Just read this and I think it’s worth thinking about.

When Job asks God why He has allowed Job to suffer he is asking a question we ask ourselves to this day. That God’s answer comes in the form of a refutation only strengthens the power of the question being asked. “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?” God asks Job in return. “Declare, if you have understanding.”  That impenetrability is a road block that leads some away from an idea of faith and challenges others to look closer. Whether that faith is in God or in the idea of an ordered, scientific universe the same kind of basic trust is asked of us.

About month ago, I found a website dedicated to wasting my time and making me a more inefficient worker.  Over at sporcle.com, you can find a variety of quizzes from a whole host of categories.  Thanks to Sporcle, I can now:

1.  Name all 53 countries in Africa in less than 10 minutes.

2.  List all 98 LOST episode titles in less than 20 minutes (less than 15 minutes, to be more precise).  I only got about 86 right on the first try but nailed them all by the fifth try.

3.  Name all 44 Presidents of the United States.

They are many many more that I have spent untold hours playing with (just ask Maren), and I encourage you to check out some that you might be interested in.  But one popped up today that everyone who was about 14 in 1994 should be able to complete.

Enjoy.

UPDATE:  I can name 53 African countries, but only 9 African cities.

I’m reflecting on a conversation I had with Jeremy a year ago (instead of grading tests).  The question is “Which television shows do you believe you’ve seen every episode of?”

I’m thinking about this because Maren and I finished the Freaks and Geeks series last night thanks to Netflix.  Here’s my list:

My So-Called-Life
The Soparanos
Freaks and Geeks
LOST*
The Office*
Mad Men*
House*

*Obviously, these series are still active.

I’m just curious.  What about you?

It’s official.

You all must address me as Professor from now on.

Lisa from HR (God bless her) phoned today with not one, but two job offers, one teaching academic mathematics and the other teaching college prep mathematics.  In the end, I chose the academic math position, for reasons I don’t need to write here, but not for reasons some of you may think. 

Forgive me for this, but this is a monumental day.  This is the fruition of a dream I had 12 years ago.  It’s not perfectly how I imagined it, but I know this is where I belong.

There’s going to be a party.  Look for details later.

I finished reading my second Roald Dahl book ever this weekend.  (James and the Giant Peach was the first.)  Danny, the Champion of the World was a recommendation of sorts.  It was a fun sort of read that ultimately inspired me to be a…better?…dad.  I would recommend it to anyone looking for a whimsical tale.

I’m currently reading Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.  I’m on page 7, so I can’t make much of a recommendation yet, but it’s going well so far.

Good night.

I just wanted to drop a quick thanks to everyone Sunday night for taking a turn entertaining my daughter.  That night, as she was going to bed, she kept repeating how much fun she had at Ben and Rachael’s.  You all saved me a touch of nausea, too.

I’m currently teaching a section of Cal I and a section of Introductory Algebra.  I’ve got two weeks and three days left.  Not that I’m counting.  In all fairness, both courses seem to be going well, but after teaching too many courses the first session, I’m still beat.

I hope to have more work news to share with you soon.

So I haven’t been blogging for a very simple reason.  I’m working like mad I don’t have time for this.  In fact, I should be grading or writing tests right now.  I have two more weeks of this crazy schedule, then five weeks of an unknown craziness when the next session starts.  I am excited to be teaching Cal I for the first time, but it’s going to be a whirlwind.

I also want to give a recommendation.  While I wasn’t blogging and avoiding work, I squeezed in some time to read a book, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski.  It’s his first novel, and it’s a retelling of Hamlet.  Sorry if you choose to read it and that spoiled some plot lines for you, but that was what interested me in the book.  Even knowing that information myself, I thoroughly enjoyed the reading (except for one stretch about 2/3 the way through).  Beware, since it borrows from Hamlet, it is a tragedy, but good and even warm for long stretches.

I hope you all have been well.  I went to a beautiful wedding last night.  Thanks to all who made that happen.

As always, I’m not 100% committed to these ideas.

Jack (English) = Jacques (French) = Jacobus (Latin)
What if whatever Jack does in 1977 traps him somehow in that cabin (that hasn’t been built yet…?) until Locke sees him in 2004.  Which prompts Jack to say “Help me”, which loosely translates as “Kill me”.  Also, if Jacob = Jack, then Christian’s statement that he’s not Jacob but speaks on his behalf carries more weight.

Did anyone else get a vibe last week that maybe Richard Alpert isn’t entirely on the up-and-up?

Has anyone else tried to follow the pocket watch?  I think the watch itself is something of an analogy for our time-travelers, and it’s said that the path of the watch is on a mobius strip.  But my problem is if the compass is just a little rustier than when Locke is about to hand it right back to Richard 50 something years earlier…won’t this compass just disintegrate?  UNLESS, Whatever Happened Happened (WHH) is not true and somehow (this part I can’t figure out) this really is the first and only time these events transpired.   ????  I’m not a real believer in this, I prefer WHH, but I can’t account for rust on the compass.  And rest assured, that line was written intentionally.

One last thought before the closing bell.  Suppose Jack detonating Jughead really does alter time so that 815 doesn’t crash.  Then Jack never goes to the Island and certainly never returns to the Island to detonate Jughead causing 815 to crash in 2004.  I’m not saying this is a paradox that can’t happen.  Instead I am suggesting that instead of thinking about events happening in an infinite loop (WHH), what if events are happening in a double loop where 1/2 the time 815 crashes and the other 1/2 it doesn’t.  One event causes the other.  Each hand washes the other.

Glad I got that out.  I know most of you won’t read this until after the finale, but I wanted to get my time stamped on the small chance some of these things come true.

Once upon a time, Jeremy and I went to a college in Arkansas, a place that has four seasons.  That would include a real winter.  Not a brutal winter, but it could and would have freezing or near freezing temperatures those months.  Our junior year, we lived in Cone 206.  [Remember that, for it will become a major player for some future stories.]  Cone was a brand new dorm that had two sleeping areas, a bathroom, and a shared living area.  We lived with two others, Ryan and Jon.  Jon was my roommate and Ryan was Jeremy’s.  In hindsight, it is ridiculous that we didn’t trade roommates, for Jeremy and I both love it cold while Ryan and Jon both prefer warmer/deliriously hot*.  There were constant battles over the thermostat, but these are stories for a different time.

To get to the story at hand, Jeremy would often sleep on the couch in the living area instead of his room.  You see, Jeremy would turn the couch around so that it was facing the window right up against the wall, and he would sleep under his down comforter with the windows open.  And it would get cold.

Now, I’m not sitting in judgment for this.  Recall I love it cold as well.  In fact, the previous semester, Jeremy and I were proper roommates and we both slept with the windows open during the colder months.

No, the best part is how he warmed up in the mornings.

By closing the windows?

Please.

By raising the temperature on the thermostat?

Hardly.

By running the blow dryer under the covers?

Nailed it.

*Jon so loved the heat that, in the summertime, he would return to his car after church and just sit in the baking metal box it had become.  Without turning the car on, let alone the AC.  I believe Jon suffered brain damage during these times.

A few years ago, back when Jeremy was still teaching at Jackson Int., Jeremy was having a conversation with a colleague about Easter and Lent.  What did Jeremy give up for Lent that year?

Porn.