Owner: I am "The Man": Musings of a White American Male (WAM!) URL:http://keithbecker.blogspot.com Join Date: Sat, 17 Feb 2007 01:17:10 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: My name is Keith Becker. I am a middle-class, twenty-something white American Christian male. I am one of the majority, one of the many who have so much going for them and yet do so little to change our world for the better. But I wish to be different. I Site statistics:Click here
KinderCare ... or is it Kinder Care? 2007-07-07 11:18:00 So here I am again, blogging. I've recently been thinking about picking blogging up again, and I figure no better time than this Saturday when I should be getting an early start on the speech and two article summaries that I have due this Monday. :-)I've been working a new job! I now work at this awesome place called Kinder
Care, which is billed as a "learning center." It's really like a school for kids who aren't old enough to be in school yet, although we do a lot of "play" as well as schoolwork.I work in a classroom full of four-year-olds, which I love! They're freakin' adorable. :-) However, Since it is more a school than a daycare, it is a ton of work. I've had to start making lesson plans, I have to do lots of arts and crafts stuff on my own in the room (and seriously, that's the worst part for me because my improvisational artistic ability = zero), and because I have educational certifications, I'm allowed to be alone in a room with up to ten four-year-olds, whic
Why I Am Not Spider-Man 2007-07-11 10:39:00 If any of you has actually followed this blog from the beginning (if you have, you're either crazy or in love with me, since it has been the most sporadic thing ever), you may remember a post I wrote way back in May 2006 entitled "How I am like Spider
-Man." I was reading a new comic book that Tobin bought me, and I re-read this post, and I got to thinking--never a good thing.Here's my dilemma:God gives us the desires of our heart, if they align with His desiresI really, truly desire to be like Spider-Man. We're past the point of funny pseudo-obsession and have moved into me being real: the webs, the spider-sense, the saving the world--I want all of that.I believe that I would impact the world for the better if I were Spider-Man, therefore it seems that God would be pleased.Now don't get the wrong impression. I'm not a crazed fanatic whose room is covered in red and blue and webs ... I just want to be him. I've told Tobin that if I could have just one selfish wish (because if
Fun Times! 2007-07-09 14:59:00 Kids playing in their 'campsite' at KinderCare :-) Read more:Times
Lookin' Good! 2007-07-13 13:12:00 Here's Sophie Rowland, another of my kids at KinderCare :-)
Friday QOTD! 2007-07-13 12:46:00 So I started doing this Friday
Quote of the Day thing a long time ago, but it didn't last very long--literally only that one post. But I figured I'd bring it back! I think it's appropriate to pay homage to all the great writers and leaders of the past who have said things that I would never even be able to conceive in my inferior brain.On that premise, I'm going to aim to share a quote with all of my (quasi) faithful readers on Fridays. The quote could come from any source -- something someone said in public, from a book, a movie, even song lyrics. I don't really have the energy these days to come up with my own writing all the time, but hopefully I'll be able to share some fun and thought-provoking ideas in relation to the quote, doing what I do best: piggy-backing off of someone else's hard work. :-)I thought a bit about today's quote and decided to use this one from Derek Webb's song, mockingbird. It's appropriate for the way I wish to treat the Friday Quote of the
