Genius In Progress

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
when sorrows like sea billows roll;
whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
let this blest assurance control,
that Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
and hath shed his own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

And, Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
the clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
the trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
even so, it is well with my soul.

Eugene Harlan Stauffer (1926 - 2006)
We’ll miss you, Grandpa.

All I can say about this one is wow:

Did you know a Cello could do this? I didn’t.

We Stauffer children are a strange brood. That’s not to say that the Stauffer parents are any different, I just wanted to use the word brood. We have the priviledge of two distinct sets of weirdness working together in us, taking us to whole new levels of strange, though to hear Mom and Dad tell it, they inherited it from us. Either way, it’s quite an experience. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. How many people can say that every single person in their atomic family (yes, I know, it’s nuclear, but atomic is just so much more fun) makes them shake their head and laugh… a happy laugh, mind you, not a scornful laugh. I hope lots of people have the pleasure, because it is certainly quite an experience. If you seem to be lacking in comical weirdness, feel free to stop by the Stauffer house. We’ve always got extra floating around, and we’re more than happy to share.

Warning… this may make you brain hurt trying to figure out what is going on. View this page and follow the instructions at the top. It’s pretty amazing.

Popular Mechanics, that wonderfuly nerdly magazine about all sorts of interesting stuff, recently (March 2005) published an article debunking some of the most common myths about the attacks on 9/11. It’s worth a read to see what some people are claiming, and what a bit of science, investigation and common sense can do to prove or disprove those claims.

Well, after a brief hiatus, my server is back up and running. It is now living in my very own basement. Maybe someday I’ll get expand to a couple of servers and perhaps a rack or something fun of that sort. For now, the various web sites that live on it are back once again, and all can be well with the world once more.

For those of you who have not yet gathered (hey, humour me… I can pretend that at least one of the tiny smattering of people who may possibly read this doesn’t know me), I am a big fan of Christmas music. In the same pre-Advent Christmas excitement mood as the previous post, as it currently stands I will be helping to record at least two Christmas CDs this year. Hooray for adding more versions of time-honored (or possibly obnoxious) holiday music, and hopefully even a few new additions to the wonderful world of Christmas music.

Ok, I admit… I was trying to wait until at least Thanksgiving to pull out the Christmas music, but with all the talk of snow and people putting up Christmas lights and all, I couldn’t resist. This song has some pretty cool lyrics… I highly recommend tracking down the song and actually listening to it, but for those of you too lazy, here are the lyrics.

I Celebrate The Day

And with this Christmas wish is missed
The point I could convey
If only I could find the words to say to let you know
How much you've touched my life because
Here is where you're finding me
In the exact same place as New Years Eve
And from the lack of my persistency
We're less than half as close as I wanna be

And the first time that you opened your eyes
Did you realize that you would be my Savior
And the first breath that left your lips
Did you know that it would change this world forever
And the first time that you opened your eyes
Did you realize that you would be my Savior
And the first breath that left your lips
Did you know that it would change this world forever

And so this Christmas I'll compare
The things I've felt in prior years
To what this midnight made so clear
That you have come to meet me here

To look back
And think that
This baby would one day save me
And the hope that
That you give
That you were born so I might really live
To look back
And think that
This baby would one day save me…

And the first time that you opened your eyes
Did you realize that you would be my Savior
And the first breath that left your lips
Did you know that it would change this world forever
And the first time that you opened your eyes
Did you realize that you would be my Savior
And the first breath that left your lips
Did you know that it would change this world forever

And I
I celebrate the day
That you were born to die
So I could one day
Pray for you to save my life
Pray for you to save my life
Pray for you to save my life

– Relient K

Yeah… so it’s been over a month and a half since I last posted on this here blog thingy… this whole technology thing is so confusing. Anyway, in summary: job offer out of the blue… huge decision to make… Johannes gone to Ireland… awesome Nickel Creek concert… talking with Sara Watkins afterwards… crazy party at my house…. dancing and costumes… new job… yeah, that about covers the main points. Ah, I love how relaxing fall is. Oh, and did I mention? HOLY HAND GRENADES, IT’S NOVEMBER ALREADY! On that note, I’m off… with only a minimum of elipses in this post… ok maybe minimum isn’t the right word.

I normally will be the last person to post a link to this company, and you will probably never see it happen again, but the iPod Nano is gorgeous. The pictures do not do it any justice. There is one wandering around Enmark right now, and the thing is teeeeeeeeeeeny. 4 gb in that size, with an actual display… not too shabby.