I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.
Simply amazing
Friday, May 30, 2008
The Badlands
Just off I-90 in South Dakota, you can see them in the distance. They're incongruous in a landscape of gently rolling hills. Jagged peaks sticking out of the horizon. If you know what they are, you're drawn to them. And yesterday, Sheryl and I were drawn to them.
I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.
Simply amazing
I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.
Simply amazing
Thursday, May 29, 2008
De Smet, Continued
So I was on a limited time frame last night and only go the pictures up. Let me explain a little more about our experience. De Smet is a fairly typical small MidWest town. A lot of farming. Mostly farming, in fact. And as a result, along with the big-boxization of the US, it had dropped significantly in size and importance, except for one critical fact: 5 of Laura Ingalls Wilder's book are set in and around De Smet. Because of that they get 20 to 25,000 visitors each year. Honestly, I'm not convinced how viable the town would be without that.
The four of us stayed in a Bed and Breakfast called the Heritage House. It is on De Smet's main street and just across the street from the location where the Ingalls family stayed during the Long Winter. It was actually pretty cool to be there. On Wednesday morning, we left the B&B and went to headquarters of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial society. There they have the actual surveyor's house that the Ingalls family stayed in, before staking their claim, after Pa had worked for the railroad. It's been moved from its original location at Silver Lake (which, incidentally, was drained in the 1920's) to where it is now. We got to see all the places that we'd read about and that we really neat for me and Sheryl, and lesser so for Kinsey, and not at all for Connor.
On the same site, they have a replica of the school where Laura taught at the beginning of These Happy Golden Years, as well as the actual school house that Laura and Carrie attended, moved from its location as well. From there, we traveled to the house that Pa built after Laura and Almanzo got married, in the town itself. Our tour guide told us about all the things that happened to the Ingalls after the books ended. I didn't get to hear much of that, since Connor was getting restless. After that, we went to the De Smet Cemetery where the Ingalls are buried and then to the best part of the day.
Out at the site of the original Ingalls homestead there is a memorial stone, but further on, on the same grounds is an incredible, interactive experience, called simply, the Ingalls Homestead. On it is a tower to look over everything, then you can see much of what the Ingalls did. They have a Sod dugout, then a claim shanty. You can see a barn with actual animals (a cow and calf). They have an exact replica of what Pa built for Ma on the site as it was when it was finished. They have a larger barn that had a team of horses with a covered wagon that we drove to a school house on the site of the second school that Laura taught at and then you drive back to the barn.
It was really a great experience and I would really, really recommend fans of Laura's books to take the opportunity to go and do it. It really brought the experience of what they went through to life.
Tomorrow (or later tonight): Pictures of a place that nearly brought me to song, the Badlands
The four of us stayed in a Bed and Breakfast called the Heritage House. It is on De Smet's main street and just across the street from the location where the Ingalls family stayed during the Long Winter. It was actually pretty cool to be there. On Wednesday morning, we left the B&B and went to headquarters of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial society. There they have the actual surveyor's house that the Ingalls family stayed in, before staking their claim, after Pa had worked for the railroad. It's been moved from its original location at Silver Lake (which, incidentally, was drained in the 1920's) to where it is now. We got to see all the places that we'd read about and that we really neat for me and Sheryl, and lesser so for Kinsey, and not at all for Connor.
On the same site, they have a replica of the school where Laura taught at the beginning of These Happy Golden Years, as well as the actual school house that Laura and Carrie attended, moved from its location as well. From there, we traveled to the house that Pa built after Laura and Almanzo got married, in the town itself. Our tour guide told us about all the things that happened to the Ingalls after the books ended. I didn't get to hear much of that, since Connor was getting restless. After that, we went to the De Smet Cemetery where the Ingalls are buried and then to the best part of the day.
Out at the site of the original Ingalls homestead there is a memorial stone, but further on, on the same grounds is an incredible, interactive experience, called simply, the Ingalls Homestead. On it is a tower to look over everything, then you can see much of what the Ingalls did. They have a Sod dugout, then a claim shanty. You can see a barn with actual animals (a cow and calf). They have an exact replica of what Pa built for Ma on the site as it was when it was finished. They have a larger barn that had a team of horses with a covered wagon that we drove to a school house on the site of the second school that Laura taught at and then you drive back to the barn.
It was really a great experience and I would really, really recommend fans of Laura's books to take the opportunity to go and do it. It really brought the experience of what they went through to life.
Tomorrow (or later tonight): Pictures of a place that nearly brought me to song, the Badlands
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
De Smet, South Dakota
Our adventures have brought us to eastern South Dakota. Yesterday it was cold, 40s when we got here and rainy with a little sleet. Today, I could see why someone would move and stay here. It was completely gorgeous by the afternoon and in the low 70s.
I'm on limited computer time, so here's the pictures. More tomorrow.
Entering De Smet
Help, I'm lost in grass at Lake Thompson
If you look real closely, you can see me on the rail, here at the Surveyor's House.
Being tossed in the air in front of the school Laura and Carrie attended.
You're welcome as long as you don't use a knife to pin pig tails to the desk.
Hanging out at the house that Pa built.
Perched on top of the site of the Ingalls Homestead
Yikes, put me in a crust and I'd be a cow pie.
It was dangerous to let me drive.
Kinsey driving the horses.
Me and Connor driving the horses.
An exact replica of the Ingalls homestead.
The path up to the Ingalls Memorial through the cottonwoods that Pa planted.
Looking across Big Slough toward De Smet that the Ingalls had to walk to get to town.
I'm on limited computer time, so here's the pictures. More tomorrow.
Entering De Smet
Help, I'm lost in grass at Lake Thompson
If you look real closely, you can see me on the rail, here at the Surveyor's House.
Being tossed in the air in front of the school Laura and Carrie attended.
You're welcome as long as you don't use a knife to pin pig tails to the desk.
Hanging out at the house that Pa built.
Perched on top of the site of the Ingalls Homestead
Yikes, put me in a crust and I'd be a cow pie.
It was dangerous to let me drive.
Kinsey driving the horses.
Me and Connor driving the horses.
An exact replica of the Ingalls homestead.
The path up to the Ingalls Memorial through the cottonwoods that Pa planted.
Looking across Big Slough toward De Smet that the Ingalls had to walk to get to town.Monday, May 26, 2008
Where in the US are the Wilson's?
Right now, Kansas City, Kansas.
Unlike many Americans, we decided to do a road trip this year and we decided to head to South Dakota. Of course, every time we told someone that they always said, "What's in South Dakota?" Well, two things: 1) Mount Rushmore, which we'll see later this week and 2) De Smet. Only a few of you will be able to rattle off exactly why we're headed to De Smet, and the reason is that it is where Laura Ingalls Wilder grew up and got married. A few months back we finished reading the Little House series with Kinsey and since both Sheryl and I had read the books when we were kids, and I'm manly (inside Little House joke there) enough to admit that I loved them too, we decided to make a trip up combined with a trip over to Mount Rushmore.
How long is such an excursion? Probably about 22 hours total driving. So we decided to split it up, breaking it in Kansas City. We left yesterday right after church and got here to KC around 10:30. Today we went to see a movie (Prince Caspian, which I will have a LOT to say about at a later date) and hit the KC zoo.
But we also decided to tell the story of this trip from a slightly different perspective. One of Kinsey's stuffed animals, Hound Dog the Webkin, wanted to be the star of the show, so here he is.
You said this was going to be how many hours?
Well, it ain't the Ritz, but it'll do.
Is there any irony in a stuffed animal going to see animals at a zoo? Didn't think so.
There are better views of an elephant...
...Like this one.
As if I didn't feel inadequate enough, I have to have my picture taken with African hunting dogs.
Kinsey and Hound Dog with the elephant.
I think that's a rhino, but isn't Kinsey just the cutest?
This is a lorakeet that I think was trying to eat the camera strap around my neck. That or it's a vampire lorakeet with awful aim.
Trying out the macro setting on the camera. Not too shabby.
Unlike many Americans, we decided to do a road trip this year and we decided to head to South Dakota. Of course, every time we told someone that they always said, "What's in South Dakota?" Well, two things: 1) Mount Rushmore, which we'll see later this week and 2) De Smet. Only a few of you will be able to rattle off exactly why we're headed to De Smet, and the reason is that it is where Laura Ingalls Wilder grew up and got married. A few months back we finished reading the Little House series with Kinsey and since both Sheryl and I had read the books when we were kids, and I'm manly (inside Little House joke there) enough to admit that I loved them too, we decided to make a trip up combined with a trip over to Mount Rushmore.
How long is such an excursion? Probably about 22 hours total driving. So we decided to split it up, breaking it in Kansas City. We left yesterday right after church and got here to KC around 10:30. Today we went to see a movie (Prince Caspian, which I will have a LOT to say about at a later date) and hit the KC zoo.
But we also decided to tell the story of this trip from a slightly different perspective. One of Kinsey's stuffed animals, Hound Dog the Webkin, wanted to be the star of the show, so here he is.
You said this was going to be how many hours?
