Confessions and Cogitations

Batman and the Bomb

2009-11-19T12:06:00.001-08:00

Some Beautiful Churches

2009-05-23T00:40:00.001-07:00

In Nürnberg, Romania:

In Erie, PA

From Here.

An article on the History of Tipping

2009-03-27T18:53:00.000-07:00

Here is an article on the history of tipping (at restaurants).

Church Fathers book sets

2009-02-26T13:27:00.001-08:00

For those who may be interested, the Ante-Nicene Fathers book set, and the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers book sets (both volume 1 and volume 2) is available at WikiSource. [H/T Logismoi]

A cool robotics site

2008-12-27T22:42:00.000-08:00

Let's Make Robots! is a neat little site for hobby robotics.

The Moment Linus Drops the Blanket

2008-12-23T13:38:00.000-08:00

"The Moment Linus Drops The Blanket", an article by Fred Sanders at Scriptorium Daily.

It makes a good point about how the hope and joy of Christmas, the hope and joy of God the Word coming down and becoming man "for us and for our salvation", is the final answer to worries and anxieties in life.

Misc. Notes from working at a butcher shop

2008-12-15T15:45:00.000-08:00

Jalapeno cheddar dip (big batch)

10 lb shredded cheddar
10 lbs mayo
1 oz cayenne pepper
1 oz liquid smoke
1/2 of a gallon can of jalapenos, drained and minced

Directions: mix all ingredients well

----------
Tip for smoking fish: To cure salmon, use tequila.

A List of Alternative teacher credential programs

2008-11-18T14:59:00.000-08:00

This post will be a list of all the various programs I can find for alternative paths to acquiring teacher credentials. I will mostly be looking at paid internship positions, like Teach For America. This list is a work in progress.

Update 2008-11-21: Added "Teach NOLA"
Update 2008-11-18: List Started with TFA, CA, and MS locations

Nationwide:
- Teach For America

California:

Louisiana:
- Teach NOLA

Mississippi:
- Mississippi Teacher Corps

2008-11-02T15:39:00.000-08:00

I just found out that the teacher who taught my multivariable calculus class in Berkeley, Vaughn Jones, is an important person in the development of knot theory.

2008-10-05T18:47:00.001-07:00

Today was the first snow at the St James House here in Eagle River.

Jesus is a friend of mine

2008-09-24T09:53:00.000-07:00

[H/T Orthodixie]

About my Grandfather

2008-09-09T14:41:00.000-07:00

Some information about my Grandfather which I just stumbled across:

http://home.comcast.net/~iifurung/pamplonacagayan/history.htm#Curva

Look for "Ponciano Materum"

Alaska News update:

2008-09-01T22:03:00.001-07:00

- I went to the Alaska state fair. Good food.
- I am still looking for a job.
- Since I still do not have a job, I get to do things like I mention below.
- A few days ago I spent some time picking wild watermelon berries and wild highbush cranberries (which I can now find easily due to its distinctive wet dog smell), and I tried to make jelly, but I failed, so now I have highbush cranberry syrup.
- I went to Wasilla, AK (the town where Palin used to be mayor) yesterday, to go to a fundraising dinner for an orthodox convent in Washington state. Good Greek food! And I got to meet some nuns from the convent, and I got to briefly hear one of my favorite speakers give a short talk. Oh, and to get there, I got a ride with one of my neighbors in his convertible mini cooper.
- Today I went to go pick wild Alaskan blueberries. I got about 2 pounds, I think. (I would have had more if I hadn't eaten so many while picking.) To get to the area where the blueberry bushes grow, I had to ride in the back of my friend's truck along a pothole-ridden road. My butt is still a little sore.
- After picking blueberries, I went to visit my priest's lakeside cabin. We had a little picnic there, and I got to go hunting for spruce hen with my priest's son and one of the hosts in the house I am living in. We shot, cleaned, and ate 4 spruce hens.
- I am in the process of knitting another Jayne hat. (the orange, yellow, and red one from portland.) I should be done by tonite or tomorrow.
- My church is amazing. The building has a wooden geodesic dome with fantastic acoustics. The choir is fantastic, and the people are very welcoming.

Ok, I think I need to finish my hat, and I need to decide if I want to try to make blueberry jelly.

