Christmas List and Yet More Life Questions.

by christindall | Dec 8, 2004 | Uncategorized

Well, life is still swamped, but I do believe that things are getting much better. I know I “promised” I´d update things regularly, and I apologize that my “regular” updates are so sporadic.

That said.  Moving on.

We got a Christmas Tree on Sunday!  Our first real, live tree as a married couple, and that´s very exciting. One of our major goals this holiday season is to organize our lives and really make the holidays / Christmas OURS this year.  Note: I don´t mean excluding family or friends – I just mean taking charge of things and not letting the season slip away.

Towards this goal we slaved this past Sunday evening – which was 100% worth it.  We´re more organized than we´ve been since we got married just over 2 years ago.  We´ve still got a lot to do, but it´s definitely getting there.  It´s a really great feeling, too.

There will be some new features sometime, hopefully before Christmas but we´ll see.  Actually I may change blog software and actually look into a “real” package so that I don´t have to continue to develop this.  Otherwise, there will be some new blog features.  I´m also going to have to revamp the photo gallery software, which hit a wall real quick there a while ago and I haven´t had time to get back to it.  Paying customers who need technology I want to work on anyway seems a good enough excuse to get it developed.

So life has been, as always, quite interesting.  We have finished our season this year for Seasonal Essentials, at least as far as craft shows go.  It has been truly exciting to watch Seasonal Essentials grow this season.  As a result, I will be moving into doing SE as a full time job starting in January, which I´m actually quite thrilled about.  There´s a lot of things that we can do that will really help put some solid roots down for us, as a base to really grow from next year.  It should be a really exciting year from that standpoint.

As a result of my moving into Seasonal Essentials full time, I´ll not be seeking out new web contracts.  Actually, I´ll be very choosy about those contracts that I do choose to accept.  I´ve decided it´s time to stop juggling so much and really focus on one thing and make it go, and that´s Seasonal Essentials.  If A Higher Standard (known to many of you as NWChurches.com) gets funding, then we´ll continue to push and work on things.  If not, then it officially becomes a hobby and I´m not going to stress about it any more. I simply can´t take having so much on my plate, as my body has made quite clear this last year.

So in looking ahead in life, realizing that I´m currently 26 years old with a wife (but not yet any kids on the way…), I´ve been contemplating several “life changing” things.  Questions such as “What makes a man?”, “Who am I” and “Who do I want to be?”, and “How the heck do I get there?”  Questions that everybody asks themselves at least once in life (or in my case, once a week). 

So my first question to you, my dear readers (Holly and Luke), is this:  In your opinion, what makes a man?  What does a man look like to you?  What kinds of character and personality traits does a man have?  Not that the PERFECT man exists, short of Christ, but what should a person aspire to be (as a man)?  I´m very interested in responses on this, as I think that society has changed men into weak, whining shells from what we were meant to be. 

My second question, which is a big one (not that the first isn´t….) has more to do with life than with “man”.  What, in your opinion, is a “Life Well Lived”?  What do you want out of life?  I have my opinions on this as well, and they´ll come out in a subsequent posting sometime in the “near” future, but I´m curious as to what your thoughts are.

I will end this sporadic thought process now with a 100% selfish list.  This is a list of things that I, Chris Tindall, would love for gifts.  Not that I really expect people here to go out and purchase them, or even care, but since I had to write this list for a couple of other reasons I´m going to post it.  Feel free to post your lists in the comments section!  Merry Christmas!