Well, it ain't the Ritz, but it'll do.
Is there any irony in a stuffed animal going to see animals at a zoo? Didn't think so.
There are better views of an elephant...
...Like this one.
As if I didn't feel inadequate enough, I have to have my picture taken with African hunting dogs.Ok , enough of those. How about some of the actual family.
Kinsey and Hound Dog with the elephant.
I think that's a rhino, but isn't Kinsey just the cutest?
This is a lorakeet that I think was trying to eat the camera strap around my neck. That or it's a vampire lorakeet with awful aim.
Trying out the macro setting on the camera. Not too shabby.So that's what's going on with us. Expect more pics.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Happy Birthday Connor
Today, my son Connor is 2 years old. It's hard to believe that two years ago he was born. And yet it was. The time is going by much faster than it did with Kinsey, but he's also not as "advanced" as she was. He's only now starting to become pretty clear on some of his words, for example. But the truth is, he is so much fun. He has a very playful sense of humor. He loves to play with cars and balls and he just is a blast to be with (most of the time).
So Happy 2nd Birthday, Con-Man. Your mom, sister, and I love you very much.
So Happy 2nd Birthday, Con-Man. Your mom, sister, and I love you very much.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Memorial Day
I have a weird relationship with national holidays that honor soldiers. I am the grandson of a soldier. My father's father went up Normandy Beach on June 6, 1944 and many, many of the people that I have loved and respected in my life are or have been soldiers. On the other hand, my grandfather on my mother's side was a pacifist. He DIDN'T participate in World War 2 because of his convictions.
I was out a few weeks back and saw a U.S. Marine bumper sticker that said, "Pacifism is a luxury paid for by warriors." And to be perfectly honest, I don't disagree with that. The idea of pacifism, to me, implies inaction. Someone unwilling to take action. And hence, it's easy to be a pacifist in a world where you never have to stand up for that belief.
What is NOT paid for by warriors is nonviolent resistance. The role of nonviolence is one that I've thought about before and to me it's one of the bravest things a person can do. Someone committed to nonviolence is committed to changing their world, but has decided to do it without resorting to violence. The reason I consider it brave is because someone who does this has decided that they are willing to suffer the consequence of their lives for it.
I know there are people who disagree with that and I am grateful to live in a country where people can respectfully disagree, or even not so respectfully at times. But in a place where we have that benefit, I hope others will not see this as a lack of respect for the sacrifices that soldiers have made to give me and my family that right, but a commitment to the way of Jesus over and beyond that. Through his life, he exemplified what it means to resist nonviolently, even to his death, knowing that his death wasn't the end, but that there was victory over death, a release from fear of death. And that to me is what hope is about.
I was out a few weeks back and saw a U.S. Marine bumper sticker that said, "Pacifism is a luxury paid for by warriors." And to be perfectly honest, I don't disagree with that. The idea of pacifism, to me, implies inaction. Someone unwilling to take action. And hence, it's easy to be a pacifist in a world where you never have to stand up for that belief.
What is NOT paid for by warriors is nonviolent resistance. The role of nonviolence is one that I've thought about before and to me it's one of the bravest things a person can do. Someone committed to nonviolence is committed to changing their world, but has decided to do it without resorting to violence. The reason I consider it brave is because someone who does this has decided that they are willing to suffer the consequence of their lives for it.
I know there are people who disagree with that and I am grateful to live in a country where people can respectfully disagree, or even not so respectfully at times. But in a place where we have that benefit, I hope others will not see this as a lack of respect for the sacrifices that soldiers have made to give me and my family that right, but a commitment to the way of Jesus over and beyond that. Through his life, he exemplified what it means to resist nonviolently, even to his death, knowing that his death wasn't the end, but that there was victory over death, a release from fear of death. And that to me is what hope is about.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
YouTube Thursday: Starring Morgan Freeman as...
EASY READER!
As a kid, I loved my 2 hour PBS block of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, The Electric Company, and Sesame Street. For some reason, the Electric Company popped into my head this week and I remembered hearing somewhere that Morgan Freeman played the Easy Reader back then, and lo, and behold, yes he did. Warning: the following video is made of awesome.
As a kid, I loved my 2 hour PBS block of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, The Electric Company, and Sesame Street. For some reason, the Electric Company popped into my head this week and I remembered hearing somewhere that Morgan Freeman played the Easy Reader back then, and lo, and behold, yes he did. Warning: the following video is made of awesome.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Hurdles to Usability
One interesting piece of news: Last week, Usability/User Experience Specialist was named one of U.S. News and World Report's Best Careers. And it had a nice little write-up. Pretty nifty.
I've actually had quite a bit of fun talking about what I do over the last couple of week with my job. I've been fortunate to basically fall into a profession that I really enjoy and feel like I have some kind of aptitude for (besides teaching). However, as with any job, there are hurdles to what you do.
Now, before I elucidate some of these, let me say that I realize that everyone feels like what they do is very important, if not the most important part of the process, particularly a software/application project. I'm under no such illusions; my feeling is that requirements and usability and mockups and prototypes and architecture and development and QA are all equally important. I'm just not sure everyone feels the same way.
OK, the first hurdle to usability that I see is one of perception. Because usability is a growing field and one that doesn't have the same amount of roots that disciplines like QA and coding do, it is very easy for usability to be marginalized in the software cycle. Part of this is a lack of understanding about what usability is. In some ways, I think it's very easy for people to look at us as simply web designers. We get requirements and we implement them in a visually pleasing manner. Is that an aspect of what we do? Yes, it is. However, it's only a part of what we do. We also have to consider navigation: how people will get to the different areas of the application/site. Links? Tabs? Both? And why make the choice that we do? Why use certain colors? In using those colors, have we considered color-blind users? Have we considered the audience and their age and familiarity with the web and "understood" web-conventions?
People and groups that do usability are not simply mock-up factories. The mock ups that we deliver are the easiest piece to judge, but they are merely a reflection of the background work that has to go into making them and the considerations that have to take place.
And I think that's the other issue with the perception of usability. Because people don't fully understand it yet, they reduce it to the lowest common denominator, and honestly, people don't think web/application design is really that hard. Much like people don't think running sound is really that hard. "Just turn it up. What's the big deal?" "Just put a button there. What's the big deal?" And because people think it's easy, they don't always understand the complexity of the situations. It just doesn't seem as difficult as coding, for instance.
Which leads us to the other hurdle: time. In the business environment I'm in, time is money. Especially since we don't bill hours to external clients. As a result, everything must be done in as rapid a timeframe as possible. With a huge focus on deadlines, sometimes ones that seem arbitrary, and sometimes externally driven, there's a lot of pressure to get the mock ups done and on to architecture and development. Which is understandable, of course. The goal is to produce products as quickly as possible to produce more products as quickly as possible. However, the difficulty in that is simply that if you rush a design process, you can marginalize the quality of it. And that doesn't do anyone any good: users, product owners, designers, developers, anyone. While I understand we're in a fast-paced world, some consideration the other way has to be taken as well.
So those are the two biggest hurdles I see to good implementation of usability. I hope it doesn't seem like I'm complaining. I think those hurdles are starting to be overcome in general and I hope that usability continues to grow in prominence and acceptance as a valuable part of the software development cycle.
I've actually had quite a bit of fun talking about what I do over the last couple of week with my job. I've been fortunate to basically fall into a profession that I really enjoy and feel like I have some kind of aptitude for (besides teaching). However, as with any job, there are hurdles to what you do.
Now, before I elucidate some of these, let me say that I realize that everyone feels like what they do is very important, if not the most important part of the process, particularly a software/application project. I'm under no such illusions; my feeling is that requirements and usability and mockups and prototypes and architecture and development and QA are all equally important. I'm just not sure everyone feels the same way.
OK, the first hurdle to usability that I see is one of perception. Because usability is a growing field and one that doesn't have the same amount of roots that disciplines like QA and coding do, it is very easy for usability to be marginalized in the software cycle. Part of this is a lack of understanding about what usability is. In some ways, I think it's very easy for people to look at us as simply web designers. We get requirements and we implement them in a visually pleasing manner. Is that an aspect of what we do? Yes, it is. However, it's only a part of what we do. We also have to consider navigation: how people will get to the different areas of the application/site. Links? Tabs? Both? And why make the choice that we do? Why use certain colors? In using those colors, have we considered color-blind users? Have we considered the audience and their age and familiarity with the web and "understood" web-conventions?
People and groups that do usability are not simply mock-up factories. The mock ups that we deliver are the easiest piece to judge, but they are merely a reflection of the background work that has to go into making them and the considerations that have to take place.
And I think that's the other issue with the perception of usability. Because people don't fully understand it yet, they reduce it to the lowest common denominator, and honestly, people don't think web/application design is really that hard. Much like people don't think running sound is really that hard. "Just turn it up. What's the big deal?" "Just put a button there. What's the big deal?" And because people think it's easy, they don't always understand the complexity of the situations. It just doesn't seem as difficult as coding, for instance.
