What is this wonderous thing we call "blog"?
Why is it that everyone and his dog want's his own blog?
Why am I writing a blog?

This thing called blog is one of the next steps in the evolution of the internet along with other things like chat, telephony, video, etc. etc., but I'm sticking to the "written" word right now. Blogs allow any dodo brain to become his or her own self-absorbed "published" author, thus allowing us all to "think more highly of ourselves than we aught". Blogs also give us, all of us, the opportunity to exercise that beautifully American (and sometimes perverted) right of Freedom of Speech. I may not be able to get on TV, or get an article in the newspaper, but, by golly, I can put some tripe up on the internet, and someone might read it.

So now I'm joining in. The point to this article is my moving to Movable Type (MT), but my inspiration was sending my eldest child off to college. She wanted a blog, and I was dragging my feet in getting one set up (in the 21st century, I think that setting up a blog may be something like giving a kid his or her own phone line back when I was 18). Alas, I was already Textpattern which is blog software, or more precisely a Content Management System (CMS), to power most of websites, but It required me to work real hard to make it look nice.

Since my domain host is a Movable Type Hosting Partner, I thought I would give 'em a try. (even though I would have to pay for it) Maybe it would be "easier" then Textpattern. Well, sort of. MT seems to be a bit more powerful, and easier to get up and running, and hannah so likes the interface a lot better than with Textpattern. But MT is also a bit slower to work with because it's a little more bloated. Nevertheless, I like it.

So I thought I would seek out the development community, and learn how to do different things...then I discovered the most interesting detail. THIS version of MT is brand new. About a month old. So, most of the articles, helps, and websites which deal with MT, deal with the earlier version, and the new version is WAY different. There's a bunch of stuff I would like to do, some of which I know exactly how to do with Textpattern, some of which are a bit more advanced. But finding the information is proving to be a challenge. In theory, many of my questions will be answered, and the features I want will become easier to implement as the product ramps up. In the mean time I'll be a bit confused.

Not that I dislike Textpattern, far from it. Textpatter is a lot easier, and more flexible, to use from the design perspective then Movable Type. In fact I have yet to figure out how to get some of my fancy navigation tricks (like in Paolino Painting LCC) to work natively in MT. Fact is I haven't figured out if you can automatically generate sections (sub directories) like you can in Textpattern. So Text pattern definitely has a place.

More thoughts later from this dodo brain

My Friend, and former Episcopal priest, Taylor Marshal makes some good comments about bishop Jeffrey Steenson --actually they are comments about the commentators. Bishop Steenson, if you didn't know, is stepping down from his post, leaving the episcopate, and leaving the episcopal church to go to Rome. Such moves are not unusual in Christendom, but when a bishop does it, it can be quite shocking.

There are a lot of conservative Anglicans who are angry over his declaration to depart. They feel deserted, and they have a point. If all the conservatives would have stayed back when The Episcopal Church (ECUSA) changed their prayer book, then they might have had more influence today, but some left. Then when ECUSA decided to throw out 2000 years of scripture and tradition for a new reason many more conservatives left (yours truly include).

Taylor is right about compromise. Everyone compromises to one degree or another. Although ECUSA is filled with beauty and tradition, she is also filled with a lot of dung. ECUSA happens to be the champion of compromise it's just a matter of how much smell you can tolerate.

Many conservative churches hire non-believers for their choirs. Churches which allege to support "one man+one women" allow divorce, even among the clergy. Even that golden glimmer of Anglican hope in Plano Texas has a rector who is divorced and remarried. According to scripture he is disqualified from the priesthood, but, hey, he's such a nice guy!

A huge compromise that most Christians -- even the self righteous evangelicals protestants -- support is contraception. No one wants to have children. Apparently children are a curse, especially for women. I could write a lot on this subject but my point is: I actually met ONE Episcopal priest who knew this compromise-- just one --It was a day of great encouragement for this father of eight (happened to be between Christmas Eve services). I was sad when that priest left the Episcopal church and went to Rome.

When spiritual leaders "change", when they step away from their post, weather they commit some awful sin or decide to convert to something else, people feel hurt. Lay people are entitled to be wishy washy, we can go from here to there, but our ministers are supposed to be solid. So blame the lay people :) A portion of our faith is placed in the leader (even if it's not supposed to be). When the shepherd leaves the flock the flock gets confused. The sheep don't know what's happing, or why. Maybe the shepherd is actually trying to lead his flock to greener pastures, or maybe he has decided that he would rather join the wolves.

I am a decorative painter, but, once up on a time, I was simply a "house painter" or better yet, a "Fine home painter" (thus indicating the fact that I worked almost exclusively on fine homes). Today the market can't afford to hire me, which is fine because I seem to excel at the fancy stuff, but I miss the days of a finely painted walls and woodwork. There's something to be said about clean lines with nice colors, and distinctive sheens.

But most people don't really care. And why should they? Paint is paint, right? Well, no actually. There are a lot of qualities of paint available, and most people have only every used, or seen, the cheap stuff. They shutter at the idea of spending $35.00 for a gallon of paint. But there is a whole other world of home paint sitting out there, just waiting to be had for those willing to try it.

