I never realized it until I got here, but a new panda cub at the national zoo is a BIG deal in DC. Apparently, every summer there is a panda watch to see if there will be a cub, and signs of pregnancy touch off "panda-mania" in the nation's capital. Anyway, the reason I'm posting this is that today is the last chance to contribute to the naming of the new cub. The voting will end tonight, and readers can vote online on a slate of possible names choosen by the zoo and a Chinese wildlife group. Click here to vote for the name of the new panda cub.

Well, I finally did it. I settled on a new look for the site. I also wanted to include a sweet drop-down menu, but I gave up after 10 fruitless hours working on it. I have to do something besides school and this blog! Anyway, there are still some glitches in this design, so if you notice anything that needs work, let me know in the comments. Unfortunately, going to the comments page will actually take you to one of the problem areas as far as aesthetics go, but this is a work in progress. Thanks to Brian for being the only person to vote for the colors (and C-blue and white would have been wicked cool) but unfortunately, I had to veto the vote in favor of my much-loved orange.

In other news, over the weekend, Brooklynne and I found out that our friends Chris and Sunny Strong are due to have a baby this winter. Check out some great pictures by clicking the "continue reading" link below.

Stay tuned for more fun updates....

The Travis Web Journal is experiencing technical difficulties and will not be updated until Wednesday. Don't give up reading! We'll be back with a new look and a report of our weekend activities (including pictures from a crazy war rally in DC!).

Playing with colors... not finished... must... go... to... bed....

bare with me until I have time to finish, or vote for colors.

In the mode of Burly and Cory, who have both recently posted pictures of themselves at work or going to work, here is a picture of me doing what I do best--reading. And yes, that is a real magnifying glass, provided to me directly from my supervising professor so that I can see the pages upon pages of newsprint crammed onto each of those pieces of paper. Now THAT'S excitement!!! Way better than tater tots.

Tonight Brooklynne and I went to a new small group that is starting for young married people. Bill and Sandy are getting it together and we will meet at their house, which is really exciting because we'll be sure to see them once a week. I'm also hoping that the rest of the group will become our close friends. Of course, we already have a great small group that we love, so we're going to do both--the more the merrier!

George Mason's history department is carving out a niche in digital history, and so all Ph.D. students are required to take a class nicknamed Clio Wired, where we learn to conceptualize, evaluate, and employ digital mediums to "circulate knowledge." As a self-proclaimed digital hack ("hack" used in the same way as I would when saying I'm also a golf hack), I'm really impressed with the caliber of the incoming class of students in the department. One case for example is Nona, a student of her native Bahamas, who has already contributed to her field by offering a useful gateway to Bahamian scholarship on the web, Bahamianstudies.org.

I have put up a skeleton of a site that I will slowly develop into an historical project for Clio over the next two semesters. There's not much there as of now, but if you're interested, you can follow its development here as it grows and gets polished up. I'll also add a link in the sidebar eventually.

I have to give a nod to the website,Ruined for Life. Although I haven't browsed the whole thing, what I've seen I liked, especially the cool organization. I'm in Internet heaven! The site gives new meaning to the word homepage. Why aren't all bloggers as creative and fresh as this (probably because we don't have hours to spend on the computer)? I also particularly like the stereo system which offers great background music for my online QT. Also, a special bonus for the link to online Settlers of Catan which I'm avoiding because I can't get addicted. Why is it that you never hear of some things until the first time and then it's as if there's a whole universe of people that know about it and you've been in the dark the whole time? Anyway, check out the site and tell me what you think.

I was already thinking the orange look was getting stale (although orange is still my favorite color!), but this site has convinced me to rethink my own design and try for something more stylish and sleek. So, I'm accepting ideas and suggestions.

Also, I'm having a delima about a decision for school... I have to decide about doing a project that I've wanted to do for a long time and is easy, comfortable, and has a high probability of success, OR I can try something I've been interested in only recently, that is challenging, new, difficult, and has a higher probability of failure. Both are valuable, and can help my future career in different ways. So what do I do?

I just realized a funny mistake in one of the images on this site. The first person to find it and post it in a comment here wins 100 cool points and some other special prize to be named later.

