Another cousin gets hitched

This past weekend, I headed over to Wilmington, Delaware for my cousin Jason's wedding.  It was great to see and spend some time with Jason and his beautiful bride Jakita, and great to see my family and meet some of hers.  I was a groomsman in the wedding, so I didn't get any pictures of the ceremony, but I took some pics of some interesting things on the way there.  Here they are:

Little did I know that when I was just leaving the Twin Cities, I would get such good news!  I had been  selected to win a free Caribbean cruise!  There couldn't be a catch, could there?

The "gift" came with a travel voucher for $1300! Again, I'm sure that there was nothing in the "terms" on the back side, including the statement that "THIS IS A TRAVEL OFFER," that could possibly be a catch.  Nope, no way!

This is a nice perk for elderly airline passengers.  The law student in me cried "discrimination!", but I guess I can let this slide.  Even though old people are now suspect to me, ever since I was assaulted by an octogenarian woman on the golf course.

Hard to see (iPhone 3S camera), but that is a harpist playing in the airport!  She was playing beautifully, so I walked up to her to tell her so.  She thanked me, but noted that she had been playing for 7 hours straight and needed a break.  Now, that's dedication.

I accidentally walked past my gate and stumbled upon Chick-Fil-A!  I have now eaten at 2 of the three Chick-Fil-A's (is this form possessive or plural?) in the state of Minnesota.

I am an artist.

Michael Nutter met me in Philly with a dingy light-up billboard above an escalator.  Thanks, Mayor.

Jason drove me from the airport to his apartment.  This menacing cat was threatening me as I got out of Jason's stupid Prius.

Another cat.  Sigh.  This is Jack, who liked to sit in front of the TV.  Stupid cat.

This is Jill the cat, getting way too close for comfort.  I will give Jill some props, because she blocks paper balls like Dikembe Mutombo.  No finger-wagging, unfortunately.

This is generally what Philadelphia looks like.

Why do McDonald's coffee lids look so scared?

I went to the Delaware Marriage Bureau with Jason and Jakita, where they got their marriage licenses.  The sign said no drinks, so I sipped my coffee in the hallway.

Jason gave me a wonderful gift for being his groomsman--really nice cufflinks!

This kid has the right attitude for eating hot dogs.

Jason ate most of this!

An incredible amount of food.

See, I told you Jason ate most of that.  Including the 18-inch Tijuana Dog with about 20 jalapenos.

We got FRIED OREOS from the owner!  He heard that Jason and Jakita were getting married, and he hooked us up!  Everyone else had eaten a lot for dinner, but I had only one hot dog, so when there were 3 extra fried Oreos, I said, "don't mind if I do!" and scarfed them down quickly.  Oreo + funnel cake + powdered sugar = DELICIOUS.

See harp lady above.  In case you want to check out her stuff.

The view from 1605 in the Sheraton in Wilmington.

I miss this so much about the east coast.  Dunkin' Donuts everywhere.  Expand to Minnesota!

On the way to the wedding.  Had to be a school bus, right?  Even when I'm far away, Minnesota is on my mind.

This picture of my grandma and grandpa was at the wedding.  My grandpa was a sharp dresser!

Jackie's cat, Rory.

Roxie and Rosie were very happy to see me!

Rosie is very confused as to why she has been picked up, and very sad to see me go after such a short visit.

Roxie is also very sad to see me go.

One more Dunkin' for the road!

A delight.

All in all, it was a great trip.  I loved seeing my family and seeing my cousin Jason tie the knot with a new family member, his lovely WIFE Jakita!  I have to say, though, I'll need another week and a half to recharge before heading to Ann Arbor for the next wedding!

They did build that, and what's your point, Mr. President?

Today, on Bloomberg.com, Jonathan Alter wrote a very silly article.

You've likely heard the sound bite from President Obama's recent speech from Roanoke, Va., in which he notoriously chided entrepreneurs who might not want to pay higher taxes, telling them that they "didn't build that" small business that they started from the ground up.

Here's the context for President Obama's remarks (full transcript here and video here):

There are a lot of wealthy, successful Americans who agree with me -- because they want to give something back.  They know they didn’t -- look, if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own.  You didn’t get there on your own.  I’m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart.  There are a lot of smart people out there.  It must be because I worked harder than everybody else.  Let me tell you something -- there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there.  (Applause.) 

