Bart 2010-07-10 at 08-53-41, originally uploaded by george and wendy.

Here’s our cat, Bart. His name is short for ‘Bartimaeus’ (as in ‘blind Bartimaeus’ from the Gospel according to Mark, chapter 10). He is a purebred Abyssinian ‘thrown away’ to us nearly 13 years ago…’thrown away’ because he (and his sister Maggie, who died this past February) had severe corneal ulceration due to the feline herpes he caught from his mother at birth.

We are happy that he’s ours…as Wendy says, had he had perfect vision, he would have been a holy terror. He also would likely have been a prize-winning show cat.

Instead, he is an incredibly sweet cat who constantly tries to coax us into the bedroom to sleep…he loves being under the covers with the ‘big cats’.

Al 2010-07-03 at 08-21-21, originally uploaded by george and wendy.

In anticipation of our upcoming UK/Ireland cruise, Wendy and I invested in a new camera–a Canon EOS 7D. It’s a high-end digital SLR (not the highest end, mind you…we’re not professionals!), and I am pleased with the sample pictures we’ve already taken.

I am very excited about all the wonderful places we will see soon; hopefully this camera will help us capture images that we will be sharing.

Oh…by the way, this is Al. It was very kind of her to condescend to my attempts at photography!

Several years ago, I blogged extensively. More recently, I attempted to “re-start” my blog, but had a lot of trouble trying to find an ‘identity’ for the blog…would I blog about about my faith? Although compelling, for my own reasons, that was too personal a topic for sharing. My work programming? Interesting and cool, but not enough desire on my part to re-live my work in blog form.

This morning I was thinking that, since the release of WordPress 3.0 last week, I would try to take up blogging again. But this time, I would start with less ambition and less of a preconceived notion of what the blog should be. Just share thoughts about what I’m reading and doing on a (hopefully) daily basis.

In other words, I will try to just let the blog grow organically…see where it goes!

Wendy said I should tell people about this little piece of cool-ness…

This is the wikipedia page for Florent Malouda, a player for my football team, Chelsea F.C. Last week, someone came across our Flickr! page, found this picture I had taken of Malouda at Stanford in July, and asked if it would be okay to use the image on his wikipedia entry. I said sure!

Maybe he’ll see it, and ask me to be his guest at a Chelsea home game…

IMG_2445.JPG, originally uploaded by george and wendy.

Wendy’s all gradu-mat-ated! Several years, 210 pages of dissertation, several special comprehensives, a horrendous German language exam (which a UCD German professor had trouble with!), and a healthy sprinkling of life’s traumas (the passing of both grandmothers, et al.), have finally culminated in a new doctor. My doctor. Doctor Wendy. I’m so very proud of her!

Ok…reading my title, most of you who know Wendy already knew this, and are perhaps wondering why it took me so long to realize it!

Well, I didn’t just realize it, thank you very much. I just finished being reminded by how abso-frickin’-lutely brilliant she is.

As she’s noted, she has finished her dissertation and handed it in…signed, sealed, delivered–done. Although I had numerous talks with her while she worked on it, doing some minor reference work for her (she had more than enough other stuff to do!), I hadn’t read more than a few sentences of the work.

Until today (ok, I started yesterday, but finished today).

As I was telling Wendy’s brother Nick via IM yesterday evening, it’s quite brilliant. In its just over 200 pages, she hones existing Linguistic tools (from the sub-field of Pragmatics), challenges contemporary historical theories, and provides a new tool for the study of spiritual texts! Not to mention some cool Medieval French usage, and an amazing chapter on the philosophy of language use…

If I listen to what Wendy says about me nearly every day, I quickly forget just how much smarter she is than me (she likes to make me feel up to the intellectual task of being her husband). After reading this, it’s going to take some effort on her part to make me feel intellectually adequate to that task!

I’m very proud of her.

bienvenidos aficionados, originally uploaded by gmterry.

“Welcome Fans” is how the scoreboards greeted us last night in Oakland. It was our first international friendly soccer match, between Mexico and Ecuador, and it was an amazing experience!

First, it seemed we’d gone to a party with nearly 50,000 other people…the sounds of celebration were so loud, that there were only a few moments during the entire evening in which we were able to hear the p.a. system. Cheering. Singing. Horns blaring. Drums beating.

