Malaika Wangu

I married an angel.

After being dumped once by a girl, I wrote this poem:

---

Where have all the butterflies gone
    Whose wings once tickled my heart?
Why does the fire's flame now burn so low,
    Which before, from the blaze made me start?
Where is the apple at the top of the tree
    That beckoned me up to such heights?
Where are those eyes, those star-shaming eyes,
    That smiled at me those warm summer nights?

They're gone.
It's spent.
Beyond reach.
They're closed.

A soft echo's all that remains...

   And a hope -- a sure hope!

That new butterflies will come,
That a flame will arise,
That I'll find that sweet fruit in the tree,
And that this time,
    Not eyes, but a heart I will find,
Who will smile with love on me.

---

And I found her!  All the pain of dating seems laughably insignificant now.  Christy is so good, so genuine and so true.  And she's cute :)

To the discouraged daters: keep trying.

10K

Today is a great day.  Today I turn 10,000 days old.  Happy Birthday to me!

I know because of www.wolframalpha.com.

sad wizard :(

I'm testing blogger's new interface.  This is only a test.  Do NOT read this.  I repeat: this is just a test.

So sad

This wizard is sad.  Poor wizard.

There's a location option: Yukon.

I scheduled this to come online at 9:15pm tonight.

Lions

Lately we've been reading about lions and wardrobes and witches. It has been great. Most recently, we finished The Silver Chair. Here are some parts of the story I liked best.

Jill meets Aslan in his land, a high mountain overlooking Narnia. Aslan tasks Jill with finding the lost prince and tells her four signs she will use to accomplish the task. After giving her the signs and making her repeat them until she had them memorized he says:

"Stand still. In a moment I will blow. But first, remember, remember, remember the signs. Say them to yourself when you wake in the morning and when you lie down at night, and when you wake in the middle of the night. And whatever strange things may happen to you, let nothing turn your mind from following the signs. And secondly, I give you a warning. Here on the mountain I have spoken to your clearly: I will not often do so down in Narnia. Here on the mountain, the air is clear and your mind is clear; as your drop down into Narnia, the air will thicken. Take great care that it does not confuse your mind. And the signs which you have learned here will not look at all as you expect them to look, when you meet them there. That is why it is so important to know them by heart and pay no attention to appearances. Remember the signs and believe the signs. Nothing else matters." (p.560)

Taking Aslan as a figure of Jesus Christ, his words have direct meaning for us. We have distinct spiritual experiences. At those times we can see clearly and feel as though we're on mountains looking down on common life. And we may be told to do something in the future: to know the "signs" or scriptures by heart; to remind ourselves of the time we spent on the mountain. And it's true! Common life happens and the signs or scriptures seem not to fit. But they do and we should follow them.

Near the climax of Jill's and Eustace's adventure, they must decide whether or not to untie a dangerous person from the silver chair. Their reason for untying him: one of the signs Aslan gave Jill indicates that they should. Their reason for not untying him: they think he will kill them if they do.

"Do you mean you think everything will come right if we do untie him?" said Scrubb.

"I don't know about that," said Puddleglum. "You see, Aslan didn't tell Pole what would happen. He only told her what to do. That fellow will be the death of us once he's up, I shouldn't wonder. But that doesn't let us off following the sign."

That's faith! Either The Lion is right or He is wrong. If He is right, it doesn't matter what happens in the interim from following what He has commanded.

Life is Grand

Christy is visiting her sister this week. But it's okay. I'm not one bit sad. Life is pretty much the same.

I sleep.

I shave.

I get food out of the fridge.

I scamper off to work.

I drive to work.

I work.

I leave work.

I drive home.

I eat delicious dinners.

And even delicious desserts.

Don't even worry about me. I'm totally fine.

Oh, things

I was looking at Salt Lake's weather today and was presented with this:

The popup asks, "Would you like to save this location?"

YES! Yes, I'd like to save Salt Lake City! Is it going to be torn down? What do you need from me in order to save it? I'd donate funds to keep it around! Please, everyone, I plead with you to go to weather.com and vote to save Salt Lake City!

Also, I'm getting married this weekend.