Just got back from the "Loving God with All Your Mind" apologetics conference hosted at Mclean Bible.  Professor J.P. Moreland gave a talk based on the conference theme title.  It was a rousing call to a reasonable & rational faith, and not a blind faith as have been made over the many years.

As I left the plenary and headed to the night's only workshop, I bumped into cuwac1 and one of his Cornell friends.  We tried to hit the pluralism workshop but it was already filled to capacity, so we headed for one of the comparative religions workshop.

Afterwards hung out with cuwac1 and his philosophy school friend, Mike.  (Turned out Mike met Pastor JP (another Talbot alum) at the ETS conference in DC this week).  Mike has some visionary ideas in teaching & discipling that reminds me of Francis Schaeffer's Labri retreat (that I've heard about, never attended myself), just in a campus setting.  Neat stuff.

Saw Greg Koukl of the book Relativism: Feet Firmly Planted in Midair (a good read) and Stand to Reason Ministry fame.  Drat .... I didn't have my camera nor his book on me.  Maybe tomorrow I can get his John Hancock to expand my limited collection of autographs (John MacArthur & actress Tamlyn Tomita (*heavy sigh*)  .   Btw, check out STR's website and sign-up for their newsletter, it's free for a year.

More tomorrow, guess I should sleep now.  Hmm, I forgot to eat dinner ...

Some of my friends are struggling with being single.  Really, really struggling.  One female friend wondered what was wrong with her.  [ "There's nothing wrong with you.  The problem lies with the guys you're meeting/dating." ]  Or take a slighter older buddy who came back from a wedding he attended, and told me how depressed he felt afterwards.  [ The best I could do was empathize:  "Yeah, dude, I know what you mean." ]  How would you respond to these friends?

Back in (or just out of) college, it was easy to say, "You'll meet someone."  Or "Be patient."  Life is still an open door at that point.  But what if they already walked through the door, looked around, and all they've found was an empty room?  Can I still say those things to them?  To me they're obviously great people and friends.  Yet, what if it isn't what God is intending for them?  Either way, I don't know what God's plans are; so is it my place to even respond in the positive?

And even if I did say, "Don't worry, you'll meet someone." while it is getting harder and harder for them to meet the right kinds of people, would they still believe me?

And is it better to have hope?  How about not having hope?  Is no hope better?  One could *practically* say:

At what point are we truly content with the way things are?  Is having a desire [wish, hope] for something not being in a state of contentment?  Does biblical contentment (1 Tim 6:6) only concern itself with wealth and material possessions (verses 6-11, 17-19)?

Where I work we tend treat our interns & junior fulltimers really well.  We try to give meaningful & challenging assignments that will enhance their knowledge while advancing the state of the art in our group's overall efforts.  We don't usually give busy-work to our junior guys since there is always much useful stuff to do (unless it's something temporary & easy like babysitting some visitors for an hour).

Today I was chatting with our intern about his current tasklist.  As I listened I started wishing to be to a junior engineer again.  (Was I being envious?!) You see lately, I've been growing weary of being stuck on a few logistical & political assignments that is taking me away from the more interesting, exciting, and challenging technical stuff.   Overall my job is great!  I thank God regularly for His provision.  The logistical stuff isn't so hard (though it has its challenging moments (*1)), but there's just so much of it.  I really want to dig back into the researchy stuff, but I have to do what I have to do.  (Am I starting to have a negative attitude?!)

Anyways, it looks like I'll be doing this logistical coordinating thing for awhile.  My concern:  Am I lacking contentment for wanting things to be a little different?  I need to pray & study this topic more ...

   (*1) Early this year, a third-party individual misunderstood some emails (not sent by me!), and I found myself the fallguy for his misunderstanding the situation.  Thank the Lord everything got cleared up; but going through that was not fun.

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Is it Thursday already?  Ack, I forgot about the apologetics conference at Mclean Bible Church.  And it turns out I was near there tonight to pick up my tuxedo for my friend's wedding.  (It was supposed to be delivered to the store closer to my home/work, but despite reassurances it was still sent to the Tyson's store.).  (Guess I was tired from my 7:30am meeting yesterday and forgot about the conference.  At least I didn't forget to pick up the tux.)  Anybody going tomorrow & Saturday to the conference?

On rare occasions kids in our classes will start crying.  A few weeks ago, one of our girls came into class from worship crying.  As soon as she sat down, she stopped and was completely fine throughout our class.  (It probably helped that I quickly gave her something fun to work on, but I never did find out what upset her before arriving to class.)

Well, last Sunday as I was coteaching my Sunday School class, one of the kids in the Pre-K class started crying.  I peered over to check on things and saw my baby cousin, M, standing & crying.  His teachers didn't know what was up, so I checked to see if he had gotten hurt or was feeling ill.

Me: You okay, M?
M:  Waaaaaaaaaaa!

Me: Are you sick?
M:  Waaaaaaaaaaa!

