I was sitting at lunch today when I heard from across the kitchen, "Commodore Perry is in the house."

I smiled. 'Ah, the quirky culture of Sonlight.'

Picking up on the theme, a coworker shared about our Core A (which was fairly quickly renamed considering even the SCCs couldn't keep the Cores all straight that year <smile>). The people in the warehouse called it "Core F" because of the title: Fiction, Fairy Tales, and Fun for Little Learners. In fact, one of the guys wasn't even aware of the real title and so called it "Core F" in a meeting, which caused his coworkers to bust into guffaws.

But the cultural bit from this post's title comes from my good friend Mike--who works a cube over. Mike will often walk by and ask, "Did you figure it out?"

I tend to reply with something befitting my current situation, ranging from: "No, I haven't even started thinking about it yet," to, "Yep, fixed it yesterday."

Laura Lee, who is in the spot between us, finally asked us about it.

Toward the Kitchen

Well, Mike's question is much like: "How you doin'?" It's rhetorical. The fact that I choose to answer it honestly and with much detail is an indication of my own quirks.

Now whenever I launch into a lengthy description of my latest quandary, Laura Lee laughs along with us because, honestly, no one is ever going to "figure it out." There's always something that needs tweaking, changing, or reconsidering. And that's why Sonlight is constantly working to update our materials and make things clearer (even if sometimes we don't quite do that... as typified by our ill-labeled "Core A"). But even in the ever changing landscape of life, some things remain consistent, or at least a part of our experience.

Our quirks and fond memories are that way.

Here's an experience that came out of our house last night, courtesy of "The Joy of Cooking" page 504:

...braaains....

So, did you figure it out?

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father

First, a disclaimer: I don't have daughters yet. I wish I did, but they're still stuck in Kyrgyzstan at the moment. So, I can't speak from personal experience. On the other hand, I have sisters, many close female friends, and several girls with whom I have traveled internationally^*, so I do have a very protective bent.

Now, on to the topic at hand:

I read a post about a recent experience that determined why one woman's daughter will not be biking alone ever again.

Now, yes, the world is a scary place with much potential for evil, and we must look to protect our children. But is the answer to hide away in a convent? Do we withdraw to places away from criminals and let the world "go where it will" without us?

No.

And I'm not saying that was the point of the original post either. But facetious as the comments may have been, I think the ideal is a reality for many Christians in their daily lives: Rather than deal with the issue, we suggest that we remove it. And that's not without Biblical backing. And in some cases, that's not a bad idea at all.

But the solution to sin should not, I propose, be about making it impossible to do so. Rather, we should focus on changing life to be so we focus on the good instead.

Here's my experience of a girl going out alone: Instead of telling the girl in Paris that she should not go running at night, I insisted on going with her. That way she was no longer in as grave a danger and we could build a friendship. Positives.

And this is why some people find accountability groups/partners so powerful: They have a companion with them to help keep them safe. And this is the importance of community as well: We need people who are looking out for us and keeping us from doing something foolish on our own. And that, I think, is why I have consistently had bad experiences with "accountability groups": They are about seeing how I've been doing at avoiding something, rather than looking out for me and walking with me through the dark alleys.

In short, an accountability group is like a weekly "safety meeting" for girls who can talk about how many times they've been approached by guys that week. "Well, I was only approached by two guys this week," the cute little blond girl says. "Oh, that's good," exclaims the redhead, "I had three guys whistle at me."

That's retroactive and hardly helpful.

I want people who will go with me out into the world and keep me safe simply by walking beside me because they love me. And, honestly, I think that's the point of the post: Don't go biking alone.

If that is our model, there's rarely a need for the convent.

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father

^*Oh yeah, that sounds really wholesome, doesn't it?

Well, it was every time.

I've been on mission trips and a leadership training group thingy. I don't go bopping around the world with bimbos. Just in case people were scandalized <smile>.

While reading another blog, I saw the cover of a new Baby Blues compilation book. It took me a moment, and then I laughed. Check out the cover for a grin. ...or not, if you're not as twisted as I am <smile>.

Now I don't have baby blues at the moment. I have waiting blues while we exercise our "patience" muscles in this whole adoption thing. And I also tend to have money blues.

Let me give you a prime example of my misery.

We recently went to Costco armed with several coupons, including one for $3 off a pair of women's lounge pants. I was getting tired of not having any PJ bottoms to use because Brittany kept taking them, so this could be a pretty good deal. And it was.

We got two pairs.

Brittany loves them and said, "These are the most comfortable pants I've ever had in my whole life." Sounds good to me. So, where's the misery in this?

