Leaving for Norfolk

I'm headed to Norfolk in a few hours to defend my dissertation. Becky and Ethan are staying behind this time, but we're all making the trip in December for graduation.

Some people really hate to fly, but I'm actually looking forward to it. There's no better opportunity to either nap or read. I'm bringing along some really good reading material, and Ethan's multiple wakings last night has guaranteed I'll sleep well on the plane. Here's a sample of what I'll be reading on the plane:

• Mining the Web by Chakrabarti
• Google's PageRank and Beyond by Langville and Meyer
• Kingdom Come: Embracing the Spiritual Legacy of David Lipscomb and James Harding by Hicks and Valentine
• Newsweek
  

It just occurred to me that I'm going to have to change the subtitle on my blog since this dissertation is almost at a close. Any suggestions?

Back in Arkansas

We're finally back! It was a long, long way from Norfolk to Searcy, but everything went pretty much according to plan. We've moved back into our house, and I'm setup in Dana Steil's old office, Science 208. I'm writing this post from my new office using my new laptop... snazzy.

Here's a quick synopsis of the last couple of weeks:

My mom and sister came down to help us pack the weekend before we left. We closed on our condo on the 31st, and later that afternoon a bunch of friends from church helped us load the ginormous Penske truck:




After saying goodbye to our empty condo and spending the night at Andy and Stephanie's, we spent the next two days on the road with the Bean sitting between Becky and me (don't let the photo fool you, I drove most of the way ):


Ethan did really well the first day. We stopped plenty to stretch and eat, and I even let him drive some:




But by day two, Ethan was a little tired of being on the road. I think this picture sums up the way all three of us were feeling on the stretch from Nashville to Memphis:


Finally we reached Memphis where Ethan got to see his great-grandmother and grandfather for the first time as well as his Uncle Andy:




I went on to Searcy and left Becky and Ethan in Memphis. They joined me the next day after I had unloaded the truck with the help of some friends.

This week I've been getting ready for classes, and Becky has been getting the house ready... seems like there are a million things to do. Becky's parents are also in town on vacation to work on their farm and see us, so we've spent some time with them. A few nights ago we ate dinner at the farm and got to see Bill's new tractor (it's behind our happy family):


I'm looking forward to re-connecting with old friends. Feel free to drop by my office if you are on Harding's campus... this is where I will be spending most of my time from now on.

Fourth wedding anniversary

Becky and I were married four years ago today in Searcy, Arkansas. We celebrated today by hiring a babysitter and having a nice lunch at The Trellis in Williamsburg (and their famous Death by Chocolate cake) and then walking around and enjoying our time away.

I cannot thank God enough for providing such an encouraging and loving spouse. I honestly don't think I could have made it through the Ph.D. process without her support. Although I could go on and on about Becky and embarrass her endlessly, I'll just say this: someday I pray our son will find a wife as incredible as his mother.

Bad news from Blacksburg

I stayed home today to help Becky a little with Ethan, and after returning from the hotel demolition, I returned home to discover there had been a shooting at Virginia Tech this morning. From what we can tell, it is the single largest school shooting in American history, reviling the Colombine massacre, with close to 30 students killed. This is the second time a gunman has been loose on their campus this year.

In the past few years at ODU, we’ve had a basketball player shot close to where I work out (he was ok) and a female student who was murdered in a mall parking lot by her ex-boyfriend. But nothing as crazy as a gunman going around campus killing kids. Now the media frenzy begins of assigning blame... Was it the administration's fault? Bullies? Parents? Law makers? Global warming? Everything will be rehashed endlessly while those involved try to make peace with it and move on. blah.

I pray God will ease the suffering of those involved.

A friend recently reminded me of what Jesus once said to his disciples:

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." - John 16:33

Update 4/19/07

Now idiots all over the country, including one at ODU, are showing how original they can be. I got this email last night:

April 18, 2007

Dear Members of the Old Dominion University Community,

We just received a telephone threat which we are taking seriously. The caller said “There is going to be a shooting at ODU....”

We have increased security on campus and our police are working with the Norfolk City Police to insure safety and security on campus.

