Author: Jonathan Blundell

I'm a husband, father of three, blogger, podcaster, author and media geek who is hoping to live a simple life and follow The Way.

Going-ons

Well we’re home resting today. Laurie gave us a bit of a scare yesterday after she passed out at the doctor’s office and fell, hitting her head in the process.

We spent most of yesterday in the ER at Baylor Dallas. We started out waiting and waiting, had an MRI, waited, waited and waited. Then she had a CT scan, a few X-rays and then another CT scan. We finally got some clear results nearly 12 hours after she was admitted.

The MRI showed a possible micro fracture in her t-spine, so that’s what led to the additional CT scans and X-Rays. The additional tests didn’t seem to back that idea up so they finally released her and told her to take it easy the next couple days and see a doctor for a followup. I’m guessing its more of a neck and upper back sprain than anything else.

So today she’s resting/napping and I’m at home with her to help out however and whenever I can. Here’s to hoping the pain goes away soon and/or the pain pills start kicking in better… at least she’s no longer wearing that C-Collar they had her in all day yesterday.

In the meantime…

Stranger in a Strange Land is getting a massage today.

You may see some funny things if you visit the site throughout the day. We hope to be back refreshed and better than ever by the end of the day. Thanks for your patience.

Generating ideas :: where do ideas come from

photo by desiitaly

The latest podcast from Mars Hill is a discussion on Creative Theology. Jeanette Banashak and Don Perini discuss… including many of the places creative people generate their ideas. Don says the list comes from an ever changing list by Charles Thompson.

Don suggests that creative people try to utilize these times every chance they can. Look over the list and make note of the places where ideas come for you.

  • Taking a bath or shower
  • Driving
  • Sitting on the toilet
  • Falling asleep or waking up
  • During a boring meeting
  • Reading
  • Exercising
  • Waking up in the middle of the night
  • Listening to a church sermon
  • Manual labor

Ideas are gold

Once you realize where many of your creative ideas come from, come up with a capturing machine. Create a system for capturing your ideas wherever you are. If you know where your ideas come from, always be prepared to write your ideas down in those situations. Whether that’s soap chalk for writing in the shower, or a 3×5 card for writing down ideas while driving (please pull over first :-)) be sure and capture your thoughts.

Some other great ideas are in the podcast, such as activities to help improve creativity.

Where do you tend to come up with great ideas?

Related ::
Mars Hill
Mars Hill podcast feed
Creative Theology podcast
Creative Theology notes/slides

JamesDobsonDoesntSpeakforMe.com

MondayMorningInsight reports that President Bush’s pastor is supporting Barack Obama this year and has started a new website :: JamesDobsonDoesntSpeakforMe.com.

From the website:

James Dobson doesn’t speak for me.

He doesn’t speak for me when he uses religion as a wedge to divide;

He doesn’t speak for me when he speaks as the final arbiter on the meaning of the Bible;

James Dobson doesn’t speak for me when he uses the beliefs of others as a line of attack;

He doesn’t speak for me when he denigrates his neighbor’s views when they don’t line up with his;

He doesn’t speak for me when he seeks to confine the values of my faith to two or three issues alone;

Continue reading JamesDobsonDoesntSpeakforMe.com

Big oil… but what about Big Ag?

Gas prices have actually started to drop – ever so slightly in our neck of the woods. I doubt it will continue much more.

Now that more and more folks are turning to public transportation when and where they can and reducing their consumption of oil intake — the powers that be realize they can getaway with $4 gas – but probably not much more…. for now.

But as gas prices have risen – so has the price of food – and yet no one’s made much of a stink about “big ag.” Could it be because everyone’s too busy making a fuss about “big oil?” Or is it because big ag keeps pointing the finger at big oil?

Either way, Herrick Kimball, the Deliberate Agrarian, seems to think big ag’s profits are a greater concern.

Personally I am far more concerned with the huge profits currently being made by big agricultural industries (BigAg) than I am with BigOil. Food is an absolute necessity for every human on earth. Oil is not.

Food production and distribution is, of course, intertwined with fossil fuels, but not inextricably, Believe it or not, civilization can (and will) survive without an overabundance of crude oil. We have around six thousand years of pre-oil human history to prove that. People are resourceful. They can adapt to such changes. At least some can.

But food is another story. There are currently millions of people in the world facing significant hardship, malnutrition, and even starvation over this matter of food. Why? Because they and their countries are dependent on BigAg’s food, the cost of which is rising at alarming rates. And all the while, the BigAg corporations are making record profits.

I tend to agree. What about you? Be sure and read the rest of his post.

Related ::
DART – Dallas Area Rapid Transit
DART’s Chairman Report May 08
The Deliberate Agrarian :: Big Ag…Big Profits…Big Problems
SSL :: simply living simple
SSL :: simply living simple pt 2

Bill O’Reily had trouble with Lincoln Logs

Who knew?

“Nintendo is, well, almost the most fun a kid can have!” and FoxNews star Bill O’Reily had trouble with Lincoln Logs… all in this 1988 video from Inside Edition…. well the video link says 1988 – but according to Wikipedia, Inside Edition first aired in Jan. of 1989. Wonder who’s right….

Related ::
Bill O’Reily
HT: Christ & Pop Culture
Inside Edition
Inside Edition on Wikipedia