I saw this music video from the Icelandic band, Sigur Ros, while browsing today. Maybe it is more popular than I think and most of you will have already seen it (I'm usually behind the curve on these things). I thought it was touching in some basic way, so I'm posting the link here and inviting comments on why we might (or might not) resonate with images like this.

Brooklynne and I are going through a stage where we really like making homemade pizzas. The cool thing about this is that you can experiment with finnding the perfect crust, you can mix and match as many toppings as you want, and it is a good way to use up small portions of leftover stuff from the fridge.

My favorite combo is a knock-off of the Belle Rach Pizza from McKenzie River Pizza Company in Bozeman: a white sauce (usually sundried tomato alfedo), a mixture of spinach and basil, red onions, black beans, barbeque chicken, and cheese. Here's a recipe for a basic crust that we like.

Pre-heat the oven to 475. Dissolve one pack of dry active yeast in 1 1/3 cups of warm water (let it stand about five minutes). Then add

1 tbsp. salt,
1 tbsp. sugar,
2 tbsp. olive oil,
3 3/4 cups flour.

mix this for a minute or two until everything is mixed together and then kneed the dough until it is smooth. Put the dough in a bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place for an hour (you should probaly put some olive oil in the bowl and roll the dough in it to make sure the dough doesn't stick to the bowl). Then punch the dough down and roll it out on a floured surface. This will make one thick-crust or two thin-crust pizzas. Turn up the edges and dimple the raw crust to keep it from bubbling. Put on your desired toppings, and bake for 12 minutes. If you like thin crusts, and you only need one pizza, instead of halving the ingrediants, you can make two crusts, leave the second untopped, and freeze it after baking. Another hint--leave the pizza stone in the oven while pre-heating, or if you don't have a stone, spread cornmill on your pan to prevent sticking.

I'm supposed to be in bed right now so I can get up early tomorrow to run before work. But I have to blog about scooters since last night, Brooklynne and I spent some time online scooter shopping. Many of you already know this, but I have determined that I must own a scooter, and not just your typical moped, but ideally a 1969 Innocenti Lambretta like the one seen here. While we were browsing Ebay and typing various searches into Google, we happened across the New Hampshire Scooter Club's Scoot Free or Die website, which convinced me that I must live in New Hampshire one day. Can you imagine a cool fall ride through the changing leaves of a New Hampshire maple forest on the back of a vintage scoot? Any way, if anyone who reads this knows anything about scooters, has friends who ride, or would like to contribute to my new scooter fund, I would love to hear about it.

It's been a long time since I put up a fun picture so here is Cory Cavin. I haven't see this guy in about a year. I'm also missing winter in Montana (did I say that?) this morning. So, if you click on Cory, I think you will get a movie of me and Brooklynne on the ski lift at Blacktail. Ahh, the memories!

Do not attempt to view the movie if you have a slow connection, because I don't know how big it is and you might be stuck sitting there forever.

Last night I went to a class on Dreamweaver and among other things, I finally learned what these mysterious "div" tags mean. So, now I've fixed the glitch that was keeping my banner from lining up in Fire Fox. Nevermind that I hand-coded the remedy instead of using my new software. I guess old habits die hard. Now if I could just get the sidebar to go all the way to the footer....

In light of yesterday's post, I've been thinking about ways to "sit at the feet of Jesus" like Mary. Traditionally, I've thought of prayer and scripture reading as the main modes of doing this. But I brainstormed some other ideas too, and here is a list of a few ways to keep our daily time with Christ fresh and challenging.

1. Memorize Scripture: don't just read it, but store it up and write it on your heart.

2. Fast: not my favorite spiritual discipline, but a valuable one none the less. Denying ourselves is a testimony to our dependence on Christ.

3. Meditate: like prayer, but instead of conversing with God, focus all of your thoughts on one aspect of His glory, for instance His righteousness, His power, or His love, etc.

4. Be still: again a lot like prayer, but concentrate on listening to God and feeling his presence. Marshall can confirm or deny this for me, but I think in the Psalms, when the passage is broken by the word "Selah," it indicates where the Psalmist stopped to quiet his or her heart and to listen to the Lord.

5. Write: some people like to journal, some like to create poetry, some like to copy scripture. I like to blog. The point is to see yourself putting prayers, thoughts, and expressions in a concrete, tangible form. It can be good to write down not only your own thoughts, but also the leadings you feel from the Lord.

