Sean Lane Fuller's Blog

2009-08-16T18:42:00.001-07:00

I didn't even realize that I still had a blog. Now I am wondering if I should keep it or what. I don't think anybody really cares what I write here. Hmmm.....

Flock Web Browser

2008-01-07T07:06:00.001-08:00

I just downloaded the flock web browser and played with it a little. It looks interesting. I am posting this from a blog editor in the browser.

Blogged with Flock

Ride Your Bike to Work

2007-05-23T11:37:00.001-07:00

With the price of gas above $3.00 per gallon, why not try riding your bicycle to work. I have been riding mine to work recently and it feels good. I ride an EZ-1 Super Cruzer LWB Recumbent.

Raising Awareness

2007-03-29T12:20:00.001-07:00

The MillionSoulsAware web site ( http://millionsoulsaware.org/ ) has the admirable goal of focusing on one problem and trying to raise awareness of it before moving on to the next problem. Right now they are focusing on refugee camps until they get 1,000,000 views. There is a lot of good information there about the problem.

Introduction to Quantum Computing

2007-02-14T05:48:00.001-08:00

In a quantum computer, the fundamental unit of information (called a quantum bit or qubit), is not binary but rather more quaternary in nature. This qubit property arises as a direct consequence of its adherence to the laws of quantum mechanics which differ radically from the laws of classical physics. A qubit can exist not only in a state corresponding to the logical state 0 or 1 as in a classical bit, but also in states corresponding to a blend or superposition of these classical states. In other words, a qubit can exist as a zero, a one, or simultaneously as both 0 and 1, with a numerical coefficient representing the probability for each state.

There is a nice introduction to quantum computing at http://www.cs.caltech.edu/~westside/quantum-intro.html.

2007-02-14T05:46:00.001-08:00

http://digg.com/tech_news/QUANTUM_COMPUTERS_Debuting_Commerically_in_2008

---
"QUANTUM COMPUTERS Debuting Commerically in 2008!!"
a silicon chip that houses 16 "qubits," the equivalent of a storage bit in a conventional computer, connected to each other. Each qubit consists of dots of the element niobium surrounded by coils of wire. When electrical current comes down the wire, magnetic fields are generated, which, in turn, causes the change in the state of the qubit

2007-02-05T19:27:00.000-08:00

I have just uploaded an video I did for a computer animation class. I put it on YouTube and wanted to see if I could embed the video in my blog here. So, without further ado, I give you the animated short, "Best Friend", by Sean Lane Fuller. It is about an alien that comes to Earth and the intelligent life he finds is a dog playing with a ball on a beach. I got the idea from a dream I had a long time ago.

2007-02-03T09:09:00.000-08:00

I bought my third pair of $19 glasses!
I have now bought three pair of eye glasses from Zenni Optical. Every pair has been great. You just enter your prescription, pick from their large selection, enter your credit card number and mailing address, wait about 2 weeks and you get a pair of great glasses for a very low price. The only number that you have to enter that isn't in a prescription is the distance between your pupils. I found this easily by holding up a ruler and looking in the mirror. The web address is http://zennioptical.com/.

2007-02-03T06:32:00.000-08:00

Incredible Star Trek Models out of Paper!
When I was a kid, I used to make paper models of trucks and planes. I didn't know anybody else did it. Now, on the Internet, I find out that it is a hobby shared by a lot of people. Paper modeling, also known as card modeling (see the wiki entry) is really taking off now that there are lots of free models on the Internet that can be printed and built. There is a site at http://jleslie48.com/gallery_models_scifi.html where there are a lot of Science Fiction related models that can be downloaded FREE. I really like the model of the Star Trek Enterprise bridge. It just blows my mind what can be built out of paper alone.

2007-01-25T05:10:00.000-08:00

Here are a few quotes I found interesting about President Bush's speech. It sounds like the direction is good, I would just like to see a plan for making it happen.

"A future of hope and opportunity requires that all our citizens have affordable and available health care.... In all we do, we must remember that the best health care decisions are made not by government and insurance companies, but by patients and their doctors."
"Extending hope and opportunity in our country requires an immigration system worthy of America -- with laws that are fair and borders that are secure."
"For too long our nation has been dependent on foreign oil. And this dependence leaves us more vulnerable to hostile regimes, and to terrorists -- who could cause huge disruptions of oil shipments, and raise the price of oil, and do great harm to our economy."
"For all of us in this room, there is no higher responsibility than to protect the people of this country from danger. Five years have come and gone since we saw the scenes and felt the sorrow that the terrorists can cause. We've had time to take stock of our situation. We've added many critical protections to guard the homeland. We know with certainty that the horrors of that September morning were just a glimpse of what the terrorists intend for us -- unless we stop them."
"We've been through a lot together. We've met challenges and faced dangers, and we know that more lie ahead. Yet we can go forward with confidence -- because the State of our Union is strong, our cause in the world is right, and tonight that cause goes on."

2007-01-24T05:05:00.001-08:00

Ethics code shall be ‘may’
Tullahoma News and Guardian - Tullahoma,TN,USA
A key paragraph in the city’s Code of Ethics has been changed from "shall" to "may" in an ordinance unanimously approved Monday by the Tullahoma Board of ...

2007-01-24T05:04:00.001-08:00

Court dismisses case of ousted Jehovah's Witnesses
The Tennessean - Nashville,TN,USA
... who claimed defamation, fraud and intentional infliction of emotional distress in their ouster from their congregation, Kingdom Hall in Tullahoma, Tenn. ...
See all stories on this topic

2007-01-24T05:03:00.000-08:00

Sales tax okay wouldbring some changes
Tullahoma News and Guardian - Tullahoma,TN,USA
That situation prompted the Tullahoma Board of Mayor and Aldermen to request a state financial official attend Monday’s meeting to explain the process. ...
See all stories on this topic

2007-01-23T13:43:00.000-08:00

I wish you could turn off dependency analysis when building a setup project in Visual Studio. Unfortunately you can't as stated below. The workarounds aren't very nice either.

"Unfortunately, there is no direct way to turn off dependency-analysis searching and resolution. However, there is a workaround: you can clear the Include standard search paths option in the dialog box that appears when you click the SearchPath property.

There are a few additional points to consider:

You need to add your files by using the Add File command. (On the Project menu, point to Add, and then click File.) If you use Add Project Output (on the Project menu, point to Add, and then click Project Output), dependencies reported from the code project will be included.
When you build, you may see one or more Unable to find dependency warnings, but you can ignore these in this case.
If you want to turn off dependency analysis only for some files, you can put those files in a merge module project with standard search paths turned off. Then use Add Merge Module (on the Project menu, point to Add, and then click Add Merge Module) to include the .msm in a regular Setup project with standard search paths turned on."

2007-01-19T16:12:00.000-08:00

I just added Google AdSense adds to my blog. Now I'm going to just sit back and watch the money roll in.

