Dear Superman...

I saw this hanging on the wall at Beth's Cafe in Seattle.

Our Ecological Crisis

Every time I see things like this, I am filled with wonder and awe.

And then I'm reminded of our current ecological crisis, and that makes me sad. Parallel to the question of how we've arrived at this place in creation's history is the question of what can be done. Behavior must change. Thinking must change. Society's values must change. And unfortunately nature is something too often relegated to the realm of facelessness. It reminds me of people who have strong opinions against groups of people from which they are completely disconnected -- strong positions against faceless communities.

When I'm hiking or driving through breathtaking scenery, nature is anything but faceless. And its voice makes me reflect on a theological premise which has somehow grown into something I believe it was never meant to be. God's command to "fill the earth and subdue it" has somehow carved a path and dare I say justification for exploitation rather than preservation and responsibility. Context, context, con-freakin'-text! The command to "subdue" was in the context of a gardener not a predator. Preservation, respect, stewardship are the context of that command and not domination to exploit and abuse.

This morning I was reading a segment on the various types of "knowing" particularly in relation to our role in the current ecological crisis. I thought it was profound:

If science sets its sights on the acquisition of power, then scientific
knowledge is dominating knowledge. We know something to the extent
in which we can dominate it. We understand something if we can 'grasp'
it...

But belief in creation only arrives at the understanding of creation when
it recollects the alternative forms of meditative knowledge. 'We know to
the extent to which we love,' said Augustine. Through this form of
astonished, wondering and loving knowledge, we do not appropriate things.
We recognize their independence and participate in their life. We do not
wish to know so that we can dominate. We desire to know in order to
participate. This kind of knowledge confers community, and can be termed
communicative knowledge, as compared with dominating knowledge. It lets life be life and cherishes its livingness. -- Jurgen Moltmann, God in
Creation

I find this true in my knowing of nature and of others. To the extent I love

I'm more willing to know, to discover, to listen, and to take responsibility.

Content

I don't have much to say except that we are both relieved to have a little break this summer. Finals are over. We aren't taking any summer classes. Work is slowing down for a bit. And we keep waiting for summer to kick in -- it's still chilly and rainy around here. Yesterday I saw a double rainbow on my way home. I almost ran the car off the road staring at it. Not good. But it was really beautiful. And I found myself feeling content with life lately as I stared at it.

From TV to DVD

Cable?! Cable is for the rich. A DVR?! Those are expensive. We don't need to buy a DVR. Oh no, folks. No. Not while Bruce lives and breathes. My genius husband built a DVR from scratch and recorded the only two shows I watch every week on TV: Lost and The Big Bang Theory. Bruce then instructed me in the ways of video editing so that I could slice out all the commericals (for which he originally wrote a program that mysteriously vanished).

Bruce's office upstairs is basically a man cave filled with technology. Wires. Hard drives. Computers. And a bunch of other stuff I can't identify (and that includes the Star Trek paraphanelia). But it's everywhere. Sometimes I wonder if he just spreads that stuff all around the room so that people will know how brilliant he is.



Bruce: "Ann, will you slice out all the commercials for me and build the dvd menus for your Lost? You'll make it look much nicer than I will." (Translation: Bruce wants Ann to do it for him. Bruce calls it "your Lost" when he doesn't want to do it.)

Ann replied: "Sure! I love creativity and I love Lost." (Translation: Ann thinks it might be fun to do something borderline mindless for a while.)

*12 episodes later*

Ann: "Ummm Houston, we have a problem. This program you set me up with stopped working. What's going on?" (Translation: "Bruce, you changed something. What did you change?!")

Bruce: "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. I re-installed my operating system last night and re-configured some things for myth TV. Your Lost will now have some serious HD quality." (Translation: "I changed stuff and you'll have to start over." Note the usage of 'your Lost.')

Ann: "So, what you're telling me is, I just wasted hours of work and will now have to start over. Right?" (Translation: Ann is frustrated with Bruce's never-ending quest for off-the-grid software perfection. And though Linux is far superior to Microshaft, Ann is intimidated by Ubuntu due to its unfamiliarity. Furthermore, Ann can't tell the difference between the old and new HD quality.)

Bruce: "Ummmm...yes. You'll have to start over. Sorry." (Translation: Bruce knows Ann is frustrated and finds it borderline amusing. In fact, he seems to enjoy it a great deal. In fact, he may have secretly arranged this whole scenario on purpose, timed to perfection so as to evoke fiesty Ann -- affectionately known around here as "the Dragon".)

*18 episodes later*

Bruce: "Did you finish?" (Translation: Bruce hopes Ann finished because he needs more space on his hard drive. These episodes are taking up too much space.)

Ann: "Almost. Come check out my work." (Translation: Ann wants Bruce to notice how hard she worked so as to halt his quest for updating and installing stuff. Ann doesn't want to start over again.)

Bruce: "Nice work, Ann. This looks so great." (Translation: Bruce hopes Ann will take over all the editing from now on. Bruce doesn't want to edit. Bruce wants to program, re-install stuff, and update stuff. Forever.)

Ann: "Thanks! I think it looks pretty fantastic." (Translation: Ann thinks she and Bruce make a pretty good team. He does all the programming/recording, and Ann makes it look good. Not a bad deal. Bruce generates mega brain power and Ann generates mega.......hmmm.....well, we're not too sure what Ann generates, but it's definitely in the mega realm whatever it is.)

And that's how "my" Lost season six made it from TV to DVD. And I must say it looks pretty sweet for a homemade concoction. Why do I like Lost? Mystery. Suspense. etc, etc, etc. Why do I like The Big Bang Theory? Because I married a cross between Sheldon and Leonard (as proven by the abbreviated dialogue in this post. I would write out the whole dialogue if I was fluent in software engineering, but I'm not.)