Brandon E Taylor's Weblog Cogitations, Meditations, and Ruminations

A Taylor is Born

Caleb Gene Taylor was born today at 10:23 AM to Brandon Eugene Taylor and Tiffany Lynn Taylor. He weighed in at 7 pounds 11 ounces and measured 21 inches in length. Both grandmothers were on hand to greet the new arrival - Tiffany's mother was in the delivery room and my mother was waiting just outside.

For a number of years now, my foremost aspiration has been to become a father (I find it of utmost significance that God's first command to man was to "Be fruitful and multiply" Gen 1:28). Consequently, the fulfillment I experienced today was truly profound. I felt privileged and humbled to witness one of God's greatest miracles - the miracle of life - in a very immediate and personal way. I wish that I was more articulate so that I could adequately express the full extent of my joy. I suspect, however, that such a thing transcends the ability of anyone to reduce it to mere words.

The pride I felt in my wife and son while witnessing the birth far exceeded any pride resulting from any of my personal achievements. That being said, I believe I nearly dislocated my shoulder patting myself on the back for my role in the events leading up to today. :-)

Tiffany and I appreciate all of the well-wishes and congratulations from family, friends, and co-workers. Your support and sentiment have meant a lot to us.
( Jan 31 2005, 02:05:44 AM PST ) Permalink Comments [0]

Words to Live By

Matthew 5:8

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God
( Jan 30 2005, 01:43:50 PM PST ) Permalink Comments [0]

Washington's Crossing

Washington's Crossing - David Hackett Fischer (2004)

**** 1/2 (out of 5)

Late in 1776, the American Revolution was in dire straights. The American army was at a fraction of its former strength and the British occupied New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island. Pennsylvania was poised to follow as the British army was in striking distance of Philadelphia. Washington's Crossing is Fischer's account of George Washington's brilliant 1776 New Jersey campaign that served as a turning point in the war. Fischer's account of this campaign includes the crossing of the Delaware River, the two battles of Trenton, and the battle of Princeton. It also includes rarely chronicled information about 'The Forage War' - a petite guerre involving a series of American raids on British foragers.

Fischer's treatment of the operational, tactical, and strategic factors involved in the New Jersey campaign are exceptional. Impressive as well is Fischer's ability to place the campaign within a broader political and cultural context. Interesting issues receiving treatment include American civil-military relations, wherein military affairs are conducted by military officials with civil oversight; the "policy of humanity", the American ethic of warfare that favored humane treatment of defeated opponents; and the role of contingency, where decisions made by actors on both sides resulted in broad and lasting consequences.

Another interesting feature of Washington's Crossing is Fischer's attempt to dispel a number of old myths about the New Jersey campaign. Foremost among these are the myths that the Hessians defeated at Trenton were surprised by the American army after a night of drunken revelry and that the American army was woefully supplied with clothing, food, and arms.

Fischer's portraiture of the leadership and common soldiers of both sides of the conflict, his impressive research (extensive footnotes, appendices, and references are provided to support the material in the book), and his insightful analysis are truly compelling. The one negative aspect of the book worth mentioning, IMHO, is Fischer's tendency to overly generalize a few of his findings. I highly recommend this book, particularly to folks who share my passion for American history.
( Jan 28 2005, 11:55:54 AM PST ) Permalink Comments [0]

Word of the Day

hibernal

adjective - of, relating to, or occurring in winter

( Jan 28 2005, 10:16:09 AM PST ) Permalink Comments [0]

Final Ultrasound

Tiffany and I went in for a final ultrasound today before Monday's delivery. Caleb's skull is measuring greater than 92mm so it looks like he will be ready.

The ultrasound technician gave us an estimated weight of 7 pounds.
( Jan 27 2005, 09:03:46 AM PST ) Permalink Comments [0]

A Room with a View

A Room with a View - E.M. Forster (1908)

*** (out of 5)

Lately, I have been making a conscious effort to read some of the books on my lifetime reading list about which I have been procrastinating for years. A Room with a View is one of those books.

The novel is written in two parts. The first part takes place in Florence, Italy. In this part, a young British woman, Lucy Honeychurch, meets and becomes attracted to George Emerson, a socially unacceptable Englishmen with an eccentric father. Toward the end of the first part, Lucy finds herself alone with Emerson on a violet-strewn terrace. He kisses her – a kiss that is interrupted by another member of their traveling party. This kiss is a source of great confusion and internal conflict for Lucy – on one hand, she wishes to maintain the conventions of Victorian England while, on the other hand, a more repressed part of her would like to submit to her stimulated passions. The second part of the novel is set in Surrey, England. In this part of the novel, Lucy is courted by Cecil Vyse, a suitor that is socially acceptable, but unwilling to see beyond the stifling Victorian class and gender lines. Predictably, Lucy once again comes into contact with the Emersons in this part and is soon faced with a defining choice between a life with Cecil and a life with George Emerson. She ultimately breaks off her engagement with Cecil and marries Emerson. She chooses, in effect, passion over propriety.

