Life As It Comes

A friend of mine, Paul Emerson, started a band a while back called The Stillpoint Band, named after a ministry he helped start (of which I was later a part) in Northwest Austin.

The latest incarnation of The Stillpoint Band (now based out of HCBCSW) has released a new album called for(nights&&starrySkies), which you can purchase here. It is an awesome album from the perspective of living out a life of faith, day by day. The engineering is excellent - it sounds so professional - and I’m so proud of these guys! Check out the album if you get a chance; every track is solid, and it’s been on repeat in my car the past few days.

Update: You can listen to the whole album on their website.

1. Quick: you have a three day weekend and 1500 USD, where are you going and who are you bringing?
In light of the Texas heat and the fact that I’ve wanted to for a while, I’d go to Alaska. It’s within a reasonable distance, so I wouldn’t be spending all my time traveling too. I’d take Bear Grylls with me. That way I could do really challenging, exciting stuff, but also probably not die.

2. Who has left you the greatest music-only voicemail in the last couple weeks? What was the song, if you don’t mind me asking?
That would be you, Cory. The song is by Prince.

3. How many languages would you like to be able to speak?
Let’s answer this as if I could learn them a la the Matrix and just have them uploaded to my brain…. In that case I’d say: Latin, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, German, Arabic, Pirahã. I’m already counting English and Spanish.

4. What is your least favorite homeowner chore?
Cleaning the toilets.

5. After you go climbing, do you feel really cool when your forearms bulge?
Absolutely.

6. Better spanish/spanish traditional artist: Dali or El Greco?
Forced to choose between the two, El Greco.

7. Something you’re allergic to or something you find disgusting?
To do what with? Disgusting. No, allergic. Allergic.

8. If you had to find a little lost puppy, where would you start looking?
Bonus: would you give up?
The pound. Bonus: “That little boy’s gotta think ‘You got a pet. You got a responsibility.’ If your dog is lost, you don’t look for an hour then call it quits…..”

September 1, downtown Austin will host The Austin Triathlon.

I plan to be there competing in it.

I’ve received various reactions from various people when making that statement. There was one, though, that meant a lot to me. My sister, Kimi, took it completely at face-value - believing me and believing in me. It really meant, and will continue to mean, a lot to me.

Training has begun though. I’m excited about it. I’ve achieved many different goals over the course of my life - academically, personally, spiritually, even athletically. Though I was something of an athlete in my younger years, I have not attempted anything so athletically rigorous as this.

I’m nearly 28. My odometer will tick up to that number shortly after the race. I’m feeling restless again and longing to expand my horizons. I have waxed poetic about this topic before. I long to know what this body is capable of - moreover, what I am capable of. So I say again: I dare.

Woohoo! Scrubs has found its way to ABC next season.

NBC neglected the show, airing episodes out of order and generally using it to fill whatever timeslot its current whim dictated.

I’m excited that Scrubs will finally see some love for its final season.

The human genome is increasingly studied and understood. Projects out of IBM’s Computational Biology group, such as The Genographic Project powered by technology on par with BlueGene, stand to change the way we look at heredity and ancestry. With that in mind, it is important to think about the ramifications this will have on the societal aspects of our everyday lives.

It is good to know that legislation such as the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act is already making its way into the books.