The music geek in me wishes they still made these.
4.30.2012
4.28.2012
Five kinds of Lazy
I've come to the conclusion that it isn't enough to call someone lazy. Just lazy, on it's own, is too general a description. Here are five more specific terms to describe what kind of lazy someone is. In case you're wondering, I have been plagued with each of these at some point in the past few weeks. It should also be noted that I meant to post this yesterday, but I went to bed instead.
1. The Sloth - This is the first and most obvious of all variations. In nature, the sloth is a slow moving animal. Religiously speaking, Sloth is one of the deadly sins - one that most recognize as the very definition of laziness. Yet, when delving into what it means to be lazy The Sloth is so much more than just a lazy person. Classical Christian thought defined slothfulness as a complete emotional or spiritual apathy, inactive physically or emotionally, or possessing some measure of carelessness. It is The Sloth who doesn’t act because they just don’t have any longing to do so. They lack interest or motivation. The purpose to act is lost and any actual action is done with minimal effort and attention.
2. The Procrastinator - There is that idiom, “Why put off until tomorrow what you could do today.” Procrastination states, “Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow.” But a true Procrastinator says, “Why not put off today what I can also put off tomorrow?” Anything can be done later. Piers Steel, a Canadian psychologist, proved that sentiment with a scientific sounding formula: the expectation of success times the value of completion divided by the immediacy of the task times personal sensitivity to delay equals a person’s desire to complete the task. In other words - high expectations and low immediacy will probably result in the likely hood of delay. But more immediacy or greater sensitivity will prompt action. It’s all a fancy way of saying “I’m not going to do it until I absolutely have to.” In other words, not now.
3. The Shiny - The Shiny is all about distraction. The desire to act is eclipsed by Attention Deficit Diss… Oh, shiny watch. Is it new? It must be because did you hear about that father that covertly wired his son so that he could tape the kid’s teachers? They were berating him because he has Autism. And I can’t wait to see the new Avengers movie. It looks awesome like that new restaurant - Cafe Rio. They're delicious. The Shiny wants to make progress. But there are too many other things that are all far more interesting to actually complete anything.
4. The Glacier - On the surface, it looks like The Glacier is immobile. It looks like a do-nothing force. But they are moving, only at an almost imperceptible pace. Glaciers are also destructive; grinding rocks down to pebbles and carving out moraines, cirques, and tarns. Geologists will tell you that much of North America's landscapes were created by glaciers. When people are Glaciers, they might be capable of completing beautiful works or accomplishing great tasks. It will just take them a long time to do so.
5. The Obstructionist - This is the most obstinate of all lazy derivatives. The Obstructionist is willfully lazy. Action is not taken, not from a lack of desire, but a strong desire to not act. There are excuses, roadblocks, feigned ignorance, and occasional defiance. The Obstructionist is possibly the worst of all lazy types because the harder you push the more they resist.
ps: My wife would like to add that she's annoyed by my laziness and wants me to stop.
1. The Sloth - This is the first and most obvious of all variations. In nature, the sloth is a slow moving animal. Religiously speaking, Sloth is one of the deadly sins - one that most recognize as the very definition of laziness. Yet, when delving into what it means to be lazy The Sloth is so much more than just a lazy person. Classical Christian thought defined slothfulness as a complete emotional or spiritual apathy, inactive physically or emotionally, or possessing some measure of carelessness. It is The Sloth who doesn’t act because they just don’t have any longing to do so. They lack interest or motivation. The purpose to act is lost and any actual action is done with minimal effort and attention.
2. The Procrastinator - There is that idiom, “Why put off until tomorrow what you could do today.” Procrastination states, “Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow.” But a true Procrastinator says, “Why not put off today what I can also put off tomorrow?” Anything can be done later. Piers Steel, a Canadian psychologist, proved that sentiment with a scientific sounding formula: the expectation of success times the value of completion divided by the immediacy of the task times personal sensitivity to delay equals a person’s desire to complete the task. In other words - high expectations and low immediacy will probably result in the likely hood of delay. But more immediacy or greater sensitivity will prompt action. It’s all a fancy way of saying “I’m not going to do it until I absolutely have to.” In other words, not now.
3. The Shiny - The Shiny is all about distraction. The desire to act is eclipsed by Attention Deficit Diss… Oh, shiny watch. Is it new? It must be because did you hear about that father that covertly wired his son so that he could tape the kid’s teachers? They were berating him because he has Autism. And I can’t wait to see the new Avengers movie. It looks awesome like that new restaurant - Cafe Rio. They're delicious. The Shiny wants to make progress. But there are too many other things that are all far more interesting to actually complete anything.
