Books Read in 2007 (Allison)

• Sidewalks in the Kingdom: New Urbanism and the Christian Faith


• Girl Meets God


• The Birth Book: Everything You Need to Know to Have a Safe and Satisfying Birth


• Fahrenheit 451


• The Penultimate Peril (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 12)


• Praise Her in the Gates: The Calling of Christian Motherhood


• The Breastfeeding Book: Everything You Need to Know About Nursing Your Child from Birth Through Weaning


• The End (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 13)


• Of Mice and Men


• Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation


• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone


• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets


• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban


• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire


• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix


• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince


• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows


• The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby from Birth to Age Two


• Flabbergasted: A Novel


• Midwives


• Children of Men


• The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson


• A Passage to India


• The No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night


• Gilead


• On Paradise Drive: How We Live Now (And Always Have) in the Future Tense


• The Hidden Art of Homemaking


• And Then There Were None


• Witness for the Prosecution


• The Time Traveler's Wife


• Housekeeping


• Murder on the Orient Express


• The Nanny Diaries


• Redeeming Love

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Books Read in 2007 (Gaines)

• The Story of Christianity, Volume One: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation
• How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth
• Around the World in Eighty Days
• The Penultimate Peril (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 12)
• The End (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 13)
• Future Men
• The Baptism of Disciples Alone: A Covenantal Argument for Credobaptism Versus Paedobaptism
• To a Thousand Generations: Infant Baptism - Covenant Mercy to the Children of God
• A Tale of Two Cities
• Hebrews for Everyone
• The Children of Men
• Evil and the Justice of God
• The Luck of the Bodkins
• Colossians Remixed: Subverting the Empire
• Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
• Death in Holy Orders
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• The Hidden Smile of God: The Fruit of Affliction in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd
• Mediated: How the Media Shapes Your World and the Way You Live in It
• The Code of the Woosters
• Into The Wild
• State of Fear

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Christmas Tunes To Go!

Sufjan announced the winner of his Christmas song contest today...it's a thoughtful, witty tune called "Every Day is Christmas" and you can find out more and listen here! My favorite line: "Your love is so much better than a plasma screen TV!"

If you're like me, you might find the Christmas tunes on the radio and in shopping malls to be a bit nauseating. I mean, I love the classics as much as anyone but some of those versions are just, well, plain awful! Thankfully, I've been reminded of the perfect collection to cheer me up while in the car:

Sufjan Steven's Christmas Box Set

As I've been runnning errands the past few days, I've found that Sufjan's five short volumes offer me the perfect interval in between trips to the mall (ugh), the dry cleaners, the post office, lengthy gift shopping expeditions, and back home for some apple cider and MORE SUFJAN. Go ahead, listen to the streaming audio or even buy the box set! You'll get fun stuff like stickers and a songbook!

Remember: Since it's Christmas let's be glad, even if your life's been bad, there are presents to be had! (And don't forget to indulge in the elf boogie!)

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Glimpses of God

La Shawn Barber updates us on what those Hanson boys have been up to. I'd like to check out their most recent release, Walk, and I'm thankful for this being brought to my attention. (By the way, they all seem to have lost the blonde hair...)

All that to say, I'm not sure what to think about his new "Glimpses of God" series Christianity Today has started. At the bottom of the Hanson article, I found this statement: "Unless specified clearly, we are not implying whether this artist is or is not a Christian. The views expressed are simply the author's. For a more complete description of our Glimpses of God articles, click here." I clicked, and this is what I found:

In recent years, we've noticed an increased interest in spiritual themes in today's popular music outside the Christian subculture. We refer to these faith-inspired examples as Glimpses of God. Some of them are by Christian artists working in the mainstream music industry. Others are nonbelievers who are clearly soul searching. Regardless, these challenging examples give the listener something to think about—and an open door to discussing matters of faith with non-Christians.

I suppose it's a step in the right direction -- a major Christian publication is actually acknowledging that there is other good stuff out there than what falls under the "CCM" label, even if they do have to limit it to stuff with "spiritual themes." I'm all for that. I just wish more Christians would realize that a work of art doesn't necessarily need to have "spiritual themes" to be good, beautiful, and true. But I'll save that soapbox discussion for another day.

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Best. Fundraiser. Ever.

It's all over the blogosphere, but I have to mention it here for my readers who only get their news from the mainstream media. Yesterday, due to efforts of volunteers unrelated with his official campaign, Ron Paul raised over $6 million, the most any candidate has ever raised in one day (beating Kerry, even), but there's barely a mention of it on any of the news stations or political websites or newspapers. At least the AP/NYT is taking notice.