Well, even on sale they cost more than 25 cents, and I started to feel guilty. I mean, we're in a recession for cryin' out loud! How can I be shelling out money like this, especially now that we're in the season for spending money on others (which was also hitting my bank)?

Oh, woe is me!

Even the knowledge that this was coming out of our Party Tithe didn't console me. And then, to make things worse, Brittany suggested we get some fries from Carl's.

Ahhhh!!!

I read blogs every day about people barely scraping by. How in the world was I supposed to feel good about having money to spend... especially money that I can spend without guilt? How could I not help but feel guilty about that!?

And then this morning, I read this post by Kim. In it she talks about her realization that she should choose to be thankful for things she has. And she says it far better than I, so go give it a read.

But the bit grabbed me when she was listing the things she can be thankful for was "money to meet all our needs (& a WHOLE lot extra!)"

And it smacked me right in the middle of my thick skull:
I should be thankful for the "WHOLE lot extra!" I have, rather than bemoaning the burden and giving in to guilt. I mean, how foolish can you get?

Pretty foolish, it seems.

Who else takes a blessing and turns it into a curse?

In light of this, I've resolved to be thankful for the opportunity to buy my wife comfortable lounge pants.

I'm also thankful for the wild success of the Sonlight Rice Bag Project! What an incredible blessing. Now women in India will be able to read the Bible ...and any graffiti around them <smile> (though I didn't see much when I had the opportunity to visit India).

So, any blessings in your life right now that you need to be thankful for?

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father

P.S. I also choose to be retroactively thankful for the very tasty fries I ate at Carl's with my wife.

I have much respect of Roger Ebert and the few reviews of his I have read have been well done. Granted, I tend to stick to the more scathing comments over on Rotten Tomatoes instead of listening to professional critics... because I'm like that.

Ebert even agrees with me about Bond's latest movie, which is a good sign--even if he never mentions me by name. That's probably because he doesn't know who I am because he probably only reads Rotten Tomatoes and doesn't bother with IMDb, even though we could be buds there. <cough cough>

But this post isn't about Bond.

It's about Ben.

More specifically: About Ben's movie and Roger's response.

I had the opportunity to see Expelled in the theaters before reading anything about it--other than a few people who were, perhaps, a tad too excited that it was coming <smile>. During the film I noticed that Ben, or the editor, was rather brutal to Dawkins from a filmic standpoint. But the quotes and the people they had seemed bright, albeit snarky, and the points I thought were well made.

But today I came across Ebert's rant about Ben's flick.

Greg

Whoa.

It appears that this little project has created quite the uproar.

After an initial brush I see the real complaints as such:

1. Intelligent Design people are dumb because
2. Over 99% of scientists know ID is wrong.
3. The eugenics movement and Hitler are not tied to evolution because
4. Evolutionary scientists don't ascribe to Hitler.
5. Ben's a flippin' liar and scum.

As I think back to the movie, I would say that:

1. The point was that ID has some valid things to consider, and main stream media and scientists simply reject it as "dumb"--or "boring" if you watch the flick. Thus, this complaint seems to reinforce Ben's point, and not critique his film at all.
2. Appeal to majority. Who taught these guy's logic?
3. I'm no historian, but people I trust (appeal to authority <smile>) say that Ben's point has merit. And from what I can tell, this holds water.
4. The point is not what evolutionary scientists think, but rather to what this line of thought can lead.
5. It does sound like Ben may have been less than honest--which is terrible--and he may be scum--I don't know--but attack on personality and name calling are, I have observed, the primary weapons used when people can't use logic, reasoning, or actual argumentation.

But herein lies the problem: If Ben is playing dirty and his opponents are playing dirty... how do we know what's true?

What about the new research that has to do with the similarities in DNA which leads to an argument much like the one for the Q document?

This certainly is a hot topic which is convoluted by people's biases and emotions on both sides. And I'm glad that Kevin pointed this out in response to Roger.

I wish Q had given Bond a gadget that helped him arrive at truth.

Until such a marvel appears in the real world, feel free to read the snark surrounding Ben on Rotten Tomatoes and consider...

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father

As I've mentioned before, my dad is a brutal good editor and really helped my writing. So, my father was--and still is^*--my writing coach.

But what if you don't have access to a professional writer? Are your children destined to be less than amazing at writing?

No.

Not at all. In fact, as one of my high school English teachers observed: Who taught Shakespeare to write? How can someone teach another to be the best writer in the world?

