Joyful, peaceful Christmastide & a blessed new year to you and yours. LISTEN: Christmas Auld Lang Syne by Bobby Darin

Gray Hair (via @theresurgence)

A Decent Prayer-byte for US American Christmas

With you I can live without other things, for you are God all-sufficient, and the glory, peace, rest, joy of the world is a creaturely, perishing thing in comparison with you. 
~from The Valley of Vision

NYTimes: To Deal With Obsession, Some Defriend Facebook

From The New York Times:

To Deal With Obsession, Some Defriend Facebook

By KATIE HAFNER

Recognizing that Facebook was interfering with their lives offline, some students took steps to kick the habit.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/21/technology/internet/21facebook.html

Katherine Quinn Ferry's Uh...nnouncement.

In today's world this is probably old news, as Tweets were dispersed & Facebook status updates updated during labor, but we were blessed with Katherine Quinn Ferry (you can call her Quinn) on November 23, 2009 @ 2:59pm, 7lbs 14oz, 21 1/2 in. She was human and healthy so she's got that going for her which is nice.

Here is an announcement that we would ordinarily mail via the old USPS. However, our church, Anderson Hills UMC, has made it a priority the last couple of years to spend less and give more at Christmas so that we can drill clean water wells in rural Zambia, Africa. So...instead of printing and mailing the "announcements" we are sending them the new fashioned way and the money we save is going to the clean water project @ Anderson Hills. We do encourage you to print the photo of Quinn and display it prominently as you would on a refrigerator or the like. Or make it into a button you can pin on your jean jacket. Whatever. Your call.

Join us in giving thanks to God for our beautiful new daughter, for immediate access to clean water and for the plenty we all have.

CLICK HERE to see a little video of some pics taken by Marc LeRoux from www.lerouxvisual.com

CLICK HERE for another short video of Quinn's first couple weeks.

Merry Christmas from the brian ferry fam

Seven Days of the Week (I Never Go to Work) by They Might Be Giants

NYTimes: Obama’s Christian Realism

From The New York Times:

Obama's Christian Realism

By DAVID BROOKS

President Obama has revived a cold war liberal doctrine — that evil must be fought without succumbing to the sinfulness within — and tried to apply it to a different world.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/opinion/15brooks.html

done and done

i am out from under the all-consuming architecture storm for a month!

here is a picture of my final project:

The 3 Girls

A clock for our new student ministry space? I wish...

Our new homemade DIY old white t-shirt Christmas star tree topper

Where Should I Eat: Fast Food Edition (via @timastevens)

From Eating The Road, other great flowcharts when deciding where/what to eat as well!

O Holy (AWFUL) Night. So terrible you can't stop listening.

This is many years old now, probably as old as the intertubes & mp3s but hey...I still snort from laughing so hard when I hear it. Every year.

What I want for Christmas is for these 2 things to cease

(1) adding -ing to nouns in an attempt to create a verb, particularly heinous on twitter. I.e. Starbucking.

(2) use of the simile "like herding cats." 

Sisters: spittin' image (revisit)

Which is which, Meka or Eden or Quinn...you decide.

Happy Thanksgiving from WKRP in Cincinnati

Another Reason to be a Fan of the Muppets: Bohemian Rhapsody in HD

The Might Quinn Pictures

Meka Burrito

Kutiman's "the Mother of All Funk" mashup

I read about this on Time's 50 Best Inventions of 2009. I am fascinated by mash ups and this is one of the coolest. Primarily because it's all random, mostly amateur's. 

NOW, DAMN IT!

seriously - watch TED. www.ted.com

Essential Coffee Knowledge (via theOatmeal.com) http://ow.ly/B8gH

Benny Hinn + Let the Bodies Hit the Floor = hilarious and sad.

go ted!

so, you guys may know about this but my new obsession is TED - www.ted.com. it is a nonprofit aimed at spreading great ideas - usually ideas or new ways of thinking that can make the world a better place. they host lectures and conferences with some of the greatest minds in the world. their website is a compilation of several hundred lectures, each delivered on a fascinating topic in 20 minutes or less. i listen to dozens when i have big model building sessions like i am in right now. anyway, definitely check it out. start with the lectures under the tab on the left-hand side "most-favorited all-time." you can't go wrong. scott- you would be particularly interested in the "ken robinson says schools kill creativity lecture."

alvin, simon, ted!

Guinness & John Welsey

Guinness turns 250 this year and today two tweets came through about it, both completely worthy of following:

(1) TWEAT THIS at happy hour: Guinness Draught (126 calories 10 g carbs per 12 oz). Guilt free beer--but stick to 1 or 2 to avoid a beer gut! www.twitter.com/eatthisnotthat

(2) John Wesley and Guinness beer? Thx! @SteveBeard http://bit.ly/3HCWrU www.twitter.com/LenSweet

This a MUST READ. Fascinating look at how faith can ought to shape business practices (even the beer business) and how godly character impacts GENERATIONS. Once again, John Wesley's influence is demonstrated.

And The Search for God and Guinness is DEFINITELY now on my "to read" list.