra Banhart? I just picture a bunch of 45-year old white men sitting around discussing the "Facebook phenomenon" and how to take advantage of it to gather information about "all those hip youngsters."
I'm sure they're selling all kinds of information. How else can they continue to operate? MySpace got out by Verizon. I'm sure Facebook will be next, at which time I will deactivate my account forever. The only corporation that can make me their pawn is Apple, which is why I'm currently watching a keynote from their latest conference.
Peace,
Sam
Click to read the rest.
I got home safe and sound on Saturday night. After showering and changing clothes, Jenn picked me up and we went to Starbucks for a while. That was lovely, and eventually JT, Mike, and Jonathan showed up. Jenn left sometime after 11, but the rest of us sat outside of Starbucks for a solid two hours talking about theology and politics.
JT and I have resolved to hang out more and play more music together for the umpteenth time, but this time we feel like it's really going to happen. Yesterday we grabbed some lunch and then he came over to jam for a few hours. We're going to collaborate on a few songs.
Technology annoyance #1342: the fact that I can accidentally click on a variety of things on my screen and launch an application by accident or completely lose an email or message.
I also realized that fbook has gone completely corporate, and it's bothering me to no end. There are tons of advertisements now, and they want your birthday "for safety reasons." Whatever. And have you seen the "back to school" section? It's sponsored by Wal*Mart, Bank of America, and a host of other massive corporations. The section is just a host of advertisements. I don't know how much more I can take. Fbook used to be a way for college kids to stay in touch, not a massive advertising and marketing research dream for retail stores:
Can't I message a friend from elementary school without being worried about corporate tools writing down the fact that I listen to Devendra Banhart? I just picture a bunch of 45-year old white men sitting around discussing the "Facebook phenomenon" and how to take advantage of it to gather information about "all those hip youngsters."
I'm sure they're selling all kinds of information. How else can they continue to operate? MySpace got out by Verizon. I'm sure Facebook will be next, at which time I will deactivate my account forever. The only corporation that can make me their pawn is Apple, which is why I'm currently watching a keynote from their latest conference.
Peace,
Sam
Click to read the rest.
Friday, August 04, 2006
The Last Day & Sam as a Berry Wannabe
So today was the last day here at Notre Dame. I took my French exam, which went well, and then went to mass at the Basilica. I also ate lunch at Greenfield's as a celebration. Then I kept on packing.
I've been thinking recently about how technology inhibits us (or at least me) from real life. Examples:
• Addictions to various web sites (fbook, YouTube) or services (AIM). How much time have I spent online that I could have been spending doing something real? I don't mean your average half hour of fbook or AIM time...I'm talking hours and hours a day out of "boredom" (as if there's not always something better to do).
• The frustrations that come with computer mediated communication (this phrase trademarked by masantos). How many times have I had ridiculous misunderstandings due to the lack of the ability to communicate emotion via computer?
• Preoccupation with taking photos instead of just experiencing things. I often wonder how this sort of "phototourism" has affected our memories. Every time I take a photo now I have to wonder whether it's better to be experiencing this memory through the lens of a camera or through my own eyes (irony: I will always experience things through a lens of some kind). This phenomenon decreases the longer I stay in a place. For example, I spent much of the first two days at ND taking pictures, and then I stopped for the remainder of my time here. That way I got photos and memories, instead of one or the other. By the third trip to Chicago, I didn't need to keep taking photos of downtown.
• Preoccupation with sharing and storing photos that leads to hours of tagging, cropping, editing, organizing, and captioning. I'm getting fed up with this one. The more photos I take, the more mind-bogglingly time consuming it is becoming to make sure I can find any photo instantly, share it with the rest of the world (complete with a short description of the events depicted), and make sure the lighting and coloring is just right.
• Obsession with acquiring music via computer. MP3s/MP4s/etc. are dirt cheap compared to buying CDs or vinyl now. Monthly subscription services like eMusic, stores like iTunes, and various other sites can cause me to spend hours and hours acquiring new music. What I fail to realize is that I then must listen to said music. In the past 6 months, I've legally acquired about 3 days' worth of music -- that's 72 hours! Can you imagine me listening to music for three days straight?
• This then fuels the iPod addiction. I purposefully left my iPod at home when I went to Chicago last weekend, and I had some very interesting experiences. I left it precisely because I noticed my fear of boredom. So for all of last weekend, I rode trains and busses and walked for miles without any musical stimulation. Guess what happened? I talked to strangers. I noticed the sounds of the city. I thought. I prayed more than I had in months.
