I'm heading to Baton Rouge, LA on a business trip. Actually I'm going to St. Gabriel, but no one knows where that is unless you live there. I'll be staying in BR and doing my best to get to the French Quarter in NO to take pictures, eat, drink, and be merry. I'm pretty excited about the prospect. It's a part of the country I've never visited and have always wanted to go. Granted I won't have buckets of time, but I will be able to get around a little, especially Sunday and Tuesday. I'll be sure to post pictures here and review any restaurants that I get to.

After a rather uneventful flight to Louisiana (most of which was spent reading Tishimingo Blues by Elmore Leonard) I decided that I really needed to swing by the French Quarter for just a bit since I landed in NO. I intend to spend a few hours there on Tuesday night so this was just a quicky. Of course I didn't realize that there was a Saints home game, so downtown was PACKED. Hit the link for some pics.

It was quite a busy day. I got to eat some excellent catfish, tour the St Gabe plant, sea a bit of LSU and the state capital. All that and it's only 5:30. Hit the link for some pics.

Well tomorrow I head home, so today I decided to go back to NO and get some more pictures of the French Quarter. It was a little depressing. The first thing that went through my head was Lola at the end of Copa Cabana. She was a sad, sad shell of what I imagine to be her former self. But there was beauty to be found behind the trash, neon, and decay. And I think I found some.

This man, Stephen Wiltshire, has a form of autism called Asperger's Syndrome. We believe that my son may well have it too, though it's difficult to diagnose in one so young. It's a very high functioning form and the people who have it are able to communicate and lead productive lives, they just have a harder time with social skills. Anyway, this isn't so much about my son (who may not have this) as about the phenomenal way in which our brain works.

A "normal" person could never do it and yet the two brains aren't all that different physically. Imagine if you or I could tap into this sort of potential. Even the briefest look at something and he can reproduce it in astonishing detail. I believe (though I'm not any kind of expert) that all of us have the identical recording device in our head, but we just can't access the controls the way he can.

I'm in awe of the three pound computer we have between our ears and even moreso its designer.

We have had several mini-quakes in our part of NC. It was very weird. I only felt two of them and the ones that registered were about 2.6 on the Richter Scale. You can't ordinarily feel those unless you're right on top of them. We were. It sounded a bit like a sonic boom and made the house shake a bit. I was reminded of when we lived in Florida, close enough to NASA to feel Shuttle launches.

In other news, I went to the doctor today because I have been having brief episodes of unexplainable gagging. I have been watching a goodly amount of Network TV, but the doc thought it might be related to my asthma or possibly a "silent" form of acid reflux. So he loaded me up with samples of Prilosec and Advair. He also took a chest X-ray and some blood to see if there was anything odd there.

Finally, my lovely wife has rescued an Eastern Box Turtle. Apparently they are sort of endangered in these parts due to being squished on our highways. This one was in just such danger. She stopped the van, picked it up and stuck it in a box. Once safely home she released it into our yard. I love that woman. Ninety-eight percent of folks would have kept on truckin', but not her. Just call her St. Francis.

Eleven days and counting until I start my novel. TTFN!

Masi Oka who plays Hiro was interviewed by SuperHero Hype a while back (full text here) and they just ran it last week due to his popularity. It's nice that he seems to be just as much a full on manga geek as his character is. He also credits the fact that he got the part to his family's insistence on being in touch with his Japanese heritage. He was born in Japan, but moved to the States when he was six. Since Hiro has spent most of the first few episodes speaking Japanese the actor had to be fluent.

As a parent it's difficult to know how hard to push your kids. You never know what sort of effect that will have. If they hadn't required that he attend school every Saturday to study his culture the part would have probably gone to another actor. One day I anticipate that my oldest daughter will take piano lessons. I also anticipate that she will hit a point where she will hate them. It will be my responsibility to either let her stop or to urge her to continue.

Even if she doesn't ever become a concert pianist I think that the skill of playig an instrument can seriously enrich your life, so I would push her. Of course there's always the possibility of a backlash. Knowing just how hard to nudge your kids on stuff like this is one of the many parts of being a parent that keeps me awake at night.

A bad weekend emotionally, spiritually, and creatively sucked my will to do any writing. Thankfully I had a little bit of a lead on the novel, so if I can get my juice back I should get caught up this week, I did think of how it will all end though so that's good.

but I am finishing up Archangel this week. Promise. Latest chapter is in progress.