Also, we were there supporting Bay Area soccer. The San Jose Earthquakes ceased to be at the end of the 2005 season. The fans weren’t happy about that, and soccer is very popular here in northern California; the Oakland A’s owner Lew Wolfe purchased the option to re-develop the Earthquakes franchise, and are moving closer to making that a reality, with a potential new stadium in San Jose.

At any rate, this event was hosted by Earthquakes LLC, the re-development company began by Wolfe. As a result, those fans interested in supporting the Quakes and soccer were given a block of tickets to the game. We were able to meet some Quakes fans.

The game was great…the atmosphere as charged as it was, so many people there to enjoy soccer. I’ve been to lots of sporting events, but never anything like this!

Mexico started out very strong, scoring theor first goal within 45 seconds of kick-off. Ecuador scored an equalizer near the end of the frirst half.

The second half was more Ecuador’s…they scored a second goal early in the half. Mexico brought the game level in the in the 74th minute, then went on to score two more goals, winning the game 4-2.

IMG_2421.JPG, originally uploaded by gmterry.

While watching Chelsea play this morning, the light came through our family room window and illuminated the icon of Mary and Jesus. We really love having this window into the eternal always present in this room, and I wanted to share it.

According to the Science Fiction Book Club, below is a list of the fifty most significant SF Books from 1953-2002. I’ve placed an asterix beside the ones I’ve read. Which ones have you read? The majority of the ones I haven’t read we actually have, and I need to get about reading them…

1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien*
2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov (I’ve only read the first book)
3. Dune, Frank Herbert*
4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein*
5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin*
6. Neuromancer, William Gibson
7. Childhood’s End, Arthur C. Clarke*
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
9. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley*
10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
11. The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe*
12. A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr.*
13. The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov
14. Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras
15. Cities in Flight, James Blish
16. The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett*
17. Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison*
18. Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison
19. The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester
20. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany
21. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey*
22. Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card*
23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson*
24. The Forever War, Joe Haldeman*
25. Gateway, Frederik Pohl
26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, J.K. Rowling*
27. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams*
28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice
30. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin*
31. Little, Big, John Crowley*
32. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny
33. The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick*
34. Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement
35. More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon
36. The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith
37. On the Beach, Nevil Shute
38. Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke*
39. Ringworld, Larry Niven*
40. Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
41. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien*
42. Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut*
43. Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner*
45. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
46. Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein
47. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock*
48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks*
49. Timescape, Gregory Benford*
50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer*

Via The Lesser of Two Weevils. I’m always telling Wendy, “Oh, I saw them in concert.” But I don’t think I’ve listed all of the concerts I’ve been to before. Here’s the best I can do:

Not on my ‘official’ list, because they were with my family, and were my parents’ choice:

• Mel Tillis (August 1977, California State Fair)
• Debbie Boone (April 1981, Knott’s Berry Farm)

‘Official’ List:

