Friday, August 31, 2007

Check out my Slide Show!


The 25th Anniversary Homecoming concert 'delivered'. I hope you didn't miss it. Here are pictures....www.acappella.org

CTR-ALT-DELETE

Wouldn't it be nice if whenever we messed up our life we could simply
press "CTR-ALT-DELETE" and start over??????

Monday, August 20, 2007

NYC

I have been struggling with how to tell you about my trip to New York City a couple weeks back. August 5 - 10, some of the hottest days NYC has experienced in a while and I was there for them. Brooklyn saw their first tornado in I don't know how many decades, and I was there the afternoon before. Heavy rain caused flooding that shut down the roads, subways, and trains. Stories were told that some from Brooklyn walked the ten miles into Manhattan to get to work and a lot of folks missed flights at JFK that day, and that's just the ones we heard about.

It is a busy place. Sorry to state the obvious, but it is. Everyone is in a hurry, a big hurry. There are a lot of people and they are mostly 'going' some place, in a hurry. You try to stay out of the way, cause you can get stepped on. People don't look you in the eye much, but I think that is because they are just trying to get to where they are going and looking at you might slow them down. I tried to make eye contact and smile at folks, and said thank you to workers on the tour busses, the Empire State tours and such, they just looked like they needed it.
My visit was a leisurely one so I tried to not get into too big a hurry, and kept my eyes open and paid attention. There were details everywhere and the architecture alone could take someone with a good camera decades to capture. I made it to Brooklyn Gardens and that was worth the trip itself, and of course Central Park, which I didn't get to do justice, on foot, on a very hot day. Sweating was a very real part of my visit to NYC. I spent two full days on foot walking in the heat so it was 'drippy' to say the least. Drink lots of water.

Everyone should probably try to go at some point in life and maybe more than once. It depends. It is worth it to buy a 2 or 3 day pass on the Grayline to get to see so much of the highlights and the tour guides are very knowledgeable. It helps give you an idea of the places you should revisit and spend more time nosing around. Go early for the Empire State Bldg tour and the trip out to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The lines get long as the day progresses. We went to see the Lion King and it was fantastic. The costumes, sets and music just blow you away.

Special Thanks to my sister, Monda, who let me tag along on the trip. It was nice to share the city with her and since she was working, tell her about the high points of my site seeing adventures. Maybe I'll try this again in a month that isn't quite so hot as August:) I uploaded some pictures at my www.shoutlife.com/rhondacoleson site that hopefully tell you a bit more about the things I saw. It was an amazing trip.
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Thursday, August 16, 2007

Phrases Explained

The following list of phrases and their definitions might help you understand the mysterious language of science and medicine. These special phrases are also applicable to anyone reading a PhD dissertation or academic paper. Enjoy!

"IT HAS LONG BEEN KNOWN"... I didn't look up the original reference.

"A DEFINITE TREND IS EVIDENT"... These data are practically meaningless.

"WHILE IT HAS NOT BEEN POSSIBLE TO PROVIDE DEFINITE ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS"... An unsuccessful experiment but I still hope to get it published.

"THREE OF THE SAMPLES WERE CHOSEN FOR DETAILED STUDY"... The other results didn't make any sense.

"TYPICAL RESULTS ARE SHOWN"... This is the prettiest graph.

"THESE RESULTS WILL BE IN A SUBSEQUENT REPORT"... I might get around to this sometime, if pushed/funded.

"IN MY EXPERIENCE"... Once.

"IN CASE AFTER CASE"... Twice.

"IN A SERIES OF CASES"... Thrice.

"IT IS BELIEVED THAT"... I think.

"IT IS GENERALLY BELIEVED THAT"... A couple of others think so, too.

"CORRECT WITHIN AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE" ... Wrong.

"ACCORDING TO STATISTICAL ANALYSIS"... Rumour has it.

"A STATISTICALLY-ORIENTED PROJECTION OF THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THESE FINDINGS"... A wild guess.

"A CAREFUL ANALYSIS OF OBTAINABLE DATA"... Three pages of notes were obliterated when I knocked over a glass iced tea.

"IT IS CLEAR THAT MUCH ADDITIONAL WORK WILL BE REQUIRED BEFORE A COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING OF THIS PHENOMENON OCCURS"... I don't understand it.

"AFTER ADDITIONAL STUDY BY MY COLLEAGUES"... They don't understand it either.

"THANKS ARE DUE TO JOE BLOTZ FOR ASSISTANCE WITH THE EXPERIMENT AND TO CINDY ADAMS FOR VALUABLE DISCUSSIONS"... Mr. Blotz did the work and Ms. Adams explained to me what it meant.

"A HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT AREA FOR EXPLORATORY STUDY"... A totally useless topic selected by my committee.

"IT IS HOPED THAT THIS STUDY WILL STIMULATE FURTHER INVESTIGATION IN THIS FIELD"... I quit.

Saturday, August 04, 2007

Rest

Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."
-- Mark 6:31

Friday, August 03, 2007

Marriage Matters


Check out the Marriage Matters website of Jerry & Lynn Jones.
Why You Need Marriage Matters
One of our greatest challenges as a nation and culture is preserving the integrity and unity of the home. Many couples have good intentions but lack the skills and determination necessary to keep a family intact. Using God-centeredness as the foundation, the seminar presentations provide information for maintaining good marriages and explain in a very down-to-earth manner the origins of many marital problems and the solutions to counter them.