Championship Sunday: A random assortment of thoughts
Happy Championship Sunday everyone. That’s right the AFC and NFC Championship games, the Sunday where legends are made. Where the super Bowl is great, most of what it is about is hype and commercialism. This weekend is about Football!
I am celebrating the day by updating my blog and slow cooking a turkey! Actually that is not entirely true. Yes I am doing both those things, but the main reason is not because of the games. Friday Rachel were out shopping and I saw a 4lb bird in the frozen foods and said “You know that would fit in the Crock pot”. And the updating my blog is more about insomnia then anything else. But hey Championship Sunday is a good reason too.
So Since I rarely update I want to make it worth it. Three times in 13 months is not that much. And my thoughts are mostly random and not actually that much about football.
This is my (hopefully) last semester at LSU. I was just thinking about how radically different my life is now then when I started here four and a half years ago. Today I am married to a beautiful woman. We have an adorable little 8 month old girl bouncing in her jumper in the kitchen, eating pureed avocado and banana, and giggling each morning when the sun pours in her window. I can’t wait until she can talk. I am certain there are seasoned parent out there saying, “But once she starts she won’t stop.” But I look forward to talking with her, telling her was an amazing joy it has been for her to come into her mother and my life.
(On a side note I also look forward to telling her about the legends of Championship Sunday. How Peyton Manning finally took down his playoff nemesis Tom Brady in the final minute of the AFC Championship. I have it on tape. Someday, my daughter and I … will watch)
My life could not have been any more different four and a half years ago. I arrived in Baton Rouge in early August of 2006. All my earthly possessions were crammed into my little Blue car with a clamshell strapped to the roof. And I start working as a Graduate Assistant in the LSU math department.
That was also the August that Steve Colton died. Mr Colton was the band director at my old high school. He was a member of my Dad’s church, a pillar in the community, a mentor, a role model and friend to hundreds of people. It was a profound loss for every live he touched. This amplified my homesickness tenfold. All I wanted to do was to go home. I wanted to go to the funeral. I wanted to walk the halls of my highschool and talk with my former teachers and classmates. I wanted to see Mr Colton’s three kids and hug them and talk with them about hold Mr Colton had impacted my life. But I couldn’t. I had just arrive. Classes were starting. I had a job to do.
It became abundantly clear there was no one with in an eight-hour driving radius who had known me for more then two weeks. That is a lonely feeling. And the only one that I could turn to was God. Pastor Scott is Senior Pastor at the church I attend here in Baton Rouge. He had just started a sermon series on the Gospel of John. At the tail end of chapter 1 he drew an interesting parallel between Jesus calling Phillip and the story of Jacob fleeing from his brother. In both cases they are leaving home. The image of Jacob sleeping in the desert alone was very vivid for me at that point. I also might add since then God has brought “Rachel” into my life and I didn’t have to wait 14 years.
This morning I went out to pick up the ingredients for the crock-pot turkey. As I was driving home I was listening to the Christian radio station and they were talking about how the Christian life is about relationship with God. Now I would like to say that word relationship is often over used in today’s Christian culture, while in contrast the word reverence is underused. Not all the time, but some times. God is holy and relationship with out reverence does not acknowledge who he is. But he is a loving Father. He does want relationship with his children.
Listening to this on the radio I was struck with how different life was in August of 2006. My relationship with God was all I had. It was a feeling of desperation. He was the only one I could turn to. Today I have a wife and baby I can turn to, for better or for worse.
Now I really want to acknowledge that being single is really tough. It is a hard path to walk and I walked it until I was 30. I love my wife and daughter and would not trade them for the world. And for those who have walked that path longer then I have, you have paid your dues. But Paul is right when he talks about the divided loyalty of a married man. When I was single relationship with God was more at the forefront of my thinking. It should be just as vivid for my now, because of my wife and kid. But marriage is community. Marriage is relationship. I need to fight to remember that HE is the reason I have this relationship.
I had another thought about Mr Colton. He was very talented at what he did and very successful as well. He had top rankings at most of his band competitions, many All State musicians came from his tutelage and he was revered statewide. But I think those who knew him would agree with me that he was a pretty humble guy. It wasn’t about him; it was about the music. And I want to be like him in that.
Rachel and I were talking recently about coming to the end of graduate school. And she said to me, “You like the thought of being Dr Dave, don’t you?” Ouch! That’s tough. It is difficult not to place your worth in you accomplishments. But whether I feel it or not I and just as needy as the lonely kid from Iowa newly arrived in Louisiana. And even now I am waiting to hear from people for job interviews. That’s a rather desperate feeling. But hopefully the job offer will come. And when it is his provision. My hope is in him, not the job. May I never boast except in Jesus Christ and him crucified. That’s the way Mr Colton lived his life. I hope to live mine that way too.
Well enjoy the games. I think it is going to be Green Bay and Pittsburgh. And maybe I will update again before the next Championship Sunday.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Thursday, November 25, 2010
NFL 2009 parity wheel.
