Whistler

I just spent some few days in Whistler, Canada, where the heighth of the snow-capped mountains help them nudge a little into heaven itself. At least it felt like that up on the highest lift, 7th Heaven, looking at the amazing panoramic view of the mountain range there. I didn't have long to look, however, because it was only a short time before I found myself hurtling down the mountain with a board strapped to my feet.

Flash Games

This one is fun and a bit addicting... once you figure out how to play it. It's called Ray-Hound. It's a shooter where you don't shoot. (my high score is 21 million)

Blue Monday

"If you are feeling a little down then you can take solace in the thought that things are unlikely to get any worse. Today, say experts, is the unhappiest day in the entire year. Unpaid Christmas bills, nasty weather, and failed New Year's resolutions combine to make January 22 the gloomiest in the calendar."

Ha! How totally awesome is it to know the Living God! The Joy-Bringer! If this is the saddest day of the year, 2007 is gonna totally ROCK.

Coffee

My drink of choice lately has been a triple tall Americano.

(just thought you might like to know that)

What do you want?

Recently I was reading through the gospel of John and the first recorded words of Jesus are "What do you want?" He was walking along and John had pointed Him out to a couple of his disciples. The disciples began following Jesus out of curiosity. He turned around and sprang this question on them. I love it.

I think it's a profound question. So much of what we do or do not get out of life hinges on our answer to this question. What is it that you really want?

iPhone

I'm pretty much a PC guy, just because of the availability and compatibility of the software developed for it. HOWEVER, this sleek looking phone (just released publically this morning via a keynote from Steve Jobs) may have the potential to convert me.

All I have to say is: Wow.

Fasting

I hate fasting.

I love fasting.

Having just concluded a week of not eating food, I can look back in retrospect and say that this has been one of the best weeks I've had in a long time. It was also not very much fun. Yet joyful. I suppose that fasting itself and the paradoxical nature of it is a nice portrait of the Christians' life. Sacrifice, self-denial and hard choices of the will and attitude, all for a reward that isn't tangible but SO rewarding. From the outside, fasting looks extremely stupid. The world would ask, Why aren't you eating food? Why are you starving yourself? Does your God want you to suffer? Is that what He enjoys?

There were moments, and even hours, during the fast where I was so extremely calm, centered, and fundamentally alive--moments where you feel like nothing at all could ever rock you or touch your faith. Moments where you almost feel as if you could physically reach out and touch the hand of God. Moments where the verse that speaks of being "seated with Christ in the heavenlies" is not a theological viewpoint but an experienced actuality.

And then, of course, the next moment, I'm thinking of a cheeseburger.

Weather Report

AN ABRUPT CHANGE IN WEATHER...TO COLDER TUESDAY NIGHT...A COLD FRONT WILL BARREL ACROSS THE REGION LATER TUESDAY AND TUESDAY EVENING. THIS FRONT WILL USHER IN A MUCH COLDER AIR MASS OVER WESTERN WASHINGTON. TEMPERATURES WILL FALL TO NEAR OR BELOW FREEZING TUESDAY NIGHT...WITH HIGHS ONLY IN THE MIDDLE 30S ON WEDNESDAY. A MODIFIED ARCTIC FRONT WILL DROP SOUTH THROUGH THE AREA WEDNESDAY NIGHT...BRINGING A REINFORCING SHOT OF COLD AIR.EXPECTED BREEZY CONDITIONS AS THE FRONT MOVES THROUGH THE REGION TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING...ESPECIALLY THROUGH THE NORTHERN PUGET SOUND AND THE STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA. WINDS MAY GUST AS HIGH AS 60 MPH IN THOSE AREAS. WINDS WILL EASE LATER TUESDAY EVENING.THE OTHER BIG ISSUE IS HOW MUCH SNOW WILL FALL. AS COLDER AIR ARRIVES LATER TUESDAY NIGHT...RAIN WILL MIX WITH AND MAY EVEN CHANGE TO SNOW AT TIMES IN THE LOWLANDS. THERE SHOULD BE ENOUGH COLD AIR IN THE REGION BY EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING THAT MOST AREAS WILL SEE SNOW FALLING. AS THE ARCTIC AIR ARRIVES WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON...MOISTURE WILL BECOME MORE SPOTTY AS SNOW SHOWERS DEVELOP. AT THIS TIME...IT IS STILL TOO EARLY TO PIN POINT ACCUMULATIONS...BUT THERE IS HIGH POTENTIAL FOR ACCUMULATING SNOW AT MOST ALL LOCATIONS IN THE INTERIOR LOWLANDS. TRAVELS AND COMMUTERS SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR ICY ROADS AND POSSIBLE SNOW COVERED ROADWAYS ON WEDNESDAY.ARCTIC AIR KEEPS THE REGION IN THE CHILL THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK. HIGH TEMPERATURES ON THURSDAY AND FRIDAY MAY STRUGGLE TO REACH THE MID 30S ACROSS THE INTERIOR LOWLANDS...AND POSSIBLY NOT REACH FREEZING IN SOME AREAS. OVERNIGHT LOWS WILL FALL INTO THE TEENS AND 20S...WITH THE COLDEST TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE NORTHWEST INTERIOR.CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST UPDATES FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ON THIS CHANGE TO COLDER AND POSSIBLY SNOWY WEATHER.

Christmas Vacation

Well I'm back from the Sunny Lands of Arizona to the Windswept Rainy Lake of Seattle. My vacation was pretty uneventful, a lot of sitting around and eating good food and watching movies, which was nice. My time wasn't completely uneventful, however:



















I wasn't able to rouse my brother from a deep night's slumber one morning, so I took the couch cushions and pillows and erected a fort over him. This didn't help wake him up, however, and may have actually served to push him back into sleepville, feeling comfortable and protected in his little angled house.




















I discovered several grey hairs in my beard. You may not be able to tell from this macro shot, but that light-colored hair dead center is stark white. Look what happens when you turn 30!!! This is a warning to all of you out there who are are getting older... year after year...




















My brother and I with our lovely grandparents (and a large-noggin'd gingerbread doll).




















My brother and I with our lovely mother (and aforementioned doll).