Why I Am Not Spider-Man 2007-07-11 10:39:00 If any of you has actually followed this blog from the beginning (if you have, you're either crazy or in love with me, since it has been the most sporadic thing ever), you may remember a post I wrote way back in May 2006 entitled "How I am like Spider
-Man." I was reading a new comic book that Tobin bought me, and I re-read that post, and I got to thinking--never a good thing.Here's why I am in a quandary:God gives us the desires of our heart, if they align with His desires.I really, truly desire to be like Spider-Man. We're past the point of funny pseudo-obsession and have moved into me being real: the webs, the spider-sense, the saving the world--I want all of that.I believe that I would impact the world for the better if I were Spider-Man, therefore it seems that God would be pleased.Now don't get the wrong impression. I'm not a crazed fanatic whose room is covered in red and blue and webs ... I just want to be him. I've told Tobin that if I could have just one selfish wis
Fun Times! 2007-07-09 14:59:00 Kids playing in their 'campsite' at KinderCare :-) Read more:Times
KinderCare ... or is it Kinder Care? 2007-07-07 11:18:00 So here I am again, blogging. I've recently been thinking about picking blogging up again, and I figure no better time than this Saturday when I should be getting an early start on the speech and two article summaries that I have due this Monday. :-)I've been working a new job! I now work at this awesome place called Kinder
Care, which is billed as a "learning center." It's really like a school for kids who aren't old enough to be in school yet, although we do a lot of "play" as well as schoolwork.I work in a classroom full of four-year-olds, which I love! They're freakin' adorable. :-) However, Since it is more a school than a daycare, it is a ton of work. I've had to start making lesson plans, I have to do lots of arts and crafts stuff on my own in the room (and seriously, that's the worst part for me because my improvisational artistic ability = zero), and because I have educational certifications, I'm allowed to be alone in a room with up to ten four-year-olds, whic
Please Give Feedback!! 2007-06-24 23:54:00 OK let's just pretend I never stopped posting. Cool? Cool. Now I have a dilemma:A friend of mine here at school in West Chester (his name is Roshun Pai if any of you know him) recently made the assertion that he could walk 100 miles in three days.I quickly told him at first that I was willing to bet that he could not, but after more consideration I am unsure.Do you think he could do it? He would be allowed to run or stop and eat or sleep if he wants to (he's only hurting his time), and he would have to complete the distance on a flat track. He is of average athletic ability but certainly not a distance/endurance guy.So basically: Can the average person keep up a pace of 33.33 miles per day for three straight days?Please
answer! We're having a vicious debate!! Read more:Feedback
Countdown to Spider-Man 3! 2007-04-02 14:33:00 I'm going to see Spider
-Man 3 on opening night I think, and since Tobin will be in England then, I'm going to see it in an IMAX theater with her later!! :-)Oh and you'll want to check out the final trailer for the movie.Peace. Read more:Countdown
Humorous-ness. :-) 2007-03-28 21:36:00 Several funny things about me:When I'm in the shower, I often don't like to close my eyes because I'm literally afraid someone will be standing there when I open them. I think it's because it's such a vulnerable situation, being stark naked and all. This feeling is amplified after I have been scared, like following a horror movie.If I'm walking alone down the street or in a parking lot late at night, I'll put my keys in my right hand so that there is a key pointing out between each of my knuckles. This is so that if I were attacked suddenly, I could inflict maximum damage on my assailant.I still consider myself a blogger. Hah!That is all.Peace.
