Home before Midnight

Well I'm not asleep yet at 00:10, but I made it home before midnight! Tonight was a late night anyway because the Creation Museum was open until 9:00. But we're rolling out a new version of our Daily Schedule that incorporates the Museum map (starting on Sunday). I had to make sure that we had enough printed for the next several days because these new projects need to be folded by our staff before we can distribute them to guests. So, it took a while to make sure that everything was okay and to calculate the proper numbers to print. I'm off Monday and Tuesday, so I had to ensure that we'd have enough on those days, knowing that I wouldn't be around to print more.

I'm enjoying the responsibilities I have and the projects I'm working on--but sometimes it feels as though I never have enough time. Sometimes I resent the time I work on projects because I'm not on the floor doing the jobs that I really enjoy, and other times I wish I wasn't on the floor because I have so much to get done. It is a Catch-22 I guess--I wish I knew how to balance the two aspects of work life. All I know is that I don't want to go completely in one direction or the other--I love both areas: project and floor work. I especially do not want to give up working on the Museum floor with guests.

Now I must head off to bed because I need to be back at the Museum early in the morning to get the Planetarium up and running. I hope that it will be a nice and busy Saturday!

~Matt

Fireworks

Last night (i.e. Saturday) I went out with some friends to see a fireworks show (my fourth of the year, and second of the past couple weeks). It was down on the Ohio River just across the river into Indiana. It was a good show, though I deliberately didn't bring my camera, just because when I do I'm usually just trying to get good fireworks shots, and I really have plenty of those now--it was just a good time to hang out with friends and enjoy the show.

I missed seeing any fireworks on the Fourth except those few I saw on either side of the highway as I drove home from work at night. At what appeared to be the end of the show (with a nice finale) a lighted sign appeared on the barge that read "More?" Of course everybody clapped and yelled, and pretty soon the fireworks started up again. They were good, but there was no real finale to the second set, they just eventually ended.

~Matt

Stargazing

I wish I could say I took this image, but I just found it on Google. It is very nearly what I saw tonight, at least one of the things I saw. Jason Lisle, the astrophysicist on staff at Answers in Genesis had an informal stargazing session tonight. After Bible Study I headed over to the museum to join in (I'd been off today so I heard about it from a coworker).

I work the official Stargazer's Nights that the Creation Museum puts on, so I've been trained on the telescopes that the museum owns, but it is still fun to look because I'm still learning how and where to locate celestial objects. This picture is of Jupiter and the four Galelian (sp?) moons. When I looked tonight three of the moons were on one side of the planet and in line with them you could see at least two bands on the planet itself. We also looked at Saturn (you can see the rings), the galaxy M87, a globular cluster, a binary star (I don't remember the name, but it was near Cygnus--the northern cross--and one star was blue, one was gold), and several other things. It was quite fun.

It is so amazing to look up at the sky and see all that God has made. I've been in the Planetarium at the Creation Museum many, many times (I often joke that it is home because it is so familiar). If you come to the Museum you HAVE to see the show--and you can even buy a flat-screen version on DVD which is pretty awesome, even if it isn't on the domed ceiling. Anyway, at one point in the script Jason mentions when summing up all of the celestial wonders that God created that God simply said in Genesis 1:16b "He made the stars also."

~Matt

Musings on Scripture

No king is saved by the multitude of an army;
A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.
A horse is a vain hope for safety;
Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength
Psalms 33:16,17

I enjoy a good story, probably more than most. Just ask anybody who has seen how many books are crammed into my apartment. When I read I oftentimes get swept up into the drama of the story that I'm reading. This is especially true when I'm reading a good fantasy or science-fiction work by one of my favourite authors. However much I enjoy these tales though, I should remember that my life isn't scripted like a novel. My life isn't an adventure tale plotted by an imaginative human author. I am not a character in an epic story. My life is actually something better. My destiny is in loving the hands of the omnipotent, immortal, omniscient, all-powerful, loving Creator of the Universe.

