uvageek

For those of you that know me, you know that I am a connoisseur of rum. I prefer Bacardi, but have been known to try others. My favorite drink by far being 15/16ths a glass of diet coke and an 1/16th a glass of Rum (whether regular Bacardi Spiced Rum or his more powerful and vanilla brother Bacardi 151 Spiced Rum).
Some rums are less desireable and lack the taste that Bacardi provides. I’m curious to try this experiment that this group tried with Vodka and a Brita water filter. Check it out: http://www.ohmygoditburns.com/
If a lot of you are interested in being a part of this, let me know and we’ll set up a date. No, there will be no drunkenness, strictly like wine testing, just Rum. And I’m not quite sure if we’ll use a bad rum and make it good, or use a good rum and make it better… we could be like BASF… “We don’t make the rum you drink, we make the rum you drink better.”

Okay, so I’m a softy, what’s your point? I decided I’d give Blockbuster Online a shot so that I’d be up to date on movies so that I can better communicate with my sister in law ? without spending a fortune… I figure for $18 a month that’s essentially like renting four movies right?
So last night was Raising Helen, tonight was Chasing Liberty. Definitely a cute movie… wish I worked for the service sometimes Nevertheless it’s on the Dan recommended list of movies. Check it out sometime if you’re in need of a pretty clean chick flick. And, if my former roommate Dylan from the Bice Boys ever reads this, “Yes Dylan, Mandy Moore is cute.”

I’ve never been a big fan of movie films… granted I enjoyed The Great Escape and I’ve enjoyed movies like Gladiator and The Hunt for Red October. But there are times where I watch something like Black Hawk Down or Saving Private Ryan where I get very quiet, very withdrawn, very distant. Typically there’s a point in both of those movies where I just have to stop and pray and thank God for the peace that He surrounds us with on a daily basis. Whether it be the beginning of Saving Private Ryan where Ryan is having a flashback to where he is told, “Remember me…” and then comes ot the present at the grave site in France, or if it’s where the soldier who is shot in the leg in Black Hawk Down undergoes “surgery” in a building that is bombed out and being defended by his fellow shoulders. Maybe it was the passing of Captain Joshua T. Byers on July 23, 2003 in Iraq that haunts my soul to this day — knowing that he gave his life so that I might live another day. Nonetheless, I came across this over at The Drudge Report today. I must say that I am continually proud to see our troops doing as well as they are, but at the same time, the images bring out the skeletons from the closet and haunt me to think that a young soldier is putting his life at risk, and he may or may not know the Lord. We’re afraid to share our faith with others, even those that are willing to risk their lives for us.
Enjoy the video clip, I don’t know who to attribute to it as a video credit, but I thank you nonetheless.

Have you ever taken a candle and tipped it slightly while it was still lit, letting the wick of the candle melt away the wax, causing it to dribble out onto the table or a piece of paper and then as it began to cool you would take your ring and dip it into the wax to create a seal?

I ended up doing this recently on a whim as I was relaxing at home, listening to a little bit of jazz and reading Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, playing with a candle that I had received as a gift made specifically as “dripping wax”. Using my class ring from college, I dipped the front face of it in olive oil and then lighting the wick, began to watch the red wax liquify and begin to drop onto a piece of paper; letting it cool for a moment so that it would have a foundation and then, slowly pressing my ring into it and holding it there so that it could set in the form of the ring.
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Something that I have come to notice over the past few years working with college students is how funny it can be to watch someone get emotionally tied up in expectations that are unrealistic and quite honestly a deception to one’s self.

“Whoa there Geekster, what are you talking about?”

What, oh, okay, I’ll restate that since apparently I’m talking in code again. So, it always makes me kind of chuckle when a guy comes to me and say that they’re having issues with their friend who happens to be a female. Why you ask? Mostly because they’re having issues with a gal that well they’re interested in and their friend doesn’t know what to think. It’s not that it’s a new aspect of their friendship; rather the gal doesn’t know how to kindly tell him that he needs to wait to develop the interest because it doesn’t exist in the same way in her heart.

“Whoa there Geekster, again, you’re losing me, where’s the self-deception in this.”

