Losing People in the World's 4th-longest Cave

The other day, I lost 5 people down in the cave, including a mother and father with their 2-year-old daughter, and part of a Polish family. If you want to know more about it, call me and ask.

Fundamentalists in a Cave

A few days ago, I was leading a cave tour in Wind Cave for a full group (40 people), when I stopped to show everybody some Brachiopod fossils in the limestone of the cave. A large family consisting of a mom, dad, and several teens passed by to see the ancient shells, and as they did, they exclaimed, "Oh look! Evidence of Noah's flood!"

Of course this is ridiculous. But I said nothing.

In the next room, everybody sat on some benches, and I proceeded to talk about some of the speleothems found in the cave. At some point, a gentleman in the group asked me, "How old is this cave?"

I braced myself for some glares from the fundamentalists and confidently declared, "Geologists tell us that the rock in which this cave is formed dates back to about 150 million years ago."

To my surprise, the fundamentalists didn't glare. In fact, they did something even more ridiculous - they laughed. Out loud. Heartily. I was shocked for a moment and paused, but quickly regained my composure and proceeded. "But the cave itself didn't start forming until the the uplift of the Rockies, about 65 million years ago."

Initially, I felt conflicted. By showing them the Brachiopods, I fueled the idiotic fire burning through their brains. However, I though about this incident for a while and came to this conclusion:

* My response was appropriate. Challenging the fundamentalists would have been a waste of time for everybody.

* The fundamentalists probably wanted me to start an argument.

* No matter what I said, they would still cling to their unscientific delusions.

* By ignoring them, I simply made them look foolish in front of all others involved, which is the best thing I probably could have done at that point.

Igloo, SD

All I want to say is this: I went with some friends to what is by far the creepiest place I've ever experienced last Sunday night. If you want to find out more about this Hellish place, search for "Igloo, SD," "The Black Hills Ordnance Depot," or "Black Hills Army Depot."

Oh my god.

Atheist Universe

Okay, so I finished this book before I left for South Dakota. Well, I didn't feel like reflecting on it until now, so deal with it.

Atheist Universe is like The End of Faith in that it will offend religious people, and that the author's frustration with Christianity clearly comes through the writing. It's different because it focuses particularly on the Intelligent Design movement of Christianity. Rather than having more of a narrative flow like Harris, Mills fashions his books as if it were a Christian apologetic book, like Strobel'sThe Case for a Creator. I'm not positive, but I don't think I like this. Perhaps it will reach some Christians, but it seems more of a reference book for atheists than anything. The problem is that Mill's voice seems a little immature at times, unlike Harris, who can sound angry and dignified at the same time.

This is not to say that Mills' book is full of immature ideas. He gives a good amount of science in the book, just enough to feel substantial without being overbearing. I'll probably pick up a copy to own as a reference, but would hesitate in recommending it to a Christian.

A New Home at Wind Cave National Park

I know, I know... This is long overdue.

I left for my great South Dakotan adventure way back in May and arrived at the park (hereafter abbreviated as WICA) on the 17th. I'm living in what here is referred to as "lower housing," meaning I'm living in the cool section of the employee housing. I have four roommates, none of which are SCA. One is an intern directly through the park service and the other three are paid employees. In terms of job responsibilities, training, pay, time off, and uniforms, the only difference between interns (like me) and paid employees (like a slew of others) is... well, I don't get paid, and I my uniform has "Volunteer" stamped all over it, just so the visitors don't get the wrong idea and think I'm qualified for the job.

Living in WICA is really fun. There is a fire pit in lower housing which hosts a beer-drinking and story-telling circle of workers just about every night. Is fun.


In the center of the image, you see some trees separating a long string of apartments on the right from a house and garage on the left. That is my house. In the center-right, you can see the fire pit.

A word on employee politics here:

* The interpretation division (interp) is by far the largest division in the park, with something over 20 employees. Everybody resents the interp for being treated like royalty and having a cooler job than everybody else; also, most of us don't know how to drive a fence post into the ground, wire the cave lights, fix the elevators, manage the park computer network, or do anything else practical around here.

* The Law Enforcement (LE) are resented by everyone. Their favorite past-time is hiding in the bushes by lower housing and nailing underage drinkers sitting around the campfire. Because everyone knows where that leads: senseless killing and grand arson. Actually, it leads to a bunch of stressed out employees fraternizing around the campfire and having a good time, but that seems to escape the LE. The LE are dicks (most of them).