It's interesting how much our culture has changed in fifty to sixty years. I see old commercials like this:

and think, "What was going through their heads?". Not so much that they were selling something "dangerous", but that it was a "Johnny Reb" cannon. Then I read articles like this about the live action/animation feature Song of the South and how something like that would never fly today. In the fifties we added "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance. If you tried add to a religious element to anything affiliated with our government today it would get shot down in a second. I see all of these things as progress in certain ways.

And yet our media is filled with more sex, violence, and outright hatred than in any time prior that I'm aware of. There is more division and distrust in our government than I feel is healthy and it's only going to get worse. While technology has certainly made our lives better it has also introduced a new way for predators to have access to our children. Political correctness is an altar on which all too many sacrifice common sense.

Is this a case of three steps forward, two steps back, or are we losing ground?

I know, I know, this holiday is about Jesus and his birth. I'd wax theological, but I wouldn't be able to come anywhere near the beauty/wisdom of this post. So having done you the service of linking to something far better than I am capable of writing (read it...) I will instead geek out just a little about my gifts.

I found a good list of questions to ask myself regarding the coming New Year. Not trying to start a meme or anything but if you read this and feel so inclined, then feel free to answer them on your own blog and link back here!

ht to Dan Phillips at TeamPyro

Click if you care...

I went poking around my old blogspace and it seems I made note of my hopes for this year past.

A family in South Wales built a little house under the hill. It's an incredible project. It took four months, almost fifteen hundred man hours, and three thousand English monetary units. He built it using a chainsaw, a hammer and a one inch chisel.

According to Bring Your Own there are places that will give you a discount if you bring your own mug/bag/container. We dispose of 700 pieces of plastic per year per person. This sucks more than I can possibly express. So next time you hit Starbucks (god help you) give them your commuter mug (clean as a whistle if you please) and ask for your dime. They also have a program whereby they donate grounds to customers and parks for composting. Beware though, it may make your roses insufferably snooty.

Oh and if your local store doesn't offer something like this, do it because you love your planet and want it to be here for your kids.

HT to 1StupidMutt+2

No work, no school, 1-3 inches of snow followed by sleet and freezing rain.

We're gonna make crafts, snow cream, and eat much carbohydrate-laden food.

Looks like that snow dance I've been doing daily is paying off.

Geek's geek Wil Wheaton has written up a post both on his blog,WWdN: In Exile: Geek in Review: Pac-Man Fever, and Suicide Girls (not gonna link that generally NSFW site) that has to do with the passing of an American icon, the video game arcade.

Not enough inspiration for one central topic so take this tossed salad.

HT to Rey, MCF and Lorna.

And lo, it was said that a sign of the end times would be Scott getting off of his increasingly large buttocks and join an organized sports team. Yes I am a member of my company's slow pitch team and here is my number:

Yes I picked it and yes I am a geek.

My first game is Thursday. Huzzah!! Praise the Lord and pass the Bengay.

An update on a few things that some of you might care about.

Our little family is embarking on a bit of a life change. We have suspected for some time that our son has Asperger Syndrome, a form of autism. A recent diagnosis by our school system doesn't confirm that, but at the same time the people who did the evaluation indicated that we should definitely proceed with a private evaluation that we had scheduled in September. It also appears that Coeliac disease may be a culprit in his delayed development. The two (autism/coeliac) are often linked.

We've been told by a number of people in our lives as well as by the research that we’ve done that a GFCF diet may help his behavior. What does that mean? No commercially produced breads, cereals, pastas, or anything else that contain gluten, which means making our own out of alternative flours. It also means no cheese, milk, etc which contains casein. I wrote briefly about my initial feelings here, a blog recently started by parents who have kids with AS. I'm a very selfish individual when it comes to my creature comforts and this feels like God using the life of my son to bring that weakness to my attention. If I said that that wasn't a hard lesson I'd be lying. But like any lesson worth learning, it is.

1 Cor 1:27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

Pray for us.

I went to Arlington, VA for a Xerox Seminar yesterday and as stimulating as that doesn't sound it was actually very cool. Our Xerox rep (and fellow blogger) Rob and I hit the road on Wednesday afternoon and had quite the adventure.

Read on... if you dare.

More of my trip north.

And so I've returned from the mountains. Our men's ministry (such as it is) has an annual retreat and it's always good, fun, exhausting, and uplifting. This year was no different. Our guest speaker was Charlie Peacock (in the words of his daughter "not famous, just well known") and we talked about "Stories of the Kingdom". It's a bit hard to boil it all down and as I decompress a bit more I'll probably share my thoughts.

In the moments available for fun I talked, played video games, availed myself of the beautiful weather, ate, relaxed, and slept almost none at all. I also took a lot of pictures, only a handful of which will be of interest for you. I'll have those posted in the gallery as soon as I can figure out why the UI on it is blowing up.