4. The Glacier - On the surface, it looks like The Glacier is immobile. It looks like a do-nothing force. But they are moving, only at an almost imperceptible pace. Glaciers are also destructive; grinding rocks down to pebbles and carving out moraines, cirques, and tarns. Geologists will tell you that much of North America's landscapes were created by glaciers. When people are Glaciers, they might be capable of completing beautiful works or accomplishing great tasks. It will just take them a long time to do so.
5. The Obstructionist - This is the most obstinate of all lazy derivatives. The Obstructionist is willfully lazy. Action is not taken, not from a lack of desire, but a strong desire to not act. There are excuses, roadblocks, feigned ignorance, and occasional defiance. The Obstructionist is possibly the worst of all lazy types because the harder you push the more they resist.
ps: My wife would like to add that she's annoyed by my laziness and wants me to stop.
4.24.2012
Phases
Christian is going through a phase.
That's no surprise. He gets those. We call them special interests. As a child on the Autism spectrum, special interests are not anything new. Granted, most kids have special interests, but kids with Aspergers treat these topics of fascination as an obsession. I've talked about Christian's interests before, but he's recently moved on.
His keen focus on all things Mario Bros melded into outer space and space exploration. He was saving up his money to buy a telescope.
Then it changed.
One day he told me that space was out and music was in. Actually, it started when he told me that he didn't want a telescope anymore - instead he wanted a drum set. Instead of being obsessed with space, he's into music. Which is funny because he inherited my inability to keep a steady beat an my tone deaf singing skills.
I'm sure this is my fault. He watched Coldplay's Grammy performance with me and then we spent the next half hour watching Coldplay videos on youtube. His favorite was Paradise (mine is Fix You).
His new special interest is a little more complex than just enjoying music. I have a suspicion that his new preoccupation is being like me.
His favorite band is Coldplay because my favorite band is Coldplay.
His favorite TV show is MythBusters because my favorite TV show is MythBusters.
His favorite candy bar is Butterfinger because my favorite candy bar is Butterfinger.
And he asks. He wants to know my favorite food (however, he can't like my favorite food because he has texture issues). He wants to know my favorite color, my favorite movie, and my favorite sport. He asks about my favorite animal and my favorite t-shirt.
He imitates me much like he would mimic a character from TV.
I know this is just a phase. He'll either grow out of it or move on to a new special interest. But if I'm honest, I'd say that I wish this phase could last forever.
That's no surprise. He gets those. We call them special interests. As a child on the Autism spectrum, special interests are not anything new. Granted, most kids have special interests, but kids with Aspergers treat these topics of fascination as an obsession. I've talked about Christian's interests before, but he's recently moved on.
His keen focus on all things Mario Bros melded into outer space and space exploration. He was saving up his money to buy a telescope.
Then it changed.
One day he told me that space was out and music was in. Actually, it started when he told me that he didn't want a telescope anymore - instead he wanted a drum set. Instead of being obsessed with space, he's into music. Which is funny because he inherited my inability to keep a steady beat an my tone deaf singing skills.
I'm sure this is my fault. He watched Coldplay's Grammy performance with me and then we spent the next half hour watching Coldplay videos on youtube. His favorite was Paradise (mine is Fix You).
His new special interest is a little more complex than just enjoying music. I have a suspicion that his new preoccupation is being like me.
His favorite band is Coldplay because my favorite band is Coldplay.
His favorite TV show is MythBusters because my favorite TV show is MythBusters.
His favorite candy bar is Butterfinger because my favorite candy bar is Butterfinger.
And he asks. He wants to know my favorite food (however, he can't like my favorite food because he has texture issues). He wants to know my favorite color, my favorite movie, and my favorite sport. He asks about my favorite animal and my favorite t-shirt.
He imitates me much like he would mimic a character from TV.
I know this is just a phase. He'll either grow out of it or move on to a new special interest. But if I'm honest, I'd say that I wish this phase could last forever.
4.23.2012
Pale Blue Dot
Yesterday was Earth Day. Check out vidoe for Pale Blue Dot by Mr. J. Medeiros and remember, taking care of earth also means caring for your fellow man.
4.19.2012
Five things my daughter needs to know on her fifth birthday
Zu turns five today. So today's post is all for her.
My sweet girl, you're another year older. You're finishing preschool. You're growing up into a beautiful and spirited young lady. As you're celebrating, there are five things I want you to know.
