Technology in my pocket

My relationship with technology? It's complicated. As a child I was fascinated by anything with circuits, but as I have gotten older that has been balanced by other factors. I have developed a strong, and sometimes obsessive, bent toward delayed gratification. If you wait one more year to purchase the new gadget you can get a lot more for your money, so of course the rational thing is to always wait one more year. A few years ago I acquired an Atari complete with joysticks and game cartridges for free. Sure it would have impressed my friends more 25 years ago, but why give in to peer pressure?

The other factor is an association I have in my mind between simplicity and spirituality. The thought is that society is constantly coming up with new ways to keep our minds busy with something. We never have to be alone. We can call someone on a cell phone, listen to an ipod, read a book on our Kindle , and never have to be alone with God. Pascal talked about this in his writings published as "Pensees." He said the reason people want to be king is because the king never has to be bored. He has advisors to talk politics with, jesters to amuse him, dinners to host and so he has the best means possible to avoid being alone with himself to confront the emptiness of life apart from God.

The combination of these two thoughts kept me without a cell phone, an MP3 player, or a PDA until last year. I am still holding out on the cell phone (though I sometimes borrow Anastasia's), but last year I did get an MP3 player and a PDA. And I have enjoyed them. The main uses of the MP3 have been listening to the Bible (I have an audio CD set), various people teaching the Bible, and Christian music. Often when I am at the gym and sometimes when commuting back and forth to work on the bus.

The PDA I got mainly for work because it was getting to difficult to keep track of my appointments and contacts and needed to switch to Outlook anyway. It is very handy for storing information and it beeps at me when I am about to forget to do something or meet with someone. Very good for an absent minded professor. A few weeks ago for a Christmas present I got a Bible download for it, so I can now use it as my pocket Bible as well. That has been fun as well. It means one less thing to carry around and it is handy if I am wanting to meditate on a particular passage or chapter while I ride the bus. I can get it set to the right spot and then just turn it on instead of having to flip pages. It is also a little easier to read than my tiny-print pocket Bible is.

My solution these days is to try to think about my context. The bus and the gym are not the easiest places to have deep solitude anyway, and the techno toys are often a way to keep my mind God focused at those times. I also find value in going retro in other contexts. I have gone back to taking notes on the books I read for research in a spiral notebook instead of on the computer because the computer presents so many more opportunities for distraction and diversion. In my times of solitude it is often helpful just to have a notebook, a Bible, and perhaps a hymnbook.

I want to use technology without needing it. Right after I got my MP3 player I was at the gym and heard two people talking, one of whom was talking about how terrible the day was going because her ipod batteries ran down. There but by the grace of God is everyone of us. Technology is like any other good gift God gives us, we too easily become dependent on it rather than on God. Periodic fasting from it can help us remember that it is not what we really need.

Sleepy Sheep Jan 08

Below is my lesson plan for January storytimes. It contains mostly favorite bedtime books. Enjoy this window into my work world!

Sleepy Sheep Jan 08

Not-so-Sleepy Sheep

Stories

• Don’t let the pigeon stay up late! by Mo Willems (E WIL)
• Llama llama red pajama by Anna Dewdney (E DEW)
• Russell the sheep by Rob Scotton (E SCO)
• One more sheep by Mij Kelly and Russell Ayto (E KEL)
• Number one, Tickle your Tum by John Prater (E PRA)
• Goodnight, Moon by Margaret Wise Brown (J BIG BRO or E BRO)
• When Sheep Cannot Sleep by Satoshi Kitamura (E KIT)
• Can’t You Sleep, Little Bear? by Martin Waddell (J BIG WAD or E WAD)
• Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw (E SHA)

Songs and Activities

• “The Bookmobile Wheels”: The Bookmobile wheels go round and round; The Bookmobile driver says come on in; The Bookmobile driver says check it out; The Library dog says give me five.
• “Step in Time” and “Wiggle Walk” #11, 12 on Toddlerific! (J CD SONGS STE)
• Step in time/ Pick your knees up/ Link your elbows/Step in time
• Wiggle in your: fingers, toes, elbows, nose, walk
• Sheep in a Jeep Flannel Apron story
• We read a book/we sang a song/Let’s blow a kiss/and say so long!

