Blog of Josh Hall

People watching is completely and only acceptable when both the viewer and the viewee are in public spaces and real time. Any deviation from that is creepy.

Clarification: there are some gray areas, like being seated at a restaurant. Sure, it’s public, but the seated area is more exclusive/private than open spaces. This leaves wiggle room for observations, but staring should be avoided.

You know I’m not much of a football fan at all, but even that can’t stop the forces of inspiration.  I want to try to create LEGO creations for each season and display them around the house until I think of something new to create, and the Steelers going to the superbowl was the biggest event I could think of.  I did a quick google search for “pittsburgh steelers LEGO helmet” just to make sure no one had done it before, and then set off!

I used basically all my black 1x and 2x pieces.  Pretty ridiculous.  I had been itching to try my hand at a sphere, because this has always been a struggle of mine.  It’s hard to think in 3 dimensions while building in 2 dimensions.  I think I’ve found the trick is to set a base shape and then build exactly the same on both sides.  Having a consistent and uniform curve makes the brain accept the rounded shape a lot easier!

I built most of the helmet in about 4 hours, and left one side empty while I brainstormed on what to do about the logo.  I think it turned out pretty well!  If you have a good eye, you’ll notice that the logo doesn’t say “Steelers”.  I had just put a 1×3 black brick centered in the circle, but it looked crappy.  The trick of creating in LEGO is the art of suggestion!

I did have some extra 1×2 black and yellow, so I threw them together to spell out “Steelers”, even though I couldn’t make the stencil font come out and keep the proportion small.  At first attempt, I had the back of the helmet sticking out way too far back.  I brought it in about 4 studs and tapered the bottom in.  Perfect.  Total time about 10 hours.

The naked trees wave white plastic bags
Like wounded soldiers waving surrender flags

Sirens scream from the project heights
Homeless were once suburbanites

Multiple stab wound lies on the street
While the starving steal the shoes from his feet

Where the in want out, and the out want in
Where lives end, and business negotiations begin

Where the deals are smooth and a bag costs one fifty
This is my home, this is the city.

I’m going to try to avoid offending anyone here.  Know that I’m expressing my thoughts, not my rules.  This is an idea that I’ve always struggled with, not something that I’m upset with others for doing.

I don’t really value food.  I define food as the most basic substance that we require to survive.  That’s all I am able to see it as, a maintenance requirement for our bodies.  I do see food as an industry, man-made, sensationalized, and hierarchical.  That scares me, and it always has.

I’m not talking about the content of documentaries like Food, inc or Super-size me.  I’m on a much more basic level.  The NEED for food.  Why do we NEED to enjoy food?  Should we really value taste?  If we could get the same nutritional value of a salad in a pill form, shouldn’t we do that instead?  From a time spent perspective?  From a consuming natural resources perspective?

I look to The Bible for answers, partly because that’s where the struggle was born.  I see where meat is sacrificed.  I see where feasts are held on significant days and times.  I see so many metaphors using food to express how important something is.  I see a lot of bread, wine, water, milk, honey, grains and cheese.  These are all basic foods.  Specifically in the book of Job, he makes the reference to not wanting to eat unsalted food.  He is tormented with life’s unending slavery.  I can only hope that I do not meet the same fate as Job for my questions here…

The point I keep coming back to though is that food is temporary.  There are numerous metaphors to stay away from temporary things.  We should build our homes on permanent ground, we should focus on the things unseen and everlasting, not tangible and mortal.  Are we investing large percentages of our days to temporary and earthly things?  We spend so much time preparing something that we’re just going to destroy right away.

This can be applied to a lot of things besides cooking.  Clothing is temporary and earthly, but we put such emphasis on putting on our Sunday best for church.  Movies are entertaining and can be the launching pad for fellowship, but I can’t think of any other activity where we do nothing for 90 minutes.  Discussing politics will just go on and on and on, and it won’t even change a thing.  Is this what we’re called to do with our time?

It basically comes down to where is the line between actively doing God’s work and resting?  Where is the line between investing time versus return?  Where is the line between rendering unto Caesar and following our calling?

Even if cooking long and intricate meals is the best thing we can do in our lives, isn’t there then something righteous about denying ourselves that pleasure?

Again,  these are my own thoughts and struggles.  If you enjoy cooking, do it!  Family dinner time, the gift of hospitality, and inviting others to break bread with you are some of the most tremendous things to do in our life!  I just know that I’m not going to be able to do those things every day and every meal, especially if I’m to value other areas of my life.  Enter struggle.

Think for yourself.  At the risk of sounding too much like Emerson, form your own opinions.  Don’t just swallow the expert’s advice.  The fact is, sometimes they’re wrong or sometimes you’re different than what they’re generalizing.  If they’re right, then great, but at least you know why they think that way and why you agree with them.

hearing the talk about Queen Elizabeth being in Canada and then speaking at the United Nations made me remember the time I saw the Queen.  In May of 2007, Keren was spending a semester in Italy, so the whole family decided to take a trip over to see her.  While I was over there, I was fortunate enough for work to foot the bill for me to stay in London for a few days and meet everyone I work with on a daily basis.  While I was there, my friend Penny took me to see Equus, staring Daniel Radcliffe, of Harry Potter fame (yes, I saw him naked).  Anyway, on our walk home at night, past the London Eye, we hear all these sirens behind us, and then a cop (bobby?) on a motorcycle pulls up and blocks the intersection we were walking past.  I was a little scared, but we kept walking, and then saw some more bike cops roll on by, finally followed by an old style brown car, in which i could easily make out the Queen.  They just zipped right on by.  Penny was shocked.  I think she had never even seen the Queen.  I fumbled for my camera, but it was too late to snap even a blurry pic.  I’ll see if I can get Penny to back me up on this claim.