1. You feel everything. When your brother hurt his finger, you cried with him to help him know that you could feel his pain. You stood by him and held his hand at the hospital and showed him how to be brave. When I am sick, you put your hand to my head the same way your mom does to you when you are sick. When your friends laugh you experience their joy and make every effort to laugh louder and longer. You are at peace when those around you are at peace. You probably don't know the definition of empathy, but you embody every meaning of that word. This will make you the greatest of friends to those you love as long as you learn to let others share your highs and lows. You are a ball of emotions and this will be your greatest strength and your biggest challenge.
2. I love how you love music. Even if you don't notice, I smile when I see you dance. When I'm relaxing on my own, I will have my own tastes and interests that are different from yours. But when you sing, whatever you're singing is my favorite song. When you bust a move, whatever dance you make is my favorite. I promise that I will support you as you explorer creating dances and music of your own.
3. You're mom and I did not fall in love with eachother when we first met - it took time. I don't believe in love at first sight. Or at least I didn't until the first time I held you. When I saw you, that first sight rule changed. My love for you was found in an instant. You need to know that I have always loved you and I loved you since first sight. However, when you are old enough to start dating and you find a boy and tell me that it was love at first sight, my rule will change again. I will tell you that there is no such thing.
4. Your entrance into this world was far from glamorous and you landed in a home with imperfect parents. I can't promise you much, but here's a few promises that will be kept. Your mom and I will make mistakes. We will embarrass you. You won't always like us. You will disagree with some of the choices we make. After all of that? We will always love you. We will always try to do what we think is best for you.
5. The way I see you is probably different than how you see yourself. You are stronger than you think. You are smarter than you think. You are more imaginative than you realize. These aspects of who you are surprise me everyday. I cannot wait to see how you'll surprise me next.
Happy birthday. I love you.
My sweet girl, you're another year older. You're finishing preschool. You're growing up into a beautiful and spirited young lady. As you're celebrating, there are five things I want you to know.
1. You feel everything. When your brother hurt his finger, you cried with him to help him know that you could feel his pain. You stood by him and held his hand at the hospital and showed him how to be brave. When I am sick, you put your hand to my head the same way your mom does to you when you are sick. When your friends laugh you experience their joy and make every effort to laugh louder and longer. You are at peace when those around you are at peace. You probably don't know the definition of empathy, but you embody every meaning of that word. This will make you the greatest of friends to those you love as long as you learn to let others share your highs and lows. You are a ball of emotions and this will be your greatest strength and your biggest challenge.
2. I love how you love music. Even if you don't notice, I smile when I see you dance. When I'm relaxing on my own, I will have my own tastes and interests that are different from yours. But when you sing, whatever you're singing is my favorite song. When you bust a move, whatever dance you make is my favorite. I promise that I will support you as you explorer creating dances and music of your own.
3. You're mom and I did not fall in love with eachother when we first met - it took time. I don't believe in love at first sight. Or at least I didn't until the first time I held you. When I saw you, that first sight rule changed. My love for you was found in an instant. You need to know that I have always loved you and I loved you since first sight. However, when you are old enough to start dating and you find a boy and tell me that it was love at first sight, my rule will change again. I will tell you that there is no such thing.
4. Your entrance into this world was far from glamorous and you landed in a home with imperfect parents. I can't promise you much, but here's a few promises that will be kept. Your mom and I will make mistakes. We will embarrass you. You won't always like us. You will disagree with some of the choices we make. After all of that? We will always love you. We will always try to do what we think is best for you.
5. The way I see you is probably different than how you see yourself. You are stronger than you think. You are smarter than you think. You are more imaginative than you realize. These aspects of who you are surprise me everyday. I cannot wait to see how you'll surprise me next.
Happy birthday. I love you.
4.12.2012
Trauma weekend
Wow, it's been a while since I posted anything. Where have I been?
Honestly, I don't know. I've been suffering from a severe lack of motivation. And coming out of a SQL coma. Twitter has seen much of my attention. Beyond that, I'm not sure why I haven't been writing. Besides, those are just excuses and I'm here now.
Those of you that haven not been paying attention to my social media feeds have missed out on the experience that was Easter weekend. It's been a few days and the shock is finally wearing off enough that my mental processes are capable of writing it all out. At the risk of sounding overly dramatic, our kids have now been properly traumatized.
While the rest of Christendom was celebrating the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, the Casey family was occupying medical facilities.
It started Saturday night as we were getting ready to go to Lake City Community Church's evening service. In the flutter of trying to get the kids dressed and presentable, feed a couple growling tummies, moving and starting loads of laundry, the application of makeup (Bekah), quick shower (me), and watching Bekah's sister trouble shoot a malfunctioning car, the activity in our home probably looked like a series of circus tricks performed by insane asylum escapees.