So there was an online post of an NFL 2010 parity wheel created by danchan22 at Reddit. It basically shows a cycle in which every team has won a game against the next team in the sequence. All 32 teams are present, so the wheel represents 32 games in which every team has one exactly win and exactly one loss. Here is a link to the wheel:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/early-lead/2010/11/nfl_parity_exists_because_ther.html
Now I saw a post where someone stated "the complete win-lose circle actually happened for the first time ever in NFL history". The seemed extremely unlikely to me. The majority of teams in any given year end up with roughly the same number of wins as losses. Last year 13 out of the 32 teams ended with at least 7 wins and at least 7 losses. Thats about 40%. Those teams will be very easy to fit into a parity wheel
Now what is tricky is the teams with either very few wins or losses. But that just means finding those games that the teams with winning records lost and the games teams loosing records won and fitting those into a wheel. Now this might mean the wheel is not easy to find. But that doesn't mean it won't exist.
Clearly there are seasons that do not have such a wheel. The 72 dolphins were 12 and 0. The 2008 Lions were 0 and 16. If a team doesn't have one win and one loss a wheel won't exist. But last year the St Louis Rams were 1 and 15 with their only win over the Lions. That means if a wheel exists that Lions-Rams game must be in that wheel. So does a wheel exist for the 09 season? It turns out one does.
I haven't made it up as pretty as danchan22, but this is a parity wheel for the 2009 season. Each team won at least one game against the NEXT team on the list. The final team (the Rams) beat the first team (the Lions) as already mentioned:
1) Detroit Lions
2) Washington Redskins
3) Denver Broncos
4) San Diego Chargers
5) Cleveland Browns
6) Jacksonville Jaguars
7) Houston Texans
8) Cincinnati Bengals
9) Baltimore Ravens
10) Kansas City Chiefs
11) Pittsburg Steelers
12) Tennessee Titans
13) Miami Dolphins
14) New England Patriots
15) New York Jets
16) Carolina Panthers
17) New Orleans Saints
18) Buffalo Bills
19) Indianapolis Colts
20) Arizona Cardinals
21) Seattle Seahawks
22) San Francisco 49ers
23) Chicago Bears
24) Minnesota Vikings
25) New York Giants
26) Dallas Cowboys
27) Oakland Raiders
28) Philadelphia Eagles
29) Atlanta Falcons
30) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
31) Green Bay Packers
32) St Louis Rams
There is a quick way to check if my work here is right. Here is a link to the season:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NFL_2009#Final_regular_season_standings
Pick your favorite team and click the "Details" link by their record. Scroll down to season schedule. Teams in green are from games won and teams in red are from games lost. You should be able to find the NEXT team on the above list highlighted in green. Click on that team and repeat with the next team. This list should take you to all 32 teams exactly once.
Now note that the team you need to click might have split two games. So for 23) Bears the next team is the Vikings. The Bears lost to the Vikings on Nov 29th they won the second game on Dec 28th. The Vikings link will be red because of the first loss, but this won't be a problem because the second game where the Bears won will be the game on the wheel. Also the Giants won both there games over the Cowboys so either game would fit this wheel.
My next question would be does such a wheel exist for the 1985 season? That list would have the Bears at the top and the Miami Dolphins at the bottom representing the Bears only loss.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/early-lead/2010/11/nfl_parity_exists_because_ther.html
Now I saw a post where someone stated "the complete win-lose circle actually happened for the first time ever in NFL history". The seemed extremely unlikely to me. The majority of teams in any given year end up with roughly the same number of wins as losses. Last year 13 out of the 32 teams ended with at least 7 wins and at least 7 losses. Thats about 40%. Those teams will be very easy to fit into a parity wheel
Now what is tricky is the teams with either very few wins or losses. But that just means finding those games that the teams with winning records lost and the games teams loosing records won and fitting those into a wheel. Now this might mean the wheel is not easy to find. But that doesn't mean it won't exist.
Clearly there are seasons that do not have such a wheel. The 72 dolphins were 12 and 0. The 2008 Lions were 0 and 16. If a team doesn't have one win and one loss a wheel won't exist. But last year the St Louis Rams were 1 and 15 with their only win over the Lions. That means if a wheel exists that Lions-Rams game must be in that wheel. So does a wheel exist for the 09 season? It turns out one does.
I haven't made it up as pretty as danchan22, but this is a parity wheel for the 2009 season. Each team won at least one game against the NEXT team on the list. The final team (the Rams) beat the first team (the Lions) as already mentioned:
1) Detroit Lions
2) Washington Redskins
3) Denver Broncos
4) San Diego Chargers
5) Cleveland Browns
6) Jacksonville Jaguars
7) Houston Texans
8) Cincinnati Bengals
9) Baltimore Ravens
10) Kansas City Chiefs
11) Pittsburg Steelers
12) Tennessee Titans
13) Miami Dolphins
14) New England Patriots
15) New York Jets
16) Carolina Panthers
17) New Orleans Saints
18) Buffalo Bills
19) Indianapolis Colts
20) Arizona Cardinals
21) Seattle Seahawks
22) San Francisco 49ers
23) Chicago Bears
24) Minnesota Vikings
25) New York Giants
26) Dallas Cowboys
27) Oakland Raiders
28) Philadelphia Eagles
29) Atlanta Falcons
30) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
31) Green Bay Packers
32) St Louis Rams
There is a quick way to check if my work here is right. Here is a link to the season:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NFL_2009#Final_regular_season_standings
Pick your favorite team and click the "Details" link by their record. Scroll down to season schedule. Teams in green are from games won and teams in red are from games lost. You should be able to find the NEXT team on the above list highlighted in green. Click on that team and repeat with the next team. This list should take you to all 32 teams exactly once.