Years ago I was introduced to Fine Paints of Europe (FPE) and Schreuder "coatings", which they imported from Holland. At the time it was probably the best house paint available in the United States. There was simply no comparison to what could be had domestically. None. Schreuder is no longe available, but FPE now imports Wijzonol which is now probably the best house paint in the country. But it comes with a price... over $100.00 per gallon.

FPE's product line is over-priced, but it is extraordinary, and it last's a long long time. Since I've discovered their paint it's about all that I use for myself. But it's still WAY expensive.

As the government is turning traditional coatings into a toxic product(s), there have been some interesting improvements in paint. Domestic paint companies, have had to improve their products, with $60.00 per gallon paint becoming more usual.

One domestic paint that shows a lot of promise is Benjamine Moore's Aura. I haven't seen it used yet, but the concept is good. It utilizes it's own dedicated pigments (rather than universal colorants), and is a completely new concept in the domestic market. So far they only have interior paint.

Another product which is fairly "new" to the US is Farrow & Ball (FB). Farrow and Ball is made in England in 132 colors (uh, colours), and several finishes. Thats it. No 9000 colors, no matching what you have, nope. just 132 fixed colors mixed in England, shipped to Canada, and then distributed to the US. OH, and they also have really cool wall paper that is made with the same paint they manufacture.

I was able to pick up some sample pots of their "bread and butter" line Estate Emulsion. So far I can only comment that it seems to be deliciously nice, and comparable to FPE's matt Obolux (now Eurolux ). No head to head test yet, sorry. But I can tell you this: one of the colors I tested is a deep red called, "rectory red". It is the first color where my children actually commented about how nice it looked. Not that they are experts, but my wife and I were surprised. At $65.00/gallon it's only a around $10.00 more than Aura, and a full $25.00 less then FPE's Eurolux. On the other hand, Farrow & Ball's oil paints, which may be the same quality as Fine paints of Europes, are also priced about the same, and are only available in the .75 litre size.

I love to take pictures. We have many many pictures, most of which are in a storage box in the garage, which is arguably the last place to put them. Many of our pictures are also on Photo CDs -- NO, not what you are thinking. I mean the original Photo CDs by Kodak. They came with multiple resolutions for different applications such as viewing on a TV, computer screen or for printing. They are still around but now days they are being used mostly for High end large format pictures. Thus providing a convent way to have digital scans of the original negatives.

Anyway, Here's a picture I took at Monticello many years ago. (By the way it really is pronounced mon-ti- che llo. NOT mon-ti- sell -o). I'll probably put a few more up, but I also may integrate with Flickr, we shall see.

From Circa 2003...............

The Problem is ... The more I consider what is happening in the Anglican communion, the more that I realize the liberals are right. The church has chosen her direction. The "Anglican" communion allows for: infanticide, birth control, women's ordination, and homosexuality. This is the way it is. No, not all bishops in every place go along with these--or other tenants--but this IS the way it is.

The argument that they have changed what the church has "always" taught is preverbal bull. Many things previously taught have been changed, and accepted. Heresy has even been openly tolerated with no discipline (e.g. Spong). The Anglican church is ultimately a democracy; majority rules; and the majority ruled.

The problem is that the conservatives want to be "Anglican". They don't want start a new thing. And the reason they don't want to start a new thing?...

No, it's not apostolic succession. It's not the rich history. It is property. Too many congregations are unwilling to give up their lovely church building, their history, their plot of land, their address. But the time has come. If all the members of a Mormon ward wanted to become Baptist, they would need to leave the building. Likewise, the conservatives need to make a decision.

If they really want to be a witness to the world then they should declare that they are no longer Anglican (not just Episcopalian), that the "Anglican Communion" has demonstrated it's apostasy. They should turn in the keys to the church, and walk away. Move down the street to a gym, seek guidance from godly bishops, who likewise walk away, leave the property, pensions, vestments, and yes even the columbium's that may be there. Leave their history and start anew.

If this were to happen then the world would see that these schismatics really believe what they say, so much so, that they would give up everything for their faith.

I don't believe this will happen.

As I have now begun my own blog in earnest, I want to take the chance to reference Rod Dreher's blog. I've met Rod once, and seen him on a few occasions when I've visited St. Seraphim Orthodox Cathedral. He writes more in a day, than I might write in several months, so there's no way I can or will read all his posts, but they are worthy of reading.

He recently published a (Insert Twilght Zone music here) post about his son Lucas, which provides the base for some interesting discussion. Weather one believes in God, gods, a higher Power(s), Aliens(the outer space kind, not the illegal kind), or whatever, supernatural things do happen--although it might be better to just call them "things we can't explain".

In my days as a zealous evangelistic Christian, I might have argued that things like this were either of God or the devil, but today I could care less. If a Satin worshiper gives me some advice (not suggesting that the woman to whom Rod refers to is a Satin worshiper) that contributes to my health, I don't care where it comes from, God knows I've gotten enough advice from Christians that has been harmful! Of course I would still be curious of from whence cameth the help.

Esther wrote a real nice article about the state of the Dishwasher. These are certainly the times that try mom's soul". The summer child and the sushine chore doer will, in this struggle, shrink from the service of his or her family. But more importantly, good writing Esther, Way to go!

I really would like to see it cross posted, but in the mean time I'm trying experimenting with Trackbacks. It's kind of a comment function on steroids with some regrettable spam possibilities. But blacklist and monitoring should help greatly.

You can read her original post here: Dishes