1. CD´s – Cranberries, Uncle Cracker, Lorena McKennit (not Mask and the Mirror, the Visit, or the Book of Secrets – there are three others)
   

2. DVD´s – Gladiator, The Patriot, Braveheart, Gone in 60 Seconds, the Rock, Italian Job, Bourne Identity, XMen, X-2, Spiderman, Kill Bill 1 & 2, Return of the King Extended Ed, The Game, Fifth Element Superbit Edition, Usual Suspects, Face-off, Shrek, Rat Race, Oceans 11…
   

3. Books – Terry Brooks newest Shanara series – “High Druid of Shanara” – Jarka Ruus / Tanequil; Lord of the Rings Trilogy, By Author: Robert Ludlum, Tom Clancy
   

4. PC Games – Call of Duty Exp Pack (PC) (United Offensive)
   

5. Board Games – Taboo / Risk
   

6. Camping stuff – Sleeping Bag, Propane Lantern, Queen Size Air Mattress,
   

7. One of those watches that looks like a wrist watch, but has a clip and is supposed to hang on your belt (pocket watch, but not…)
   

8. Cash (he wants to save for a Digital Rebel camera, and a mountain bike.  and a house.)
   

9. Digital Rebel Camera (or a step up with one of the Nikon Digital SLR cameras)
   

10. Mountain Bike
    

11. House (a REAL house. Preferably on several acres.)
    

12. XBox Console (if console, which I don´t have, then games that are cool:  Dead or Alive 3, Halo 1 & 2…)
     

Stocking stuffer ideas are:

1. Pizza cutter
   

2. Pilot Precise Rolling Ball extra fine pens, any color
   

3. Ritz Crackers
   

4. Wheat Thins
   

5. Hot chocolate, esp. the “fancy flavored kind”
   

6. Brown Cow Ice Cream.  Probably shouldn´t wrap it and leave it under the tree, though.
   

7. Esther Cunningham´s taco-mayo-salsa-sour cream dip – he LOVES that
   

8. Jolly Time Popcorn Oil
   

9. Popcorn Kernals (to pop in air popper)
   

10. Those packets of ranch dip mix
    

11. Glide floss
    

12. Those tortilla chips from the shelton factory
    

13. Thomas Kemper or IBC root beer
    

14. Whoppers, Reeces Peanut Butter Cups (mini), mint M & Ms (you can only get these at Christmas, and Chris LOVES them!)
    

15. Stud Finder
    

16. Tools:  (Not – Screwdrivers)
    

17. LED Flashlight

A Wedding!

by christindall | Oct 19, 2004 | Uncategorized

So I promised someone that I´d get this updated hopefully this next week, so here it is (yes Mr. Decker, that would be you!).

Had the privelage of attending a wedding today of two good friends.  Luke Sankey and Rebecca Strong got hitched in what I can only say was a truly great ceremony.  Both Luke and Becca looked absolutely stunning.  The ceremony itself was wonderful, with the minister combining the perfect amount of humor (as is definitely necessary for both Sank and Becca, as anyone who knows them can attest to) with deep wisdom for not only the couple but also the rest of us.  It all served as a wonderful reminder for myself, as well, of the treasure that I have in Janene. 

On top of seeing two friends get married, we got to see a ton of people from SPU that we haven´t gotten to see in forever!  Talk about a BLAST!  Anyone reading this – it was GREAT to see you.  Thanks for saying hi, and please do keep in touch.  Sometime´s my brain doesn´t work so hot, with everything else going on. 

It has been a very interesting week this past week.

My mentor was in town from Florida, giving me a chance to discuss several things that I needed to discuss.  While that was an amazing time, it also was a heavy time of much reflection and personal interpretation.

My brother is one of three featured artists for the upcoming Arts Alive art show up in Mill Creek (it´s this next weekend – October 23-24, 2004).  As such, he got to participate in a special patron´s show this last wednesday.  He´s an amazing salesman, and it is truly incredible to watch him in action.  I´m incredibly proud of him, although I am sincerely hoping that he is able relax after this next weekend, as he´s on the edge of breakdown, I think.  You might pray for him.

Of course, I´m borderline, myself.  Life has become too hectic, too busy.  I miss my friends, I miss my family, I miss my wife.  But what can you do?  How do you recover?  With Seasonal Essentials starting to take off (yippee!!!), and Fresh Rain Studios bringing in a couple of contracts (also good), and looking for funding for A Higher Standard (oh please, God – oh please…), there is so little time.  So what do you do?  Give it all up to regain some time and some peace?  No, because this is a part of what starting a business is all about – sacrifice so that you can move beyond the insanity at some point.  But how to reach that point?  God, give us strength.

