Miracles haven't ceased in our day -- the evidence this time is that I am actually CHANGING this list!! How did I get the time?? Aren't I a busy student? Well....

1) I passed my Ph.D. qualifier exam, and am now supposed to be doing research for my dissertation. But I need to go to me field site to collect data. And since I am doing work on Martian Hydrology, I am having to wait a bit to schedule the trip...

2) After 15 years of using (or being used by) Windows, I have made a switch to a Apple iMac! Life is very good these days, at least as far as Fingolfin is concerned. (Yes, I named my computer. And yes, it is the same name that every computer I have owned has had. And while you're laughing at me, my calculator is named Bertha!)

3) I am finally starting to come into my own as a movie fan... and since I watch them instead of sleeping, oh, wait, this isn't working out. Lets go back to the old one... "There is no third reason." Monty Python joke to the rescue!

4) Well, how could I ever deny this fact --> "I have finally cracked and have decided to lure unsuspecting souls into my web of ultimate chaos", so it stays...

5) Ok, this isn't about time anymore, so that pretense is officially abandoned. Anyway, continuing on..... Whereas I used to work for the open source mafia promoting Firefox. I now use Safari, and am running and hiding from those fiery foxes of woe...

6) After three years, I am still rolling on the floor with the busted gut I got when I found out the actual age of the Earth. You see, in the 1600's Bishop Usher taught all of the miscreants like me that the Earth was created on 26 Oct, 4004 BC, at EXACTLY 9 am - sharp I am sure - so everything I have learned in geology for the last 12 years is wrong!! Woe is me! A busted gut, honestly! I have four scars on my stomach and one missing gall bladder to prove it! As a public service, I am not posting the pictures.

7) I still like the idea I used to have up here about moving to Thailand to become a munhut -- an elephant trainer! Not only are elephants awesome, they paint great pictures too (I have one framed on my wall that was painted in front of me). Also, in Thailand I could drink gallons of my favorite soda -- BLUE fanta, yes blue fanta, folks. I am not sure if the flavor is blueberry, boysenberry, blackberry, blue raspberry, or artificial ester #4159, but I have been craving one for years now! And they don't have them in Cambodia, Laos or Viet Nam either, (I checked) JUST Thailand :(

8) I thought that I would share with the world the fact that I think that I am the only person alive who has ever been attacked by an air freshener grenade! You see, I am allergic to the scents in most of them, so 10 years ago when I was in the missionary training center, a couple of proto-missionaries actually made one into a grenade, threw it in my room at me, closed the door and ran. My allergies were going nuts, but I was laughing too hard to care!

9) I think that I am just almost in the realm of babbling here, but this is COOL at least :) I actually went and put all my movies into the internet movie database, along with my list of movies that I want to see. There is, in addition, a list of the cartoons and other shows that I watched as a kid. I also made a list of my favorite movies and what I consider the 'best' war movies. This may sound somewhat odd if you don't know me, but I feel it is important to point out that I don't watch war films as 'entertainment', and don't honestly understand how people can see them that way. If they are made well, they are very hard for me to view, emotionally. But they are in the category of 'good growth experiences', and help me to grow and gain greater understanding and compassion. And that is not to mention gratitude! It is for the same reason that I have studied the Holocaust, been to Aushwitz and the Killing Fields, etc.