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I apologize for delays in “Our Story”, but I am going to visit my beloved–and, as much as I love you, dear reader, I love him rather much more.

I jumped out of a plane.

Remember that?

Check out my series of posts:

• Geared Up
• Missed Opportunities or I’ve Always Wanted to Fly
• The Jump
• Safely Falling

Congratulations to Miss Natalie who has won the Anne of Green Gables inspired carpet bag.

Natalie said:

“Dear Becca,
I love your sense of style!

Your friend,
Natalie”

Why thank you–and I love spending time with you betwixt Sunday School classes.

Thanks to all who played–it was fun having my first little giveaway!

Have you seen this video by my cousin?

Okay. So he’s not my cousin (Bummer for me).

But he is my cousin’s brother (Yay for me).

Either way, Mike Tompkins is a pretty amazing artist.

And guess what?

If you know me (and of course you do), you can claim connection to him too!

And through him to Ellen Degeneres.

As in, “So I know this girl whose cousin’s brother was on the Ellen Degeneres Show–which means that there are only six degrees separating me from…” (Insert your own celebrity–pretty much all of them have been on Ellen right? I’m checking out my most important celebrities: Colin Firth, check. Hugh Grant, check. Meg Ryan, check. Jennifer Aniston, check. Ooo-looks like no Peter Jackson. Anyway, that’s okay for me since I have only four degrees to Ellen, so I can go two steps beyond. For you, well, sorry.)

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And now you’ve completely got me pegged. I am an old-school chick flick watcher. Or maybe those people were popular during my brief stint of People magazine reading. Or maybe I just have a horrible time remembering celebrity names and that was the best I could do. So sue me. But don’t forget that I’m practically related to Brad Pitt. Which means it might be a PR nightmare to try to sue me. Just sayin’.

Once upon a time, I loved to argue. Give me a topic and I would argue it. Polemics were my thing. I enjoyed polarizing issues, getting a rise out of someone. There wasn’t a fight I didn’t like to get into.

But somewhere along the line, my tastes have changed.

I find that some arguments leave a bitter taste in my mouth and a sour pit in my stomach.

Not that I don’t enjoy arguing anymore. In fact, there’s little I love more than a spirited discussion of some issue.

But a certain sort of argument, one I once considered my life’s blood, has lost its allure.

I have become more irenic in my approach–and more likely to shut my mouth if I see that my opponent does not prefer that approach.

So, wanna argue with me? Here are a few tips for getting me to engage:

1. Search for truth
Where I used to enjoy the sparring of two individuals who were firmly established in their opposite positions with no desire or willingness to change their minds, I now find such argument intolerable.

I want to know truth. If you are a fellow truth-seeker, even if your ideas are different than mine, I’d love to debate with you. I’d love to let your iron sharpen mine as we grapple with issues (and our differing viewpoints on them) together.

If all you want to do is refute my viewpoint or prove your own, I’m probably not interested. This sort of debate is usually pointless, a regurgitation of all the (often weak) apologetic points of a certain position without true dialogue or discovery.

2. Be Humble
Absolute truth exists. I believe it.

But, believe it or not, no one person has a monopoly on truth.

Yes, the Bible is true–but that doesn’t always mean that your interpretation of the Bible is true. Yes, science is true–but that doesn’t always mean your extrapolation from science is true.

If you wanna argue with me, please get off your high horse and recognize that you’re a fellow truth-seeker, not the final word in truth.

3. Don’t get personal/Get personal
There are two options for every topic of debate: either the topic at hand is deeply personal or it’s little more than an intellectual exercise. I don’t mind debating either.

What I do mind is when an argument turns into a mud-slinging fest. Don’t make blanket statements about people who hold views other than your own. Don’t accuse your opponent of not loving Jesus or not believing the Bible or of teaching false doctrine (unless you have good evidence that those statements are true–and even then, speak the truth in LOVE.)

On the other hand, recognize that just because a topic isn’t deeply personal to you doesn’t mean that it isn’t personal to another. Pacifism vs. Just War Theory may be an intellectual exercise for you–it might not be for the girl with two brothers in the Armed Forces. Please take into consideration who you’re talking to and how they might feel about the issue at hand before you go off on a rampage.

What about you? Are you an arguer? What are your rules for engagement?

The truth is, I love the computer. I love blogging. I love reading blogs. I love building computers (even if it’s a bit of work!)

But for all the joy I receive through computers, it can’t compare to the pleasures of when the computer’s off.

This week I’m thankful for…

…sewing with the girls
It’s been months since we last met to sew, but it was wonderful to see Grace’s doll dress come together, Taylor’s real-live dress come together, Little Miss Menter’s quilt finally get finished. I’ve missed our busy chatter side-by-side at our sewing machines.