So I scooped him into my arms while he cried on my shoulders (snot comes out of clothes .... I think.  Note to self, check shirt collar) and went to a quieter area to check on him while having a cousin-to-cousin chat:

Me:  M, what's up?  Are you okay?
M:  I ... <sniff> want ... <sniff> mommy.

After noting that his crying was slowing and he wasn't ill, I reassured him all was well and that I wouldn't be far from him in class.  He suddenly took an interest in going back to class; however, to seal the deal, I said these magic words:

Me:  Hey M, do you like fruit rollups?  (I had some for my students' snack time).
M:  Uh-huh.
Me:  If you stay through all of class I'll give you one, okay?

And off to class he went (might I add he skipped down the hallway to class).  Throughout the rest of class he was a cheerful little kid, smiling, playing and listening.  And yeah, I kept my end of the bargain.

Moral of the story:  Carry spare fruit rollups

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I finally updated my profile pic.  I was asked to babysit some of kids at Kev & Betty's wedding, but one of them overpowered me with masking tape (just kidding).  Good thing I shaved that day ...

MikeF showed me his mini-rice cooker:

Do you see what it says above the HRS button?  Dol Sot Bi Bim Bab.  Interesting, so what does that setting do?  He explained it to me, but I don't remember.

After Saturday's engagement event and going to the Air & Space Museum (w/ Mike, Kev, Betty, Erica), Mike & I ate at Viet House.  Mike tried the Lemon Grilled Chicken (upper right) and I had the Grilled Pork & Springrolls over Vermicelli Noodles (ummmm):

Brother Mike is obviously happy with his menu selection:

Long time since my last entry.  Been real busy with work & life.  Many weddings & birthdays in the mix as well. 
A little tennis, some lindy & contra dancing, hanging out with family & friends.  God is good.

So what did I do on this fine Saturday?  Said "Congrats" to Tony & Steph on their engagement!

Tony couldn't have planned the weather any better.  And yep, she said, "Yes!"

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What else have I been up to?

A few weeks ago went to "Thunder's" baptism:

 

And before that saw Spiderman dance with Betty.  You go Spidey!  Hey, where's Kevin?

An excellent wife who can find?

She is far more precious than jewels.

The heart of her husband trusts in her,

and he will have no lack of gain.

She does him good, and not harm,

all the days of her life.
Proverbs 31:10-12 ESV

With today being Veteran's Day, a quote from the World War II Memorial:

Thank you.

And oh, I saw on one guy's t-shirt:

Not so lean,
Not so mean,
But always a Marine!

Gotta love those Marines.  Yeah, most definitely.

What else:
o Tried contra dancing.  Contra is awesome.  Thanks to Jules & LisaK for talking me into it.  It was a blast.  I will be back (shoot, they gave me a free pass!).  And oh, how I love the Spanish Ballroom.  Too bad I'm exhausted to go swing dancing tonight.
o Co-teaching Kindergarden Sunday School.  My students, how they keep me on my toes.    My one student says these wonderful prayers.  Kindergarden boys have lots of energy ... maybe a bit too much energy.    They love to flip chairs over and attack each other with them, or run in opposite directions (how do I catch both them?!)  Yet despite these side adventures, teaching them is still a great job & privilege.
o Watched the Imax movie entitled Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag at the National Air & Space Museum this afternoon.  If you love fighter planes (lots of F-15s & F16s & Corsairs & A-10s ... S-w-e-e-t!) or watchings things blow up you'll love this movie.  I did.  (You'll come away will with a great & humbling appreciation for what our servicemen & women must do).
o Helping a college buddy with his wedding.  Last month he asked me to be his bestman.  The wedding is next week.  Nope, it's not a shotgun wedding.  They're just not one for long engagements.

Now that the evenings are getting darker and colder, it looks like evening tennis will come to a close in a few weeks.  So I'm deciding how to stay active (and in shape).  I thinking of getting back into partner social dancing, but I'm having  difficulty deciding which one.  Today I finished our work's offering of the 4-week Latin Class.  The first two days were Rueda (group style of Salsa) and Rumba.  The last two days were Salsa (On-1).  The teachers, Danielle & Carlos, did a good job in a short amount time.  It turned to be a lot like East Coast & West Coast Swing Dancing, so I adapted pretty quickly.  (Our teachers were late so my classmates asked me to review for them last week's lesson; it was pretty weird being up there after having one lesson myself).

(For those interested: we learned the Basic Progressive, Side Steps, Back Steps, UnderArm (Follower & Leader) Right Turns, and Cross Body lead, all from the closed position).

Tonight I drove out to Glen Echo to see if I could drop in one of the few progressive class series I could find, but the instructor wasn't there (he had a sub there) and his attendance assistant didn't feel comfortable letting me drop in so late.  It turns out they were already in their 4th of 6 classes, so I just sat & watched.  The Beginner-I class did the same basic movements I learned, but only in open position; so might I email the instructor to see what I should do.  If I can't take Beginner-I, I'll have to wait til next year to start it; unless he thinks I can start with Beginner-II in a few weeks.