Now it´s time for bed.  I will try to update this a bit more often.  Additionally, we´ll probably send a “Tindall Update” soon, so if you haven´t been getting those please email me at c h r i s @ c h r i s t i n d a l l . c o m and let me know you want to be on that list!

Until then, thanks again everybody, and take care of yourselves.

It’s Fall, and life is still insane!

by christindall | Sep 28, 2004 | Uncategorized

Life is crazy.  I know I say that a lot, but it´s still true.

Pretty decent weekend.  Sold some product at a garage sale on friday / saturday / sunday, which was good.  Saturday went to my uncle´s wedding, which was quite a lot of fun, if not really loud.  Sunday went ot Snohomish to get out for a little while, and found out they were having a car show.  Parking sucked, but the cars were absolutely amazing, so that was a blast.  Hit Ben Franklin on the way home, in Monroe, for some supplies for Halloween crafts – should be really cool.  And cleaned the bedroom, which really REALLY needed it.  It´s really quite an amazing difference, and it´s not even done yet.  Very nice.

So tomorrow, Sept. 28 2004, is my two year wedding anniversary. I cannot BELIEVE that it has been two years.  Looking back is certainly an interesting and introspective thing to do.  I have definitely grown a lot, as has Janene.  It is painful to realize that a lot of the growth is things that I should have dealt with years ago, but I suppose better late than never.

Other than the anniversary, which is the most important item of the week, there´s monday night football tonight with the guys, and a TON of work – both Fresh Rain Studios, Seasonal Essentials, and A Higher Standard.  Lots of interesting things going on, that´s for sure.

Holly Moe, one of my closest friends, sent this link through today.  http://www.okcupid.com/politics  In her own words, “Kind of interesting, albeit probably quite worthless scientifically. ”  Too true – but kind of fun to take.

Andy Moe (Holly´s hubby and also one of my closest friends) recently put up a statistic generator for everybody to use when looking for statistics on pretty much anything.  You can check that out at http://www.moedaddy.com/random.php?ref=ct.

I´m working on Jon and Alia´s wedding website, and will let people know once that´s up and running.  I´m also working on Janene´s art website, janenerenee.com – I´ll update people on that as well, once it goes live.

On a different note entirely, I´m still trying to figure out this crazy thing called life.  There´s so much to do, so many possibilities, so many ideas and things that are simply amazing, that I just don´t know where to start.  If you want to donate anything, from money to ideas or solutions to things, then do drop me a note. chris@christindall.com will do just fine.

Also, I´m brainstorming about writing a book.  I don´t really have anything I´m set on, so I´d love some opinions.  I could go either fiction or not, and I´m open to serious suggestions about subject matter.  This is mostly just for the fun of it, as I really enjoy writing.  There´s no deadline, and it will realistically be a very long term project, I would think.  Just enough else going on and all.

There´s a couple of really fun things going on in Snohomish these next few weeks.  Stocker Farms has their corn maze and pumpkin patch, as does Craven Farms.  We´re talking about going sometime to one of them (probably whichever is free, or if not the least expensive.)  If you´re interested drop a note and we´ll try to keep everybody informed.  I´m not 100% certain it will come together, as we´re trying to get into a few additional craft shows over the next couple of months. 

Man, I would kill for land, and a home on that land.  Preferably somewhere out in the middle of nowhere, yet close enough for Janene to commute in to Children´s if she decides (longer term) that she so desires.  I´m not really interested in being a farmer, necessarily.  But I am entertaining a few possibilities of things that could be similar in lifestyle, from the standpoint of the property paying for itself and allowing us to work from home.  It´s a dream, that´s for sure.  And also for sure, I intend to work dang hard to do whatever I can to move in that direction.  Problem of course, as always, is funding.  Even if I was working a paying job, instead of trying to get these businesses off the ground, we´d be like 120 before we had enough to move that direction.  So my brain, as ever, is going in circles kickin´ up gravel.  If you have any thoughts, or are interested in contributing to the funding, let me know.  I have more solidified plans / possibilities than I´m willing to post here for the world to see.  Such as it is.

