For no good reason, I've been giving thought to names recently. I have always had an interest in names; meaning, numberology, historical significance, etc. The book I'm reading has a unique name in it, and I'm reminded of my own daughter's name.
Kariana is a name that I pulled out of the ether. I used it for a D&D character (a kick-ass ranger for those who care). Names have an interesting ability. That character was actually never used in a real game. I often wished to create a new character that I could adventure with to finally give her the adventures she deserved. Even though she's never been used, I already have the entire character fleshed out in my mind.
When we decided to use that name for our daughter, I was a bit hesitant. It was as though I was giving up control of the name. Yet, choosing that name may have been the easiest part of the whole process. We knew that it was meant to be her name. We had more agonizing discussions on what her middle name would be, since her first name was always a given.
Once we knew we were going to run with it, I had to find out what it means. So consulting the interwebs, I stumbled upon that Kari (which is short for Karen, which is short for Katherine) means "pure," and Ana means "grace." So Kariana becomes "pure grace." Now, this amused me endlessly, as anyone who knows me knows that I am not graceful, and I cannot imagine someone with my genetic code not being cursed by that. It was not until she was two that I realized the true meaning of her name.
See, I'd been thinking of grace as in "elegance or beauty of form, manner, motion, or action," and that may have been an error. Now, I'm a spirtual man still finding my way in the world so this was not readily apparent to me. The definition I should have been looking for is under the theological definitions of grace: the freely given, unmerited favor and love of God, the influence or spirit of God operating in humans to regenerate or strengthen them, a virtue or excellence of divine origin.
Now, we often refer to our children as blessings, and I admit to the father bias. But I can't help looking at her and believing that she is destined for something greater. I don't presume to know the way the world works, and I would never presume to tell her what her place is in the world. But I know the spark that I see in her eyes. She has fundamentally altered Kim and my life for the better, and I often wonder if she will have the same affect on the world.
6.03.2009
5.08.2009
5.04.2009
Snikt!
So, I went and saw Wolverine this weekend. Let me start by explaining a little about my perspective on the movie. I'm a casual comic book fan. Here's what I mean:
Facts I know: Cyclops' real name, Wolverine's claws are adamantium, what the Phoenix is, and so on.
Facts I don't know: Current active teams (Excalibur, X-Factor, etc), who built the Sentinels, etc.
As for the movie. I enjoyed it. After doing some post-movie research on who exactly was in it, I realized that the portrayal of some of the mutants could have been off-putting to some die hard fans, but that's not how I watched it. Was it engaging? Did I care? Did I stay up, even though it was a midnight showing and I had to be at work in 6 hours? The answer to all of these is a resounding YES!
Would I recommend it to my friends... hmm, this is a bit tentative. Friends that just want some popcorn and a movie. Yes. Friends that do know who built the Sentinels, that's for them to figure out on their own (but they'll probably see it anyways).
Here's the thing. I had no problem accepting the conventions of the movie. Wolverine and Sabertooth were half-brothers. Fine. Cyclops is used by Stryker's mutant army for eviltude. Sure. Humvees in the early 80s. HELL NO!. See, there's this scene where Wolvie's being hunted and the army chases after him. Helicopters are all Hueys (although I've been informed by a reliable source that Black Hawks were possible). But for this scene, suddenly two Humvees pop out of the woods. The problem: Humvees didn't start to get deployed until 1985 (I didn't see my first Humvee until 1994). To make the issue even more egregious, the previous scene showed the army tooling around in Jeeps, which is what they should have had!
Verisimiltude. Look it up.
Facts I know: Cyclops' real name, Wolverine's claws are adamantium, what the Phoenix is, and so on.
Facts I don't know: Current active teams (Excalibur, X-Factor, etc), who built the Sentinels, etc.
As for the movie. I enjoyed it. After doing some post-movie research on who exactly was in it, I realized that the portrayal of some of the mutants could have been off-putting to some die hard fans, but that's not how I watched it. Was it engaging? Did I care? Did I stay up, even though it was a midnight showing and I had to be at work in 6 hours? The answer to all of these is a resounding YES!
