"Net" Theory

In case you've ever wondered what I think about when you're talking to me and my eyes look vacant, here you go.

I like to put different concepts together for fun. This synergy of ideas sometimes produces humorous results, like the "Net" theory.

Net Theory came to me out of the blue. I was thinking about our spirits and how God's Holy Spirit affects them. Somehow I got on the idea that air weighs very little and wondered if our spirits actually have weight. Then I thought about how God-filled spirits might be lighter than air. If our spirits our filled with the Holy Spirit and we have done our best to repent of our sins so we would not be so entangled in the things of this world, then when Jesus returns the Earth will tremble (as a very biblical word) and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then I considered how when Jesus returns he would probably return so fast that he would cause some sort of flux in space and time (to ancient Bible writers, this might be seen as the Earth trembling).

I like to take things literally, especially things that are meant to be figuative. When considering what kind of interesting results this all would produce, I came up with the "Net" theory. What if Jesus returns and causes an Earth-trembling flux in time and space, and what if Spirit-filled souls are lighter than sin-bound ones. The Earth could tremble and flux and, in the blink of an eye so to speak, could shudder and shrink, even for less than a single second. Because it would happen so incredibly fast, those who are lighter in spirit and are not so attached to this Earth might be hovering in the air waiting for gravity to kick in. Then Jesus would use his Holy Fish Net to scoop us up and take us to the great Fish Tank in the Sky.

Of course, many things I do are easily mockable, and this theory of mine is no exception. Please continue. :)

2nd Amendment Rights

Everybody needs to watch this video. It's 5 minutes of this lady in 2003 telling her story to Congress and excoriating them. The last line is exactly true.

O Fortuna in Carmina Burana

This may be my favorite song of all time. Trans Siberina Orchestra's version is my favorite.

Listen here:



Lyrics:

O Fortuna-----------------O Fortune,
velut luna-----------------like the moon
statu variabilis,----------you are changeable,
semper crescis-----------ever waxing
aut decrescis;------------and waning;
vita detestabilis----------hateful life
nunc obdurat--------------first oppresses
et tunc curat--------------and then soothes
ludo mentis aciem,------as fancy takes it;
egestatem,----------------poverty
potestatem----------------and power
dissolvit ut glaciem.-----it melts them like ice.

Sors immanis------------Fate - monstrous
et inanis,-----------------and empty,
rota tu volubilis,---------you whirling wheel,
status malus,-------------you are malevolent,
vana salus-----------------well-being is vain
semper dissolubilis,------and always fades to nothing,
obumbrata-----------------shadowed
et velata------------------and veiled
michi quoque niteris;----you plague me too;
nunc per ludum-----------now through the game
dorsum nudum------------I bring my bare back
fero tui sceleris.---------to your villainy.

Sors salutis----------------Fate is against me
et virtutis------------------in health
michi nunc contraria,-----and virtue,
est affectus----------------driven on
et defectus----------------and weighted down,
semper in angaria.--------always enslaved.
Hac in hora----------------So at this hour
sine mora------------------without delay
corde pulsum tangite;----pluck the vibrating strings;
quod per sortem-----------since Fate
sternit fortem,-------------strikes down the string man,
mecum omnes plangite!---everyone weep with me!

Caffeinated Sweet Death in a Can

As promised, I will highlight for you the various ailments which I think my Mt. Dew drinking was the cause of.

Jitters and Twitches: Over the last six months my body would have random skin/muscle twitches. These would occur apparently at random times, which made finding the cause quite difficult. My eyelid twich was the worst. The length of time the symptom occurred was also random. I clocked a couple muscle twitches which lasted on and off over the course of several hours. My longest single one was nearly 30 minutes. Since quitting Mt. Dew, my body has not had any twitches. I've had a couple cans of Dew while weening myself off of it, and the twitches sometimes return for a short while.

Sleep Problems: Caffeine causes sleep problems! Go figure. I could usually fall asleep pretty quickly most days, as long as I did not drink a Mt. Dew in the afternoon. The most interesting aspect of quitting the caffeine is that I wake up in the mornings well rested. I'm finding that getting out of bed is far easier than it has been in a long while. I'm more tired at normal times during the day. I'm guessing that this is normal, though also annoying with no remedy. My rest feels much more natural.

Stomach IBS: The doctor told me I had IBS when I described my symptoms. Upon changing this one aspect of my diet, I've discovered some other problems. I'm chalking this up to a similar the pain killer pill addiction that some people have--things hurt more when you go off of pain killers, but it's better for you. As long as I was hopped up on Mt. Dew, my body could not deal with some of the other garbage. The IBS is actually still in play, but soda is mostly out of the equation.

