Renewal, Miyazaki

I've been experiencing a spiritual renewal over the last few days. It started last weekend but really got moving after I read the end of A Voice in the Wind. In any case, I know that the spiritual life is a rollercoaster with ups and downs, but right now is a big up, and for this I am thankful.

I had said that I'd try to get up at 7:00 yesterday. Well, I got up at 9:00. DOH! But today I got up at 7:15. Just a little more and I'll be there!

Go club was pretty good. I played a guy named Art, who beat me by 18 points. Could be worse! At least he taught me the 3-3 invasion joseki, which I'm pretty sure GSM had shown me before, but it was a long time ago. After the club meeting ended, he (GSM) and I were both in need of a little relaxation (the club was a little hyper that night), so we went down the road to Bongo Java and had some root beer and played our own game. He smashed me, of course, but I learned some things, and that's really what counts. Last night I went to GSM's apartment and we had a good dinner (stroganoff and green beans) and some good times talking about stuff, politics, etc. Then we watched Grave of the Fireflies, which is a Miyazaki film about two children in WWII. It was very sad, and made us both think. You have to wonder what madness would cause men to make power grabs that provoke wars that starve children. The fire-bombs really were quite terrifying, especially when all of your cities are made out of wood.

It seems like a big time for Miyazaki right now. I'm taking Spirited Away to SC's family this weekend, and when I get back, GSM and I are gonna go see Howl's Moving Castle, which is actually being released in American theaters!

Reading, Life

I finished A Voice in the Wind last night. Man, it was good! I know it's fiction, but it was so encouraging to read about Hadassah standing up for her faith. I look at my own life and I realize that Christianity has gone far from its roots. This book is highly recommended reading for anyone interested. It's true that the beginning is slow and Rivers' constantly-shifting POV annoyed me at first, but let me just say that the end is glorious. I can't wait to get a hold of the second book.

My sleep habits have been drifting later lately (getting up at 9:30, 10:00), so I decided to suck it up last night and set my alarm for 7:00 AM. I didn't actually get up till 7:30, but it's a start! It was nice to have plenty of time to shower, eat breakfast, work out, read, etc. before work. I'll shoot for a true 7:00 tomorrow.

Tonight is church and go club, which makes me happy. I feel the need to spend time with other Christians more these days. That will be encouraging. I've also been brushing up on my go skills. And I haven't seen GSM for a while, so it will be good to spend a little time with him.

Work is still creeping along. I hope Dr. Cummings will contact me soon about the molecules I'll be working with. Right now I'm doing some simple simulations on my own to make sure I understand the processes involved. But the sooner I can start some real work, the better!

Finally, for you, my reader:

May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May He make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.
May He turn his face toward you and give you peace.

The Gradys, Spiffy Boxes

Had a great time in Louisville, this weekend! SC had to work, but I still got to spend time with her family. She and I had a really good talk on Sunday, about renewing our relationship with each other in light of our relationships with God, etc. All in all it was a wonderful weekend.

It would seem that Agent Peaches was correct: I lost my dual-monitor configuration. But that's not really a problem, when one considers the reason: Dr. McCabe bought two brand new shiny PowerMac G5's, which came today! They are really, really nice. I was trying not to drool over their dual 64-bit coolness, but it was a struggle. Anyways, she had boxes, but no monitors, so I'm back to my laptop screen. I just hope I can someday get an account on one of those machines, so I can ssh in. What joy that would be! Maybe I'll even get to use one sometimes!

Nerd-check!

...

Yup.

Sweet Deal

I came back in the office a minute ago and there was a 17" LCD monitor on the desk across from mine. I understand that it didn't belong to anybody, so I've appropriated it, and now I have a dual-monitor desktop configuration! Sweet! I can run MS Modeling on the larger (1280x1024) monitor and read the tutorials or browse the net or whatever on the laptop screen. The nerd in me is now one sun-beam happier!

:)

So much!

A lot has been happening in Gourd-land, lately! Let's see... Since the last post:

Finished Book 9 of the WoT. o_O Wow. All I can say, is, Wow. As if my head wasn't already asploded enough...

Watched the rest of Wolf's Rain with GSM. The end is very sad, but also extremely profound. A first-rate, grade-A anime, in my humble opinion! The music rocks my socks. I've now got both OST's from GSM.

Read more of MotL. I found myself really perturbed when I read about the decadence in Rome in that time period. Not to mention that other woman's reaction when she found out Hadasseh was a Christian. Rivers is a good author! I just wish she'd define more of the Latin terms she uses. Oh, and still no mushy stuff! ^_^

On the work front, I've met Dr. McCabe and I now have a desk in the student office. I'm still doing tutorials, though. Dr. Cummings is here today, so hopefully the three of us can get together soon and figure out what to do with me! I'll keep you all updated.

Please be praying for the Geigers! Mrs.' surgery is Friday. They had GSM and me over on Sunday night for 16-bean soup and cornbread. Man it was good! I'll be making some of that soon myself, I hope. We also watched SW episode 1. Obi Wan really does look better with a beard.

On a further SW front, I downloaded and watched the Clone Wars series last night. Not really too impressed. It was mostly baseless plot and mindless action with a SW skin, but there were a few good moments. It was nice to see exactly what point Anakin became a knight, where Grievous' cough came from, etc.

I'm sure I'm missing something important with everything that's been going on, so I'll try to blog about it when I can remember.

Occupation!

I read the second chapter of MotL last night. It was a great chapter, as Atretes was a pretty awesome warrior. And still no mushy stuff! YES!

This morning I lolled around, reading and looking at a present idea for the CS. Then I went to a lunch meeting where they gave us some (really good!) free food and a guy talked about nano-technology as it's being developed to (hopefully) one day treat cancer. A very interesting talk! Then I went and got a key to my group's graduate student office. That made for an adventure, since I had an idea where the room was, but I wasn't sure. I tried several doors, and there was one where the key actually worked, but the door wouldn't open. I came back to it a few times, and finally I realized what I was doing wrong. I turned the key and this time PUSHED on the door, and got in. There wasn't anyone there, but at least I know where to go now. So I went back to my room and waited around for the e-mail that would tell me where to go and get the software I should be training on. After a while I got tired enough of waiting to even overcome latent social anxieties, and decided to go to the building myself and ask around. After getting shuffled around between four offices, I finally met the man who simply reached on his shelf and handed it to me. DOH! I've got it installed and tried a few tutorials. It really is nice software.

The crowds in my head rejoice! I have gained something to Do, a means of Accomplishment, a Span across the chasm of Restlessness!

After dinner (left over manwich and a can of collard greens), I went to church. It was great to see everybody and visit a little. And Dr. Brown's doing a great class on church history. Tonight was a discussion of Gnosticism and some of the "alternative" gospels. Really interesting. It goes along nicely with a book I'm reading called Early Christians Speak. After church I joined some of the members at Baja Burrito, and we had a good time, but I couldn't stay long, because I had an appointment with the...

NASHVILLE GO CLUB

Woot! That was very enjoyable. The chess center is a really nice place. I played a guy they called "Crazy" Tony. He beat me pretty good, but I haven't played in a while, and the second half of the game went much better than the first. GSM and I also met a guy name Aaron who had come to the club straight from Woodmont Hills. What a small world this is... Anyways, he turns out to be a big anime fan, so I wouldn't be surprised if we all end up hanging out at some point.

I guess I've rambled enough. I miss everybody everywhere, especially You-Know-Who (no schmoopie jokes, please!), but I'm starting to get a little settled in and feeling more comfortable with my surroundings.

Good night, my loyal readers! I hope you are all faring well.