Kendall Giles

If you ever wanted to give up your 9-5 job, if you ever wanted to stop working for someone else, or if you ever wanted to live more of your life now, rather than wait until retirement, then you might consider reading Timothy Ferriss' new book The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich.

While certainly not for everyone, for not everyone is willing to give up their secure 9-5 job of working for The Man, I think anyone can pick up a few tips or strategies they might use to add some flexibility into their worklife. For example, the book contains examples of how an employee might convince their boss to let them work from home more often. For the bolder, the book gives examples of how a person can quit their 9-5 job entirely while realizing their own ideas for a new product or company. At a minimum it gives everyone encouragement to pursue their interests and hobbies, and gives examples of what is possible from Ferriss' own life. As an aside, I recently gave up a high-paying, secure job in industry to pursue a lifelong goal. Though I did this before reading this book, it certainly confirms that I made the right decision. The book is enhanced with secret codes that can be used to access additional information on the book's website, http://www.fourhourworkweek.com.

Technorati Tags: academia, book, income, job, work

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown. Though Europeans had visited this land long before, Jamestown, settled in 1607, was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. Many festivities and events are taking place this year. This weekend, for example, sees a replica of the boat that settler John Smith used to explore the Chesapeake Bay set sail on a 121-day journey to retrace his voyage. This past Friday saw Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II return to Virginia, revisiting Richmond, Jamestown, and William & Mary.



Just in case you are wondering, that's the Queen, on the right, and Former Supreme Court Justice and current W&M Chancellor Sandra Day O'Connor on the left, at W&M.

Technorati Tags: academia, culture, living, virginia

Now this is a house.

Designed by architect Peter Archer, and noted in Fine Homebuilding, this fine hobbit house is meant to house a client's collection of J.R.R. Tolkien's manuscripts and artifacts.

Inside is equally stunning.



When can I move in?

Sources:

Architect:
Archer & Buchanan Ltd.
West Chester, PA 
610-692-9112
www.archerbuchanan.com

Builder:
Richard Owens Construction
Chester County, PA
610-827-0972

Custom doors and windows:
Premium Grade Cabinetry Inc.
Newark, DE.
302-369-1982

Hardware:
Michael M. Coldren Co, Inc.
North East, MD
410-287-2082
www.coldrencompany.com

Technorati Tags: academia, culture, living

News reports indicate that Jerry Falwell died today.

Leading US conservative evangelist Rev Jerry Falwell has died in hospital in Virginia after being found unconscious in his office, his assistants said.

Praised by many, but also condemned by many, Jerry Falwell was an icon of Lynchburg, Virginia, where I was born and bred. He grew his church, the Thomas Road Baptist Church, founded a fundamentalist Christian university (Liberty University), and often mixed politics and religion with the political organization The Moral Majority.

I can remember going to his house, off of Sandusky Drive, as a child, trying to sell flower bulb's for a fund-raiser, and being yelled at by his security guards.

Many years later, I attended the wedding of a cousin, sitting in the chapel of the new Thomas Road church (no longer on Thomas Road). This is a huge church on the campus of a large university essentially built by Jerry Falwell. Few people today have his strength of leadership, vision, or courage.

And no matter where I go, if I tell people I am from Lynchburg, they either mention Jerry Falwell, or Jack Daniels. The latter, of course, is for Lynchburg, Tennessee. Either reference gets a reaction.

In any event, 'tis perhaps the end of an era for Lynchburg, Virginia. Or, as one friend put it, it may just be the beginning.

Here is a timeline from NPR of Falwell's ministry:

Aug. 11, 1933: Jerry Lamon Falwell is born in Lynchburg, Va.

June 1956: Shortly after graduating from Baptist Bible College in 
Springfield, Mo., Falwell becomes pastor of the new Thomas Road Baptist 
Church of Lynchburg, Va.

April 12, 1958: Falwell marries Macel Pate.

1967: Falwell creates the Lynchburg Christian Academy, a fully 
accredited Christian day school offering K-12 education.

1971: Falwell founds Liberty University.

1972: The SEC files charges of "fraud and deceit" against Falwell's 
church for the issuance of $6.5 million in uninsured bonds. The 
organization wins its case in 1973, but Liberty University files for bankruptcy and 
reorganizes, losing millions in church investors' money.

June 1979: Falwell organizes the Moral Majority, a political lobbyist 
group tasked with bringing Christianity to the forefront of the 
Republican Party platform. The group considers itself the force that 
elected Ronald Reagan to the presidency.

1981: Penthouse publishes a Falwell interview given to freelance 
reporters and Falwell files a $10 million lawsuit against the 
magazine, stating that the interview was sold without his consent. The 
case is dismissed.