Other Organ Problems: I'm calling it my liver, but I really have no idea what exactly is wrong. I'm having an interesting sensation in my lower front left part of my abdomen, just under my belly button and slightly to the left. It feels like something is there that shouldn't be. I'm attibuting this to Mt. Dew, though it may be a larger problem (or not a problem at all, if it goes away).

Body-Reset Problem: I have no name for the biggest issue that started happening. Basically, my heart, nervous system, and breathing system would all convulse at the same time. I would feel as if everything shut down for a moment, then reboot. Definitely scary. This happened less than 10 times, but after the first time, I felt some changes were needed. Since I have, for the most part, quit Mt. Dew, I have had none of these body-reset issues.

These are the health reasons for quitting soda for one year. Also, I find that I'm much more thirsty for water, which I think is a good problem.

Pavlov'd

So I’ve been not drinking soda for 4 days now. Then my coworker Kristi opened a can of soda a little while ago, and I felt a severe compulsive urge. Luckily, I remembered my cranberry juice which is like a nicotine patch for soda addicts.

Reminds me of this:

New Year's Resolution--The Big One

Truth be told, I hate New Year's Resolutions. I despise them because people make them and break them. I despise them because a good idea is a good idea no matter what time of year it is. My usual question is Why wait until the calendar changes if it's such a good idea?

Anyway. I'm going to attempt one this year. This is a big one, so big in fact that I will need to take a couple months to prepare myself. Are you ready?

I'm going to quit soda. Yeah, that's right. My largest consumption of high fructose corn syrup is in soda. This stuff is not good for me. In fact, it's not good for anyone. So I'm going to knock out the biggest contributing factor. I'm pretty sure I feel its effects working in my body. Soda makes Hanna sick because she's been off of the poison for years. I'm going to try.

As with anything, I believe I can quit more easily than I could "cut back." So I'm going all the way on this one. I expect it will be hard. My tongue craves sweet drinks, so I will have to rely on cranberry juice to help. I only need a little bit of this juice to ease my longing. It's like the nicotine patch for soda addicts.

Keep me accountable, folks! In later blog posts, I will describe the negative effects of soda that are going on in my body.

Star Wars Marathon

We finally did it. We planned this event for three years, for shame. Yet the time came to pass where we finally watched all six Star Wars movies starting at Episode 1 and ending at the end (where else did you think we'd end it?).

It was about how I thought it would be. In a word: LONG. I don't plan on ever doing it again, but it was fun once.

Amber and Donald came over Friday, and spent the night for this event. We laid the futon cushion on the ground in our living room, which the dogs loved. All in all, 14 hours of TV in two days was fun but headachy.

All in all, I came to one conclusion that cannot be denied: many of George Lucas's ideas are the worst parts of the grand universe he created.

Penelope

Here is a long overdue post about my bleeding heart. I bike home, about 3 miles a day, 2-4 days per week. About 2.5 miles from my house, I saw the cutest puppy. (See my wife's blog for pictures.) I picked it up and biked home the rest of the way with only 1 hand steering and braking. This is much harder than you think, especially when you cross roads where through traffic does not stop.

Long story, but the crux is we gave her to my boss and her husband and their 2 teenage daughters after spending about 5 days deciding that no matter how cute the puppy is, we don't want a third dog.

Did I steal someone's puppy? Maybe. However, it was emaciated and flea ridden, and apparently had some abuse or over-zealous punishment issues in its past.

We named her Penelope for fancy occasions, with the shorter Penny for everyday use. Penny, as in, something you find on the street that someone else didn't bother to pick up or take care of.

The Neglect of My Blog

I am ashamed. Yesterday's post was my first in a month. It's not that I am lacking things to say; it's just that I spend much of my time doing homework and that uses up all my words.

Well, I'll try to remedy this problem. Keep tuned. I'll be posting more often.

Class #1 finished

Well, I fought long and hard for an A, and I got one. It seemed unfair at times, but thankfully, I now have proof that I can do school again.

I only missed 7 points in the entire class. 1 point from being late 1 day on an assignment that I didn't know about. I take about 50 percent blame for that one. The other 6 points missed were from the reading quizzes - proof that the system was unfair. How can I read and take good notes and then fail to properly answer the questions which were supposed to be designed to see if I read the material? Answer, bad questions.

Anyway, I got a 93 percent in the class. Yeah, you read that right. That means that in 5 weeks, we were only graded on 100 points of material.

Final tally: 93%

[UPDATE: I looked at it again, and I actually got a 92.96% in a class where I missed 7 points.

First, if it was 100 points total, I would have had a 93.00 percent.
Second, if it was 99 points total, I would have had a 92.92 percent.

I found the total number of points, though:

Total possible: 99.5
My total 92.5
Percent: 92.96

Go figure. I hate this teacher. Grade-wise, nothing made sense.]