Got to hang out with Andy this last friday while Holly, Janene, and Gretcen spent time talking and doing crafts.  Played some starcraft: brood wars, which was cool. I´m hoping that things start to take off here so that I can free up some hours to play some additional games, or even just hang out.

Holy crap – have I mentioned yet that Fall is my all time favorite time of the year?  I LOVE the colder weather, the colors, the smells (both inside and out!), the rain, the crisp air – oh my word. My heart both aches and sings for joy in the fall.  To have a house in the country right now would be so amazing.  Someday I intend to enjoy fall from my front porch, drinking hot chocolate and being with friends, and sitting by a fire with family.  *sigh*

Brief update, and sorry I’ve been gone.

by christindall | Sep 22, 2004 | Uncategorized

It has once again been a long time since I updated my blog, but I suppose that´s just what happens when life is too busy to comprehend.

There have been a lot of things happen since I last wrote here, so I´ll start with a brief general life update.

I sprained my clavical at the Johnson family reunion (Janene´s extended family, and a great time all around) throwing around the nephews.  It didn´t show itself until that following monday, and then proceeded to get worse over a few days.  Unfortunately, it meant I got very little work done as I couldn´t even sit at the computer.  I think I´m fine now, though.

I´ve done some work for Grandpa Ed and Grandma Esther, on their house.  This next week I get to go back up and help some more.  I enjoy it a lot – it´s physical labor so I´m not stuck in front of my computer, and on top of that I get to spend time with my grandparents, who I rarely get to see – entirely at fault for that is my schedule.  Which is not something to harp on ´cause if you know me enough to pick through this site you already know what my schedule is.

Seasonal Essentials has been growing quite nicely.  We were accepted into the Warm Beach Lights of Christmas Craft Show, so we´re very excited about that.  We also “sponsored” the Life Choices Pregnancy Clinic Annual Conference this last weekend (Sept. 17-19).  Janene has volunteered as a counselor at Life Choices for close to 4.5 years now.  We provided soap for the welcome kits, and in return we got some amazing advertising and a table at the conference from which to sell product – and we did well.   Additionally, our new site is coming along nicely.  I have a few more pieces to finish on the technology, if I can pull my head out of my … long enough to get it done.  Just too much to balance! 🙂  The new site will feature a lot of new technology, bug fixes, new design, and new products.  We´re very excited about it all.

A Higher Standard is also making some good progress, and is a prayer request for you all, too.  We´re finishing the business plan (this week, maybe?)  Once that´s done we´re going to talk to some investors we have indirect contact with, assuming God grants us a meeting with them.  They´re some really big players, so it would be a miracle to get them interested in what we´re doing.  I´m really excited about it all, and the possiblities – AHS still holds my attention and a lot of passion.

The ecommerce technology that I´m developing is almost done. There´s a few things left to do, and once it´s done I´ll have an amazing product to sell.  Speaking of, if anyone knows anyone who is looking for web work, shoot them my way – or to Fresh Rain Studios (www.freshrainstudios.com), my web company. 

I need to purchase a high volume printer, and am really hoping to get into the Xerox Free Color Printer Program once I have the money to get started.  Seasonal Essentials has a very hefty printing requirement, as does AHS and FRS. Not to mention some of the stuff that we do on our own.  We also need an industrial paper cutter – I used to have access to one when I worked for Digital Possibilities, but that was a while ago.  With all the cutting that we have to do (product labels, etc) we really need that.

Oh, and if anyone is looking for an amazing real estate agent, either to buy a home or sell a home, let me know – I am very close with an agent who will bed over backwards to help any of her clients.  She´s absolutely amazing, and an old family friend.