* The maintenance and fence crew simply are. Nobody has strong feelings about them. There may be some collective guilt shared by non-maintenance, because they have to do actual work around here and don't get paid any more than the rest of us.

My weekend is Thursday-Friday. I'm not sure if this will end up being a good thing or a bad thing.

I'll be giving at least four different cave tours (five if I so choose), one prairie hike, a discovery program (DISCO), and perhaps an evening campfire program (if I so choose). In other words, my plate is full.


My housemates and some other friends on a day hike.

The job is lots of fun, and my fellow employees are interesting. It's going to be a great summer.

One More To Go

Well, another school year has ended. Next year, I'll have my own apartment. And I'll be 21. And I'll be part time. And I'll have a job. It's going to be nothing short of amazing. Although I must say that I don't think anything can touch how great this semester has been, particularly because of two very great friends: Stuart and Scott. Sadly, neither of them will be around me next year, so I'll have to find new friends with which to get into trouble.

Also sad (but on a whole lower level) is that I couldn't finish The Making of the Atomic Bomb before it was due at the library, and since I'm leaving for the summer, I'll have to finish it next semester. It's been a good book so far, though. In the meantime, I'm getting I'm reading the decidedly shorter (and easier) Atheist Universe. So far it's good. I'll give you my full reaction when I'm finished.

Choir Tour

Tomorrow morning I leave for Colorado, where the SC choir will be touring over the period of one week. I expect to be skiing, shopping, singing a lot, and generally having lots and lots of fun. I'll also be going over my lines for the one act I'm in this semester: Hard Candy. I don't think I've mentioned my involvement in the last play either, but a senior here at SC directed Arsenic and Old Lace, to much acclaim. I played Lt. Rooney, the deus ex machina. It's nice to be the role of the guy who assumes absolute control at the end.

A Long Way Gone

I finished Ishmael Beah's memoir earlier tonight. It's a very accessible book - very straightforward and written with much care and emotion. If you have even the least bit of humanitarian in you, I strongly encourage you to read this book. It certainly puts the condition of the African citizen in perspective.

A Long Way Gone: A

On the Biblical Mandate to Respect Authority

The SC choir chaplain brought up a passage in 1 Peter at the beginning of this week regarding submission to authority. It led to interesting conversation, and I'd like to reiterate part of that conversation here.

1) It is important to remember that the early churches who passed around these letters had a very practical use for them. The early church could have easily been stomped out had the early Christians been too anti-government. True, the church was persecuted. True, the church did get into trouble with the government. However, remember that the persecution happened for short bursts of time (historically speaking) and only in isolated areas. It was by no means universal persecution. Additionally, when you look at other early Christian documents, you see more injunctions to work with the rulers.

And why not? The early church needed all the support it could get, while not compromising, of course. If they were all outspoken government radicals, they would not have lasted long.

2) With that in mind, I'd like to state that I unequivocally support every man, woman, and child's right to not only speak out against the government, but to practice what Thoreau called Civil Disobedience.

Someone in class mentioned that it's okay to disagree with the government, as long as you don't disrespect the government. Not only is this modifying the passage to your own liking, it's near meaningless. What does it mean to "disagree with respect"? Is calling the president foolish disrespectful? Is calling the president a liar disrespectful? Is calling the president a crook, or a murderer, or immoral disrespectful? Because I know many world leaders who deserve to be called these things. In some cases, I firmly believe that the leader must be taken out of his or her leadership position, violently if necessary (e.g. Hussein).

The definition of respect is shaky, and Christians exploit this shakiness by using the 1 Peter passage to condemn certain protesters while at the same time justifying their own protests. Many Christians would have no problem calling Obama a baby-killer (I've heard it done here at SC) because of his abortion policies. On the same token, I've heard the same people bitch and moan whenever someone calls G.W. Bush a moron because all of a sudden that's violating the 1 Peter passage.

Now, let's put 1 and 2 together. Let's all agree that in our country, we can disagree with our leadership - make fun of, call names, label, whatever - just so we're all on the same playing field. Let's also agree that when a leader is exploiting the people, starving and killing and robbing, etc., that country's people has a right to overthrow the government.