A thought on how to fix education

2008-08-28T20:32:00.000-07:00

Certificates of competency, not degrees

"Funny"

2008-08-16T00:11:00.000-07:00

The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks

mvi_1813 - Riding the NOLA streetcar

2008-08-06T02:40:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

Setting up a HP Pavilion dv2416us to run Debian GNU/Linux

2008-07-25T14:15:00.000-07:00

Hello,

I got an HP Pavilion dv2416us about a year ago, and set it up to run both the pre-installed vista, and Debian GNU. Here I just want to add a few comments about getting Debian to run well on such a computer, in case I need to set it up again in the future.

This won't have all the information needed to make it totally easy to use such a laptop, but I will try to put down what I remember. I'll try to add more later, if I can remember more.

Repartitioning your hard drive through Windows Vista:
- http://apcmag.com/how_to_dualboot_vista_with_linux_vista_installed_first.htm

Installing Debian

Getting your Broadcom Wireless card to work by using ndiswrapper
- In my experience, it is easier to get your wireless card running on your laptop in Debian if you use ndiswrapper and the windows drivers than through the bcm... driver in the kernel.
- http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-hardware-18/bcm4306-ndiswrapper-windows-driver-couldnt-initialize-the-device-344849/
- http://www.stylesen.org/configuring_wireless_bcm4310_uart_card_in_debian_etch_amd64_using_ndiswrapper
- Sometimes, when you boot up, though, the ndiswrapper driver will not load up correctly, and may freeze up the boot process. To fix this, I usually just ctrl-alt-del out of the boot process and restart.

Problems with sound emerging out of the dual boot setup
- If you at some point use your Vista partition, and then later boot into your Linux partition, you might find that your sound does not work in your linux partition. An easy fix to this problem (I don't know why this works, but it does) is to turn off your computer, and either reboot without the power cord plugged in, or, after turning off the computer, removing the battery for a few seconds (say, count to 10), putting the battery back, and starting up your computer.

Fixes and tweaks:
- You may have the problem that, when the X server restarts, either after ending a session or after coming back from screensaver mode, the cursor will disappear. To fix this, you can edit your xorg.conf file (usually found at /etc/X11/xorg.conf), and, under the "Device" section, adding the line
  
  Option "HWCursor" "off"
  
  For more info, see 'man nv' or see http://lists.kde.org/?l=kde-linux&m=116983714009897&w=2

Yup.

2008-05-12T11:02:00.001-07:00

mvi_1755_1

2008-05-06T18:23:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

Some Interesting Trivia

2008-04-30T19:29:00.000-07:00

Something I just learned:

The First Church of Christ, Scientist, building in Berkeley, near the Crossroads DC and right next to Unit 2, was designed by the same architect that did the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco (Bernard Maybeck). Indeed, the FCOC,S building is considered Maybeck's masterpiece and is a National Landmark.

I didn't know that before!

My Blip show - Newly Updated!

2008-04-10T23:34:00.000-07:00

Hello,

I just wanted to let everyone know that I just uploaded 55 new videos onto my vlog at thebrainkid.blip.tv. I won't be posting them here, because I have been finding that this site takes a lot longer to load when I do post them here. So, go check them out over there, and find out what I have been doing for the past 3 months or so!

Also, for those who might care, most of the videos on my vlog are licensed under Creative Commons, most under a Attribution-ShareAlike license. So, if you want to use pieces of my videos for any projects you have, feel free to do so, just note me as the creator of my videos and make sure you license your project under the same license. Cool!

And, for the record, it took me about 60 hours to upload all those videos by ftp. My computer has been on for 3 days straight just to get them online!

