Ktsia.com/Blog

…I want to redesign the Cyber Hymnal.

I wonder what kind of database managment it has currently?

Of course, the site needs to retain a simplicity. But there are a few things aesthetically and otherwise that I’d love to have the opportunity to direct.

Like the fact that the midi files [ack!] start up automatically and freeze my browser up every time. And the blue clouds, oh, the blue clouds.

That said, to the folks who run Cyber Hyman: thank you for the work you’ve put into it; I’ve used it innumerable times and have found it a great reference.

I overheard this conversation between my brother, Matthew, and a young boy, who I am not acquainted with. I suppose him to be about 12 years old, and I will call him ‘Nick’.

Nick: So, do you have any systems?
Matthew: any what?
Nick: systems…you know, ps2, etc….
Matthew: Oh. No, I don’t really play video games. [sisterly addition: Matthew never plays video games; he doesn't own any.]
Nick: Oh. You know? Nobody does anymore…
Matthew: eh?
Nick: No one plays video games anymore, everybody now likes to play outside
[my jaw dropped]

—

Interesting, aye? My observations have been the exact opposite concerning youth and video games, and I wonder where this young man got this perspective. Maybe he was just talking to talk, maybe he lives in a totally different environment. Or maybe, he was just a wee bit sad and a tad bitter that Matthew wasn’t into video games.

The conversation continued with Nick explaining and attempting to discuss video games with Matt. The conversation didn’t last long.

Cheers to all the young men who are following the modern trend of spending their time enjoying the great outdoors instead of sitting in front of the black screen of death. :D

Yesterday, I turned in my last school project for the semester. I also received 2 new books. What a deal! Guess what I’m looking forward to doing this break?

The first I received was a copy of Blaise Pascal’s Pensees. Pascal has fascinated me for years, but I’ve never had a copy of his works to call my own, though I picked of Pascal’s works at the library a few times. The Pensees are the collection of his theological and Christian apologetics notes– each note is to be savored, thought over again, and then, also often laughed over. Indeed, I love his blend of wit and wisdom. I’ve been known to curl up on the couch with a copy of his the Pensees and burst into laughter as I digest the words I’m reading.

Like I said though, the only time I’ve previously been able to get a hand on Pascal was with that library edition. I say that library edition. I didn’t like it. The translation was unsatisfactory, and it had a bad habit of being due back at the library way too often. Thus, I was thrilled to receive a birthday package in the mail yesterday containing “The Mind on Fire”, a collection of Pascals’ Pensees (with selections from his Provincial Letters) all edited by James Houston– edited because I can’t read French. :) I can’t wait to spend some of this break with my own copy of Pascal, gleaning nuggets of wisdom and laughing over truthful wit.

The second book I’ll spend some time with is “A Passion for the Impossible” by Miriam Huffman Rockness. Remember how I mentioned Lilias Trotter a few months ago? I initially read a chapter about her in Noel Piper’s “Faithful Women and Their Extraordinary God” and was immediately impacted by the life of this woman– Lilias Trotter, artist, missionary, not afraid of giving up anything in order to follow the call of Christ. Her faith has been an inspiration to me, and her focused life a rebuke to the self centered, scatter-brained world I find myself wrapped in.

Well, also for my birthday, Jessica gave me Lilias’ biography. I was so surprised, as I had only mentioned Lilias to Jessica a few times. Now, I don’t have to travel to MI to borrow the book from Anna. :)

What books are you reading this break?

I will sing of my Redeemer,
And His wondrous love to me;
On the cruel cross He suffered,
From the curse to set me free.

Sing, oh sing, of my Redeemer,
With His blood, He purchased me.
On the cross, He sealed my pardon,
Paid the debt, and made me free.

I will tell the wondrous story,
How my lost estate to save,
In His boundless love and mercy,
He the ransom freely gave.

I will praise my dear Redeemer,
His triumphant power I’ll tell,
How the victory He giveth
Over sin, and death, and hell.

I will sing of my Redeemer,
And His heav’nly love to me;
He from death to life hath brought me,
Son of God with Him to be.

Philip Paul Bliss, 1838-1876

And Ktsia is very, very much enjoying a few of Fernando Ortega’s albums tonight. These two.

“Christ is sufficient. We do not need support groups for each and every separate tribulation. The most widely divergent sorrows may all be taken to the foot of the same old rugged cross and find there cleansing, peace and joy.”

- These Strange Ashes, Elisabeth Elliot.

If I get a chance, I’ll write a review and synopsis of These Strange Ashes. I picked it up off the library shelf a few weeks ago and feel as if I discovered a gem!

p.s. I actually had the pleasure of meeting Elisabeth Elliot this month. :)

More than four in 10, or 43 percent, of teens who instant messaging use it for things they wouldn’t say in person, according to an Associated Press-AOL poll released. .. “If they freak out or something, you don’t see it,” said Cassy Hobert, 17, a high school senior from Frenchburg, Ky., and avid IMer who has used it for arranging dates. “And if I freak out, they don’t have to see it.” … “Fear of rejection — if you’re face to face, you can’t close out the window and disappear if you’ve been rejected” like you could if you were instant messaging.

Read the rest from FoxNews.com

Interesting. And quite sad. What do you think?

“How sweet all at once it was for me to be rid of those fruitless joys which I had once feared to lose! …You drove them from me, You who are the true, the sovereign joy. You drove them from me and took their place… O Lord my God, my Light, my Wealth, and my Salvation.” -Augustine (quoted in John Piper’s Taste and See)

HT: Anna from Hope Road

It’s re-exploding! There you see it, AK and KP are blogging together, Jake’s over at Off the Cuff now, Zachary (who I had the privilege of meeting last month) just re-picked it up, Travis commenced again… I’m dizzy! However, Ktsia is not ready to be thrown back in the ’sphere herself.

Yes, yes, I’ll be posting when I have something to post, but I won’t be focusing over here–or probably anywhere blogwise. If ya’ll really would like to find out what I’m doing and what I’m thinking at a given moment in life, you have my email address and my phone number. :)

I love this blog. It makes me quite happy. But my goodness, I didn’t realize very many people knew about it. :D

p.s. brief update for those of you who are finding this due to linkage, and don’t know what I’m currently up to:

It seems like I was just a sophomore in highschool, blindly feeling my away around some blog called the rebelution, and making contact with a couple of kids who would soon launch off regenerate our culture. Life finds me now, still friends with all these crazy kids I met through the ’sphere, a senior, ready to graduate come spring. That’s all. The end. No, not really. :) But to answer the main question: no, I do not know exactly what I’ll be doing once I graduate. To answer any other questions: God has been so faithful, just like He always is, and His grace continues to prod me along in whatever it is He’s calling me to do at the moment– even if that means climbing what seems like gigantic mountains!

Go forth with joy!

Today is an insane day of being disturbingly annoyed at almost everything and anyone around me. Especially myself.

“Jesus washed feet, Katie.”

That was the best thing I heard all day.

“And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.”

Called to set aside my pitiful annoyances. Called to love. Called to serve. Called set aside the sin, and run with joy instead.

I added my shared items from Google Reader to my sidebar. I thoroughly enjoy seeing what others are reading, so I why shouldn’t I share mine too?

(And yes, I feel like such a copycat.)

If you, my reader, use google reader and have a shared items feed, I’d love to see it. :) Just comment me or email me with it.

(It just gets complicated when X shares an item they read from Y’s shared item feed. And thus Z, who is subscribed to both X and Y’s shared feeds and the original source, opens up his gReader one morning to find 3 RSS items of the same original post.)