jh2fct’s posterous

I've got a great idea! Let's make another social network! We'll be different because we'll be exactly like friendfeed, twitter, facebook, myspace, bing.fm, last.fm, youtube, (ad nausium).

But we'll be different!

Somehow.

I think.

Maybe.

...

...

What were we talking about?

"Without going outside his door, one understands (all that takes
place) under the sky; without looking out from his window, one sees
the Tao of Heaven. The farther that one goes out (from himself), the
less he knows.

Therefore the sages got their knowledge without travelling; gave
their (right) names to things without seeing them; and accomplished
their ends without any purpose of doing so. " 

- Lao Tzu Tao Te Ching

"I don't know if I'm comin' or goin' but I sure am makin' good time"

- ADHD Bipolar Ain't nothin' but a thing

Who can (make) the muddy water (clear)? Let it be still, and it will gradually become clear. Who can secure the condition of rest?
Let movement go on, and the condition of rest will gradually arise.

-Lao Tzu

The rock is worn away by the water. The water flows through the rocks and does not concern itself with obstructions. The river flows from its beginning to its end. It moves always and yet it is still always. The river is free yet it is found within it's banks. It flows where it chooses and the riverbank keeps it so. The river flows yet it rest upon its banks.

The rock does not move. The water moves around it. Yet the rock has changed.

There is no river without rock to rest upon. The rock and the river are one. The are one because they are not one. They are the same because they are different.

The vacancy should brought to the utmost degree, and that of stillness guarded with unwavering vigour. All things alike go through their process of activity and then we see them return.

And finially 

The sage's way, Tao is the way of water. There must be water for life to be, and it can flow wherever.And water, being true to being water is true to Tao.

Those on the Way of Tao, like water need to accept where they find themselves; and that may often be where water goes to the lowest places, and that is right. Like a lake the heart must be calm and quiet having great depth beneath it.

the sage rules with compassion, and his word needs to be trusted.

the sage needs to know like water how to flow around the blocks and how to find the way through without violence.
Like water, the sage should wait for the moment to ripen and be right: water, you know, never fights it flows around without harm.

I get asked all the time about what I have done with my weekend. You know what people ask. "How was your weekend?" "What did you do this weekend" or "What did you say you were going to do with a live chicken, a jar of mayonnaise and 3 foot of PVC?"

I usually say things like "Oh, I was gettin by", "Nothin much" or "Think chicken fried potato gun"

Ok. The chicken thing maybe not so much. But you get my point.

I do have a hobby that doesn't revolve around reaching out to the digital learner, Bloging, twittering, keeping up with the latest Microsoft Curriculum and teaching Microsoft Curriculum. The hobby I have revolves around my 4 year old, My his growing assortment of GeoTrax, and my Dad. My dad doesn't have GeoTrax but he did stay at a holiday inn express.

I was building another massive and complex track lay out when I began to look a little closer at the GeoTrax track. I noticed that it had little things embedded in the track molding.

• All of the light tan pieces have some kind of plant thingamajigs growing out between the tie and the rail

• The straight pieces have a wrench lying between the crossties.

• The curved pieces have a length of rope coming from under one of the cross ties.

• The switches are much more fun

• The left handed switch has a pick ax, a piece of wood and a turtle!

• The right handed switch has a rail spike, a hacksaw and a raccoon!

I thought that this was incredibly cool, nifty neet-o keen, and it looked cute too!

I quickly deduced from my deity like grasp of the obvious that the thingamajigs on the track were tan just like the rest of the track was tan. I reasoned that the thingamajigs on the track were difficult to notice because they were just as tan as the rest of the track. I immediately grasped the gravity of the issue and knew I must act with great haste. I must protect the government from immediate collapse as news of this crises spread. With great haste I immediately phoned the President, the NSA, the Department of Homeland Security, The Pope, The Nightly News, Ted Koppell, The CEO of Fisher Price, 911, and the head of the local neighborhood watch. All of which to my dismay either were not available for comment and or refused to return my call. So much for vigilance in the public defense.

I then decided that it would be really cool if I painted some of them. So I did. I also decided that it would be really cool if I painted one of the locomotives. So I did.

That's pretty much all I have to say about that.

Oh! Wait! I knew there was something I was forgetting! The whole “my Dad” tie in! I tell ya. The nerve of some people to forget their parents in the middle of something else they were doing! What? Oh yeah. That's right. It was me. Don't I feel sheepish. At any rate...

My Dad works for CSX. He works on maintaining the equipment that maintains the rails often called Maintenance of Way(MOW). So dad fixes MOWers. That was lame but hey whaddya say? Dad works for CSX which have trains. I like trains. Zachary likes trains. Did I mention my son's name is Zachary? Well then, Everyone this is Zachary my son. Zachary my son this is everybody. Be nice. Say hi. Shake hands. Cover your mouth when you sneeze.

Where was I? I hate it when I do that, don't you? I mean don't you hate it when you do that. Not don't you hate it when I do that. Of course you could hate it when I do that and it would be ok too. Then I could hate it when you do that and then there might be some awkward air between us. Then I would have to explain myself and you could get offended. Then I'd have to work through all of that. Therapy cost money. So lets not go there ok? Where did I lay that crescent? Why crescent? Why not just call it a bun? Where was I? Oh, yeah. Right.