I´m still in recovery mode from last week and this past weekend, and just can´t seem to shake that “exhausted” thing that comes with too much stress and work and not enough rest and sleep.  Unfortunately, there´s so much to be done in order to release our new site, finish up a contract, do a couple of proposals for new contracts, fix a lot of the technology that´s on this site (which will go into a web package for sale), etc. etc. etc. that I´m not sure when things will slow down.  I have decided that I simply cannot take any more on, other than real live paying contracts. Again, if you know of anybody looking for some really sweet technology in a professional design, complete with tech support and help getting up and running, let me know.

That´s it for now.  I´ve gotta eat, and then back to work.  This week is going way too freakin´ fast, and it´s only Tuesday.

Life: Ambition, Dreams, Goals, Philosophies, and how do you know?

by christindall | Jul 16, 2004 | Uncategorized

How do you know?

Ok. I know.  I´m a loser.  I haven´t updated this in forever.  What can I say, life has been busy.

Recently I have been camping (twice, actually – once was my dad´s father´s day gift with him, myself, and my bro; the second was with Ryan and Grahame / Moe and Holly for a group retreat.)  Both were much fun and relaxing.

I have also been swamped with businesses taking off and prepping for businesses to take off.  Which is part of this rather lengthy entry.  Gotta make up for lost time, right?

So to start with, life philosophy.

I had a conversation recently with a friend about life in general.  It started with my mentioning all the business stuff and the insanity that is inherent with that, and trying to organize life and see what it will take to reach the life that Janene and I dream of living. 

[Briefly, that life consists of much land in the country, working from home on various businesses, with Janene making soap and art full time, etc.  This is just the tip of the iceburg but will suffice for now.]

My friend said that that´s not how life works.  That once in a blue moon someone can make that happen, can push and work and essentially get lucky and have everything required fall into place.  But that life usually gets in the way of such dreams.  While I believe that this is more or less true, I also in some ways disagree.  More on that in a moment.

My friend had several valid points.  Some of his goals include working and making enough that his wife doesn´t have to work, and enough to support his family.  If to do this he must work a job that he hates then he´ll do it.  He may grumble and complain, but when it really comes down to it he´ll be on time and will do the best job that he can do.

I think that´s amazing, and amazingly admirable. 

I couldn´t do that.  I NEED to believe in my work; I also WANT to believe in what I´m doing.  That doesn´t mean that I´ll necessarily always love my job, but at the core it needs to be something I can hold onto and believe in.  We spend far too much of our lives working to be stuck somewhere that drains and depletes us for me to settle for something I hate.  Obviously there´s a balance inherent in this, as I also wouldn´t let my family starve. 

As I was thinking through this more over the next couple of days I decided that while my friend had valid points, I do disagree with him.

For one, I live in America, Land of Opportunity.  Land of “where there´s a will, there´s a way.”  I personally know or know of several people that live lives similar to what I dream of.  And I believe that I can reach that spot too.  I believe that it takes some ambition to get up off your ass and work hard.  Really hard.  110 hour a week hard.  And you work that hard, and you set the ball in motion, and you work because you have a dream and a vision and a goal, and because you know that if you can just get that ball rolling you can work hard to direct it until you ARE able to move into that kind of a lifestyle.

It won´t be easy.  It won´t be painless.  It will require sacrifices that hurt.  It might require working instead of doing something fun.  It might require working instead of sleeping.  It might require more than you know until you get started. 

But the reward at the end – that´s the dream.  That´s the goal.

And I believe that anybody who is willing to work hard enough and make the necessary sacrifices and learn in the process and get help where they can and support where they can is able to make their dreams come true.  Again obviously, but for some it will be more difficult than others – and some will need more help then others.  But I believe that if you show the determination and the courage and the strength that people will support and help you because they will see that in you and know that you´re committed to reaching the goal.

