So this is life?

I get up. I go to work. I come home. Wait, let's not boil things down to their least interesting most dry and disturbingly habitual parts. Let's create a world of wonder. Ready?

Every experience is a building block to my being. With each passing moment, each emotion explored, each new fact learned, each behavior disected and mastered I become more fit to fulfil my purpose in this world.

Everything is learning and growing. The world is in flux. Getting up this morning will not be like getting up tomorrow or getting up a week from now. In a flash, in a shiver, things can change drastically and irreparably . Every day is different. If you feel trapped, if you feel the treadmill spinning under your feet, look around. Things are not the same. Things will not be the same. The world is moving, life is being created and snuffed out and recreated. There is wonder all around us. Slow down. Speed up. Take a moment and listen to the pulse of creation. Enjoy the solitude of a old forest road or revel in the bustling streets of a city market. It's all changing. Life goes by quickly. Be thankful. Enjoy what you have been given.

When Worse Comes to Worse my Peoples Come First

Thought for the day: Q-Is the war in Iraq wrong? Should we pull out all our troops and cut our losses?
A-Would you rather fight terrorists and radical extremists in Iraq or in Illinois?

Freedom is not free.
Support our troops.
Happy Holidays to all our men and women serving in the armed forces. Thank-you for your hard work and sacrifice.



I'd like to be able to say that I don't care who plays Ohio State in the BCS championship this year. I vote for Michigan. I am biased being a Michigan fan born and raised in Michigan, but I have my reasons why I would take Michigan over Florida.

1) Florida does indeed have strength of schedule, however Michigan's only loss is to #1 Ohio State, at #1Ohio State, by three points.

2) Michigan is better than Florida. This is not intended to offend Gator fans but I have seen both teams play this year and Michigan is the better team. If you really think that UF will give the Buckeyes a better game than Michigan, so be it. But, I think if you are honest, really-deep-down-heart-of-hearts honest you'll agree.

3) The "They've already had their shot, let someone else have a chance who won their conference" vote. Again, if you honestly think that there is a better team in the nation than Michigan to play Ohio State, go ahead and vote for them. But this isn't the playground in 3rd grade. Not everyone gets a chance to play so that it's "fair". Is it "fair" to allow Michigan to play Ohio State again? That is not the point. It's the best team against the best team. Nothing has happened to prove that Michigan and Ohio State are not (still) the two best teams in the country and should be playing for the title.

All that being said, Florida will most likely get the bid and get hammered by the Buckeyes. Until there is a playoff in college football things will have the potential (as what is happening this year) to spin wildly out of control. Ok, I'm done.

Picked up my trusty copy of the Silmarillion today. What a wonderfully written work. Easy to read, no. Rewarding to read becasue of its unique beauty, yes.

-MWVK

Late Night Thursday

Today's Thought: Sometimes it's best to eat the hot dog and not think about what it is made of.

Thursday is a good day. You start thinking about the weekend and all the painting and yardwork you have to do. Oh yeah, and there's grocery shopping to be done, the car could use a wash, the laundry has piled up over the week, so that's going to need to be taken care of. Maybe spend a little time with the wife watching a hilarious(poorly written) romantic comedy(they're all the same). Yep things are shaping up nicely. By the time Monday rolls around again you'll be ready to get back to the grind...

Thanks Thursday, for keeping it real. Keep up the good work.

-MWVK

Woden's Day

Today's Thought: People long to be understood. It is a driving force in human life. Real understanding can bring light to the darkest situation.


On this Wednesday I shall leave you with a poem, enjoy.


Take me where the dead are singing,
Show me to the place of mercy,
Lay me at the feet of morning,
Guide me to my lost beloved.

Teach me songs of endless beauty,
Read the words, the words of power,
Cast me at the throne of glory,
There to bow with my beloved.

Lo, I see the way before me,
See the city of the blessed,
Hear the chorus sweet, unending,
See the face of my beloved.

All is ending, all beginning,
As I breach the veiled gateway,
Life unfolds and flows forever,
In the eyes of my beloved.

-MWVK

Back for More

Today's thought: Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and self-conscious.

Well, well, well, looks like it's Tuesday again. It's amazing how God uses events in our lives to shape us. I feel very much like something that has been shaped, sometimes violently ground down, sometimes carefully molded. I am broken and reformed, added to and taken away from.

I often think about what a neurotic mess I would be if I really thought that I was, ultimately, in control of things. Having the assurance that God, ultimately, is in control of everything and that everything he allows to happen is a learning experience and a way to grow as a person is one of the greatest comforts in life. I'm not talking about ignoring the responsibilities that we all have or fatalism. I'm talking faith and assurance and how much of a stress-reliever true belief is.

I'm gonna go enjoy Tuesday, you go enjoy Tuesday too.

-MWVK

Checking In

Thought of the day: "Snow like meal, snow a great deal."

I really don't have much time to post with my precious little 7th graders ready to enter the "Temple of Learning" for the last period of the day. It's adverb and adjective chapter review today, heady stuff. Four minutes now and counting.

The American family unit is broken in alot of situations and I have front row seats to the "Physical Respresentation of our Failing Values" show (aka public education). I'll let you know how this episode turns out.

-MWVK

Mokole Mbembe

Thought for the day: Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Matthew 6:25

Today I am headed off to a baby shower. "But MWVK," you say, "you're a dude. Why would you be going to a baby shower?" Fear not, my friends. I have been assured with the utmost certainty that activities have been put in place to satisfy the most testosterone laiden of us all, male or female (i.e. a game of cards, chips and maybe some football watching).

I am going to write again soon. I can feel the creative liquids rising in my being, rising to overflow from my keyboard-ravaged fingers and drip onto the screen of my Inspiron 8600.

Which leads me to the title of this post. Living dinosaurs are real. Get over it. Thousands of indigenous pygmies can't be wrong.

Remember the Mega-Mouth shark? Yeah? In your eye modern science.

Egocentricity

Today's Thought: You know when it helps to be ego-centric? Never, that's when.


I'm muddling through two very good books that were recommended to me by an editor I know, Characters and Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card and Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Brown and Dave King. So far I've found the latter to be more helpful than the former, but I am still reading and both are quite good.

Well, I finished my first manuscript a bit ago and it is currently in the hands of the afore-mentioned editor. Pray that I get published. Seriously, get down right now and pray, go ahead, I'll wait...Ok thank-you, your prayers are appreciated.

I haven't read any good fiction for a while. Robert Jordan may not live to write his final(?) book which is heartbreaking. Maybe I should take a good friend's advice and read more George R.R. Martin.

Which leads me to Eragon. I picked a copy of the book at my local bookstore because I had heard things. I had heard that it was a great book and that the author had written the original mauscript when he was quite young. When I found out that a movie was being made from the book I had to check it out for myself. So, I thumbed through a few pages and found that the book was not as original as I had hoped. By original I mean, simply from reading the first page I could pick out the "usual suspects" of Fantasy Literature. That being said, Mr. Paolini is doing quite well for himself and I wish him the best in his future (and present) endeavors.

Want to read an excerpt for yourself? Let me know what you think...http://www.alagaesia.com/eragonexcerpt.htm