If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help.  There was a great teacher somewhere in your life.  Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive.  Somebody invested in roads and bridges.  If you’ve got a business -- you didn’t build that.  Somebody else made that happen.  The Internet didn’t get invented on its own.  Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet."

After hearing the speech and reading this transcript, Alter writes, "Obama’s awkward “that” referred to “roads and bridges,” not businesses."  He, quite sanctimoniously, claims that "the president’s words are shamelessly being taken out of context," and that "[f]or Romney to base so much of his campaign on bogus editing is lame." Really?

It's one thing to say that, in one's opinion, President Obama is referring to roads and bridges.  It's quite another to claim that Romney is shameless and bogus for attacking Obama's ideology based on a reasonable interpretation of his words.  In my opinion, the "that" uttered by President Obama refers to the small businesses that President Obama believes somebody else made happen.

Why?  First, the text most naturally reads that way.  Second, the context makes that inference valid.  Just before the above-quoted passage, President Obama said, "We created a lot of millionaires."  Right--"we" created those millionaires in the same way that those millionaire business owners "didn't build that" wealth.  In fact, it couldn't have been those business owners that built that, because, well, everybody works hard!  Who are you to think that your hard work was any different than any other's?  Your wealth is more a product of luck than the sweat of your brow.  Third, as Gov. Bobby Jindal rightly notes, this comment is in keeping with Obama's philosophical disdain for business owners and habit of pushing top-down, government control of the economy.

Moreover, why did President Obama even "go there" by directly calling out business owners?  What was his point?  As a friend of mine astutely noted, NO ONE argues that government has no role in our individual successes in this nation (besides anarcho-capitalists who have read Atlas Shrugged perhaps one too many times)!  Of course the government has a role in our lives and our businesses.  Obama's "point" is a non-sequitur if it merely advances the claim that government has a role in creating a working infrastructure in society.

As a political matter, Obama's quip and the ensuing kerfluffle over its meaning is also revealing of a fundamental difference between liberals and conservatives in this country regarding the proper scope of government.  President Obama argues that businesses should pay more taxes because of teachers, roads, bridges, and government involvement in the invention of the Internet.  But, the fact that government exists in part, via tax money, to create a more ideal environment in which businesses can thrive and produce more for society DOES NOT mean that every proposed tax raise or government expenditure therefore contributes to that ideal environment.

In other words, just because it's obvious (to me, at least) that tax money should pay for legitimate public goods, like prudent infrastructure projects, does not mean that it's obvious that taxes should be raised to pay for more entitlements that hamper our economic growth by hurting businesses and killing jobs.

So, is Romney's exploitation of Obama's gaffe at Roanoke shameless or lame?  No.  It's smart political rhetoric.  Obama's quip is revealing, and it draws a stark contrast between his economic views and Romney's.

Practice, practice, practice

I read a very interesting article that a colleague posted to Facebook today (Facebook actually does have some positive uses--it is not just "World of Warcraft for Women"!) entitled, simply, "How Many Hours a Day Should You Practice?".  It is specifically addressed to musicians, but I found that its principles also apply to other areas of life.  The areas that jump out at me are golf and in following Christ.


The article distinguishes "mindless practice" and "deliberate practice," and then offers ways to make your own practice more efficient and positive.  In short, mindless practice is just going through the motions for a set period of time, after which you say, "nyah, nyah, there, I did it."  Deliberate practice is structured, active, thoughtful, with clear goals, and very draining.  The article then offers 5 keys for effective practice: limited duration, at the best times of the day for you personally, keeping a practice notebook to track goals, working "smarter, not harder" (I'd like to quibble with the terminology there, because that is a false dichotomy), and using a problem-solving approach to address specific issues in performance.