From another angle, however, some restraint is needed; caution, counsel, patience, and even silence.  For if you´re following a dream that isn´t GOD´S dream for you, then it´s all worthless.  So I do believe that you need to take the time to talk to God, and then take the time to listen.  Definitely easier to say than to do, as I struggle with that on a daily basis.

Speaking of which, it´s interesting to me how everything is taking off at once.  I have three businesses – my web design firm, Seasonal Essentials, and A Higher Standard.  All three are starting to move, faster than I can keep up.  Which is both interesting, exciting, and frustrating. 

Are these all of God?  Is God using them each in turn to move me closer to dreams, to bring in a paycheck, to accomplish whatever it is He wants to accomplish?  Or is Satan using one of them to fill my time, to distract me and cause me to focus my energies in the wrong place?  How do you know that?  Prayer, I suppose.  Thoughts, anybody?

Rains, Pours, Sunshine, Blinding!

by christindall | Jul 2, 2004 | Uncategorized

Holy cow.  I feel like life just sped up x10.  So here I was working through several projects; some technology and tech trees / modules for Fresh Rain Studios, the newest version of NWChurches.com, and the updated (better than ever!) version of Seasonal Essentials [nothing has been released yet].  Out of “the blue” I have contracts and those interested in contracts coming in “like crazy”.  Ok, so it´s only three, but all at the same time, all significant jobs, and all needing to get done.

I´m working like crazy on the newest version of Seasonal Essentials so that we can start generating lots of money to cover costs and salry and whatever.  There´s many new features and tons of bug fixes in the newest version, which is good because it´s the basis of my ecom solution, which one of my customers wants.  So I guess it´s goot it´s basically done.

At the same time I´m working on A Higher Standard stuff; business plans, executive summary, website . . . I go away for a weekend camping and come back to an email that there´s someone potentially interested in investing in AHS.  Obviously nothing solid at this point, other than good prayer opportunities.

Everything happens at once!  There´s so much to do, and just not enough time.

Maybe sometime soon I´ll take the time ot put in my thoughts on this last weekend´s camping.  I may also get around to some real meat for a day or two. 

Then again, maybe not.  I supposed it depends on how insane everything remains.  And since I´m no longer sure of what I´m typing, I do believe it´s time to crash and burn. 

An Interesting and fun day

by christindall | Jun 24, 2004 | Uncategorized

Life is so interesting.

Today at least wasn´t as hot as it was yesterday.  According to WeatherBug (AIM) it only reached 75 or 76.  Which was much better than the almost 90 it hit yesterday.  As someone who loves the rain, and the midst, and the fall, this heat is too much.  Fortunately, our apartment is on the bottom floor and is quite cool, even when it´s blistering hot outside.

So today was a fairly typical work day.  Worked through the ecommerce solution for my web design company, Fresh Rain Studios.  Got all the meta tags management and implementation working – it´s really pretty freakin´ cool. 

Anyway – enough about that.  I was planning on heading out and running errands all evening, as I have several things I need to purchase and prepare in anticipation of my camping trip this next weekend.  Jon (my brother), Mike (my dad), and I are going up the Mountain Loop Highway for the weekend.  This will be Jon´s first real camping trip (his last he was like 2), and my dad´s first trip in a really long time.  I´m really pumped, as it´ll be my first camping trip this “season” and I desperately miss nature.

We had a wonderful invitation that sure changed the tone of the evening.  Andy and Holly Moe invited us spontaneously to meet them at Carkeek Park for a picnic of KFC.  It was absolutely fabulous.  We sat out on the beach and took photos of the sunset and the people.  It was relaxing and fun.  We then came back and watch one of my and Janene´s favorite movies, Uncorked – which the Moe´s had not yet seen. 