A Room with a View is 'yet another' mild social satire that explores the conflict between propriety and passion. As is so often case with such novels, the treatment of the opposing forces is too lopsided and passion ends up predictably trumping social convention. Forster's characters are colorful, his dialogue is often amusing, and his themes are easily accessible. I simply could not, however, get too excited about the novel's unoriginal and relatively shallow treatment of the primary theme.
( Jan 25 2005, 11:00:10 PM PST ) Permalink Comments [0]

LEGO Creations

As a LEGO-phile, I am always appreciative of clever and interesting things folks are doing with those wonderful plastic bricks. Here is a sampling of some of the things I have stumbled upon lately:

• LEGO PCs: various PC cases developed with LEGO components
• LEGO Logic Gates: Mechanical logic gates built with LEGO components
• Grandfather Clock: 7 foot working grandfather clock built entirely from LEGO components
• LEGO Goes to Hollywood: Short animated films starring LEGO creations.

Words to Live By

James 1:2-4

Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
( Jan 23 2005, 06:42:28 PM PST ) Permalink Comments [0]

Steelers: 27 Patriots: 41

Congratulations to the New England Patriots. They came in with a brilliant game plan and were able to capitalize in big ways on a Steelers team that looked about as bad as they have all year. The Steelers fought hard, but they simply made too many inexcusable mistakes: Roethlisberger often playing like Kordell Stewart used to, blown coverages in the secondary, and bonehead penalties on defense to extend drives. When you play like crap, you deserve to lose.

Congratulations, also, to the Steelers for the terrific regular season. Unfortunately, the Steelers looked as bad in the postseason as they looked good in the regular season.
( Jan 23 2005, 06:39:16 PM PST ) Permalink Comments [0]

The Dew Breaker

The Dew Breaker - Edwidge Danticat (2004)

*** 1/2 (out of 5)

The Dew Breaker is part short story collection, part novella. In this book, Danticat tells a series of nine interrelated stories set between Haiti and New York City and spanning periods of time from the 1960's to present day. The common thread of these stories is an enigmatic American immigrant that once served as a 'dew breaker' - a brutal prison guard and torturer - in Haiti and his effects on the lives of his families, acquaintances, and past victims. Standout stories in this collection include "The Bridal Seamstress" - the story of a retiring bridal seamstress in NYC that was arrested and tortured during her youth in Haiti because of her refusal to dance with the dew breaker - and "The Night Talkers" - the story of a young man, orphaned by the dew breaker, returning to a rural Haitian village to visit his blind aunt.

The stories of the Dew Breaker are evocative and the writing is excellent. The subtle lyricism of the prose in the Dew Breaker is one if its most compelling features. Also compelling is the profundity of the book's primary theme - redemption. I felt that Danticat did an exceptional job at presenting some deep questions related to theme: How can someone guilty of a horrific past find peace and redemption? How can one explain the apparent contradiction inherent in someone capable of both terrible cruelty and touching love? Danticat did not, however, make much of an effort to explore potential answers to these questions. This, and the ambiguous moral stance the book takes related to the 'protagonist', somewhat diminishes the book, in my opinion. Still, the Dew Breaker is a worthwhile work and I recommend setting aside a couple of hours to read it.
( Jan 22 2005, 05:57:25 PM PST ) Permalink Comments [0]

Online 20 Questions

20Q.net is an online version of 20 Questions. The AI is purportedly "very simple, but its behavior is complex". Players can enter new questions to assist the AI in learning about new items. Quite entertaining!
( Jan 21 2005, 11:36:22 PM PST ) Permalink Comments [0]

PostgreSQL 8.0 Released

The PostgreSQL Global Development Group has announced the 8.0 release of the PostgreSQL object-relational DBMS.

Some of the new features in the 8.0 release include:

• savepoints
• point-in-time recovery
• tablespaces
• Win32 native server

Word of the Day

militate

verb - to have weight or effect

( Jan 21 2005, 10:18:46 AM PST ) Permalink Comments [1]

Inaugural Address Quotes

"There is only one force of history that can break the reign of hatred and resentment, and expose the pretensions of tyrants, and reward the hopes of the decent and tolerant, and that is the force of human freedom."

"We are led, by events and common sense, to one conclusion: The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world."

"...it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world."

"All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: the United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you."

"We have confidence because freedom is the permanent hope of mankind, the hunger in dark places, the longing of the soul."

Full text of the address here.
( Jan 20 2005, 10:25:22 PM PST ) Permalink Comments [3]

Last Prenatal Appointment

Tiffany and I just got back from our final prenatal appointment before Caleb's arrival. Everything appears to be going well and we look forward to a healthy delivery on the 31st.
( Jan 19 2005, 09:50:37 AM PST ) Permalink Comments [0]