sweet jesus, where is everybody.

Hey, what are some examples of democracies that failed, and why??????

This may be pretty important, while everyone shudders at the word and secretly upholds its tenants. (sovereignty of the people, consent of the governed, majority rule, minority rights, equality before the law, economic/social/religious pluralism, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah)

What's going wrong and why's it getting a bad wrap (rap?)?

let's update this blog

because blogs need tender loving care if theyre going to grow.
or live.

this is a sonnet.
and i still like girls.

#25...

Let those who are in favour with their stars
Of public honour and proud titles boast,
Whilst I, whom fortune of such triumph bars
Unlook'd for joy in that I honour most.
Great princes' favourites their fair leaves spread
But as the marigold at the sun's eye,
And in themselves their pride lies buried,
For at a frown they in their glory die.
The painful warrior famoused for fight,
After a thousand victories once foiled,
Is from the book of honour razed quite,
And all the rest forgot for which he toiled:
Then happy I, that love and am beloved,
Where I may not remove nor be removed.

-Bill Shakespeare

...

Art and I have been preparing papers on the health care system. The self-imposed deadline was today at 5, and at 1143 we're both still rolling.

http://www.census.gov/prod/2007pubs/p60-233.pdf
pages 57-67, 18-25

What do you guys think?

Colossians 3:17-20

17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

18And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.

19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,

20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Ponder Forward

Sometimes people embrace their calenders so that they can count the days until graduation. For me though, I feel like each passing day is one lost, one less. In just a few more months, the past four years with their word defying experiences and changes are gone. I know these things come, but when they're gone will I still be able to pursue the convictions of the past few, good years? I know I'm not alone in this, nearly everyone that writes on this blog is either finishing their undergrad work or done. I would like ask people who read this to respond with a few words about feelings they feel or have felt about the transition. Did you meet it with joy? Was it sad also? What are you're hopes and what will you go out into the world to change? What will you use your talents to create?

Gooseberries... as Big as Apples!!!...

A breakdown of the next hundred years, as supposed in 1900...

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_E5pyvcccLh10253r7H1z5CWX-jhBcUtNmISDvBfjD_dhsWezuEHc2FncTpqFgDkQw5AC4vFFC8NBsLyKZkm7IjWSWm-14Tq6BeNj5Zi5E_ByEoCfVJC4lyzTIMITNl8sO_kZ-tgZAr0n/s1600-h/Ladies+Home+Journal+Dec+1900+paleofuture+paleo-future.jpg

impressively accurate.

What do YOU guys think about the next 100???????

Let ME begin with MY predictions:

-Hydrogen power...
Yes, as a physicist and an engineer, I give this one 45 years to full integration. The process will begin with an immediate improvement in mechanical efficiencies to slow down the coming tirade of gas/oil/and coal madness (coal being converted into usable gasoline toward the end of the whole expensive ordeal). Everything will be powered by it.

-Plastic surgery...
Highly effective cosmetic procedures will be available in every town, and both male and female above the age of 35 will have had atleast one. They'll be as commonplace and socially acceptable as a 12 year old girl going to have her ears pierced for the first time. The fuddy-duds who decline to do so will be considered as those of today: old fashioned, dull, and probably religious.

-2 distinct classes
It won't be dissimilar to HG Wells's setup, only this time the morlocks are healthy and quite academic. They'll work hard and know one another through decentralized television (not run by any networks or ratings). The centralized entertainment will be for class 2, who will depend on a menial redistribution of wealth to meet basic needs and provide them with enough entertainment to keep them appeased. They'll live short, unhappy lives... and probably not speak in full sentences.

-Brain implants??
Sure, why not. Our cellphones, PCs, Ipods, yada yada yada will all be integrated into one easy to access device that'll be indistinguishable from our ears, eyes, noses, and the rest.

-Monkeys to finally do our bidding
Yes, monkeys. Because they're smart enough to make my sandwich, but not quite enough to stop and ask why.

-Our gooseberries will finally be of a plump and gorge-able size

Encouragement to my Brothers about life after college, marriage and community.

I feel that is my responsibility to share some words with you to encourage you about how beautiful life is after school, as scary as it might seem, through my experience and what I am going through right now.

This place called Covington Louisiana is one exceptional hidden gem that gives me faith in finding love and community wherever we end up moving. We are blessed to be surrounded by some amazing families that just want to love us and give us advice and support at all times. Yes a lot of the families are pre-established through Rachel growing up down here, but a lot of it is starting to form naturally through people that we interact with daily either through our restaurants or in our neighborhoods. I personally am establishing relationships with people my age some but even more so with adults in the community. It is blowing me away how much respect they give and how interested they are in our life and our plans and our marriage. I am becoming friends with three couples that live in our neighborhood( which is the equivalent to a garden district) two of which are in there early 40's and the other mid to late 30's it seems, and two having no kids and the other having one girl. Very intriguing people. Two of them are our neighbors, one owning an incredible coffee shop in Madisonville who are going to let us help out to learn how they run it since we are considering and desiring to own one one day, and the other is a couple who works out of home in which the guy is a writer for the NY Post. The third couple work out of home as well and are very free spirited individuals with self expression.
I am also getting to know regulars in a coffee shop right by us in downtown Covington called St. Johns. It is a great feeling to be able to have the same feeling walking in there that I had in Ruston walking into any coffee shop. Also we are starting to hang out with a group of people from Baton Rouge that help us feel connected to like minded people again which is a great feeling.

Also, of course, I have to throw in a few words about marriage. Marriage is incredible. To be able to live out life with your favorite person is priceless. To be able to wake up and make coffee and breakfast for your wife is priceless. To be able to have people over at your house and entertain and provide love to people at all times is priceless. To have a wife who absolutely loves people and interaction and taking care of people at our house is absolutely priceless. Being able to work through money management and house keeping and organizing and life plans and trips is priceless. Having a wife who loves family, who loves my family is priceless. Having a wife who's family I absolutely adore and who absolutely adores me is priceless. Marriage is priceless.

I hope these words have been an encouragement to you all. I will definitely keep sharing as we make plans and continue to experience God in multiple ways and through many different people.

with love
Matt

Ties are very silly.

They remind me of Christmas puppies.

*Ahem*

Have you kept up with the election business??

Here's where I'm at...

I've abandoned the "Who should we pick to support and then vote for?" approach for a more mathematically aware "Who is probably going to win so I can come to grips with the future?" one.

In short, I picked our old buddy Obama.

---In long (and you may skip to the next dotted line---

Huckabee skews some pretty important lines between our friends the Church and State, and McCain (when he gets nominated, because he will) will be running for a party whose been shot in the foot by the current President.

Ol' Hil is keeping pretty steady pace, and it's likely that she's tried to stay right behind Obama to draw out some of her supporters, but in the long run I don't know that her party believes she can win a Presidency. (Noteworthy: I strongly believe in the ability of a woman to lead, I just want our first lady President to be a lady. That's all.)

---Ah, this is the dotted line---

I picked up Obama's second book to see what this guy's all about, and so far (pg 33.) it's been pretty good. He covers the important issues and relates to the average book-aisle-at-Sam's Joe, and he doesn't mask his left-sidedness to fluff up his readers.

Anyway, there are probably many things to say, but what do you guys make of the hullabaloo??