As I have been exploring myself I have come to see things about me that I need, and want, and that I really am unhappy with.  How does one go about changing oneself?  Especially when there are so many things that need to be changed?  How does one balance living life (including owning / running three businesses, a wife, and friends) and focus on changing without failing miserably?  *sigh*

Couple quick notes about movies (probably do more full / formal reviews sometime soon):
Equilibrium:
A “what if” sci-fi movie, this movie is definitely enjoyable.  Don´t expect it to win awards, but it´s definitely worth the couple of hours.  The general premise is that WW3 wiped out most of the human race; in the aftermath, realizing that we couldn´t survive another global war, a method of deadening human emotions was devised – because human emotions were blamed for enflaming the world to the point of war.  These rules were enforced by “Clerics,” highly trained soldiers who hunted down and eliminated those accused of “sense crimes”.  The story tells of one cleric, the highest cleric, who … oh, nevermind.  Watch the movie and find out. 🙂 

The Notebook:
Fresh in theaters this last week, this was (in my humble opinion) a wonderful love story and a fantastic movie.  Check out the trailer, and pay attention to the reviews when they say to bring kleenex.  When we saw the screening there were like two people not crying at the end.  It´s a very touching and inspiring story, and a GREAT date movie.

Harry Potter 3:
This was definitely better than the first two.  A new director brings some real movie tricks to this one, and as a result the movie actually feels like a . . . movie.  You know, instead of a book that´s been animated.  I would recommend seeing it, especially if you like the first two.  If you skipped them, or hated them, wait for video, but it´s probably worth the couple of hours of your time to catch it.

Enough for tonight.  More sometime soon.

It’s too hot.

by christindall | Jun 23, 2004 | Uncategorized

It´s too hot. It was 82+ here in Seattle today.  I love the rain, and I like the cooler weather.  Fall is my favorite time of year.  It was just too hot.

Fun weekend, though.  Got to housesit for Janene´s boss and take care of their dog and cat.  It was fun and relaxing.  Went to the Edmonds Art Festival for a while, walked around the house for a while, relaxed and watched several movies, which I´ll give my thoughts on later sometime. 

I´m picking Janene up at Life Choices right now, where she volunteers every monday night.  Since she´s done, I´ve gotta run.  But I´ll do my best to update this again with something intelligent soon…

Some Random Stuff

by christindall | Jun 18, 2004 | Uncategorized

Invisibility?

by christindall | Jun 16, 2004 | Uncategorized

I thought this was quite amazingly cool.  Yes, the potential for misuse is there – and the device probably WILL be misused if it ever becomes commonly available.  But hey, what are great inventions for?

The inventor of an “invisibility” cloak has said that his next project will be to develop the technology to allow people to see through walls.

Susumu Tachi, who showed off the cloak at an exhibition in San Francisco earlier this month, said he was hopeful of providing a way to provide a view of the outside in windowless rooms.

“This technology can be used in all kinds of ways, but I wanted to create a vision of invisibility,” he told BBC World Service´s Outlook programme.

“My short-term goal would be, for example, to make a room that has no outside windows appear to have a view to the outside, then the wall would appear to be invisible.”

Read the Full Story

I love old people.

by christindall | Jun 10, 2004 | Uncategorized

I do.  I love old people.

Yeah, I spend a lot of time complaining about their driving (whether I´m in a hurry or not).  About how they should not be allowed to drive any more.

But when it really comes down to it, I love old people.  I´m proud that I live in a country where they can still be independent.  Where they can go to the grocery store if they want to.  Or out with friends. 

I´m incredibly fortunate at 25 to have both sets of grandparents alive and well.  My mom´s parents just celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary – 60 freakin´ years!  That´s absolutely amazing!  I have learned so much about life (and love, and the way things work) from my grandparents that I don´t know where I´d be without them.  I have fond memories growing up of spending time with my grandparents, and their friends.

Old people have so much wisdom.  So often they are looked upon as out of touch with reality, out of touch with today´s society. But I submit that they are more in touch with reality than many younger people in todays society.  These older people have been through the wringer and come out the other side, full of strong character and life experience.  We as a younger generation should above all respect that and take the time to listen to the stories our old people tell.  Listen and learn.

