From the Mouths of Babes

Children's drawings of the bloodshed in SudanLast night I was kicked in the teeth, figuratively, over a personal conflict. As much as it hurts me, this takes me to a new level of pain. Humanity sucks.

These are drawings from children who survived attacks from the Sudanese military and Janjaweed forces in Darfur. Villages bombed, women raped, people exterminated.

Yet the world stands by.

Abd al-Rahman, Age 13
“I am looking at the sheep in the wadi [riverbed, or oasis]. I see Janjaweed coming

Last Chance Survey

My blogging survey has been up for five days and I’m about to shut it down. Let your voice be heard now or just whine in the comments later.

To share some preliminary results:

  • Most of my readers come from Minnesota, followed closely by California.
  • More than 70% of my readers are between the ages of 23 and 29.
  • Gender-wise it’s a nearly 50/50 split.
  • You like my personal blog entries. It was the only content type to get a majority of votes.
  • Speak is edging out Mazie in the cutie contest, though a majority didn’t want to decide.

These results are hardly scientific, and probably inaccurate considering the small sample. But I like stats. They’re fun.

Vote Quimby! (I mean, go take my survey)

Christians Write For Christians

Rob Williams has an interesting post about Christian web sites targeting Christian readers. He has a graphic from the American Marketing Association blog about Democrat and Republican blogs and the incestuous linking. They’re basically two different worlds that rarely cross. Rob wonders if Christian blogs (and then he corrects himself to look at web sites in general) operate in a similar manner. It’s probably true. As a Christian, how much interaction do I have with non-Christians on the web? Probably not as much as I should for as much as I talk about the importance of the evangelistic part of my faith.

And I think blogs are the most obvious case for this. You usually read and interact and link with the blogs that cover what you think about. If you think about faith, well, you get links to Jordon Cooper and Church Marketing Sucks and maybe a random non-Christian like Jason Kottke (though honestly I know nothing about his spiritual beliefs). But for the most part it’s going to be Christian blogs.

I think someone like Darren Rowse is probably doing a better job of it. In an interview he gave he talks about trying to connect in a deeper way with one blogger every day. That’s your basic networking plan right there, but that’s very quickly a ton of folks he’s forming relationships with. I’m not saying he’s an evangelistic dynamo or anything (again, I really have no idea, I’m just rambling), I’m just noting that the circle of sites he reads, links to and interacts with is broader than a few Christian blogs. It helps that he’s a full-time blogger, but you get the idea.

Interesting stuff.

A Little Personal

Once upon a time I used to pen introspective thoughts late at night while my roommates were sleeping. Some people seem to miss those ponderings, and sometimes I do, too.

I think often those writings were born out of not knowing what to write, and just forcing myself to plunk something out. Lately (meaning the past several years) I’ve found other things to talk about on this blog and didn’t have the need to force it. Maybe something was lost in that.

So here goes…

Continue reading A Little Personal

How to Survive Disaster

Emergency ExitTime has an incredibly interesting article, “How to Get Out Alive,” about human behavior in disaster situations. It seems most people blank out in the face of danger, remaining stunned and bewildered (45% don’t move for at least 30 seconds). About 10-15% of people stay calm and react quickly, another 15% slip into total hysterics, and the rest of us react like deer in headlights. Which usually kills the deer, and it’ll kill you, too.

So how do you get out alive?

Be Prepared
Actually read the safety card and note where the exits are. When an airplane fills with smoke in less than 20 seconds your brain can recall that info

Pope Didn’t Want the Job

Pope Benedict XVI prayed he wouldn’t get the job. “Evidently this time He didn’t listen to me,” said the Pope.

Benedict, 78, said he had hoped to spend his last years living quietly and peacefully.

“At a certain point, I prayed to God, ‘Please don’t do this to me,'” he told the audience, saying he viewed the swelling votes in his favor as a “guillotine.” He recalled saying to God in his prayers: “You have younger, better, more enthusiastic and energetic candidates.”

(link via Fully Devoted)

Bono in Conversation

Just received a copy of Bono: In conversation with Michka Assayas. It’s basically a big long Q&A with the lead singer of U2 and most iconic rocker in a long time. Looks like it’s going to be fun.

Who the hell are you, then?

I’m a scribbling, cigar-smoking, wine-drinking, Bible-reading band man. A show-off [laughs] … who loves to paint pictures of what I can’t see. A husband, father, friend of the poor and sometimes the rich. An activist traveling salesman of ideas. Chess player, part-time rock star, opera singer, in the loudest folk group in the world. How’s that? (43)

It also reveals that Bono’s favorite religious song is “Amazing Grace,” (I’m sure that was probably common knowledge among U2 fans, but it’s fun to know that my dad and Bono love the same song) and when asked about his favorite U2 song says, “We haven’t written it yet.” When pressed he mentions “Stay (Faraway, So Close)” and “Please” among his favorites (129-130).

Yeah, I’m just pulling from the press materials that came with the book, but how can you resist the 12 pages of utterly quotable Bono they provide? Unfortunately my book pile is growing higher, so it might be a while before I can get deeper into the book.