2007-01-17T14:29:00.000-08:00

I have an interesting web site at seaninabox.googlepages.com. Did you ever need someone to talk to, but nobody would listen? Did you ever need to talk something out, but it was too private to tell? This site is here 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to fill that gap. Here is somebody to talk to. You know the face on the screen isn't a real person, but subconsciously it helps. Give it a try. And, if you feel like you need some sort of response, try clicking on one of the response links below the picture. A good noncommittal response like "uhuh" is usually all it takes. That is what a good listener does to let you know they care about what you are saying.

2006-09-05T05:06:00.000-07:00

I went down to Chalmette , Louisiana to help with Hurricane Katrina relief. We left on Wednesday (8/23/2006) and came back on Sunday (8/27/2006). 25 people went with our church group. We stayed in a school where the top floor was still in good condition run by Hilltop Rescue ( http://www.hilltoprescue.org ). The bottom floor was stripped down to the concrete floors and aluminum studs. We “mucked” 5 houses during our stay. The houses had been under 14 feet of water for an extended period. They were filled with water logged belongings in disarray, rot and mold everywhere, and lots of rats and cockroaches. The mucking involved clearing a pathway to the road, knocking down the front door, breaking out the windows, removing all of the contents, busting out all of the cabinetry, removing the insulation, and stripping the house down to the concrete slab, studs, roof, and exterior walls. Only about 2% of the businesses in the area are operational. There are thousands of houses unoccupied. Many people are living in FEMA trailers beside their house that is in ruins. The government will start mandatory bulldozing and reclaiming land at the end of the month from landowners who have not begun rebuilding. Here is an excerpt from the Internet about the St. Bernard Parish (that’s like our counties).

On August 29, 2005, Saint Bernard Parish was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The storm damage, which affected virtually every structure in the parish, was believed to come both from direct effects of the storm and from a massive storm surge funneled in by the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet ("MRGO").

The eye of Katrina passed over the eastern, less populated portion of the parish, but in doing so pushed a 25-foot storm surge into Lake Borgne and into the MRGO. This surge destroyed the parish levees which were 14-17 feet high. Almost the entire parish was flooded, most areas getting between 5 and 12 feet of standing water. There may have been as many as two homes untouched by flood waters. Independent engineering analysis of the storm surge suggests that the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet transmitted the storm surge from the Lake Borgne area directly into the center of the heaviest populated areas of the parish. Unlike most of the flooding in New Orleans, the water rose suddenly and violently, during a period that witnesses have reported as no more than fifteeen minutes. In many areas, houses were smashed or knocked off their foundations by storm surge higher than their roofs.

For more than two months after the storm, much of the parish remained without proper services, including electricity, water, and sewage. Federal and state relief was notably lacking in the parish. Parish President Henry "Junior" Rodriguez, declared all of the parish's homes unliveable. Many areas of the parish may have to be completely demolished, although there is much uncertainty about whether or not this will happen. Several residents have begun to repair houses which they believe are more cheaply repaired than bulldozed and rebuilt. There is much fear about the lack of funding because of the complete loss of the parish's tax base. St. Bernard's levee system, however, is being restored and is expected to be at pre-Katrina levels by June 2006. It should be noted that this is the first time in FEMA history that an entire parish or county experienced the severity of damage that St. Bernard received from Katrina.

As of late November 2005, it was estimated that the Parish had some 7,000 full-time residents, with some 20,000 commuting to spend the day working, cleaning up, or salvaging in the parish and spending their nights elsewhere. By mid-December some businesses had returned to the Parish, most notably the ExxonMobil plant in Chalmette and the Domino Sugar plant in Arabi, together with a handful of small local stores and businesses. Thousands of parish residents were still waiting for promised FEMA trailers as their wrecked homes were still uninhabitable. At the start of January 2006, it was estimated that some 8,000 people were living in the Parish, only about 200 of whom were in their pre-Katrina homes.

The Baton Rouge Advocate of February 28, 2006 published newly determined official population estimates from several state agencies. David Bowman, assistant director of the Louisiana Workforce Commission, who was appointed to coordinate a group of experts working on these estimates, noted that these numbers will play a major role in government funding, both in those parishes that have suffered major losses in population and in those that have gained it. Louisiana Tech University, which has responsibility for providing parish population estimates to the State Treasurer’s office, estimated the population of St. Bernard Parish in July 2005 at 67,419. Bowman and Karen Patterson, the Louisiana State Demographer, consider the best current estimates for January 2006 to be those produced by the Office of Primary Care and Rural Health of the Department of Health and Hospitals. For St. Bernard, this figure is 6,889 – a loss of 89.9%.

Emergency Communities offered one reason for hope in the first year after Hurricane Katrina. In the parking lot of a destroyed off-track betting parlor, EC built the Made with Love Cafe and Grill, a free kitchen and community center serving 1500 meals per day. Made with Love, housed in a geodesic dome, also offered food and clothing distribution, and emotionally supportive volunteers. Upon leaving, EC has offered logistical support for the founding of a new long-term community center for St. Bernard.

Many St. Bernard residents feel their plight is little known and generally ignored by the nation as a whole, having been overshadowed by the proportionately less severe but more visible damage in New Orleans .

Elephants Dream, the "Open" 3D Animated Movie Released On-line

2006-05-18T14:31:00.000-07:00

Elephants Dream is the worldâ��s first open movie, made entirely with open source graphics software such as Blender, and with all production files freely available to use however you please, under a Creative Commons license.

read more | digg story

2006-05-17T12:44:00.000-07:00

Star Trek Online
I am a Trekie and I always will be. I've been wanting to write and play in a MMORPG based on the Star Trek universe for a long time. It looks like it is in the works. Their web site is http://startrek.perpetual.com/. Now my only problem is that I won't have time to play it.

100+ powerpoint presentations on improving your PHP skills

2006-05-17T08:45:00.000-07:00

Nice page on php.net that has a ton of PHP powerpoint presentations from some of the top PHP developers out there. Topics range from Database, Internal Workings, Internationalization, Debugging, Performance and more. Good stuff.

read more | digg story

Upload a photo of yourself, and web site will make you look old

2006-05-17T08:44:00.001-07:00

In an attempt to draw interest in a survey on Scotland's aging population, government health officials are offering software that allows people to see what they will look like when they are 65.

read more | digg story

Build a magstripe reader from scratch!!

2006-05-17T08:44:00.000-07:00

Tim Matheson has a simple and elegant "how to" on making a portable magstripe reader. This is sweet for those of us too cheap to buy the real stuff. Including me. Digg Away!!

read more | digg story

2006-04-29T04:56:00.000-07:00

There is a place in Africa called Darfur. There is a lot of suffering there right now. You can find out more at www.savedarfur.org. Here is a quote from the site.

Nearly three years into the crisis, the western Sudanese region of Darfur is acknowledged to be a humanitarian and human rights tragedy of the first order. The humanitarian, security and political situation continue to deteriorate: atrocities continue, people are still dying in large numbers of malnutrition and disease, and a new famine is feared. According to reports by the World Food Program, the United Nations and the Coalition for International Justice, 3.5 million people are now hungry, 2.5 million have been displaced due to violence, and 400,000 people have died in Darfur thus far. The international community is failing to protect civilians or to influence the Sudanese government to do so.