Learn about what it was like to live through a huge depression, where food was literally scarce.  To live through world upheavals and wars.  To live in a society that still rewarded people for strong character, for honest and integrity, and for fidelity.  A society that was more concerned about what was morally right than what someone´s feelings were.  After all, what is a hurt feeling compared to a moral sin?

What would happen, I wonder, if the youth of today were required to be mentored by an old person.  To help take care of an old person.  To listen and learn, and to grow in so doing.  My guess is that society would be a different place.  Perhaps we wouldn´t be sliding down the slippery slope into oblivion, because I believe that´s where we´re headed.  And it SEEMS like so few in our society see it.  Or have the character and the guts to stand up and make themselves heard.

I wonder, would we listen? 

Not at first, that´s for sure.  Because I can almost guarantee that right now someone with character is standing up and saying HOLD IT!  But do we hear it?  No. 

Perhaps we´ve forgotten how to listen?  How many of us have no idea what´s happening in politics today?  I know I´m definitely weak in that area, much to my shame.  How many of us have never volunteered to help people, in a soup kitchen or a homeless shelter or a home?  How many of us have no true understanding and appreciation of what the phrase “to serve” means? 

I think old people are best at these things.  Perfect?  By no means.  But definitely stronger than the vast majority of the rest of us. 

So get up off your butt.  Turn off your computer.  Go hug and old person, and have a good conversation.  I imagine you´ll enjoy it and learn something about life and yourself in the process. 

Van Helsing, Big Fish, Paycheck

by christindall | Jun 8, 2004 | Uncategorized

Three movie reviews for you this evening.  Janene and I recently saw Van Helsing on a spur of the moment date.  The other two, Big Fish and Paycheck, we saw this weekend because Janene has been sick with a bummer of a cold.

Van Helsing:
The basic plot of Van Helsing:  Van Helsing works for a secret society call the Knights of the Order, based out of the Catholic Church.  He is referred to as “the Left Hand of God” multiple times throughout the movie, and he is a primary “enforcer” in the Church´s fight against evil. 

The movie starts with an encounter between Van Helsing and Mr. Hyde which sets the mood for the remainder of the movie. After returning from his encounter with Mr. Hyde to the Vatican, Van Helsing is sent to Transylvania ostensibly to help protect the last two of a royal bloodline dedicated to destroying Dracula.

The movie is wonderfully dark and entertaining.  In the same vein as the Mummy and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (although it was much much better than League…), it is filled with comedic action, fun monster affects, and side comedy.  There´s essentially no blood shown in the movie; indeed, very little actual death is shown, with the exception of the vampires – which was, for obvious reason, far fetched enough that it wasn´t particularly bothersome.  There is much teeth and claws and snarling beasts as was to be expected.  Probably wouldn´t be enjoyable for the person who doesn´t like to be startled or who has an aversion to vampires, etc.  But if you enjoy those sorts of movies, by all means don´t miss this movie.

Big Fish:
Big Fish is the “life story” of Edward Bloom (played by Ewan McGregor and some other old guy – flashbacks and such), a bigger than life man from a town too small to hold him.  Directed by Tim Burton, this film is full of eye candy and extremely enjoyable exaggerations.  Following the life of Edward Bloom through flashbacks while showing him as a late life grandpa who is dying of cancer, the film explores life and creativity through tall tales – which turn out to be not quite so tall after all. 

I personally enjoyed this film immensely.  I enjoyed not only the scenery but also the emotions of the film.  I´d love to hear what other people took out of this film.

Paycheck:
In the same vein as The Bourne Identity, although not as good (in my humble opinion), Ben Affleck plays an engineer who reverse engineers technology for a corporation.  The premise includes the fact that Affleck gets his memory wiped clean after each assignment.  After accepting an unusually long assignment he finds himself back “on the outside” with no memory of his last three years – and without the paycheck he expected to find waiting.  In its place was an envelope filled with several strange and seemingly random items.  Left to use the items in the envelope to unravel the mystery of what´s going on is the basic plot of this film.

It was enjoyable as an essentially “brainless” entertainment item, but won´t win any awards.