There's a storm brewing amidst supposedly happy plans. It started tonight when my sister Mir, her fiance Brian, and both sets of parents met to discuss the upcoming wedding.

Mir dropped the bomb then: she wanted to dance at the wedding reception. That might not seem like such a big thing to most people, but being the socially conservative Christians that they are, my parents did not take this very well. In fact, Mom had a huge fit. And the only thing Dad said was that this was not a tradition at his wedding or any other Christian/relative wedding he'd ever attended.

The first thing that came to mind when I heard THAT was that this wasn't about his wedding or someone else's - this was about my sister's. Their daughter's. My mother maintains that because my father is a minister at his church, to dance with his daughter at her wedding to any sort of music is too worldly. I merely told my parents that I disagreed with them on this issue and left it at that; to give my full opinion would have meant having to sit through a Lecture and getting lots of Looks, and I wasn't in the mood to receive either.

And what's my opinion, anyway? Well, I'm not a dancer - the first time I'd ever been on the dance floor was last June at a friend's wedding, which was an experience in itself. And this is not my wedding. I did have fun and I wouldn't mind dancing at my sister's wedding, if that happens, and ultimately, I don't see the harm in dancing, period, to Christian music or otherwise. Of course, now that I think about it, dancing to Christian music would be weird since the lyrics are supposed to be about God in some way...

Anyway - we seem to be an impasse here. Mir's unhappy, my parents are unhappy, and there's no telling at this point who'll throw in the towel first, them or her. (IMO, I don't think it will be Mir.)

As to dancing itself - is that so bad or is this just a misunderstanding between the socially conservative elders and not-so-conservative youth of the respective families and churches? I wish I knew.

P.S. The dancing that's being referred to here is not the sexually provocative kind that might be found at high schools. I mean the kind that's done for fun. Just so you know.

I think I spent twenty minutes letting the Wampa creature have some fun.

"Okay, so whatta we do again, Frank? Just jump off the iceberg and...?"

"Jump off and let the Wampa have a little fun. He's been cooped up in his cave too long."

"Uh, Frank, he's holding a bat. Made out of ICE."

"Aw, c'mon, Joe, yer hardheaded enough!"

"Yeah, YOU'D know."

"C'mon, yer holdin' up the line!"

"Wait, I'm not read--"

*CRRRACK!*

"AAAUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!"

"Wow, Joe should really think about taking flying lessons, eh? Next!"

Lazy Wednesday evenings - ya gotta love 'em.

(Via Billy)

: I'm having way too much fun with this game. Swing too soon, swing too late, and that poor penguin will lose his beak to frostbite sooner or later. And what if PETA finds out about this game!? They'll scream about virtual penguins becoming an endangered species - oh, the HORROR! And all the conversations I could generate... "Hey, Frank, I'm gettin' a hang of this game! YOW! Hey, watch it, ya peabrain, yer supposed to use the bat, not your melonhead!"

Somebody find a straitjacket while they can...

It's devastating to lose a loved one, but I'm the sort of person who doesn't cry at funerals. It's not so much that I'm stoic and completely unemotional about the said person's passing - it's just that I see no reason to put so much emphasis on something that's instantaneous compared to living.

A friend and I were discussing this last night and it made me think a bit on how I truly view death. Death itself is painless, if one thinks about it. One can die from painful health problems (i.e. terminal illness, torture, etc.), one can die because of an idiotic choice or reckless behavior, and/or one can die because it was one's time to die. There's of course the matter of believing in an afterlife, which is a subject I'll try to skip in this post.

All this being said, I find it bewildering that so many people are afraid of death. Why? One minute we're on this earth, the next we're gone. The best thing to do is LIVE until that moment comes. How you live and what you live for is of course up to you.

Men tend to be logical and women tend to be analytical.

True or false?

It's hard to bounce from perfectly good DSL speed back to the dial-up crawl. Say it with me now: dial-up sucks. Repeat that ten times and maybe you'll be familiar with the disgust I feel at the moment. Oy.

I think I prefer Wonkette over Gawker, but then again, I'm not a New Yorker and I do like keeping tabs on what the pundits are saying and politics in general. Nick Denton sure has been busy the last couple of years.

(via G. Reynolds)

If you have a moment to spare, if you enjoy answering silly little "Friday Five" sets, or if you're just plain bored, answer the questions that follow.

1. How many pet peeves do you currently have and which one seems to have the most influence on you?
2. Do you like polo shirts?
3. How many people are in your immediate family, excluding yourself?
4. Favorite song at the moment?
5. If you could be a Billionaire for a day, how much money would you spend and what would you spend it on?
6. Do you pay attention to the news regularly? Why or why not?
7. What was your favorite comicbook when you were a kid?
8. What is your least favorite logo?
9. How many people do you hate?
10. Why are you still trying to answer these stupid questions?
11. If you had the choice of having a cup of coffee with either Al Franken or Ann Coulter, who would you choose and why?
12. Who is your favorite blogger?
13. Red or blue?
14. If you had to move to the Midwest, which state would you pick? If you currently live in the Midwest, which coast would you pick? Which state on that coast?
15. If you had to go to college (again) for some frivolous reason and money was no object, would you go?
16. Do nerds annoy you?
17. What makes you laugh?
18. What book are you reading right now?
19. Define "odd."
20. You're still here? Why!?
21. How many trips to the movie theatre did you make during 2003?
22. Gun or knife?
23. What's your favorite adjective?

