rain

notwithstanding the presence of a weather pixie, whom i consulted twice today, the weather outside was grey and rainy. when this coincided with a false fire alarm at school, things weren't looking great on the productivity front. thankfully there's no homework for the weekend though.

planit is blogging from venice - exotic.

the colour pink, weather and time

i now have a weather pixie to tell me what the weather's like out at bristol international airport. i suppose i could look out the window, but it would mean tearing my eyes away from my computer. anyway, it's useful, isn't it?

i have also put a clock up, in case i can't see the clock on my toolbar, fail to wear my watch or forget that my phone or mobile also tell the time. i prefer analogue to digital though, and often can't be bothered to look at my wrist.

my friend requested that all attendees at her funeral wear one item of clothing that is coloured pink.

i had a very pleasant lunch break today (also yesterday in fact) sitting in my regular coffee bar with a mate, sorting out the world over a latte. didn't want to go back to the office at all!

check this out as a great photo...



other impressive pics here and here.

life and death (and rugby)

today i was told that one of my good friends from university had passed away after a long battle with cancer. the last time i saw her was at my wedding, where she seemed full of life and in good spirits. i even remember from that whirlwind day snatches of a conversation where she told me, as i teased her about how she still smoked, that if she'd learnt one thing through her illness was that life was too short and she intended on enjoying every minute of whatever she had left.

i wish now i'd called her on her birthday (6 days after mine - she was 26 this year).
and sent her flowers like i intended too.

i wonder where she is now.

i wonder if i did enough. i wish i knew. i wish i knew where my responsibility ended and her's began. i wonder how on earth You exist with life and death. how do You live with Your responsibility? i don't want to feel what You feel - just the thought terrifies me.

yesterday all i was concerned about was who made the all blacks squad for their end of season tour.

Ecclesiastes 3

What do people really get for all their hard work? I have thought about this in connection with the various kinds of work God has given people to do. God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end. So I concluded that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to enjoy themselves as long as they can. And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labour, for these are gifts from God. And I know that whatever God does is final. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God's purpose in this is that people should fear him. Whatever exists today and whatever will exist in the future has already existed in the past. For God calls each event back in its turn.

I also noticed that throughout the world there is evil in the courtroom. Yes, even the courts of law are corrupt! I said to myself, "In due season God will judge everyone, both good and bad, for all their deeds." Then I realized that God allows people to continue in their sinful ways so he can test them. That way, they can see for themselves that they are no better than animals. For humans and animals both breathe the same air, and both die. So people have no real advantage over the animals. How meaningless! Both go to the same place--the dust from which they came and to which they must return. For who can prove that the human spirit goes upward and the spirit of animals goes downward into the earth? So I saw that there is nothing better for people than to be happy in their work. That is why they are here! No one will bring them back from death to enjoy life in the future.

1,000 visitors

at some point over the last month or so, my counter reached the heady landmark of 1,000 visitors to this site.

interesting observation from kirbs:

"I get more comments about mac's and dell's then about my deep life stuff.
I'm beginning to think this blog world's far too techy led, where are you
pastors!"

hmm... i wondered the other day if all the EmGenners (who possess all the toys, natch) aren't as postmodern as they'd like to believe. by constantly chasing the latest Mac they demonstrate that they subscribe to that most modern of meta-narratives, that of progress through science and technology. unfortunately, airing this thought will undoubtedly only encourage mrs hope in her habit of writing notes on the back of her hand.

trying to recalibrate the old noggin to live in the kingdom (remember, one is always safe in the kingdom of god - d willard) and starting small. last weekend i cleared out some of the (many!) clothes i own but don't wear very often because i don't have the time. ridiculous as that sounds, it's the truth now that i've got a school uniform again i just don't need so many cool clothes for week nights and weekends. so the wife and i have started looking at buying ethical clothing from now on. now the problem is our natural inclination to think we can go shopping and buy lots of nice new ethical clothes now, instead of waiting for something that needs replacing!

the fire bible

this just has to be checked out. for more stunning products in the same vein, check out 'Gadgets for God' on the Ship of Fools site.

also, beware of the midi tune at Demonbuster.com...