Thesis - Round One

My boss got my thesis back to me with the first round of edits. It is pretty brutal. He did say it wasn't the worst he's ever read. Scientific writing is so different from every other form of writing, so it is hard to change your mindset. Scientific writing is also the most boring thing to read. With any form of higher academia, whether it be legal writing, medical writing, government writing, or scientific writing, it seems these communities have made it so difficult to understand, one begins to wonder if it isn't intentional. If you write things in a certain way that only you can understand it than you make yourself more valuable if other people want to know what you're talking about. Basically job security. When I go back and read some of the older papers with hand drawn figures and written on typewriters, they are so easy to understand when compared with the stuff from current day. It makes me wonder if all this research we are doing; what purpose does it serve if no one can understand it. Maybe these higher education circles will so isolate themselves they run themselves out of business.

Wasteful Wednesday - Stairmaster

I am a stairs only kind of guy except for a few situations. I probably go up and down 3 flights of stairs in my building 3-5 times a day depending on the schedule. I do take the elevator when I get here and when I leave because I have my bike with me. I used to carry it up and down the stairs as an extra workout, but I kept running into the walls making the turns and it was scratching my bike. So there are situations where an elevator is useful, however I suspect the vast majority of elevator use is from a lack of desire to exert the effort to take the stairs. From my office I have a clear view of the two elevators in our building. So I have a pretty good idea of the clientele that frequent it.

That brings me to this week's edition of 'Wasteful Wednesday.' Its really not that big of a deal nor a real waste. I have just been bored in my office lately and have noticed this so I thought I would tie it in for today. There is a seemingly fit lady who works on my floor and she is always taking the elevator. I know, not that big of a deal. The thing that stands out to me though, is in the afternoon she always changes in what appears to be workout clothes (shorts, t-shirt, tennis shoes, etc.), and has an gym bag with her. So after she changes and is leaving for the assumed gym she takes the elevator instead of the meager three flights of stairs. Maybe she doesn't want to wear herself out before she gets to the gym to wear herself out.

 (The view from my office door)

I just thought it was slightly humorous.

Dry Bags

Our big canoe trip to the 11 Point River in Missouri is coming up this weekend.  We went to this river last summer for Russell's bachelor party. We had a great time and I have been wanting to go back and take Rebecca. I started brainstorming the trip back in February and as of right now there are 5 couples going. The weather is looking good and all our plans are coming together. Since it is a canoe trip, space is limited and getting wet is always a possibility. Tedrick showed me these relatively inexpensive dry bags from Bass Pro. Ours and the Franci's came in today. One step closer.

Summer Stall

I feel I am at a standstill in my thesis writing. I am in the 90 page range right now. There is not much else I can do until I get some feedback. I have three things I'm waiting to hear back from other people so I can move forward on completing this thing.

1. My boss: He is in the process of making the first edit of my paper. This will be a bloodbath of red ink, but good because I know what direction to go from here. Been waiting since April 27th.
2. Committee member: I still have one experiment to complete as part of my research. The preliminary results were disheartening, so I need to meet with him to discuss adjusting protocol. Been waiting since May 12th
3. Committee member: He is the stats expert and met with me yesterday to go over some of data. I just emailed him with some of the updates to see if I was on the right track. Been waiting since 11:30 AM.n (Update: committee member called me at 2:30 and gave me some feedback, so that kept me busy the rest of the afternoon)

All of this waiting does nothing for my motivation. With Rebecca and my other interests taking off, it is hard to keep focused on finishing school. Much worse than senioritis. We will be leaving Starkville July 31 whether I am done or not. I would love to be completely finished so I don't have to come back to wrap up things.

"Up here...I'm already gone." - Kramer 

Garage Sale

I had been gathering stuff for a near future garage sale at my parents house for quite some time. Well, the day finally came and even though Rebecca and I couldn't be there we had contributed a good bit of stuff. Along with my parents, a few other families contributed to the sale. Mom told me Rebecca and I made $65 from the stuff of ours that sold. That will probably go towards our Atlanta trip coming up with David and Emily.

Rebecca and I have been married only a year and already our apartment is jam packed. Going through my stuff to see what I could 'let go of,' was an interesting thought process. I noticed a couple of things about my mindset that could always stand to be evaluated.

Why do we have so much stuff? Do we need it? Some of it yes, some of it no. The obvious stuff I no longer wanted (more appropriate word than needed) was easy to put towards the garage sale. However, the vast majority of it I wanted to keep. Is it because I need it? Do I use it often? Probably not. So why is it so hard to get rid of? Could it be I define myself and find comfort in my possessions? Unfortunately, all too often. If salvation in Jesus and eternal life in heaven is what we profess, then that should always define us, not our possessions. If eternity in heaven is our promise than what earthly possessions could possibly compare to that comfort.