mvi_1113-Biloxi_parade_5

2008-04-09T08:48:00.027-07:00

Click to Play

mvi_1128-Biloxi_parade_9

2008-04-09T08:48:00.025-07:00

Click to Play

mvi_1105a-Biloxi_parade_1

2008-04-09T08:48:00.023-07:00

Click to Play

mvi_1189-Transition_Sweating_to_the_Oldies_2

2008-04-09T08:48:00.021-07:00

Click to Play

mvi_1222-One_really_huge_blackberry_root

2008-04-09T08:48:00.019-07:00

Click to Play

mvi_1311a-Trying_to_get_the_van_unstuck_and_my_face_is_still_muddy_2

2008-04-09T08:48:00.017-07:00

Click to Play

mvi_1342-Waiting_for_Sara_to_arrive_5

2008-04-09T08:48:00.015-07:00

Click to Play

mvi_1119-Biloxi_parade_6

2008-04-09T08:48:00.013-07:00

Click to Play

mvi_1235-Feb_8_-_Planting_event_tour-Take_1

2008-04-09T08:48:00.011-07:00

Click to Play

mvi_1310a-Trying_to_get_the_van_unstuck_and_my_face_is_still_muddy_1

2008-04-09T08:48:00.009-07:00

Click to Play

mvi_1343-Taking_the_train_home_with_Kathleen_King_for_spring_break

2008-04-09T08:48:00.007-07:00

Click to Play

mvi_1106-Biloxi_parade_2

2008-04-09T08:48:00.005-07:00

Click to Play

mvi_1284-Lake_Oswego_trailbuilding_tour

2008-04-09T08:48:00.003-07:00

Click to Play

mvi_1138-Biloxi_parade_14

2008-04-09T08:48:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

mvi_1319_Blind_Donut_eating_contest_-_Nina_Jill_Elle_Liz

2008-04-09T08:47:00.045-07:00

Click to Play

mvi_1130-Biloxi_parade_11

2008-04-09T08:47:00.043-07:00

Click to Play

mvi_1191-Transition_Sweating_to_the_Oldies_4

2008-04-09T08:47:00.041-07:00

Click to Play

mvi_1052_A_Mardi_Gras_Parade_1

2008-04-09T08:47:00.039-07:00

Click to Play

mvi_1133-Biloxi_parade_12

2008-04-09T08:47:00.037-07:00

Click to Play

mvi_1339-Waiting_for_Sara_to_arrive_2

2008-04-09T08:47:00.035-07:00

Click to Play

mvi_1221-Tour_of_Troutdale_invasive_removal

2008-04-09T08:47:00.033-07:00

Click to Play

mvi_1123-Biloxi_parade_8

2008-04-09T08:47:00.031-07:00

Click to Play

mvi_1234-A_little_girl_planting_a_tree

2008-04-09T08:47:00.029-07:00

Click to Play

mvi_1120-Biloxi_Parade_7

2008-04-09T08:47:00.027-07:00

Click to Play

mvi_1166-Wrong_Setting_in_trying_to_Take_a_picture

2008-04-09T08:47:00.025-07:00

Click to Play

It is often the case that I will mistakenly try to take a picture when my camera is on video mode, thus resulting in a video a few seconds long in which everyone is posed for a picture, until the picture taker realizes that the camera is on the wrong setting. This is one such video, uploaded for your enjoyment.

mvi_1313_Trying_to_get_the_van_unstuck_and_my_face_is_still_muddy_4

2008-04-09T08:47:00.023-07:00

Click to Play

mvi_1139-Biloxi_parade_15

2008-04-09T08:47:00.021-07:00

Click to Play

mvi_1044-Ted_and_Amanda_Mud_war

2008-04-09T08:47:00.019-07:00

Click to Play

mvi_1165-Walkthru_of_Gillum_House

2008-04-09T08:47:00.017-07:00

Click to Play

mvi_1107-Biloxi_parade_3

2008-04-09T08:47:00.015-07:00

Click to Play

mvi_1068-A_Mardi_Gras_Parade_2

2008-04-09T08:47:00.013-07:00

Click to Play

mvi_1333_Leaving_Portland

2008-04-09T08:47:00.011-07:00

Click to Play

mvi_1340-Waiting_for_Sara_to_arrive_3

2008-04-09T08:47:00.009-07:00

Click to Play

mvi_1337_Waiting_for_Sara_to_arrive_1

2008-04-09T08:47:00.007-07:00

Click to Play

mvi_1314_Trying_to_get_the_van_unstuck_and_my_face_is_still_muddy_5

2008-04-09T08:47:00.005-07:00

Click to Play

mvi_1338-A_Quick_Interlude_-_Ted_reciting_Old_English

2008-04-09T08:47:00.003-07:00

Click to Play

mvi_1341-Waiting_for_Sara_to_arrive_4

2008-04-09T08:47:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

My List of interesting blog posts

2008-04-06T00:20:00.000-07:00

Hello,

In case you want to look at news and posts from other blogs that I find interesting, you can check out my Shared Items Page. I'll put a link to this page on my sidebar too.