First, these principles apply to golf.  I can tell you, from experience, how easy it is to get into the "mindless practice" mindset as a young golfer and even as a professional.  It is so easy to just go out there for a set period of time and just beat range balls into oblivion, ostensibly working toward some vague, undefined goal, but never really making any progress toward it.  It is easy to putt around on the putting green, not reading putts or taking any time to look at the shot, but maybe putting one or two good strokes on the ball for an hour, and then calling it a day.  It is so easy to do this that you can spend all day doing it without feeling mentally drained!  On the other hand, deliberate golf practice is very hard.  It takes effort and focus.  It takes sustained concentration and cannot be continued nearly as long as mindless practice can.  It requires the mortification of pride--one must often adopt some very silly-looking physical positions on the driving range in front of a lot of people (unless you have a private practice area, Tiger) to do the proper drills in the correct fashion.  It is mentally and physically draining because mental and physical energy are actually used.


The effects that each of these types of practice have are starkly different.  I know, from personal experience, that mindless practice will make you worse.  When I was at Duke University, during one portion of my freshman year, I would literally spend my practice time on the range hitting golf balls at geese 200 yards away.  I don't particularly like geese, but that doesn't justify hitting golf balls without any attention paid to achieving any goal, except hitting geese, for two hours, when I could have been getting better.  The consequences of practice habits like these were severe: I lost confidence in my swing because I developed mechanical flaws that I brought upon myself.  I couldn't play.  I went from an All-American junior golfer to a bench warmer and a waste of a scholarship.  In contrast, deliberate practice will make you better.  When I turned professional after college, I began to practice deliberately.  I let myself hit golf ball after golf ball out of bounds until I was willing to let go of the fear I had developed in college and release the club.  I spent hours doing drill after drill, not caring about where the ball went, but caring that I was making progress, and that my efforts were in the right places.  I played a lot, too, and I kept score: no second shots that would mitigate the harsh consequences of a miss, and not padding of the scorecard to make myself feel better about how I was playing.  The results spoke for themselves: my scoring average was about 72.5 on the NGA/Hooters Pro Golf Tour Winter Series, after I hadn't been able to break 80 during the first semester of my senior year at Duke.


Second, these principles apply to following Christ.  Unfortunately, I don't have as much experience as a follower of Jesus as I do as a competitive golfer.  And, applying the analysis from the cited article to the whole of the Christian life would take...probably forever.  But, in my short time as a Christian, I have seen some examples of mindless and deliberate practice in my own life, relating to Lord's Day worship.  First, mindless practice: it is easy to wake up on Sunday morning, put on the right clothes, go to the right services, and even give lots of time to a church ministry.  It doesn't take much effort, and one can sit through a service, engrossed in his own thoughts, without really regarding the God he outwardly came to worship.  It's easy to do.  The other six days of the week, you can do what you want.  Deliberate practice, as it relates to the Lord's Day, is much different.  It means, certainly, a devotion of time, treasure, and talent to serving God.  Romans 12:1.  There is no way around the fact of spending time and effort to worship corporately.  Hebrews 10:24-25.  But, it requires more than just those outward things--the grace of God asks of us more than just outwardly following Biblical principles.  It requires following Christ.  Mark 8:34.  As John Calvin once wrote, "The Lord’s Day must, therefore, serve as a tower in which we can go up to view God’s works in the distance. It is a time in which there should be nothing to hinder us or keep us occupied, so that we can employ our minds meditating on the benefits and gracious gifts he has given us."  The grace of God calls us to complete devotion.  God does not want the sacrifice of bulls and goats from us, Hebrews 10:4; God wants our hearts, in Lord's Day worship as in every other area of life, which mindless practice does not contemplate.  Hebrews 10:22-23.


The effects of these types of practice are both seen and unseen in the Christian life.  We can get away with a purely outward, mindless devotion to Christ for a while.  When we are here on earth, it may help us fit in with our church friends and allow us to claim to others that we are "good people" and thus above their reproach, when we are unloving or cruel toward them.  We can even use the Bible in self-justifying sophistry, like repeating "judge not" in a blanket manner to avoid Biblical instruction from others.  But, these outward works that are contrary to the grace of God will be burnt up in the judgment.  1 Cor. 3:10-15.  On the other hand, a pure and grace-led devotion to Christ will never suffer loss.  God will bless it.  Psalm 1.  This does not mean a guaranteed worldly gain in this life on earth--not by a long shot; Christians are still called to suffer.  Phil. 1:29-30.  But, if we lay them up there, our treasures will be in heaven.  Matthew 6:19-21.


