Fare Thee Well, Conan

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Songs for Haiti

Paste Magazine has launched a new website -- "Songs for Haiti" -- to help with relief efforts in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake. It's pretty cool -- in exchange for your donation, you get access to a bunch of free songs, many of which are unreleased/rare tracks provided by the artists specifically for the site. There's a lot of good stuff on there, including tracks from Bill Mallonee, Sandra McCracken, Switchfoot, and Derek Webb, just to name a few. You can donate directly through Paste, which will split gifts between a few charities, including the Red Cross. But you can also donate to the charity of your choice and get access to the same songs (on the honor system, of course). Very nice.

One great charity to support is Compassion International, a Christian organization which aids impoverished children all over the world. They've been in Haiti for over 40 years and their program there has over 64,000 children enrolled. Communication with the various outreach centers in Haiti has been greatly hindered, but there are already reports of fatalities and injuries among the program's children and staff workers. These reports will undoubtedly increase in the coming days. There is a great need for aid to help Compassion in Haiti, both to provide humanitarian aid in the short term, as well as to rebuild their long term program. Any amount will help.

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Blogiversary

So, the six-year anniversary of this blog came and went last week with nary a word from either of us. 'Tis a pity. I've been enjoying reading some of our earlier posts. If you're new around these parts (or reading this on Facebook) feel free to check out our archives.

I intend to make up for it by actually posting something, with the hope of more to come. I refuse to believe blogging, or even our blog in particular, is dying out.

Six years ago...

This blog was one week old.

We were in our second year as a CARES Team.

We had no children (yet).

Our blog posts did not have titles.

We were closet Calvinists.

We were completely obsessed with a particular JJ Abrams TV series. (Hmmm. Perhaps some things haven't changed!)

We apologize for this interruption in our service and hope to continue to bring you quality programming like "what we're watching," "what we're reading," "what our kids are saying that makes us laugh," "sunsets, puppies, walks on the beach" and "deep theological posts from Gaines" (perhaps).

Stay tuned.

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Orange You Glad ...

No, not at all.

Georgia Tech Falls To Iowa In Orange Bowl 24-14

It appears that even Coach Paul Johnson can't break Tech's streak of bowl failures. Iowa's defense pretty much ruled us all night. One of the most telling signs -- Chandler Anderson kicked 7 punts last night (Tech has one of the lowest numbers of punts in the FBS this season, and did not punt at all in either of the previous two games.) The offense's stats were quite dismal. But the loss was especially frustrating since the game was never really out of reach for the Jackets. The offense finally got going in the second half, and Tech narrowed the margin to 3 in the waning moments of the 4th quarter; however, the offense faltered on back-to-back drives, complete with an interception and a near safety. A late score by Iowa sealed our fate.

A level-headed assessment would recognize that even with the loss, the Jackets had a pretty spectacular season. 11 wins. ACC Championship. Remarkable performances by several of our star players. But for now, I'd rather sulk. And hope that some of our juniors decide to come back for one more year.

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Books Read in 2009 (Allison)

The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
The Jesus Storybook Bible
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
The Last Word: Beyond the Bible Wars to a New Understanding of the Authority of Scripture
Positive Discipline: The First Three Years
Lions at Lamb House
Prince Caspian
Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
The Horse and His Boy
The Magician's Nephew
The Last Battle
Tales of Beedle the Bard
The Life of Pi
Foreign to Familiar: A Guide to Understanding Hot - And Cold - Climate Cultures
The Omnivore's Dilemma
Harry Potter & Imagination: The Way Between Two Worlds
North! Or Be Eaten
Between, Georgia
The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible

This list is sadly MUCH shorter than in previous years. I don't think I've picked up a book since November, much less finished one. I've flipped through magazines and various parenting stuff, but never finished anything. What with moving and everything, I never could really get into anything on my bedside table. Of course, the entire year was quite busy, what with the birth of Ethan and all those Apartment Life events I never mentioned. At least I made it through all the Chronic-(what?!)-cles of Narnia. In 2010: a re-read of Harry Potter, perhaps?

If you're ever curious about what I'm reading, find me on Goodreads. I've been trying to keep that current, at least.

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Books Read in 2009 (Gaines)

Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics
The Shack
Redemptive History and the New Testament Scriptures
Watchmen
Remember Who You Are: Baptism and the Christian Life
The Structure of Biblical Authority
The Genesis Debate : Three Views on the Days of Creation
The Tales of Beedle the Bard
The Two Towers
The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible
Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility: Biblical Perspectives in Tension
McCain: The Myth of a Maverick
Preaching Christ from the Old Testament: A Contemporary Hermeneutical Method
The Return of the King
North! Or Be Eaten
On Bull----
Eyes Wide Open: Looking for God in Popular Culture
The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America

This list is a bit shorter than previous years, but please note that I had a whole lot of seminary reading that isn't represented -- it just feels like cheating to list books from which I only read excerpts!

Also, I realize that I did a pretty poor job of posting reviews of the books I actually did read. I'll try to do better in 2010. If you're dying to know what I thought about any of my 2009 readings, feel free to drop a line in the comments.

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