Which leads us to the other hurdle: time. In the business environment I'm in, time is money. Especially since we don't bill hours to external clients. As a result, everything must be done in as rapid a timeframe as possible. With a huge focus on deadlines, sometimes ones that seem arbitrary, and sometimes externally driven, there's a lot of pressure to get the mock ups done and on to architecture and development. Which is understandable, of course. The goal is to produce products as quickly as possible to produce more products as quickly as possible. However, the difficulty in that is simply that if you rush a design process, you can marginalize the quality of it. And that doesn't do anyone any good: users, product owners, designers, developers, anyone. While I understand we're in a fast-paced world, some consideration the other way has to be taken as well.
So those are the two biggest hurdles I see to good implementation of usability. I hope it doesn't seem like I'm complaining. I think those hurdles are starting to be overcome in general and I hope that usability continues to grow in prominence and acceptance as a valuable part of the software development cycle.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Why Do They Call It the Terrible Twos?
Because they last for two years.
Connor has started to become a lot more willful. He's started to fight us when we try to make him do things that he doesn't like to do, such as sit in a high chair or share a toy. He's started throwing tantrums, which are not fun at all. It's one of those things that I really, really don't like and frustrate me, but I also know that he's still a lot of fun for the most part. I just don't look forward to these next two years, which is how long it lasted for Kinsey.
Connor has started to become a lot more willful. He's started to fight us when we try to make him do things that he doesn't like to do, such as sit in a high chair or share a toy. He's started throwing tantrums, which are not fun at all. It's one of those things that I really, really don't like and frustrate me, but I also know that he's still a lot of fun for the most part. I just don't look forward to these next two years, which is how long it lasted for Kinsey.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Gen X vs. Millenials/Gen Y
Over the last few days, a couple of links have come to my attention about attitudes of GenXers particularly in relation to Gen Y/Millenials.
This one from Radar Online called "Generation Slap:They're naive, self-important, and perpetually plugged in. This is a call to arms against Millennials"(ht: Scott Freeman) is much more of a screed against Millenials, containing lines such as: "If you look at the sheer number of Millennials, the outlook is grim. While Gen X boasts only around 30 million members, there are an estimated 80 million Millennials out there. They're like pod people with Facebook accounts. We're outnumbered." It's a very interesting read, but it does contain a lot of adult language/cussin'.
The other one was from Businessweek entitled "10 Reasons Gen Xers Are Unhappy at Work." I thought this one, while mainly anecdotal, was pretty well thought out and reflected some of my feelings about being in the corporate world, although I also feel very fortunate to be doing work that I really like.
Interesting reads for a Monday morning.
This one from Radar Online called "Generation Slap:They're naive, self-important, and perpetually plugged in. This is a call to arms against Millennials"(ht: Scott Freeman) is much more of a screed against Millenials, containing lines such as: "If you look at the sheer number of Millennials, the outlook is grim. While Gen X boasts only around 30 million members, there are an estimated 80 million Millennials out there. They're like pod people with Facebook accounts. We're outnumbered." It's a very interesting read, but it does contain a lot of adult language/cussin'.
The other one was from Businessweek entitled "10 Reasons Gen Xers Are Unhappy at Work." I thought this one, while mainly anecdotal, was pretty well thought out and reflected some of my feelings about being in the corporate world, although I also feel very fortunate to be doing work that I really like.
Interesting reads for a Monday morning.
Friday, May 16, 2008
GAH!!!
Zero time to do a serious blog today. GAH!!!!
So a question and advance apologies to you preachers (and soon-to-be) preachers out there: How much value do people find in sermons? What is your definition of a good sermon? A bad one?
I'm just curious about people's thoughts on it.
So a question and advance apologies to you preachers (and soon-to-be) preachers out there: How much value do people find in sermons? What is your definition of a good sermon? A bad one?
I'm just curious about people's thoughts on it.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Caption This Picture!
Caption this picture! Be funny!
For more humor, read this letter denying tenure to Dr. Henry Jones, Junior.
For more humor, read this letter denying tenure to Dr. Henry Jones, Junior.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
How We Do Usability
Last week, I discussed a little bit about what usability is (which is what I do for a living). Hopefully that gave some conceptual framework to this week.
Ok, so what exactly do I do? Well, a few things. One thing we do is look at existing applications or sites and help make suggestions to make them better, often by doing redesigns. The other thing we typically do is to start with a project at the beginning, trying to design it as usable from the beginning. Do I have a preference between those two? Well, due to my critical nature, I kind of like looking at existing sites and finding the problems, but honestly, it's much better for the users if we are involved from the start.
To do our work, we have 2 tools: 1) experience (ours and others) and 2) usability testing. To be perfectly honest, a lot of usability work is common sense and experience. By doing the work and the reading, we get a lot of knowledge about how users do things. For instance, it's simply common sense that you DON'T put a ton of text at the beginning of a website or an application. Why? Because people don't read it. All of that marketing speak and junk that CEOs and marketing people love to have to extol the virtues of their brand or company or whatever. Users have learned to scan through websites and applications to find what they want. Very rarely to people on the web browse anymore. Ten years ago when the web was pretty new, sure. But now, people have a purpose when they come. They're wanting to do something or find something; they don't want a brochure. So common sense says, don't have a ton of text at the beginning of a website or application. And yet, how many places do you still see this? Way too many.
The other tool in the bag is Usability testing. What's that? It's very easy. You design your site or application, or you take an existing one that you suspect has problems. Then you get a typical user, sit them in front of it and basically say, "How would you use this?" or "How would accomplish this task?" And then you get another one, and another, and so on and so on to make it statistically significant. If the large majority of people can accomplish what you ask, you know that you've got a pretty good system. If they can't, you need to redesign. Usability testing is the absolute best way to determine how usable a system is.
Because here's the thing: even with all the years of experience that our group has, we still get things wrong. It's very easy to get caught up in getting things done and meeting deadlines that you forget to take certain things into account, like how a user will get to a particular area that you've designed. That happened to me on a project a few weeks back. The other thing is that, especially on a redesign of an existing system, users will have a certain mindset about how to accomplish a certain task and you have to take that into account. Otherwise, they're not going to be able to use what you're creating.
So, those are the tools. Next week, some hurdles to usability. Some ways that people ignore or don't take it into account or marginalize it. Hopefully, those of you out there are finding this slightly interesting and eye-opening. Usability is a growing field and one that people don't really notice until they come across a site or application that just doesn't work.
Ok, so what exactly do I do? Well, a few things. One thing we do is look at existing applications or sites and help make suggestions to make them better, often by doing redesigns. The other thing we typically do is to start with a project at the beginning, trying to design it as usable from the beginning. Do I have a preference between those two? Well, due to my critical nature, I kind of like looking at existing sites and finding the problems, but honestly, it's much better for the users if we are involved from the start.
To do our work, we have 2 tools: 1) experience (ours and others) and 2) usability testing. To be perfectly honest, a lot of usability work is common sense and experience. By doing the work and the reading, we get a lot of knowledge about how users do things. For instance, it's simply common sense that you DON'T put a ton of text at the beginning of a website or an application. Why? Because people don't read it. All of that marketing speak and junk that CEOs and marketing people love to have to extol the virtues of their brand or company or whatever. Users have learned to scan through websites and applications to find what they want. Very rarely to people on the web browse anymore. Ten years ago when the web was pretty new, sure. But now, people have a purpose when they come. They're wanting to do something or find something; they don't want a brochure. So common sense says, don't have a ton of text at the beginning of a website or application. And yet, how many places do you still see this? Way too many.
The other tool in the bag is Usability testing. What's that? It's very easy. You design your site or application, or you take an existing one that you suspect has problems. Then you get a typical user, sit them in front of it and basically say, "How would you use this?" or "How would accomplish this task?" And then you get another one, and another, and so on and so on to make it statistically significant. If the large majority of people can accomplish what you ask, you know that you've got a pretty good system. If they can't, you need to redesign. Usability testing is the absolute best way to determine how usable a system is.
Because here's the thing: even with all the years of experience that our group has, we still get things wrong. It's very easy to get caught up in getting things done and meeting deadlines that you forget to take certain things into account, like how a user will get to a particular area that you've designed. That happened to me on a project a few weeks back. The other thing is that, especially on a redesign of an existing system, users will have a certain mindset about how to accomplish a certain task and you have to take that into account. Otherwise, they're not going to be able to use what you're creating.
So, those are the tools. Next week, some hurdles to usability. Some ways that people ignore or don't take it into account or marginalize it. Hopefully, those of you out there are finding this slightly interesting and eye-opening. Usability is a growing field and one that people don't really notice until they come across a site or application that just doesn't work.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Kinsey's Dance Recital 2008
Sunday was Kinsey's Spring dance recital. She was wonderful, of course and here's the proof.
Getting dolled up.
Right there in the middle.
With all her beautiful flowers.
With my mom.
