Just a quick post to say that I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas today!
Categories
Category: Random
Categories
Questioning religion
I am not an overly spiritual or religious person and, in fact, enjoy openly questioning religion in general. I find it interesting and entertaining to discuss religion with individuals from different religious backgrounds. To me, religion ultimately comes down to faith. Sure, there are some archaeological findings that may support religious claims, but, generally, the historical facts do not answer the questions that I have about religion.
I was raised in a family that was not very religious. My mother went to a Lutheran school as a child; my father never attended church. By the time I was born, my mother had given up attending church of any kind. Therefore, I only attended church when invited by others – a very infrequent occurrence. My longest period of continuous weekly church attendance was during my three months in boot camp. I went to each Sunday service, but not to hear the sermon. I went as an escape from the tortures of the drill instructors.
Due to this upbringing, I do not have a very strong knowledge of religion and have many questions that have not been sufficiently answered. I have talked to many people about religious topics, but it is difficult to get unbiased views relating to the subject. Religion is ingrained in our culture. Whether we are religious people or not, the effects of religion surround us all. In my opinion, most of our society’s laws, standards, morals, ethics and norms are directly derived from religious standards. When I ask questions about religion, I would like to get a better answer than ‘Because the Bible says so.’ In the following sections I will present a few of my questions, along with my personal thoughts on the subjects.
Categories
How to score awesome concert seats!
Earlier this week, I went to a Sugarland concert a few hours away. I was pretty excited, since I had bought the tickets about two months ago and this was also a good excuse to just ‘escape’ for awhile. When we got to the venue, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the arena was fairly small – meaning there would be good seats throughout the house! The tickets I got were not too impressive (the were in a balcony off to the side of the stage), but I figured that we would be close enough to see everything clearly. In addition, there were huge monitors on both sides of the stage that would allow close-up viewing of the action. Well, when we finally went up to our seats we noticed that there was a large speaker stack directly in our viewing path. What a let-down! I was disappointed and immediately began looking around for open seats that I could slide into for the show. As I was looking around, one of the event staff came up to us. After a quick check of our tickets, the lady told us that she was going to change our seats, and asked us to follow her. She took us back down to the floor, and into a corridor that led away from the seating area where another lady was waiting. According to the second lady, the arena knew nothing of the speakers and asked the band to provide tickets to make up for the inconvenience. We were then given the choice from two options: stay in our seats (or an open seat near there) or accept complimentary 10th row seats in front of the stage. Are you kidding me? Of course I’m going to accept 10th row tickets… that was a no-brainer. The ‘free ticket lady’ took us right to our thrones seats and handed us our ‘golden tickets.’ And to top it all off, the concert rocked and the people sitting next to us were a blast to hang out with.
So, other than the luck of the Irish, how can you score awesome concert seats? Try the following (and depending on your morals, possibly a little unethical) trick out. I know it works, because someone sitting near me in the 10th row did this. When you purchase your tickets, make sure you ask for handicap accessible seating. These seats are usually not going to be very good – at least not in comparison to what you are about to get. Once you arrive for the concert, go up to someone working there and explain that it would be wrong for you to sit in handicap seating and ask if there is something they can do for you. You’ll end up getting comped somehow, and you’ll likely end up with better seats than what you could have gotten if you just tried to purchase on your own.
If any of you end up doing this, let me know how it works out for you!
[tags]Entertainment, Sugarland, Concert, Hack, Music, Life[/tags]
With a summit elevation of 12,388 feet (3776 meters), Mount Fuji (Fuji-san) is Japan’s highest mountain. To be more accurate, Mt. Fuji is a dormant volcano west of Tokyo, with its last eruption occurring in 1707. I have seen the mountain numerous times during my time in traveling in Japan, and its symmetry, power and beauty have amazed me each time. In my mind, it is clear why Fuji-san is so respected and honored throughout Japan and the world (there is even a book about the Microsoft interview process called How Would You Move Mount Fuji). In fact, I can clearly recall the jealousy I felt when one of my friends returned with his walking stick fully stamped from climbing Mt. Fuji. Although I have never set foot on the mountain, it is one of my personal life goals to watch the sun rise from the summit and experience first-hand the magic of that moment.
Read more and see additional Mount Fuji photos after the jump.
—————————————————————-
Serendipity 3 (225 East 60th St, NYC 10022) has a very special dessert on its menu. For $1,000, and a 48 hour advance notice, you can purchase the Golden Opulence Sundae. The treat features five scoops of Tahitian vanilla bean ice cream rolled in edible 23-karat gold leaf and drizzled with the most expensive chocolate in the world, along with a serving of caviar infused with passion fruit, orange and Armagnac liqueur.
But that’s nothing!
Earlier this month, the restaurant topped itself, and set a Guinness world record in the process, by creating a $25,000 chocolate sundae. The Frrrozen Haute Chocolate was created from a blend of 28 cocoas from around the world, and again featured the edible 23-karat gold. This concoction is served in a goblet lined with the edible gold, is topped with whipped cream and more gold, and comes with a side of La Madeline au Truffle (from Knipschildt Chocolatier – selling for $2,600 a pound). But wait… there’s more! If you order in the next fifteen minutes, we’ll double your order!! Wait, wait, wait… I’m getting off track here and thinking about something else. There really is more to the Frrrozen Haute Chocolate sundae, though. This dessert comes with its own souvenirs: an 18-karat gold bracelet featuring 1 carat of white diamonds that rests at the base of the goblet, and a gold spoon decorated with white and chocolate-colored diamonds.