Lastly, set's put some restrictions on our actions. Here are some things that I think we can all agree are unethical:

Slander: As defined by the free dictionary as "A false and malicious statement or report about someone." Keyword: False. No making up things about our presidents. No premature judging. Get your facts straight before exercising your freedom of speech, for crying out loud. It will do the whole country good.

Needless Violence: Violence may have its place, but very rarely. I'm talking Hussein-level baddies. Blatant exploitation and violence against the people on the part of the leader.

If you can think of any other exceptions, please tell me in the comments.

Some Things I Like

For those of you who are tech-savvy, I heartily recommend the following services, websites, and applications.

Want to learn a new language? Busuu is an excellent social-based language learning site that connects you with native speakers (only if you want).

I've started a regular work-out program at the Sterling Wellness Center. I've also been tinkering with my dietary habits, fitting in more whole grains, fibers, and protein. The web service Gyminee has helped out a lot. It tracks nutritional goals, workout patterns, and like Busuu, there is an optional social aspect to it, great if you need accountability.

If you're into reading, you should check out BookMooch, a book trading website. Basically, you earn points by giving away your books (you pay shipping costs) and use those points to request books from other users.

With Make Me Sustainable, you can track your personal carbon emissions and find out how to bring them down to zero.

Finally, if you're into science, art, literature, technology, or culture, check out the awesome collection of "TED talks" over at TED.

Science Class Frustrations

We watched An Inconvenient Truth in our Environmental Science lab this week, and took class today to discuss the documentary. This was the second time I had seen it, and I was expecting some people to scoff at the ideas presented. Still, I was disturbed in during the discussion, because some people simply did not want to believe him. Some said that they didn't believe the science because it traced earth's climate back to 600,000 years ago, and these students didn't believe the earth was that old. One student, as if thinking of the idea for the first time, said, "Well, we've had ice ages, so it only makes sense that we have warming periods as well. I wanted to shake him and say, "Did you even watch the fucking movie?!"

And here's what I've been thinking since that class today: Groups with agendas (political, religious, etc.) tend to approach scientific findings with a buffet mindset. If a finding disagrees with their stomach, they simply pass it by. When something seems tasty, they snatch it up. That's not how science works, folks.

Perhaps what most upsets me is when people hear of a scientific study - a cursory description - and immediately dismiss it. "Well, there's no way they can tell that." Somebody said something similar in class regarding the measurement of temperatures from the past by analyzing air bubbles trapped in ice core samples. I've seen this reaction to many scientific studies. It's as if they're thinking, "I'm a pretty smart Joe, but I don't understand this. Therefore, they must be making it up." Or, "Silly scientists. They overlook the most obvious things."

Listen people. These scientists have usually had more education than your entire family put together. Who the hell do you think you are picking apart their studies when you don't have even possess a fraction of their knowledge in their field?

"But Deric, who will criticize his arguments if not us?"

Oh, you're right... If only there were some kind of forum where other scientists could critique their peers... like if they could publish it in some kind of journal... golly gee, it's too bad no such thing exists...

But no. People are too lazy to read comments by actual scientists. They'd rather read popular science or Christianity Today to get their science updates. More often, they just rely of their own gut reactions to gauge the veracity of any scientific pronouncement.

Mind you, this isn't only directed at "global warming doesn't exist and if it does, we aren't responsible" crowd, but also toward the Greenpeace crowd. Both censor scientific findings that they don't like.

There, I've vented. Can we all grow up now and take science seriously?

L'etranger

Tonight I finished The Stranger by French author and philosopher Albert Camus. It instantly became one of my favorite books. The story is short. The premise is simple. Ward's translation is beautiful and I think accurately conveys the tone of Mersault into English. Camus effectively put me in the skin of Mersault, and by the end of the book, I saw the world as he did: dispassionate and absurd.

Spring Semester

This semester will probably be the most relaxed I've ever had. I might even get a job this semester. As I'm typing this, in fact, I'm at Cool Beans listening to Ben Edwards and other musicians perform music. Last night, I tried to induce a musical high by listening to Binaural Beats. Then I laid out on my futon and listened to Pink Floyd. I really need a job. And I need to start some serious work on my senior project.