An update on my situation

2008-02-02T12:09:00.000-08:00

Hello there. I just wanted to give you an update of what I have been up to recently, and to fill in some details.
I am currently at the AmeriCorps*NCCC base in the Sacramento area, having just returned from a two-month project in Bay St. Louis, MS. While in MS, my team was working with Lagniappe Presbyterian Church and were working to build and repair houses damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, and we were also working to help the church manage and take care of the other volunteers who were staying for shorter terms (such as a week, or a weekend).
We came back to the Sacramento area to finish up debriefing for this past project, and to be briefed on and to prepare for our next project, which will consist of working with an organization called SOLV to perform removal of invasive plant species in the areas in and around Portland, OR. My team leaves for Portland on Monday, and we will arrive Tuesday evening, staying on that project until late March.
During the past project, my teammates and I were still trying to get accustomed to living and working with one another, and trying to get accustomed to functioning within the structure of the AmeriCorps*NCCC program. I believe we have done a pretty good job of getting used to one another and the program.
Another relatively difficult situation which I found myself dealing with during this past project was difficulty in maintaining my spiritual life as an Orthodox Christian. In the area in which we were working, I found it rather difficult to make it to an Orthodox parish, for a number of reasons: my team had only one vehicle to be shared among all the members; I am not a driver on my team; and the nearest Orthodox parish was a forty minute drive away in Biloxi. So, I haven't been able to attend an Orthodox parish since around Thanksgiving. However, I am looking forward to attending church again once I get up to Portland, since I will be living relatively close to a few Orthodox parishes, and I have some friends who go to some of those churches.
I have also been lax and irregular in maintaining my prayer life and some other spiritual disciplines. I have been only occasionally doing my morning and evening prayers, and reading of the word, although in part this is due to a difficult work schedule. Perhaps another factor in this might be the awkwardness of doing such things while living in close quarters with generally non-religious or atheist people. I was able to keep the nativity fast to some degree, although I could not maintain the fast fully due to the fact that our project sponsors prepared our food and did not provide many vegetarian options. I will admit, though, that my failures in fasting and in prayer were in a large part due to my own laziness, which I am trying to address.
Well, that is most of what is going on in my life right now. I would love to hear back from you if you have any questions, comments, or advice for me. If there are any people who would be interested in hearing about all this, feel free to let them know. And, most importantly, please keep me in your prayers.

Pons Timothy Materum III

The Baptism of Jonathan - Amanda's explanation

2008-01-15T17:33:00.001-08:00

Click to Play

A video of "the Baptism of Jonathan."

The Baptism of Jonathan - Part 3

2008-01-15T17:32:00.001-08:00

Click to Play

A video of "the Baptism of Jonathan."

The Baptism of Jonathan - Part 2

2008-01-15T17:31:00.000-08:00

Click to Play

A video of "the Baptism of Jonathan."

Jonathan is a little plastic toy dinosaur which can grow if you put it in water. This is a video of the ceremony of our first putting him in water. Our ceremony included a little fireworks toyshaped like a tank.

The Baptism of Jonathan - Part 1

2008-01-15T17:30:00.001-08:00

Click to Play

A video of "the Baptism of Jonathan."

A view of Lagniappe's tool crib

2008-01-15T17:26:00.001-08:00

Click to Play

a view of Lagniappe Presbyterian Church's tool crib

Ted and Amanda doing the Boot dance

2008-01-15T17:25:00.001-08:00

Click to Play

Ted and amanda doing the Boot dance.

Sara Driving the Forklift - Part 3

2008-01-15T17:24:00.001-08:00

Click to Play

Sara Jaffe driving a forklift

Sara Driving the Forklift - Part 2

2008-01-15T17:23:00.001-08:00

Click to Play

Sara Driving the Forklift

Sara Driving the Forklift - Part 1

2008-01-15T17:21:00.001-08:00

Click to Play

Sara Jaffe driving a forklift.

