Expelled!

Maybe I am way behind the times on this, but I just found out about a movie that sounds quite fascinating. It is called "Expelled", and it is about the agenda to silence those who oppose Darwinism in the academic arena. The movie was put together by Ben Stein, who is himself very interesting, and should be in theaters in April. It looks to me like it will be worth checking out. Since I haven't seen it yet I don't know how much to recommend it, but again, it does look like it will be worth seeing. Watch the trailer and let me know what you think.

What A Way To Start A Semester!

Last Friday I got to go up Baldy with Alan Hultberg and his friend George. Alan has quite a reputation for leading very difficult hikes, and this was definitely not easy by any stretch of the imagination. It isn't so much the speed at which he hikes, but the consistency of his stride. He sets a good pace at the beginning of the day, and never slows down until he gets back to the car. Well, I'm always up for a good challenge, so when he asked if I would be interested in joining him on this hike, I quickly rearranged my schedule at work to make sure I could take the day off to go along. I always love getting up into the mountains, and better yet, this would be my first opportunity to use crampons and climb a mountain in the snow. I wasn't disappointed. The hike was strenuous; in fact, I didn't quite make it to the top of the mountain before we turned around. But the weather was perfect, and the mountains were absolutely gorgeous. I think my companions probably got tired of hearing me express repeatedly how beautiful it was up there. It was truly an incredible day. If you are interested in seeing even more pictures from the hike, you can find them here.

Alan and George shortly after we hit the trail












The summit is in view






And for a parting shot, here is another 3D one. I will repeat my viewing instructions for anyone who is new at this. First of all, you should view the full sized picture. Next, the idea is to look at the picture in such a way that your left eye sees the image on the right and your right eye sees the image on the left. That sounds complicated but it really isn't. I find it works best to find an anchor in the picture; something that you can recognize even when it is out of focus. In this picture, the tree on the right works pretty well. Then start to cross your eyes, and you will see the two parts moving together. You want to form a third image in the center that is an overlay of the two parts, so watch that anchor and use it to bring the two together. Then comes the most difficult part. Normally when you cross your eyes, you are focusing on something close to your face, but for this exercise, you need to focus on the computer screen. It can be done, but it may take some practice. When you get it, it will be well worth it. Enjoy!

It's About Time

So it is about time I got around to announcing our exciting news on here. It's a Girl! And Torrey is due at the end of June. Those are the details in a nutshell. We are excited, and we realize that our lives will never be the same. So while I have time, I must study Hebrew. Chao for now.

The Beginning of the End

Interesting... now my Philippines pictures are back, but now my older pictures are gone. Oh well. They will be back eventually.

So a new semester has begun at Talbot, but this one is quite unlike the rest. This is it. The last semester of my Master's program. I have mixed feelings about that, but I will say for certain that this has been an incredible experience and I am so glad I have been able to study here. Part of the frustration of coming to the end is that I have finally gotten past all of the required core classes that I took because I have to, and now that I am only taking classes I am really excited about, I'm finishing. This semester is indeed really exciting. I am taking Hebrew II (languages are cool), Romans (it is a great class I hear, and I get to use some Greek), Exegesis of the Pastoral Epistles (more Greek; great professor), and I am auditing a class on the life and thought of Paul (fascinating topic; another great professor). I realize that I still haven't really shared any insights from last semester's classes. I still hope to do that, and hopefully I will throw in a thing or two from this semester as well in the months to come.

And of course I had to throw some pictures on here. So here are a couple from a trip Torrey and I made last weekend to the local mountains to enjoy the storm that had swept through Southern California.

We stopped along the road at one point, and I jumped out of the car to take a few pictures. It was cold.


We found a place to park along the road and then hiked down to Jenks lake.


Torrey felt sorry for this lonely duck and wanted to take it home.