In the midst of this chaos, my sister-in-law was coming in the front door as I was walking by. She left the door open and my instincts reached out and pushed the door closed. What I didn't realize until it was too late is that JJ had reached over the upstairs railing to see what was happening outside. He had grabbed the hinge side of the door to pull himself closer at the moment I attempted to shut it, and his pinky was caught in the door jam.
He screamed. I pulled the door back open. He held his hand up, bloodied, and he screamed some more.
After some quick first aid, Bekah (having a cooler head on her shoulders) devised a plan. The first option had her going to the ER with JJ while I took the other two kids to church. But then she remembered that JJ would need direct pressure during the drive. So she enlisted Zu's help for plan B: I'd take Christian to church while Zu held JJ's hand and went to the ER with JJ and her mommy. But Zu was in tears and scared that JJ was fatally wounded. The third and final plan is the one that worked: I would drive, Bekah would sit in the back and keep pressure on JJ's finger and (since there were no other adults at the house to provide supervision) Zu and Christian rode along with us. It's not every day that you get to turn a trip to the emergency room into a family outing.
The most comical part of this family hospital adventure is that everyone was dressed and ready to go to church except for JJ. While the rest of us were over dressed for a night at the ER, JJ was hanging out in a pair of sweat pants the polo that he'd been wearing all day.
The verdict was better than we anticipated. It was only a dislocation that required several stitches and will take a while to heal. Considering what the injury looked like, we were relieved that it was an easy fix that would not require surgery.
Honestly, I don't know. I've been suffering from a severe lack of motivation. And coming out of a SQL coma. Twitter has seen much of my attention. Beyond that, I'm not sure why I haven't been writing. Besides, those are just excuses and I'm here now.
Those of you that haven not been paying attention to my social media feeds have missed out on the experience that was Easter weekend. It's been a few days and the shock is finally wearing off enough that my mental processes are capable of writing it all out. At the risk of sounding overly dramatic, our kids have now been properly traumatized.
While the rest of Christendom was celebrating the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, the Casey family was occupying medical facilities.
It started Saturday night as we were getting ready to go to Lake City Community Church's evening service. In the flutter of trying to get the kids dressed and presentable, feed a couple growling tummies, moving and starting loads of laundry, the application of makeup (Bekah), quick shower (me), and watching Bekah's sister trouble shoot a malfunctioning car, the activity in our home probably looked like a series of circus tricks performed by insane asylum escapees.
In the midst of this chaos, my sister-in-law was coming in the front door as I was walking by. She left the door open and my instincts reached out and pushed the door closed. What I didn't realize until it was too late is that JJ had reached over the upstairs railing to see what was happening outside. He had grabbed the hinge side of the door to pull himself closer at the moment I attempted to shut it, and his pinky was caught in the door jam.
He screamed. I pulled the door back open. He held his hand up, bloodied, and he screamed some more.
After some quick first aid, Bekah (having a cooler head on her shoulders) devised a plan. The first option had her going to the ER with JJ while I took the other two kids to church. But then she remembered that JJ would need direct pressure during the drive. So she enlisted Zu's help for plan B: I'd take Christian to church while Zu held JJ's hand and went to the ER with JJ and her mommy. But Zu was in tears and scared that JJ was fatally wounded. The third and final plan is the one that worked: I would drive, Bekah would sit in the back and keep pressure on JJ's finger and (since there were no other adults at the house to provide supervision) Zu and Christian rode along with us. It's not every day that you get to turn a trip to the emergency room into a family outing.
The most comical part of this family hospital adventure is that everyone was dressed and ready to go to church except for JJ. While the rest of us were over dressed for a night at the ER, JJ was hanging out in a pair of sweat pants the polo that he'd been wearing all day.
The verdict was better than we anticipated. It was only a dislocation that required several stitches and will take a while to heal. Considering what the injury looked like, we were relieved that it was an easy fix that would not require surgery.
Doesn't that look broken to you?
If you think the hazardous holiday was complete with that one event, you are sorely mistaken. The exploits continued on Saturday.
We attended the morning Easter service at our own church. Hid 60 eggs in our back yard and set our kids free to hunt the candy filled surprises. We dined on the traditional Easter ham. We started the kid's bedtime routine. The two younger kids were playing in the back yard waiting on their turn for bath time. JJ was given explicit instruction to stay off of the trampoline.
But that trampoline was fair game for our uninjured daughter. She loves to jump. She also adores her aunt who was on there jumping along. The two of them got a little carried away and the merriment ended when Zu came down hard and hurt her ankle.
Another trip to see a doctor, but this time it was only an after-hours clinic and did not require the attendance of the entire entourage. Thankfully, it was only a sprain.
So that was our holiday weekend. How was yours?
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