• The fact that I have to constantly keep track of these things. In addition to having to worry that my PowerBook is safely locked inside of my room, I have to make sure that my camera (and its memory cards), my cell phone (and its charger), and my iPod (with its various accessories) are all safe and secure. Since I've inherited my dad's borderline obsession with making sure things are secure, I check my pockets and backpack at least 30 times a day to make sure things are in place. I laugh about this a lot, and I've been making steps of progress to change this. When I was in Chicago, something quite humorous happened that will forever impact this quirk of mine. I had my hand in my pocket making sure my train ticket hadn't magically leapt out, when I tripped on the curb (this was somewhere near Randolph St.) and almost fell headlong. Due to the fact that my hand was on my ticket, it flew out of my pocket and onto the street. The irony was beautiful.
• The discouraging wealth of information online that causes me to be constantly discontent with my education. Let's face it: Wikipedia and Google have pretty much revolutionized the world (to the point that I don't even have to link them). If you didn't know, Blogger is owned by Google. However, constant access to any body of knowledge I could desire is deadly when combined with what Charlie and I have deemed my "consuming obsession with constant self-improvement." I often wonder what my life would be like if I didn't know that at the click of a button I could have all of China's history in front me. This subject becomes especially frustrating given my reading comprehension from a computer screen is dismal compared to reading print. I thought Podcasts would change this for me, but I currently have 5.7 days' worth of Podcasts on my computer.
The moral of the story: technology is a market. It's built off of discontentment. You'll never share or see enough pictures. You'll never hear the newest music. You'll never read enough on a subject. You'll never have the latest and greatest. You'll never be efficient enough. You'll never be connected enough to your friends or to strangers. You'll never learn enough. You'll never be informed enough.
That's just a sampling. I could go on for hours. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of technology and the wonders of computers. I love the fact that I'm now in touch with friends from elementary school. I love that I can see pictures of my friends in everywhere from Greece to China at the click of a button. I love being able to blog so everyone can keep up with my life, and I love being able to read other peoples' blogs to keep up with their lives. I love how technology has revolutionized music composition (for the most part). I love free sermons and lectures.
But what happened to the days of mistakes in music, of knowing that you may never hear some music again after a concert, of knowing you may never see a place again except in your memories? What happened to just sitting in silence for a train ride? What happened to listening to the same 10 records over and over again?
That's my two electronic cents.
What sparked this post was the fact that I have attempted to upload more pictures for non-fbook people. It was quite a frustrating experience. They aren't tagged or captioned, and for some reason a lot of them got out of order. Oh well. Here they are:
Random Trip to Chicago
Journey to Lake Michigan
Pitchfork: Day One
Pitchfork: Day Two
Sometime soon I hope to post on what Brian Habig has deemed "the idol of the next fun thing on the horizon." I think he's onto something important for college students. My thoughts on that some time in the near future.
See you in Orlando.
Peace,
Sam
Click to read the rest.
I've been thinking recently about how technology inhibits us (or at least me) from real life. Examples:
• Addictions to various web sites (fbook, YouTube) or services (AIM). How much time have I spent online that I could have been spending doing something real? I don't mean your average half hour of fbook or AIM time...I'm talking hours and hours a day out of "boredom" (as if there's not always something better to do).
• The frustrations that come with computer mediated communication (this phrase trademarked by masantos). How many times have I had ridiculous misunderstandings due to the lack of the ability to communicate emotion via computer?
• Preoccupation with taking photos instead of just experiencing things. I often wonder how this sort of "phototourism" has affected our memories. Every time I take a photo now I have to wonder whether it's better to be experiencing this memory through the lens of a camera or through my own eyes (irony: I will always experience things through a lens of some kind). This phenomenon decreases the longer I stay in a place. For example, I spent much of the first two days at ND taking pictures, and then I stopped for the remainder of my time here. That way I got photos and memories, instead of one or the other. By the third trip to Chicago, I didn't need to keep taking photos of downtown.
• Preoccupation with sharing and storing photos that leads to hours of tagging, cropping, editing, organizing, and captioning. I'm getting fed up with this one. The more photos I take, the more mind-bogglingly time consuming it is becoming to make sure I can find any photo instantly, share it with the rest of the world (complete with a short description of the events depicted), and make sure the lighting and coloring is just right.