Please pray and lobby your government to do something.

Rare 'stone man' gene that changes muscle into bone

2006-04-24T04:19:00.000-07:00

THE genetic trigger for "stone man syndrome", a rare but devastating condition that turns muscle into bone to imprison its victims in a second skeleton, has been identified.

read more | digg story

2006-03-22T14:26:00.000-08:00

I recently told somebody about how I reconstructed my belief system from the ground up after studying philosophy at college. I thought is might be interesting to somebody else, so I am including it here. Here is how I did it. I used “Meditations on First Philosophy” by Descartes as a springboard. I told him how I attempted to start “Tabla Rasa” (with a blank slate, a beginners mind) and build up from there. I can easily assume I exist, otherwise further thought is worthless. So, you start at a Solipsist. I could also derive from my thoughts and perceptions that there is an outside force interacting with me, since I don’t seem to be able to predict or fully control my thoughts. You cannot just assume there is an external concrete reality. Thus, there exists a being outside of me. I now call this one being that I know exists outside of my thoughts God. Knowing that this being exists, I know that I want to get to know him. After all, he does seem to control a lot of my thoughts and perceptions. I seem to only be in full control of a minimum of what I perceive, so this outside being must be much greater than me. So, I’m living in the moment trying to develop a relationship with this very powerful being outside of me. I can only influence things slightly, but I know he can influence them greatly. I must assume all of the wonder of nature is his creation, since I am not doing any of it. Those kinds of things can only prove that he exists and show just how powerful he is. He must be trying to communicate with me. Since he is more powerful than me, he should be the most successful in sending a message. I certainly cannot guess his language or transmit in the many ways he seems to have available. He has a greater chance of knowing my language. I spent a long time examining a lot of these candidate messages. These are the great religious works, the Koran, the Bagavad Ghita, the Rig Veda, the sayings of Budha, etc. and came to the conclusion that the Holy Bible is the message that seems to make the most sense to me. It also seems to be the message that is most prominent in my environment thoughts. So, knowing that this being transmitted this message to me is so much more powerful, I’ve got to assume his thoughts are greater than mine, and his truths are greater as well. I must assume the Bible is a true a faithful message to me until it is proven otherwise, and it never has been. I have studied the Bible and use it as the cornerstone of all other thought and action. Everthing else is built up from there. By the way, I’m still not convinced you are not a thought created by God, but when you think about it, you really are. Tee hee, wasn’t that a fun journey. I should point out that I know we cannot achieve a true “beginner’s mind”, but that was as close as I could come. I hope all that made sense. I wish I had the brains to make it clearer. I went though this thought path over 20 years ago.

2006-03-14T05:22:00.000-08:00

Here is a recent posting I made to the costochondritis group at groups.yahoo.com.

I have costochondritis. I've only had it about 3 months. I developed costo after getting sick this winter. It usually feels like pressure in my chest and it is sore to press on. Sometimes it gets bad enough that there is a sharp pain with each breath. The pressure is about a 3 on the pain scale. The pain with each breath hits about a 5. Talking sometimes causes this type of pain as well. I have had at least one panic attack caused by this. I started feeling very dizzy and just about passed out. Every so often I'll do something (like look down and then back up) and get a severe pain spike that hits about a 9 on the pain scale. If I press with the heel of my palm on the top left of my sternum I can recreate the pain. It isn't fun at all! I think that is the shocking pain you are talking about. It feels like somebody slipped a knife into my sternum not an electrical shock. I basically can't do anything, not even think when they hit. I just freeze as still as possible and wait for it to pass. I have a funny swelling at the top of my sternum that seems like one set of ribs goes completely across my sternum. I also often get a cracking or popping around my sternum. The big pops hurt (6 or 7), but they feel like they release some of the pressure. They can easily be heard by other people in the room. I try not to pop my sternum if at all possible. I can't do any chest exercise without pain. Running is my favorite exercise. I really have to keep the speed down because of the pain. I am so glad that this group exists. It is good to know that others out there understand. I had to stop complaining to the people around me. I figured they were getting tired of hearing about it.

By the way, it seems to me that costo is related to stress. I also have very bad Premature Ventricular Contractions (PVCs, where my heart skips every other beat) at times. They also seem to be brought on by stress, spicy food, and caffeine.

2006-01-31T20:35:00.000-08:00

A lot of good outlines, lessons, and sermons here.

http://www.ccel.org/contrib/exec_outlines/

2006-01-31T20:12:00.000-08:00

Okay. One more bit of scripture for today. The Ten Commandments.

The Ten Commandments, Exodus 20:3-4, 7-8, 12-17

Also called the Decalogue or "ten words"

160 words

3 You shall have no other gods before me.
4 You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
7 You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
8 Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
12 Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
13 You shall not murder.
14 You shall not commit adultery.
15 You shall not steal.
16 You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
17 You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

2006-01-31T20:02:00.000-08:00

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last for ever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

1 Cor 9:24-27

2006-01-31T19:59:00.000-08:00

Here are some things to practice to grow as a Christian.

# Meditation on God and his Word
# Memorization of the Word
# Obedience to the Word
# Bible study
# Prayer
# Service of all kinds
# Using your spiritual gift(s)
# Sharing God's word to the lost
# Worship
# Fasting
# Confession
# Giving

I've got a long way to go. I love it.

2006-01-31T19:56:00.000-08:00

Some memory verses.

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:23-24)

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no-one can boast. (Eph 2:8-9)

Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (1 Pe 2:2)

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. (Mt 5:6)

It is written: 'Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God' (Mt 4:4)

O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. (Psalm 63: 1-8)

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is short-sighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:3-11)

How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your Word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. (Psalm 119:9-11)

2006-01-13T04:06:00.000-08:00

Here are some interesting verses from the Bible to ponder. They show that people and animals were all vegetarian from the beginning all the way up to the flood, where God gave permission to eat meat. Before the flood, the animals were not afraid of man. Then in the new testament he gave permission for all foods, but gave guidelines for pushing this onto other people.

From The Message

Genesis 1:29-

Then God said, "I've given you
every sort of seed-bearing plant on Earth
And every kind of fruit-bearing tree,
given them to you for food.
To all animals and all birds,
everything that moves and breathes,
I give whatever grows out of the ground for food."
And there it was.

Or in NKJV

And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so.

Also, Genesis 9:1-

God blessed Noah and his sons: He said, "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill the Earth! Every living creature--birds, animals, fish--will fall under your spell and be afraid of you. You're responsible for them. All living creatures are yours for food; just as I gave you the plants, now I give you everything else. Except for meat with its lifeblood still in it--don't eat that.

Romans 14:20-23

Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall. So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.

2005-11-05T18:40:00.000-08:00

Here is a link to a pair of images of a lady's face. The face on the left looks angry. The face on the right looks calm, but look at them from 10 feet away and they switch. The one on the left will look calm and the one on the right angry. You can get the same effect by just squinting when you look at them. Pretty neat.