Now note that the team you need to click might have split two games. So for 23) Bears the next team is the Vikings. The Bears lost to the Vikings on Nov 29th they won the second game on Dec 28th. The Vikings link will be red because of the first loss, but this won't be a problem because the second game where the Bears won will be the game on the wheel. Also the Giants won both there games over the Cowboys so either game would fit this wheel.
My next question would be does such a wheel exist for the 1985 season? That list would have the Bears at the top and the Miami Dolphins at the bottom representing the Bears only loss.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
I will trade you three Iguanas for a honeymoon photo.
This story starts two years ago this month. We took some gorgeous photos in the mountains of North Carolina. It was a good time.
At the end of August, Rachel and I arrived in Baton Rouge after a lovely honeymoon. One of the goals at that point was to gather all of our digital photos and put them together the same (an hopefully secure) place. Five months earlier in March, Rachel got a flash drive with a ton of memory on it. We decided to transfer the pictures onto there. For those of you keeping tabs of Rachel's blog her post March 15th of '08. Here is an excerpt:
“I thought I'd get an USB flash drive with lots of memory and start transferring away. ... I didn't want to buy one without a brand name of some sort listed. So there were some cute sleek ones, but no brand name. ...In the end, ...I only paid about 9 bucks. I got one that is black with some green on it and is also waterproof because I like to sit at my computer desk and drool excessively and sometimes randomly throw water at stuff. Oh, and this brand (Adata, which I've never heard of and my brother will probably write and tell me it's the worst in the universe) had a much cuter one in black and orange and I like orange better than green, but the green one was cheaper.”
In the comment section of that post was the following:
Sheldon said... I've had Adata stuff - should be fine.
Cue the dramatic music indicating some ironic doom is impending. That Fall we continued putting our photos on the drive. Then in that next spring, about a year after buying it, the flash drive that had been cute, sleek and green was still green. However it was neither cute nor sleek. There was a virus that had corrupted the drive and most of the data that had been saved was inaccessible. But not to worry the data was still on my computer. By the way if you reread the March 15th we still had Rachel's computer that was slow and had next to no memory space on it.
At the beginning of April we got a hold of my friend Chris in the Math department. He was able to reconstruct the majority of the photos from the flash drive and put them on a CD. Then out of the blue the monitor on Rachel's computer fried and the mother board of MY computer fried. But the data was still on the hard drive. No sweat. So we decided to get a new computer and we transfered everything from the two older hard drives and the CD over to the new computer. Over the next eight months Rachel's slow computer sat in the closet, my broken computer sat in Chris' office and our lovely new computer sat at our desk. We had been meaning to back up the data on the computer, but there really wasn't much to worry about. All the data was one one of those computer. And what could happen. Cue the next dramatic music indicating more ironic doom is impending.
We went to visit family up north over Christmas and our apartment was broken into. They were targeting electronics. They took our new computer and my ipod. Very upsetting, but at the same time not that much to worry about because we still have the hard drives from the old computers, right?
Fast forward another eight months. We just got a new laptop so it is time once again to back up the photos and get them together. Ideally we would like to recover all the photos. But there are specific groups of photos like Engagement pictures, Wedding pictures and Honeymoon picture. Well the Engagement pictures and Wedding pictures were all accounted for. However we took a little over 400 photos during our honeymoon and they were not together in the same place. Mostly because as we were sight seeing Rachel and I had separate cameras. The CD reconstruction of the no-so-cute-not-so-sleek flash drive turned up about two thirds of the photos. The obvious place to find the missing photos was the hard drive of my old computer with the busted mother board. We just transfer the data over to the new computer. No problem right? The plot thickens yet again. Back up to when we first bought the computer that ended up stolen, just before the mother board fried. The new computer was set up and all the data was transferred. I asked Chris if we could set up my old computer with a new installation of Window for a back up. He said sure, he reinstalled windows and boom that was when the mother board fried.That's why it had been sitting in his office for months and months. Back to today we access the hard drive and the memory has been erased. A third of the honeymoon photos are just gone.
So I am about cover my self in ash and wail to to the heavens. But then enter the heroes of our story, Jeff and Nic, the tech guys from the top floor of the math building. The very last thing that had been done to the hard drive was a re-installation of Windows. Up to that point the data had been there. If the computer had been in use all the time the data would be completely gone. But there is software out there that can reconstruct data that has been wiped, provided it hasn't been written over. Well the new copy of Windows had been installed. My only hope was that the part of the data that had been wiped out by that was some old saved game of Roller Coaster Tycoon and not the scenery of North Carolina.
After some time they had reconstructed a ton of pictures. The first run turned up most of the missing photos about 90%. They checked again and there was record of all the photos was took 410 in all of which 401 were either on the new computer, or accessed by the old computer. That's a 98% recovery. Pretty incredible if you think about it. The big question was what were those 9 remaining photos. Eight of those photos that would have been flowers or arches or staircases in Bildmore. And honestly we have dozens of photos of those exact flowers and archways just at different angles and such. If that's all that is missing not bad. However when driving through the mountains we had asked a random fellow tourist if she would take our photo with the Mountains in the background. The 9th and last missing photo was that one. That is what you would call an irreplaceable photo. Now I will note that picture is on Rachel's blog. But it is the resized cropped picture. It isn't the original. Not too bad, but still.