My classes are:

Environmental Science - I'm really excited about this class, because the environment is one thing in which I'm emotionally invested. Open discussion about environmental issues and a teacher that is actually a scientist (one of the few teachers on campus who accepts evolution, thank God).

Intro to Physical Science - Not excited about this class. Taking it pass/fail.

Concepts of Physical Fitness - bleh.

Folk Dance - Hell yes. This class is awesome. We've learned like 5 dances already, and we're going to learn a ton more by the end of the semester.

Okay, so I have more classes, but they aren't really classes. But I'm in the stage band and sax ensemble, and I'm in the choir and men's quartet. I'm not on the STIR this semester, but I'm still doing some journalistic activity for the underground paper: The Alstirnative. I can't say who's behind it: it's a secret. I'm also doing my senior project this semester - a documentary. I'll post later on how that's turning out, but my idea right now is to do an experimental-style documentary detailing how a selection of Sterling residents find significance in small-town Kansas.

Quandaries Episodes

I've been lazy and haven't posted the entirety of the Quandaries episodes. But here they are now:

Life
Morality
Love & Relationships
Truth
Evolution
Boundaries of Science
Beauty

I'm not doing Quandaries this semester. Instead, I am co-hosting a show with Brian Allen. We'll be going through several different genres of music in a music appreciation extravaganza. Our goal is to get our listeners to expand their musical interests.

Winter Road Trip

December 28, 9:30am: Deposit $300 into my bank account and leave Hutchinson with Google map directions.

12:30pm: Arrive in Kansas City. Eat at Panera Bread with Katie. Then, we drink Boba tea at Tea Drops and take pictures in a red phone booth.



3:15pm: Leave for Ursa, IL.

9:00pm: Arrive in Ursa. Meet Brian's family. Play Apples to Apples. Sleep.



December 29, 10:30am: Depart for Chicago with Brian.

2:30pm: Realize Google Maps is leading us in a wild circle around Peoria, IL.

3:00pm: Realize Peoria IL is far outside the fastest route to Chicago. Realize it was foolish to come on trip without map. Stop in a gas station and figure out good route.

5:30pm: Entering Chicago an I-55. This is as far as we'd planned. We simply picked a road that traveled right into downtown Chicago. Panicked, I try to contact several friends who live in Chicago for advice. We pick up Sharon from the train station, find a parking spot, and meet Christina and Sarah at a deep-dish pizza restaurant.

8:30pm: All of us pack into my mom's car to see Christina and Sarah's apartment. The apartment is obviously inhabited by very artsy people. Sharon suggests we go to a coffee/dessert shop and an improv club. We leave Christina and Sarah and have coffee. The improv club had no showings.

11:00pm: Arrive at Jaci's house in Grayslake. Her dad gave us directions over the phone. I thought it would be simple, so I didn't bother writing them down. Halfway into the conversation, I realized he was expecting me to have been writing everything down. He sounded angry and I didn't want him to have to repeat himself, so I said nothing. I repeated as much as I could remember to Brian. We dropped Sharon off at a station and began the hour-long journey to Grayslake. My memory soon failed me and we were stuck with vague recollections like, "He said something about two stoplights, one stoplight, gone too far, Center street (or something like that), and a four-way stop. I don't know what order he mentioned those things in, but they were all touched on." By some miracle, we made not a single error and got to the house at the expected time. It was cool. We then watched Iron Man with Jaci and her friend Kelly.

December 30, 12:00pm: Leave Grayslake for Lynchburg, Virginia. On our way, we spotted the Newsboys traveling in their trailer truck. By the time we arrived in West Virginia, it was dark. We were tired. Google Maps must have been feeling mischievous, because it certainly had its way with us that night. It led us through the most convoluted, mind-numbing, twisting, freaky-ass route you could ever imagine. The crescendo of this wackness was our trip through the haunted mountains of West Virginia. I wouldn't have stopped the car in those hills, no matter what you offered me. It was perhaps the most traumatic thing I have ever experienced. We eventually get through Hell and end up in Virgina, where we easily find Daniel's house. It is about 5 in the morning at this point.

For the stay in Virginia, I will not record the times or days, because I cannot remember. In any case, we had lots of fun. Daniel showed us his college, Liberty University. Because of our shared disdain for the Institution and all it stands for, we (mostly Daniel) decided to "decorate" one of the buildings.



As far as I know, the lights are still stuck there.