2005-11-05T13:57:00.000-08:00

If I had the time I would make a cigar box guitar.

2005-11-03T20:33:00.000-08:00

Here's an interesting quote from the Rig-Veda. Notice the similarity to the Bible.

1. THEN was not non-existent nor existent: there was no realm of air, no sky beyond it.
What covered in, and where? and what gave shelter? Was water there, unfathomed depth of water?
2 Death was not then, nor was there aught immortal: no sign was there, the day's and night's divider.
That One Thing, breathless, breathed by its own nature: apart from it was nothing whatsoever.
3 Darkness there was: at first concealed in darkness this All was indiscriminated chaos.
All that existed then was void and form less: by the great power of Warmth was born that Unit.
4 Thereafter rose Desire in the beginning, Desire, the primal seed and germ of Spirit.
Sages who searched with their heart's thought discovered the existent's kinship in the non-existent.
5 Transversely was their severing line extended: what was above it then, and what below it?
There were begetters, there were mighty forces, free action here and energy up yonder
6 Who verily knows and who can here declare it, whence it was born and whence comes this creation?
The Gods are later than this world's production. Who knows then whence it first came into being?
7 He, the first origin of this creation, whether he formed it all or did not form it,
Whose eye controls this world in highest heaven, he verily knows it, or perhaps he knows not.

2005-10-16T20:02:00.000-07:00

I recently gave away another truck load of books to the public library here (www.lannom.org). I was a little sad to see them go, but I feel better now because our house got less junky and now I can buy more books. My wife and I have gotten rid of several truck loads of books and donations to the Attic Outlet over the past year and it really makes me feel better. It is so easy to accumulate a bunch of junk that just ties you down and gets in the way. I say, if you aren't using it, get rid of it. I also have found I would rather find somebody that wants something and just give it to them rather than trying to sell stuff on Ebay, or somewhere else. I would highly reccommend streamlining like this to anybody. It is very liberating.

2005-10-16T20:00:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted about the Screen Savers and G4 TV recently. I actually watch Attack of the Show (AOTS) now. I guess I've started to enjoy it. I have my TiVo set up to tape it and the new Call for Help show.

2005-10-16T19:48:00.000-07:00

I recently started rebuilding my church web site (www.churchofchristatcedarlane.org) and my personal web site (www.geocities.com/fullerhaparnoldafmil/). Before this I used FrontPage to maintain the church web site and notepad to maintain my personal web site. Now I am using NVU to maintain the church web site and pagebuilder to maintain my personal web site. I have a lot of work to do on both sites and little time. Hopefully the new tools will help.

2005-04-21T07:23:00.000-07:00

I have recently been wondering about the commercialization of Christianity and some of the commercial uses of a church building. Here are some relevant verses.

Matthew 21
12 Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 “It is written,” he said to them, “ ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a ‘den of robbers.’”

Mark 11
15 On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17 And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: “ ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”

John 2
13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

2005-04-04T04:23:00.000-07:00

I saw the movie Sin City this weekend. While I enjoyed the video effects and certain parts of the story line, I can't really recommend this movie. The violence was way over the top. There was at least one scene I wish I hadn't watched ... and I've seen a lot. I did appreciate Mickey Rourke's and Bruce Willis's character portrayals a lot. I believe the movie should have been rated NC-17. Just be warned before you see this one that it is based on a graphic novel, and strongly deserves the title because it is packed with language, violence, sex, and nudity.

2005-02-27T15:30:00.000-08:00

I just answered a question on a friends blog about the Holy Spirit and Acts 8:14-16. It might seem that it contradicts Acts 2:38. It doesn't of course. When you study the scriptures, there is always an interpretation that is consistent with all of the scriptures. Here's my answer. Take it with a grain of salt.

There is the gift of the Holy Spirit that everyone who repents and is baptized in name of Jesus for the remission of sins. The Holy Spirit can also fall on someone as it did with the apostles at Pentecost. This was accompanied by a mighty wind and tounges of flame. The apostles had the ability to do miricles to prove that God was behind the Gospel and to get the church off to a good start. This miraculous power was transferred to some of them in Samaria by the laying on of hands. They had probably already received the gift of the Holy Spirit. I think something more was evidently needed there in Samaria. Simon, who obviously was a baptized Christian and had the ordinary gift of the Holy Spirit was envious and wanted the miraculous powers that the coming on or falling on of the Holy Spirit conveys. At some point the miraculous power to do miricles was no longer needed and was no longer conveyed by the laying on of hands. Todays Christians get the gift of the Holy Spirit. We do not see or hear and yet we believe.

2005-01-27T04:19:00.000-08:00

I'm reading through the New Testament this year and so can you. I get sent a short 5 minute reading each day in my email. To join the list, go to http://yob.org and sign up. There's no adveritising or anything, just the Word of God. Because the reading is nice and short it makes a nice section for study and re-reading as well.

2005-01-24T05:14:00.000-08:00

JavaHMO is impressive. I installed it this weekend. It is a PC server that a Tivo can access. A Tivo can view pictures and play MP3's from a PC server. JavaHMO takes advantage of this to allow you to view movie listings, see local weather forecasts, play games (well, just one for now, tic-tac-toe, but it's a start), listen to shoutcast streams (be careful, some of these are really awful stuff), display arbitrary web page listings, read your email, and more. I was really impressed. If I get some spare time, I would love to write some plugins for it.

2005-01-23T10:18:00.000-08:00

We went to a drive-in movie Friday night. We saw Electra at the Montana Drive-In in Estill Springs, Tennessee. The movie was okay, but the Drive-In experience was great. They have 3 screens, but only 2 are currently active. There is a large building in the center of the three screens that houses the projection booths and the concession area. The food was good. I had a hamburger and fries, my wife had Pizza, and my daughter had a bottle. It was a little distracting to burp her (my daughter) in the middle of the movie, but it was a great family experience and nobody else was bothered by all the crying, wailing, and gnashing of teeth.

2005-01-23T10:03:00.000-08:00

There's snow outsite, but its nice and warm here. My daughter and wife are taking a nap downstairs. I'm having fun downloading recordings from my Tivo to my laptop using the new TivoToGo feature. I've already downloaded a show on guitar making and I have queued up the new Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek: Enterprise, and Stargate SG-1. Its nice that I can watch the shows anywhere in the house, because my girls are sleeping right in front of the Tivo.

On another note, I've recently been playing with several Linux Live-CDs. You can download an ISO linux image, burn it to CD, and then boot the CD on any x86 architecture comupter (at least a 486, but do I really have to say that). I've tried Damn Small Linux, SLAX, SLAX Professional, and Puppy Linux. They all seem to have their advantages and disadvantages. Of course, if I ever get the time, I'm going to have to try my hand at creating one that exactly matches my own interests.

Damn Small Linux is nice becasue, well .. it's really small. It's less than 50 MB and can fit on a business card sized CD.