Now what does any of that have to do with Iguanas? Well I'll tell you. Just before the cute and sleek flash drive became the not-so-cute-not-so-sleek flash drive Rachel's former room mate Bethany came to visit. It was in November '08 right before Thanksgiving. Jump ahead a little over a year to January of 2010 when we just had our computer stolen. We had some old memory cards that had pictures on them. The earliest of which were from that trip. We decided back those pictures up. During that trip they went to a nature sanctuary. They took this photo:
As I mentioned Chris reconstructed the no-so-cute-not-so-sleek flash drive we got a ton of pictures including THIS photo:
Nic and Jeff did a great job reconstructing the hard drive. Like I said 98% recovery on the honeymoon pictures. They also got a bunch of other pictures including THIS PHOTO:
I mean it is a nice looking Iguana. But really if we never sow THAT photo again would we even remember it. And the fact that we three original sized un-cropped copies of the same Iguana. But only a resized cropped picture of us in the mountains. We would gladly trade all three of these Iguana pictures for that one shot.
But the story is not quite over. This morning I stopped by Nic's office to see how the recovery turned out. He found a bunch more pictures including THIS PHOTO!!!!
Yes that is the one. I can say at this point 100% recovery on the honeymoon photos. I mean I'll have to check for those flowers and archways. But in terms of what's important, we've got'm. Good job guys.
At the end of August, Rachel and I arrived in Baton Rouge after a lovely honeymoon. One of the goals at that point was to gather all of our digital photos and put them together the same (an hopefully secure) place. Five months earlier in March, Rachel got a flash drive with a ton of memory on it. We decided to transfer the pictures onto there. For those of you keeping tabs of Rachel's blog her post March 15th of '08. Here is an excerpt:
“I thought I'd get an USB flash drive with lots of memory and start transferring away. ... I didn't want to buy one without a brand name of some sort listed. So there were some cute sleek ones, but no brand name. ...In the end, ...I only paid about 9 bucks. I got one that is black with some green on it and is also waterproof because I like to sit at my computer desk and drool excessively and sometimes randomly throw water at stuff. Oh, and this brand (Adata, which I've never heard of and my brother will probably write and tell me it's the worst in the universe) had a much cuter one in black and orange and I like orange better than green, but the green one was cheaper.”
In the comment section of that post was the following:
Sheldon said... I've had Adata stuff - should be fine.
Cue the dramatic music indicating some ironic doom is impending. That Fall we continued putting our photos on the drive. Then in that next spring, about a year after buying it, the flash drive that had been cute, sleek and green was still green. However it was neither cute nor sleek. There was a virus that had corrupted the drive and most of the data that had been saved was inaccessible. But not to worry the data was still on my computer. By the way if you reread the March 15th we still had Rachel's computer that was slow and had next to no memory space on it.
At the beginning of April we got a hold of my friend Chris in the Math department. He was able to reconstruct the majority of the photos from the flash drive and put them on a CD. Then out of the blue the monitor on Rachel's computer fried and the mother board of MY computer fried. But the data was still on the hard drive. No sweat. So we decided to get a new computer and we transfered everything from the two older hard drives and the CD over to the new computer. Over the next eight months Rachel's slow computer sat in the closet, my broken computer sat in Chris' office and our lovely new computer sat at our desk. We had been meaning to back up the data on the computer, but there really wasn't much to worry about. All the data was one one of those computer. And what could happen. Cue the next dramatic music indicating more ironic doom is impending.
We went to visit family up north over Christmas and our apartment was broken into. They were targeting electronics. They took our new computer and my ipod. Very upsetting, but at the same time not that much to worry about because we still have the hard drives from the old computers, right?
Fast forward another eight months. We just got a new laptop so it is time once again to back up the photos and get them together. Ideally we would like to recover all the photos. But there are specific groups of photos like Engagement pictures, Wedding pictures and Honeymoon picture. Well the Engagement pictures and Wedding pictures were all accounted for. However we took a little over 400 photos during our honeymoon and they were not together in the same place. Mostly because as we were sight seeing Rachel and I had separate cameras. The CD reconstruction of the no-so-cute-not-so-sleek flash drive turned up about two thirds of the photos. The obvious place to find the missing photos was the hard drive of my old computer with the busted mother board. We just transfer the data over to the new computer. No problem right? The plot thickens yet again. Back up to when we first bought the computer that ended up stolen, just before the mother board fried. The new computer was set up and all the data was transferred. I asked Chris if we could set up my old computer with a new installation of Window for a back up. He said sure, he reinstalled windows and boom that was when the mother board fried.That's why it had been sitting in his office for months and months. Back to today we access the hard drive and the memory has been erased. A third of the honeymoon photos are just gone.
So I am about cover my self in ash and wail to to the heavens. But then enter the heroes of our story, Jeff and Nic, the tech guys from the top floor of the math building. The very last thing that had been done to the hard drive was a re-installation of Windows. Up to that point the data had been there. If the computer had been in use all the time the data would be completely gone. But there is software out there that can reconstruct data that has been wiped, provided it hasn't been written over. Well the new copy of Windows had been installed. My only hope was that the part of the data that had been wiped out by that was some old saved game of Roller Coaster Tycoon and not the scenery of North Carolina.
After some time they had reconstructed a ton of pictures. The first run turned up most of the missing photos about 90%. They checked again and there was record of all the photos was took 410 in all of which 401 were either on the new computer, or accessed by the old computer. That's a 98% recovery. Pretty incredible if you think about it. The big question was what were those 9 remaining photos. Eight of those photos that would have been flowers or arches or staircases in Bildmore. And honestly we have dozens of photos of those exact flowers and archways just at different angles and such. If that's all that is missing not bad. However when driving through the mountains we had asked a random fellow tourist if she would take our photo with the Mountains in the background. The 9th and last missing photo was that one. That is what you would call an irreplaceable photo. Now I will note that picture is on Rachel's blog. But it is the resized cropped picture. It isn't the original. Not too bad, but still.