Zachary likes trains so I got him some HO scale electric trains to play with. Now before you freak out he was never alone with the trains. I always plain with supervise him.

The reason they say to wait until the child is 8 or 10 years old is electric shock. That is not the reason at all. The reason is that little boys like to crash trains and HO trains break easily and cost money. So my wife and I decided to get him something a little less fragile. We agreed that GeoTrax was a better option.

Actually my wife made all those decisions and I got to say “yes dear.” I believe that there are two ways to be in life: Right or Happy. I like happy. We went with her idea.

My dad ties into this because he works at CSX. Did I tell you Dad works at CSX? Since Dad works at CSX Zachary and I like to get CSX stuff. We had a bunch of CSX stuff in HO scale but GeoTrax didn't make any CSX trains. So I painted one.

So basically I wanted to say that I painted some GeoTrax and Track this weekend.

I painted some GeoTrax and Track this weekend. Thanks for asking.

I was thinking about clichés this morning. The thought was that when something becomes cliché then it belittles the original thought. I was thinking about serving in the student ministry (serving in a church = cliché) at Grace Baptist Church; which led me to think about why the contents of my blog were not all about Christian topics (all Christians write about christian topics = Cliché); which led me to think about the value of who you are (cliché) vs what others perceive that you should be doing or saying; which led me to think about authenticity not only to God but to yourself; which led me to what I think a Christian life should look like ie "The fruits of the spirit" (cliché). The authentic Christian that stands in the mirror and looks back at me (cliché) says gratitude is the chief characteristic. *

What that gratitude should be about is a matter of debate. My father-in-law tells me that it is his salvation. Needless to say, my father-in-law and I have theological differences. Irregardless** of your theological stance the concept of salvation is not tangible like say a dishwasher. Its not likely that a conversation in Home Depot would go something like:"Yeah, Jed. I was over in appliances and I picked me up a good 'ole clothes warshin machine, a fridge-a-dary and a can or two of Salvation. It was 2 for 1 today. You oughter go back there and grab some while it last!" Nor too many television commercials like "Call now! Angelic operators are standing by. Call 1-800-CAN-O-JESUS for your 2 for 1 Can of Salvation today! Only 3 easy payments of 19.95 + 24.95 shipping and handling" - (Ok. There has got to be a rude catholic penance joke in there somewhere...)

Point?
Direction? Topic? Where was I going before I stumbled down this garden pa..(cliché).... Oh! I remember!

Gratitude. The concept of Salvation may not be the most cogniscient thing around and I can see where it might be difficult to grock. It is easier to look around at the blessings I have in front of me. It is easier to look at my wife and understand that she is the greatest gift that God has ever given me and that my sons run a close second. It is then that I can see Christianity in my own headlights (cliché).

All of which leads me up to the cliché: "An Attitude of Gratitude"

Now doesn't that take the struts off the anti-grav tank? (That is just too weird to be a cliché). I don't know about you (cliché - not to mention poor sentence structure) but it kills the whole deal to throw up that cliché. It immediately drains the life out of the thing (cliché).

A comedian on the Bob and Tom in the morning show did a skit on how black American urban slang can no longer be used by black Americans once it hits the main stream and white people start using it too. It is no longer acceptable black american lanugage to use terms such as "Wha 'cha want all up in my grill and (insert foul anguage concerning body waste here) homie?" Thus Homie and Grill, as an expression concerning the mouth or face, are no longer considered proper black American slang. It does not fall beyond the jest concept to exclude the term Grill not only to the reference to the face but also in relationship to any parts of the human anatomy. But then again "wha cha doin all up in my grill" would take on a whole different meaning if Grill referred to the large left toe or, even worse, the anus.

Whether the joke about black American slang is funny or not it does bring up a good point. Do the language item or items in question loose value when they become a cliché?

It has been my experience (cliché and in this case a qualifier to the following statement which waters down (cliché) its value) that "The best way to learn is to teach" or arguably "those who can do. those who can't teach." The student body often has questions that either keep you on your toes or keeps you looking things up. The clichés works. It is true. Perhaps clichés become clichés for a reason?
___________________________________________
* I wrote this before I took my medication but after I let the dogs out for the morning.

** I had to use the not-really-a-word-that-means-anything-really*** word Irregardless. I just couldn't
help myself.

*** Shouldn't everyone use a long-and-hyphenated-but-not-really-necessary-to-make-long-and-hyphenated-to-make-the -point word in their commentary?****

**** Shouldn't everyone write a commentary on their commentary? *****

***** Shouldn't people sleep more?******

****** If people slept more would they stop with the ****** thing already? *******

******* No. Not really.^

^ A public service note: Those that have started the **** thing have been
sacked.

I have linked to this blog from my wordpress blog as a container for my idle ramblings.

Ramblings to follow

Why do we need another blogging service even one as simple as this? Does this service compare to tinypaste, textsnip or pastie?
Is it trying to? Does it need to?