Monk of Mequon

Zambra..no-hitter

2008-09-17T18:42:10-06:00

So, I'm a few days behind. But Sunday Night Carlos Zambrano of the Chicago Cubs pitched a no-hitter! Now those of you who read this blog probably know that I'm an avid cubs fan living in Milwaukee. the Cubs played the Astro's in Milwaukee's Miller Park due to Hurrican. e Ike.

My Dad and brother were at the game! Alas, I was not able to go because I was attending a service for Holy Cross Day.

Let's go Cubbies! Let's get Stan to come back and be a Cubs fan!

A Crazy 3rd Day of Amen

2008-06-26T20:45:55-06:00

We are coming to the close of the third day of Amen - Poconos. It brings one question to mind. What do you get when you mix 3 worship services a day, some amazing catechesis, tons of fun, and one too many cans of Diet Coke?

You get the Higher Things Webmaster, Conference Executive and Internet Service Executive singing Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody during Karaoke!

And of course there was head banging at the guitar solo!

Seriously?

2008-06-20T10:33:56-06:00

Dr. Veith over at Cranach pointed me to this news story

Wed Jun 18, 2:08 PM ET

OTTAWA (AFP) - A Canadian court has lifted a 12-year-old girl's grounding, overturning her father's punishment for disobeying his orders to stay off the Internet, his lawyer said Wednesday.

The girl had taken her father to Quebec Superior Court after he refused to allow her to go on a school trip for chatting on websites he tried to block, and then posting "inappropriate" pictures of herself online using a friend's computer.

The father's lawyer Kim Beaudoin said the disciplinary measures were for the girl's "own protection" and is appealing the ruling.

"She's a child," Beaudoin told AFP. "At her age, children test their limits and it's up to their parents to set boundaries."

"I started an appeal of the decision today to reestablish parental authority, and to ensure that this case doesn't set a precedent," she said. Otherwise, said Beaudoin, "parents are going to be walking on egg shells from now on."

"I think most children respect their parents and would never go so far as to take them to court, but it's clear that some would and we have to ask ourselves how far this will go."

According to court documents, the girl's Internet transgression was just the latest in a string of broken house rules. Even so, Justice Suzanne Tessier found her punishment too severe.

Beaudoin noted the girl used a court-appointed lawyer in her parents' 10-year custody dispute to launch her landmark case against dear old dad.

Seriously?

Sleep? What's That?

2008-06-11T11:59:20-06:00

My Brother-in-Law (happy belated anniversary you two!) posted and interesting article over at his blog. Apparently, before Thomas Edison invented the light bulb in 1880, people slept an average of 10 hours a night. These days, Americans average 6.9 hours of sleep on weeknights and 7.5 hours a night on weekends.

Some of our conference staff especially should probably read this and then get some sleep!

Go check it out at Jeff's Hubris.

Wear Sunscreen!

2008-06-10T13:17:37-06:00

Last week I worked at A Taste of Summer, a music festival here in the Milwaukee area. I was out in the parking lot wearing my cool orange reflector vest and waving an orange flag, directing cars where to park. Wednesday-Friday went fine just out there from 3:30pm until 10:30pm. Then Saturday hit I was out in the parking lot by 10:15am and was basically out there until 4pm when severe thunderstorms came into the area. Around 1 I realized that I must have been pretty badly sunburnt because some of the people who I was parking started making comments about it. I put sunscreen on then, but it was too late.. that damage was done.

Anyway, this fun experience reminded me of a song from 1999 which I found out was actually an article printed in the Chicago Tribune two years earlier. The article is entitled "Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young."

Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '97:

Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

What other advice could be added to this article? Maybe things like 'Have one sports team that you cheer for whether they win or lose. Or maybe something more 'religious' in nature?

Pax.

Earth Day

2008-04-22T15:56:52-06:00

So today is apparently Earth Day.

As Lutherans, how concerned should we be about the earth and its environment? It is a great gift of God to mankind, so we obviously shouldn't despise it and misuse it. But when do we go to far and turn the earth into a god itself?

Gone All Gone!

2008-04-21T00:39:31-06:00

My hair that is. Why did I do it? I don't really have a reason, for fun, I was sick of long hair takes to long to wash and dry. Oh well time for the Before and After picture:

Before was taken in January.. so it had grown since then. After was taken Today!

Well I look like Animal...

2008-04-06T20:39:23-06:00

But based on the quiz that Pr, Heinz tagged me in I'm...

You Are Kermit

Hi, ho! Lovable and friendly, you get along well with everyone you know.
You're a big thinker, and sometimes you over think life's problems.
Don't worry - everyone know's it's not easy being green.
Just remember, time's fun when you're having flies!

The Muppet Personality Test

I tag Pr. Borghardt, Madre, Kelsey, and Elizabeth

I'm it!

2008-01-31T18:12:43-07:00

My sister Elizabeth tagged me in this book thing.

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

Closest book is Civility by Stephen L. Carter

"We do it when we dismiss those who disagree with us as extremists, or radicals, or nuts, because all of these are words that tend to silence by drawing a circle around a sensible middle (where we right-thinkers dwell) and a lunatic fringe (where our enemies babble and scheme). And so we are able to say that those on the other side of the argument do not actually deserve to be treated with civility, because they are themselves profoundly uncivil in their desire to subvert ... well, to subvert what makes America great.
In the abortion battle, for example, the tiny minorities who hold absolutist positions on either side of the issue routinely portray their opponents as the fanatics."

Wasn't that fun!

I tag Kelsey, Pr. Borghardt, Pr. Heinz, Madre, and The Femlems

Superbowl

2007-02-02T17:00:22-07:00

So the question is will it be the Colts or will it be DA BEARS?