SLAX Professional is nice because it comes with the Gnu compilers, so I can play with software development.

Puppy Linux is nice because it can be used to install to things like USB drives and compact flash.

2005-01-02T14:20:00.000-08:00

I guess I'll have to take "The Screen Savers" off my TiVo season pass list. Sadly, G4-TechTV has degraded into a television network geared toward 12 year old boys with no technical curiosity. Old geeks like me have been left behind. I still think fondly about the old "Call for Help" show and the original "The Screen Savers". Now, "The Screen Savers" seems to be run by a bunch of kids. One of them seems to have a good deal of technical savvy, but they never cover any technical issues in depth. I think G4-TechTV is just trying to peddle video games now. I wish my cable company had a nice alternative. Long live TechTV. You will not be forgotten.

2005-01-02T14:17:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! I return to work tomorrow. Christmas at home has been fun. My daughter is now 1 month old. Watching her "come online" is a wonderful thing. It is so amazing to see the God's wonderful creation revealing itself each day in her.

2004-11-13T19:16:00.000-08:00

Why am I here?
Why was I created?
What is my purpose?

Have you ever wondered why you are here. I've got the answer. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to "fear God and keep his commandments". Of course, this simple statement which I extracted from the book of Ecclesiastes will lead you to more questions, but at least I have pointed you in the right direction. In the Word of God (the Bible) you will find all of the answers you need. I'll warn you, though, that it will be a life long mission. Christ (Jesus) was a perfect example of one who feared God and kept his commandments. It should be your life long goal of becomming more like Christ. That is my goal and has been for some time. I have a long way to go.

2004-11-13T19:13:00.000-08:00

I bought a digital movie camera today. It is the JVC GR-D33U. I got it from Wal-Mart. It was on sale at a price comparable to the lowest price I could find on the internet. So far the camera looks like a good buy, but I haven't used it much yet. I bought it to take pictures of my daughter who is to be born December 5th.

2004-11-13T19:06:00.000-08:00

I just saw the movie, The Incredibles. I really enjoyed it. The animation was great. The story was nice. It had good themes. Many things could be thought of on several levels. The was a really wonderful short before the film that I enjoyed. It was called Boundin. It was about a beautiful sheep that is regularly shorn and a jackalope that helps him deal with it. Watching these things really makes me wish I was involved in the computer generated movie business. I took some classes in it a couple of years ago. If you are interested in giving that sort of thing a try, I would highly recommend the free software called Blender 3d. It is really quite good. I did a 3 minute short using it in about 2 weeks.

2004-10-20T05:52:00.000-07:00

Well, I haven't posted in a while. I've been very busy getting ready for my daughter to be born. Here's a short description of what I did last weekend.

I just about wore myself out. My wife and I went to Nashville Thursday night after work. I took her to her LPN certification exam Friday. While I was walking during the exam time, I found myself on the Nashville Marathon path. It was neat walking where I had run so many miles. It only took her a couple of hours to take the test. It was a computer adaptive test and it decided to only give her 85 or so questions out of a maximum it could have asked of 250. It had determined within a given statistical probability that it knew what she would make. It may take up to 4 weeks for us to find out if she passed. Friday afternoon I spent several hours mowing and raking the yard, cleaning out a flower bed, and cleaning the back deck. Friday night I put the closet hardware in the nursery. We've got shelves and rods above and below, and some shelves on the side. Saturday from bright and early in the morning until well after sunset, I was working on replacing our stairs with hardwood. They turned out pretty nice I must say. I was so tired by the end of the day. I had to individually measure and tailor each piece of wood to make it fit. Sunday we had church and the baby shower at church. I showed up for the end of it. We got another big load of gifts. I think my wife said we needed 85 thank you notes. Then Sunday afternoon/evening I put together a playpen, a high chair, a bouncy seat, a playmat, an all-terrain stroller, a baby monitor, and some other stuff that blurred together. I also unpacked and helped my wife sort and place all the gifts. Then I finished the night off watching the start of a Farscape mini-series on the SciFi channel.

2004-09-22T13:00:00.000-07:00

My wife graduated from nursing school this weekend. I'm very proud of her. She is now studying for the NCLEX and will take it to certify as a LPN shortly. It sure is nice having your own private nurse. Now we can concentrate on getting ready for the baby. We will get another ultrasound this weekend. I'm working on replacing our carpeted stairs in the house with hardwood (oak). We are also getting our entire upstairs carpet pulled and replaced with oak flooring. We're going to hire someone to do that. I just don't have the time.

2004-09-14T13:58:00.000-07:00

I saw Resident Evil Apocolypse. Great zombie movie. High budget. High action. Very tense. Very violent. A very unecessary nude scene at the end.

2004-09-14T13:56:00.000-07:00

A company calling themselves Premeir Benefit just tried to scam a coworker of mine. I only found a single mention of this scam on the internet, so I thought I would mention it in my blog. I found the following information at ripoffreport.com.

It happened to me! I just got a call for a "wonderful offer" from a company calling themselves Premier Benefit Corporation. They offered me $200.00 worth of restaraunt coupons (good for any restaraunt of my choice) plus 1 year paid cell phone expense and a prepaid calling card.

The guy said it was a token of appreciation for being a reputable customer (although he didn't say to who or where) and that all I had to pay was $3.95 for shipping and handling which would be deducted from my checking account.

I asked several questions such as their mailing address, website address, phone number and his employee ID number. I was also told that they were BBB approved. Apparently they are, but not by the Better Business Bureau, just by the Bad Business Bureau! After he answered my questions, I told him that I would like to check this out and he got extremely defensive trying to persuade me to give him the next available check number in my check book and told me that he would appreciate it if I would just go ahead and pay the $3.95 because if I called back to take the offer, he would not get the commission.

I then told the guy to call me back tomorrow and I would let him know my decision after researching his company. He was less than pleased but agreed.

Soooooo..... I found this link on google after finding that the address, website and phone # he gave me were not legit.

2004-08-17T18:03:00.000-07:00

I saw Alien vs. Predator (AVP) last Friday. I would recommend that you save your money and rent it later or watch it on TV.

2004-08-03T03:36:00.000-07:00

Movie Review for The Village
I saw "The Village" last friday. I enjoyed it. I can't say too much without ruining the plot. It was slow, so if you require loads of action in your movies, I would stay away. The acting was great. The sets were great. The camera work was fine. The soundtrack really contributed to the movie. I must, however note that a friend that went to the movie with me said that was the last M. Night movie that he would pay to see.

2004-08-03T03:30:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to trying the DM client in Neverwinter Nights. It was fun just to play around with. I mean, who wouldn't want to enter a Neverwinter module as a 20th level invulnerable character who can 1) turn invisible at will, 2) magically transport to any place, 3) kill any character, NPC, or monster with a single spell, or 4) create any item or monster instantly. It was fun to play with and I'm trying to get a handle on how to play the DM in a non-pencil/paper/dice role-playing environment. I think I'm still having problems creating an Internet game that can be seen by others. I still wonder if it is my OS (Windows 98) or my IP (Charter). If you haven't played with the DM client, I would recommend that you drop whatever you are doing and get to it!

