Notable Posts

As I scroll through the posts that I read through Google Reader, I will select a few posts that I feel are noteworthy. Whether they are interesting, or just plain silly depends on the mood I am in.

Here is that page of shared posts.

New Background

Here is my new desktop background, brought to you by NASA's image of the day.

The image came from here.

GabCast Trial

Gabcast! mattharmless #1

Expelled

My opinion of Ben Stein just shot up a couple of yards. Check out this movie that is going to be released in February 2008.


With all of these documentary-style movies coming out, it is refreshing to have one with some real intelligence behind it. You should really watch the "super trailer" [click here]. I am really excited about this... Good Stuff.

Great Gifts!

My wife got me one of the greatest gifts this year. We have this tradition of buying each other a book at Christmas time. This year she got me this book:



The Princess Bride

S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale
of True Love and High Adventure

30th Anniversary Edition














But she couldn't leave me with just the book. Though the story is a great story on its own, what really brought it to life was the movie. So, she got me the movie too!


I believe that this movie has fallen into the classic category. I can remember the first time I watched it. My mom made me do it. I wasn't interested in it, but she convinced me that it was a worth while watch.


Of course I ended up loving it.


My wife didn't stop there though. She topped it off. The next gift she got me was like the icing on the already wonderful, cream-filled cake.


She got me this t-shirt:


Billy Crystal: "You are the Brute Squad!"


Great Gifts.

"He's everywhere, he's everywhere!"

Just for my Dad!



I found this video here.

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas!

Just wanted to send you this beautiful song with these lovely pictures.

We'll Bee going to the movies...

Our annual movie day took us to Spartanburg, SC, the last place that we could find playing Bee Movie. Here is the trailer:



Items required for family movie day...

Kissables for Josiah:


M&M's for Samuel:

Two of these for the boys:


Some of this for the parents:


A trip here afterwards:


And we end up having a great time!

I am not moving.

Today is my first full day of Christmas Break. Other than a little cleaning up this morning, I haven't moved off of the couch. I am right in the middle of a Lord of the Rings marathon. I am near the end of the second movie and I am starting to wonder if I will make it to the end. I was feeling pretty good until we pigged out on a junk food buffet.

The meal consisted of pigs in a blanket, popcorn shrimp, french fries, mozzarella sticks, jalepeno poppers, egg rolls, and sweet and sour chicken. Crazy, I know.

I am topping it off with some Gevalia Coffee and some Finnish bread (a gift from a student). I am here relaxing and I am not going to move. With this many meals I am starting to feel like a hobbit. I should have had second breakfast and elevensies.

No offense Nooma

I have really enjoyed the Nooma videos. They aren't perfect but I have really enjoyed them. I even own most of them. Anyway, if you have watched them you may have seen Bullhorn Guy.

This parody of that video really flys in the face of some of the concepts that I disagree with in the Noomas. So I thought that I would share it with you.



I enjoyed that. I am not trying to be critical, but I also don't want to just accept everything that comes my way without questioing it. Here is another response to the NOOMA's.

Part 1


Part 2


No offense Noomas, but I only think that you are telling part of the story.

I found all three of these videos here.

Logan's Theology Lesson

Paul had this posted on his blog, and I thought I would pass it along to you.

Logan's Theology Lesson

sticky creation #5

Hi!

sticky creation #4

Just a sticky little dog.

background

I am constantly changing my desktop background. I usually choose a picture from the NASA Image of the Day. There are some really amazing pictures on there.

Here is the new background:

(Read about this image here.)

The background that I had previously used was this picture:

(Properly "borrowed" from here.)

Most of my students couldn't figure out why I would put a cracked egg on my desktop, but it just seemed like a natural alternative to a picture of a supernova. They both have similar forms of beauty and complexity. One is just much, much bigger than the other.

sticky creation #3

Just for the Christmas season, I thought a nice little Nativity Scene would be nice.

From Dependance Back Into Bondage

The Governor of South Carolina (Gov. Mark Sanford) was at our school for National Young Reader's Day. While there he had the opportunity to talk to the students. He talked to the Elementary separately from the High School.

I won't get into everything he said, but I did want to mention a quote that he used from an 18th Century Scottish born British lawyer named Alexander Fraser Tytler, Lord Woodhouselee. Here is the Quote:

A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.

The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:
From Bondage to spiritual faith;
From spiritual faith to great courage;
From courage to liberty;
From liberty to abundance;
From abundance to complacency;
From complacency to apathy;
From apathy to dependence;
From dependence back into bondage.

I guess that the quote has been used recently in a notable way. I had never heard it before. The Governor's point was to ask the question, "Where do we fit in?" Obviously we are near the end, so our responsibility as citizens is to extend that life as long as possible.

I am not going to elaborate on the quote, but I did want to pass it on. I thought it was a great quote, and worth passing along.

Polly One

There once was a man from Wally-Woo,
He once owned a bird named Polly 2.
Polly 1 was dead,
For on his head,
There once landed some Polly poo.

Prayer Video

At my church we are studying prayer. One of the members of our church put this video together to help us in our study of prayer. I was very convicted by it, but it also motivated me in my own prayer life.

So... I share it with you.

The Harmlesses on Parade!

The whole fam waiting for the parade.


Sam and Jo with their normal faces.


Me and me-honey.


Me, standing at the back of the wagon.


Here is the whole group that was with us.

Not Geeky Enough

I am not geeky enough to do a really good job, but I made a page for a friend of my wife's. She is (from what I understand) in the last stages of cancer.

You can read an update on Monica by clicking here.

It is a tough situation, but from everything I hear Monica is handling this with great grace. Her testimony is impacting everyone around her. If you are the type to take up praying for people that you don't know, I would like to encourage you to pray for Monica.

My wife and her friends have pulled together, and like the true godly women that they are, they were moved with compassion, and wanted to come up with some way to provide Monica and her family with regular meals. That is when my wife came to me and wondered if there was some way that I could make an online calendar for everyone to look at when it comes to providing these meals.

I did my best, but my lack of true geekiness has left the page that I created somewhat lacking. It isn't horrible, but I would have liked some thing a little prettier.

Anyway, if you are familiar with North Hills Community Church, here is the page I made.

Lock In Movie

We had a Lock-In at the school. Here is a link to the school blog, where I posted a short movie with pictures from the Lock-In.

Outlook on Life

I believe that for the most part, I have a pretty good outlook on life. At least, if I were to write my Philosophy of Life Outlook in a 10 page, Times New Roman, double-spaced format... Well it would be a good outlook then. Of course, all of my typed, double-spaced philosophies are correctly stated.

In reality, my life-philosophy can sometimes resemble this quote:

"I have a new philosophy. I'm only going to dread one day at a time."
-Charles M. Schulz

School is in full swing, the work is piling high and the to-do list is starting to resemble Santa's naughty and nice list. I am not depressed or down trodden, but my patience is thin and my temper is short. So I find myself dreading days instead of looking forward to them.

As I seek to continually modify my outlook on life, attempting to conform it to my long-form philosophy, I need to drill down to the core and replace whatever is there with a true heart of thankfulness. A heart that gives thanks in all things, whether it be disrespectful children, lazy students, mediocre income, or a truck that burns more oil than gas...

"Lord, I give you thanks."