November 28, 2003
November 26, 2003
Here she is, our beautiful new daughter, Bailey Elisabeth. She was born Sunday afternoon at 4:09pm; she registered at 7 pounds, 8 ounces, and 19.5 inches long.
More photos below.
November 21, 2003
We are happy to announce that Genia will be having the baby sometime in the afternoon on Monday, November 24th. At our last doctor's visit, he suggested that we go ahead and induce labor early Monday morning, and we agreed. It'll be nice because all our family was able to make plans to be here as opposed to us calling them on short notice as we got to the hospital.
Naturally, we're excited and counting down the days and hours. As I think about seeing our little girl for the first time, I hope that she'll look like Genia, and I've been looking through some of her baby and little girl photos. Here are a few of my favorites.
November 14, 2003
In my last post, I made reference to the growing streak of libertarianism in my political thinking. Libertarian thought, while growing more and more popular with people of my generation, is often objected to by conservatives. The main area of disconnect that I see is in the question of "legislating morality." This essay by The Dane of Nowheresville does a good job of explaining that while it is possible to legislate personal morality, "it is a mistaken way to look at society and law." Scott at Truth Becomes Lies also recently discussed his libertarian-slanted political thoughts, which are based on "two main ethics - personal responsibility and the sanctity of human life."
Romenesko's Obscure Store linked to this story on Wednesday. In Lauderhill, Florida, a homeowner had their house painted purple and gold, much to the displeasure of their neighbors. The city, after many complaints, passed a new ordinance that will control the colors a homeowner is allowed to use for the exterior of their homes. The ordinance gives the homeowner three years to comply by repainting if they do not use an approved shade, and two more years if they can prove a financial hardship. Lauderhill Commissioner Wally Elfers had this to say about the new law:
I almost jumped out of bed when I read we'd have to wait five years for someone to repaint a purple house... My God, that's a lifetime.
You know what makes me jump out of bed? The government telling people what colors they can paint their homes! I suppose my Libertarian streak has been steadily growing over the last year, but this just caused a major growth spurt. There's a house on Tennessee Ave. here in St. Elmo that was recently painted purple, with burgundy trim. I think it's hideous, and I wouldn't mind if the owners had a change of heart and repainted it a color that didn't hurt my eyes. That said, I would never petition the government to force them into repainting their home.
I read a similar story out of Atlanta earlier this year. A homeowner wanted to add a set of rounded stairs to his front porch, and was denied the request because rounded steps weren't historically accurate for that neighborhood as a whole, even though they were appropriate for that specific house's architecture. Another example of power run amuck. The homeowner had a great sense of humor and civil disobedience, though, and painted his house green with purple polka dots as a protest.
Last night, Genia and I were watching a West Wing rerun on Bravo, and one of the issues they were discussing was a national seat belt law. Obviously, wearing a seat belt is a good thing. They can be invaluable if you are involved in a wreck, and save a lot of lives. I think it's irresponsible not to wear one. If I died because I didn't wear one, I would have done a great injustice to my wife and child. However, does that mean the government should force you to wear a seat belt? I don't think it does.
Did our founding fathers really envision the government meddling in these types of affairs? I'll refer back to The West Wing. A character named Ainsley Hayes, a Republican lawyer, said this about why she's a Republican:
I believe that every time the federal government hands down a new law it leaves for the rest of us a little less freedom.
And I agree with that. Unfortunately, it is arguable that the current Republican party leadership (Bush, specifically) no longer truly supports small government and traditional political conservatism. See No Party by Josh Claybourn for some good examples of this.
November 13, 2003
After taking Genia for a little pampering at The Nu Cheveux this morning, I spent most of the afternoon right here on the computer. I've been formatting and posting some concert photos to the Served to Raise website that I built and maintain. It's pretty easy, but repetitive, so I started messing around with some effects on a few of the photos to break it up a bit. I was pretty pleased with the one I posted above.
November 12, 2003
Amazon.com has a great new feature called Purchase Circles. Basically, a Purchase Circle is a specialized bestseller list. You can find out the bestselling products to a given town, university, company, or non-profit organization. It's pretty interesting because Amazon bases the lists on the "items that are more popular with each specific group than with the general population." So, here are a few lists of interest:
I tried searching for Covenant College, but apparently there haven't been enough purchases made to create a Purchase Circle yet.
November 10, 2003
Music journalist Steve Beard, host of thunderstruck.org, co-authored the new book Spiritual Journeys, writing chapters about Bono and Johnny Cash. He was recently interviewed by Debbie Kreuser of U2 fansite Interference about both men as well as his pop-culture website Thunderstruck.
