Dimly Lit

Coffee? Really…?

Ron | December 29, 2005

I like coffee. A lot. I am honestly not sure how much I drink on a daily basis, but I’m sure it’s well above the average. Whenever possible (financially) I buy really good whole beans and grind them right before brewing - I’ve even been tempted to join the ranks of home roasters after my sampling of what a simple hot-air popcorn popper can do for green coffee beans.

All of that is to explain how I ended up at this site, reading about…coffee enemas. Yep, you read that right. As much as I like coffee, that just seems like the wrong way to enjoy it.

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Cool Firefox Extension

Ron | December 27, 2005

I’ve been out of the loop for quite a while now, hopefully I’ll start posting more regularly again soon. In the meantime, for all you Firefox bloggers out there - there is a very cool extension that opens a full featured blog editor directly in a Firefox window. Even allows insertion of Technorati tags, and categories (if you’re not using Blogger since they still haven’t implemented categories). Definitely worth checking out if you haven’t already.

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Been out of it…

Ron | December 16, 2005

Posting has slowed dramatically of late as I’m sure at least someone has noticed. I’m begining to think - assuming this blog continues into the future - that I should just plan on taking a 2 month hiatus each year from mid-November through mid-January. Between holidays, house work, job work, and sickness I don’t have time for much else.

Right now, my head feels like it’s filled with liquid and I can’t breathe through my nose at all.It’s one of those bad head colds that completely wipes you out, but you can’t really justify stopping and laying in bed all day. So I’m at work, trying to focus on the tasks at hand and not doing a very good job of it. Thankfully it’s Friday.

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Hello world!

Ron | December 15, 2005

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!

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Sufjan Stevens is Big Time!

Ron | December 13, 2005

He’s now been referenced by Luke Winn in Sports Illustrated’s college basketball Power Rankings. Scroll down to #5 Illinoise.

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Creative People

Ron | December 7, 2005

One of my great desires is to be creative. To be a creator or sub-creator. I have dreamed of writing beauty and truth, communicating in ways that reach hearts as much as minds. That was the main motivation in starting this blog. It was to be a place to try my hand at creativity with the idea that by having this out in the public, I would be more motivated/disciplined to write every day.

While I enjoy what this place has become and will continue to post here, it has become more of a place where I link and comment and show off the incredible randomness of my mind. It is a place where I put on display what I do to avoid work. Perhaps someday I will do what I had hoped, someday when the kids are grown and the house is fixed, and I’m not depressed because of the stultying nature of my job.

But hey! This isn’t supposed to be a complaining, downer of a post! I started this post because I was thinking about how many truly intelligent, creative people God has put in my path over the years. Some are barely acquaintances whom I’ve met and maybe shared a cup of coffee, but quite possibly wouldn’t remember me. Some are old friends dating back to those halcyon college days.

So below are a few links. Some are bloggers, others aren’t. Take this merely as a brief celebration of creativity that has come across my path. (and by the way, if I know you and you aren’t listed, please leave a comment and I’ll correct my list - this isn’t really comprehensive by any means!)

Severt Andrewson - Artist (and great uncle)

Robert Auwerda - Writer and cousin (and the victim of horrible marketing decisions for a wonderful book of essays.)

Brett Foster - Writer/ Scholar

Jamin Gray - Blogger/ programmer

Lauren Gray - Blogger

Micah Gray - Musician (Yes, the three Grays are all from one very talented family)

Karen Hammer - Writer

Rachael King - Blogger

I’m sure that there are more, and as I think of them I’ll post them.

Technorati Tags : Art, Literature, Writing, Creativity

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Fantasy Fiction for Christians

Ron | December 6, 2005

Well, well, well…for all you kindred spirits who love a good fantasy tale, acclaimed blogger LaShawn Barber has launched a Fantasy Fiction for Christians site which looks to be a pretty good read.

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Coffee Roasting

Ron |

Last night my friend Jamie came over and demonstrated the proper use of a hot-air popcorn popper - roasting coffee!

Starting with green coffee beans from Indonesia (Java Government Estate) we ended up with a delightful city roast which started my morning off right!

I’m sure I’ve said this before, but I never really believed the difference truly fresh coffee can make. I’m not talking “freshly opened can” here, or even fresh from your local Starbucks (which by the way isn’t really all that fresh - I don’t think they roast locally). I’m talking about watching that dried green coffee bean take on a nicely roasted brown while freezing your rear off on the back porch, then grinding it up the next morning fresh! That’s when it’s all smooth flavor. There’s none of that nasty aftertaste you get with Folger’s or Maxwell House. This is really good coffee.

And now that we know how good coffee is for us - I think I’ll add a hot-air popcorn popper to my Christmas wish list!

Technorati Tags : Coffee, Roasting

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purgatorio: You Might Be Emerging If…

Ron | December 5, 2005

I haven’t talked much about the whole emergent church movement/converstaion thingy and I don’t really know what I think about it. Whatever the case may me, this post over at Purgatorio strikes me as really funny.

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Amazing Grace

Ron | December 3, 2005

Walden Media continues to impress me. They’re the ones who did Holes, Because of Winn-Dixie, and I am David. Oh, yeah, they’re also doing a little film called The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I recently went out to the Walden Media site due to a little discussion over at that haven of hipness, Le Sabot Post-Moderne, about the possibility of A Wrinkle in Time being made into a movie - and found out they are currently working on a film about William Wilberforce!

So far, I’ve seen nothing but good from this group and I expect this will be much the same. For anyone not familiar with Wilberforce, he was a British statesman who fought against slavery for his entire career, finally seeing it abolished just before his death. He really does have an amazing story which should make for an interesting film.

And by the way, for anyone interested, the links above include sections with ideas on teaching through the movies. There are some good ideas and resources available there.