Eric Siddall does a very nice job of capturing some of the things that have been vaguely lurking in the back of my head since George W. started talking about the U.S. attacking Iraq, with or without the support of the international community, congress, or even the American people. If we claim to be a nation of laws, we need to act like it in the international community. Well worth a read.

In this Sunday’s sermon, our pastor was pontificating on the sense of emotional distance and isolation that afflicts modern man. He mentioned Mother Teresa’s quote: “The greatest disease is not TB or leprosy, but the feeling of being uncared for, unwanted, deserted by everyone. The greatest disease is the lack of love.” He went on to cite modern communications advances, polling the congregation to find out how many present had cell phones, pagers, friends in other countries they kept in contact with, etc. “And even with all of these amazing communication tools, we still often find ourselves alone and lonely,” he concluded.

That got me to thinking about the benefits of these tools. Though they certainly do allow us to keep up with more people than we otherwise could, my gut instinct is that they actually contribute to the problem of loneliness. In the same way that a hunk of butter is spread progressively thinner as you split it across more pieces of bread, I suspect our attention and capacity for meaningful relationship is strained further the more people we add into our lives. Though it may be my inner introvert talking, I suspect that relationships become richer, and loneliness less of a problem, when one’s social circle has some limits. Further, I suspect that tools that make it easy to keep up with 100 people also contribute to not really knowing those people in anything more than a superficial way.

I certainly find my Real Life friendships richer than my online friendships, as a rule. In fact, I can only think of a couple people that I’ve met on the Internet and not had in-person interaction with that I would really call friends. I’m curious to know whether others have had the same feeling of searching the earth for like-minded people, and ending up back home.

Kathy checked out The American President from the San Marcos Library recently, and we finally got around to watching it last night. (Incidentally, I think it’s wonderful that libraries make films available for borrowing — they’re free, you get them for a week, and the late fees are far more managable than those of the video stores. If only DVD’s were durable enough to survive the library!)

This is a fun movie. A mix of political drama, comedy, and romance work together well to tell the story of a widower president who falls for a lobbyist while in office. Though the political side of it was a bit facile — too much “just do the right thing and everything will work out fine” — it’s an engaging and well-written story, and worth a viewing. Especially at library prices.

Thanks to Chris, I’m enjoying the musical stylings of Me First and the Gimme Gimmes today. They’re a punk band that covers show tunes, classic rock, and other unlikely selections. Great fun. You haven’t really heard “Stand By Your Man” until you’ve heard it done by an all-male punk ensemble.

No music on their site, unfortunately, but if you like silly punk rock (and hey! who doesn’t?), these guys are definitely worth a purchase.

Ok, I’ve finally gotten off my plush posterior and written up our Virginia vacation. Read and enjoy at 50 Hours, 4 Kids, 1 Van!

Being the good Christian I am, I skipped our regular Wednesday night Bible study to see Westlake High School’s Production of Steve Martin’s Picasso at the Lapin Agile with my buddy Ben. I had read the play a few years back when it was first published, but had never seen it staged, so was very excited to have the chance, especially at the low, low bargain price of $5.00.

The play, as I’d remembered, was excellent. One of the things that I really love about Steve Martin’s work is that he manages to take on big questions, to explore the world of Ideas, while at the same time making me endanger my health with laughter. And surprisingly, the Westlake High School gang did a superb job with it. Their staging was sparse, but effective, and the actors very capable and well-rehearsed, without the awkward timing that so often afflicts non-professional stage productions. Far better than lots of community theater productions I’ve seen (and paid a lot more for).

Bravo to all concerned! If you’re in or near Austin, you’ve still got a few shows you can make. (The $5.00 included cookies afterwards. You can’t beat that!)

I know it’s a bit lame for me to post links without any original content or commentary of my own, but this makes me happy.

I decided this past weekend that I wanted to learn about doing Celtic knotwork, those interesting convoluted patterns that one so often finds in the artwork of that tradition. As with all new things I want to learn, I searched the Internet, and happened upon this excellent tutorial. Though it’s not exhaustive, and the translation from French is a bit rough at times, it was good enough to get me started. I’m still getting the hang of it, and having a lot of fun, but still have a ways to go before I’ll have something presentable.

Hi Everyone! We’ve been out of pocket for a few weeks. We’ve spent some of the time up in Virginia, some up at Canyon Lake, some getting the kids’ started in school, and the rest just trying to catch up on our neglected chores around the house.

Our Virginia trip was great, aside from the expected ambivalence of any 50 hours spent in a car with kids. I’ve got a writeup with photos in the works, and should have it posted soon.

Emily has returned to Crockett Elementary, and has brought Abigail with her this year. Abby’s starting first grade, and Emily fourth. Both are adjusting to the scholastic routine well, aside from Abigail’s dislike of having to get up at 7:00am — a distaste I share.

I played with The Grant Mazak Band again this weekend, and had a great time. Lots of family showed up, the kids were at their cutest, and we were joined by another fiddler/songwriter friend of Grant’s for a set. (I only knew about half the songs he had us play, but managed to stumble along with the key and time signature in most cases.)

Anyway, all signs point to things slowing down here again for a while. I, for one, will welcome the rest!

The Princess Bride is, of course, one of the best movies ever made. It turns out, however, that it’s also a fantastic book. The film adheres very tightly to the written version, so if you liked the one, you’ll probably like the other. However, the book also includes a number of little gems the movie missed, including a moderately long forward that had me laughing out loud. A relatively light and easy read, it’s fun for movie fans and non-fans alike. I’m interested to look up more of William Goldman’s writing to see if the rest compares. (Interestingly, Goldman published The Silent Gondaliers last year. It’s another “abridgement” of an S. Morgenstern tale, as was The Princess Bride. Looks like that might be a good one for the reading list.)