Mystery Substance

In intro chemistry labs, it is typical for the instructor to give the students "mystery" substances . The students conduct various tests to identify the the substances. They might check the pH, burn the sample, or see how the sample reacts with various reagents.

I'm going to share some clues now and you can guess the mystery substance.

1. This substance is very popular in some circles. The content of this bowl was consumed in approximately 5.38 minutes.

2. It is a heterogeneous mixture.

3. The color is green-brown. (Maybe more green than brown.)

4. The consistency and appearance of this mixture reminds me a lot of baby food peas. I'm not sure if this is quite accurate b/c it has been awhile since I've eaten baby food peas.

5. The main component of this mixture is readily available in the Dominican Republic. (I know this first-hand because I ate quite a bit of this while in the D.R.)

6. I once heard a story about how a person was eating this in a restaurant and was startled to see it moving in the bowl. (Worms.)

7. Adding lemon juice to this mixture helps to delay browning. This can also be accomplished by pressing plastic wrap into the mixture until serving time.

8. This is my favorite mixture to make. Okay, my food repertoire is not that extensive, but it is still my favorite thing to make.

Okay, I have run out of ideas for clues right now. Go ahead. Take a risk and make a guess or, better yet, offer some other clues. If you have had any interesting experiences with this substance, feel free to share those as well.

Later,

T

The Buster and Mosaic Generations

A few days ago, I ended an entry with the question "Why?". I'm not going to dive too far into details today but want to keep true to the title of this blog, "Keeping It Real." Part of the answer to this question is that I have a deep, sometimes paralyzing, struggle with understanding my purpose and experiencing fulfillment. Sometimes, it feels like my insides are being shredded into little pieces.

This is reality.

I'm reading this fascinating book, unChristian, by David Kinnaman. (See the new bookshelf on the right side of the page.) This book explores the negative perceptions of Christianity among younger people. The gist of it is that outsiders - particularly younger folks - perceive Christians as being unChristian - hypocritical, sheltered, too political, and judgemental. (These are just some of the endearing characteristics.)

This is reality.

Kinnaman shares some interesting statistics on the Buster and Mosaic Generations in the Sheltered chapter (Chapter 6, pgs 126-128). The Buster Generation includes those born between 1965 and 1983. The Mosaic Generation includes those born between 1984 and 2002. (I'm limiting the following stats to the Busters to keep this short. Check out the book for the whole story.)

25% are unfilled in life
12% are lonely
14% deal with addictions
33% describe themselves as overweight
17% are in serious debt
25% who have been married have already been divorced
50% have used expletives in public in the last month
50% are stressed out
25% have consumed enough alcohol in the last month to be considered drunk

I can relate/empathize with many of these stats.

This is reality.

Kinnaman goes onto to share an excerpt from an interview with a twenty-eight-year-old, "So many Christians are caught up in the Christian subculture and are completely closed off from the world. We go to church on Wednesdays, Sundays, and sometimes on Saturdays. We attend small group on Tuesday night and serve on the Sunday school advisory board, the financial committee, and the welcoming committee. We go to barbeques with our Christian friends and plan group outings. We are closed off from the world."

This is reality.

It is relatively easy to put together stats, to identify problems, to offer critiques. However, we are left with a question:

What do we do?

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Check out Trent's recent post, Get Real!, for another look into these types of issues.

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As the month of March draws to a close, I just want to say, "Thanks," to those of you who have stumbled upon this lowly blog in its inaugural month. There have been some awesome "off-line" conversations. You folks rock my world. You break my "bubble." Have a great week!

Welcome

Last week, Joe joined his brother Frank as a resident of the T-abode. (See previous post for further explanation.) Joe is 8 inches of green springing forth from a great brown pot. Frank and Joe are the Hearty Bamboo brothers. (Those Hardy Boy books always were the best.) The brothers are eagerly awaiting Nancy Drew to join them in their next super mystery.

Why?

Two nights ago, I woke up at 1:00 AM - not by choice - after two great hours of sleep. I was in one of those wired states. No pun intended, but I am in the wire business. Anyway, I picked up the April 2008 edition of the highly academic, Reader's Digest, that had found its way to the pile of books that shares the other half of my bed. Usually, I reserve this wonderful little magazine for another venue... Never mind, I'll spare you the details. (Reminder to self. Focus. Stay on track.) As I gazed groggily at the cover, I was startled to see in all capital letters:

SLEEP BETTER TONIGHT! OUR BEST TIPS PAGE 14O

(The color choice was a bit curious. Is there something patriotic about sleeping better? Actually, it seems that we as Americans keep pushing ourselves to sleep less.) I thought, "Wow, this is my lucky night." Eagerly, I turned to page 140 and dove into the article.

Under the category entitled, Work and Life, I read, "All this rumination and agitation ignites stress hormones that keep us in a state of perpetual arousal. That's why we should make a serious attempt to simplify our lives..." (143-144).

Simplify our lives.

Hmm.

Here's what my simplification looked like this week.

This is the week that I sent in a registration to take a class in a possible MBA program.

This is the same week that I sent out an application to a local community college to do adjunct teaching.

Why?

"If you're not first, you're last!"

I have watched more movies in the last three months than I probably watched in the three previous years. After completing my masters degree, there seemed to be more time - particularly on weekends - to sit back and watch movies. One movie has stood out from all of the rest. It has left the competition in the dust. You guessed it: Talledega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. This movie is destined to become an American classic. (Okay, probably not, but it is hilarious.) I have never been one to remember lines from movies but several from this movie, at least in a paraphrased sense, remain in my mind.

"Shake 'n bake!"
"Dear 8 lb, 6 oz, little baby Jesus."
"I [urinate] excellence."
"Ricky boo-bby, two first names."
"If you're not first, you're last!"

If you're not first, you're last?

I am very performance-oriented person. In school an A just wasn't good enough. I had to be first, number one, numero uno. Somehow an A+ was better than an A; 105% was better than 100%. Even after four years, adapting to the manufacturing climate continues to be a significant challenge because it can become so difficult to walk away at the end of the day and turn the work mode off. After all, there are always more improvements to make, more dollars to save, more pounds to produce, more problems to solve. It just doesn't end and it feels like I'm in last place because it is impossible to be first. However, I have slowly started to learn that there is something between being first and last.

Jesus adds some interesting perspective:
"But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first" (Matthew 19:3o, NIV).
"This is the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first" (The Message).

Keeping Vigil

Last night, I joined four other people for the 9-11 Easter Vigil shift. This was a great time of fellowship, prayer, and worship. These folks rocked my world with their enthusiasm for the Vigil and the sincerity of their hearts. We prayed for our community, church, other churches, others, and ourselves. We made a joyful noise (i.e., we sang) to Jesus. The time passed by much too fast, but this is something that will stick with me for quite awhile. Keep the fire burning!

(We were also pleasantly surprised to see some cookies appear through the smoke. Remarkably, they were warm!)

Good Friday

Today, as I was thinking about the crucifixion of Jesus, I was reminded of a slim volume, Night, by Elie Wiesel. It is not possible to adequately describe the content of this book in mere words. The memoir is a poignant and powerful look into Nazi death camp terror.

Wiesel writes, "One day when we came back from work, we saw three gallows rearing up in the assembly place, three black crows" (61). One of the victims was a young boy, "the little servant, the sad-eyed angel" (61). As the child hung from the gallows, dying, Wiesel heard a man asking, "Where is God now?" (62).

If you have not read this book, find some time to read it.