Book Commercials & Misanthropic Observations

Beta

I learned a new term recently that describes me very well. It is not complimentary: Beta, as in secondary to Alpha.

This nickname was used in the 2nd century B.C. for amateur scientists and mathematicians who had many other interests. As far as their mocking contemporaries are concerned, these dabblers have too many interests to ever excel in one area.

I suppose the nearest term we have is “jack of all trades, master of none” but it’s not as concise and sneering as beta. I prefer beta.

There are so many people in every area of hobby and skill that I am interested in that easily make me look a hack by comparison. But I can honestly say that I have never met an unkind Alpha. Professional photographers are very encouraging and friendly, real webmasters freely share their knowledge and code, Mary Schettle fixes my sewing mistakes and then tells me what a great job “I” did, actual accountants and tax law professionals are so happy to discuss my questions, my 2 great scientist friends are truly humble and kind people, real theologians like Bruce Ware and Tim Porter are passionate to teach and care, the talented businessmen I know have gladly mentored me.

I will gladly sit at the feet of these Alphas, me and my intellectual ADD.

Today’s Snippet: The Rule of Law

I hear this term a lot- especially in Supreme court hearings and during presidential campaigns. I also heard it often when I was addicted to “the West Wing”. I’ve only stopped watching because I’ve seen them all, not cuz I was in any way tired of the show.

I just assumed it meant following the law as opposed to an Anarchic society, but it means so much more. It refers to the notion that rulers cannot arbitrarily change the laws governing their citizens and was a revolutionary concept when introduced by Hammurabi. This reminds me of the security we have in God.

And I am fully aware of how much I take this stability of law in the United States for granted. I don’t want to live in a society without rights of ownership or understandable rules of conduct.

Sorbet for the brain

I believe our brains require regular exercise to stay sharp as we age. Learning or thinking about something new washes the dust of the day-to-day grind from our brains, helps bring a fresh perspective to our worship, loves, lives and jobs.

I can tend to get obsessed with work- and just like a vacation helps me do a better job when I get back, a little brain candy in the form an interesting off-beat topic is like sorbet for the my thoughts. Things “taste” better to my brain with a little refreshing of the palate.

This theory is related vaguely to why I believe hobbies help create sanity and stave off depression. They give you a reason to learn something new, to practice a skill, something to do, a purpose.

Anyway, what’s my point? Well I’ve just been thinking lately about why I like Jeff Burton’s blog so much these days. His topics are so seemingly random (which may offend him to discover that I can’t find a discernable pattern) yet interesting and not so out there that I can’t understand. It’s brain candy.

Yesterday at Borders I found a book called The Intellectual Devotional. Each entry is drawn from a different field of knowledge; History, Literature, Visual Arts, Science, Music, Philosophy, and Religion. Read one passage a day and you will explore each subject once a week. I really love it and plan to share random snippets as I am inspired.

Dear Jeff Burton

Thank you, thank you, thank you for lending me your copy of Crazy for God by Frank Schaeffer.

This was one of those books that would have taunted me for years as I would be heading for some light reading by Mark Twain with strains of “ aren’t you curious to know what an insider has to say about the Christian Coalition? Come on, buy me instead ”.

It has taken me so long to read because I found myself needing breaks from the venom and utter self-absorption of the author, and yet, unwilling to give up getting to what I thought would be “the good stuff”: his years on the evangelical lecture circuit.

It was page 73 before he said one kind thing about his parents- I remember because I noted the page aloud to Hannah when I finally came across some measure of compassion for his father’s humanness and imperfection. His point was well made by then, I am forever repulsed by his mother. This is the same effect that gossip has in my daily life- my opinion of people is formed before I ever know all sides - and a positive effect of this book is that I will be quicker to run from such talk, I hope.

I appreciate his disgust of hypocrisy, shining of a spotlight on my own tendencies to pretend, to avoid the unsafeness of dealing with real people, hiding pregnant girls away, of parroting the “party line” without thinking it all the way through. His chapter on how the republican and democratic parties fell on the sides of abortion they did is something I am still happily chewing on. He’s not an idiot, but boy is he resentful and arrogant. And that acidic style drove me to take 3 and 4 day breaks in my reading.

There was a false humility, presented as “being real” in his presentation of himself. One can “share” what an ass they are, be all self-effacing, laying themselves bare and still come across with an unbelievably high opinion of themselves. Frank Schaeffer seems to be an acquired taste, a recurring story is how his friends would get to know him and begin to see him as less of an ass, love his honest style. I have not acquired this taste.

I actually felt guilty at the end of this book- as if, because I did not like him, I was just one of the stupid groupies he so often mentioned.

I also realized that this autobiographical style is one of two possible types. I have read autobiographies that focus on the things the author observed and experienced; the story of the people around them. This style is different- the author cares so much more about himself than anyone or anything else.

the best email of the day

* note: this is ONLY because I haven’t heard from Paulers- that would trump any and all emails. I reserve the right to revise my awarding of this title.

Subject: TurboTax: Your 2007 Federal Return Was Accepted

Dear Paul R Dopkins,
Congratulations! The IRS has accepted your federal tax return. There’s nothing else you need to do.