Well, we've arrived at Friday again and not a whole lot of substance on the ol' bloggy-blog.

There is some action at my tumblelog.

I am going to be participating in the Rocky Mountain Ride shows so that should be interesting. I'm sure we'll talk about the Republican "debate" a bit and who knows what all. The religious show will continue to find its way. We'll be talking about simple churches aka house churches at some point in the near future, hopefully with a special guest. Maybe a bit about the religious right with the passing of Mr. Falwell.

So go outside, enjoy the beautiful weather, and please call in to one of our lovely podcasts!!!

I'll be travelblogging my concert and trip both here and at HJ Live!. Due to preparations I'm suspending my fiction writing project (unless I find a spare few minutes) and I missed my "Coffee with Scott" spot on BTR, but I'll still be doing the political and religious Rides with Aaron this weekend.

Pray for safe travels!

So I got an email from Jacob at Hollywood Jesus asking me to review a concert that was happening out in Los Angeles. I assumed that I would be doing it via the web, but nope, someone actually wanted to fly me out to this bad boy AND interview the musicians in question. Most of you (hopefully all of you) have read my review, so I won't go into detail on that, but this is how the trip itself went down.

This is Cinnamon. Someone dumped her on the side of the road (PEOPLE SUCK). We are "fostering" her. What this no doubt means is provided there is no microchip we'll have a new dog. Current animalia count:

Chickens - 5
Cats - 1
Dogs - 4 (including my mother in law's who we're keeping for a few weeks)
Hermit Crab - 1
Human beings - 5

So yeah I turn thirty-six tomorrow. Wheeee...

Things to do by forty:
1. Publish a novel.
2. Get paid for writing something on a regular basis.
3. Get a tatoo.
4. Have a regular fiction podcast.

If you feel so inclined leave me birthday wishes below.

Also a new chapter on Ryan's Florist is up.

So I know you're all waiting with bated breath to hear how my birthday weekend was. Well it was a bit of a mixed bag, but good overall.

What's yours look like?

Lest you think I've been lounging around, here's what's been going down.

I mentioned that I saw Knocked Up this past Sunday. This is a bit of dialog:

Pete: I wish I could enjoy anything the way my kids enjoy bubbles.
Ben Stone: That's sad.
Pete: Their smiling faces point out my inability to enjoy life.

Each of my kids at some point has expressed the kind of joy I can only dream of over something that I would find completely mundane. When that happens you have two choices. A) Mourn for your lost childhood or 2) Sit down, shut up, and try and grok it just a little.

Too often I go the A route. Occasionally I'm able to get down (or perhaps up?) where they're at and just enjoy. We got them a little mechanical fish pond game. The fish, heads up, will open their mouths periodically as the pond rotates. Time it right and you can catch the fish with the little plastic poles. We spent a few minutes playing at fishing on our living room rug.

While I didn't quite get to the place they were at, I think I came close. For a minute I was just another kid. It was good.

As of about 3:00 I will be cutting the cord for about five days. There will be no internet, yeah verily not even a computer. That will mean no podcasts or posts from yours truly. I shall be spending some good quality time with the family and letting emails rack up. I will endeavor to edit my manuscript and thus hope to begin podcasting my novel in the very near future, so tremble in fear. I have put my blog in the hands of two very good friends and you may well hear from them in my stead. If not, well never fear I'll be back soon enough.

I'd like to thank Pink for his keeping an eye on my blog while I was away. Both of his posts are well worth the reading and his site is one that you should keep in your favorites.

I had a great time at the beach. I didn't miss access to the net nearly as much as I thought and the time I had was well spent. I'll be sticking up some pictures and perhaps a thought or two on the trip later tonight.

I did finish a "red pen" read through on my novel and will be tweaking the electronic copy over the weekend. I have two sections I want to add and a thing or two to move around. My hope is to start on the sequel for this year's NaNoWriMo, so I want this one "locked down" by then. I still hope to podcast it as well.

Okay so I kicked off my weekend with a thirteen hour workday on Friday. Not the best way to start the whole shooting match. Needless to say Friday night involved me barely thinking and quite possibly drooling more than a little, bathed in the light of the idiot box.

Saturday morning was spent doing much in the way of housework, though I did manage to finish House by Peretti/Dekker. I'd like to say I can recommend it but the ending is rushed and week. It all falls to mush in the last few chapters. It's supposed to come out on the big screen this year, but I don't see how they can make a movie of it.

