Immeasurably More

Today is not only my 30th birthday, but it's Chinese New Year as well. (The beginning of the year of the Ox.) As a public service, I offer you a summary, culled from various authoritative sources, of what you can expect this year, if you, like me, were born in the Chinese year of the Horse. **In case anyone is inclined to argue that 1979 was the Year of the Goat, I remind you that Chinese New Year does not fall on January 1. And so, if a person was born in mid-late January, it's important to determine whether his birthday was before or after the Chinese New Year for that January. According to ProAstro.com, I am a horse, as the year of the Goat did not begin until January 28. Which immediately makes me feel superior to all my goat-y, not-yet-thirty friends.** General ~~The year should bring much more happiness than 2008. ~~This then should be a terrific year for Horses. ~~You really ought to look after yourself better. ~~You may find that you need more sleep to maintain a fu...

Yesterday was my last day at my previous position. Today is the first day of my vacation. Hooray!! I begin full-time in the UK office on Feb. 9.

I'm finishing up a week in the UK and will soon be sliding my two light blue vintage American Tourister bags into the furthest corner of the bedroom closet in the company apartment until I come back in three weeks. One of these bags is a carry on and its contents got me pulled aside at security twice. (I'm not counting the third search which was completely random.) So, I'm going to list its contents here as a warning to others. Loose contents: Scarf pieced together from discarded fabric samples One pair well worn black gloves The Settlers of Catan board game Marnier Lapostolle brown glass bottle Books Larousse Pocket French-English Dictionary British American Language Dictionary From Word to Image Robert Frost poems Eyewitness Travel Guide - Great Britain Eyewitness Travel Guide - France Michelin map book - Paris Bescherelle La Conjugaison pour tous Small spiral notebook with French vocabulary notes Tamashi Radio Alarm clock box containing Pale pink wash cloth Year of the g...

This link is dedicated to those of you who think that British cooking is boring - or that there's a better way to defend your bird feeder. http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/07/style/07squirrel.php

Author Bart D. Ehrman likes provocative titles. Among his published works you will find The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture, the Lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot, God’s Problem, and Misquoting Jesus. Ehrman wrote Misquoting Jesus to provide a layman’s introduction to the field of textual criticism, the process whereby scholars attempt to identify the original text of ancient manuscripts by comparing variations among them. As this is the first and only book I have read on the subject of Textual Criticism, I believe it does an admirable job of introducing the complexities of the challenge and the rewards of success. Ehrman begins by discussing how New Testament manuscripts came to differ from each other and then describes the questions a textual critic will try to answer when he encounters variations among manuscripts. Could the textual differences be attributed to transcription errors or are they intentional changes, introduced for theological or ideological reasons? What is the “famil...