Taking apart a bunkhouse

2008-01-09T18:20:00.001-08:00

Click to Play

This is a video taken while we were taking down a bunkhouse at Lagniappe Church. We were taking apart beds and clearing space in the bunkhouse, in order to make room for better beds for more long-term volunteers.

Me at the Airport

2008-01-09T18:17:00.001-08:00

Click to Play

This is what I did after I got bored of being cold and bored at the airport after returning to New Orleans after Winter Break

Emily in AmeriCorps

2008-01-03T21:44:00.000-08:00

Here is the blog of a girl on my team. Check it out! Maybe you'll find a picture of me on there.

19th Street Red Live in Mockingbird Cafe - 2007-12-06 - The end of Stagger Lee

2007-12-31T11:05:00.001-08:00

Click to Play

19th Street Red Live at the Mockingbird Cafe on 2007 Dec. 06. (2007-12-06)

Sorry, I only caught the end of his performance of "Stagger Lee."

19th Street Red Live at Mockingbird Cafe 2007-12-06 - Unknown Song

2007-12-31T11:03:00.000-08:00

Click to Play

19th Street Red - Live at Mockingbird Cafe 2007 - Dec. 06 (2007-12-06)

Unknown Song

AmeriCorps*NCCC-Blue 3(Anacondas)-Hanukkah 2007-Lighting the First Candle - Bay St. Louis, MS 2007-12-04

2007-12-31T11:02:00.001-08:00

Click to Play

AmeriCorps*NCCC-Blue 3(Anacondas)-Hanukkah 2007-

Lighting the First Candle

Held in Bay St. Louis, MS on 2007-12-04

AmeriCorps*NCCC-Blue 3(Anacondas)-Hanukkah 2007-An Interruption - Bay St. Louis, MS 2007-12-04

2007-12-31T11:00:00.001-08:00

Click to Play

AmeriCorps*NCCC-Blue 3(Anacondas)-Hanukkah 2007

An Interruption in the Hanukkah festivities

Bay St. Louis, MS 2007-12-04

AmeriCorps*NCCC-Blue 3 (Anacondas) - Hanukkah 2007- Sara's Explanation of Hanukkah on the First Night - Bay St. Louis, MS - 2007-12-04

2007-12-31T10:55:00.001-08:00

Click to Play

AmeriCorps*NCCC-Blue 3 (Anacondas) - Hanukkah 2007 -

Sara's Explanation of Hanukkah on the First Night

Held in Bay St. Louis, MS, on 2007 Dec. 04 (2007-12-04)

Miro!!!

2007-12-31T01:33:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to mention that Miro is a great piece of software for downloading and maintaining Flash videos (such as youtube), podcasts, vlogs, etc. It is wonderful. I just started using it (since they just came out with a version that would work on my computer), and it is wonderful. I highly recommend it!

And, for those of you with podcasts or vlogs, or even Youtube channels, I highly encourage you to set up a Miro channel in the Miro guide. It's very simple! More info here.