• Obsession with acquiring music via computer. MP3s/MP4s/etc. are dirt cheap compared to buying CDs or vinyl now. Monthly subscription services like eMusic, stores like iTunes, and various other sites can cause me to spend hours and hours acquiring new music. What I fail to realize is that I then must listen to said music. In the past 6 months, I've legally acquired about 3 days' worth of music -- that's 72 hours! Can you imagine me listening to music for three days straight?
• This then fuels the iPod addiction. I purposefully left my iPod at home when I went to Chicago last weekend, and I had some very interesting experiences. I left it precisely because I noticed my fear of boredom. So for all of last weekend, I rode trains and busses and walked for miles without any musical stimulation. Guess what happened? I talked to strangers. I noticed the sounds of the city. I thought. I prayed more than I had in months.
• The fact that I have to constantly keep track of these things. In addition to having to worry that my PowerBook is safely locked inside of my room, I have to make sure that my camera (and its memory cards), my cell phone (and its charger), and my iPod (with its various accessories) are all safe and secure. Since I've inherited my dad's borderline obsession with making sure things are secure, I check my pockets and backpack at least 30 times a day to make sure things are in place. I laugh about this a lot, and I've been making steps of progress to change this. When I was in Chicago, something quite humorous happened that will forever impact this quirk of mine. I had my hand in my pocket making sure my train ticket hadn't magically leapt out, when I tripped on the curb (this was somewhere near Randolph St.) and almost fell headlong. Due to the fact that my hand was on my ticket, it flew out of my pocket and onto the street. The irony was beautiful.
• The discouraging wealth of information online that causes me to be constantly discontent with my education. Let's face it: Wikipedia and Google have pretty much revolutionized the world (to the point that I don't even have to link them). If you didn't know, Blogger is owned by Google. However, constant access to any body of knowledge I could desire is deadly when combined with what Charlie and I have deemed my "consuming obsession with constant self-improvement." I often wonder what my life would be like if I didn't know that at the click of a button I could have all of China's history in front me. This subject becomes especially frustrating given my reading comprehension from a computer screen is dismal compared to reading print. I thought Podcasts would change this for me, but I currently have 5.7 days' worth of Podcasts on my computer.
The moral of the story: technology is a market. It's built off of discontentment. You'll never share or see enough pictures. You'll never hear the newest music. You'll never read enough on a subject. You'll never have the latest and greatest. You'll never be efficient enough. You'll never be connected enough to your friends or to strangers. You'll never learn enough. You'll never be informed enough.
That's just a sampling. I could go on for hours. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of technology and the wonders of computers. I love the fact that I'm now in touch with friends from elementary school. I love that I can see pictures of my friends in everywhere from Greece to China at the click of a button. I love being able to blog so everyone can keep up with my life, and I love being able to read other peoples' blogs to keep up with their lives. I love how technology has revolutionized music composition (for the most part). I love free sermons and lectures.
But what happened to the days of mistakes in music, of knowing that you may never hear some music again after a concert, of knowing you may never see a place again except in your memories? What happened to just sitting in silence for a train ride? What happened to listening to the same 10 records over and over again?
That's my two electronic cents.
What sparked this post was the fact that I have attempted to upload more pictures for non-fbook people. It was quite a frustrating experience. They aren't tagged or captioned, and for some reason a lot of them got out of order. Oh well. Here they are:
Random Trip to Chicago
Journey to Lake Michigan
Pitchfork: Day One
Pitchfork: Day Two
Sometime soon I hope to post on what Brian Habig has deemed "the idol of the next fun thing on the horizon." I think he's onto something important for college students. My thoughts on that some time in the near future.
See you in Orlando.
Peace,
Sam
Click to read the rest.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Blatant, Unapologetic Promotions
This post is going to be full of simple, unabashed promotion.
First, the messages from the 2006 RUF Summer Conference. They're pretty enjoyable. If you subscribe to the Podcast, you can hear the Vandy crew doing some music. It's all highly recommended for everyone.
Second, I hereby recommend Jessica Ducey's blog. She's spent her summer in Israel and Palestine, and has some very interesting things to say. Agree or disagree, it's a fascinating read.
Third, I'm a big fan of the song "How Deep the Father's Love for Us" by Stuart Townend. It keeps coming up this summer. I have yet to find a recorded version that I like as much as when we play it at RUF. Regardless, here are the lyrics:
"How deep the Father's love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He would give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure
How great the pain of searing loss
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One
Bring many sons to glory
Behold the Man upon a cross
My guilt upon His shoulders
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished
I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no powr's, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom"
(©1995 Kingsway's Thankyou Music)
Also, it has recently come to my attention that in my post about "things I miss about Florida," I forgot to mention my beloved Steamers. I apologize. I will eat there in the first week of class, without a doubt.