I’m assuming that most of you (like me!) are never going to be able to afford a $25,000 chocolate sundae from Serendipity 3. You can, however, purchase their more reasonably priced products ($20 – $25) online. To pamper your loved one in style (without refinancing the house) check out the Serendipity 3 Frrrozen Hot Chocolate Gift Box or the book Serendipity Sundaes: Ice Cream Constructions and Frozen Concoctions by Stephen Bruce.
Update:
According to a Reuters story dated 11/17/07 , Serendipity 3 was shut down (at least temporarily) due to mice and cockroaches.
[tags]Gold, Money, Mortgage, Serendipity, Chocolate, Gifts, Christmas[/tags]
Categories
Single dad’s dinner menu
I’m a single dad. Well, not really… I am married, but my wife goes to work in the evenings. Due to the timing of our schedules, I am often left to cook dinner for our two boys. Some nights, after a long day at work, I don’t feel like cooking anything extravagant. I do want my children to eat a full meal, though, and not just a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. To solve this problem, I have a few different quick and easy dinners that I like to cook. If you’re ever pressed for time, or just looking for something new, why not try one of the ones below? (or check out this creative book from Amazon.com called Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food) For my suggestions below, obviously you should substitute any of the ingredients with items that your children enjoy eating.
Categories
Happy Veterans Day
In 1926, Congress passed a resolution officially recognizing the end of World War I. Armistice Day was made an official day of celebration and remembrance for those who served in ‘The Great War.’ After World War II and the Korean War, President Eisenhower signed HR7786, changing Armistice Day to Veterans Day.
Today, let us all pay tribute to those who have served in our armed forces. To read more about Veterans Day from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, click here.
[tags]Military, Holiday, Veterans Day[/tags]
Categories
Veterans’ benefits site
A new veterans’ benefits site has been launched today, November 10, 2007. Check it out (and contribute to the forums!).
[tags]Military, Benefits[/tags]
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth…. Then, God said ‘Let there be light… and croup.’ You probably won’t find that last part anywhere in the Bible, but it should have been put in there. Croup, I believe, is God’s test for parents. When your child has his or her first croup attack (and pray they don’t!), it is one of the scariest moments of your new parenthood. If you haven’t heard of croup already, let me tell you a little story.
My first experience with a croupy child occurred about two years ago. I was in bed sleeping, when I heard my youngest son coughing and struggling to catch his breath. At first, I thought he was just getting sick… maybe a little cold. But the breathing got progressively worse over the next few minutes, until he was hardly breathing at all (or so it seemed). There was a few second delay between each labored breath (that I later found out was caused by swelling around his airway), and his coughing sounded like the barking of a baby seal. The coughing and breathing troubles made my little guy cry, and all that did was make the situation worse. It was horrible for me. Here was my baby, suffering, and I couldn’t do anything to help him feel better. Since I didn’t know what to do, I immediately took him to the emergency room. On the drive there, the symptoms got much better and they were hardly noticeable by the time we checked in (because he was breathing in the cold winter air, as I will talk about later). After a steroid shot and a hospital stay of a few hours for observation, we were released. The rest of the night, my son slept in my bed so I could keep an eye on him. He slept fine after that, even if I couldn’t sleep a wink.
Categories
How you can make a difference.
When I was a child (not too long ago, by the way!), I attended a very interesting school. The school taught kindergarten through 8th grade, and had an enrollment of approximately 50 students. The building itself was very small, consisting of only 3 classrooms and a large finished basement that housed the lunchroom/library/music room/teachers’ office. Since there were only three classrooms, the grades were mixed together in a unique learning environment. When I was there, for example, the setup was 1st-3rd grade in one room, 4th-5th in another room, and 6th-8th in the last room (the kindergarteners spent their half-day in a ‘classroom’ in the basement). Each classroom was taught by only one teacher, who would coordinate the teaching by grade level. For instance, she would call 8th graders (there were just two of us) to the table at the back of the room to do math. While we were back there, the other two grades would be working on projects or their homework. When our session was done, we would return to our seats and the teacher would call back another grade for their math class. The same format is still used to teach at the school today.
This type of environment created a close-knit community of students, and helped me form a very personal bond with the teachers and the school in general. Because of this bond and my passion for lifelong learning, I have been volunteering with Junior Achievement for the past four years or so at the school. In this role, I return weekly to my old stomping grounds and present a one-hour class on business and economics as it relates to our society. The classes come prepackaged from JA, complete with lesson plans, handouts, posters/wall charts, and all materials needed to complete the class. I have taught over 10 of these classes so far, and the children are very receptive and open to learning. Each day when you walk into class, you can feel the excitement radiating from the students (I’m not sure if they really like me, or if they are just glad that their not doing real homework). For me personally, I enjoy volunteering with JA because it allows me to give back to the school that I attended. I can honestly walk into a classroom and say ‘Look at me. I came from the same background as you and I was once sitting in the same room as you are now. I am proof that you can do anything you would like to with your future, as long as you believe in yourself and reach for your dreams.‘ It is a powerful speech that seems to connect with the children, and always leaves their teacher smiling.
To learn more about Junior Achievement and how you can help make a difference, click here.