2004-07-25T19:27:00.000-07:00

Support for feedster.com and weblogs.com
I just turned on support for weblogs.com and feedster.com.

2004-07-25T19:04:00.000-07:00

Movie Review for the Bourne Supremacy
I saw the Bourne Supremacy Friday afternoon. My main impression was that it had way too much shaky-cam. The camera work was awful. It was like watching the Blair Witch Project, only worse (I actually enjoyed the Blair Witch Project) . It was like most of it was filmed using a hand-held video camera with the motion control circuitry turned off. I had to look away from the screen several times because it was making me feel sick. Several shaky-cam techniques were aptly demonstrated by the camera man. There was the no-motion-control stair descent. There was the over-the-shoulder follow the guys focal point shot. There was the first-person look through their eyes shot (only the person must have had eye ticks, and tremors). There was the fight scene where you couldn't tell who was hitting who. There was a very long car chase where you couldn't tell who was shooting at who. There was the time when the camera operator evidently had an epileptic episode (I can joke because I'm an epileptic). Anyway, I think you get the point. I talked to several people who agree with me. We think maybe the film will work on the small screen when the shaking doesn't fill your entire field of view. In summary, wait to see it on HBO.

2004-07-23T13:22:00.000-07:00

I had a thought while walking today. Maybe we should re-evaluate why we are doing all this. By this I mean the socio-political and technological pile that we have created. I think the goal of civilization is to support more people per mile and have more spare time. Do we really need all this stuff?

2004-07-23T13:15:00.000-07:00

On my walkabout I stopped by the L&N Railroad Historic Exhibit. It is a 1964 Caboose. The exhibit is open Saturdays 10 am - 2 pm Thru November.

2004-07-23T13:11:00.000-07:00

Twenty-seven tons of river gravel being dumped at our new church site on Cedar Lane.

2004-07-23T03:49:00.000-07:00

Here's a recording of me during a walkabout today. I had hoped to do 20 miles, but it turned out to only be about 13. I did stop at the new church building site and work for a couple of hours in the middle. We cut Petromat and covered the ground in a couple of islands in the parking lot and then spread some river gravel over it. A friend and I ate breakfast at the Tullahoma Downtown Cafe and then I took off again. I stopped at Hastings on the way back and bought a copy of the 9/11 Commission's report.

2004-07-21T04:09:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine has a nice blog going at Michael Hopkins' Blog. Right now he has up some nice summaries from the book Purpose Driven Life.

2004-07-21T04:06:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to try out BlogThis! and see if I could refer to another entry in my blog, so here's a link to Sean Fuller's Blog: 04/01/2004 - 04/30/2004.

2004-07-21T04:03:00.000-07:00

I've recently been wondering if Lipitor is causing me some muscular degeneration. There are sites all over the Internet like this one, Lipitor: Side Effects And Natural Remedy - Health Supreme. I haven't stopped taking it. I'm just suspicious after the recent news campaign to get people at risk to lower their HDL levels to below 70. ... and the study was paid for by the big pharmaceutical companies.

2004-07-20T08:42:00.000-07:00

You may not believe it, but an avacado and Vegemite sandwich tastes fantastic.

2004-07-19T15:33:00.000-07:00

I just had to try to BlogThis! feature of the Google toolbar. This is just a reference to my web pages on geocities. I haven't been updating them much since I started blogging, but they might be worth a look. Here's the link to Sean Fuller's Pages.

2004-07-19T15:20:00.000-07:00

I just tried Audio Blogger for the first time. It is pretty neat. You can call a phone number and have the audio appear on your blog. That way, you can post from anywhere with your cell phone. It also opens up blogging to people that can't type. I may use it from time to time just because I'm lazy and to try to keep up regular updates to my blog.

2004-07-19T15:14:00.000-07:00

Audio Post

2004-07-19T10:57:00.000-07:00

Our New Church Building

2004-07-19T10:52:00.000-07:00

Me at the end of the 2004 Country Music Marathon

2004-07-16T21:10:00.000-07:00

Why aren't simple things easy to do in MFC? Everybody I have talked to about this agrees. Take, for instance, changing the background color of a button, displaying a bitmap in the background of a dialog box, writing simple text to a printer, or appending text to a CEdit control. The one that always gets on my nerves is the color and image thing in windows. I mean why can't I just mark a button as an Icon button and then select the icon I want to apply to it graphically. Instead, you must mark it as an icon button and then go into the init function of the dialog box and load the icon and apply it to the button. Here's another example, today I wrote code to write the contents of a CEdit out to a printer. I had to worry about exactly how the text was laid out and what the capabilities of the printer are. I really miss the old days of line printers when you just opened the printer file and wrote text to it and closed it when you were done. Sure I can write prettier reports now, but it takes a whole lot longer and there is the possibility of so many more bugs. I believe the user would be happier if I could produce less buggy software, more quickly, which means more affordable.

2004-07-16T20:49:00.000-07:00

I've had an idea for about 3 years that I think I will finally record somewhere. I think it is unique. I haven't been able to find anything like it. I plan to write some software to support it. I have the idea that psychic techniques can be applied to the realm of the internet. Take for instance, the speed at which information flows over the internet. I find myself wishing things would go faster. Sometimes I even feel myself willing it to be faster. I know I try to influence electronic systems when I'm sitting at a long traffic light and begin to chant "green, green, green, ...". I believe a program can be devised to test and exercise this. A simple example of this would be average ping time. Imagine a program that lets you ping a site, giving feedback. You could then attempt to lower the ping time and easily check the results. This would be the equivalent of telekenesis. Remote viewing is another technique that has a network parallel. Imagine a program that would pick a random Internet site or IP address and ask you to predict certain things about it. You might start by just picking categories, colors, etc. and see how close you get. I'm approaching this with an open mind. I've read science fiction where people begin to share a common cyberspace without using computers. I've always wondered what the evolutionary steps were to get there. I picture it something like the Internet evolving toward Jung's cosmic consciousness.

2004-07-16T20:45:00.000-07:00

My wife is now 19 weeks pregnant and doing great. I look forward to having a little girl some time around December 5th. My wife is feeling the baby move now. We received our first major baby gift this week. It was a car seat. I never knew they were so complicated. I think I'll need the time between now and December to learn how to use it properly. Do babies come with owner's manuals?

2004-07-11T19:08:00.000-07:00

I worked this weekend at our new church building. It's on Cedar Lane in Tullahoma, Tennessee. Believe it or not, the name is the church of Christ on Cedar Lane. Okay, and get this, the web address is www.churchofchristatcedarlane.org. Can you believe that? It kind of sounds like a joke, doesn't it? I mean the address name is so long. I tried to come up with some reasonably short names, but then it looses something. For example, churchlane.org. Anyway, I suggested about 10 decent short names, but we decided to go with the full name spelled out like that. I wonder what the record is for the longest name in a web address. I remember memorizing the longest word in the dictionary a long time ago. I don't think I can spell it correctly. It was something like pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovalcanoconiosis. It is an infection of the lungs caused by the inhalation of silicon dust from a volcanic erruption. I'm really looking forward to moving into the new building. We plan on having our first service there on August 12th, I think. I've been on the New Facility Team for about 4 years now, so it's been a long time. There are pictures of the building on the new web site.

