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Truth be told I've tried my best
But somewhere along the way
I got caught up in all there was to offer
And the cost was so much more than I could bear
         —Sarah McLachlan, "Fallen"

And I keep hearing from the cellar bin
The rumbling sound
Of load on load of apples coming in.
For I have had too much
Of apple-picking: I am overtired
Of the great harvest I myself desired.
         —Robert Frost, "After Apple Picking"

Since turning on web site tracking last Friday (11/13/2009) I have noticed that most visits to my site that come from search engine results have nothing to do with the stuff I write about on the blog. In fact, most of those referrals are to the quotes or jokes pages. I'm not quite sure if this has anything to do with the quality of my blog, with the interests of the general population, or with both.

Here are some of the various searches that have referred visitors to my site:

• "i met someone who looks a lot like you she does the things you do but she
• ting-a-ling a-ling kilgore trout
• ddos divine
• how do you know whether it's the elephant, giraffe, cat, or mouse that is in the refrigerato
• joke another language mouse barking
• einstein fool proof quote
• the words of prophets are written on bathroom stalls and tenement halls
• einstein train "it has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity"
• hercule poirot chocolate quotes

A few interesting notes...

• The "i met someone who looks a lot like you" search originated in Swidnica, Poland.
• The only search to return an actual blog page was "ddos divine" which referred the user to my commentary on the "divine denial of service attack" against God recently mounted by atheists worldwide. The search originated in Australia, home to the atheist organization whose web site suffered the real denial of service attack that sparked their retaliation against the Holy Trinity.
• The obviously Paul Simon-related "bathroom stalls and tenement halls" search came from the University of California, Davis; no further comment is necessary.
• Finally, it was an AOL user who searched for "hercule poirot chocolate quotes"; no further comment is necessary.

St. Augustine to the pagan Romans who blamed the Christians for the fall of the empire (The City of God, book 1, n. 30.):

For why in your calamities do you complain of Christianity, unless because you desire to enjoy your luxurious licence unrestrained, and to lead an abandoned and profligate life without the interruption of any uneasiness or disaster? For certainly your desire for peace, and prosperity, and plenty is not prompted by any purpose of using these blessings honestly, that is to say, with moderation, sobriety, temperance, and piety; for your purpose rather is to run riot in an endless variety of sottish pleasures, and thus to generate from your prosperity a moral pestilence which will prove a thousandfold more disastrous than the fiercest enemies.

Hmmm... Let's see... Can I think of any modern nations who want to live unrestrained and run riot in an endless variety of sottish pleasures and who then blame the Christians when it doesn't work out so well?

Nothing comes to mind.

Oh, wait! I've got it!

I thought Steven Anderson was a harmless whack job. I still maintain that he is a whack job, but I'm not so sure about harmless.

I admit that I find it very hard to pray for our current President, but I have never prayed that God would kill him with a brain tumor. Apparently Anderson has, as an Arizona ABC news affiliate reports:

"If you want to know how I'd like to see Obama die, I'd like him to die of natural causes," said Anderson. "I don't want him to be a martyr, we don't need another holiday. I'd like to see him die, like Ted Kennedy, of brain cancer."

Perhaps Anderson should re-read the Gospels which I'm almost certain are in that infallible King James bible of his. Or, perhaps instead of claiming that he pisseth against the wall he should own up to the fact that he talketh out of his ass.

(tip o' the hat to GetReligion)

Douglas Adams once said that the problem in trying to design a foolproof system is that we too often underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.

For years, computer scientists have tried to design systems that would filter out junk e-mail, spam blockers en parlance. However, the junk e-mailers constantly invent new ways to appear to the spam blocker as non-junk mail. They do this by including the writings of profound philosophers into the body of the message. Here is an example, verbatim:

At the same time, 'that a mother who could thus sacrifice her children for the preservation of her own life, was no longer fit to live.' The man was committed to prison, but the Emperor subsequently granted him a pardon." The tame wolf at the Jardin des Plantes, is described by M. Frederic Cuvier, in the following manner:--"This animal was brought up as a young dog, became familiar with every person whom he was in the habit of seeing, and in particular followed his master everywhere, evincing chagrin at his absence, obeying his voice, and showing a degree of submission, scarcely differing in any respect from that of the most thoroughly domesticated dog. His master being obliged to be absent for a time, presented his pet to the Jardin des Plantes, where the animal, confined in a den, continued disconsolate, and would scarcely take his food. At length, however, his health returned; he became attached to his keepers, and appeared to have forgotten all his former affection; when, after eighteen months, his master returne

This particular message had an image attached that turned out to be only an advertisement for three popular "male enhancement" products.

Oh, how I love technology.

...but I don't mind enjoying it when they make themselves look like idiots.

Some time back I wrote a short piece about the translation of an interesting phrase in the Bible. I had no idea of the full depth of meaning contained in that one phrase:

I wonder why Anderson didn't just whip it out right there. I suppose he has a shy bladder. He should certainly practice what he preaches.

On the other hand, The Who must be real men.

(hat tip: Mark Shea)

I would never have guessed:

[Researchers] noted that children with the lowest amount of TV and screen time had lower levels of systolic and diastolic blood pressure than kids with the highest amounts of TV and screen time.

"The results of this study showed that TV viewing and screen time were associated with elevated blood pressure independent of body composition in children," the researchers wrote.

In a related story:

The cost of treating mental disorders rose sharply between 1996 and 2006, from $35 billion (in 2006 dollars) to almost $58 billion, according to the report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

At the same time, the report showed, the number of Americans who sought treatment for depression, bipolar disorder and other mental health woes almost doubled, from 19 million to 36 million.

The new statistics come on the heels of a study, released Monday, that found antidepressant use among U.S. residents almost doubled between a similar time frame, 1996 and 2005.

So your grandmother was right. TV will rot your brain. And apparently your body.

Not knowing exactly what Twitter is, I have had reservations regarding its usefulness. But my greatest fears have been confirmed: Twitter is evil!

A professor at the Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte (a good ol' North Carolina boy) has offered several arguments against Twitter: http://proginosko.wordpress.com/2009/06/24/against-all-tweets/.

My favorite is the Augustinian argument:

1. Evil is essentially the lack of goodness.
2. It is good to be able to use more than 140 characters to communicate.
3. Twitter prevents one from using more than 140 characters to communicate.
4. Therefore, Twitter lacks goodness.
5. Therefore, Twitter is evil.

(hat tip: First Things)

A.J. and I finished the fire pit last weekend. As ugly as it is, I think it's quite beautiful. I've added a new fire pit page to memorialize the event.

I wish I had €45,000 to spend on a haircut. If I did, I wouldn't spend it on a friggin' haircut! I'll settle for my $10 trim at the barber shop.

(Well, okay, to be fair the haircut was only €11,800. It's after the hotel and her stylist's fee that it's €45k.)