That reminds me. Speaking of local restaurants in Gainesville, this page is really spiffy.
I also forgot to mention fireflies in my "things I will miss about this summer" list. There are so many other things. I was in the library tonight attempting to translate various New Testament bits from French, and it hit me how I'd be leaving the library soon and never coming back (at least not for a long time).
Okay, I'm done. Enjoy. Tomorrow is a big day of lastness. I had better get some sleep.
Peace,
Sam
Click to read the rest.
First, the messages from the 2006 RUF Summer Conference. They're pretty enjoyable. If you subscribe to the Podcast, you can hear the Vandy crew doing some music. It's all highly recommended for everyone.
Second, I hereby recommend Jessica Ducey's blog. She's spent her summer in Israel and Palestine, and has some very interesting things to say. Agree or disagree, it's a fascinating read.
Third, I'm a big fan of the song "How Deep the Father's Love for Us" by Stuart Townend. It keeps coming up this summer. I have yet to find a recorded version that I like as much as when we play it at RUF. Regardless, here are the lyrics:
"How deep the Father's love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He would give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure
How great the pain of searing loss
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One
Bring many sons to glory
Behold the Man upon a cross
My guilt upon His shoulders
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished
I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no powr's, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom"
(©1995 Kingsway's Thankyou Music)
Also, it has recently come to my attention that in my post about "things I miss about Florida," I forgot to mention my beloved Steamers. I apologize. I will eat there in the first week of class, without a doubt.
That reminds me. Speaking of local restaurants in Gainesville, this page is really spiffy.
I also forgot to mention fireflies in my "things I will miss about this summer" list. There are so many other things. I was in the library tonight attempting to translate various New Testament bits from French, and it hit me how I'd be leaving the library soon and never coming back (at least not for a long time).
Okay, I'm done. Enjoy. Tomorrow is a big day of lastness. I had better get some sleep.
Peace,
Sam
Click to read the rest.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
STOP WHINING!
You know what bugs me? At the Subway in LaFortune, the person working is required to begin adding vegetables to your sandwich by offering an ambiguous "not a question but not a statement" of "Lettuce, tomato, cucumbers?" This leaves me in an awkward position, since I don't like cucumbers on my sandwich and spinach is in the same section of the counter. I end up saying something like, "No cucumbers but I do want spinach," which causes them to ask, "Do you want lettuce and tomato?" The whole process is very inefficient. Today I simply responded to the initial question with, "Lettuce, tomato, spinach." The second part of the process is just as cumbersome (this is where Sarah would say, "CUcumbersome?"). "Olive, pickles, and banana peppers?" "No, but I would like onions, green peppers, and jalapenos." It's irksome.
Which brings me to the next section of this post. Last night's post was pretty whiny, so let's balance it out with Things I'll Miss About This Summer:
• Flowers at Notre Dame.
• The widespread pride at ND.
• Having immediate access to 80% of the books and movies I desire.
• Seeing statues and pictures of Christian symbols without being nervous that someone is going to take it down or be offended by it.
• The refreshing lack of Turlington preachers.
• The refreshing lack of repeating the same conversations during the ravings of Turlington preachers.
• The shocking and ironic fact that I went to more parties at ND in seven weeks than I have in two years at UF.
• Hanging out with my roommate JB and his friends.
• Prof. Louis MacKenzie's crazy stories about his life as a cultured, former-hippy Francophile who has been married for over 20 years and has lived in France multiple times. [Editorial: I wonder what would happen if he had a conversation with Mario Poceski from UF?]
• The Grotto and the Basilica.
• Trips to Chicago whenever I darn well feel like it.
• Knowing that I am two hours away from virtually any band I could ever want to see live.
• Yeah, pretty much anything and everything about Chicago.
• Local businesses in South Bend and Chicago.
• The private school way of life.
Of course, I won't miss:
• The private school way of life.
• Eating microwaveable food out of plastic dishes at least once a day.
• Supplementing said food with Subway at least three times per week.
• Having food stolen from me out of the fridge on a regular basis. Who steals apple sauce?
• Knowing a combined total of ten undergraduates and graduate students.