Given that Interference is a U2 site, most of the interview is spent discussing Bono. Beard offers this brief description of Bono's uniqueness in pop culture:
Bono is rock 'n' roll's most effective and enigmatic spiritual provocateur. He sees every stage as a pulpit and every coliseum as a cathedral. Who else talks to rock journalists about the theological superiority of grace over karma, writes the forward to a specially-packaged book of Psalms, convinces Sen. Jesse Helms to help African AIDS victims, and use his time on national television to pray the Scriptures?
He makes pitches for the Bible, gets nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, and then makes news for getting pardoned by the FCC for using the F-word on television, he is a walking contradiction.
When asked if he saw similarities between Bono and Johnny Cash, Beard gave an interesting perspective on Cash's appearance as a vocalist on U2's Zooropa:
There is a very good reason that Johnny Cash performed on the Zooropa album. He served symbolically as a limping priest, one who had gone through his own personal hell with fame and fortune and could be empathetic to fellow travelers who were wandering in their own desert. He was viewed as an authority figure that had the weight of a moral anchor in a tumultuous sea.
November 09, 2003
Yesterday was a happy day in Chattanooga. Moe's Southwest Grill opened on Gunbarrell Road, right next door to Target. Genia and I are big fans of Moe's, and that's putting it mildly. When we lived in Atlanta, we were just a mile or so down the street from a Moe's, and we probably ate there twice a week. We're celebrating their arrival in Chatty with a bang -- we went last night for dinner, and today for lunch! They have great tacos and burritos, and a cool quirky atmosphere. Check them out when you're out by Target or the mall.
November 06, 2003
U2 Go Home, the upcoming DVD release of their historic return to Slane Castle as part of the Elevation Tour, hits stores November 18. Naturally, I'm crazy with anticipation. Universal Switzerland gives me more to look forward to by posting an online preview (Flash required) featuring clips of "Beautiful Day," "Out of Control," "Where the Streets Have No Name," "Pride," "One," and "Walk On." Check it out and enjoy!
I posted on the question Is Music Amoral? not too long ago, prompted by a BHT discussion on the same topic. Today I came across what has to be the best essay I've ever read on the subject of sacred and secular art. What Does Music Mean? is a featured article on Te Deum, a new music website by the people behind The Discerning Reader. It's rather long, so give yourself some time and read it carefully. It's excellent.
November 05, 2003
Just a quick recommendation. Head over to CEO Blues and read Dan's excellent posts detailing his Outward Bound journey one day at a time. You should, of course, start with his account of day 1, get caught up by reading about day 2 and today's post about day 3, and diligently follow along for the remaining 18 days. Included in today's post is this tale of cross-cultural slang, misinterpreted:
After supper the taller of the Veroniques leaned over and whispered to me in poor English this line... this is a word for word quote... "Hey, do you want to go commando?"
Let?s pause here for a moment to reflect. I have known this female for 48 hours. She has just asked me if I want to remove my underwear. I am confused, very very confused.
Without looking too shocked I managed to ask her what she meant by "go commando". She then proceeds to tell me that it is the French term for playing pranks on people. I laugh and tell her what it means in English. She gets embarrassed, but laughs hysterically. Matt almost exhales a lung laughing when he hears this.
Whether it's driven by some biological instinct or the subconcious awareness of the drastic change about to burst into our lives, Genia and I have had trouble sleeping just about every night for the last month. In her case, it's probably been more like the last two months. Sleep comes in spurts, with one or both of us waking up as often as every half-hour. Many times, one of us will wake up and our repositioning will wake the other one. As frustrating as it can be, it's nice that we'll be less shocked when Bailey is here and grants us sleep in two hour increments spread throughout the day and night.
Genia's mother was here on Monday bringing us some furniture that my mom gave us for the nursery. It's pretty cool because it was furniture that was in my nursery nearly 24 years ago. Am I that old already? Good grief. It'll really hit me when I start back to college in the fall and sit in class with 19 year olds. Anyway, when Rita was here, she said to me, "Your life is going to change like you can't even imagine. Your whole world is going to be turned around." She's said it before, and so have other people, so it wasn't exactly new revelation. My mental response was different, though. I thought to myself, "Bring it on. I'm ready for my life to change. I want this change." People like to talk about how hard it is to have a child, and how you don't have any time for yourself, and how you lose your freedom.
You know what? I'm ready to throw my life into something (or rather, someone) that I value more than myself. And I know Genia feels the same way. This could be the greatest time of our lives.