2004-07-07T03:37:00.000-07:00

Some friends and I have started playing Neverwinter Nights online. We have played a lot of paper and dice RPGs over the years. It is definitely a different experience. It will take us several more sessions to get everything worked out. First there are the technical hurdles involved in getting everybody's game installed correctly, the versions all up-to-date, everybody's network connections working. Then everybody has to learn how to play the game, control their characters, play a character that will contribute to a party (somebody's has to start with a puny wizard that is easily clobbered). The part we are working on now is working together as a team. Simple things like staying together and communicating are tough, but we'll get there. Somebody told me I should check out a roger wilco server. I think it will let us communicate via voice during the game.

2004-06-22T07:25:00.000-07:00

I was at the United States Gran Prix in Indianapolis, Indiana this weekend. We had a good time and saw some good racing during the first 40 laps or so. Out of a field of 22 cars, only 8 finished the race. I got Ralf Schumacher's autograph. Take a look at www.f1technical.net for some interesting Formula 1 information.

2004-06-16T04:24:00.000-07:00

My wife is over 14 weeks pregnant now. We are well into the the 2nd trimester and everything is looking great.

2004-06-16T04:23:00.000-07:00

Take a look at the "Bible Helps" section at www.gideons.org. There are a lot of good scriptures listed there.

2004-06-16T04:13:00.000-07:00

Your "Want", "Should", and "Is"
I have always struggled to align my "want to be", "should be", and "is". I always saw this as a contest to align my wants with my shoulds. I always thought there was some way to change my id through force of will. Recently, I have come to the realization that I should focus more on the should and is. When making a decision, I should not do what I want to do, I should do what I should do. This may all sound like a bunch of nonsense, but what I'm trying to convey is an important life lesson. If you want to do what you should do, and you do what you should do, then your is, your want, and your should will coincide, which will bring on contentment.

2004-05-27T05:12:00.000-07:00

I won't be able to run the RC Cola & Moonpie 10 miler in Bell Buckle, Tennessee on June 19th, but some friends and I will be running the course this Friday. On the 19th, I'll be at the The Brickyard in Indianapolis, Indianna for the US Gran Prix. That's the only Formula 1 race in the United States. It used to be much later in the year. It will be interesting to have it in June this year. Formula 1 has the highest paid athlete of any sport. He is Michael Schumacher, the lead driver for my favorite team, Ferrari.

2004-05-19T05:58:00.000-07:00

I made sushi last night. I put avacodo, cucumber, crab, and plums in it. It tasted and looked good. I did learn a few simple things about cooking along the way. For example, I cooked the rice without a lid. I kept wondering why I had to keep adding water as it cooked. I also stirred the fool out of it and still had some stick to the pan. I've been told since that you put all the ingredients in a pan, bring it to a boil, and then put the lid on and don't look at it until it is done. Lesson learned.

2004-05-17T14:29:00.000-07:00

I found out that a friend of mine knows how to make sushi and since it is one of my favorite foods, I've just got to learn how to make it. Here are the instructions she sent me.

Here's a list of stuff you'll need to do basics. Tomorrow, I'll bring in some rice, nori and 2 Umbushi plums so you can try it.

Sushi Rice - (short grains of white rice that becomes very sticky when cooked)
Vinegar (1 tbsp for each cup of cooked rice. I usually use rice vinegar, but you can use any kind as long as it is fairly mild)
Honey (1 tbsp for each cup of cooked rice)
Nori - (thin sheets of seaweed) sometimes referred to as Sushi Nori
Salted Umbushi Plums

For the filling, choose items such as thin strips of steamed carrots, red bell pepper (steamed or raw), raw cucumber, avocados, etc, and/or raw fish (I'm not experienced with the fish).

Also, you might want to have some wasabi, sesame seeds, pickled ginger and tamari (soy sauce) on hand to season/garnish the sushi.

To begin:
Cook the rice as you normally would (1 part rice to 2 parts water for about 20 - 25 minutes, adding salt if desired.).
Let the rice sit for at least 10 minutes or until it is cool enough to handle.
Stir the appropriate amt of vinegar and honey into the cooled, cooked rice.
Prepare a bowl of water with about 1/4 tsp of salt added to it, and put this bowl of water aside. You will use the bowl of salt water to dip your fingers into in order to spread the rice onto the nori.
Lay a sheet of nori on any DRY surface.
Spoon about 1/2 c cooked rice mixture onto the nori.
Using your fingers, press and push the rice so that it evenly covers the nori. You will want to leave 1 inch of nori uncovered along the edge farthest away from you.
Lay a thin strip of any combination of your fillings across the rice about one inch from the edge closest to you.
Roll up the nori beginning with the edge closest to you and roll it away from you making sure that you stop before you get to the part of the nori that you left uncovered. In order to seal the roll, dip your fingers into the salt water and gently moisten the edge of the nori that you left uncovered. Then finish rolling up the nori. The moistened edge will be the "glue" to hold the roll together.

Slice the nori into segments about ½ to 1 inch thick. Season and enjoy!

2004-05-17T03:58:00.000-07:00

My wife is 10 weeks pregnant. We have been married for over 10 years and we are both very close to 40. After 10 years of trying, I thought it wouldn't happen. I am glad it did. We have had a couple of ultrasounds and I have seen the flashing heartbeat. The miracle of life is really a miracle.

2004-05-17T03:54:00.000-07:00

To most people I believe moderation means not overdoing it. I also believe it should mean not underdoing it. I believe in having a wide range of experiences. Moderation contributes to balance and also to contentment.

2004-05-16T14:38:00.000-07:00

To acheive balance you must pay adaquate attention to the major aspects of your life. I see these aspects as:
Physical - maintaining your physical body
Spiritual - paying attention to your religeous or spiritual nature
Emotional - caring for your emotional well-being
Intellectual - developing your mind

2004-05-05T03:52:00.000-07:00

I believe one should strive for balance, moderation, and contentment. I plan to expand on what this means to me here. These guiding principles have contributed to my success and happiness in life.

2004-05-04T21:19:00.000-07:00

I ran today for the first time since the marathon. I did 3.2 miles at lunch and a mile after work. It felt good. The run after work was to catch up to my wife who had already taken off on a walk around Tullahoma lake. I really enjoy our walks together.

By the way, don't forget mother's day is coming up.

2004-05-04T21:01:00.000-07:00

I started a Country Music Marathon 2004 photo album on Yahoo! Photos. I took a disposable camera and had the photos developed to Photo CD at Walmart. They didn't turn out too bad. I especially like the self photo while running. I have long arms that come in handy for things like that.

