Random Photo Post

This* is what happens when you heat up a glass bottle (we used a Coleman torch-style lighter) and douse it immediately with cold water. Note the bowl beneath to catch the shards - safety first, kids!


Science is Awesome!

*Audio reaction (a.k.a. my screams of surprised terror) not included.

Books!

Tonight, I went to the library expecting to get a book or two. Somehow I ended up with eight.

My brain's been craving new endeavors (hence, blog) and has been processing a lot of ideas (some related to book topics below), so I think reading these books might be a good place to start drawing inspiration from. It'll probably take me a while to get through them all, but I think it'll be a fun challenge. I hope to read a bit each day (in addition to working full-time, biking around Holland in the gorgeous summer evening weather, and doing homework for two online classes) and make an occasional post on my progress, thoughts, opinions, or even a brief summary. Now, without further ado: Books!


Thank you, Herrick District Library!
Here is a list of the titles I picked up:

• "The Greatest Show On Earth: The Evidence for Evolution" - Richard Dawkins
• "Genetics and Genetic Engineering" - Lisa Yount
• "The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search For God" - Carl Sagan
• "The Dark Side of Christian History" - Helen Ellerbe
• "Religion and Sexuality" - Opposing Viewpoints Series
• "How to Think About God: A Guide for the 20th-Century Pagan" - Mortimer J. Adler
• "Atheism" - Opposing Viewpoints Series
• "The Dawkins Delusion? Atheist Fundamentalism and the Denial of the Devine" - Alister McGrath and Joanna Collicutt McGrath

These should compare and contrast well with the titles I've read recently:

• "Letter to a Christian Nation" - Sam Harris
• "A Friendly Letter to Skeptics and Atheists" - David Myers
• "God and the New Physics" - Paul Davies
• "The Existence of God and the Beginning of the Universe" - William Craig
• "Mere Christianity" - C.S. Lewis
• "Quarks, Chaos and Christianity" - John Polkinghorne
• "When Bad Things Happen to Good People" - Harold Kushner 
• "Noah's Flood: Birth of the Ice Age" - Robert L. Gielow

During my senior seminar class in May, I also read several articles and essays on the above topics by the likes of Albert Einstein, Bertrand Russell, and C.S. Lewis. Additionally, I am halfway through "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins, and hope to finish it at some point this summer; it was going to be first on the list, but I've only got six weeks to read all of these library books before they're due...

So, I've been thinking about starting a blog...

...because we all know that I need more ways to spend my "free time".

Anyway, it's just something that's been on my mind lately. I know that blogs don't really gain momentum unless they have a purpose (or some defining characteristic that makes up for a lack of one). So I'm going to do my best to find a direction, and possibly be lacking a good title and a sense of control for a while. Maybe my "purpose" for this blog can be to write about things I'm passionate about and interested in - whether it be photography, math, politics, music, geeky stuff, food, language, or individuality - and share them with others. I don't want this to be a journal. I want it to be both more and less personal than a journal, if that makes any sense.

I've never thought of myself as a writer, and I've never really been "into" reading blogs. I guess I may not have a lot of prior knowledge, but I can learn as I go, and I am hopeful that if anyone reads this, they can learn to bear with me.

So, greetings. Welcome to my blog.


Happy Independence Day to all the Americans out on the interwebs!
Please note: this firework was completely legal, I promise.