…Highland Park Writer’s Collective concert
I’ve been waiting for it practically forever. Waiting for the day when I could invite my dad to a concert by one of his favorite groups. Waiting for the day when I could go to a concert by some of my favorite people. And the day finally arrived. Highland Park Writers’ Collective finally came to “Live at 38th Street Coffee”. (You can listen to some of their awesome music on their Facebook page)

…yardwork
The lawn mowed, the hedges trimmed, the driveway edged, the flower beds dug up and the bulbs separated. I got blisters and sunburns and achy muscles and allergies–but I also had a wonderful time in the sun and the shade and the dirt.

…conversations around the dinner table
Sunday afternoon dinners at the House of Dreams are becoming somewhat of a regular thing–and I absolutely love it. It’s what I’ve always dreamed of, having a home that’s open and enjoyed. And I love our Sunday afternoon crowd.

…reading books
I don’t read a lot of books straight through anymore–I’ve grown accustomed to reading a chapter each of a dozen books at any given time. But in the last few days, I’ve read a few novels straight through (or almost so)–and I’ve enjoyed it quite a bit!

…preparing for Sunday School
I’ll be teaching this year–and now that my co-teacher has been moved to another class, I’ll be teaching by myself. I’m super pumped to be taking a class of 2nd and 3rd graders through the whole Bible in the next nine months. (We’ll be racing along “Route 66”–for the 66 books of the Bible, get it?) I’m majorly excited.

…friendship, study, accountability
Dinner and conversation with Beth. Digging into Hebrews with the girls. Staying way too late talking. Laying on Ruth’s bed, talking while Ruth sorted her laundry. I love these friendships.

I’m thankful for all the things God does in and through and for me…when the computer’s off.

I’ve been busy.

My computer still isn’t working right.

I’m jumping out of a plane tomorrow.

It’ll be a while longer.

See you all on the other side!

I’m home.

For the moment, at any rate.

I’ll be teaching the other TA’s lab classes today and tomorrow (Thanks, Johnna, for taking my Monday and Tuesday labs!), then I’ll be back up to Columbus to catch up on anything I’ve missed.

I had a wonderful time in Boston–spent some time with my aunt and uncle, walked the Freedom trail, used lots of public transport, and learned tons about what’s new in long-term care nutrition.

When life settles down (hah!), maybe I’ll be ready to start implementing some of what I’ve learned. And then, maybe sometime after that I can start blogging about the experience…

And then there’s the pile of books sitting waiting to be reviewed–at least five as of now (I do adore long plane trips!)

So there is something to be written, once the craziness stops. For now, I’m about halfway through.

See you all on the other side!

When someone doesn’t have anything to say (or has something to say but not the time to say it) do you prefer that they tell you via a blog post that they have nothing to say (or no time in which to say it), or would you prefer that they just remain silent?

Discuss.

(I should be back with a Thankful Thursday for later on today. But today is my long day and I’ll soon be leaving for a 12 hour work day.)

My mother-out-law said my brother had told her she could count into the hundreds with just two hands. I corrected her/his faulty value. Using binary, you can count to 1023 using only two hands.

My brother-out-law asked me to demonstrate (smart-alec!) I explained that I didn’t have the time to count all the way up from 1 to 1023, but if he’d like to choose a number within that range, I’d be pleased to demonstrate.

He chose 843.

Here it is:

The technique is simple.

First you need to choose a side to begin with. I chose to have my right pinkie represent the ones place.

In binary, this means that each finger represents the following place values:

If a finger is extended (the “1” position), this means that you sum in that value. If a finger is not extended (the “0” position), you do not sum in that value (or you add in zero, if that’s easier for you).

Thus, the above image (in which all ten of my fingers are extended) represents
512+256+128+64+32+16+8+4+2+1
which is 1023

When I demonstrated 843, I extended the fingers that represented
512, 256, 64, 8, 2, and 1
512+256+64+8+2+1=843

Easy as pi, right?

That’s the interpreting. If you want to do the counting, I find it easiest to work from the top down, subtracting as you go.

Thus, if I wanted to represent 765, I would start at the largest place value that can fit into 765.

This is the 512.

Extend that digit (in this case, the pinkie of your left hand) and subtract 512 from 765.

This gives you 253.

The largest value that can fit into 253 is 128.

Extend that finger and continue on until you have:

512+128+64+32+16+8+4+1=765

Ta-Da!

Now you’re an absolute pro and are ready to do some numbers of your own. Use the random number generator to get a number to practice with.

Please recognize that while both of my selected numbers are symmetrical, not all numbers will turn out to be such. Since my numbers were symmetrical, you could read them the same way regardless of which side was the ones place and which side was the 512s place. For non-symmetric numbers, you need to pay attention to which side the counter started from (for example, in my picture of 743, my ones place was MY right pinkie–which is the pinkie to YOUR left.)