Microsoft iPod

I have been a PC/Windows user all of my adult life. I'm really not sure how it happened. My dad and most of the rest of my family are devoted Apple users. They, like most Apple devotees, swear by their ease of use and dependability. Yet, I somehow veered into the darkside without even knowing it.

Well, I got an Apple iPod last Christmas, which I absolutely LOVE, and learned about all of the cool things that Apple has been doing. I've definitely been swayed by their "I'm a Mac. I'm a PC" ad campaign. I've even decided that the next computer I want to get should be a Mac Mini, the small, low-budget computer that would serve as a media hub in the entertainment center of my dreams. I believe I have seen the light, and I now appreciate the beauty of simplicity, which is a key component of Apple's business and design philosophies.

That is why this video was just so funny. It humorously and accurately illustrates how something so mundane as the packaging of an iPod can reflect the complexities/simplicities of a company. It asks a very basic question: What if Microsoft packaged the iPod? The results are very funny in their hypothetical accuracy. I laughed out loud.



p.s. Notice the music from Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. That music always cracks me up.

Update: Microsoft recently announced its forthcoming iPod competitor, Zune. So, We may see how accurate this video is very soon.

Movin' on up!

Finally. Kari and I have made a decision, and we'll be moving out of Michigan. I had two interviews recently, one in Clear Lake (Houston), TX and the other in New Rochelle, NY. They were two very different jobs. The one in TX is a clinical position with the Krist Samaritan Center for Counseling and Education. It consists almost entirely of seeing clients, supervision, and even the opportunity for research. The NY job is a faculty position in the Masters-level MFT program at Iona College.

I was very impressed with the Krist interview in TX. They have a large facility with a varied array of mental health professionals, and a very supportive environment for expanding your practice, research, education, and experience. I was less impressed with Iona. It seems to be a good program on the upswing, but they have little state-wide support for the MFT field, the pay is not nearly what I think it should be for the high cost of living in that area, and the whole interview seemed very rushed and on-the-fly, not what I would expect from an academic institution I would like to work for.

Needless to say, I have accepted the job in TX. Also needles to say, our family is all psyched about our decision. We'll finally be bringing those grandbabies to Texas to stay. Of course, that played a large role in our decision. TX already had that going for it, but I think even if our family wasn't all in Texas, we probably would have accepted the job in Texas because it looks that that will afford us more opportunities, both financially and professionally.

We're very excited about living down there, even though the actual move could be a nightmare with two young children. We'll be living with my parents at first, while Kari finds a job and we find a house. We're hoping to buy a house in the Clear Lake area ASAP, but until then, we're thankful for the opportunity to live with mom and dad.

So, here we go. Anyone no of a good childcare provider in the area? Or a good health club? We'll be starting from scratch, and we'll need all the help we can get. Should be fun!

An Inconvenient Truth

Okay. I hope this is my last pseudo-political post for a while. I say pseudo-political post because I believe this issue extends beyond politics and into our role as caretakers of God's earth. The environment is one of my key, touchtone issues. It is the first real issue that I fervently sided with Democrats on. Actually, I feel more aligned with the Green Party on the environment than even Democrats. We have done a terrible job of caring for the Earth over the last 150 years or so. We are beginning to see the effects, and the global scientific consensus clearly indicates that human activities are a primary cause of global warming. Yet, many oil companies and their political allies continue to deny the impact that human activities have had on the environment.

That's where Al Gore's film, An Inconvenient Truth, comes in. It chronicles Al Gore's global campaign to get politicians and companies to recognize the problem and take action. The problem is that too many people are enslaved to oil and the companies that refine it. Some of those companies, under the guise of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, have realeased a couple of ads that make the ridiculous claim that Carbon Dioxide is not a pollutant. "It's not pollution. We breath it out." Anyone whose ever taken a science class knows that global warming is caused by TOO MUCH CO². Yes, it's necessary for life, but like all things, it should be in moderation.

As a Christian, I believe it is irresponsible and immoral to ignore this problem anymore. I hope everyone will find a way to see this film. More importantly, I hope more people will get to action on this. Politicians and oil companies need to do something about this, but consumers can too. Find a way to get to work without your car. Use mass transit, if possible. Carpool. Ride your bike or walk. Conserve the energy in your home by turning off lights and using fewer electronics (that's a hard one for me). Find activities that do not require using natural resources for energy. Recycle. All of these things alone will not do the trick, but it's a start.

