Digital Wilderness

I was searching through the blog looking for something and ran across this old post from Feb 2005 – Book Meme. It was interesting and fun reading the responses last time, so thought I’d post it again. Let’s see what you all have this time around!

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog along with these instructions.
5. Don’t you dare dig for that “cool” or “intellectual” book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.

Be sure to follow the rules – no cheating!

Well, summer break has come and gone…classes start next week. I’m trying to get myself pumped up for the semester, but it’s a bit tough to do so right now. Can’t say it’s totally unexpected, though. I knew it would be rough going back after having the summer off. But no regrets – it’s been an awesome summer!

I’m doing the same thing this semester as I did with my first – taking one class from the start and picking up a second class half way through. Although each half semester class meeting is long, they at least offer more options and I get to enjoy the rest of the nice weather without being uber-stressed.

First class on tap is Corporate Finance. I’ve heard good things about the class, the teacher I have specifically, so I am looking forward to it. International Business is the other class and starts in October. Having been in a global company for three and a half years, I hope to draw on those experiences to help make it more relevant and interesting.

You may remember a previously post about some of the things I wanted to do with the time off this summer. Here’s an update:

• Volunteer
  Started volunteering for STARS in July
• Get more involved in church
  This is the goal I was most hoping I would be able to do something about and God has really opened the doors of opportunity the past couple weeks. I’ve been a part of a great group for Sunday morning “Adult Bible Fellowship” (a.k.a. Sunday school) since March, and this has led to the other opportunities which I’ll post more later in a separate post… It’s felt really great to be committed to a church again, not just a consumer but a contributor.
• Look for a new “lavoro”
  “Lavoro” is Italian for “job” for those that didn’t quite get my not so subtle attempt to hide my motivations from my current employer at the time. Thankfully, I did get a new job, and it’s been great so far!
• Take road trips to visit family and friends
  Took a trip to NC with friends to visit Lori and Dan as well as a trip to Nashville to visit my brother and sister-in-law. Unfortunately, the white water rafting trip fell through because of the new job, but we went canoeing instead, so that’ll work. We also took a camping trip to Red River Gorge
• Finish up some projects around the house/yard
  The two main projects were cleaning/treating the deck and making a walkway from the garage to the deck. Finished the deck job a month or so ago, and while the walkway isn’t quite done yet, it’s well underway. Hope to get another good chunk done this weekend and should be able to finish before school starts.

Sadly, there were two goals I didn’t quite achieve…

• Get involved in a creative ministries (specifically puppets)
  This is a passion I really need to do something about since I miss it so much. Last I checked, my church doesn’t have an existing group, so I would have to organize one. I have no problem with that, but with classes and other activities starting up soon, I don’t quite feel I have the time to devote to this right now without spreading myself way too thin. It’s a case of determining where God wants my attention right now and I think He’s telling me to look elsewhere for the time being. There is much work that can be done in preparation, though, so that’s where my focus will be for the Fall.
• Search for grants and scholarships for grad school
  I did make a half-hearted attempt on a couple occasions, didn’t have any immediate success finding “cheap and easy” free money (they make you write essays and such for MBA scholarships, too, believe it or not *sarcasm*), and eventually gave up. Good news is that my new company offers much more tuition reimbursement than my previous one, but I have to wait until next year to use it.

It has been a very fulfilling summer and I can look back on it with no regrets and a sense of accomplishment, having worn out instead of rusted out and felt God’s hand in it. I can only pray the fall will be as great.

Awesome song by tobyMac, with a prayer I really should be praying more often.

Lose My Soul by tobyMac

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Father God, I am clay in your hands,
Help me to stay that way through all life’s demands,
‘Cause they chip and they nag and they pull at me,
And every little thing I make up my mind to be,
Like I’m gonna be a daddy who’s in the mix,
And I’m gonna be a husband who stays legit,
And I pray that I’m an artist who rises above,
The road that is wide and filled with self love,
Everything that I see draws me,
Though it’s only in You that I can truly see
That its a feast for the eyes – a low blow to purpose.
And I’m a little kid at a three ring circus.