I may enjoy reading the story of a kingdom saved by a hero in its hour of deepest need, but the real world does not revolve based on human strength. Behind every hero in scripture is the hand of God. God upholds the entire universe, the whole creation that he spoke into existence, only continues to exist at his sufferance because he consciously sustains it. As the psalmist said above armies, strength, and horses (perhaps money, influence, and technology today) are of no purpose if you seek to thwart God. His purpose will not be diverted or thwarted, no matter how much money you have, no matter how intelligent you are, no matter how much you've thought things through--he is God, and we (and I) are not.

~Matt

The Golden Compass

I've written before about Philip Pullman.  He is a good author, but I do not like his message in the least.  I've seen some reports that the Golden Compass movie isn't doing as well as filmmakers had hoped.  I'm not entirely disappointed.  I do not think that any kind of organized boycott would do any good.  Just look at all the negative publicity about the Creation Museum that has just increased the number of people who know about the museum and come visit!  However, I think that even with the reported dumbing down of the anti-Christian message people are avoiding the movie.

If you want to read a good column about the movie then click here.  I followed a link from another blog and wasn't sure what the column would contain.  I liked what I read though, and liked it even more as I continued to read.  It is more coherent than an argument that I could make, and I definitely agree with what is said.

Pullman is a hardcore atheist who is trying to indoctrinate children into his world view.  Reportedly he has admitted that yes, his books are basically about "killing god."  I was thinking about seeing the movie just to see how it had played out the plot.  I read all the way through the books and while you don't have to read something to critique it, it oftentimes really helps.  But now I'm not so sure.  If it isn't doing that well I don't want to help it to do better.  *shrugs*  I'll see.  I'll probably watch it on DVD when it comes out.

~Matt

PS Yes, I know I haven't written more about Chicago, I promise that it is coming.  However, today I'm quite busy working at church, then editing video, then going to a costume birthday party and taking as many pictures as I can.  Tuesday I'm not working except for a meeting, so I should have plenty of free time before Bible Study.

--
"A room without books is as a body without a soul." -Cicero

11:30

It is currently 23:30 Eastern and I just got a phone call on my house line.  Nobody calls me on that line, because I always give out my cell number.  A tired female asked, "is Barbie there?"  I wasn't sure that she had said that, so I asked her to repeat herself, and heard the same thing again.  She did apologize when I told her she had a wrong number, but I realized now that I could have had fun.

"No, this is Ken speaking.  She divorced me last year."

"Mattel factory outlet, I'm sorry we are all out of Holiday Shopping Barbie.  Please take a number and enjoys the wonder of supply and demand."

I suppose there are more, but I'm tired now and need to sleep.  As soon as I have spare time I'll be posting much more about my Chicago trip!

~Matt

--
"A room without books is as a body without a soul." -Cicero

Trip to Chicago, pt 1

Here is the first of several blog entries from Chicago.  These were all written up before they were posted on-line, several on the bus as I rode to Chicago, then others in Chicago itself.  Enjoy:

Friday, December 7, 2007 [Pearl Harbor Day]
4th & Race St, Cincinnati, OH
Megabus, 09:00 departure

~15 chapters into "The Stand," very enjoyable book--a picture of who the survivors are is starting to emerge, and the final collapse of civilization is fast approaching.  I cannot believe that I left eh book at my sister's house.  I was reading it for just a bit and set it down before I picked up my backpack and luggage to leave the house.  With the exception of "Eyes of the Dragon," which is not typical Stephen King, this is the first King book I've read outside of the Dark Tower.  [another salt truck just drove by on Race, I saw one earlier on Fourth St. as I talked to my mom].  If the book continues to be as good as it has been I'll likely pick up more of his books in the future.

I'm sure I'll get into my new Jim Butcher book, "Captain's Fury," but even though it was the reason I went to Borders I'm no longer so excited to read it.  As I said, I'm really enjoying "The Stand."

The lights just went out as the driver started to pull away from the curb.  The overhead seat lights appear to work like those on planes, but will not activate at the moment.  Thankfully there is enough light outside to manage.

