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WonderWebLog for 10 May 2004

First things first: did you call your mother yesterday? And a Happy Mothers' Day to all mothers everywhere. You're the ones that make sure the rest of the planet doesn't go completely to pieces. Special kudos to all the moms who bring their kids here every Saturday, especially those who stay and play games with us, too!

Every Mothers' Day I light two candles after Mass. The first is for my mom (shown here at the left, she's just the greatest), who gave me my name, raised me, and made me the man I am today. She is the first in my heart on this day. I don't call her or go see her as often as I should, but I'm trying to do better.

The second candle is for a nameless young woman who walked the higher road when faced with the prospect of a child she and her husband were unable to raise. Rather than take the easy way out, she chose that I would live and arranged for an adoption through the Edna Gladney Center.

I will never know who she was. They wished for the records to be sealed and total anonymity be granted. Not even my mom and dad know the identities of my birth parents. Though laws and regulations have since changed to the point where I could legally ask for the records, I decided long ago I would respect their wishes and never search for them. There is no need for me to thank them, because I know that there is Someone who sees everything and knows who they are. He will see that they are rewarded for respecting life. And somehow, I think they know that I turned out okay.

I will admit, adoption is a bit of a personal crusade for me. Too often the Pro-Lifers and the Pro-Choicers think in terms of black and white. For them, there are only two alternatives when it comes to pregnancy: either you keep it or you abort it. They forget that there is always a third path. There are so many wonderful people who would make great parents but for one reason or another are unable to have children. And there are so many unwanted children who could fulfill those dreams. Adoption brings those two together. Perhaps if the Pro-Lifers and the Pro-Choicers would unite and support adoption as the middle ground, this could be a better world. My brother and I were both adopted and we didn't turn out too bad. And a childless couple were able to realize their dreams of a happy family.

And think about how many more people would be able to celebrate the joy that is Mothers' Day.

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A big "happy birthday" to Darrell, who turned another year older this past week. May the Fourth be with You, Darrell!

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I do hope Friday will be good. I'm going to be here all day and am looking forward to some more gaming. If you'd like to hang out and play some weird stuff, I've got some new games to try.

Be well,

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"If the legislation before the Senate passes, an advisory board would monitor area studies programs that receive money from the U.S. government under the Title VI program. The Association of American University Professors, the ACLU and most professional organizations have raised alarms about this unprecedented government invasion of the classroom. Among their concerns are the board’s sweeping investigative powers, lack of accountability and makeup, which would be composed in part from two agencies with national security responsibilities. Should such a government-appointed board be allowed to police the classroom by deciding what constitutes a diverse or balanced lecture or if a teacher’s research is in the national interest? Yes, if HR3077 is passed, because it will replace the professional standards of the academy with arbitrary political standards."
-- Beshara Doumani, "The End of Academic Freedom?"

"The whole scientific enterprise really does coincide well with Christian theology. The whole idea that the universe is worth studying is a Christian idea. The whole mechanism for studying the physical universe comes straight out of the whole logic of the scholastic age. Who was the first geologist? Albert the Great, who was a monk. Who was the first Chemist? Roger Bacon, who was a monk. Who was the first guy to come up with spectroscopy? Angelo Secchi, who was a priest. Who was the guy who invented genetics? Gregor Mendel, who was a monk. Who was the guy who came up with the Big Bang theory? Georges Lemaître, who was a priest. There is this long tradition; most scientists before the 19th century were clerics. Who else had the free time and the education to gather leads and measure star positions?"
-- Henry Bortman, "Interview with Brother Guy Consolmagno"

"The people around Bush seem oblivious to their own history. After a shaky and unrealistic start in occupying Germany after the Second World War, the Americans, British and French grew to be quite sure-footed in fostering a strong, functioning democracy in a soil of bigoted, twisted, totalitarian sensibilities. That imperious warmonger, Douglas MacArthur, displayed remarkable sensitivity as chief occupier of defeated, flattened Japan. He made sure his forces treated the Japanese with respect and courtesy, and they repaid the US and the world many times over with a sound, functioning democracy and a dynamic economy that is the envy of many nations."
-- Keeble McFarlane, "Brer Bush and the Iraqi Tar Baby"

"The Monarchists ran an outrageous platform, proposing changing the value of pi to simply 3 ('It was too confusing') and adding a genetic research program to the South Campus Dining Hall ('We wanted longer, slower roaches.') but King Tom is best remembered for his beer-filled moat. 'We desperately, desperately wanted a moat around campus,' he said. 'That was my main goal as king. That's my legacy. That's what I leave.' The moat, filled with 'fine, cold imported lager,' was intended to improve security, supplemented by guards on the moat's drawbridge dressed in the traditional Beefeater's outfit. Cooper pushed hard for the moat to get built, having engineers make blueprints and estimating the cost at $4.5 million. 'Any criminal persistent enough to swim across the moat would get too drunk doing it,' he told The Diamondback in 1985. 'We feel that people trying to get on campus should at least get drunk and wet.'"
-- Jared S. Hopkins, "When Royalty Ruled the SGA"

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Smile, and welcome to The Wonderland Game Company's official website! This is where we hang out and put our various doings online for your enjoyment.

In addition to the site, we also run The Mad Hatter's House of Games, Lubbock's only game store. We're located right across the street from Texas Tech University in the middle of the student entertainment district.

We have free play space, big gaming tables, weekly sanctioned tournaments, giveaways, odd events, Mexican import sodas, nearly all of Mike Oldfield's albums on shuffle play, plus four pubs and the best pizza in the world all within a few steps of the front door. What more could you ask for?

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