I'll probably be playing catch-up today, if anything, since I haven't blogged that much lately. I will add to this post if anything else catches my eye. So here we go...

1. Trent Telenko from Winds of Change says the Democrats will lose in the '04 presidential elections and provides a rather thorough analysis as proof. Lots of links to read through in this piece.

2. A journalist from L.A. recently started a blog of his own (last week this guy posted a leaked memo from the L.A. Times about liberal bias; yes, liberal bias - oh, say it ain't so). Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Kevin Roderick.

3. Earlier this week, the folks at Samizdata examined a draft of the forthcoming European Union constitution - and weren't very happy with what they found.

4. A lot of noise has been made about NYT reporter Rick Bragg, who was recently suspended for using unattributed copy from interns and freelancing stringers to compose his articles. Glenn Reynolds, Andrew Sullivan (scroll down) and Jeff Jarvis (to name a few) offer mucho commentary about this.

5. Before I forget, I must point out a certain blog to all of you: I have always enjoyed Dean Peters's Heal Your Church Website, 'cause Lord knows MY church's website could use some work!

UPDATE: Numero Seis. Steve at Little Tiny Lies recently posted on the virtues (or lack thereof) of women and Connor Peterson, Laci Peterson's unborn son - it seems like the mainstream press doesn't know how to refer to him in their news stories (baby or fetus?). Both are good reads.

UPDATE: Nr. Sieben. This morning while surfing around the Net I caught wind of this commentary about President Bush's bill that will raise the amount of money sent to Africa to help the fight against AIDs. Martin Roth offers a Christian perspective.

More later. If I feel like posting more later, that is.

Otherwise, it's Friday. So unlike me, please detach thyself from the All-Knowing & Sometimes-Dysfunctional Apparatus known as the Computer and enjoy the weekend!

Dean Esmay is hosting a discussion for gays and believers over at his blog. Lots of thoughtful comments from both sides (and some in between) have been added to the pot already, but don't be afraid to go add yours.

Yesterday Steven Den Beste posted comments on the charges of war crimes that are now "flying thick and fast" in the wake of the war in Iraq:

The United States never came even close to actually ratifying the ICC [International Criminal Court], and the reason why was that it was viewed here (by leaders of both parties) as being a venue where disgruntled losers would harass and persecute Americans. Such concerns have been ridiculed, but are now shown to be entirely justified. The ICC has only been online for 2 months and already the fruitcakes are trying to use it to persecute their political enemies. The only reason that these lawyers are trying to indict Blair and not trying to indict Bush is that the UK ratified the treaty and we didn't. If we actually had ratified that monstrosity, there can be no doubt at all that every American official down to the official dog-catcher in Washington DC would have been accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity by now, just because they were American and were drawing breath.

For the record, I used to advocate the idea of American participation in the ICC, but I've since rescinded that view. Den Beste's above comments explain why perfectly. Also, there's just something about national sovereignty that I like.

On a similar note: why in the world did Bush go back to the United Nations to get the sanctions on Iraq lifted when we skirted around 'em to kick Saddam out? Isn't that rather, oh, I dunno, paradoxical?

Most of today was spent lounging around my parents' house with my siblings and two cousins who came down from Oregon for my sister's high school graduation next month.

I suppose I could crank out something eloquent and long because today is Memorial Day, but I'll just say this:

For most of today I spent time with my family, exercising many of the freedoms that others have died for so that I might still have these same freedoms. Maybe that sounds a little too simple, but that's how I remember the sacrifices made on the behalf of one American citizen out of millions more.

To the men and women who made those sacrifices: thank you.

I got around to seeing Matrix Reloaded last Friday, and I think I'll need to see it again if only because the first time I was too engrossed with the special effects and martial arts scenes. The second time around, I'll try to focus more on the story itself.

Via bloggenspiel, I came across this Mofo Guide to the second Matrix movie and especially got a kick out of this comment: "The fact that The One comes from the machine world is a brilliant way to write around the fact that Keanu Reeves can't act."

No, he's not a hottie, and yes, I think he's better at playing his guitar than he is at acting. So there.

I was reading Romans 14 a while ago and thinking a bit about some things that have struck a controversial cord of some sort with different folks - for instance, the Buffy debate from last October.

For now, I'll say this: old habits and addictions, as well as personal tastes, likes and dislikes can only be changed by one person, and that person is God. The key to this is an individual's willingness to allow God to change him or her as s/he strives to become more like God. If I applied this to ME, then I would say that my interests and habits change or stay the same because it reflects how much I'm willing to give up in order to draw closer to God in my relationship with Him. (Y'know, there's that holiness factor.)

It's always easier to say all this than to actually do it, and because of this, striving to be an example for a "younger" and "weaker" believer is never easy. But hey, reality always works wonders for that perfection measurement scale, doesn't it?

Well, maybe there're a few.

This weekend was memorable in many ways:

1. I finally got to meet my XO! (I love his hugs.)

2. I also got to meet my XO's daughter. She's one of a kind and very rowdy, especially after downing some Dr. Pepper. (Lion King, anyone?)