Oh, yeah. "Damned if you do and damned if you don't."

I'd say that's appropriate for this occasion, no?

As Michael Totten put it, "It would not be an improvement if only Democrats paid respects to Martin Luther King Jr. I don't want to live in a country where that's how it is, and I'm glad I don't."

'Nuff said.

It sure is gonna be weird having another boy in the family when my sister marries in a few months. Everybody's growing up way too fast around here.

I saw The Last Samurai last night with a buddy and got wowed. The score is really kool and the cinematography is gorgeous.

The part that interested me the most was when Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise) and Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe) are discussing strategy for their "last stand" battle and Algren mentions the Battle of Thermopylae. Later on, when they're waiting for the arrow onslaught to end, Katsumoto asks Algren about Thermopylae's outcome. "They (the Greeks) fight to the last man," Algren replies. Katsumoto smiles, draws his sword, and they charge on to the battlefield. I suppose there are some things that you read about which will always stay with you. Thermopylae is one of them for me. (Gates of Fire, anyone?)

Some other flicks I'd like to see:

- Cheaper By the Dozen (Tom Welling, girls. Need I say more?)
- Paycheck
- Big Fish

- The Butterfly Effect
- The Passion of the Christ
- Hidalgo

Now and then I come across a blog post that makes me stop in my tracks and go, "Whoa." This is one of them. (Note: Doug's posts aren't permalinked, but as of now the post I'm referring to is called "An Imitation of Christ" that was put up today.)

I used to wear a "WWJD" bracelet as a teen, but it took a month before I lost interest in it as a fad. I like Doug's definition of "WWJD" a lot more than what I know it to mean from Christian pop culture. Thanks for the reminder, Doug.

I've been paying the minimum amount of attention to politics lately, in that I'll read up on different news items that other blogger-pundits post about but otherwise won't check the news websites.

One thing I've noticed recently is that Democratic presidential frontrunner Howard Dean has been saying some rather interesting things about his Christian faith. The latest of these incidents makes me think of that quote by St. Francis of Assissi: "Preach the gospel everywhere you go and, if necessary, use words."

Contrary to such sage advice, it seems to me that every time Mr. Dean opens his mouth, he only ends up cramming in one more inch of his foot.

Since I was gone for the New Year's celebration, I couldn't post anything about the books I read during 2003. A friend and I made a deal at the beginning of last year to keep track of the books we read throughout the year, so here's my tally. Note: excluded are all books assigned for homework that I was forced to read; included are all books assigned for homework that I did enjoy reading.

The Forge of God – Greg Bear
Ender’s Shadow – Orson Scott Card
Shadow Puppets – Orson Scott Card
Road to Perdition – Max Alan Collins
The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
Glory Road – Robert Heinlein
Shadow Warriors – Tom Clancy & Gen. Carl Stiner (Ret.)
Rainbow Six – Tom Clancy
Endymion – Dan Simmons
Eyes of Elisha – Brandilyn Collins
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress – Robert A. Heinlein
Executive Orders – Tom Clancy
The Stamp of Glory – Tim Stafford
True Valor – Dee Henderson
And a Hard Rain Fell – John Ketwig
Mortal Prey – John Sandford
Twelfth Night – William Shakespeare
All’s Well That Ends Well – William Shakespeare
Hamlet – William Shakespeare
Sudden Prey – John Sandford
Easy Prey – John Sandford
Cymbeline – William Shakespeare
The Merchant of Venice – William Shakespeare
Chosen Prey – John Sandford
Travels – Michael Crichton
Secret Prey – John Sandford
Naked Prey – John Sandford
King Henry the Sixth, Part I – William Shakespeare
Certain Prey – John Sandford
1984 – George Orwell

Total: 30

I haven't started reading anything yet and while I do plan to keep track of the books I read during 2004, this isn't a competition. I recommend any of the books above for serious readers who enjoy reading non-school-related material while procrastinating on that twelve-page term paper. Oops - ignore that last part, hehe.

Read someone else's.

Check out the updated BlogRoll and the Noteworthy Site. You'll be glad you did.

I'm sure someone here (I won't mention names) has heard of that phrase "Boys are stupid, throw rocks at them" that seems to be appearing on t-shirts for little women all over the place.

An LA-based radio show host led a campaign against a SoCal clothing store chain over the weekend and managed to get them to pull the shirts from their stock. That's not what I'm after here, but I would like to know what sort of comeback people would use against this phrase if they had an opportunity to voice it.

Well, here's your opportunity. "Boys are stupid, throw rocks at them" vs. whatever you can come up with. I personally like the "You're a Feminist? How cute" slogan that someone put in the comments section here. (And please keep it clean.)

And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen?

I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant land.

William Blake
Milton
1804

I hope everyone had a great New Year's Day celebration.

Mine was certainly interesting and kool. Heh.