"For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." - Matthew 6:21

A second thing I noticed about selling my stuff, was the huge drop in value things take. The few things that did sell brought pennies on the dollar for what I paid for them. All the time, effort, and money put into buying, storing, moving these things and then they are practically worthless in such a short time.


Both of these reasons reminded me of the wisdom needed when purchasing stuff. No expenditure is above personal discretion as small ones can add up and it easy to make habits. When I am out and there are opportunities to buy things I want more than need, I have started telling myself 'I can do without that for a little longer,' and I have yet to have missed any one of those things I considered buying. Its always good to get rid of some of your stuff and remind yourself of what is important.

"Live like no one else, so you can live like no one else." - Dave Ramsey

Wasteful Wednesday - Mulch Volcano

Its time for the second edition of Wasteful Wednesday that I failed to write on a Wednesday, again. Another testament that I should change the name.

I saw this topic of discussion just outside Dorman Hall. These oak trees were planted within the last couple years during the creation of the Junction. I've seen this practice done several times on campus. It is interesting to me because it involves landscaping and university money.

From a academic point of view we call these 'mulch volcanoes.'  This improper way of mulching comes about after a couple of years of adding mulch. Each year when new mulch is added, the old mulch is left in place and new mulch is put on top. After a couple years of doing this, you get enough for a small burial ground.

This is bad for a tree from an agronomic standpoint because the mulch essentially chokes the roots. Roots require oxygen to function and this severely limits aerobic conditions in the soil. A large mulch pile is a huge producer of heat making a little microclimate around the tree trunk, much like a compost pile. The large amount of decomposing material and warm temperatures is also very attractive to insects to make their homes. Some of which could be harmful to the trees or tailgaters.

Its also bad from an economic point of view because its a waste of money. Each year the pile gets bigger requiring more mulch to cover it, and if the tree dies you're out a lot of money.

Not a huge deal as far as waste, so that why I threw in the plant physiology lesson for free.

True Life

For almost a year now a group of us have been anticipating an episode of MTV's True Life. This is not a throwback to my misguided TRL days. The real reason being, Rebecca's former roommate, Laura Beth and her now husband, Brett, were documented for the episode, "I'm a Newlywed." With an episode list that features entertainment such as "I'm Bisexual, I'm Addicted to Porn, I'm an Alcoholic, I work in the Sex Industry," what 'unusual' characteristic could MTV be interested in? Like many Christians, Brett and LB held to their convictions of not having sex until they were married. For MTV this is freakish enough, so as icing on the cake for the network, Brett and LB had never kissed each other, nor anyone else and wouldn't until they got to the altar. These facts allowed them the opportunity to be documented and share their story. Being MTV, Brett and LB had reservations about agreeing to the show for fear of an unfair portrayal. They obviously decided to do the show and do their best to accurately share their stories and the spiritual reasons behind their convictions, and let God handle how it is portrayed and received. Just like the stock market, there is always risk associated with reward. With a national audience a huge risk could have huge rewards for the kingdom. (Rewards are not always experienced in this life)

The big premiere was last night. David, Emily, Matthew, Clay, Kelsey, Rebecca, and I went up to the BSU to watch the show since we don't have cable. I was hoping to make the cut, but they showed very little footage from the wedding so I never got my face on national TV. Rebecca being the Maid of Honor made several clips and had a few lines. We were all pretty nervous about how they would be portrayed since they're Christians and from the South.The hour long show also documented another couple who were in a long distance relationship and just got married.There were parts that were very awkward. Since the show was about them going from 'nothing' to 'all the way,' clips were centered around conversations about sex. Having known these people for so long it was odd to see them talk about their sex life on national TV. I thought the show was good overall and cast them in a positive light. I could see some people on 'our side' not liking it so I sent Brett Williams an email this morning to give him positive feedback. I knew he wouldn't expect one from me, so it wouldn't be taken as lip service. Here is an excerpt:

Sure, parts of it were awkward, but that's the nature of MTV. I know they only took a fraction of a percent of the total film they shot and edited it to their liking. Even so, I took away two things from watching it last night.

1. I didn't feel like they tried to portray you in a inaccurate light. It felt like the same Brett and Laura Beth I was used to being around at Academy Village.
2. The crowd who usually watches MTV will consider the awkwardness mild compared to what's normally on that channel. Either they will be intrigued or write you off. If they are intrigued and seek out a greater knowledge of our Christian convictions, then mission accomplished. If not, then they are right where they started and you did them no harm.