Yesterday was a small group day again and we watched another segment of the Bruce Wilkinson series, Secrets of the Vine. If you have been following this blog, then you probably know that I had some reservations about the point of the last installment, but this week's message was a homerun. Wilkinson brought home what I see as the most crucial point of John 15, that the fruit of the spirit comes from our abiding in Christ. Sometimes, we view our church and community activities as the means to produce more fruits for God's kingdom. Service and works are good, but when we perform these activities at the expense of true personal communion with Christ, then we limit--not expand--our ability to produce fruit. Wilkinson uses the perfect example of Mary and Martha during Christ's visit. Martha busied herself by "serving" Christ and his followers, while Mary abided with Christ and enjoyed his presence. When Martha protested, Christ replied that only one thing was needed (Christ Himself). The greater meaning of this truth is that 1) we should make a renewed commitment to "basking in Christ" through daily prayer, meditation, scripture reading, etc. and 2) our idea of fruit must be adjusted to de-emphasize flashy "fruits" and high-profile shows of spiritual bravado, while we re-emphasize the more subtle fruits: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control. This should also serve as a warning to all those in mission around the world--our mission must depend first on our own relationship with Christ.

It is Monday, so I'm instituting a new regular feature of this site which will be a weekend sports review. This will mainly deal with teams that I care about, so if you're looking for commentary on the Cubs, the Pats, Dook, or any NBA team, you can save yourself some time and stop reading now...

Evan and Kelly came over for the first time since he moved back to the east coast last night and we had alot of fun. We played this crazy game called Settlers of Catan. I would the describe the game as a shortened cross between Risk and Monopoly. Here's what the game looks like:

I lost. But the good news is that Brooklynne wasted all of us, so for a while this will be her favorite game. I have to say that I would have won except for my new nemesis, the robber!

Now I'm off to the Middle School guys' sleepover. Pray for me and the boys. Thanks!

I promise I will start putting up good stuff again soon. But today, in honor of day two at the LOC, I'll post my notes from the day. Just click continue reading below. Or... check out this exciting new site.

Today I am in the city. I'm sitting with my back against the statue of Grant looking down the mall toward the Washington monument. In the distance I can see the corner of the Lincoln Memorial too. Both of my projects this semester require research at thhe library of Congress, so I'm trying to get into the habit of going there every Tuesday and Wednesday. Today's trip has been a learning experience. The records I need are off location and have to be ordered. So, I'm blogging while I wait for the containers to get here.

I really like going to the library of Congress because I always see something new. Today it was a statue of Gallatin standing in front of the treasurey dept. The inscription calls him a financial genious and he looks pretty proud of himself. I like the statue of Madison just to the left of the entrance inside the library better. He looks a little more down to earth (besides that he is a giant marble statue).

I skipped going to see Renquist. Does anyone else think it's creepy these guys have viewings like this? But, I did go to the Visual Music exhibit at the Hirshhorn. The exhibit was interesting, but not really convincing. I don't buy the idea that visual art can be elevated to the abstract and sublime in the same way as music. Sounds lend themselves to abstraction. We deal with white noise and sounds that inspire feelings, even when we don't know what they mean. Jackson Pollock defended his visual abstractions by compairing them to fields of flowers (what meaning is there in a field of flowers?). But we all know a flower is a flower, and vision is a sense that is centered on definition. When vision is blurry, there is a problem. So why should a person try to make abstract visual arts the same way we would make music?

So here is a quick preview of what my hair will look like by the end of the semester. Perhaps I will talk Brooklynne into putting her hair up to the test, but as for now, I think she's happy with her hair as it is!

This result is made even more appropriate by the fact that Brooklynne and I have tickets to the Stones concert in Charlottesville on the 9th of October (I think?). If my hair grows fast, maybe I can sport the look for the concert and get some great pictures for the site.

I have to say that after I promised to perm my hair if the Slash look won, I was sure that I was doomed to grow my hair out for the next two years. I suspected there would be a flood of surprise responses just before midnight yesterday, but the Jagger hair is a pleasant surprise and I'm already halfway there! Thanks to all of those who voted.