Me walking around next to the Alamo in San Antonio, TX

2007-12-31T01:19:00.001-08:00

Click to Play

Me walking around next to the Alamo in San Antonio, TX

Italian Restaurant cook singing in Deming, NM

2007-12-31T01:17:00.001-08:00

Click to Play

Italian Restaurant cook singing in Deming, NM

AmeriCorpsNCCC-ClassXIV-WestCoast - Induction - AmeriCorpsNCCC Pledge

2007-12-31T01:16:00.001-08:00

Click to Play

AmeriCorps*NCCC Pledge

AmeriCorpsNCCC-ClassXIV-WestCoast - Induction - AmeriCorpsNCCC induction pledge

2007-12-31T01:14:00.001-08:00

Click to Play

AmeriCorps*NCCC induction pledge

AmeriCorps*NCCC-ClassXIV-WestCoast - Induction - Silver Unit Cheer

2007-12-31T00:06:00.000-08:00

Click to Play

Silver Unit Cheer

AmeriCorps*NCCC-ClassXIV-WestCoast - Induction - Gold Unit Cheer

2007-12-31T00:05:00.000-08:00

Click to Play

Gold Unit Cheer

AmeriCorps*NCCC-ClassXIV-WestCoast - Induction - Blue Unit (Blu-nit) cheer

2007-12-31T00:04:00.000-08:00

Click to Play

Blue Unit Cheer

AmeriCorps*NCCC-ClassXIV-WestCoast - Induction - Green Unit Cheer

2007-12-31T00:03:00.000-08:00

Click to Play

Green Unit Cheer

AmeriCorps*NCCC-ClassXIV-WestCoast - Induction - Red Unit Cheer

2007-12-31T00:02:00.000-08:00

Click to Play

Red Unit Cheer

AmeriCorps*NCCC-ClassXIV-WestCoast - Induction - National Anthem

2007-12-31T00:01:00.000-08:00

Click to Play

The American National Anthem sung at the Americorps*NCCC Class XIV West Coast Region Induction Ceremony

Liz popping out of a Box

2007-12-31T00:00:00.000-08:00

Click to Play

Liz popping out of a box

2007-12-30T23:45:00.000-08:00

I'll be posting a lot of images and videos online from my travel and work in AmeriCorps*NCCC. Stay tuned.

Orthodox and Armenian Priests get into Brawl

2007-12-28T11:08:00.000-08:00

Lord, have mercy.

Chastity and Advent

2007-12-24T11:36:00.000-08:00

I know its a little late, but I found this to be good:
Advent of Chastity

It points to this article by Ron Rolheiser.

A quote:

"Chastity is not, first of all, something to do with sex. Chastity has to do with how we experience reality in general, all experience. To be chaste is to have proper reverence - towards God, towards each other, towards nature, towards ourselves, towards reality in general, and towards sex."

Affirmative Action and Asians

2007-11-15T20:50:00.001-08:00

Affirmative Action is, in effect, discrimination towards Asians.

A good classical music podcast

2007-11-02T18:13:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody. I just found a great classical music podcast. It is released biweekly by the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, in Boston. So, if you like classical music, go check it out!

Also, you can find archives of the program here, at the Archive.org website.

AmeriCorps Journal Entry 4: News and updates

2007-11-02T17:58:00.000-07:00

Well, things have been going well for me. Here's a short list of what's up:
- Physical training has been going well. Today, I ran ~3 miles (2 1.5 mile stretches) without walking. My legs hurt.
- I started making my kefir here at the base. My mom sent up the starter culture earlier this week.
- And, very importantly, I found out that after Thanksgiving, I am gonna be assigned to a worksite in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. My team will be working down there with a church building houses.

Romanian Liturgy

2007-10-26T08:02:00.000-07:00

Here is a link to the text of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom in Romanian. Enjoy!

(I'm going to try to make a printable parallel translation. More info on that later.)

Americorps Journal Entry #3: Sunday, October 21

2007-10-21T21:32:00.000-07:00

Last night, I tried again to get to the Orthodox parish on the other side of the Air Base, walking with some friends of mine. However, after we got about halfway, the sun went down and it started to get dark, so we turned around and came back to the base. However, the walk was not completely fruitless, for I was able to have a good conversation with the people I was with about faith, religion, doctrine, Tradition, morality, and more. I sincerely hope that God will be able to use that conversation to be a blessing to both myself and to the others who were involved in the conversation.

Today I went to the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation. I had contacted a friend of mine, the daughter of the priest, and she offered to come and pick up me and another Orthodox Americorps member to go to church. We arrived a few minutes late, but didn't miss too much. I must admit, though, that throughout the service, I had a hard time following, because a large portion of the service was done in Greek. In addition, the church had one of those choirs that tries to sing music so complex that all the singing gets drowned out by itself and that no member of the laity could sing along and participate in worship even if he wanted to. Don't get me wrong, the music sounded wonderful, but it was impossible for me to follow along, even with the Greek text and an English transliteration in front of me. Perhaps those who are fluent in Greek find it to be a greatly edifying blessing.

However, despite my limitations in understanding and in participating in much of what was happening in the services, I was greatly blessed by the opportunity to participate in the singing of hymns and in partaking in the Holy Mystery of the Eucharist. Thank God for his gifts!