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Well, after being taunted by a friend of mine a few times, I decided that I would be spontaneous, random (okay so that’s usual), and take advantage of this festive time of costumes, masques and full moons (and eclipses apparently). So after being taunted by text message, I decided it was time to let my yes by my yes and my no be my no.
Operation, a success. By the pale moon light I danced with the… no that’s a different story… By the light of the bright full moon I made my way in my 04 Smoke Colored Nissan Maxima SE on the Fairfax County Parkway, down a couple of roads of suburbia and arrived at the point of no return. I dimmed the lights, did a drive by and turned around, parking across the street with the windows down, turning the nearly silent running car off and silently got out of the car, not letting the door closed. I took the package, slowly slithering across the ground in a nearly prostrate crawl in my full black garb, red hair ablaze. I got to the steps and slowly tiptoed up the steps delivering the package to the steps, setting it next to the pumpkin.
The house was quiet.
I quickly fled the scene, text messaging my friend that a gift had been delivered. Since then, no response. Alas, time for me to hide for a week or so until things die down.
Yet another adventure from the Geek Ghost…

Well, last night I had the opportunity to sit and watch the video footage shot by my brother’s father in law of the week that I spent down in Corolla, NC a month ago with my family. Needless to say it was very heartwarming and basically just reminded me of how we really need to hold onto life and enjoy it. It was so sweet to watch my nephew Zachary, as it was his first time at the beach, hold onto his dad’s hand and slowly walk toward the water and then turn and run away occassionally, not quite sure what to think of the waves. My friend and I sat there and laughed every time that Zachary would get hit by a wave, getting off guard, tumbling backwards and splashing into the water. Sometimes he looked terrified, other times he looked like it was the funniest thing in the world. Definitely good times to share with a friend and just laugh together and enjoy the cuteness of Zachary.
There were also the occassional times where Zachary would stand there holding onto my brother’s hand, enjoying the water rushing around him, leaning up against my brother’s legs, trusting that he would be there for him. This reminds me a lot of the picture of Christ standing there next to us, holding our, letting us lean up against Him during those times of tribulation where we feel like the water is going to knock us down or push us over or suck us under, He’s there, holding on. We tend to think, “Where did you go God? Why’d you forsake me?” Those are the times where I typically find myself and I turn to my own means, my own ways, the wrong way. All I have to do is turn to Him and hold on, asking for His strength, His guidance, and that His will be done.
Amazing what a video of a small child can do to a 25 year old isn’t it?

Ahhh, what a nice evening to hang out with Brian and Cathy and a host of others. It’s always nice to get out of the house, watch some football with friends and enjoy cheering for any team that is playing either the Denver Broncos or any team that is in the NFC that might bump the Redskins out of playoff contention. Yes, I realize that this year that means that they’re already out of playoff contention, but for those years where they actually do have a chance… Thanks for the text messages DP. Makin’ me smile. G’night all! By the way, if you’re reading this at the time of its posting, yeah, you should already be in bed if you’re on the East Coast…

To those of you that aren’t from Northern Virginia or if you’re not reading this on Monday, October 25th, you probably won’t understand this, but it truly amazes me that on that Capital Beltway at 7 AM there can be bumper to bumper traffic, moving along at approximately 20 miles per hour. Luckily with the beautiful clouds and light drizzle I was reminded just how beautiful a world we live in. True, most would say that this weather is dreariness that is very saddening however in my world I would say that it’s one of the most beautiful things in the world, seeing all the different variations of that the weather can take. Plus, with U2’s most recent album “All That You Can’t Leave Behind”, five tracks later and I was in to work mellow and soothed Cheers all!

For those of you that own an iPod, or even for those of you that find humor in the little objects that so many people covet and protect as though it is their baby, here’s something to definitely check out - http://www.ipodonut.com. Yes that’s right, it’s a donut, non edible according to the Q&A Answer 6. Eat your heart out Homer Simpson
One of the guys that I know from work pointed this out to me and told me that he was ordering one for his 3G iPod. I think that I’m going to see how well it handles and how bright it gets before placing my own order. After much thought and consternation he decided to go with the plain donut (what no glaze???) as they have a few different designs to choose from. I could definitely see some of them to be more hypnotizing than others.

It is pretty ingenious though that they came out with such a little device. I think it’s pretty sweet that they would make something that would actually make it easier to use your iPod while you’re driving home late at night from a friends house that happens to be an hour or two drive from where you live. Okay, so maybe I shouldn’t be advocating the use of the iPod while driving, especially since it might get you a ticket if you happen to be using the scroll wheel while driving through Washington, DC and you get a ticket for being a “distracted” driver (see the law here).