Monthly Archive for April, 2006

Trying Times Lie Ahead

Published
by
Joel
on April 19, 2006
in life and mac
. 1 Comment

Lazarus has died and been resurrected more times than I can count in the past month. This latest time, in particular, had an aire of finality about it. I had finally dug down to the deepest root of all possible (software) problems with my precious hard drive. The ATA device itself. God granted me the discovery of my long-lost Norton Utilities disc, which I used to Disk Doctor poor Laz.

Upon termination of any and all examination and fixing, Disk Doctor informed me that it was outmoded and incapable of helping me. I turned to Speed Disk. Once again, I got errors. Finally, I used Wipe Info, a handy program that allowed me to completely erase the device. I wiped it down to the last 0 and 1. Nothing remained, not even a format. I then installed the Journaled OS X foundation and ran Disk Utility and Norton to be sure that the disk was truly wiped clean. All tests came back positive. I reinstalled, upgraded, and began to rebuild my life on magnetic disc once more.

Then, one fateful Tuesday (yesterday), Lazarus whimpered his last fan-cooled spindown, decaying faster than a dead baboon in the Amazon. The beachball could’ve gone on and on forever. This confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt that my problems had been hardware-related all along. I logged onto Newegg.com and promptly ordered myself a Hitachi 7K100 100GB internal replacement. It will arrive via UPS tomorrow. I have 25 pages of detailed instructions with photographs to help me out in the touchy procedure of taking apart my computer and removing the faulty drive. I will do this. Lazarus needed to rise again… but eventually he would die. Only when he was born again, as a new and better being, could his immortality be sealed. So shall I seal the immortality of my being as the new generation of speedy hard drives whirrs to life inside the old shell of my iBook.

“He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet, shall he live.”

The Animal Years

Published
by
Joel
on April 13, 2006
in life and music
. 0 Comments

I’m back to blogging about music! Perhaps I will write of life a bit, too.

The Animal Years by Josh Ritter (V2)

Released just this last Tuesday (4/11), The Animal Years marks Ritter’s 4th studio album and his 2nd major-label release stateside. An Irishman himself, Ritter’s music spans the height and breadth and width of tuneful, American music. Anybody who is a fan of Jenny Lewis, The Decemberists, or Ken Stringfellow will find his sound highly pleasing. The arrangements are lush and broad, casting a large shadow over Ritter’s ouvre up to now. The lyrics themselves are vital to his music, and though they may be perplexing and even tinged with a little bit of vitriol, his voice defeats any questions that may arise in the distant reasoning centers of your mind. I’m again reminded of so many other artists… from Neko Case and Rocky Votolato, to Over the Rhine and Ryan Adams. Recommended Tracks are: Girl in the War, Wolves, Monster Ballads, and Good Man. Not to mention Thin Blue Flame.

Now to speak of my life.

I’m still getting over being ill. I blow my nose too hard. I carry a lot of tissues and eat a lot of really, really, really spicy salsa all of the time. I get up a lot earlier than I used to. I still stay up about as late, though. I am eating really well, quite healthfully: filling up my diet with fruits, blended fruits, fruit juices, whole grains, and naturally-occuring foodstuffs. I am still not exercising… though I will indulge in the occasional bout of floor crunches or frisbee golf (my arm is sore, so sore). I sit a lot. I read a lot. I have a lot of life crap to start whacking away at. I’m not doing so good at it, but I’m trying. I’m doing my best to love the Lord and to love my life and to love others. But again… my best falls short. Can’t please everybody. Least of all myself. Oh, but that’s the way it goes.


Poncho was a bandit boy, his horse was fast as polished steel
He wore his gun outside his pants, for all the honest world to feel
Poncho met his match, you know, on the deserts down in Mexico
Nobody heard his dyin’ words, oh, but that’s the way it goes

~Townes Van Zandt, Poncho & Lefty

Glorify

Published
by
Joel
on April 10, 2006
in faith
. 0 Comments

Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

“Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!”

John 12:23-28