• Rush (May 25, 1984; Jan. 30 & 31, 1986; May 24, 1986; Feb. 10, 1994; Nov. 21, 1996; Sept. 18, 2002; July 12, 2004)
• The Cure (July 12, 1987)
• Peter Gabriel (Dec. 13, 1986; Sept. 23, 1988–Amnesty Tour; Dec. 14, 2002; June 8, 2003)
• Sting (Mar. 25, 1988; Sept. 23, 1988–Amnesty Tour)
• Pink Floyd (Dec. 1987)
• Genesis (Oct. 20, 1986)
• REO Speedwagon (Oct., 1984)
• Iron Maiden (Mar. 21, 1985)
• Night Ranger (Spring, 1985)
• A-ha (Aug. 19, 1986)
• Rod Stewart (Aug. 16, 1988)
• Dave Matthews Band (May 18, 2002)
• Madonna (July 20, 1987)
• INXS (Aug. 27, 1986)
• Jethro Tull (Sept. 24, 1996)
• Depeche Mode (July 5, 1986)
• Barenaked Ladies (Dec. 17, 1999; Oct. 11, 2000; Oct., 2003–with Train on Alcatraz; Nov. 21, 2003; Dec. 14, 2005)
• Guster (Oct. 11, 2000–opened for Barenaked Ladies)
• Blind Boys of Alabama (Dec. 14, 2002–opened for Peter Gabriel)
• Bruce Springsteen (Sept. 23, 1988–Amnesty Tour)
• Calexico (Oct. 19, 2005–with Iron & Wine)
• Carbon Leaf (June 4, 2005)
• Death Cab For Cutie (Mar. 23, 2006–with Franz Ferdinand)
• The Decemberists (Oct. 19, 2006)
• Eisley (Oct. 18, 2005–with Switchfoot)
• Eric Clapton (Aug. 10, 2001)
• Garbage (Dec. 17, 1996–opened for Smashing Pumpkins)
• Indigo Girls (June 23, 1998–Lillith Fair; Nov. 14, 2004)
• Iron & Wine (Oct. 19, 2005–with Calexico)
• Jeffrey Gaines (Fall, 1995–opened for Paula Cole)
• Emerson, Lake & Palmer (Sept. 24, 1996–opened for Jethro Tull)
• Natalie Merchant (June 23, 1998–Lillith Fair)
• Nickel Creek (Dec. 10, 2005)
• O.A.R. (Mar. 5, 2005)
• Paula Cole (Fall, 1995; first headline show)
• David Bowie (Aug. 7, 1987)
• Sarah McLachlan (June 23, 1998–Lillith Fair)
• Franz Ferdinand (Mar. 23, 2006–with Death Cab For Cutie)
• Me’Shell Ndegeocello (June 23, 1998–Lillith Fair)
• Erykah Badu (June 23, 1998–Lillith Fair)
• Smashing Pumpkins (Dec. 17, 1996)
• Sufjan Stevens (Oct. 10, 2006)
• Switchfoot (Oct. 18, 2005–with Eisley; Apr. 23, 2006)
• Tracy Chapman (Sept. 23, 1988–Amnesty Tour)
• Train (Oct. 2003–opened for Barenaked Ladies)
• U2 (June 19, 1997; Apr. 9, 2005; Nov. 8, 2005)
• Tina Turner (May 3, 2000)
• Yossou N’Dour (Dec. 13, 1986–opened for Peter Gabriel; Sept. 23, 1988–Amnesty Tour)
• Lionel Richie (May 3, 2000–opened for Tina Turner)
• Aerosmith (Jan. 26, 1988)
• Kings of Leon (Apr. 9, 2005–opened for U2)
• Oasis (June 19, 1997–opened for U2)

Christian Concerts

• Trevor Morgan (Spirit West Coast, 2004)
• Stephen Delopoulos (Nov., 2003 & Apr. 4, 2004–opened for Jars of Clay)
• Rich Mullins (Oct., 1992)
• Bebo Norman (Spirit West Coast, 2004; May 10, 2006)
• Riley Armstrong (Spirit West Coast, 2003)
• Bethany Dillon (Spirit West Coast, 2004; Oct., 2004)
• Sarah Kelly (Oct. 2003–opened for Paul Colman Trio; Nov. 19, 2004–opened for Jars of Clay)
• Relient K (Spirit West Coast, 2004)
• Kim Hill (Sept., 1992)
• Michael Card (Apr., 1991; Spring, 2003)
• Twyla Paris (Spring, 2003)
• Jeremy Camp (Spirit West Coast, 2004)
• Jars of Clay (Nov., 2003; Apr. 4, 2004; Spirit West Coast, 2004, Nov. 19, 2004; Nov. 2, 2006)
• Casting Pearls (Spirit West Coast, 2004)
• Building 429 (Spirit West Coast, 2004)
• Caedmon’s Call (Nov., 2003; May 10, 2006)
• Bob Bennett (Apr. 1991–opened for Michael Card)
• Paul Colman Trio (Spirit West Coast, 2003, Oct., 2003)

I know for a fact that there are more (opening bands, Christian artists at various festivals–perhaps even some concerts I’ve forgotten about entirely). If I can remember them, I will add to the list. But that’s quite a list so far!

Who have you seen?

(Update 4/24/2007: Remembered that I saw REO Speedwagon in Oakland, CA, in October 1984…or was it 1985?)