I'm not saying what it's about... because then it wouldn't be so funny.

http://deltackett.com/2008/12/31/removing-obstacles-in-your-life/

... read it and laugh... or... read it and wonder, if you happen to live in Paraguay or some place like that... because, yes, that really happens.

You paid what???

I went to Circuit City today- they are having a closing sale... and everything I wanted to get was a whopping 10% off!!! But- the kicker is: it looked like half the stuff was gone! People actually bought the stuff at only 10% off!!!

Maybe it's just me, but it seems kinda stupid.

I then went to EMS... 70% off there... seems like a better deal to me.

Other funny thing: the Canon Rebel XSi kit I was looking at- Circuit City: $800 ($720 after sale); B&H Photo & Video: $650, free shipping (no sale) ...hard choice.

The tree

So... I have several pictures of this tree. It is conveniently located for taking pictures to test aperture settings and shutter speeds... this happened to be the nicest of them... and I felt like making another post. So here it is- the tree.

12th Night

So... on the 4th, 5th and 6th, the Southern Maine Association of Shakespearean Homeschoolers (a.k.a. SMASH) put on 12th Night, and for the first time since I can remember... I wasn't in the play as an actor. I got to do the lights, in a sense... it came to pass that I ended up as lighting assistant, because I wasn't able to make the dress rehearsal, and the other guy who was doing the lights managed to make all the performances on time!

In the spare time that resulted, I took pictures of the first night... did something the second night (I don't remember what- probably just read off the changes to Nick... the other guy...) and the third night, I filmed the production. (Next time around, I'm going to get a better recording... I don't know how, but I will. Even if I'm acting.) I missed a few lines because of operator error (i.e. the camera wanted to make me wait, and didn't get done before the scene change was done...) Anyhow, I shall see what I can do with the video, and perhaps post a few sections of it. (We had an excellent fool.)

So, a few of the pictures:


The "madly used" Malvolio... in a minute of deep contemplation.


Fabian... every mischief-making villain needs a good mustache, eh?


Sebastian- the hero with the mustache... (I think I have a better one that I will replace it with.)


Maria- this girl was amazing... excellent first time acting!


Maria again... I do believe this was her explaining how alike her writing was to Olivia's.


Malvolio takes on Sir Toby Belch's late night revelry.


I still have another roll of shots, and a few that might look a lot better in Black and White... I'll try and put them up later...

I have a camera, and (I think) I know how to use it!

That would kinda describe it... my dad is letting me use his Pentax Spotmatic IIa, which is a rather cool (if old) SLR camera, and I recently got a roll developed... it didn't come out quite as I hoped (the film I found was probably long past its expiration date... and frozen), but the pictures it didn't ruin come out with an interesting texture to them... like so:
My dog, Duchess...

Who do you say that you are?

Yesterday I picked up a book by Peter Haile, entitled "The Difference God Makes" (great book, small, packed, and just pretty awesome- you can get it off Amazon for $0.01, plus shipping... why there's not much demand, I have no idea)
Anyhow, I was reading the book, and Peter was talking about hypocrisy... and made what I think is a very important point:

"What is hypocrisy? It is pretending to be other than you are. [...] We usually think of hypocrisy in terms of a person pretending to be better than he or she is. But that is not the only kind of hypocrisy. The person who pretends to be worse than he or she is is just as much a hypocrite as the person who pretends to be better. The person who says he is dumb or ugly when he is not, is just as much a hypocrite as the person who exaggerates accomplishments. Likewise, the Christian who doesn't act like one is as much a hypocrite as the non-Christian who acts piously." (pp. 31-32)

In watching my dad's work as a pastor, and even looking at my own life, I find that hypocrisy is indeed a big problem in my life, and the life of many Christians... and that's what gave rise to my title- who do we say that we are? Too often we claim to be accepted by Christ, and yet live like we've been rejected by Him... or we mope about like we've committed the unforgivable sin- while as John Piper (I think) puts it "If you're worried about committing the unforgivable sin, you haven't yet!"

So, who do you say that you are? If you claim to have been adopted by God, remember: Soli Dei Gloria- to God alone be the glory... beware that you do not give His glory to another, and especially that you do not take from Him what is His... He doesn't take kindly to that.