No not Gracie…Allen!
Allen is doing well. He just called, and said that he was able to walk two laps without being hunched over (like he normally has been). Tomorrow morning we hope to be able to get him home. I will let him post then 
Allen is out of surgery and doing well.
He is REALLY out of it still, (which would have been hilarious if I wasn’t so concerned about being sure he was alright).
He couldn’t talk much still, so that is all I know, but he will call again later (once the anesthesia wears off a bit more) and then hopefully I will be able to go visit him.
I will try and post again tonight to update you all.
Steph for Allen
Tomorrow:
I check in at 8:35am EST. The OR is booked from 10:20am to 12:10pm.
Prayers are appreciated.
I’m grateful for a level-headed wife who doesn’t lose her cool when a bunch of little things get to me and make me want to lose mine.
Are video games a good medium for storytelling? Good article discussing video games as narrative over at Gamespot.
I think when it is done really well (a la Final Fantasy, etc.), then video games can perhaps do story telling more effectively than movies or literature because of the way that the player is involved actively rather than passively as with the latter two mediums. However, I recognize I’m very close to, if not crossing, the line of comparing apples and oranges (the article alludes to this). I say this from personal experience, but also the rhetorical theory that audience involvement makes the experience (aural, visual or verbal) more impacting (i.e., inside jokes are funnier than knock-knock jokes). The fact that a player can control the player(s) involved is certainly a strong argument for the potential of video games as a story telling medium.
As for personal experience, I remember getting choked up when Aeris was killed (FF7), laughing hard at Curse of Monkey Island and jumping out of fright upon first encountering the Flood. But I also vividly remember getting choked up when a certain house elf died (HP7), cracking up every time Miracle Max describes a MLT and having my heart pound the first time I read the last couple of chapters of Lord of the Flies.
I think we gravitate to movies and literature more for storytelling because we’ve been doing them longer (literature much longer) and because it does seem to be difficult to tell stories well in video games. But I don’t think the full potential of video games as a storytelling medium has been fulling tapped. ‘Course, how would we know when it was?
What say you?
Michael Bird at his finest talking about books/writers that have influenced him.
“Well, if you’re a Rabbi, you have half the work to do.”
-The Mrs.
Meet the Phil Keaggy of the violin world. Andrew Bird. Don’t miss that there are five songs there. All are amazing. His voice is a bit quirky, but the violin and guitar (yep) are great. Song #3 fits his voice the best and belongs on the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack. #4 and 5 are technically incredible. Who does the last half of #4 remind you of? #5 does use the D word a few times, so be wary if the chillun’s are present.
HT: my friend Joe P. from Facebook.
Hi Prof. —,
I’m saddened to write that in studying for the midterm that I was going to take this morning, I realized that I was sorely ill-prepared to succeed in this class with the current ‘time-crunch’ format. Given my other time commitments in the last 2 weeks and the upcoming 3 weeks (a lot of them related to my upcoming back surgery), I have come to realize that I will not be able to succeed in this class as I had hoped. Withdrawing at this point will allow me to take care of my other commitments and come to a point of better preparation for school work in the fall. I will take a W for this course and take the course again in the Fall when the work load is more spread out.
I appreciate very much the time I’ve had in class with you thus far and your flexibility regarding the re-scheduling of the midterm. I am saddened to be withdrawing at this point, but am hopeful that it is for the best. I look forward to taking Intermediate Hebrew and ANE History/Archaeology with you in the Fall.
Grace and peace,