— this is also a shameless plug for the use of Quickbooks for household finances and TurboTax to file. I am a huge fan.—-

Hot tip

Warning: Kristi Noser and Vonda Rankin - Do not read this post.

When using the crest spin brush, be careful not to accidentally catch a strand of your long hair in it and then unknowingly use said toothbrush, with long hair half wound around it and spinning like a weedwhip to brush your teeth. As you speedily remove the offending toothbrush, completly disoriented by the sensation of 1 hair weedwhipping your mouth, toothpaste will come drooling out your mouth, down your chin, and ruin your shirt.

You will also have an aversion to brushing your teeth until you get over the event. Which you must or your breath will cause an aversion of you by your friends.

One postive result: this helps you get over how cool you are with blonder hair.

How kind of you to notice

Why, yes- as a matter of fact I am feeling a little saucy after having made the brazen choice to use Nice & easy shade 100 – a whole 2 shades lighter than my usual, #102. What’s next? Maybe some audaciously bold lipstick.

Paulers left for India yesterday

The 3 of us, (Paul, Hannah, & Me) had breakfast together and hung out yesterday morning. It was so nice. I thought Paul was all packed but it turned out I was completely wrong. We spent the morning watching Paulers pack and playing fetch with Frito.

After he left, I kept picking up the cell phone to call him and remembering I couldn’t. We talk back and forth about 4-6 times each day, only for a sentence or two, and it was weird not to be able to yesterday. I really appreciate cell phones for how much extra communication we get during the day.

Today they should be arriving in Delhi- John has some people to visit and he’s making use of that need to let the guys see the Taj Mahal. That’s a really really cool thing of John to do, adding a detour like that to their trip. I’m under the impression that the guys are gonna be in some tougher conditions because there are no women on the team. The guys all seemed to be excited about the opportunities that offered.

Ione Hagen said the first year your husband goes is the hardest- I think she’s right. I’m not worried about his health like I was. I’m just so glad he’s getting guy time and such a life-changing experience. I can’t wait to hear about the trip- not just the first report, like what they did and saw, but the longer honor of hearing what God showed him or how he thinks differently about this or that. That stuff comes out slowly, as we live life together and it’s one of the best parts about being his wife.

The first thing I did last night was add an electric blanket to the bed- I get to turn it up as high as I want when I’m by myself, and I can have NPR and BBC on all night. I love sleeping to the sound of the “as it happens” theme song. That drives Paulers nuts.

Hannah & I asked Alex to fly out and stay with us- Sibling week! But he can’t. aww, dang.

Lessons learned today

Don’t drive with an open box of Cheezits on the passenger seat – when someone steps out in front of you in the parking garage you will have to slam your brakes and Cheezits will fly all over your car.

Bathing suits that fit well, actually cover enough and you can happily be seen in - even if you haven’t worked out all winter - are expensive, but WORTH every penny. Ladies, try the swim department at Macy’s and the magic words are: “Tankini with matching swim skirt”.

When trying on said swimsuit, beware of the elastic qualities of a swim top that makes the security tag snap back in your face and give you a little bruise right on the outer corner of your left eye.

Today’s small joy

Is seeing Toby swim around his tank. Let me explain.

Toby is a betta fish. Hannah brought him when she moved in and I immediately declared his true name to be Kunta-Kinte. So now we use the names interchangeably. He came in a vase with a bamboo shoot in it and we placed him in a central spot. Like all things green in our home, (just ask us about our recent attempt at an herb garden in the kitchen) the bamboo shoot promptly died.

Toby wasn’t doing very well either. He caught fungus from the rotting bamboo and, we later learned couldn’t thrive in our cold home. Mom & Dad’s house averages 84 degrees so the tropical betta fish that the kids kept had tropical water, averaging 79 degrees without any effort. Our house hovers at about 68- Toby was getting a weakened immune system from the cold water. Of course Hannah didn’t know she needed to heat the water since she never needed to do so growing up.

A few weeks ago, I expressed my concern for the deteriorating state of the fish, and Hannah agreed. We set out to nurse him back to health. His fins were gone, he just had sticks, a condition we learned was fin rot and very serious. He also had red swollen gills- a sign of ammonia burn, and literally just lay at the bottom of his bowl.

Our first task was to treat his fungus. We moved him to clean bowls twice a week (cleaning the used bowls with bleach and boiling water) and treated him with anti-fungal. Hannah went to the pet store and bought a few more recommended supplies. This has been going on for a few weeks. While his gills were looking better and his fungus was gone, he wasn’t really growing his fins back and still laid at the bottom of his bowl. So I went to borders and got a book- and learned that he was COLD. Hannah read the book too and learned that we were overfeeding him- he only needs, like 2 pellets a day max- and only one at a time, and we should skip a feeding every once in a while.

I went to a store off 77- by the airport – called “A World of fish” and when I explained the situation, they picked out the supplies I needed and gave me 40% off out of solidarity for our fish rescue mission. He has been in his new, heated, filtered tank for 2 days now, and actually takes little swims around the tank from time to time. His fins are growing back a deep red and metallic blue. He is beautiful.