Even if you think he's unelectable, that's a remarkable feat, especially since the median donation amount was $50.

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In Sickness and in Health

What a week it has been since I last posted! At J's 9 month well check-up last Wednesday, the doctor discovered he had a serious ear infection in his right ear, and put him on antibiotics. The medicine didn't help this weekend, though, when he developed a fever we now think is due to a viral infection he picked up sometime last week. Saturday night was pretty rough, what with J's fever spiking and me feeling pretty miserable due to the weather changes and stress and getting little sleep. Sunday was better. We had to go back to the doctor this morning due to his continued fever and other issues. We get to make a return trip on Friday to get the final word on the ear infection, but in some good news the antibiotics are working and the ear infection seems to be clearing up.

On top of all this, we are getting word of extended friends and family who are in the hospital or enduring doctor's visits, and are praying for all. This is a reminder for me to be more thankful during those times of health!

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Ron Paul has a Blimp

It looks like another crazy idea is taking shape from Ron Paul supporters, but I only wish they could somehow fly the blimp over useful places like the BSC bowl games and the Superbowl in February instead of just campaign rallies. How do you get permission to do that sort of thing?

By the way, for those of you who don't know, since I first posted about this Ron Paul guy I've been reading everything I can about him and watching tons of interview clips (including these by John Stossel). He's greatly overlooked by the media despite his amazing ability to raise massive amounts of money (he's up to almost $11 million in just the fourth quarter!) Now that I've learned more, I'm very intrigued by his honesty, his consistency, his pro-life and non-interventionist stances, and his push for limited, Constitutional government (No more IRS! No more Dept. of Ed! Yay!). I even plan to vote for him in the Republican primary. *gasp* And yes, I do think he has a chance to win, but even if I didn't, I still wouldn't want to vote for someone I didn't believe in, like one of those "frontrunners." I guess I'm proof that those bumper stickers really DO get people's attention in a positive way...



P.S. Some friends and fellow RP supporter and I have a new joke where we greet each other with the phrase "Ron Paul" said in quick succession, like the SNL sketch of "Buh-bye!" Do you think it could catch on? Maybe I should teach J to say it as his first words and then record it and put it on You Tube...he might be like the little Animaniacs girl. Remember her? "Love ya! Bye-bye!" Heh heh. Ok, nevermind me. I'm off to attempt to be more productive and less random...


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Which god?

You've probably gotten an e-mail forward or two or heard the news stories about The Golden Compass, which opened last week in theaters. It's based on a series of books by Phillip Pullman, a professed atheist, and the final installment of the trilogy includes a controversial scene in which "God" is supposedly killed. (As a note-- we've yet to read the books but hope to get them from the library sometime in the near future...)

This post (thanks Common Grounds!) asks a very important question about which god is actually being killed in Pullman's book. Is it the God revealed in Jesus Christ, or a caricature, a capricious old-man figure? Although Pullman obviously is antagonistic towards Christians and the church, and is not killing some false god in order to set the True God in its place, it does put a different spin on the idea.

It reminds me of the story N.T. Wright often tells from his days as a college chaplain. A student might confess to him: "I don't believe in God." And Wright would go on to ask the student to describe this god in which he didn't believe--usually some angry-grandfather figure who looked down from on high to punish people according to his whim. The students were often surprised to hear the chaplain Wright respond, "Well, I don't believe in that god, either!" Wright tells how he would go on to say that he believes in the God revealed through His Son, Jesus Christ, and begins a dialogue. That's certainly one way to catch an atheist's attention!

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More Tech News

A few notable announcements from the Yellow Jackets today:

Durant Brooks Wins 2007 Ray Guy Award As Nation's Top Punter
Best punter in the nation. Not too shabby.

But the big deal today is:

Paul Johnson Named Georgia Tech's Head Football Coach
This sounds like it could be a good move. I think he could definitely help re-tune our struggling offense. I just hope he keeps (Defensive Coordinator) Jon Tenuta around. Then we might become a force to be reckoned with.

I swear this blog isn't becoming an official GT news outlet. More diversified output to come, I promise!


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Back in Blue

Well, it's official -- for the second time in four years, Georgia Tech's post-season will include this:



That's right. The smurf-colored turf of Boise State U's Bronco Stadium, site of the Humanitarian Bowl. Come December 31, the Jackets will square off against Fresno State. That's right, it's a showdown between the ACC and the (wiggety wiggety) WAC. Ah yeah.

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