With Sheryl's momMonday, May 12, 2008
Iron Man
Sheryl and I got out to see Iron Man Friday night and let me give the non-spoiler review first and then I'll get detailed and spoiler-filled.It was great. Absolutely terrific. I'm a comics fan just in general, and really enjoyed Spider-Man 1 & 2 (not so much with 3) and Batman Begins. I've also seen the comics done fairly poorly in movies like The Hulk and the Fantastic Four. Thankfully, Iron Man didn't fall into the latter category. Beyond the visual effects, what really, really made this movie was the acting. All four of the major characters in this movie were portrayed by Oscar-nominated or -winning actors: Jeff Bridges, Terrence Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow, and most notably, Robert Downey Jr. Beyond all the effects and CGI, it was the acting that really, really made this movie. If you haven't seen it, go see it. If you have seen it, scroll down for my more spoiler-filled review.
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
Ok, first of all the effects were great. There are moments the movie like when Downey/Stark is being put into the suit by his robots where you know there's green screen work going on, but it looked so seamless that it's difficult to tell where it is.
But here's the great thing about the movie. It's really Robert Downey Jr's movie. Director Jon Favreau realized this and I think made a concerted effort to NOT make Iron Man the main character. He made Stark the main character. Iron Man never became a persona of Stark the way that Batman is a persona of Bruce Wayne, almost another personality. Iron Man is simply Tony Stark in a suit. And I credit both Downey and Favreau with this. Downey for being a great actor, especially vocally when his face isn't on screen, and Favreau for shots like Downey's face inside the Iron Man mask with all of the displays reflecting on him. It's a great directorial trick to help us maintain a connection with the Stark character. It's very effective.
The other part that really works is the story. Having Stark kidnapped in Afghanistan brings a real immediacy to the story. Even the idea that we've got a guy here that's a genius that can do all of the things that he does works in a similar way to how Batman Begins works. It's naturalistic, at least as naturalistic as a story about a guy in a suit can be. You find it reasonable that a normal guy with enough motivation could pull off the stuff that Stark does.
I really, really liked this movie a whole lot and so did Sheryl. She didn't like me keeping her afterwards as much to watch the scene after the credits, but hey. Sometimes you got to sit through the credits...
Friday, May 09, 2008
Wright Ehrman debate
I got asked in a comment last week what were my reactions to the Wright-Ehrman debate on pain/suffering that I linked to last week. So here's my reaction.
There is a level on which I find Ehrman's arguments very compelling, and it's hard not to. There can definitely be a cognitive disconnect between the idea of a loving God that cares so much for each of us that He sent His Son to die as a sacrifice and be resurrected as the first fruit of the new creation who also "lets" children die of starvation and crippling diseases. But it's also not a new problem. It's not something that people have only recently been dealing with.
I think my basic reaction is that I sincerely hope that what NT Wright talks about is true. I have faith that it is true, but also doubts that it could be. Perhaps I don't have the faith of a child anymore. It's like the old Caedmon's Call song says, "My faith is like shifting sand..." and so on the days that I find it difficult to stand on faith, I find myself standing on hope and grace. That's where I am on this.
What I really liked the best was the end of Ehrman's last statement, that being that even if we don't know the reasons for suffering we can still have the proper response to it. And that, to me, is a very Christ-like thing to say.
There is a level on which I find Ehrman's arguments very compelling, and it's hard not to. There can definitely be a cognitive disconnect between the idea of a loving God that cares so much for each of us that He sent His Son to die as a sacrifice and be resurrected as the first fruit of the new creation who also "lets" children die of starvation and crippling diseases. But it's also not a new problem. It's not something that people have only recently been dealing with.
I think my basic reaction is that I sincerely hope that what NT Wright talks about is true. I have faith that it is true, but also doubts that it could be. Perhaps I don't have the faith of a child anymore. It's like the old Caedmon's Call song says, "My faith is like shifting sand..." and so on the days that I find it difficult to stand on faith, I find myself standing on hope and grace. That's where I am on this.
What I really liked the best was the end of Ehrman's last statement, that being that even if we don't know the reasons for suffering we can still have the proper response to it. And that, to me, is a very Christ-like thing to say.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
YouTube Thursday: Marvel/DC
I think tomorrow night, Sheryl and I are going to be able to get out and see Iron Man, which I'm particularly looking forward to and was before it got all the good buzz it's been getting.
In my online browsing, I came across a guy on YouTube who has done something kind of interesting. He's taken the Mac/PC meme and moved it over to the comic book world, using action figures. He did a bunch a couple of years ago with Spider-man and Superman and this year, he's done Batman and Iron Man and it's a riot.
Now, as I was looking through this guy's other work, I discovered that he actually did a series called "Marvel/DC: After Hours." It's a seven-part series, and this is the highest compliment that I can give something: at the end, I had to remind myself that it was just a guy manipulating action figures. The story is that good. If you're not a comic fan, you might not enjoy it like I did, but I'm also not as big a comic fan as some other people are, so you might give it a shot.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6 #1
Part 6 #2
Part 7 #1
Part 7 #2
In my online browsing, I came across a guy on YouTube who has done something kind of interesting. He's taken the Mac/PC meme and moved it over to the comic book world, using action figures. He did a bunch a couple of years ago with Spider-man and Superman and this year, he's done Batman and Iron Man and it's a riot.
Now, as I was looking through this guy's other work, I discovered that he actually did a series called "Marvel/DC: After Hours." It's a seven-part series, and this is the highest compliment that I can give something: at the end, I had to remind myself that it was just a guy manipulating action figures. The story is that good. If you're not a comic fan, you might not enjoy it like I did, but I'm also not as big a comic fan as some other people are, so you might give it a shot.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6 #1
Part 6 #2
Part 7 #1
Part 7 #2
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
"Usability? What's that?"
Whenever someone asks me what I do for a living, I have a very quick internal debate. Do I give a generic answer that will satisfy them and help us move onto the next topic of conversation or do I really tell them what I do which will almost inevitably lead to the question in the title of this post? If I'm in a talky mood, I'll usually do the latter. So what is it I do? I do Usability for web sites and web applications. And to answer the inevitable question, here's what usability is. It's making things usable.
Now, why is that important? Well, the sad fact of the matter is that most stuff done on the web isn't as usable as it could be. It's like I used to tell my kids when I was teaching, "You can have the best idea for a paper in the world, but if it's unreadable from a grammar or stylistic standpoint, it doesn't matter." Same thing with site and application design. It can be a great idea for a site, but if people can't use it, then they aren't going to use it.
So, why is usability important? In a company like the one I work in, time is money. You want your personnel doing things that will bring income to the company, billable hours, that kind of thing. So the longer it takes a person to do something, the less time they are working for the clients. And so, let's say that a company has 20,000 employees and 15,000 of them have billable hours. If you can save them 10 seconds on a task they do every week, you've just saved the firm 40 hours in a week, one full person, 2,080 hours a year. Even for sites where the user is going to be purchasing, rather that working, studies show that the faster you can help that user make a choice, the more likely they are to purchase.
But not only that, having a site or application that user can "enjoy" using gives a more favorable impression of the brand associated with that site. And it goes beyond look. If a site looks great, but you can't find what you want to find to do what you want to do, you're not going to have a favorable impression of the site or the brand associated with it.
Ok, so that's what usability is. Next week, how do we go about accomplishing that? What do we do on a regular basis to make something usable?
Now, why is that important? Well, the sad fact of the matter is that most stuff done on the web isn't as usable as it could be. It's like I used to tell my kids when I was teaching, "You can have the best idea for a paper in the world, but if it's unreadable from a grammar or stylistic standpoint, it doesn't matter." Same thing with site and application design. It can be a great idea for a site, but if people can't use it, then they aren't going to use it.
So, why is usability important? In a company like the one I work in, time is money. You want your personnel doing things that will bring income to the company, billable hours, that kind of thing. So the longer it takes a person to do something, the less time they are working for the clients. And so, let's say that a company has 20,000 employees and 15,000 of them have billable hours. If you can save them 10 seconds on a task they do every week, you've just saved the firm 40 hours in a week, one full person, 2,080 hours a year. Even for sites where the user is going to be purchasing, rather that working, studies show that the faster you can help that user make a choice, the more likely they are to purchase.
But not only that, having a site or application that user can "enjoy" using gives a more favorable impression of the brand associated with that site. And it goes beyond look. If a site looks great, but you can't find what you want to find to do what you want to do, you're not going to have a favorable impression of the site or the brand associated with it.
Ok, so that's what usability is. Next week, how do we go about accomplishing that? What do we do on a regular basis to make something usable?
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
He's All Boy
Thursday afternoon, Sheryl and I were out in the front yard, talking with one of our neighbors. Kinsey was running around playing with bubbles and Connor was on the first step of our porch doing a little hop and then stepping down. It's a fairly small step and he was doing fine with it. At the end of our conversation, we were just about to head in and get some dinner when I heard a rather sickening thud. I looked back and Connor had faceplanted onto the sidewalk with his feet above his head on the step. I ran over to him and lifted him up and saw a huge lump developing on his forehead and blood dripping from his nose.