We chose to actually wake up early one morning to go to DC. So we did. Highlight of that trip was probably the hammered dulcimer concert we saw at the Kennedy Center. We of course saw the monuments and some museums as well.



We did many other fun things. On the 4th, about 1:00pm, We headed back to Kansas. Made it back here in one shot. I had a few close encounters with sleep on the way, but we managed to get here without any traffic violations or deaths. I dropped off Brian at about 9 or 10 o'clock on the 5th in Caldwell. I then drove in a helpless daze around Wichita for a while before finally coming back to my senses and heading for home.

I'll be heading back to college tomorrow. Peace.

A Poem

Nightclub
Billy Collins

You are so beautiful and I am a fool
to be in love with you
is a theme that keeps coming up
in songs and poems.
There seems to be no room for variation.
I have never heard anyone sing
I am so beautiful
and you are a fool to be in love with me,
even though this notion has surely
crossed the minds of women and men alike.
You are so beautiful, too bad you are a fool
is another one you don't hear.
Or, you are a fool to consider me beautiful.
That one you will never hear, guaranteed.

For no particular reason this afternoon
I am listening to Johnny Hartman
whose dark voice can curl around
the concepts of love, beauty, and foolishness
like no one else's can.
It feels like smoke curling up from a cigarette
someone left burning on a baby grand piano
around three o'clock in the morning;
smoke that billows up into the bright lights
while out there in the darkness
some of the beautiful fools have gathered
around little tables to listen,
some with their eyes closed
others leaning forward into the music
as if it were holding them up,
or twirling the loose ice in a glass,
slipping by degrees into a rhythmic dream.

Yes, there is all this foolish beauty,
borne beyond midnight,
that has no desire to go home,
especially now when everyone in the room
is watching the large man with the tenor sax
that hangs from his neck like a golden fish.
He moves forward to the edge of the stage
and hands the instrument down to me
and nods that I should play.
So I put the mouthpiece to my lips
and blow into it with all my living breath.
We are all so foolish,
my long bebop solo begins by saying,
so damn foolish
we have become beautiful without even knowing it.

"I was going to buy a copy of The Power of Positive Thinking, and then I thought: What the hell good would that do?"

Ronnie Shakes

Christmas Break

First, allow me to say that Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is the funniest book I've ever read, and anyone with a sense of humor should read it.

***Disclaimer - Frequent drug abuse and language

Now, onto my Christmas break plans. I'm heading off to Virginia to see an old friend. On the way, I'm shooting up to Chicago to see a number of people. Then, I'm picking up a college friend in southern Illinois. Together, we will travel to Virginia to meet up with Daniel. From there, we'll probably go to D.C. We'll also probably hit some slopes. I'd like to check out Great Smoky Mountains National Park and do a little back-country hiking, but that depends on our equipment.

I'll leave for this trip sometime after Christmas and return on the 6th of January.

Yoga

I just joined a yoga class here in Sterling. This comic cracks me up.

God's Facebook Page

This is hilarious!

Meeting Jesus Again... or not.

I finished Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time by Marcus Borg today. Don't get me wrong - I think that Borg's position is much more intellectually honest, morally pure, and well-intentioned than traditional Christians. And for all of my Christian friends, I encourage you to read either this book or another one written by Marcus Borg. He's written many books advocating a progressive Christianity, and I'm sure they're just as good as this one.

But it's still just not convincing for me. If I had to pick though, I'd pick a faith like his (or John Shelby Spong, another Jesus Seminar guy).

Try Downloading Some Past Episodes of Quandaries

As many of you know, I have been doing my own radio program on the school's radio station every Wednesday. Usually, you had to tune in at 11pm to be able to hear the show, but I'm beginning to collect the archived material. Here is Episode 4: Evolution and Episode 5: The Boundaries of Science. I'll have all of them on soon, but download these and let me know what you think!

What if only the young people voted?

Click here to see what the 2008 election results would have been if only people 18-29 had voted. Sweet.

Everything you've learned in school as "obvious" becomes less and less obvious as you begin to study the universe. For example, there are no solids in the universe. There's not even a suggestion of a solid. There are no absolute continuums. There are no surfaces. There are no straight lines.

- R. Buckminster Fuller

The Onion on the Election

Nation Finally Shitty Enough to Make Social Progress