Would I recommend it to my friends... hmm, this is a bit tentative. Friends that just want some popcorn and a movie. Yes. Friends that do know who built the Sentinels, that's for them to figure out on their own (but they'll probably see it anyways).
Here's the thing. I had no problem accepting the conventions of the movie. Wolverine and Sabertooth were half-brothers. Fine. Cyclops is used by Stryker's mutant army for eviltude. Sure. Humvees in the early 80s. HELL NO!. See, there's this scene where Wolvie's being hunted and the army chases after him. Helicopters are all Hueys (although I've been informed by a reliable source that Black Hawks were possible). But for this scene, suddenly two Humvees pop out of the woods. The problem: Humvees didn't start to get deployed until 1985 (I didn't see my first Humvee until 1994). To make the issue even more egregious, the previous scene showed the army tooling around in Jeeps, which is what they should have had!
Verisimiltude. Look it up.
4.22.2009
No one will notice
I know no one reads this, but it's where I hide all the cool stuff. Today was particularly cool. If you weren't aware, President Obama was in Iowa today visiting a wind turbine tower factory. The fun part, I happen to work about a half mile from the airport. Unfortunately, while chained to my desk, I don't usually see planes coming and going. Sure we can hear when the Air Force Reserve stationed here does their maneuvers, and when coming and going into the building (and the wind is the right way) I get to see the planes landing. Close enough to read logos, but not close enough to get tail numbers.
So today, I ran out to grab some lunch. As I was walking out of the building, I noticed a Black Hawk (shout out to Todd) in the air. Rare, but not unusual. I remembered that the president was scheduled to show up sometime around now. On the way back to the office, I noticed another Black Hawk, apparently circling the airport. Now I knew something was up. I glanced over to my left and noticed a large plane on approach. Bear in mind, I just happened to be at the right angle at the right time to see it. Also bear in mind, Des Moines doesn't get 747 traffic.
I had a hunch that this was Air Force One, so I hurried to the top of the hill next to my office building. Sure enough, it was. We're near the end of the runway, so I got a pretty much head on view of watching her approach, land, and taxi on the tarmac. Since its been a little dry lately, there was even the fun effect of kicking up some dust as she touched down.
Awesome.
This marks the third time I've seen Air Force One (Ironically, the other two times were closer.) But she's still an awesome bird. (And it was kind of cool knowing that a president that I actually voted for was on board).
I felt a little guilty, like I wasn't supposed to be there because of security. I didn't want to linger and watch her finish taxiing, just in case I did get in trouble (for just watching). I think that's a bit sad. Apologies that I didn't have the foresight to grab the camera this morning (and yes I have a camera phone, but come on. I wasn't that close).
So today, I ran out to grab some lunch. As I was walking out of the building, I noticed a Black Hawk (shout out to Todd) in the air. Rare, but not unusual. I remembered that the president was scheduled to show up sometime around now. On the way back to the office, I noticed another Black Hawk, apparently circling the airport. Now I knew something was up. I glanced over to my left and noticed a large plane on approach. Bear in mind, I just happened to be at the right angle at the right time to see it. Also bear in mind, Des Moines doesn't get 747 traffic.
I had a hunch that this was Air Force One, so I hurried to the top of the hill next to my office building. Sure enough, it was. We're near the end of the runway, so I got a pretty much head on view of watching her approach, land, and taxi on the tarmac. Since its been a little dry lately, there was even the fun effect of kicking up some dust as she touched down.
Awesome.
This marks the third time I've seen Air Force One (Ironically, the other two times were closer.) But she's still an awesome bird. (And it was kind of cool knowing that a president that I actually voted for was on board).
I felt a little guilty, like I wasn't supposed to be there because of security. I didn't want to linger and watch her finish taxiing, just in case I did get in trouble (for just watching). I think that's a bit sad. Apologies that I didn't have the foresight to grab the camera this morning (and yes I have a camera phone, but come on. I wasn't that close).