You were able to tell your story as best as possible under the circumstances in a way that didn't compromise or misrepresent any of your beliefs to a crowd that would not have heard so otherwise. If there are those who say it was "too much husband/wife information" or "not enough about Christianity;" then the show was probably not intended to reach them and they maybe needed to change the lenses through which they viewed.

In a show that seeks to display the unique in society it is a bittersweet feeling that abstinence is such a foreign concept to so many. It is sad that so few people practice this. However, because of this reason Brett and LB were given a platform that would not have been available otherwise.

A few posts ago I wrote about marriage. The fact Rebecca and I saved ourselves for marriage has made it all the better. Abstinence prevents comparison, children out of wedlock, and STDs. It forces you to get to know the person emotionally rather than just seek out physical satisfaction.You have your whole marriage to enjoy that aspect and the good things in life are always worth waiting for.

Fin and Feather Saturday

I met my Dad, brother, friend Brad, and Dad's friend, Mr. Elmo yesterday to have a relaxing Friday and Saturday at our friend's hunting/fishing lodge entitled 'Fin and Feather.' This is the same place I had my bachelor party a little over a year ago. It a very comfy lodge with a professionally managed pond that is home to some trophy bass. The owners are extremely hospitable and generous with there getaway place.

We had a fairly successful trip fishing wise. Everyone caught some fish and lots were of good size. As part of the pond management scheme, only bass smaller than 15 inches can be kept. This allows the big fish to get bigger because of less competition for food. Also the bigger bass supposedly don't taste as good. Matt won the biggest fish of the weekend at 22 inches. (They didn't have a scale in the boat to weigh it)

Matt's boat found a cottonmouth, sunning on a tree limb slightly emerged from the water. I also brought along my Savage Arms .270 that I got from some of my groomsmen almost a year ago. I still had not shot it so that's why I had brought it along this weekend. I realize this was probably the most inefficient gun for the task, but it was all we had. We crept up to the cursed animal and I loaded the rifle. I sighted him in and fired a round. An explosion of water erupted around him and he did not budge so I assumed I had hit him. We got even closer to inspect and he was in fact still alive. I put another round in and soon after he began to slither away. I quickly pulled my rifle up and shot again. I did not miss this time. Part of the snake was propelled from the tree several feet and the rest of his maimed body  tried to slither away. His floated up to the top a few seconds later. Brad applied several whacks to the head with the paddle for good measure. He disappeared from sight after that, but he couldn't have lasted much longer. I'm glad my first shots with the rifle were serving a purpose. It was a nice way to end the testosterone weekend. 

Blowing in the Wind - A Prelude to 'Wasteful Wednesday'

I haven't had a ranting post yet and really don't want it to become the theme of this blog. Rather, I occasionally have observations about how the powers at be do things and it sometimes frustrates me. So, as a way to voice my grievances I will use this rarely viewed blog. Seems efficient enough. I shall try to limit these things to once a week and will call it 'Wasteful Wednesday' (until I come up with a cooler name). Since this is the first of its nature it is exempt from actually occurring on a Wednesday.

As a conservative, I get quite frustrated with government waste. After all it is the taxpayers money they are wasting and since I pay taxes, it is my money too. If private companies want to waste their money, then go right ahead. Since they are required to actually make a profit, waste is usually hard to come by in the private sector. Government on the other hand, does not have to make a profit and we don't have a choice when it come to giving them our money. And it seems they are constantly wanting more and more.

So the point of these 'Wasteful Wednesday' entries will be to point out government waste (hopefully with a picture) and illustrate how if they weren't so wasteful they wouldn't need more money. (Conspiracy theorists may argue they are intentionally wasteful so they can take more of our money and thus rule over us completely since they would own everything.)

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Mississippi State University and wouldn't trade it for anything. However, in my 7 years there have been a couple consistent negative threads.

1. Losing football seasons.
2. Increases in tuition.

Football has at least shown some promise, but I don't see them lowering tuition anytime soon. Tuition increases are justified as a way to cover increased university costs. One big expense and one we are consistently encouraged to do our part to lessen, is energy expenses. Lights have been turned off, thermostats regulated, and a team formed to combat wasting energy.

In my limited energy knowledge I know that lights are mere peanuts when compared with heating and cooling costs. Those are greatly influenced my how well a building is insulated. This brings us (finally, I know) to our first example of 'Wasteful Wednesday' (I already hate that title).