Now what does any of that have to do with Iguanas? Well I'll tell you. Just before the cute and sleek flash drive became the not-so-cute-not-so-sleek flash drive Rachel's former room mate Bethany came to visit. It was in November '08 right before Thanksgiving. Jump ahead a little over a year to January of 2010 when we just had our computer stolen. We had some old memory cards that had pictures on them. The earliest of which were from that trip. We decided back those pictures up. During that trip they went to a nature sanctuary. They took this photo:
As I mentioned Chris reconstructed the no-so-cute-not-so-sleek flash drive we got a ton of pictures including THIS photo:
Nic and Jeff did a great job reconstructing the hard drive. Like I said 98% recovery on the honeymoon pictures. They also got a bunch of other pictures including THIS PHOTO:
I mean it is a nice looking Iguana. But really if we never sow THAT photo again would we even remember it. And the fact that we three original sized un-cropped copies of the same Iguana. But only a resized cropped picture of us in the mountains. We would gladly trade all three of these Iguana pictures for that one shot.
But the story is not quite over. This morning I stopped by Nic's office to see how the recovery turned out. He found a bunch more pictures including THIS PHOTO!!!!
Yes that is the one. I can say at this point 100% recovery on the honeymoon photos. I mean I'll have to check for those flowers and archways. But in terms of what's important, we've got'm. Good job guys.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
So what is it like being born in 2010?
Dear Kumkwat,
So what is it like being born in 2010? What memories will you have? I suppose in a sense you only really know what it is like being born in the year you were actually born. So being born in 1978 my first memories are of Pac-man and E.T. and Rubik's cubes. What are the things that influence your early memories? It is funny to think that you will feel the same way about Pac Man and Rubik's cubes as I do about the decade of my dad's first memories; of Howdy Doody and Buddy Holiday and I Love Lucy.
What about your mother and me? How do you think we have done as parents? What have we done right? What have we doen wrong? What do you wish we had done differently? This has been on my mind a lot lately. Here I am coming to the end of 2009 with you kicking inside your Mommy's tummy. And so today, how should I think, how should I act, how should I pray in order to do right by you as a father?
There are many things I would hope that you would say if you were to reflect on our parenting. I hope that we have parented in such a way that you are tender hearted. That you want to be kind. That you would be compassionate. That you would think of others beofre yourself.
Even more so I would hope that you would be wise. Not just knowlegable. Not just understanding. But wise. That your words may benifit those who hear them. And even as I think about it being truly wise would mean you were truly compassionate. That you would be truly tender hearted towards others.
But even if you lived a life that was both wise and compassionate and that was it, I would feel like I failed you as a father. You see my life, you mother's life and or marriage together are rooted in both these things. But they are secondary to us. The primary foundation for us is Christ. I mean if nothing else I fully intend that you will know, "Yeah Dad is a passionate guy. He is passionate about math, about the NFL, about Star Trek. But there is nothing that he is more passionate about then Jesus."
That is acually more important to me. So on the one hand you might end up saying, "Man he was great Dad. He was loving. He was a good listener. He was strong. He alway made time. But this God that he beleives in doesn't really cut it for me." Honestly that would break my heart. But on the other hand if you said, "You know my Dad made lots of mistakes. There were times when he wasn't wise, when he wasn't fair when he wasn't kind. But I trust the God he trusted". I mean I want to be wise, kind and fair. But lets face it I won't be all the time. I just long for you to look away from me and look to him.
But even so I would go even one step further. As bad a flat out rejection would be, it would be far worse if you called yourself a Christian simply out of obligaiton and think that the main reason to follow this God is because that was what Mom and Dad did. And then to come to the end of you life and realise it was just for show. That every one else thought you were a Christian, but deep down you were a fake. Oh that is far far worse.
I truly beleive if the evidence is weighed out Christ will win. Not me and not even an organization. But long after I am gone, Christ will win. So I long for you to say, "I want to be clear thinker. I want be be some one of reason." That will put a smile on my face. You bet it will. So if you were to come to me and say, "You know Dad, I know how much you love God. But I am having a hard time beleiving in him right now." If that day comes I hope to welcome you with open arms. And I want to walk along side you through that. In that day I want my faith to be shaken just as much as yours faith. I want you to live for Christ and I want you to see me doing the same.
I want to do right by you. I can't wait to meet you.
Your dad,
David H Chapman
So what is it like being born in 2010? What memories will you have? I suppose in a sense you only really know what it is like being born in the year you were actually born. So being born in 1978 my first memories are of Pac-man and E.T. and Rubik's cubes. What are the things that influence your early memories? It is funny to think that you will feel the same way about Pac Man and Rubik's cubes as I do about the decade of my dad's first memories; of Howdy Doody and Buddy Holiday and I Love Lucy.
What about your mother and me? How do you think we have done as parents? What have we done right? What have we doen wrong? What do you wish we had done differently? This has been on my mind a lot lately. Here I am coming to the end of 2009 with you kicking inside your Mommy's tummy. And so today, how should I think, how should I act, how should I pray in order to do right by you as a father?
