In a post-modern culture it is difficult to say that something is true, but what of authenticity? This TED talk by Joseph Pine is quite illuminating on the topic.  According to the speaker, consumerism has moved from Commodities to Goods to Services to (now) Experiences.  Interesting stuff.

I’ll be thinking about this one today.  Specifically, how does this affect the church?  My career?  My investments?

Do the social mediums of Facebook, Twitter, et. al., contribute to or meet our need for authentic interaction?

Here are a few pictures from a recent hike in Palo Duro Canyon with my good buddy Paul:

Merry Christmas everyone!

I used to post poems more often; I wonder why I stopped.  O well, here’s a good one by E. E. Cummings, it’s also the poem of the day on the Writer’s Almanac.

little tree

little tree
little silent Christmas tree
you are so little
you are more like a flower

who found you in the green forest
and were you very sorry to come away?
see i will comfort you
because you smell so sweetly

i will kiss your cool bark
and hug you safe and tight
just as your mother would,
only don’t be afraid

look     the spangles
that sleep all the year in a dark box
dreaming of being taken out and allowed to shine,
the balls the chains red and gold the fluffy threads,

put up your little arms
and i’ll give them all to you to hold
every finger shall have its ring
and there won’t be a single place dark or unhappy

then when you’re quite dressed
you’ll stand in the window for everyone to see
and how they’ll stare!
oh but you’ll be very proud

and my little sister and i will take hands
and looking up at our beautiful tree
we’ll dance and sing
"Noel Noel"

"little tree" by e.e. cummings, from 100 Selected Poems by e. e. cummings. © Grove Weidenfeld, 1959. (buy now)

One of the redeeming qualities of having a pet is that you always have something to take a picture of.  On Monday, Ramsey was laying in the coolest light cast by the blinds.  I snapped these during my lunch break.  Enjoy.

Since moving over to this WordPress.com hosting service I haven’t uploaded my old site’s links.  This is partly because I have been too busy, and partly because my old links are not applicable anymore.

For example, these old “Houston. It’s Worth It.” links are all great sites, but I live in Amarillo now:

I’ll be looking for their Amarillo equivalent, watch the sidebar for updates.

[11/19 Update -- I have added the link category "Amarillo Area" and a few links.]

This is a great quote by Rick Warren.  I was in the message & message notes by Whit’s mother’s pastor, Jim Leggett this Sunday.  

God determines your greatness by how many people you serve, not how many people serve you…. Thousands of books have been written on leadership, but few on servanthood. Everyone wants to lead; no one wants to be a servant. We would rather be generals than privates. Even Christians want to he “servant-leaders,” not just plain servants. But to be like Jesus is to be a servant…. In heaven God is going to openly reward some of His most obscure and unknown servants — people we have never heard of on earth, who taught emotionally disturbed children, cleaned up after incontinent elderly, nursed AIDS patients, and served in thousands of other unnoticed ways.

That’s ironic, I had to add the word “servanthood” to my computer’s spelling dictionary… I guess it hasn’t made its way into common usage.

By the way, every time we have joined Whitney’s mother at church in Katy, Jim Leggett has given excellent, thoughtful, bible-rich sermons. If you listen to pod-casts, his RSS-feed might be an encouraging addition to your list of subscriptions.

Kudos to California on passing its high speed rail proposition on Tuesday @ 53/47%.  Although its opponents say that it will be a “big-dig” style waste of government money, I’m glad that the left coast is following the lead of the Acela Express on the East Coast.

Sadly, Texas could have been the trail blazer when it comes to high speed rail in the United States.  In 1991 our state legislatures allowed Southwest Airlines’ lobbyists to quash a “Texas Triangle” (Houston-Dallas-Austin) train system.  What’s more depressing is that, unlike in California and New England, the Texas project was going to be paid for with PRIVATE funding!  Too bad, trains are good for the environment, comfortable to ride, and cheaper than renting cars & keeping them fueled up.

Hope may not be lost for Texas, according to Wikipedia,

In 2002, the Texas High Speed Rail & Transportation Corporation (THSRTC), a grass roots organization dedicated to bringing high speed rail to Texas was established. In 2006, American Airlines and Continental Airlines formally joined THSRTC, in an effort to bring high speed rail to Texas as a passenger collector system for the airlines.

Here’s to hoping!

In the meantime, here’s some excellent propaganda from the California project:

Trains are neat.

From a Today Show segment on “Five Markets to Make Money”

Whitney and I did a little exploring of our adopted hometown this weekend and I was able to bring my camera along for the fun. 

I love photography.  It is the perfect way to engage with the interesting places I have found myself in over the years.  The only problem I seem to have with it is my lack of budget (for better gear), and inferiority complex due to my extremely gifted friends (Jeff, Tom, Adam, Paul, others).

O well, I guess some day I’ll have the time to learn more about it.  Also, I really need to replace my D50 because the flash just doesn’t work (external flashes don’t fix the problem either).  More & better lenses wouldn’t hurt either.

My photos of the Pumpkin patch turned out better than those at the “Pirates of the Canyon” ballooning event down in Palo Duro State Park:

Despite having a tripod, I ran out of time and patience to properly steady my camera and get the perfect exposure settings for these daybreak photos at the canyon:

Maybe my $20 Wal-Mart tripod just isn’t good enough.