…

Lord forgive us when we get consumed by the things of this world,
That fight for our love, and our passion,
As our eyes are open wide and on you.
Grant us the privilege of your world view,
And may your kingdom be what wakes us up, and lays us down.

There are times when I can listen to a song a dozen times and not think twice about it, maybe skip over it or not even like it. Then, I’ll hear that song again – on the radio, when I’m in a certain situation or different moment in my life – and it will catch my attention in a big way.

Such a moment happened today with this song…

Whatever You’re Doing (Something Heavenly) by Sanctus Real

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It’s time for healing time to move on
It’s time to fix what’s been broken too long
Time make right what has been wrong
It’s time to find my way to where I belong
There’s a wave that’s crashing over me
All I can do is surrender

[Chorus]
Whatever you’re doing inside of me
It feels like chaos, somehow there’s peace
It’s hard to surrender to what I can’t see
but I’m giving in to something heavenly

Time for a milestone
Time to begin again
Re-evaluate who I really am
Am I doing everything to follow your will
or just climbing aimlessly over these hills
So show me what it is you want from me
I give everything, I surrender…
To…

[Chorus]

Time to face up, Clean this old house
Time to breathe in and let everything out
That I’ve wanted to say, for so many years
Time to release all my held back tears

Whatever you’re doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but I believe
You’re up to something bigger than me
Larger than life, something heavenly

Whatever you’re doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but now I can see
This is something bigger than me
Larger than life, something heavenly
Something heavenly

It’s time to face up
Clean this old house
Time to breathe in and let everything out

Congratulations to James and Stephanie on their engagement Saturday!

Nick, Mindy and I went camping at Red River Gorge this weekend, some much needed time away from the hustle and bustle, stress and frustration of “city” life. We set up camp Friday night at Koomer Ridge Campground and spent a day and two nights relaxing, having no schedule, enjoying the beauty of God’s creation and fellowship with each other.

When we got there, Nick wasted no time doing what he does best – playing with fire. I tell ya, one of my favorites things in this life is sitting by a camp fire on a pleasant evening. I can get lost in watching a fire for hours.

We had absolutely great weather the entire weekend. – no rain, pleasant evenings and not too hot or humid days. This is in great contrast to my brother’s weekend. He’s out west on vacation (Rocky Mountain National Park at the time) and Saturday night I got a message from him saying the temperatures were in the 30s with 10 inches of snow on the ground and blizzard conditions. Um, wow…I know it’s the mountains, but it is August, right?

We hiked a few trails on Saturday – Gray’s Arch-Rough Trail-Rush Ridge loop and Auxier Ridge towards Courthouse Rock. Hiking/walking/running is a time when I find myself pondering much and “writing” blog posts. This weekend was no exception. God planted several thoughts in my mind, some calming, others deeply unsettling. I intended to post some of these but now that I’m back home, I just feel too laid open and raw, too physically and mentally exhausted and don’t feel like putting these thoughts out there. Maybe later…

All in all, it was a great trip. We had some deep discussions, I beat Mindy at Uno (okay, so I might have lengthened the game until I won, but I still won!), the views were gorgeous and it was nice to relax.

Sadly, my camera is still in pieces on my desk and no one else brought a camera, so there are no pictures of the great views…

There’s s new addition to the Vaught household this week – a 6wk old kitten named Zipper (a.k.a Bandit or Little One).

My friend Melanie and her husband found him stranded on the side of the road a few days ago. They brought him home but were heading out of town and needed someone to take care of him for a few days. Since I’m a cat person and live just up the road from them, they asked if I would him. I said sure, why not, so now I have a kitten crawling across my keyboard as I type, and I’m not kidding.