There are many things I would hope that you would say if you were to reflect on our parenting. I hope that we have parented in such a way that you are tender hearted. That you want to be kind. That you would be compassionate. That you would think of others beofre yourself.
Even more so I would hope that you would be wise. Not just knowlegable. Not just understanding. But wise. That your words may benifit those who hear them. And even as I think about it being truly wise would mean you were truly compassionate. That you would be truly tender hearted towards others.
But even if you lived a life that was both wise and compassionate and that was it, I would feel like I failed you as a father. You see my life, you mother's life and or marriage together are rooted in both these things. But they are secondary to us. The primary foundation for us is Christ. I mean if nothing else I fully intend that you will know, "Yeah Dad is a passionate guy. He is passionate about math, about the NFL, about Star Trek. But there is nothing that he is more passionate about then Jesus."
That is acually more important to me. So on the one hand you might end up saying, "Man he was great Dad. He was loving. He was a good listener. He was strong. He alway made time. But this God that he beleives in doesn't really cut it for me." Honestly that would break my heart. But on the other hand if you said, "You know my Dad made lots of mistakes. There were times when he wasn't wise, when he wasn't fair when he wasn't kind. But I trust the God he trusted". I mean I want to be wise, kind and fair. But lets face it I won't be all the time. I just long for you to look away from me and look to him.
But even so I would go even one step further. As bad a flat out rejection would be, it would be far worse if you called yourself a Christian simply out of obligaiton and think that the main reason to follow this God is because that was what Mom and Dad did. And then to come to the end of you life and realise it was just for show. That every one else thought you were a Christian, but deep down you were a fake. Oh that is far far worse.
I truly beleive if the evidence is weighed out Christ will win. Not me and not even an organization. But long after I am gone, Christ will win. So I long for you to say, "I want to be clear thinker. I want be be some one of reason." That will put a smile on my face. You bet it will. So if you were to come to me and say, "You know Dad, I know how much you love God. But I am having a hard time beleiving in him right now." If that day comes I hope to welcome you with open arms. And I want to walk along side you through that. In that day I want my faith to be shaken just as much as yours faith. I want you to live for Christ and I want you to see me doing the same.
I want to do right by you. I can't wait to meet you.
Your dad,
David H Chapman
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Julie and Julia: my thoughts on the movie
I wanted to comment on the movie Julie and Julia which I saw this weekend (I really enjoyed it by the way), but I first wanted to reflect on a trip I took three years ago. In the summer of 2006 I spent a couple weeks with my grandparents at a beach house on the ocean in South Carolina. My two great Aunts and my great Uncle came to visit. So I was 28 at the time, spending my summer vacation with 5 people all between the ages of 75 and 85, representing over 400 years of life experience between them. .It was such a sweet time especially because it was the last time I saw my Aunt Pauline alive. Uncle Cliff told me about the battle of the Bulge and I told Uncle Cliff how to solve Sudoku puzzles. But there was one conversation that stands out to me that I had with my Aunt June. We were walking along the beach and I started asking her about what it was like for her while Uncle Cliff fighting in the War. What was significant to me was how brief her answers were, “We dated before the war but he broke up with me before he left”. “When he got back he needed some time to himself, but eventually he decided to ask me to marry him”, while she was quick to talk with me about what was happening in their lives today “There are several shut ins that we got to deliver food to during the week.” “At the hospital where I volunteer at there are people suffering with HIV who I care for.” Here comments did not put value upon herself rather upon something external. She didn’t want to talk about the days of old, she wanted to talk about the AIDS patients and the shut ins.
The movie Julie and Julia contrasts two individual of two distinct eras. One is Julia Child who was a diplomat’s wife during the McCarthy Era of the 1950’s, just a little older than my Aunt June was at the time. The other is Julie Powell a young professional in New York City writing a blog in 2002, who was just a little bit older than I was at the time. Now before I had seen the movie I heard a radio piece saying that the story line of Julia Child was compelling and engaging while the story line of Julie’s blog seem shallow and dry. I would agree with that statement. The radio critic said that it was because Meryl Streep’s performance as Julia was so much better than that of Amy Adams who played Julie. Although I agree that Meryl Streep gave an incredible performance, I think the reason Julie came across as shallow had less to do with the performers more to do with the script. And I believe the underlying reason has to do with the different societies each woman lived in.
The story follows each woman setting out to achieve a specific goal. Julia's goal is to write a cook book that will bring French recipes to American homes. Julie’s goal is to cook all 574 in Julia Child’s cook book over 365 days and blog about it. But the deeper question is not what the goal is that each of these women has, rather it is WHY they want to achieve this goal in the first place. When we are first introduced to Julia Child she has just moved to Paris and is looking direction in her life. When we are introduced to Julie Powell she has just moved to Queens and is also looking for direction in her life. To sum up the first 20 minutes of the film Julia says, “I love to eat. French food is spectacular. I want to teach Americans how to cook French food.” while Julie say “I have not had success as a writer, my day job is horrible. The place where I find PERSONAL fulfillment is cooking each night. Perhaps blogging through Julia’s book will make my job seem less miserable and maybe it could even spring board my writing career.” Notice the emphasis each woman has. Julia’s focus is external. The focus is on French food. Julie’s focus is internal. Although french food is PART of what she is doing, her main attention is on her career goals and her personal fulfillment.