• Not having a church.
• Not having a car and not being within walking distance of anything.
• The fact that everything closes by 8 pm on campus.
• Being charged for anything and everything.
• The assumption that I'm an idiot because I am from the South AND I go to a state university.
• The look of disdain when I tell people I go to UF (mostly Urban Meyer-related).
• Feeling continually guilty for not being as productive as I ought to be.
• Feeling continually stressed out about the timing of financial matters.
And, finally, what I look forward to in Florida in no particular order after the first item:
• Family and friends.
• Lunch at Tijuana Flats with Chris on Sundays.
• Christ Community in Gainesville and River of Life in Orlando.
• Talking to Chuck.
• Staying up until 3 am with Steven and Alan.
• The permanent air mattress that Alan and I will reserve for Steven.
• Hearing about Steven's time in Kenya while fearing for my life at his new-found warrior status.
• Praying in cars.
• RUF music.
• Meeting freshmen and showing them around.
• Starting revolutions on campus and in Gainesville.
• Leonardo's, Caribbean Spice, Pita Pit, Satchel's.
• The CSC and coffee from Pascal's.
• Gator Football and Basketball.
I could go on for hours. This is the part where Chris would tilt his head back and to the right, shrug his shoulders, put his hands up, and say, "Go Gators."
Well said, hypothetical Chris, well said.
And, as a sort of "summary statement" about this summer: I feel like it was a great success overall both academically and personally. It's just been successful for different reasons than expected, which is how life always is.
Peace,
Sam
Click to read the rest.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
What have I done?
Absolutely nothing. Seriously. Aside from a few good phone calls, I did nothing today. It was depressing. I've just been feeling really lazy. I'm tired of doing research, I'm tired of dorm life. I'm tired of eating microwaveable food on a daily basis. I'm tired of my main sources of entertainment being YouTube, Fbook, and AIM. I'll stop whining.
I just keep bouncing back and forth between feeling very optimistic and productive and feeling like I've wasted a summer in concrete buildings. I've got friends who have gone all over the world to help people in need, and here I am watching movies and reading books about North Africa in the third century.
On the other hand, I've done a lot of thinking and growing this summer. That's been good. I've been able to figure out who I am just a little bit better. I'm starting to feel much more equipped to take on real life. Of course, I wise man I know once said "That ship has sailed." Or, a wise Bob I know once said, "YOU'RE DOING IT! YOU'RE DOING IT!"
Which, if I haven't mentioned it before, has been the theme of this summer. This is me living. This is me taking random trips, traveling to see people, calling people for hours, attempting to take emotional risks. This is me planning revolutions.
See Sam fly.
He wavers quite a bit - sometimes he plummets to pretty close to the bottom of the ocean - but at least he's in the air. At least he's off the ground. Of course, hopefully people will look up and notice the strings attached to me.
Wow, what a corny metaphor. I'm really, really sorry about that. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about me. I'll be alright. Just get me back to Florida.
Just a few more days.
Peace,
Sam
P.S. Have you noticed how uncomfortably true the maxim "The grass is always greener on the other side" is? Two months ago I was dying to get out of Florida. I'm such a whiner.
Click to read the rest.
I just keep bouncing back and forth between feeling very optimistic and productive and feeling like I've wasted a summer in concrete buildings. I've got friends who have gone all over the world to help people in need, and here I am watching movies and reading books about North Africa in the third century.
On the other hand, I've done a lot of thinking and growing this summer. That's been good. I've been able to figure out who I am just a little bit better. I'm starting to feel much more equipped to take on real life. Of course, I wise man I know once said "That ship has sailed." Or, a wise Bob I know once said, "YOU'RE DOING IT! YOU'RE DOING IT!"
Which, if I haven't mentioned it before, has been the theme of this summer. This is me living. This is me taking random trips, traveling to see people, calling people for hours, attempting to take emotional risks. This is me planning revolutions.
See Sam fly.
He wavers quite a bit - sometimes he plummets to pretty close to the bottom of the ocean - but at least he's in the air. At least he's off the ground. Of course, hopefully people will look up and notice the strings attached to me.
Wow, what a corny metaphor. I'm really, really sorry about that. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about me. I'll be alright. Just get me back to Florida.
Just a few more days.
Peace,
Sam
P.S. Have you noticed how uncomfortably true the maxim "The grass is always greener on the other side" is? Two months ago I was dying to get out of Florida. I'm such a whiner.
Click to read the rest.
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