Finally, I agree with Dubya!

It's taken over 5 years, but I finally agree with Dubya on an issue. It seems that a German weekly publication was conducting an interview of current and former US Presidents about their experiences in the highest office. One of the standard questions they asked was about each presidents' best moment in office. Jimmy Carter said that it was the Camp David Accords peace agreement. President Clinton mentioned ending the war in Kosovo. Dubya?

"I would say the best moment of all was when I caught a 7.5 pound perch in my lake."

I completely agree! Honestly, can anyone think of anything that tops that monumentous catch? I can't. It seems that he finally got one right, and I could not agree with him more.

Graduation

Well, tonight's the night. At sometime around 7 PM EDT, I will be hooded by my major professor, walk across the stage at the Breslin Student Event Center, shake hands with a couple of people, and receive something presumably resembling a diploma. It will appear that I have graduated and hold a Ph.D. in Family and Child Ecology with a specialization in Marriage and Family Therapy from Michigan State University. But wait, there's more.

You see, here at good ol' MSU, there is no summer graduation ceremony. Given the various delays of my dissertation, I am not able to submit my approved dissertation to the graduate school in time to officially graduate in May. But because this is the only ceremony offered to me, I am proceeding with the ceremony nonetheless. The problem is that I still have quite a lot of work to do. I essentially have 3 months to finish collecting and analyzing data, write up said analysis and conclusions, and submit it to my committee for review. I will defend my dissertation before the committee at 9 AM on August 18, and assuming they don't want me to rewrite the thing, I'll turn it into the graduate school about a week later. At that point, and not a moment sooner, will I officially have my Ph.D. and be able to begin my post-student life.

So, while tonight's graduation is fun, symbolic, and good to remember, I still have an underlying sense of uneasiness about it. Despite the encouraging words from my mom, my dad, my grandparents, my in-laws, my wife, my friends, and many other people, I still can't shake the feeling that the ceremony, while symbolic, is simply a fraud. I'm not done. That reality is still foremost in my mind. I may be proud of my accomplishments to this point, and I might recognize that the reality of completion is eminent, but it's not here yet, and it won't be here tonight. I really hope I enjoy the ceremony tonight, because I'll still have three months before I can honestly say I've graduated.

FINALLY making dissertation progress

Although I'm still nowhere close to where I wanted to be at this time, I finally feel like I am making progress with my dissertation. I have conducted two interviews, and I have expanded the eligibility criteria to include divorced fathers. My hope is that the expanded criteria will allow more therapists to refer their clients to the study. I had spoken with a number of therapists who said that they had a few fathers who might participate, but the father was divorced. I originally required that the father be married to and/or living with the mother of the child in therapy in order to minimize the effects that family structure might have on father engagement and the co-parent relationship. After discussing my recruitment problems with committee, I have determined that I can still answer my research questions as long as I address the effects that this might have on the findings. It is a small change, but it might make a large difference.

Additionally, the two interviews that I conducted recently gave me a wealth of data that I am eager to analyze. They helped confirm my commitment to this research and the value that I see in it. Although I will not finish before graduation in May, I should be able to finish in time to defend the dissertation in August. That is great news, and really gets me pumped to dive into it all. I know I will continue to encounter obstacles as this journey continues, but I believe that if I can overcome the recruitment problem, everything else will fall into place.

The First of Many

On this day exactly one year ago, a precious little baby girl entered the world. Regan Karina Martin was born on April 5, 2005. She is one year old today. We through a little party for her with just us. We had cake, streamers, balloons, party hats, and presents. Because it was after a long day of work for both parents and kids, it was a pretty abbreviated event, so abbreviated that the birthday girl had to take a bath and go to bed before even having cake. (It had been a long day.) So she opened her presents and actually loved every minute of it, and she'll get to have some cake tomorrow.

I can't believe that it has been an entire year. So much has happened, and so much more will happen in her second year. She is an incredible little girl. She has taught me so much abot life, people, and little girls. She's taught me a lot about myself. She is sweet, happy, spunky, and stubborn. She gives the tightest hugs I've ever gotten from a one-year-old. She smiles and laughs every day, even when she is ill or not feeling well. She loves her brother, despite his knocks against her. She can even hold her own when she tackles him to the ground. Happy Birthday, Sweetie, and here's to many more! (You can see more birthday photos at Flickr, and I'll post video of the party to the podcast this weekend.)