Early Literacy Skill: Vocabulary

Even simple picture books contain words we don’t use in everyday conversation. Reading these words in the context of the story, and explaining them, is one way to build a child’s vocabulary. For example, Llama llama red pajama contains the words “whimper” and “fret.” Although we don’t often use these words, reading the story with expression makes their meanings clear. Vocabulary is one of the six early literacy skills that researchers have identified as being necessary for later success in reading and writing.

Read more on the back about how your conversations with your children can increase their vocabulary.

--Anastasia Tuckness, January 2007

It's the content

At church this weekend we talked about the tendency to prize presentation over content. I had an interesting experience with it today. I had downloaded an MP3 of a Jonathan Edwards sermon that is related to a project I am working on at ISU on the history of justice and mercy in political theory. It had everything going against it presentation wise. It was nearly two hours long and was being read in a monotone by an older lady speaking into what sounds like a very inexpensive microphone attached to her home computer. In some ways though all of this made it more realistic since from what we know Edwards himself was not particularly dynamic as a speaker. I was listening to it as I rode the bus home from work and got into it. Anastasia was working tonight so I kept listening as I ate dinner, did the laundry and vacuumed. It was powerful. He briefly surveyed the context of his passage, which was Romans 3:19, spent about 20-30 minutes on "doctrine" where he explained his view of justice and deserved punishment and refuted objections, and then he launched into the "practical application" section which was about an hour of telling sinners how infinitely bad their sin is and how numerous their sins are. He just kept going through every area of life and showing how our actions fall short of the glory of God constantly. His goal was for "every mouth to be silenced" as it says in the verse, that is, for us to realize that our punishment would be completely just. Part of what I enjoy about history and authors from different eras is the way they challenge our starting assumptions. It is clear that Edwards works from a different standard of how we determine the deserved punishment for things than we do in our culture today. I think for us the question is "how much damage did you do" while for Edwards it was "how much of an obligation did you have to obey?" I have tried a few times in the past to listen to audio read by the same woman and have never been able to get past the presentation before. Today is the exception to the rule. I need God's help to get better at learning to look past the presentation.

when Anastasia cooks....

... this is often the result--lots of dishes on the counter, and then lots of containers in the freezer. This particular view came after a large pot of ham and bean soup, which freezes amazingly well.

In general, we love having a freezer full of food. I can get a meal on the table in 10 minutes that's healthy, cheap, and tasty. Doesn't get any better than that! I have a whole list of things I make that freeze well, but as I look back through what I've posted here, only one recipe makes the cut: minestrone. I think freezer food is often not very pretty, so I'm not motivated to take pictures of it and show it off. But since it's oh so practical, I'll try to feature a few freezer recipes in the future.

Shaking the marker, or, Do you have to Lather Rinse Repeat?

I was just looking at our permanent marker and noticed that it has instructions on it, as follows: "Recap when not in use. Do not shake." I understand the recap business, but the rest just makes me want to run around the house shaking the marker. What could that possibly hurt?



So many household items come with directions these days. Shampoo and conditioner are getting more complicated (leave on head 3 minutes, then rinse, then repeat), and don't get me started on other hair products (apply to damp (not dry, not wet) hair, using a quarter-sized amount, then blowdry).



Even my deodorant is rife with instructions: Turn the knob one click, then apply. (If only it said which direction to apply. I applied mine vertically instead of horizontally for years.) And on the sticker, it tells you, peel off. Well, you know what? I don't want to peel it off and be left with gummy goo on my hands for the next several weeks!



I think I'm going to rebel. Now where's that marker?