Fort Hood

At least six months ago, Hasan came to the attention of law enforcement officials because of Internet postings about suicide bombings and other threats, including posts that equated suicide bombers to soldiers who throw themselves on a grenade to save the lives of their comrades. (quoted from http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091106/ap_on_re_us/us_fort_hood_shooting)

And yet, they kept him in the military, on active duty, and slated him to be sent to the Middle East? What's wrong with this picture?

Technology and Being Quiet

Are we too technologically dependent?

I'm currently writing this on my laptop, and find myself letting it catch my spelling mistakes rather than paying too close attention myself. As I'm writing this, I'm not connected to the Internet, and it amazes me how much it has become an everyday part of my life. I'm used to popping open a browser and checking things out as I have an idea, rather than having to remember things and look into them at a later point. Is that good? Is it good that I can just check out a thought as I have it, or do I lose something by not formulating my ideas into concrete to do lists? What does it say about me that I feel somewhat lost not being able to connect? I don't have access to Google, Facebook, Pandora, or any of the other sites that have become a part of my daily life. I can't sync my files using my dropbox (a great little program if I can give it my own little plug. If you're interested in using it, let me know and I'll invite you – that way we both get 250 Megabytes of storage added to our accounts) and since the laptop has been out of service for a few weeks, I don't have the current version of my files on it locally. Does this bother me? It's an inconvenience, but I think I can survive. However, the fact that being “unplugged,” so to speak, is so very noticeable to me when it happens, makes me more convinced than ever that perhaps we need to unplug regularly. I am becoming more and more of a fan of taking time to be quiet. Watch the sunset. Watch it rise. Sit and listen to the wind. Take some time to see what the Bible says about being quiet. I know I've written about this before, but I'm becoming more convinced that we really need to do it. We are so caught up in the busyness of life, we need to step apart for a time to really appreciate what we have, and to take stock of where we need to go. As it has been aptly said, “Take time to come apart before you come apart.”

What a month!

I'm about to start what may very well be the busiest month of my life. That may be an exaggeration, but if so, not by much. I'm starting the month with a weekend trip to New York. We have come down for the weekend to celebrate my Grandma's 95^th Birthday. I can't imagine the history she has lived through. In talking to her today, I found out that she has seen Glen Miller (among others) perform live.

I digress. Currently we are in New York. As of November 1, I am going to be attempting to take part in Nanowrimo, the North American Novel Writing Month. It is an annual contest challenging people to write a novel of 50000 words or more in the month of November. The only requirement is word count, not content. It is not meant to be an attempt to write the Great American Novel, only as a challenge actually get out there and write. I have so many story ideas banging around in my head, and I have started many of them, only to let them fall abandoned, lonely and forgotten about by the wayside. My goal with nanowrimo is to actually finish one, or at least put so much effort into it that I will not be able to leave it alone until it is finished. (For anyone who is interested, my story is titled Riftwalker. I will probably be posting updates throughout the month for any who are interested. Actually, considering what this month looks like, maybe I won't be posting any updates until December. We'll see.

So, New York, Nanowrimo, and work. At work, we are preparing for multiple visits from a couple big customers, and possibly a company wide audit. These visits usually mean extra hours as we make sure everything is in order and take care of details. They are also used as an excuse by top management to get certain projects finished.

On top of all these things, we are preparing to purchase a house, hopefully closing and moving by the end of the month. I still can't fully wrap my mind around that, but it really seems that the Lord is lining things up for us, and that this is actually going to happen. We really would like to be in by the end of November, since Gail's folks are coming up for a visit, and it would be nice for them to be able to see our new house.

I currently have three documents open that I'm working on, because I have so many things circling around in my head right now that I am trying to make lists so I remember them all. In fact, I just took a 15 minute intermission from writing this blog post to start another blog post (yes, that means I had four going at once) to challenge myself and others to take time to be quiet.

Well, that's all I have time for tonight. Good night all, and if I don't get around to posting any during the month of November, have a happy Thanksgiving!