Do we spend our time on undeserved pleasures in this life?

"It would seem that our Lord finds our desires not to strong, but too weak. We are half hearted creatures, fooling around with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far to easily pleased." -C.S. Lewis

Temptation: don't blame ... name!

It is true that I've grown more aware of the opposite sex of late. It seems that recently I've been especially tuned into the strong force of female attractiveness. I suspect it is due to the increased number of engagements/weddings of close friends. This has also led me to wonder if the Intimacy that I long for leads to lustful cravings. Is lust a perversion of the need for intimacy? If I'm still single, then how can I combat this? I believe the solution starts with asking the right question.

If you are familiar with conflict resolution techniques, than you might be familiar with the phrase "Don't blame, name". The idea is as simple as the phrase. Blaming does not lead to a solution. However, naming what upset you often lends to the diffusion of unrighteous aggression.

I believe this approach can be useful in addressing the real issues behind lust. I believe that blaming makes it easier to give into such temptations. I've blamed my sinful nature, I've blamed my gender, I've blamed my physiology. The problem with blaming is that it covertly shifts the responsibility away from ourself. When instead we seek to name the true source of temptation, we are better able to understand it, and ideally overcome it.

Smallville to Soapville

I'm not sure when Smallville started playing mainly towards females, but It has made the show quite painful to watch. I always knew there was excess drama thrown in, but lately the show has gone to the extreme. The long exchanges of emotional charged dialogue between characters, the zoom in on the facial cues, the dramatic change in stories with surprising twists. I knew the writers were slightly appealing to emotional longing for the perfect wedding that women plan for after watching the latest episode of Lois in a wedding dress. I don't know a guy that would have enjoyed the dramatic dance of a love struck lois- thrown out of character by the blue kryptonite. And yes, they brought in another form of kryptonite- this one allows him to control people. What's next, a pink kryptonite that causes clark to act flamingly gay? A balance of action & innovative twists has been replaced with a stale plot lines & cliché dialogue. I was sucked in by the story of Superman, but the thick Drama has made this show blow. If I ever see a superman love triangle again it will be too soon! One more thing; considering how many times the main characters in the show were knocked unconscious, they should be in a coma by now!

Is God sick of my prayer?

Well, theologically the answer is no. However, I was captured by a phrase Oswald Chambers used in My Utmost for His Highest.

If God were human, how sick and tired He would be of the constant request we make for our salvation and for our sanctification. We burden his energies from morning till night asking for things for ourselves or for something from which we want to be delivered! When we finally touch the underlying foundation of the reality of the gospel of God, we will never bother Him anymore with little personal complains.

After reading this passage you may want to vindicate your prayer request. You may be saying "Hey, who are you to say such stuff, if you only knew". Oswald is not seeking to devalue out prayer life, but rather call to attention where our heart is. I've noticed during my Sunday school classes that prayer request share the same theme for a sick relative or friend. Sometimes they are about physical or emotional loss, or perhaps for a test that is coming up. I'm not trying to deprecate these request, but I don't ever recall hearing a prayer request about the souls of the lost. I assure you that I myself fall into the same trap at times where I can become focused on the temporal here and now situation rather than the big picture of eternity. I don't believe God tires of our prayers, but hopefully we are aware of who and what were praying for. What if a journal recorded all of our prayers? Would they see it as simply repeated request for personal care for ourselves and those closest to us or as a selfless cry for the lost & broken?

Web Site Creation

A variety of tools exist that can lead to a richer experience when viewing the web. For instance, flash based games are considered rich content because they draw consumers to a richer experience (Lancie, 2009) Another example of rich content is material that offers a higher degree of detail. For example, it is no surprise that visual content offers a more attractive way of conveying information. The ideal is being able to combine visual medium with intractability. Below are a number of tools that offer such engagement.
Tools of engagement like a zoom viewer or data capture focus on interaction and enable content to be rich in their own self-contained setting. A benefit of this is the blurring of the lines between entertaining and educating (Lancie, 2009). Google wave offers Real time collaboration with the ability to embed media and documents (Jefferson, n.d). An example of a website that utilizes this approach is Google wave. This site is dynamic and allows two or more to collaborative view and work on the same document. Another advantage is user communication resembles forum threads, an advantageous way to view and respond to comments .
Another tool called Typekit can help set a website a part. This service allows users to purchase fonts to be used on websites. Considering there are 7 fonts users typically use for the web, this service offers creative alternatives to the standard. Such a service is unique, and Typekit may be the way to reinvent typography. Blog.typekit.com
Wordpress is another possibility at improving the users inability to participate in a website. Having the ability to comment on a websites creative content has become a popular tool utilized that have emerged beyond blogs. Such a program is also imperative where feedback is needed. The ability to leave feedback may for instance, help real-estate viewers understand local market and make more informed judgments. An example where this is implemented is realestate.com.au/localvoices
Adding video can make your site visually interesting, especially since 11 billion videos were shown in September of 2009 alone (Jefferson, n.d). Video hosting sites that specifically allow companies more control and customer service includes such sites as Sorenson Media’s 360, VideoBloom, and Fliqz. Since there is a preference to watch a video over reading text, videos will increase a websites audience.

Website of interest:
http://holding.macheist.com/evidence/ - does a interactive website where
http://www.doritoslatenight.com/ - scans bag and plays blink 182 song
http://ge.ecomagination.com/smartgrid/#/landing_page - allows you manipulate smart grid
http://www.toyota.com/vehicles/minisite/newprius/ -can manipulate prius car
http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/evil-lair-on-architecture-of-enemy-in.html - on the architecture of the enemy in video game worlds
http://www.hobnox.com/audiotool - create electronic music with this tool in browser
http://devkick.com/ - computer scripts to use for designers
http://weloveyouso.com/ - inspirations for movie “where the wild things are”

Unattainable Beauty

One of the frustrations with our present age of technology is the ability to be fake. Not only can technology provide us with the ability to communicate great distances, but it also allows us to better mask the true us. This concept of fake can be seen in a number of different facets. How often is what we see in magazines or the big screen a true representation? How well can we trust that the person communicating with us via myspace actually represents their picture. How easy is it for us to plagiarize thoughts or ideas? For a more visually enlighttening example, check out ReTouch. Also, check out the article that this Blog Title was based on here.

shot down...

So I crashed and burned tonight, not a pretty sight. I was going to the Opera with some fellow classmates. When we got there, we were greeted by the most beautiful girl. those of you who know me know that my taste is particular, so me finding someone that is my standard of attractive is rare. Anyway, I was able to talk to this girl while we were waiting to sit down, and I found out she was a education major & a junior at that. It was during the second half of the show that I gathered the gumption to go over and talk to her. I hung back till the second act started, then when I noticed she was sitting down in the back, I sat behind her and introduced myself. She said her name was Michael, and responded "oh, like the arch angle". She responded, 'Yeah, I'm married to david". I thought we were still talking about biblical stuff, so I was confused, since David in scripture was Married to Basheeba, not Michael. Then I realized she was not talking thousands of years ago, but now. Then I noticed the ring on her finger. Thankfully I got a phone call from my friend dan, so I was out of there like a fat kid in dodge ball. Well, I know you miss all the opportunities you don't swing at, so strike 1 for me.