In my little corner of campus (Dorman Hall) I am greeted by a shot of cool or hot air, depending on the season, when I come to the building. At everyone of the 5 main level entrances to Dorman Hall there is about a half to one inch gap between the double doors.

I would suspect turning off every light in the building would be comparable to the amount of energy lost 24 hours a day through these 5 sets of doors.  I believe this poor design was a result of a recent redesign to add keycard access to every door. I don't know why that would prevent installing doors that actually touch.

I know its a small point, but just a thought I had as I enter and leave this building everyday.

Fortunately, during the winter you won't need to get inside to warm your hands, just hold them up to energy 'Blowing in the wind.'

One Year Anniversary

I am a few days behind in posting. While we were at the beach, you had to go park in front of the condo office to get internet. So using the internet meant sacrificing time with the family.

So our official anniversary was on May 9th. We combined our anniversary with Matt's triathlon at the beach. The family left on Monday and we stayed til Tuesday. Amongst all the anniversary talk Rebecca brainstormed ideas on a tradition we could do every year on our anniversary.

• One obvious one for us and fairly easy, is to take a picture of ourselves. Matt suggested we could spice that up a little bit by taking it in a different state each year, so after 50 years of marriage we would have covered every state. An intriguing idea and one I would love to accomplish. I'm afraid the first few years we'll have to knock out the Southeastern states if we go that route. Florida is off the list. 

• Another idea was to write a letter to each other every year. Also a great idea and which I actually did today. I hope I strive to do that more frequently than once a year though. 

I think that's all we came up with. If we think of something else in the next week or so we'll still count it for this year.

As for what we actually did for our anniversary we had a full day. We drove over to SanDestin to the outlet mall. Rebecca had some graduation money and a lack of "adult outfits" so she solved that problem. We took the scenic drive back to the condo in Panama City and stopped in Seaside where we took our "anniversary" picture. Its such a neat little community and a much more appealing way to me to spend time at the beach than big resort towns. We ate dinner at The Red Bar a local 'hole-in-the-wall' favorite, where there are only 5 choices on the dinner menu. 

As far as anniversary presents, we are going to take an 'I owe you' and spend the money on Rebecca's plane ticket to California in August so she can go with me to the American Society for Horticulture Science conference. 

I also wanted to take a moment to speak on marriage. Here is a small excerpt from the letter I wrote Rebecca:

It has been said many times by several people, "I can't believe it has been a year already."    While this is true I'm glad it is not the opposite because it seems the 'slow' aspects in life are the less favorable ones. So in that regard, I am not surprised nor disappointed it has gone by so quickly, because that indicates to me all the more how great it has been.

Society is quick to dismiss marriage as primarily negative and I do my best to steer away from adding to the perception simply because in my one year of experience that has not been the case. While there have certainly been some rough patches, the overwhelming majority of the past year has been wonderful. I get to spend everyday with my best friend who makes me laugh, think, and strive to be a better person.

The thing that has set Rebecca apart from any other person I know and what confirmed to me she was the girl God had deemed for me to marry was the fact that I feel I can be my true self around her. For better or worse she loves the best aspects of me and puts up with the not so great. It is such a freeing feeling to have someone that knows you inside and out and isn't scared to death of you.

To me it is such a reflection of our salvation we have in Christ as believers. Christianity get labeled as a bunch of rules, limiting your 'freedom' as a human being when it is just the opposite. Becoming a Christian is not meant to bond you to a set of rules but rather free you from the bondage of sin. Sure, sin can sometimes be fun and appealing, but in the end it leads to death. Sin is such a temporary 'freedom' and is appealing as a temporary fix. It is like a drug in the fact that a little only satisfies for a short period and thus more is required to quench that sinful desire. The bible constantly describes sin as being a slave and salvation as freedom (Romans 6:16, Galatians 5:1). Freedom in sin is just an allusion and you are actually just a slave to something else. My pastor, J.D., made those two points in a recent sermon and then quoted the Bob Dylan song "Gotta Serve Somebody." If you feel you are free in your sin, think again. You are slave to something whether it be money, women, job, kids, or your status. Salvation offers an eternal freedom (Romans 6:22), where you can live life as it was truly meant to live.

When I look at my life before marriage and this past year of marriage I am amazed at this picture of the salvation we have in Christ. During the dating scene I was constantly putting up fronts to make myself look more impressive and do what I thought would be more attractive to the females around me . I was a slave to this, just as we are slaves to sin before we are saved. When Rebecca came along I certainly tried the same methods (trying to earn salvation), but after a while she, no doubt, could begin to see the real me ( a few positive things, but mostly my sinful nature) yet she loved me all the more (Romans 5:8). When you realize this phenomenon, it does not make you want to continue to serve the "dating image" but serve your girlfriend/wife. You are free to love her not in order to earn her love in return, but because you realize she loves you no matter what you have done. To me that makes me want to be a better person in all aspects, because she has been so good to me. Marriage is not I love you because you are great and can meet all my needs, rather I love you in spite of all your weaknesses and I will trust God to meet all my needs.

