9.25.2005

Caleb knows football

Wow, it's only been a few days and I'm already blogging again! I promise I won't bore you with work stuff or economics. HA! I'm really bummed because I have to go back to work tomorrow and I'm a little nervous that we may have some mistakes from last week while I was out. My trader called me 5 times while I was at the hospital!! Oh well, it's only peoples' money! HA!

It feels good though sitting here in my recliner, legs kicked up, Sunday Night football game on my new TV in our new entertainment center, Dr. Pepper nearby, and my laptop in my lap...and oh yeah, winning BOTH of my fantasy football games! Also, after all of our company from the weekend left, I spot cleaned the carpet tonight and it looks a little better, so I feel a little more relaxed. Spots on our carpet drive me insane, which by the way, is not very convenient with 4 kids now. I think our next meaningful purchase will be a steam cleaner. Being anal about things can be very good at times, but other times it can drive you crazy.

Caleb watched some of the Cowboys game today with me, so I have officially introduced him to the NFL. I'll give him another few days to get settled in, and then I'll start working on his precision passing and distance. He already can throw his arms up and scream, so I think he's been working on his touchdown celebration dance. Such an overachiever already!

Thanks to Kelly and Alicia for stopping by this evening. It was good to see the both of you again! Alicia, I'll be waiting for your blog address. :) Kelly you don't look prego. Hopefully my directions to Joe's Crab Shack didn't send you to Mexico or somewhere else!

Last week I finished a novel. I don't read books a lot, but I enjoy them when I do. I read a lot of news and sports and economic commentaries, but it may take me 3-6 months to read a book. This most recent book was "The Broker" by John Grisham. I vowed a few years ago to never read a Grisham book again because his endings are so weak. He does good with story and character development, and even builds a good climax, but his endings always leave me feeling like I just wasted the last 3 months. I decided to read "The Broker" because it is set in Italy. I really enjoyed that aspect, but the actual plot was not very impressive. I think Grisham just loves Italy and wanted to write a book about it. Can't blame him. Anyway, now I'm going to try and hurry up and finish the biography of John Nash (the guy in the movie, A Beautiful Mind). I started reading it in June 2003 when Kylie was born. It has been a slow read, mostly because I would go 3-4 months without reading it and then pick it up again. It's been a very interesting book, but when it delves into some of his mathematical and economical theories, or details some his delusional experiences, it gets a little hairy and you have to read (study) some paragraphs 2-3 times. I only have about 60 pages left, so I hope to finish it in the next few weeks. One motivation I have to finish the book is a new book I bought that I'm anxious to start reading. I say new book, but it was actually written in 1978, and I bought it from someone over ebay. It is called "The Roots of Evil" by Norman L. Geisler. It's a christian philosophy book on evil, or maybe it sounds better to say it is a theistic explanation/exploration of evil. People always ask, 'Why do bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people?' This book does a great job of explaining evil. One may say, "If God created all things, and evil is a thing, then God created evil." The book proposes that evil is not a "thing", but a depravation of good. A blind man does not have blindness, but he is instead deprived of sight. It's the absence of something. Another topic the book explores is why God doesn't stop evil, or why he allows it. One could say "God won't let anything bad happen to my spouse, so if I throw this knife at her, God will alter it's course so that it will miss her." Obviously, this is silly, because God isn't in the business of breaking the laws of physics. Of course he can, but can you imagine a world where God constantly intervened against the laws of physics? Anyway, I just realized some of you are probably bored by now, so I'll quit. The book explores many other theistic ideas of evil, and I think it will be very enlightening, so I must hurry and finish the biography of John Nash!! I think it's important to understand evil and where God fits in because it's so easy when times get rough to question why God is allowing something bad to happen.

I've found myself, once again, looking forward to watching Survivor and Apprentice. I think they're both kind of silly to watch, but for some reason, they are the only two shows I watch regularly. Donald Trump is a dork.

3 comments:

Paige Fockler said...

Well I had a great time visiting on Sunday and just love Caleb. How is Cara doing I was really worried about her and told her to call me today if she felt better, but there was no call. I would really like to know the name of the book you are going to read soon. It sounds very interesting and something that might help me out. Miss ya, and love ya!

Jeff said...

When a book is disappointing and you feel like you have wasted three months reading it - heres a solution - read it quicker!

Congrats on the boy!

fockler said...

Hey,
just FYI:
Any account of the relationship between God and evil is called a theodicy.
Congratulations to both of y'all, by the way!
Dustin