After the church service, we stuck around for a little while, spoke briefly with the priests and other various people, and enjoyed fruit and cookies. I was pleasantly surprised to see a few of the youths that I had seen when I was a camp counselor earlier this year.

When we were driven back to the base, I asked my friend if she could drive me by the Orthodox parish on the other side of the Air Base, just so I could see if it really existed and to see if I could get some information on what time it held services. She thought this was a good idea, and we drove by the parish. It turns out that this OCA mission parish is actually a small Romanian church. I was able to talk with the priest there for a while and to get some information about the church. He was very nice and quite welcoming, and answered al of my questions well, although at times it was a little difficult to converse, since, it seems, he wasn't totally fluent in English.

I do have to mention this: I asked him about the language that services were held in at that parish, and he informed me that the services were normally held in Romanian. But, he said, if some Orthodox people started coming from the AmeriCorps base, he would try to do some of the service in English for us.

After all of this, I returned back to the base. I later took a walk with some friends.

___

Let me request the prayers of any of those out there who might still read this blog. Please pray that God would help me to keep up with my prayer rule and other aspects of the Orthodox life while I live and work here in Americorps, and that I wouldn't only perform these mechanistically or in a legalistic manner, but that they would be a means of spiritual healing.

Also, pray for me, that God would strengthen and guide me in my dealings and relations with all those around me, and that he would help me to respect and love all those around me. Pray especially for guidance in my relationships with my roommates, and also for guidance in my relationships with those of the opposite sex.

May God live in me and shine through me. Please.

__________

_pons

Americorps Journal Entry #2

2007-10-20T10:29:00.001-07:00

Well, I've been here a few days, and life here has been pretty good. So far, it has been pretty relaxed. We're going through a lot of paperwork, really boring training, and some basic physical inspections.Not too much to do most of the time.

In other news, I've been looking for Orthodox Churches in the area and Orthodox people here in the NCCC (Americorps * National Civilian Conservation Corps). So far, I have found a number of churches in the area (use this website with the area code '95652'). According to the map, the closest parish is a small OCA mission about 2 miles away (as the crow flies), but about 5 miles away by the roads. I was trying to walk to this parish, but I got lost, since I forgot my map in my dorm room at the NCCC campus. As I was walking by one building, this one lady, Karen, was leaving her office.I asked her for directions, and she offered to give me a ride to wherever the church was. At first, I declined her offer, but as I kept walking, she walked in the same direction to her car, and once we got there, she offered to give me a ride again, so I took her up on her offer. So, we drove around for a number of minutes, but we got lost, and eventually we just drove back to the Americorps base.So, my attempt to find this parish ended up fruitless, but at least I got to meet this really nice lady and talk with her about what AmeriCorps is all about.

Also, I have found about five Greek Orthodox people. Some of these, however, are only nominally Orthodox, maybe going to church once or so a year, and who are only Orthodox because they are Greek. Nevertheless, I am trying to figure out if we can get a ride to a local parish, probably the Greek church in Sacramento, or maybe the Roseville parish. I have been talking with some of the Team leaders here about getting a ride to one of them, and I have been trying to contact some of the folks who go to that parish. We'll have to see how that all turns out.

Ok, well, more news later
Ciao.

_pons

Arrived Safely at AmeriCorps!

2007-10-17T19:02:00.000-07:00

Well, I safely arrived here in McClellan, and have gotten a lot of my paperwork for AmeriCorps done. I am still in the process of unpacking, but I am enjoying my time here so far, and I have met a lot of intersting people. (There's a lot of people here from New England; about half of the people I have met here are from New England.)

Anyway, I have a meeting to go to in a little bit, but I just wanted to let y'all know that all is well.

Gospodi Pomilui.
_pons

I can has theoLOLgians

2007-10-15T23:19:00.000-07:00

I Can Has TheoLOLgians?