1983: Falwell sues Hustler for featuring a parody of him in an 
advertisement. Although the jury denied compensation for his claims of 
libel and invasion of privacy, they awarded him damages for "emotional 
distress." Hustler founder Larry Flynt appealed the decision, and in 
1988 the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of the magazine.

1987: Televangelist Jim Bakker passes control of his PTL Ministry to 
Falwell after a series of financial and adultery scandals, most notably 
Bakker's conviction for fraud that sends him to prison for five years. 
Within months, PTL files for bankruptcy. Falwell and the PTL board of 
directors resign.

1989: Having helped the Republican Party win three presidential 
elections, Falwell officially disbands the Moral Majority, saying, 
"Our mission is accomplished."

1995: Falwell begins publishing the National Liberty Journal.

Sept. 2001: Falwell comes under fire after he blames gays, abortionists, 
the ACLU, and other groups for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He 
publicly apologizes for his remarks.

2003: Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore loses his seat on 
the bench for refusing to remove a monument to the Ten Commandments from 
the courthouse grounds. Falwell defends Moore's actions, comparing him 
to Martin Luther King Jr.

2004: Falwell founds the Moral Majority Coalition, a "21st century 
resurrection of the Moral Majority" and pledges to lead the organization 
for a minimum of four years.

2006: Relations between Falwell and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) warm after 
McCain speaks at Liberty University. During a campaign speech for the 
2000 presidential election urging the country to return to social 
moderation, McCain referred to Falwell (and others) as "agents of 
intolerance."

May 15, 2007: Falwell dies in Lynchburg, Va.

Technorati Tags: culture, lynchburg, religion, virginia

OK, so maybe I made a mistake.

Maybe I totally missed out on one of the best TV shows to come along in, well, forever.

I mean, who ever heard of a vampire slayer named Buffy?! After all, I was in the middle of watching The X-Files and Babylon 5 when Buffy aired on TV - who had time for a high-school girl in red leather pants with a vampire problem?

But after watching just the first two episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I am enjoying every vamp patrol and all the resulting vampire slayage goodness.

Of course, having one of the main characters have the same surname as I do helps, as does lots of vampire killing action, plus well-written scripts, great acting, and interesting characters. And, well, the leather pants turned out to be, how should I put this, assets to the characters who wear them. I mean, I've commented on Buffy's, and my wife has commented on Angel's, so I guess there's asset-admiring all around.

Currently we are in the middle of season 5, and tonight I hope to catch up on Buffy and the gang. You can see what you have been missing too - best to get the whole series (or at least the first seven seasons) and plan on not getting much else done for a couple of weeks.

Just don't say I didn't warn you.

"What can I tell you, baby? I've always been bad."
     ---Spike, "Fool For Love".

Technorati Tags: book, culture, living

If you want to get up-close and personal with the events in Iraq, you really should check out Michael Yon's Online Magazine. Mike is reporting on Iraq by embedding with the troops there, on the ground, with the bullets and bombs. Thus, he brings a perspective unmatched by any news broadcast from New York or the Green Zone. Not only his stories, but his images too capture a previously unseen view of life and war in Iraq. From his "A Memorial Day Message" article:

Yet Mosul is still dangerous. In January, a Humvee with five passengers rolled over a massive IED. The vehicle was completely destroyed. My first mission with James Pippin was the recovery of the five men killed. CSM Pippin set the leadership tone that horrible day and demonstrated moral strength far above and beyond what I believe most men could bear. CSM Pippin and I had just been swapping some emails within the past week, when a message came less than 24 hours ago that he, too, had been shot in Mosul.

Mike is also the author of the bestseller Danger Close, which tells Mike's own story of growing up in Florida, joining the Army, becoming a Green Beret by the age of 19, and having his life altered by one night in a Maryland bar.



He has the first chapter posted online, but here is an excerpt:

As we toured the bar, a man approached, got uncomfortably close, and snarled his contemptuous opinion of our short haircuts in Steve's face. A brown belt with an Indian head buckle marked the border between his blue pants and beige shirt. He wore a white metal necklace, and on his right arm was a tattoo, which seemed to be a marijuana leaf. I'd experimented a little myself during the waning months of high school. It confused me-but not enough to celebrate with a tattoo. On his left arm he had taken pains to emblazon in red: Death Before Dishonor-a clear warning to all of dangerous waters, like a sign that says "No Swimming-Crocodiles".

Technorati Tags: academia, book, culture, defense, guns, living, security

This is a tanjo.

Technorati Tags: culture, defense, martial arts