I hope I've packed warm enough.  I'll have long underwear if I need it, and my aunt said they've had snow and may be expecting more.  I have three pairs of gloves--one inner set and two different bigger ones that can go on top of the smaller pair.  I need to remember to tell Grandma that I would like another pair [she remembered and sent them home with my aunt who was just visiting her].  Oh, and I need to get her gift and mail it since I won't see her at Mom & Dad's when I go down for Christmas.

We're still in downtown--I guess when your vehicle is the size of a bus you can only make certain turns, or perhaps it always takes this long.  I avoid driving in downtown Cincinnati.

We're on North 75 and just passed Union Terminal [on the left].  I still want to take Amtrak out of there sometime, but I like the bus departure times better.  Perhaps I'll take the train to D. C. in a few years when I can afford several nights in a motel/hotel.           09:15

And now back to the present.  It is a pleasant 70.2 degrees in the house and a chilly 22.3 outside.  I'll type more later and include pictures where I have them.

~Matt

--
"A room without books is as a body without a soul." -Cicero

Chicago here I come

I'm about to leave for Chicago in a few minutes (my bus leaves Cincinnati at 09:00) and so I was backing up the pictures on my camera so that I could clear the memory card.  On a whim I decided to check how many digital pictures I have.  Counting just the pictures that I've taken on the three digital cameras that I have owned over the last three and a half years I have over twelve thousand!  I don't know how that compares to others (I'm sure that Chris has many more), but the number was still surprising to me.

~Matt

--
"A room without books is as a body without a soul." -Cicero

Goodnight

Yeah, I was back for a couple of posts, then I neglected this again.  I need to get back in the habit.  Hey, wasn't that the tag-line for Sister Act II?  Well I'm definitely not going to be a nun (or pretend to be one), but I like the habit of blogging.  I certainly read enough other blogs.  In my downtime at work I'm really enjoying pulling out my PDA.  I'll log onto the free wireless network and read political blogs.  For a while I couldn't keep up with posts--now I'm running out of them.

Work is going well--amazing actually.  Our numbers have dropped off come the week after Thanksgiving, but I'm optimistic that the doldrums won't remain forever.  Tomorrow should be our last big Saturday for a while.  For some reason people don't want to schedule many groups in the dead of winter or this close to Christmas.  Go figure...  Tomorrow I am in the Planetarium, which is always cause for celebration.  The Planetarium really is my home--I feel quite possessive about it at times.  I am in there every Saturday (except next Saturday when I'll be in Chicago, :(--well yeah for Chicago, and I plan to see the Adler Planetarium, but I'll miss ours) and so I have my routine down.  Then during our upcoming Christmas Celebration events (occurring after hours at the Creation Museum) I'm working long shifts--in the Planetarium all day!!  There are times that I absolutely love the schedule.  Dave (our manager) is great about putting me in the Planetarium on busy or important days!  :-)

This week I was schedule in a new place.  Not everyone wants to be there--but I've been asking for a while.  I was in Admissions selling tickets!  I wish that there had been more tickets to sell that day, but I still feel that I'm learning the ropes.  Thankfully Dave told me that he'd try to stick me out in the ticket booth at least once a week.   The novelty might wear off eventually, but I think I'll continue to enjoy it--partially since I'll never be out there every day in a week (I'm always back in the theaters eventually).  Right now it is new, but there will always be something new and challenging.

Well I have to be at work by 08:30 in the morning, so I'm going to sign off for now.  I always like to be early on Saturdays, and especially this day because a group is scheduled to arrive at 8:00.  They don't have a Planetarium show on their schedule, but our Admissions agents will do their best to sell them one.  I want to be ready for them instead of coming in to find that somebody else loaded my theater with a show, ;-).

~Matt

--
"A room without books is as a body without a soul." -Cicero

Casino Royale

I just finished watching the latest Bond movie.  I honestly have only seen perhaps one (Dr. No) or two (perhaps one of the later Pierce Brosnan films) James Bond movies.  However, since this one was a reboot of the series with a new actor that didn't really matter.  I enjoyed the film, though some of the plot twists were a bit predictable.  When Bond says he is going to quit and run off with the female lead I knew she would either break his heart and/or die, because it isn't a series about a married agent.  I know at least that Bond didn't settle down.  Anyway, it was a fun movie.