We ran him into the house and held him for a little bit and then looked at the goose egg on his head. It wasn't that bad and I even did the flashlight in the eyes to watch his pupils dilate and see if he was showing the signs of a concussion. I guess watching ER when it was good 10 years ago paid off. He didn't show any signs and was babbling a few minutes later. I woke him up a couple times that night to make sure he'd still wake up and he did. So I guess this is the first in a long line of possible injuries. The pic below were taken yesterday.
No, really, he doesn't have a concussion.
The goose egg is going down.
Still in a great mood.
We ran him into the house and held him for a little bit and then looked at the goose egg on his head. It wasn't that bad and I even did the flashlight in the eyes to watch his pupils dilate and see if he was showing the signs of a concussion. I guess watching ER when it was good 10 years ago paid off. He didn't show any signs and was babbling a few minutes later. I woke him up a couple times that night to make sure he'd still wake up and he did. So I guess this is the first in a long line of possible injuries. The pic below were taken yesterday.
No, really, he doesn't have a concussion.
The goose egg is going down.
Still in a great mood.
Friday, May 02, 2008
Steelcage Deathmatch Between Bart Ehrman and N. T. Wright
Ok, so maybe calling it a deathmatch is overstating it, just a smidge, but if you haven't read the unfortunately titled Blogalogue between Ehrman and Wright about the problem of pain, you really should. Ehrman is a former Christian who lost his faith as a result of not being able to reconcile the idea of pain and suffering with the concept of a loving and graceful God. Wright is... well, he's N.T. Wright, one of the men I most admire theologically.
I've found it to be an honest and engaging debate and the two were very respectful to each other, something that is often sorely lacking when two people disagree.
I've found it to be an honest and engaging debate and the two were very respectful to each other, something that is often sorely lacking when two people disagree.
Thursday, May 01, 2008
YouTube Thursday: Anne Lamott on the Colbert Report
On Tuesday night, Anne Lamott was on the Colbert Report. He talked about her book, Grace (Eventually) that the Otter Creek Wednesday night book club read last summer. I like Anne Lamott a lot, but don't agree with her on everything, much like I don't agree with just about anyone on everything.
One other thing: If you've never watched Colbert before, realize that he's satirizing people like Bill O'Reilly and Chris Matthews and the pundit shows on cable news. Sometimes he's TOO good at it, but in this case, I think he likes Lamott a lot and let's her get her points across.
One other thing: If you've never watched Colbert before, realize that he's satirizing people like Bill O'Reilly and Chris Matthews and the pundit shows on cable news. Sometimes he's TOO good at it, but in this case, I think he likes Lamott a lot and let's her get her points across.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Gaius Baltar is Not Jesus
NOTE: If you haven't watched the first four episodes of Battlestar Galactica and don't want to be spoiled, please read no further.
I had a comment on my previous BSG post (if you could call it a full post) from Kat Coble about my thoughts on what the show is doing with the religious aspect. Kat herself has posted some thoughts which I think are well worth reading.
A couple of years ago, I pointed out that the current iteration of BSG has added religion as a facet of the show, where the Colonials (good guys) are polytheists, modeled after (or modeling, depending on if you think the show is in our past or our future) the Greek pantheon and the Cylons (bad guys) are monotheists. In the show's current season (the fourth and final) traitor Gaius Baltar has become a primary evangelist for monotheism, gathering to himself followers, many of them nubile young women who like the chance to "experience" the love that is Gaius Baltar. At any rate, in the last episode, Baltar was beaten bloody as he preached a message of God's love and acceptance for people and that because God loves them, they are all perfect.
Do I think that the producers and writers of BSG are trying to accurately represent Christianity. No, not any more than they are trying to accurately represent the worship of the Greek pantheon. I think to most of them, the two are equal, quaint superstitions. It's just that one is still active. I think the parallels are interesting and it can certainly make it difficult to not sympathize with some of the Cylon's motives, even if I can't with their actions to support those motives. To me, the religion aspect of the entire show as been a great addition to the overall "mythology" of the show. Do I think some aspects of the Cylons' attempts to spread "God's love" are similar to some of what Christianity has done historically? Perhaps, but what I also hope is that people will watch and recognize the differences between fact and fiction. For myself, I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what they do with this in the future episodes.
I had a comment on my previous BSG post (if you could call it a full post) from Kat Coble about my thoughts on what the show is doing with the religious aspect. Kat herself has posted some thoughts which I think are well worth reading.
A couple of years ago, I pointed out that the current iteration of BSG has added religion as a facet of the show, where the Colonials (good guys) are polytheists, modeled after (or modeling, depending on if you think the show is in our past or our future) the Greek pantheon and the Cylons (bad guys) are monotheists. In the show's current season (the fourth and final) traitor Gaius Baltar has become a primary evangelist for monotheism, gathering to himself followers, many of them nubile young women who like the chance to "experience" the love that is Gaius Baltar. At any rate, in the last episode, Baltar was beaten bloody as he preached a message of God's love and acceptance for people and that because God loves them, they are all perfect.
Do I think that the producers and writers of BSG are trying to accurately represent Christianity. No, not any more than they are trying to accurately represent the worship of the Greek pantheon. I think to most of them, the two are equal, quaint superstitions. It's just that one is still active. I think the parallels are interesting and it can certainly make it difficult to not sympathize with some of the Cylon's motives, even if I can't with their actions to support those motives. To me, the religion aspect of the entire show as been a great addition to the overall "mythology" of the show. Do I think some aspects of the Cylons' attempts to spread "God's love" are similar to some of what Christianity has done historically? Perhaps, but what I also hope is that people will watch and recognize the differences between fact and fiction. For myself, I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what they do with this in the future episodes.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Advice for Parents, re: Miley Cyrus
I was listening to NPR this morning about how Miley Cyrus is the latest in a line of role models for girls who have disappointed them: Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Jamie Lynn Spears,Vanessa Hudgens of High School Musical fame, etc. Of course there is the usual discussion about the oversexualization of children and the cult of celebrity in our society, but the real issue is that young girls look to these (mostly) young ladies as role models and hence are getting disappointed by them.
So here's my advice for parents... help your children realize that no matter how much someone is on TV or movies, that doesn't mean you should emulate them. I mean seriously, help your young girls get better role models. I love the fact that Kinsey doesn't usually try to emulate people she sees on TV. She likes being like and around our friends that we have around us. Are they perfect? No, but I would much rather my little girl want to emulate the teachers and lawyers that we know, than someone who sounds good with a mic in her hand or because she looks good in a wig. And that's not to say that the others might not disappoint as well, because they very well could. But I would rather it be that than some celebutante.
So here's my advice for parents... help your children realize that no matter how much someone is on TV or movies, that doesn't mean you should emulate them. I mean seriously, help your young girls get better role models. I love the fact that Kinsey doesn't usually try to emulate people she sees on TV. She likes being like and around our friends that we have around us. Are they perfect? No, but I would much rather my little girl want to emulate the teachers and lawyers that we know, than someone who sounds good with a mic in her hand or because she looks good in a wig. And that's not to say that the others might not disappoint as well, because they very well could. But I would rather it be that than some celebutante.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Michigan Trip
As a kid, I remember many trips up to Michigan to visit my grandparents and other aunts and uncles in Flint. They were always long, but I also appreciated the time to read when my brother and sister and I weren't bugging each other.
The trip up this weekend was a good one, even though we left at a late enough time that we hit the awful combination of rush hour traffic and construction snarl in Cincinnati, so that combined with stopping for lunch had it take 10.5 hours to get up there, rather than the 9 it should have, even without kids. We got to the hotel and all the family had just returned from the visitation at the funeral home, so we got to see everyone, even though we were tired from our trip. We got to catch up and show pictures of the kids and it was good. The relationships between all my aunts and uncles has been so great. Everyone really likes each other, even as much as they love each other, which can be rare in families with 3 kids, not to mention one that have 9 kids, like Grandma and Grandpa did.
Saturday was a roller coaster day. At the funeral home, we saw Grandma's body, which was so well taken care of. They made her look so beautiful; so different from what we saw on Tuesday night. I got to talk to a cousin in Hungary and they even put the phone on the podium so she and her family could hear the funeral there. We looked through a lot of family albums with all the kids and their families and it was great to reminisce about all the family reunions we had had and the good times we had as kids. The funeral was nice and it was about what you expect from a Church of Christ funeral. Lots of singing and a brief sermon with the hard salvation sell at the end. Overall it was nice.
We didn't go out to the cemetery immediately, but went to Grandma's church and were provided a wonderful meal. We all say around and talked, not necessarily about Grandma, but just with each other about many things. It's always been that way with that side of the family. Even with all the personalities, we all find someone or someway to get along. After the lunch, we went out to the cemetery, where I got to see Grandpa's grave for the first time. My dad's parents are buried here in Nashville and I get out to see their graves every once in a while, but I'd never been out to see the other. Grandma had already been buried and so we stood around and told stories of Grandma (many having to deal with food). It was very nice and cathartic to do that. Afterwards, Sheryl and I went and found Grandma's 10th child who died the day she was born and would have been my aunt two years older than me, which is something else I'd never seen.