2004-05-03T03:45:00.000-07:00

I went to the Tennessee renaissance Festival in Triune Tennessee on Saturday May 1st with some friends. We had a great time. The festival is open every weekend in May. The first weekend turned out great. Normally we go on Memorial Day weekend, which is the last weekend in May. This time was cooler and cleaner. I really enjoyed the musical group the Minstrels of Mayhem. I bought their newest CD. If you get there try the King's Nuts which are nuts covered in cinnamon and sugar.

2004-04-30T05:39:00.000-07:00

I have nearly recovered from the Country Music Marathon. It is time to start thinking about training again. I definitely want to go for a comfortable finish in less than 5 hours in my next Marathon. I'm looking at either the Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon or the Rocket City Marathon.

2004-04-27T05:12:00.000-07:00

It is Tuesday after the marathon. I'm feeling quite a bit better. Now I've noticed I have a good case of athelete's foot from having soaked feet for more than 7 hours. I'm starting to look forward to my next marathon. I'll probably run the Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon again. I really liked that one. It was much more laid back and it wasn't crowded at all.

2004-04-25T18:07:00.000-07:00

The Country Music Marathon was hard, but a lot of fun. The bands were great. It was fun talking to all the people. The crowds were incredible. The cheerleaders along the way really helped. I had a lot of fun slapping high fives to little kids along the way. For once I was in a race where they didn't run out of water and gatorade before I finished (it only happened at one station).

2004-04-25T17:44:00.000-07:00

I really hate it in a marathon when you are running along in a tight crowd and the dufus in front of you has a watch that goes off and tells them that its time to walk and they suddenly drop from a 9:30 pace to a 20:00 pace. That happened to me countless times in the country music marathon. Along with guys running at a 7:00 pace threading through the crowd and tripping people along the way.

2004-04-25T17:11:00.000-07:00

I just finished the Country Music Marathon 2004 yesterday. I feel pretty good, considering. My wife and I walked 2 miles in the rain to get to the start. We got there about an hour early. They announced severe weather was coming in and they marched us to a nearby parking garage. Just before the race they let us out. I got to my starting coral (number 13) and then they made us stand in the rain for 30 minutes while we waited for all the important people and politicians to give their speeches or something. I really couldn't hear any of it. There were over 10,000 people in the race and coral 13 might have been 13,000 people back from the start.

Finally the race started. Of course we just stood there for about 5 minutes waiting for the giant army of runners to get moving. It was wild watching everybody cheer about getting underway. It was amazing watching all the rain gear get tossed to the sidelines. It was like watching the wave in a stadium, only it was clothes flying in the air. I crossed the start line about 10 minutes after the starting gun, which, by the way, failed to go off.

The rain stopped just as the race got underway. By that time, I was completely soaked. My shoes were very heavy with water. By the end of the race, they were like blister covered prunes. The race started at about 60 degrees and ended at about 75. Too hot for me. My stomach was too nervous to eat before the race. I only had 4 power gels during the race. Two of those were given out at aid stations. It saved me from digging them out of my pack.

There were so many people. I just couldn't believe it. Immediately after the start of the race, the 5:00 pace team started threading in and out of the crowd to maintain pace. I think there were a lot of people that made false claims to get into a faster starting coral. It took a whole lot of energy to work my way through all those people. I had many people bump me and trip me, but I know they couldn't help it because of all the people. It was bumper to bumper traffic up to mile 10. I finally decided that if I was going to make my 5:00 finish, I would have to move up to the 4:45 pace team, which I did. To keep up with them through all the traffic, I moved in front of them from time to time and then waited for them to pass. At mile 10, I was with the 2:30 half marathon pace team.

I got to see the Kenyans at mile 7 or so. It was great to see the race leaders. They were really moving. We all cheered for them. The winner was Luke Kibet at 2:14:11.

I took a camera and took pictures along the route. I can't wait to see what the pictures look like.

I exchanged places many times with a guy who was almost as tall as me (I'm 6 foot 8) but he was walking. He ended up finishing ahead of me. I think he must have maintained the 5:00 pace throughout. I wish I would have asked his name. I tried walking with him for a bit. I could do it, but it wasn't what I had trained at, so I went back to running.

I saw a lot of Team In Training ladies and a few men along the way. I guess it gives them more purpose for their running, but it seems like they could have come up with a better name considering it was mostly women.

There were bands at every mile. I enjoyed having them there, but I would be long past them before they could finish one song. One of the bands had a guy blasting on a tenor sax. I enjoyed that one and wish I could have stayed for a while.

About mile 21, a friend caught up to me. There was a group of us running the marathon and half marathon that work for the same company, Cubic Transportation Systems, who, by the way, paid our entrance fee. Anyway, the lady from Cubic that he was running with had to drop because of nausea. He was the picking up the pace to 7 minute miles. By that time I could tell that I was fading fast. He passed me and moved on to finish sub 5.

I maintained pace until about mile 22. I was right with the 5:00 pace team, but I had to let them slip away. I faded really fast from a combination of lack of eating, dehydration, nausea, heat, humidity, a rubbing shirt, and very blistered feet.

Somewhere between mile 21 and 23 I saw another friend from work. He was several miles ahead on an out-and-back. He looked to be running strong. I tried to smile and shout a few words of encouragement, but I feel like it probably looked like a grimace and sounded like a mumble.

I drank at every water and gatorade station along the way, but I still got very dehydrated by the end of the race. By mile 22, my legs turned to rubber and I was very dizzy and weak feeling. I was very dehydrated by the end, and slowed down to keep from passing out. In the last miles I passed a couple of people lying on the side of the road. They had people attending them, so I moved on. An ambulance passed about mile 23 and asked if I had seen somebody passed out back there. I saw several people throwing up around mile 24. I walked quite a bit between mile 22 and 26. Then I ran it in. I had saved about all I had to do it. The walk back to the hotel was pretty tough. All together I probably traveled over 30 miles on foot. I could almost count this marathon as an ultra.

I finished the race with 6 power gels and 2 Cliff bars in my butt pack. I hate to think that I carried all that the whole race.

I finished in 5:28. My other marathon was Chickamauga 2003 and I did 5:07 officially (I thought it was 5:17). I figure I did well considering. I really feel like I can break 5:00 next time. I just have to be more intelligent about my racing.

When I got back to the hotel, I was so glad it was over. I was so dehydrated that I had camel pee, if you know what I mean. It took about 3 hours to get my fluid levels back. I had a couple of incidents of very tight leg cramps during that time. They would just come on huge and sudden. It was hard to overcome. I basically had to get up and put my weight on them to pull the cramp out.

Lesson's learned: Eat before the race. Maybe even gatorade a couple of hours before to load up. Don't walk so far to the start of the race. Take some antacids or something to quench the stomach acid. Force the power gels, even if it feels bad. Don't waste so much energy at the start of the race weaving through the crowds. Go ahead and wear moleskin on the nips. The little patches showing through the shirt are better than the alternative.