It is almost comical how the world portrays this just the opposite, as the dating scene being the free zone and marriage as the 'ball and chain' (slavery). I argue it is just the opposite. I am now free to love my wife in a way that wasn't possible before marriage and I want to serve her not out of fear of rejection, but because she loves me even when she should reject me.

Like so many aspects in life, this is another example of how God uses things on Earth to point us to the picture of salvation and how salvation show us how we are to live out things on Earth. (Ephesians 5:25)

I had no intention of a post this long, but once I got going I couldn't stop.

Gulf Coast Triathlon

Its been a big weekend on several accounts. My whole side of the family including my grandparents are in Panama City Beach right now. The main reason we all came down was to watch Matt compete in the Gulf Coast Triathlon. The weekend also happened to be Mother's Day and me and Rebecca's one year anniversary. So we all came down to the beach for one big celebration. 

The race was on Saturday. It is a half-ironman which includes a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride, and 13.1 mile run. If you're ever crazy enough to want to do a full ironman, just double those numbers. Since doing my marathon back in 2006 I haven't done any major event and only a few minor ones. Usually going to watch other people briefly inspires me to want to compete again, but not this one. It just looked painful. Instead, Rebecca and I took up our seemingly normal role at these things, follow Matt around and take pictures at strategic locations, which will be interspersed in this entry. Not as exerting as doing the race but still takes effort. 

Matt's age group started the swim at 7:15. Fortunately the oil slick has not reached PCB and they still got to swim. It was overcast and windy and Matt so eloquently quoted George from Seinfeld by saying "The sea was angry that day my friends, like an old man trying to return soup at a deli." The swim is out and back so you lose sight of them pretty quick. Dad brought the Whaler down and was out at the turn point to see if he could see Matt. Dad getting to watch us compete from his boat probably a high point for him in our family's sports history. The current must have been strong because some people were coming out a hundred yards down the beach from the "take-out" point. We heard lots of complaints of the difficulty of the sea from people coming out. Matt's quote was, "That was the worst thing ever, I almost killed myself."

We then moved to the road to watch him come by on his bike. G & G (Grandmother and Granddaddy) had strategically staked out a spot where they could see him come by 4 times without having to move. We watched him come by twice on the bike then Rebecca and I drove out to the 40 mile mark to get some more pictures. It was fun to watch all the bikers come by. Rebecca got to play with her new camera some and try some new effects. Matt's quote on the bike when he passed us was, "I'm going to blow by all these people on the bridge."

We got back to G & G's spot to watch him run. Most of the people coming by looked like they were having as much fun as going to the dentist and their gait was slightly above walking. Matt came by a little more spry than most and I told him he had a great time going. His quote at this point was, "I'm in it to win it baby!" 

We made our way to the finish line. The sun had come out by this point and it was pretty hot. Matt's finishing time was roughly 5 hours and 30 minutes. It was good enough for 6th place in his age group, something he was not expecting. 

We were all worn out from the day, even those of us who didn't compete. Rebecca was successful at getting some good pictures and I was highly successful at adding to my farmer's tan. 

No matter our level of exertion for the day we all came back to the condo and took a nap.

The Beginning

I hadn't given much thought to a blog until recently and decided I wanted to give it a try for several reasons.

1. I have always enjoyed journaling but have gotten lax with it as of late, so maybe this will inspire me to do better.
2. I often have thoughts, experiences, rants, and pictures I want to share and now they can be accessed for all whom are interested in one place.
   
3. My wife has one and I can't let her get too much cooler than me.

My title comes from a Professor I had in college, who before every test said "Brevity will be rewarded." He was mainly lazy and didn't want to have to grade a lot. However, the phrase stuck with me and reminds me its not how much you say, but what you say. So, I decided on the title because of two reasons. One, I hope it describes me. I know I'm on the quieter side so I hope the words I do say "express much in few words." Two, I want it to remind me of the duration of life on this Earth. As a Christian believer, I fully believe this life on Earth is only the beginning, but we are here for a reason and need to make the most of that time. I have found that a little time spent reflecting on life leads to a greater enjoyment of those moments and a greater utilization of time in the future.

Happy Blogging.