Why do we engage in mindless practice, whether it be in music, golf, or the Christian life?  There are short-term and outward benefits to it in any arena.  In golf, we can impress others with our willingness to stay at the driving range for hours, beating golf balls.  We can later say, "I hit golf balls for six hours, so I am not playing horribly for lack of effort."  We can avoid the potential embarrassment of doing silly-looking drills in front of other people.  In the Christian life, we can tell other people, "I go to church, therefore I am a good person."  We can use Christ as a way to try to gain the respect of others.  We can deflect instruction from others by appealing to a form of Godliness.  We can proudly avoid the self-denial and obedience demanded by Christ.  


In these arenas as in any other, there is no substitute for deliberation.  If we want real improvement and edification, we will drop the pretense and be deliberate.  If we only want short-term benefits and the ability to complain about our failures later, we can continue in a masquerade of mindlessness.

A night at the orchestra

A couple weeks ago, Mr. Eric Donald Wong provided me with the opportunity to attend a performance of Mendelssohn's 1st and 5th Symphonies (he did not tell me about the modern "music," featuring a person randomly hitting things without any apparent purpose, that played in between these two beautiful pieces, but I forgive him for subjecting me to that monstrosity) along with my fantastic roommate, Brian, Josie, and Mr. Wong himself.  It was a great night, and I highly recommend the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and especially Mendelssohn's 1st, to anyone.  Here are some photos that I took from that night:

Curiously, Brian decided to wear a varsity jacket along with a plaid shirt and tie.  I thought this was an "interesting" new style and asked how he had possibly come up with it.  He replied that it was a matter of convenience: he had taken an ice bath earlier to "recover" from his "wrestling workouts," so he had the chills.  As a golfer, I know all about workouts--obviously--and I cannot imagine why someone would jump into a tub of ice after one.  Instead, we used to go get bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches at Duke.  Minnesota is apparently rough on their student-athletes.

After questioning Brian heavily about his choice of attire, I decided to show him how it is done.  I decided to go with the trendy "business casual" look, made famous in the Twin Cities by James R. Magnuson, a local fashion guru.  I added the corduroy pants to give it a personal twist.  I made Brian take a picture of me as I posed on a public sidewalk in St. Paul:

The Ordway!

Inside the Ordway!

That's all.  It's hard to take pictures of music.  Go listen to it on YouTube.  Here's a teaser:

The rain

The rain falls,

And I look outside.
The trees are greener,
And bark has become black as night.
Cool air brushes the earthy green.
The branches bend, and the leaves drip.
Some hold onto the rain,
And some let it fall below.
Puddles show that the pavement
Is not perfectly flat,
And the imperfect puddles
Splash unsuspecting passersby.
Thunder rolls in the distance;
A sign of things to come.
People huddle forward to shelter,
But it isn't raining hard.
Easy for me to say, I suppose,
Standing indoors.
But still, everyone marches ahead,
Straight ahead, neither left nor right,
Because greater things there must lie.
But I think that greatness
Isn't only in sunny days;
There is great beauty in the rain.

Scalia calls reading ObamaCare law "cruel and unusual punishment"

I had to post this.  Absolutely hilarious.  Follow this link for the audio clip (about 30 seconds long).

I wrote a poem

No, I'm not kidding.  I like poetry, as you can probably tell from my previous posts.

I wrote this a couple nights ago, when the breeze came into my living room and the feel of humidity and the faint smell of a bonfire somewhere near entered with it.  This is a somewhat odd night to post this, because it does not reflect the current frigid and windy weather here in Minnesota, but I don't want to write about that right now.  So, if it's your sort of thing, enjoy:


The Night Air in Spring

Soft and sweet, it lingers close;
The night air is cool.
It carries the smells of times gone by:
The days of my youth.
A subtle damp, but I don’t shiver;
I embrace it warmly as it draws me in.
And somewhere near,
A bonfire crackles and glows
And shines upon friends.
Some comfortably look above
To stars that twinkle and dance.
Some look into the embers aglow
And ponder the depths of the reddish warmth.
Some gaze across and smile,
And a friend smiles back.
I’ve been there before,
But not tonight.
No, tonight, a light wind blows,
And it carries me home in a breezy jaunt
To senses stirred of lovely thoughts
That drift in and drift by, beckoning.
I stay in this present reverie,
And I know that this is right.