After the graveside service, we went back to the hotel and hung out for a while, playing some cards and then went to supper at a burger place. And after that, the best part of the evening: 12 of us went bowling. And we had a blast. Just an absolute blast. Laughing and playing and cheering each other on. Just more fun than I'd had in quite a while. And someone might wonder, "Didn't you go up for a funeral? Was that respectful to your grandmother's memory?" To which the answer is, "Of course, it was."
Look, one of my grandma and grandpa's favorite things to do was to watch their 9 kids and their kids interact with each other. They loved watching us play and have fun and laugh and I believe with all my heart that that is how they would've wanted to act in their memory.
Even with the circumstances, it was a trip that was a lot of fun and was a great way to remember both Grandma and Grandpa.
The trip up this weekend was a good one, even though we left at a late enough time that we hit the awful combination of rush hour traffic and construction snarl in Cincinnati, so that combined with stopping for lunch had it take 10.5 hours to get up there, rather than the 9 it should have, even without kids. We got to the hotel and all the family had just returned from the visitation at the funeral home, so we got to see everyone, even though we were tired from our trip. We got to catch up and show pictures of the kids and it was good. The relationships between all my aunts and uncles has been so great. Everyone really likes each other, even as much as they love each other, which can be rare in families with 3 kids, not to mention one that have 9 kids, like Grandma and Grandpa did.
Saturday was a roller coaster day. At the funeral home, we saw Grandma's body, which was so well taken care of. They made her look so beautiful; so different from what we saw on Tuesday night. I got to talk to a cousin in Hungary and they even put the phone on the podium so she and her family could hear the funeral there. We looked through a lot of family albums with all the kids and their families and it was great to reminisce about all the family reunions we had had and the good times we had as kids. The funeral was nice and it was about what you expect from a Church of Christ funeral. Lots of singing and a brief sermon with the hard salvation sell at the end. Overall it was nice.
We didn't go out to the cemetery immediately, but went to Grandma's church and were provided a wonderful meal. We all say around and talked, not necessarily about Grandma, but just with each other about many things. It's always been that way with that side of the family. Even with all the personalities, we all find someone or someway to get along. After the lunch, we went out to the cemetery, where I got to see Grandpa's grave for the first time. My dad's parents are buried here in Nashville and I get out to see their graves every once in a while, but I'd never been out to see the other. Grandma had already been buried and so we stood around and told stories of Grandma (many having to deal with food). It was very nice and cathartic to do that. Afterwards, Sheryl and I went and found Grandma's 10th child who died the day she was born and would have been my aunt two years older than me, which is something else I'd never seen.
After the graveside service, we went back to the hotel and hung out for a while, playing some cards and then went to supper at a burger place. And after that, the best part of the evening: 12 of us went bowling. And we had a blast. Just an absolute blast. Laughing and playing and cheering each other on. Just more fun than I'd had in quite a while. And someone might wonder, "Didn't you go up for a funeral? Was that respectful to your grandmother's memory?" To which the answer is, "Of course, it was."
Look, one of my grandma and grandpa's favorite things to do was to watch their 9 kids and their kids interact with each other. They loved watching us play and have fun and laugh and I believe with all my heart that that is how they would've wanted to act in their memory.
Even with the circumstances, it was a trip that was a lot of fun and was a great way to remember both Grandma and Grandpa.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
YouTube Thursday: The EdWord
Thanks to everyone for the kind thoughts about my grandmother, whether left here or sent through other methods. Sheryl and I both greatly appreciate it. And I will also say that I appreciate your thoughts on my writing as well. For a while, I fancied myself as something of a writer and worked on it. I haven't done so outside this blog for a while and so it's nice to get compliments on that.
Anyway, on a completely different note, I offer this video from last week's on-location-from-Philadelphia Colbert Report, where former Presidential candidate John Edwards pokes fun at the process, at himself, and still manages to slip in some talking points. He's also the funniest I've ever seen him. Enjoy.
Anyway, on a completely different note, I offer this video from last week's on-location-from-Philadelphia Colbert Report, where former Presidential candidate John Edwards pokes fun at the process, at himself, and still manages to slip in some talking points. He's also the funniest I've ever seen him. Enjoy.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Death and Life After Life After Death
Sheryl and I had plans last night to go out to dinner with some friends and then go and hear one of my favorite theologians, NT Wright, speak here in Nashville. Our friend, Tiffany, had come over to watch the kids for us and as we were getting ready to walk out, the phone rang. I answered and my mom spoke with her voice breaking into sobs that my grandmother had died.
Clora Eileen Brooks was 84 years old and honestly, she'd been going downhill for a long, long time. Her body was failing and so was her mind, so her death wasn't a surprise, but it was unexpected. When someone hangs on as long as Grandma had, in some ways you keep expecting them to hang on. My mom and dad, both being nurses, had committed that they would keep her at their house to make her as comfortable as possible and not put her in a nursing or convalescence home. And I appreciate that. It allowed Kinsey and Connor to see her and to be honest, I know that seeing her three grandkids (my sister has a daughter as well) and being able to watch the Price is Right gave her great amounts of joy. I wouldn't say her whole face lit up, but she got this pleasant little half smile when Kinsey, Katie, and Connor would give her hugs.
Sheryl and I debated on going to dinner and the talk. It was something we both wanted to do, but this was an extraordinary circumstance. So we drove over to Mom and Dad's house where Grandma had died. We went down to the basement where Grandma had lived for the last couple of years. She was happy down there, able to turn the TV up to the level where she could hear it. Mom was on the phone, arranging for hospice and transfer of the body back up to Michigan where the funeral and burial will be. Sheryl and I went into Grandma's room, which looked as normal as the last time I'd seen it. Her hearing aid was on the chest along with all her prescriptions. There was a half-drunk cup of water with a bendy straw in it, and except for the pallor of her skin, she looked for all the world like she was just asleep. I gave her cool cheek a kiss, and stepped back out of the room.
We waited with Mom while the arrangements were made and when she asked us what our plans for the night had been, we told her of going to hear the Bishop and she urged us to go, and so we did. My dad was there with her and she was doing well, considering all.
Hearing Bishop Wright was very odd in light of Grandma's passing. He talked about his new book, Surprised by Hope, and his theology of the resurrection (both Jesus' and ours). He made statements that I've heard in his talks saved online about heaven being important, but it's not the end of the world, and that there is life after death, but what the Bible is really concerned with is Life After Life After Death. I was very glad to see such a full house at West End United Methodist. Wright has kind of become the theologian-in-chief for much of the Emergent/Post-Modern/Third Way Christian, that I didn't really know how many people would be there, but the sanctuary was definitely full. It was also great to see Thomas+ (my favorite Anglican), Gavin, Justin, a big crew from Otter Creek (we probably had 20 people there), some people from Lipscomb, and Joey Reed, a high school buddy of mine who is now a Methodist pastor in Memphis.
I got to ask Bishop Wright a question about how this theology of the resurrection relates to environmentalism and creation care, and he gave a great answer. Someone else asked him about his theology of the church superceding Israel in God's eyes, which was out of the scope of the talk, but Wright answered him anyway. After the talk, I do something I rarely do, but I paid full price for Surprised By Hope and Evil and the Justice of God and had Bishop Wright sign them. I wish I could say that I was able to talk to him for a few minutes, but it was literally, "It's to Phil. And thanks very much."
On our way out, Sheryl and I were holding hands and talking about what we heard, and I said, "I really hope all this is true." And I do. Am I always sure/100% positive? No, because you can't be. You can have faith that what we believe has support behind it, but you can't REALLY know. That's why it's called faith.
Back in the summer of 1983, my brother, sister, and I went up to Flint, Michigan, to spend June with my grandma and grandpa. I knew what the reason was. My mom and dad didn't want us around during the divorce proceedings, but we got to spend time with aunts and uncles and cousins, as well as the grandparents. In 1994, my grandfather died and we traveled up to be there for his service, and so this weekend, we'll travel up again to the dying industrial city of Flint, Michigan. There, where my grandfather traded in farming for manufacturing and brought his wife and 9 children to change from sharecroppers to factory workers, we'll bury Grandma. We'll be there as her legacy, as her memory. And we'll thank God for her life, and await the answers of time when we pray that we will see her and see the Lord.
Clora Eileen Brooks was 84 years old and honestly, she'd been going downhill for a long, long time. Her body was failing and so was her mind, so her death wasn't a surprise, but it was unexpected. When someone hangs on as long as Grandma had, in some ways you keep expecting them to hang on. My mom and dad, both being nurses, had committed that they would keep her at their house to make her as comfortable as possible and not put her in a nursing or convalescence home. And I appreciate that. It allowed Kinsey and Connor to see her and to be honest, I know that seeing her three grandkids (my sister has a daughter as well) and being able to watch the Price is Right gave her great amounts of joy. I wouldn't say her whole face lit up, but she got this pleasant little half smile when Kinsey, Katie, and Connor would give her hugs.