3. I reaffirmed ties with a wonderful brother in Christ.

4. I got to pick on Ashley for the entire weekend! WOOT!

5. I finally tried Thai food - very delicious (especially the chicken kebabs dipped in peanut sauce).

6. I walked down Hollywood Boulevard for the very first time. Frankly, the only difference I saw between this street and Market Street in downtown San Francisco was that Hollywood Blvd. has gold stars on its sidewalks, and Market St. doesn't. This was still memorable, however, because it was my first time in Southern California, in L.A., and especially my first time in the Land of the "Rich and Famous."

More details soon, after I catch up on things around the Blogosphere - though this "vacation" was a good break from all the blogsurfing and IMing that's part of my daily routine nowadays.

See ya sometime Tuesday. A friend o' mine is getting baptized this Sunday, so I'm skippin' out to see (read: meet) him.

In the meantime, peruse the blogs on the left at your leisure. Have a good weekend!

From today's Bleat:

Perhaps it’s a gender issue. Maybe it’s a personality quirk distributed randomly across the sexes, age groups, intelligence capability, place of birth. Maybe it’s just one of those things. All I know is that some people regard standing at the door for 17 minutes an essential component of the goodbye process, and that I am not one of them. If I’m at the door, I want one of two things to happen: you go or I go. If I’m the guest, I’m off. If you’re the guest, rest assured I did not bring you to the threshold to start an entirely new conversation.

It’s not a big thing, and it’s actually a source of amusement around here. My wife knows I’m not a doorway-lingerer like she is, and it does make for some awkward moments. Someone stands and puts on their coat, and I believe that the evening has come to a conclusion. I head for the door. Then an entirely new conversation front opens up, and all movement towards the door stops. What do I do? I’ve now passed the guest and am en route to the door; if I keep moving towards the door, it’ll seem like I want him out, but if I stop and go back, we’ll all stand here for six minutes. And those six minutes will not be subtracted from the 8 minutes we will spend at the door, where we will talk about people I saw six years ago in a Christmas photo card set in front of a fireplace.

I would rather spend an additional half an hour seated at the table, enjoying a beverage, letting the conversation unspool at a civilized pace. Then there’s a lull; people stare into their empty glasses, then pat the table with open palms and put a period to our merry night. We rise and part, warmly. Briskly. Good to see you; off you go.

Or we all move towards the door at a pace that suggests everyone has their leg in an alligator’s mouth, up to the thigh. Am I wrong? Probably. All I know is that we were standing at the front door forever, and Gnat was being an imp, and Jasper was whining for his walk, and every fiber of my being cried out for finality. Eventually goodbyes were tendered once more; wife and child went inside. I walked our guest to his car. And spent five minutes in the driveway talking about investments and real estate.

Oh, shut up. That’s different.

Just an FYI:

The new design for ABA launched tonight. Five new authors, nice layout, more potential for blogging goodness - what's not to like?

Be warned, though: Jason is still smoothing out the wrinkles. In the meantime, you can always go over to HIS blog and tease him about his recent adventures at Applebee's: if I remember correctly, it's something about flirting with a pretty waitress...

UPDATE: Now if someone managed to convince Mr. Wall Senior to start blogging (ahem!), we'd have one whole family posting away in the Blogosphere. I've added Jeremy, Julie and Read to the 'Roll. You can find Priscilla Wall's blog here. Enjoy.

I can see it now, folks: CHP officers stationed at the state borders will have to start checking cars coming into California to make sure they aren't smuggling in Oreos.

All of this because an attorney wants them to be banned from the state. There's too much trans fat present in these sweets - therefore, they are too dangerous for kids to eat.

Hello? Hasn't he ever heard of regular exercise? Bet you anything the kids he wants to protect get more exercise than he does.

"My name is Park. Daphne Park."

James Bond has nothing on this gal:

"It's been a huge advantage during my professional career that I've always looked like a cheerful, fat missionary," she says, fondling her onyx pendant. "It wouldn't be any use if you went around looking sinister, would it?"

I finally got around to seeing The Matrix last week, if only because I wanted to see it before Reloaded came out. It's a great film, and I hear the sequel is even better, but we'll see.

Here is a look at what actor Keanu Reeves had to do in preparation for his role in the Matrix sequel. Enjoy.

A friend of mine and I were talking about how common our names were yesterday. Amazingly, there is only one Sarah (me) in my church, which has a congregation of about 150-200 people on an average Sunday. What's more amazing is that I haven't encountered any other Sarahs in my classes this semester. (A couple semesters ago, I was in a class with two other Sarahs, but the teacher could always tell which Sarah I was - I was the only one that showed up.) Is that crazy or what?

So - how common is YOUR name?

I'm getting a huge kick out of this.

As the good Professor put it, "Heh. Indeed."

Today was May Day. And Loyalty Day. And The National Day of Prayer.

Guess what tomorrow is?

Do Laundry Day. Clean The Apartment Day. Maybe Go See X-Men 2 Day. Friday.

Yes, you guessed it, tomorrow is May 2.

UPDATE: Today was Law Day too, apparently.