This weekend I dropped a pretty penny on a new bicycle. My plan is to ride it to work on pretty much a daily basis. I’ll get in shape, and also save money on gas, and also reduce those evil carbon fuel emissions. I got a Trek 7.3 FX. It’s lighter than Geneva’s Disney Princess bike.

And so, today, the first business day since the purchase, I rode it to work. Never mind that there’s a steady rain… I am going to use this bike come hell or high water! It took me 21 minutes to ride in. Depending on traffic, it’s 10-15 minutes to drive here. Not bad, if I do say so myself. That’s with me walking up part of a steep hill, and having jelly legs five minutes into the ride. I won’t list the rain as a limiting factor, because it kept me cool.

The biggest problem with the whole commuting to work thing is that I am a sweaty individual. I brought work clothes in (and deodorant!), but I still am afraid of the days when its 80 degrees and 95% humidity at 0700[1].

[1] that might be a slight exaggeration.

The announcement of the publication of the ChristianityToday.com debate together with my recommendation for a commenter to read the debate lead me to read it again, myself. I found that it is still available on the CT.com website…

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

It’s quite good and worth reading.

15 monkeys loose in Florida after escape

http://www.investigatingatheism.info

The purpose of this site is to set these contemporary ‘God Wars’ in their historical context, and to offer a range of perspectives (from all sides) on the chief issues raised by the ‘new atheists’. We hope this will encourage more informed opinion about the issues, discourage oversimplification of the debate, and deepen the interest in the subject.

We’re doing an overnight camping trip this weekend, to celebrate the first birthday of a friend. So I was looking at camping supplies at WalMart yesterday, and saw some a product to be used when going to the bathroom in the wilderness. The product name was… Double Doodie.

Mark Horne clears up a bit of nonsense…

When God condemns the ungodly, does that forensic declaration only obtain to those who receive it by faith? Of course not. If you are summoned to appear before a judge, and he declares you guilty or not-guilty, your status does not depend on whether or not you believe the judge. The sentence is an objective reality. You don’t receive it by faith alone or with anything else. It simply makes no sense to even talk that way.

I’ve added a page for emusic recommendations.

Boy, I’ve even gotten behind on my emusic downloads, haven’t I? I can’t even remember exactly what I’ve gotten. But I do know that I have a bonus pack that is nearing it’s end that I need to use (and have been using), and just got another 50 from someone signing up through my referral (Thanks!), and those need to be used by July 12th, I think it was. So there will be no shortage of new music in the coming months.

Here’s what I remember downloading recently…

Stars-Set Yourself On Fire
It’s okay, but I like it less than their more recent release, In Our Bedroom After the War.

Some Rolling Stones singles, (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction, Jumpin’ Jack Flash, and You Can’t Always Get What You Want. I’m not a fan of the Stones, but these are songs that I’m familiar with and figure it’d be good to buy ‘em.

Emily Jane White-Dark Undercoat
I got a free song from this album through iTunes, and liked it enough to get the album.

Andrew Bird-Soldier On
I really liked his last album, Armchair Apocrypha, so I knew I’d get this EP at some point. And I did.

Matt Wertz-Somedays
I used to talk with Matt on AIM waaay back in the day, when he was just starting to write his own songs. I always liked several songs that ended up on this record, and never got around to buying it. Emusic made it easy.

Colin Meloy-Colin Meloy Sings Live!
This is the lead singer from The Decemberists, which I also really like. He did a tour a few years ago all by his lonesome, and these songs were recorded then. One of them was on Paste Magazine’s latest sampler. I probably would have got it anyhow, but hearing that song whet my ears.

I also got a choir singing GK Chesterton’s hymn, O God of Earth and Altar. The quality is horrible, but the song is so good I couldn’t resist having a recording of it (for 25 cents).

Sign up for a free emusic trial (50 downloads!)