Sheryl and I debated on going to dinner and the talk. It was something we both wanted to do, but this was an extraordinary circumstance. So we drove over to Mom and Dad's house where Grandma had died. We went down to the basement where Grandma had lived for the last couple of years. She was happy down there, able to turn the TV up to the level where she could hear it. Mom was on the phone, arranging for hospice and transfer of the body back up to Michigan where the funeral and burial will be. Sheryl and I went into Grandma's room, which looked as normal as the last time I'd seen it. Her hearing aid was on the chest along with all her prescriptions. There was a half-drunk cup of water with a bendy straw in it, and except for the pallor of her skin, she looked for all the world like she was just asleep. I gave her cool cheek a kiss, and stepped back out of the room.
We waited with Mom while the arrangements were made and when she asked us what our plans for the night had been, we told her of going to hear the Bishop and she urged us to go, and so we did. My dad was there with her and she was doing well, considering all.
Hearing Bishop Wright was very odd in light of Grandma's passing. He talked about his new book, Surprised by Hope, and his theology of the resurrection (both Jesus' and ours). He made statements that I've heard in his talks saved online about heaven being important, but it's not the end of the world, and that there is life after death, but what the Bible is really concerned with is Life After Life After Death. I was very glad to see such a full house at West End United Methodist. Wright has kind of become the theologian-in-chief for much of the Emergent/Post-Modern/Third Way Christian, that I didn't really know how many people would be there, but the sanctuary was definitely full. It was also great to see Thomas+ (my favorite Anglican), Gavin, Justin, a big crew from Otter Creek (we probably had 20 people there), some people from Lipscomb, and Joey Reed, a high school buddy of mine who is now a Methodist pastor in Memphis.
I got to ask Bishop Wright a question about how this theology of the resurrection relates to environmentalism and creation care, and he gave a great answer. Someone else asked him about his theology of the church superceding Israel in God's eyes, which was out of the scope of the talk, but Wright answered him anyway. After the talk, I do something I rarely do, but I paid full price for Surprised By Hope and Evil and the Justice of God and had Bishop Wright sign them. I wish I could say that I was able to talk to him for a few minutes, but it was literally, "It's to Phil. And thanks very much."
On our way out, Sheryl and I were holding hands and talking about what we heard, and I said, "I really hope all this is true." And I do. Am I always sure/100% positive? No, because you can't be. You can have faith that what we believe has support behind it, but you can't REALLY know. That's why it's called faith.
Back in the summer of 1983, my brother, sister, and I went up to Flint, Michigan, to spend June with my grandma and grandpa. I knew what the reason was. My mom and dad didn't want us around during the divorce proceedings, but we got to spend time with aunts and uncles and cousins, as well as the grandparents. In 1994, my grandfather died and we traveled up to be there for his service, and so this weekend, we'll travel up again to the dying industrial city of Flint, Michigan. There, where my grandfather traded in farming for manufacturing and brought his wife and 9 children to change from sharecroppers to factory workers, we'll bury Grandma. We'll be there as her legacy, as her memory. And we'll thank God for her life, and await the answers of time when we pray that we will see her and see the Lord.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
The No Picture Update
There will be pictures of the kids again someday, I promise. Just not today.
Kinsey is doing great. She's had a couple of rough spots with behavior and some of her school work, but she got a wake up call last week and both of those have very much improved. She's also been big about wanting to get outside and play which is great, of course. She's such a fun girl and I'm still enjoying being Daddy. She also lost her second tooth on Sunday which is also good, since the permanent tooth was growing in behind it.
Connor is also just a blast. He's not speaking completely coherently yet, but he can repeat things fairly well. I remember that Kinsey was doing much better at speaking at this point, but I'm realizing that people are different and kids develop differently. Plus, he's our baby, so him not talking completely yet is keeping the illusion of him being the baby for a while, but I am looking forward to him talking more. Everything else with him is great. He actually listens to us when we tell him to put something away and generally puts it back. He's not eating as well as we would like. Very few vegetables, but a lot of fruit, bread, cheese, and milk.
At any rate, that's the kid update. Still having fun and still enjoying the life of a parent.
Kinsey is doing great. She's had a couple of rough spots with behavior and some of her school work, but she got a wake up call last week and both of those have very much improved. She's also been big about wanting to get outside and play which is great, of course. She's such a fun girl and I'm still enjoying being Daddy. She also lost her second tooth on Sunday which is also good, since the permanent tooth was growing in behind it.
Connor is also just a blast. He's not speaking completely coherently yet, but he can repeat things fairly well. I remember that Kinsey was doing much better at speaking at this point, but I'm realizing that people are different and kids develop differently. Plus, he's our baby, so him not talking completely yet is keeping the illusion of him being the baby for a while, but I am looking forward to him talking more. Everything else with him is great. He actually listens to us when we tell him to put something away and generally puts it back. He's not eating as well as we would like. Very few vegetables, but a lot of fruit, bread, cheese, and milk.
At any rate, that's the kid update. Still having fun and still enjoying the life of a parent.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Power
In our small group, we're studying Luke and I was responsible for Luke 1. We read through it aloud and as I read Mary's prayer in vv. 46-55 and then Zechariah's in vv. 67-79, I thought about how rarely we hear those passages read in our non-liturgical church setting. People rarely choose to read these aloud. And I wondered why.
One of the thoughts that I had was that this was referring to a specific instance. When Mary and Zechariah spoke about these things, they had their immediate context in mind: the oppression of the Jews by the Romans. And so as they spoke the had the overthrow of the Romans in mind that must take place with the arrival of God's Anointed, the Messiah. But if we extrapolate the context, we can see that the reference is not just to the Romans, but to those in power who oppress those beneath them.
Is that us? Are we the oppressors? And when I say "we," I could be talking about us as Christians, us as upper-middle class Americans; basically any place where our position could be oppressing other people, politically, economically, or otherwise. Do we not read these because we're afraid it could be talking about us?
One of the thoughts that I had was that this was referring to a specific instance. When Mary and Zechariah spoke about these things, they had their immediate context in mind: the oppression of the Jews by the Romans. And so as they spoke the had the overthrow of the Romans in mind that must take place with the arrival of God's Anointed, the Messiah. But if we extrapolate the context, we can see that the reference is not just to the Romans, but to those in power who oppress those beneath them.
Is that us? Are we the oppressors? And when I say "we," I could be talking about us as Christians, us as upper-middle class Americans; basically any place where our position could be oppressing other people, politically, economically, or otherwise. Do we not read these because we're afraid it could be talking about us?
Thursday, April 17, 2008
YouTube Thursday: Thanks, Mac
My absolute favorite Titans player ever, Steve McNair, retired from football today. I always thought he got the short shrift from some of the fans here. Whether that was racist or not, I'd like to think it wasn't. (Oh, btw, he never went to Baltimore, no matter what reality says.) I hate to use the term "warrior" to describe him, not because of any non-violent tendencies I might have, but because football is a game. He was tough, and resilient and competitive. And I hope he doesn't have any lasting damage from his time entertaining us on the field and gets to enjoy it with his family.
Nonetheless, my thoughts about McNair will always be a tough, great player and someone who, despite his failings, was the supreme competitor. And my favorite memory of him is in this video, about 2 minutes in. The end of the game sucked, but not because McNair didn't do his best to get the ball to the end zone.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Singarama (for real)
So two weeks ago, I spent the week as the Tech Director for Lipscomb University's Singarama. Harding and ACU and probably Freed-Hardeman do something similar. It's basically an excuse for Church of Christ kids to get up and dance (planned choreography) when they usually can't. It was held at Otter Creek this year because Lipscomb is renovating their big auditorium and needed a place to hold it. So much like the Anteater's Ball back in November, it was in our building.
There were a lot of challenges from a staging perspective (no curtains for one thing) and moving people on and off stage. Sound was a struggle as well, but fortunately, I wasn't running it. We had a great group of people running things from stage managing and sound and light. I was doing some video work and keeping everything together.
The downside to all of this was that Sunday, March 30th, through, Saturday, April 5th (excluding the Monday) I was there every night until 12:30. Plus working my regular full time job. I had a great time doing it and it was fun to be involved in Singarama since I never did it when I was at Lipscomb, but I was ready to be home and with Sheryl and the kids, to help her out and be able to kiss them good night.
There were a lot of challenges from a staging perspective (no curtains for one thing) and moving people on and off stage. Sound was a struggle as well, but fortunately, I wasn't running it. We had a great group of people running things from stage managing and sound and light. I was doing some video work and keeping everything together.
The downside to all of this was that Sunday, March 30th, through, Saturday, April 5th (excluding the Monday) I was there every night until 12:30. Plus working my regular full time job. I had a great time doing it and it was fun to be involved in Singarama since I never did it when I was at Lipscomb, but I was ready to be home and with Sheryl and the kids, to help her out and be able to kiss them good night.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Singarama
Well, well, well, here I am again.
The last month has been absolutely insane. I've had entirely too much going on and while a lot of it has been very fun, it's also been very busy.
Here's a little bit of what's been going on.
-I've been crazy busy at work.