Please exercise caution and report any unusual activity to the campus police at 683-4000.

Students who choose not to attend class tonight will be accommodated.


Sincerely yours,

Roseann Runte
President

Agassi and Blake in Norfolk

Last night I finally got to see Andre Agassi in person at Anthem LIVE! at the Constant Center. Anthem LIVE! was hosted by James Blake to raise money for cancer research (James’ father died of cancer several years ago). Becky surprised me with a ticket to the event a few weeks ago. She couldn’t go with me though since this weekend she was in her friend Amy’s wedding in Memphis.


This is only the second time I’ve seen a live professional tennis match- the first was years ago in Denver when I saw an exhibition with Jimmy Connors and David Wheaton. And then there was the time I ran into Steffi Graf (now Andre’s wife) years ago in an elevator in San Antonio (nice legs ), but she wasn't exactly swining a racquet. So I was really excited about the event.

Anthem LIVE! opened with Boyd Tinsley (of the Dave Matthews Band) and the Blake brothers playing doubles against the Bryan brothers. Bob and Mike Bryan are currently the number 1 ranked doubles team in the world. After 3 games, James and his brother Thomas took on the Bryan brothers in a lively 8 game set with the Bryan brothers ending up on top.

After the doubles match, I ran down to the entrance way where Agassi was going to enter and took some snaps with my phone (Becky took our digital camera with her to Memphis). The crowd went nuts when Agassi came out of the tunnel. I was about 10 feet away despite the usher who kept yelling at me to return to my seat. Common- I’m not going to stab the guy.

Andre and James played an entertaining two set match, ending in a win for James after a third set tie-breaker. There were some great shots by both players, and the crowd loved it. Most people stayed to the very end (around 10:30 pm).

An interesting fact I learned last night: Agassi and Graf are the only two tennis players to have won every Grand Slam tournament and a gold metal in tennis. Can you image the genes their kids must have?!

I may not have gotten to see Agassi play in the US Open or Wimbledon, but this was pretty awesome. Now if I can just get Becky to let me name our son Agassi...

Club a la 700

This morning I sat in the audience during the taping of the 700 Club, the daily news show hosted by Pat Robertson, Gordon Robertson, and Terry Meeuwsen. The 700 Club is filmed at the CBN headquarters which is located on the Regent University campus in Virginia Beach. The show is broadcasted daily on several cable stations.

When Becky and I first moved to Virginia, our tourist book mentioned that the 700 Club was filmed in Virginia Beach, and I really wanted to see it being filmed. Becky thought that I was crazy. I’m not a frequent viewer of the 700 Club, but I’ve always wanted to see some TV show being filmed live, and this is the first opportunity I’ve ever had. Living in Searcy, Arkansas doesn’t present many opportunities. Since I’ve got tons of spare time these days, I figured I could take off one morning to see the taping.

I was only one of five audience members (apparently the audience size fluctuates from day to day). Pat came out before the show began and said a quick prayer for us and the show and then joined Terry who was already positioned at the news counter.

The show began with comments on the recent Pope vs. radical Islamic spat. There was a piece about Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and then talk about Iraq. The show was mainly scripted, but Pat made several remarks off the cuff. I believe it’s these types of remarks which have gotten him in trouble in the past. After the piece on Ahmadinejad which focused on his desire to bring about the end of times, Pat exclaimed: "Well, that is just weird..."

Dr. Kevin Leman, a prominent Christian psychologist and author, was the single guest. My mom would have liked to meet Dr. Leman since she’s a big fan of his Birth Order Book. He was interviewed by Terry and talked about his new book on single parenting, but as soon as the interview was over he bolted. I guess I’ll get that autograph some other time.

After the taping Pat thanked us for coming, and Terry hung around and talked to each of us. We then were given a tour of the CBN building. It was like touring a museum since there were numerous pieces of original art including the largest painting of the Lord’s Supper produced in the 20^th century. Our tour concluded with a very earnest prayer (which I really appreciated). After that I met up with Becky for lunch.

I really enjoyed getting a behind-the-scenes look at how a TV show is ran. The guys at CBN are real pros. Now it's back to the grind...