~Matt

--
"A room without books is as a body without a soul." -Cicero

What is that?

Yeah, I have a day off tomorrow, so I'm wondering exactly what that is.  I haven't had a day off except for Sunday in quite a while (not counting the weekend I visited Tennessee).  Of course despite the fact that I say I "don't have a life" I've managed to keep it busy.  I'm heading into the Creation Museum with some clocks (I had an idea to keep the Planetarium running on time).  [As an aside sadly nobody who regularly reads this has visited the museum so they don't get the joke--but that is partly my fault since I've avoided writing here for so long.]  Then I need to work on some video editing and prep for Thanksgiving dinner.  I'm going over to the house of some friends and will be bringing food, so I need to get started on the preparations and ingredients gathering.  Then I need to get ready for Bible Study.  It is Mexican Food night and instead of ordering pizza or eating out we'll be bringing together the food.  It sounds like fun, and I offered to fry the taco shells.  I always love fried corn tortillas better than the hard taco shells that you can buy.

Tonight I rented Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer from the $1 a night machine at Kroger.  It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great either.  It was a fun way to waste some time--but not anything really worth watching again.  I did recognize Stan Lee in his cameo, and not just because he used his real name.  I also rented Casino Royale and plan to watch that tomorrow morning.  I'm actually thinking of heading to bed somewhat soon.  It won't really be that early, but somewhat early and might make it easier to get up earlier when I don't have to go to work.

~Matt

--
"A room without books is as a body without a soul." -Cicero

Pirates at the Museum

Today was another awesome day with friends. It was the perfect day to explore the Museum Center with friends from the Creation Museum. We explored not only the Latin American Culture Fest (which gave the others their free ticket) but also the History Museum. And we kept running into pirates! Two of my coworkers (Jen and Rachel) insisted on pictures with all the pirates that they ran into. It was great fun, and I got to take many pictures.

At the end of the evening we came back to Hebron, Kentucky where we'd started out (near the Creation Museum) and ate at Mr. Herb's , which is a great little local restaurant. I would type more, but I spent all of my creative juices typing captions for the pictures that I put up on Facebook. If you have an account then check out the photos. If you don't have an account yet then you should create one and add me as a friend!

~Matt
--
"A room without books is as a body without a soul." -Cicero

Tired, but thankful

I just got back from a few great hours with friends.  Several of us from the Creation Museum (and one not working there, but known through one who does) headed up to a "Thanksgiving Concert" being held in Cincinnati.  It was quite interesting with groups ranging from a gospel quartet to Indo-Pakistani to African to Korean to Hispanic Salsa, and more types of music.  It was definitely eclectic--but quite interesting nonetheless, and a good time with friends.  I was the driver tonight.

We didn't have time to eat before we arrived, so on the way home I exited the freeway right by the Museum Center (my "other" museum) and we went to Frish's Big Boy.  I've never actually been inside one before--just the drive through.  I wasn't too impressed with the drive through--but the service inside was much better.  It was a cross between fast food and full service sit-down dining.

I really would type more, but I'm tired and I need to sleep.  I have to be up in less than seven hours--actually about six so that I can get ready and be into work on time.  Night all!

~Matt

--
"A room without books is as a body without a soul." -Cicero

Deer in the Headlights

I really know what this expression means now.  It was dark by the time I got off work tonight.  The freeway is only two lanes out by the museum, so I was driving along in the right hand lane, safely with my lights on.  All of a sudden I saw a deer in my headlights!  True to form it didn't move or even seem to react to my headlights or oncoming car.  I'm so thankful that the lane to my left was empty.  I hit the brakes and swerved into that lane to pull around the dumb animal.  I looked in my rearview mirror and didn't see anyone come to a screeching stop, so I assume that the deer survived and wasn't hit by another automobile.  I was a bit shaken for a few moments, but nothing too bad.  I really can understand the expression now.  I know it was only a few seconds, but it seemed as if the deer was frozen forever.

~Matt

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"A room without books is as a body without a soul." -Cicero