Bollywood Fashions

Originally uploaded by Raymond Yee.

I didn't even know there were "Bollywood fashions".

I've installed Skype, considered Vonage, but I might try Compare 10-10 phone rates and save on long distance service!
for long distance calls. I'm not happy with the calling cards I've
used, with their terrible voice quality and nasty
sorta-hidden-use-or-lose-salting-away charges. Calling From Abroad at Reasonable Rates - New York Times is a helpful article in this area.

"Putting Your Passion Into Print"

Originally uploaded by Raymond Yee.

I've put an inter-library loan in for Putting Your Passion Into Print : Get Your Book Published Successfully! I've been daydreaming about a number of books I'd like to write. Will I move beyond daydreaming at this point?

spiral to the sky

Originally uploaded by Raymond Yee.

Not only was the sheer number of books overwhelming at Doe Library, but also the beauty of the books going up in a DNA-like helix.

I've started reading Nancy Pearcey's Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity, partially in preparation for "Keeping Religion in its place?" conference
to be held at First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley on Friday, January
27 and Saturday, January 28. I don't know whether I want to spend most
of a Saturday at the conference, but I'm sure the Friday lecture will
be worth hearing.

I have mixed feelings as I start the book. I can sympathize with many
of the things Pearcey has to say: the fundamental way in which
worldviews consciously or unconsciously shape everyone's ideas, the
marginalization of Christian thought from much of high academic
intellectual discourse, the call for Christians to live out their
convictions in every sphere of their lives. But I wonder, why does she
seem (at my early stage of reading) to accept so heartily and
uncritically intelligent design and compassionate conservatism. I'll
have to see for myself once I read further along.

"Organize!" and "Well-behaved women rarely make history"

Originally uploaded by Raymond Yee.

I like reading witty bumper stickers but have not gotten into placing bumper stickers on our own car. I could even take the next step beyond passive consumption and create my own bumper stickers, say, by using Cafepress.

polluted elegance

Originally uploaded by Raymond Yee.

I hate to admit to seeing beauty in abandoned furniture on a quiet Sunday street.

a quick self-portrait

Originally uploaded by Raymond Yee.

My folks told me that they wanted to see more pictures of people they knew (including me) in my photostream. This photo is in the spirit of honoring that wish. More to come!

Rome in Six Hours and Four Decades - New York Times includes a big plug for Best of Youth:

No movie did that quite as powerfully or completely as "The Best of Youth," Marco Tullio Giordana's
six-hour chronicle of recent Italian history told through the lives of
an ordinary Roman family. Originally made as a mini-series for Italian
television, this film gestures back toward the tradition of politically
astute historical filmmaking exemplified by masters like Luchino Visconti and Bernardo Bertolucci.
It is an intellectual as well as an emotional feast, with dozens of
superb performances, especially from Luigi Lo Cascio and Alessio Boni
playing two brothers caught up in the social and political turmoil of
the 1960's and 70's. Mr. Giordana has made a movie so full of life that
even after six hours of screen time and four decades of history, you
wish it would go on.

Laura and I just can't make it to the showing at the Balboa Theater so we'll just have to see it on DVD.

Overall, Laura and I had a wonderful time in Toronto and Pittsburgh. I
consciously tried to rest and refrain from thinking about the huge to
do list for 2006. The huge storm last night
caused a two hour delay in our flight from Pittsburgh and a late night
taxi ride home from SFO. I got up this morning ready to go, ran some
errands, and uploaded the rest of my vacation pictures.
The big task today, besides marking the new year, is to put together a
draft of a reader for my class. That's enough to do today!