Is it amnesty if they’re already here?

As you already know, unless you’ve been standing in line to buy your iPhone, the Senate struck down an immigration bill that detractors say would have granted amnesty to the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States.
Ay. Que complicada la cosa. (This is so complicated.) As one astute pundit put it, the [...]

June swoon

It appears I have been in a writing funk for a few weeks now. There’s no reason, really. Summer is here, the wife is enjoying the perks of her teaching job and that Hebrew Prophets paper is over.
A significant amount of my time is spent in the evangelism/outreach field at church and while there has [...]

Wishing

Overheard at La Casa Rivera:
“If I could eat beans and listen to Bossa Nova every day, I’d be a happy man.”

Court drop-kicks “bong hits” appeal through goal posts of life

In easily the most bizarre news item of the day, the Supreme Court ruled 5-3 that school administrators can punish students for statements that promote illegal activity.
The event in question occurred in January 2002, according to blog site Lift While Climbing,
as the Olympic torch relay wound through Juneau, Alaska, en route to the winter [...]

The wife returns, civilization restored

The wife returned this, er, yesterday afternoon after a week’s absence visiting her family in Southern California. Her 85-year-old father, a.k.a. The Indestructible Little Mexican Man, continues to do well.

I’ll send another dispatch tomorrow, now that my week of bachelorhood has come to a close.

Update: Authorities capture fugitive Eric Hu, pleads not guilty

Clifford Oto/The Record
Good news. Eric Hu, our local escaped convict, was apprehended without incident Tuesday after more than two months on the run. He said repeatedly to his girlfriend that he would not be taken alive. All joking aside about living through my first neighborhood manhunt, I am thankful no one was injured or killed [...]

Read this: Hemant Mehta’s “I Sold My Soul on eBay”

I’m almost finished reading Hemant Mehta’s book I Sold My Soul on eBay, which details his experiences as an atheist visiting Christian churches of varying sizes and traditions after putting himself — and his soul — on the eBay auction block.
The winning bidder, evangelist Jim Henderson, “paid for his time” by sending him to more [...]

F-I-N-I-T-O!!!

One ink cartridge, several pots of coffee, a week’s worth of late-night writing sessions and several pieces of paper later. I am finished with my Hebrew Prophets class. Hallelujah. Off to get some frozen yogurt and take a much-deserved nap.

I’m (almost) finished

My whale of a paper on Jonah is almost complete. It’s probably the best work I’ve ever done and, no surprise, the most grueling. Let’s just say that my days of applying a undergraduate’s worth of effort to a graduate course are long, long gone.
I’ll be back, when the day is new, and I’ll have [...]

My warranty has expired

When I hit my mid-30s, my life fell apart, at least my body did.

In May 2006, I had a pilonidal cyst removed from my lower crack, um, back.
In April, as some of you remember, I had an appendectomy.
On Monday, I had a ganglion cyst removed on the top of my foot.

The most recent escapade was [...]