He’s so small! With him as a comparison, now I know why everyone says Smokey is so big. Hard to believe Smokey was ever that tiny! Smokey’s been great with his new toy…er…addition, being his usual laid back self, friendly self. It’s hilarious watching them play. Spunky little Bandit running up behind Smokey and swatting at his tail and hindquarters only to find himself smothered under Smokey’s belly moments later. I’m really glad they’re getting along and playing with each other.

I’d put up some pictures…if only I had a camera to take some. :-/

One 5K that’s missing from my list is the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. I’ve skipped it the past two years for various reasons, but since I didn’t do the Redlegs Run for Home this year, I’m going to use that as motivation to do the Cincinnati Race for the Cure next month.

Please visit my Race for the Cure Page and consider donating to the cause. My goal is to raise $200.

And I also wanted to included a reminder here about the other causes I mentioned previously as well. Though some of those events have passed, it’s never too late to donate, and the participants will be very appreciative.

Woohoo!!! Awesome!!! Phantom Regiment is the 2008 DCI World Champion!!! Yes!!!

When I saw this email tonight, I couldn’t believe me eyes. I quickly went to DCI’s website to double check, and sure enough, they were champs!

**** DCI World Championships – World Class Finals ****
**** 09 August 2008 – Bloomington, IN ****
01. 98.125 – Phantom Regiment
02. 98.100 – Blue Devils
03. 97.325 – The Cavaliers
04. 96.800 – Carolina Crown
05. 94.750 – The Cadets
06. 93.175 – Bluecoats
07. 93.025 – Santa Clara Vanguard
08. 90.425 – Blue Stars
09. 88.250 – Blue Knights
10. 87.275 – Boston Crusaders
11. 87.200 – Glassmen
12. 85.225 – Madison Scouts

I’ve been a phan of Phantom since I was first introduced to DCI in 1993 . (The Phantom Wedge, their signature move, is truly something magnificent to behold. Gives me chills…) I’m not hardcore, but I do keep up with the scores throughout the year and try to go to at least one show a year, though this summer has gone by so quickly, I missed all the local ones.

Through the early season, Phantom was usually in 3rd or 4th place, flip-flopping with Carolina Crown from show to show. Mid-season, they began to consistently overtake the Crown, but they still couldn’t break into the top two, which consisted of the powerhouse Cavaliers (the Green Machine) and The Regiment’s nemesis, Blue Devils.

Then the World Championships came. They were still in third after the quarter finals, but shifted into another gear, cracking the ceiling and placing second at the semis and pulling out an astonishing first in the finals.

The Regiment’s repertoire this year was Spartacus:

•     Ein Heldenleben
•     Selections from Spartacus
•     Toccata from Piano Concerto No.1
•     Dance of Ecstasy
•     Battlefield from “KA”

This is only Phantom’s second title, the other being a tie in 1996…with the Blue Devils. I wish I could have been there!

Great end to a not-so-great day!

Uh, oh! I think I ruined my digital camera today. I went canoeing with some friends and took it along with me. Like I have so many times before, I sealed it in a ziplock bag, which was inside another ziplock bag, all in my backpack. Today, there was one less survivor.

I guess a big difference between today and previous trips was the amount of time I, and my backpack, spent in the water…

I did get some pictures along the way, which I hope survived on the memory card. The “crash” that probably did the camera in came later in the trip. Afterwards, I pulled out the camera and watched water drip out. Not a good sign! I’m going to try drying it out (might need to take sections of it apart) and see if I can coax it back to working. If not…seems I’ll be in the market for a new camera sooner than I expected. I have a big, clunky, old Olympus that works (er…worked) great, so while I’ve wanted a smaller one for some time, I couldn’t justify spending the money. The priority has been bumped up a few notches now, though.

Any one have any recommendations on pocket-size or slightly larger point-and-shoot digital cameras? I did some research a while back, but I’m too tired and frustrated at things to post them right now (why do I always run out of ink when I need something important printed?!?).