So do I quit Lindy for a while and try Salsa?  I know one friend is just starting out in Salsa.  Most people have stopped practicing their Lindy (though they can quickly recall their 6-count EC stuff).  And Salsa is still the rage!  (Though, you can also Swing Dance pretty much every night in the DC Metro area).

On the other hand the nice thing about Lindy is The Spanish Ballroom at Glen Echo!  There's no smoking nor alcohol allowed, so it's a great, wonderful, clean, open suspended wood floor with polite, sober people on it.  (There's only 2 or 3 Salsa events a year at Glen Echo)  And I also have a (albeit small) EC & Lindy knowledge base to work from.

My other options are pretty limited: Viennese Waltz or West Coast start this week; both are quite fun.  West Coast can be pretty technical, and progress can be slow without a regular partner.  Viennese outtings don't quite have the young folk factor (even though one of the main instructors is younger than moi!).  Ballroom might be something I'd try later but it's like being in another world.  Plus today someone told me ballroom folks are a bit arrogant (his gf is a major ballroom dancer, so he's been around that world).  Besides who wants to dance in a penguin suit?  (Btw, the Japanese movie, Shall We Dance, was great!  The American version wasn't bad, though the ending was probably a happier version.)

Anyways, I gonna miss playing tennis.  It's been fun & interesting & intensely frustrating.

One of our former inline hockey coordinators sent the list a link to today's WaPo's article on an inline hockey *rink* in Northern Virginia!

Years back, a bunch of us from CCCDC started playing with folks from CCCVA on Sunday afternoons.  Then some of those CCCVA folks went to Ambassador where they brought a slew of players.  We had quite a number of ladies, and like in the WaPo article, they were quite good.  While, the guys were out there to bond & to have fellowship, the ladies were out for blood & every win!     We played through Code Orange days for hours, it was a great workout ... I was probably at my thinnest postcollege weight.

I remember getting cousin Aaron and my then new coworker Ian in their first games.  Aaron took to it in a big way.  Ian got hurt within the first 15 minutes (I think he fell and got broken glass into his skin ... lots of blood and he wasn't enrolled in a insurance program yet!) and he never went back.

It was from these games that I met the folks that lead me to Ambassador, especially, my former ABC pastor & mentor, Pastor Scott, who I met through his wife, Debbie (who I met through her brother Dan).  And it was through these games that I learned how to rollerblade.

It was also at hockey that I knew for sure I was going to have a sister-in-law!  I observed how well my brother treated his now wife.  It was the first time I'd ever seen my brother behave in a romantic, caring, attentive manner towards a girl.  As soon as I saw her borrow his equipment & jersey, I knew she was The One for him.  (Btw, she played great natural hockey, especially with her drop-to-the-knees goalie style.)

Well, well, well ... beginner pickup games on Friday, eh?  Hmmm, with cold, wet weather coming it'll be a great way to stay in shape ... time to dust off those (roller)blades & sticks!

• Friday, found out my buddy from college is getting married (and he wants me to be his best-man!).  Congrats EugSaturday, found out a former small group buddy got engaged on Friday!  Congrats Miles!
• My cousin's oldest son got married in an outdoor ceremony.  Saw tons of family like Aaron & Merry and Elaine.  Surprisingly the d.j. actually had a solid swing-dance song handy, so I got to dance with Cousin Carleen.  Saw a lot of second cousins I haven't met before!
• My mom's relatives are quite numerous.  Some of my first cousins didn't even know who the groom & bride were (and vice versa)!
• Sunday morning with the folks, and then lunch with them and the local & NJ relatives at Paul Kee (canto restaurant in wheaton, md).
• Caught the tail end of a Washington Redskin's win!  (I know Shyeah & Sharky are happy!)
• So McDonald's might start serving breakfast all day long.  I hope so, I've always said I wished they served the Egg McMuffin outside of breakfast, I get it over a hamburger any time.
• So the F-14 Tomcat naval fighter plane was recently retired.  I would've been a Naval Aviator if it weren't for my glasses wearing nearsightedness.     (The highlight of my youthful days of watching TopGun (the movie) and J.A.G. (the tv show) was the F-14.  How I loved that plane.)
• Gotten some recent hints to setup a swing dance event, but my weekends have been tied up!  It's in the queue folks, I'll see what I can do ...

So the California gov't is suing Ford, GM, Toyota, Chrysler, Honda, and Nissan for their part in global warming.  See /. and Reuters.

Every elected official and person supporting this suit better be walking, riding bikes, taking transit, or driving a hybrid!  Otherwise, they should be locked up (or at least fined) for being complicit to those billions of dollars in damages.

Good grief, what a stupid way to solve a problem!