Today culture is plagued by self esteem. It says that success starts with feeling good about yourself. I think this mentality has brought about a society that is shallow and superficial. Who are the true heroes? Are they the people who say, “I want to be a hero today. It would make me feel better about myself if I did”? Or are they the type of people who say, “Look there is a heroic task. No one seems willing to do it. Somebody should. Maybe I can.” if you look at these two types of people to quickly they might seem to be doing the same thing. But one is a hero of substance the other is not. And I don't want to say that the older generation is perfect. No generation is perfect. What I am saying is that in today's culture self esteem is not a strength, it is a weakness.
Now compared to say war heroes like my Uncle Cliff neither woman in this movie is that heroic. On the other extreme I’d say both women are much more heroic then I am. I could neither come up with those 574 recipes nor dream of cooking them in 365 days. But let’s be honest, what legacy has been left by each of these women? Julie Powell fed her husband and her friends over the course of a year, while entertaining people on a blog, later through a book and eventually through the movie that came out this weekend. In comparison, if the movie was accurate, Julia Child walked into Paris in 1949 knowing next to nothing about cooking and said “This food is amazing Americans need to be able to make it." And now I could go out and buy Julia Child from Barnes and Noble and omelet and crepe to my heart’s content. Which has the bigger impact? And buy the way while you are in Barnes and Noble I suggest you keep away from the self help section.
There has been a commercial on TV lately commemorating the 40th anniversary of the moon Landing. In it John F Kennedy says “We choose to go to the moon, not because it is easy, but because it is hard.” You don’t get to the moon by focusing on yourself. You get to the moon by focusing on the moon.
The movie Julie and Julia contrasts two individual of two distinct eras. One is Julia Child who was a diplomat’s wife during the McCarthy Era of the 1950’s, just a little older than my Aunt June was at the time. The other is Julie Powell a young professional in New York City writing a blog in 2002, who was just a little bit older than I was at the time. Now before I had seen the movie I heard a radio piece saying that the story line of Julia Child was compelling and engaging while the story line of Julie’s blog seem shallow and dry. I would agree with that statement. The radio critic said that it was because Meryl Streep’s performance as Julia was so much better than that of Amy Adams who played Julie. Although I agree that Meryl Streep gave an incredible performance, I think the reason Julie came across as shallow had less to do with the performers more to do with the script. And I believe the underlying reason has to do with the different societies each woman lived in.
The story follows each woman setting out to achieve a specific goal. Julia's goal is to write a cook book that will bring French recipes to American homes. Julie’s goal is to cook all 574 in Julia Child’s cook book over 365 days and blog about it. But the deeper question is not what the goal is that each of these women has, rather it is WHY they want to achieve this goal in the first place. When we are first introduced to Julia Child she has just moved to Paris and is looking direction in her life. When we are introduced to Julie Powell she has just moved to Queens and is also looking for direction in her life. To sum up the first 20 minutes of the film Julia says, “I love to eat. French food is spectacular. I want to teach Americans how to cook French food.” while Julie say “I have not had success as a writer, my day job is horrible. The place where I find PERSONAL fulfillment is cooking each night. Perhaps blogging through Julia’s book will make my job seem less miserable and maybe it could even spring board my writing career.” Notice the emphasis each woman has. Julia’s focus is external. The focus is on French food. Julie’s focus is internal. Although french food is PART of what she is doing, her main attention is on her career goals and her personal fulfillment.
Today culture is plagued by self esteem. It says that success starts with feeling good about yourself. I think this mentality has brought about a society that is shallow and superficial. Who are the true heroes? Are they the people who say, “I want to be a hero today. It would make me feel better about myself if I did”? Or are they the type of people who say, “Look there is a heroic task. No one seems willing to do it. Somebody should. Maybe I can.” if you look at these two types of people to quickly they might seem to be doing the same thing. But one is a hero of substance the other is not. And I don't want to say that the older generation is perfect. No generation is perfect. What I am saying is that in today's culture self esteem is not a strength, it is a weakness.
Now compared to say war heroes like my Uncle Cliff neither woman in this movie is that heroic. On the other extreme I’d say both women are much more heroic then I am. I could neither come up with those 574 recipes nor dream of cooking them in 365 days. But let’s be honest, what legacy has been left by each of these women? Julie Powell fed her husband and her friends over the course of a year, while entertaining people on a blog, later through a book and eventually through the movie that came out this weekend. In comparison, if the movie was accurate, Julia Child walked into Paris in 1949 knowing next to nothing about cooking and said “This food is amazing Americans need to be able to make it." And now I could go out and buy Julia Child from Barnes and Noble and omelet and crepe to my heart’s content. Which has the bigger impact? And buy the way while you are in Barnes and Noble I suggest you keep away from the self help section.
There has been a commercial on TV lately commemorating the 40th anniversary of the moon Landing. In it John F Kennedy says “We choose to go to the moon, not because it is easy, but because it is hard.” You don’t get to the moon by focusing on yourself. You get to the moon by focusing on the moon.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Beating Rachel to the punch =)
Rachel wanted pictures on her blog of our living room before we moved to the new apartment. But this week end our place has been covered with boxes. So I made the living room look pretty and posted these pictures. If you notice around the edges of the pictures there are what appear to be Tupperware containers and boxes and things. But that's just your imagination. Our place always looks pretty. hehehe
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Summer Employment
This evening was Rachel and my eleven month anniversary. We celebrated by going out for ice cream and then walking along the levy. I can't believe it has almost been a year. It's gone by quick and at the same time not so quick. =) I mean it was not too long ago that Rachel and I met for the first time, and yet I can't hardly remember what life was like with out her.