So, I'm confident your kids are safe. In fact, if they develop a love for writing (as I have) they can go far.

But for those who want to get a little more assistance, to have a few more resources and access to editors when it comes time to grade papers, I'm thrilled to announce that Sonlight has worked out an option... and a pretty exciting one at that.

Introducing Sonlight's partnership with WriteAtHome. Here are the things that I think are really cool about this opportunity:

• The writing coaches have the Sonlight IG your student is using. They know exactly where your student is coming from and are familiar with the assignment. The submission isn't just a random paper they are reading.
• You can pay per paper. No need to sign up for a "plan" or subscription.
• You can help your child deal with the "red pen" and not wield it yourself.

Aside: I'm guessing being your child's champion and not their torturer would be desirable to some parents. I, on the other hand, often enjoy the process of pointing out mistakes and helping people work through them. Of course, I can be a rather sick person at times <smile>.

I just heard about this new opportunity and it sounds pretty cool.

A writing coach is certainly not essential to your child's education, but it is another tool at your disposal. If you'd like a writing coach for your student, you may want to check out Sonlight's new connection with WriteAtHome.

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father

*My dad has helped me with many of my more intense Heart of the Matter posts. These last two I wrote at the last minute, so he didn't get a chance go catch all my errors. Even so, if you'd like to read my latest, I'd appreciate it <smile>.

There's a reason people go into such strict training for space: It's a different experience and it takes a while to get adjusted. I learned about this the first time I ever tried to use a snorkel.

I've been a competitive swimmer since I was nine. I loved baths as a kid. I know my way around water. But one day while at practice for college swimming, my coach handed me a snorkel. This plastic tube was supposed to allow me to focus on my stroke and shoulder rotation because I didn't have to think about turning my head to breathe. It was some newfangled way for coaches to look at your stroke.

Well, I knew how these things worked, so I plopped the mouthpiece between my teeth and stuck my face under the water and took a couple of strokes.

At that point it was time to breathe.

I couldn't.

My face was under water and my lungs refused to let me breathe in. It was a very odd sensation. My brain was telling me to breathe and I wasn't. I couldn't. The mechanics of breathing were off--my face was underwater, which, as any rational person knows, is a bad place to be breathing.

Now, I don't know what it's like to be in space, but if it's anything like snorkeling--or scuba diving, as my more recent experience demonstrated even more vividly--then I would guess that the first moonwalk was difficult. I wouldn't be surprised if the focus was entirely on the mechanics of walking on the moon, and not so much about how totally amazing it was to be, you know, walking on the moon.

When my scuba instructor told me that going underwater was a little "crazy" because of the bubbles everywhere, the sounds, the equipment and everything else, I smiled. 'Oh come now,' I thought. 'I've experienced the "crazy" of snorkeling. I'm ready for this.'

And then I went underwater and thought, 'Oh my! But this is crazy!'

I spent almost the entire hour feeling the craziness of the situation. I didn't focus on the fish, the sharks, the turtles, or even the octopus. I was too worried about breathing, keeping water out of my goggles, and finding a more "weightless" state.

I wonder if the first years of homeschooling are like that?

I wonder how many families are so caught up in the mechanics of homeschooling the first year or so that they can't enjoy the wonder, joy, and experience of the incredible adventure they are on.

If other families are like me, may I suggest you relax, even if you feel like you shouldn't be breathing underwater.

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father

While in the car at 4am yesterday morning--we were headed to watch the sunrise--my family got to chatting about Haiku. We even wrote one. Check out our early morning creation:

Good morning.
It is dark outside.
We're driving.

Bad Haiku
Holzmanns 11/23/08

Since one of my nephews was in the car, I thought it was a good "teaching moment"--or, at least, an opportunity to show off <smile>--and so I explained how in English our poetry revolves around rhyme/meter, how Haiku revolves around specific syllable use, and how Hebrew poetry involves repetition of letters at the beginning of each line. For instance, English poetry repeats sounds:

But in Hebrew, the "AA.. BB..." scheme is literal:

My dad, who had been listening, suddenly remarked, "After all these years of studying English, I just learned something: Poetry is writing using specific constraints to make it artistic."

That was a much better explanation than what I got in Junior Year's Honors English: Poetry is whatever is not prose.

My dad went on to comment that using such a definition would make even the chiastic structure a form of poetry. And that makes sense, even if no one has officially labeled it so. And so, I'll label it officially:

The chiastic structure is a form of poetry.

In honor of today's ceremony, I would like to share a poem with you:

May you enjoy poetry, of all forms, today.

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father