The afternoon wasn't bad. We had an outing at a local park with church friends. In an effort to help the folks at our church get to know and care for one another we are developing "Communities", basically breaking our members/regular attendees in geographic chunks. This was the first such meeting for ours and it was the bright spot. Much discussion, watermelon, ice cream sammiches and me practicing with my juggling clubs was had.

Sunday I had one of my "funks" as my wife and I have taken to calling them. I was utterly wiped out and felt like I was at the lowest point of the universe. I blame this in part on my viewing Alien vs. Predator in its entirety while donating platelets at the Red Cross. A PG13 Aliens/Predator movie? What were they THINKING? The rest was probably stress caused by me putting way too much pressure on myself and a lack of meaningful sleep since we've returned from the beach. I want to do so much creatively and I stupidly let TV and other frivolous crap get in the way of accomplishing my goals.

Well that's just got to stop. I start leadership training at church tonight and the remainder of my weeknights is going to be devoted to me busting a cap in my novel and the music for review that I have stacked up, followed by a 10:00 PM bedtime. Regular sleep and the flowing of creative juices are going to happen. Progress will be made and it will be FUN doggone it! Okay so maybe forcing it's not a good idea, but I have to change something. Oddly enough watching Iron Chef and CSI reruns doesn't get the job done.

I saw the newest Bourne movie and it was good. It would have been reeeeally nice if i had rented number two first. It's not a must, but it's a good idea.

I caught up on Jekyll on BBCA. I'm not sure if BBCA rawks so much because American TV largely sucks or if it just does because it does. Either way, we win!

We went on a trek to Pilot Mountain. I will post pics tonight.

I rented Hot Fuzz. If you are like me and tend not to make it to some of the awesome movies while they're still in the theater, you should make this a priority rental. It has a fair amount of British swearing, a surprising amount of grue, references Point Break and Bad Boys 2 a number of times, and all of that works in a remarkably hilarious way.

I did manage a short Tech Stew cast, solo this go 'round due to someone else having a social life (and no he didn't call first).

I also managed to make it on The Political Ride though not the Religious one. Next week I'm planning to make it to all three.

Janet, of the excellent blog The Art of Getting By, has a little thing she does called "Tell it to me Tuesday" wherein she asks a question and encourages folks to answer it on their blog and then link back to hers. This one is about your favorite national holiday.

I figured I'd chime in since I'll guest post over there once in the near future. I'd have to go with Thanksgiving. Why? Follow me.

First and foremost, Fall is my favorite time of year. Any holiday in the Fall is a bonus. The colors of the leaves, a nice snap in the air, the smell of bonfires all generate memories and emotions that warm me to the core. Awesome.

Then of course there's the food. My family puts on a ridiculous spread. And it's not just the traditional stuff though turkey, taters, and cranberry sauce are there. Living near the coast there's also a fair amount of seafood and wild game to be had. We put oysters in our stuffing. There's probably going to be venison and maybe swan or goose. Not to mention pumpkin and sweet potato pie. If made the way they should be, there's definitely a difference and I eat enough of each to make me sick.

It's such a great time to get together with family. There's no pressure gift-wise, although we do do some wrapping of presents. We talk into the small hours, paying cards and listening to Christmas music.

There's usually a lot of sleeping involved and I love me some sleep.

In seriousness though there's also the spiritual aspect of it which too often gets the short shrift. For me it really is a time to sit back and reflect on what I have to be thankful for. There's quite a lot these days. While both my family and my in-laws have had some rough bumps over the last year including losing a family member, most of us are still happy and relatively healthy. Even the harder parts can be cause for giving thanks, if you look at the growth that has come out of them and God's provision that brought us through them. We live in a country that I love warts and all. A place where you can say what you will and worship how you want.

So that's my favorite national holiday. What's yours?

Read this article "Don't Suffer the Little Children - A father of four explains the realist approach to parenting." by Tony Woodlief and then go subscribe to his blog. You will be entertained and quite possibly touched and enlightened.

Janet at the art of getting by asks the question "Where were you on September 11th, 2001 and how did it change your life?"

I certainly remember where I was. I was at work. At the time I had just found a message board that I was rather fond of. The job was quiet that day and I was on the forum posting away. Someone caught the news that something had happened at the Towers. I had one of those little black and white tv/radio combos in my cube. I cut it on and watched the news via the rabbit ears. Between that and postings to this message board we all kept one another abreast as to what was going on.

Rumors flew thick and fast. As quickly as one false report came up, someone would debunk it. Some of the people on the boards lived in NYC and when we didn't hear from them we assumed the worst. Thankfully no one we knew was hurt. That little online community really bonded on that day. I still maintain several friendships from that message board