Confessions and Cogitations

Batman and the Bomb

Some Beautiful Churches

An article on the History of Tipping

Church Fathers book sets

A cool robotics site

The Moment Linus Drops the Blanket

Misc. Notes from working at a butcher shop

A List of Alternative teacher credential programs

Jesus is a friend of mine

About my Grandfather

Alaska News update:

A thought on how to fix education

"Funny"

mvi_1813 - Riding the NOLA streetcar

Setting up a HP Pavilion dv2416us to run Debian GNU/Linux

Yup.

mvi_1755_1

Some Interesting Trivia

My Blip show - Newly Updated!

mvi_1113-Biloxi_parade_5

mvi_1128-Biloxi_parade_9

mvi_1105a-Biloxi_parade_1

mvi_1189-Transition_Sweating_to_the_Oldies_2

mvi_1222-One_really_huge_blackberry_root

mvi_1311a-Trying_to_get_the_van_unstuck_and_my_face_is_still_muddy_2

mvi_1342-Waiting_for_Sara_to_arrive_5

mvi_1119-Biloxi_parade_6

mvi_1235-Feb_8_-_Planting_event_tour-Take_1

mvi_1310a-Trying_to_get_the_van_unstuck_and_my_face_is_still_muddy_1

mvi_1343-Taking_the_train_home_with_Kathleen_King_for_spring_break

mvi_1106-Biloxi_parade_2

mvi_1284-Lake_Oswego_trailbuilding_tour

mvi_1138-Biloxi_parade_14

mvi_1319_Blind_Donut_eating_contest_-_Nina_Jill_Elle_Liz

mvi_1130-Biloxi_parade_11

mvi_1191-Transition_Sweating_to_the_Oldies_4

mvi_1052_A_Mardi_Gras_Parade_1

mvi_1133-Biloxi_parade_12

mvi_1339-Waiting_for_Sara_to_arrive_2

mvi_1221-Tour_of_Troutdale_invasive_removal

mvi_1123-Biloxi_parade_8

mvi_1234-A_little_girl_planting_a_tree

mvi_1120-Biloxi_Parade_7

mvi_1166-Wrong_Setting_in_trying_to_Take_a_picture

mvi_1313_Trying_to_get_the_van_unstuck_and_my_face_is_still_muddy_4

mvi_1139-Biloxi_parade_15

mvi_1044-Ted_and_Amanda_Mud_war

mvi_1165-Walkthru_of_Gillum_House

mvi_1107-Biloxi_parade_3

mvi_1068-A_Mardi_Gras_Parade_2

mvi_1333_Leaving_Portland

mvi_1340-Waiting_for_Sara_to_arrive_3

mvi_1337_Waiting_for_Sara_to_arrive_1

mvi_1314_Trying_to_get_the_van_unstuck_and_my_face_is_still_muddy_5

mvi_1338-A_Quick_Interlude_-_Ted_reciting_Old_English

mvi_1341-Waiting_for_Sara_to_arrive_4

My List of interesting blog posts

An update on my situation

The Baptism of Jonathan - Amanda's explanation

The Baptism of Jonathan - Part 3

The Baptism of Jonathan - Part 2

The Baptism of Jonathan - Part 1

A view of Lagniappe's tool crib

Ted and Amanda doing the Boot dance

Sara Driving the Forklift - Part 3

Sara Driving the Forklift - Part 2

Sara Driving the Forklift - Part 1

Taking apart a bunkhouse

Me at the Airport

Emily in AmeriCorps

19th Street Red Live in Mockingbird Cafe - 2007-12-06 - The end of Stagger Lee

19th Street Red Live at Mockingbird Cafe 2007-12-06 - Unknown Song

AmeriCorps*NCCC-Blue 3(Anacondas)-Hanukkah 2007-Lighting the First Candle - Bay St. Louis, MS 2007-12-04

AmeriCorps*NCCC-Blue 3(Anacondas)-Hanukkah 2007-An Interruption - Bay St. Louis, MS 2007-12-04

AmeriCorps*NCCC-Blue 3 (Anacondas) - Hanukkah 2007- Sara's Explanation of Hanukkah on the First Night - Bay St. Louis, MS - 2007-12-04

Miro!!!

Me walking around next to the Alamo in San Antonio, TX

Italian Restaurant cook singing in Deming, NM

AmeriCorps*NCCC-ClassXIV-WestCoast - Induction - AmeriCorps*NCCC Pledge

AmeriCorpsNCCC-ClassXIV-WestCoast - Induction - AmeriCorpsNCCC Pledge

AmeriCorpsNCCC-ClassXIV-WestCoast - Induction - AmeriCorpsNCCC induction pledge