Swine Flu tips

my sister is very knowledgeable about epidemiology and the like (3 years as a bio/chem major before switching back to piano performance). she did her internship with the northern CA CDC and worked part time at Livermore Labs to pay her way through school. the thing that news outlets aren’t telling you is that beyond the medicines that treat symptoms, inoculation and resistance are being proven more effective than any vaccine. this is her suggestion on how to get started:

1 and 1 together

i did it! i put one and 1 together and got Roose. first…. read this interview with Jerry Falwell. be in awe over how strange it is that someone got close to the untouchable Religious Righty. and then read this article that talks about the interviewer.

i’m astonished at a couple of things, but it’s murky. i have different responses to each article. the more lasting impression is of the article that talks about Roose’s ruse, and how he responded to the whole thing. i think his experiences speak rather loudly. his background is hardly unique. but his headlong dive into the dark side of Christianity is. and the thing that send shivers down my spine is that this is an example of exactly what it is that Eikon hopes to do on any sort of scale. obviously, few people are that ambitious about exploring faith. but his time spent in the dorms, the classes, and the churches drastically altered his life. and in many senses, regardless of whether you embrace or cringe at Falwell’s messages and methods, the light of Christ shone through. and it CHANGED HIS LIFE! we’ve hashed out the idea of loving people with an agenda (which isn’t really love, now is it?) or simply screaming evangelistic phrases is the antithesis of Jesus’ modus operandi, it’s practically lying, it’s disrespectful. but if Jesus says that as we are going, we are to baptize and disciple (verb) those we meet, isn’t a similar effort fitting? can you disciple someone whether they’ve asked you to do so or if they don’t even realize it? can’t you point the way to Jesus or live the love of Jesus or show the immense value of the values of Jesus without being obvious or obnoxious about it?

like it or not, Kevin Roose says you can.

reeling me back in

there’s been a silence on the blog so deafening that i receieved an email from a lover (well, my only one) about how i need to get back to it. so what has been occupying my time? let me tell you:

-we have cable. with HD. Anna Torv has never had such striking strawberry blonde hair and baby Matt Parkman has never been cuter and the Michael Scott Paper Co has never had clearer marketing and that girl from Buffy calmly reminds me to “be my best” every friday night. also, our download speed beat up your honor student.

-we’re goint to NC  in June for a wedding. and we’re going to SC to see Naomi (no, not to LA to see the University of Spoiled Children). and we’re renting a car which can only mean 2 things: road trip.

-i’ve had more interviews in April than i landed in the several months immediately after we moved here. and i don’t even need a new job. (Seth Rogen says the best time to look for a job is when you don’t need one. or was it Seth Godin?)  i won’t tell you what for until i’ve heard a firm “no” or “yes” from them.

-michelle got a raise. wut.

-michelle is a weiner. and a winner, too. first place in the Tarrant County College spring art show for 2D design. grad school, here we come. (her friend Pam won 3rd for a neat abstract piece. cheers, Pam.)

-we used the lumber from the pool’s original hard cover to build a planter box around a tree in the back yard. we finally finished it and planted some squash, tomato, peppers, etc. we also have cilantro (only missing lime for fresh salsa weekly!), basil, and mint for mojitos. as the plants grow, you’ll have to come over for drinks.

-i still have a vicious dislike for the dog michelle brought home. within minutes of us finishing our planting, the durn beast was ripping plants up. worthless waste of money, that pale, musty hairball of a dog.

-i’ve had 4 very good conversations with people who are a good distance from the Church. people who have dealth with truly horrid Christians or still can’t get the bad taste out of their mouths from their early childhood contact with churches.

-i ran the Fort Worth Zoo Run 5k last saturday. i’d been training with some friends (team name–Mach: Joke. like rather than Mach 3 or something, it’s like we’re so far from being fast that it’s a joke to even mention it. just for those of you slower folks out there.) i told michelle that my goal was 3 eight minute miles (5k = 3.1 miles) and she looked me square in the eye and told me that 25 minutes was for people who trained hard and stuff. see the results and the awful pictures of me staggering around at your leisure. you can search for my last name on the results page (take that, michelle.)

-you probably didn’t miss it, but i reconsidered and decided against any more sly. as the title of the blog so aptly asks, what is Eikon? and how do we figure it out? it seemed fun. it was fun to post and to pretend anyone actually cared about my pithy responses to crazy events. so, bye bye, Sly.

-on that note, i WILL post more frequently on things and thoughts regarding Eikon. if they’re less organized and a bit more scattered, please pardon me.

-i thought it would be neat to have a prayer wall type deal (don’t have a facebook, but the idea of encouraging graffiti is appealing) that we could use along with an RSS feed instead of lame prayer emails. also, a quote wall for amazing things people say?

-a lady emailed Christina through the Eikon website because of MOPS. website: success.

-we’re going to see Phil Wickham saturday night. he’s opening for some no-name.

and i’m out.

Parable?

There were 2 doctors in neighboring villages. Both were trained by the same master herbologist and had intricate knowledge of the local flora. One doctor had his squire pick all of the medicinal plants and herbs he knew and indiscriminately fed patients great heaping handfuls or tied a necklace of sprigs around the necks of every patient that came into his cabin. The other doctor carefully selected the plants and herbs for treatment he knew, separated them by usage, dried and pressed and preserved them appropriately, and used the best medicine for any illness that he treated. Lots of people died in that first village. Lots.