I have been enjoying the work I am doing this summer. Instead of having one full time job I have had a couple part time jobs. First off I have an internship through the university. I am working for CAMD which stands for Center for Advanced Micro-structures and Devices. Basically in simple terms CAMD is a great big X-ray. The internship is for “pure” math majors to work in the “applied” sciences. It is really neat because most of the time what I am doing at LSU is sitting in front of a black board filling it up with equations and such. The question “What is this used for?” is the last thing on my mind.
The specific branch of CAMD I am working for is the tomography department. What they do is they take 2 dimensional shots of some object and try to reconstruct what it looks like inside 3 dimensionally. They have showed us 3d models of the way a cat claw grows. The first time I was at CAMD they were checking out the porousness of sandstone for the off shore drilling that Exxon is doing in the gulf.
So what am I working on? Plastics! So you are reading this on my blog. The monitor you are looking at is mostly plastic. But chemically that plastic is very similar to gasoline. That is why the plastics are made with flame retardants. What we are working on is several shot of plastic that is being melted. What were are studying is the movement of the plastic as it melts.
The pictures below are 3d images of an air bubble floating inside the plastic. As the plastic is heated the bubble is moving. The flakes all around the bubble are the flame retardant. We could try to follow the movement of the retardant, but it’s easier to follow the bubbles since they are bigger. There are multiple bubbles in the plastic but the pictures below have just focused on a single bubble over six time frames. So the bubble is expanding and moving upward as the plastic is being heated.
In addition to the work at CAMD I have also been doing work through a temp agency. I have been driving around the surrounding areas working for COX which is a phone and cable company. My work has entailed taking a disposable camera and taking picture of what are known as VRADS. What is a VRAD? It is a video ready access device according to Wikipedia. It is basically a big box connecting to underground cables. Cox has the latitude and longitude of where these VRADs are located. My job was to look up these locations on google maps then drive around to take pictures of them when I find them.
What’s funny about this job is how it makes you look at the world differently. For example did you know that next to every four way traffic light and every railroad track that has lights of some sort there will be a big box nearby. Look for them, they will be there. The reason I noticed this is by looking for VRADs and realizing those were not them. The specific thing that distinguishes VRAD will be the Att&T logo or the old bell logo on older equipment. The older smaller boxes are not actually VRADs, but they often are up graded to become VRADs.
The other part of my work this summer has been studying. (no pictures regarding this, but it would mostly be blackboards filled with equations) I have a Phd adviser and I am scheduled to have my oral exam in the Fall. I don’t know yet how much longer I will be working on the Phd, but things are moving forward.
I know I don’t post very often. I’d like to post more. But I hope that my small fan base enjoys it when I do post.
I have been enjoying the work I am doing this summer. Instead of having one full time job I have had a couple part time jobs. First off I have an internship through the university. I am working for CAMD which stands for Center for Advanced Micro-structures and Devices. Basically in simple terms CAMD is a great big X-ray. The internship is for “pure” math majors to work in the “applied” sciences. It is really neat because most of the time what I am doing at LSU is sitting in front of a black board filling it up with equations and such. The question “What is this used for?” is the last thing on my mind.
The specific branch of CAMD I am working for is the tomography department. What they do is they take 2 dimensional shots of some object and try to reconstruct what it looks like inside 3 dimensionally. They have showed us 3d models of the way a cat claw grows. The first time I was at CAMD they were checking out the porousness of sandstone for the off shore drilling that Exxon is doing in the gulf.
So what am I working on? Plastics! So you are reading this on my blog. The monitor you are looking at is mostly plastic. But chemically that plastic is very similar to gasoline. That is why the plastics are made with flame retardants. What we are working on is several shot of plastic that is being melted. What were are studying is the movement of the plastic as it melts.
The pictures below are 3d images of an air bubble floating inside the plastic. As the plastic is heated the bubble is moving. The flakes all around the bubble are the flame retardant. We could try to follow the movement of the retardant, but it’s easier to follow the bubbles since they are bigger. There are multiple bubbles in the plastic but the pictures below have just focused on a single bubble over six time frames. So the bubble is expanding and moving upward as the plastic is being heated.
In addition to the work at CAMD I have also been doing work through a temp agency. I have been driving around the surrounding areas working for COX which is a phone and cable company. My work has entailed taking a disposable camera and taking picture of what are known as VRADS. What is a VRAD? It is a video ready access device according to Wikipedia. It is basically a big box connecting to underground cables. Cox has the latitude and longitude of where these VRADs are located. My job was to look up these locations on google maps then drive around to take pictures of them when I find them.
What’s funny about this job is how it makes you look at the world differently. For example did you know that next to every four way traffic light and every railroad track that has lights of some sort there will be a big box nearby. Look for them, they will be there. The reason I noticed this is by looking for VRADs and realizing those were not them. The specific thing that distinguishes VRAD will be the Att&T logo or the old bell logo on older equipment. The older smaller boxes are not actually VRADs, but they often are up graded to become VRADs.
The other part of my work this summer has been studying. (no pictures regarding this, but it would mostly be blackboards filled with equations) I have a Phd adviser and I am scheduled to have my oral exam in the Fall. I don’t know yet how much longer I will be working on the Phd, but things are moving forward.
I know I don’t post very often. I’d like to post more. But I hope that my small fan base enjoys it when I do post.
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