-I was the technical director for Singarama (more on that later this week)
-I went to San Diego for a work conference (more on that later, but maybe not this week)
-I went to Colorado to snowboard (pics about that later and when I can get my sister to send them to me)
I've missed the blogging some, but not as much as I thought, but I'm also looking forward to getting back to it. I'm sure some of you wonder what's going on with Connor and Kinsey, if I have any insights into the worship minister search at Otter Creek, and where my theological ruminations have taken me. Or you may not care at all. Either way, I'm back for a while and looking forward to interacting again.
Peace.
The last month has been absolutely insane. I've had entirely too much going on and while a lot of it has been very fun, it's also been very busy.
Here's a little bit of what's been going on.
-I've been crazy busy at work.
-I was the technical director for Singarama (more on that later this week)
-I went to San Diego for a work conference (more on that later, but maybe not this week)
-I went to Colorado to snowboard (pics about that later and when I can get my sister to send them to me)
I've missed the blogging some, but not as much as I thought, but I'm also looking forward to getting back to it. I'm sure some of you wonder what's going on with Connor and Kinsey, if I have any insights into the worship minister search at Otter Creek, and where my theological ruminations have taken me. Or you may not care at all. Either way, I'm back for a while and looking forward to interacting again.
Peace.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Returning soon
but until then, remember you can follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/philwilson27
which I've been greatly enjoying.
which I've been greatly enjoying.
Friday, April 04, 2008
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
Twitter-er
I'm now a member of the Twitter-verse. Find me at http://twitter.com/philwilson27 or look on the left hand column below my links.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Still Alive
"This was a triumph..." (Portal fans will get that)
Hi all, I'm still here and I know that at least some of you are out there checking, since the Statcounter keeps going up.
Rest assured that I'll have pictures to share and some thoughts here and there, although I've experienced some sense of what Randy Harris talked about at Zoe last year with "losing my voice." Wondering what I have to say, if anything I say adds to the conversation or is just more noise in the background.
Hope the rest of you in blogland are well. Peace.
Hi all, I'm still here and I know that at least some of you are out there checking, since the Statcounter keeps going up.
Rest assured that I'll have pictures to share and some thoughts here and there, although I've experienced some sense of what Randy Harris talked about at Zoe last year with "losing my voice." Wondering what I have to say, if anything I say adds to the conversation or is just more noise in the background.
Hope the rest of you in blogland are well. Peace.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Time Off
I've got a several very busy weeks coming up in life and work, so I probably won't be blogging much for a month. I'll try to do it when I can, but it won't be very often. Talk to you when I return to blogland.
Friday, March 07, 2008
A Bible Question: John 15:22
I was reading through John the other night and came across a verse that gave me pause: John 15:22. It's in Jesus' last discourse to his disciples, where he has talked about the coming of the Comforter and this section in the NIV is subtitled "The World Hates the Disciples." I'll quote the section from 15:18-16:4.
18"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me. 22If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. 23He who hates me hates my Father as well. 24If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: 'They hated me without reason.'The quote itself is verse 22: "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin." Besides dealing with that as a hypothetical, the idea there is an interesting one. Jesus is obviously talking about the immediate area and people around him, Israel, does this have a wider context? Could this mean people in the past, present, and future who don't hear about Jesus? So is this a specific statement with a wider meaning or a specific statement without a wider context?26"When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. 27And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.
John 16
1"All this I have told you so that you will not go astray. 2They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. 3They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. 4I have told you this, so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you. I did not tell you this at first because I was with you.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
YouTube Thursday: Movies I'm Looking Forward To
As you might have figured out at some point, I love movies. Sheryl and I used to go and see a movie almost every weekend back when we dated and first got married. Now? Not so much. A movie has to look really good for us to go see it. But here are two that I'm really looking forward to this summer.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Of course I'm looking forward to this one. I BEGGED my parents to let me see Raiders when it first came out. It had Han Solo in it and ALL my friends had seen it. They finally relented and I got to see it in all its face-melting gory... er, glory.
Things that make me excited for this one:
I also love superhero movies. Loved Spider-Man. Loved Batman Begins. Loved the original Superman, but I had a lot of experience with those characters going in. I knew their origins and their alter-egos. With this one, I know almost nothing that I haven't seen in the trailers and what I've seen makes me really look forward to it. Plus with The Dark Knight coming out as well, it's going to be a great summer.
Now all we need is a babysitter...
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Of course I'm looking forward to this one. I BEGGED my parents to let me see Raiders when it first came out. It had Han Solo in it and ALL my friends had seen it. They finally relented and I got to see it in all its face-melting gory... er, glory.
Things that make me excited for this one:
- Karen Allen back as Marion Ravenwood.
- The action
- Harrison Ford
- That music
- The title. I mean seriously, what does that even mean?
- The humor. I liked some of the humor in the Last Crusade, but some of it got too slapstick. And I thought the way that Marcus Brody was so different from his character in the first one was the worst example of it.
- Roswell?!?
I also love superhero movies. Loved Spider-Man. Loved Batman Begins. Loved the original Superman, but I had a lot of experience with those characters going in. I knew their origins and their alter-egos. With this one, I know almost nothing that I haven't seen in the trailers and what I've seen makes me really look forward to it. Plus with The Dark Knight coming out as well, it's going to be a great summer.
Now all we need is a babysitter...
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
What Happened Yesterday: Do or Die Tuesday
Of course, nobody asked, but here's what I think happened last night in politics.
I think Hillary finally found something that would stick to Obama: the experience issue. With the economy seeming to be headed downward and the now-always underlying fear of terrorism, she found something that would stay in people's minds. And ultimately, with President Bush's ratings in the teens and 20s and what many consider to be his foreign policy blunders, it seems to be a legitimate fear for a lot of people.
When I was watching the election returns last night, I heard someone say that Obama had called himself a blank slate where people could project their own political feelings onto him, which so far had been a good thing. But with Hillary finding the experience chink in his armor, it was a negative because people then could look at him and think: "Hmmm. Haven't we already done the inexperienced Washington outsider thing already? And how's that working out for us?" Although one could make the case that her experience isn't that much greater than Obama's.
And again, it was negative campaigning that ended up doing it, at least partially, with the 3am phone ad being one of the predominant pieces.
btw for one of the best skewerings of that ad, fast forward to 6:40 of this Daily Show clip from Monday night.
So what now? Well, obviously no one's dropping out now and it looks more and more likely that we're heading to some kind of convention show down. I do wonder if the Michigan and Florida primaries are going to play into this at all. But one thing is clear, the Democrats are going to be in the news for a lot longer than the Republicans, with their "presumptive" nominee being taken care of in John McCain, undoubtedly causing resigned consternation among many parts of the party.
I think Hillary finally found something that would stick to Obama: the experience issue. With the economy seeming to be headed downward and the now-always underlying fear of terrorism, she found something that would stay in people's minds. And ultimately, with President Bush's ratings in the teens and 20s and what many consider to be his foreign policy blunders, it seems to be a legitimate fear for a lot of people.
When I was watching the election returns last night, I heard someone say that Obama had called himself a blank slate where people could project their own political feelings onto him, which so far had been a good thing. But with Hillary finding the experience chink in his armor, it was a negative because people then could look at him and think: "Hmmm. Haven't we already done the inexperienced Washington outsider thing already? And how's that working out for us?" Although one could make the case that her experience isn't that much greater than Obama's.
And again, it was negative campaigning that ended up doing it, at least partially, with the 3am phone ad being one of the predominant pieces.
btw for one of the best skewerings of that ad, fast forward to 6:40 of this Daily Show clip from Monday night.
So what now? Well, obviously no one's dropping out now and it looks more and more likely that we're heading to some kind of convention show down. I do wonder if the Michigan and Florida primaries are going to play into this at all. But one thing is clear, the Democrats are going to be in the news for a lot longer than the Republicans, with their "presumptive" nominee being taken care of in John McCain, undoubtedly causing resigned consternation among many parts of the party.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Connor's Sense of Humor
Connor is quickly developing a sense of humor, which I enjoy of course. Case in point. Friday night, I took the kids out by myself to one of the McDonald's that has a play area. Kinsey loved playing in the play area, and Connor wanted to, but obviously couldn't. He did find another mom that he liked and decided he'd play his joke with her. He pulled his hand into his sweater and walked up to her with a very serious look on his face, and then his hand appears and he just laughs and laughs. And then does it again, And again. And again.
So I guess he really is like me, except it's cuter when he does it multiple times. I think Sheryl and Kinsey are in trouble.
So I guess he really is like me, except it's cuter when he does it multiple times. I think Sheryl and Kinsey are in trouble.
Monday, March 03, 2008
Wherein Phil Blogs About Nothing
It was a nice weekend. I got to hang out with my family most of it, play outside with the kids, watch a couple of movies with Sheryl, and yesterday, had a really nice night with small group at home, as we worshiped a little and intro'ed our study of Luke, as translated by the Voice. And it culminated with playing some full-on Rock Band.
Yay for simple weekends. They'll be fewer this month.
Yay for simple weekends. They'll be fewer this month.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