Tangent: The Art of Omission 2007-02-24 23:30:00 I'm going on a tangent because I don't feel like writing about strength or love or any other thing that might fit into "What _____ Is."Recently I was reading quotes online and I stumbled across this one, penned in a letter by 17th-century French scientist and philosopher Blaise Pascal: "Je n'ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parce que je n'ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte." Which of course roughly translates to:"I am sorry for the length of this letter, but I had not the time to write a shorter one."At first glance, this quote seems baffling. What the heck is Pascal talking about when he says that he didn't have the time to write a shorter letter? Isn't length the equivalent of hard work and therefore good writing? After all, in the world of academia we are given ranges of pages (ex: 5-7 pages) or words (ex: 1500-2000 words) for writing papers, and a "good" paper is one that falls in the upper end of the length requirements.I believe that this is a tragedy and tea
What Life Is 2007-02-18 20:41:00 I'm thinking that this might be the first in a series of posts, on different topics (What Life Is, What Love Is, maybe What Strength Is, etc.). I got the idea when reading one of my favorite running philosophical dissertations, The Amazing Spider-Man. Aunt May gives Peter the skinny on what life really is:(Click the picture to enlarge it so you can read the text)copyright 2007 Marvel, Inc.Anyway, I have had so many thoughts about life in my short stint on this earth, and I'm sure many of you have interesting and provocative thoughts on the subject as well. It's such an intriguing and broad and stupefying topic. Life can be completely wonderful or completely awful, although I would venture that no one has a completely wonderful or completely awful life, in totality.Why are we alive? I'm a Christian, and so I believe God created us, made us stewards of this earth, gave us responsibility and one rule to obey but we screwed that up: enter sin and death and pain. But why life on e
Tease Me Once ... 2007-02-16 23:11:00 Just recently I've been thinking a lot about the concept of teasing--sarcasm, mockery and the like.This spawned out of a conversation I had with Tobin and her mother Rosemary. We were discussing when it becomes acceptable to tell someone that you are offended by things that they say, if ever, and I mentioned that I told my current roommates at one point that I'm not a big fan of derogatory comments about or related to homosexuals (e.g. "you're gay," "that's gay," "you're such a fag"). As a Christian I am consistently, extremely frustrated with the way the Church and my fellow Christians respond to homosexuals, focusing much more on the fact that homosexuality is considered wrong by the Church instead of the (infinitely more important in my thinking) fact that Christ loves homosexuals the same as he loves everyone else. This thinking is what prompted me to make this T-shirt:(Back reads: "And so do I.")Anyway, the conversation led from there to talk about teasing in general. I t Read more:Tease
Bono Talks Tech 2007-02-15 10:49:00 Not a whole lot of time to BA-LOG, but check this out:Bono Talk 2005 A little outdated, I know. But seriously. Who wouldn't follow Bono around if they had the chance? Too bad he's not American ... he'd be one helluva revolutionary WAM.More later, but for now ...Peace.
Title Change! and Unspoken Rules for WAMs 2007-02-13 08:04:00 Cue the drum roll, the dramatic music, and the hush over the crowd.I changed the title of my blog.You did WHAT?!I know, I know, this is drastic. And, like so many of you, I loved the previous title, "Write it All Down. Quickly." But I continually felt like I was failing. I felt like I was pretending to have a blog about writing, and not really even doing a good job of pretending, at that. I felt pressure to write things so that I could put them in my blog, and because of the pressure I felt uninspired. When I didn't write things I felt like I was failing, which added to the pressure and uninspired...osity. It was really a Dane Cook-style Vicious Circle.That said, I feel like this title is freeing! By using the title "Musings of a White American Male," I can talk about whatever the hell I want! I can muse on art, science, politics, religion, sociology. Heck, I can muse about the overrated benefits of toilet seat covers if I feel so inclined. (caveat: you might not want to hold your b Read more:Title
, Change
, Unspoken
, Rules
New Laptop! 2007-02-11 21:33:00 So I just got a new laptop. Or notebook. Or a "mobile PC." Either way ...:-D I love gadgets!!My laptop is a Gateway, with really nice specs and a brand spankin' new copy of Windows Vista Home Premium:I've basically got the whole laptop set up now, with restore points created unless anything goes awry. Like my experience with my previous laptop, where *conveniently* right after the one-year warranty expired, the screen decided it was time to die.This time around, I learned from experience and purchased a two-year warranty which covers accidental damage. It was a bit expensive, but I am positive that it was a good decision in the long run.Anyhow enough about that. Just know that I'll be playing with this thing pretty much non-stop for the next at least 60 days, and three-fourths of the time after that too.I was planning on posting tonight about some unspoken rules within the American male community. I've been thinking some about the topic recently and I jotted some of my thou Read more:Laptop
, New Laptop
Organization Craze! 2007-02-02 09:05:00 So lately Tobin has got me going on this kick of organizing my life. I'm not blaming her or anything ... in fact I guess I really started it myself when I asked my parents for a gift card to Staples for Christmas so that I could get a filing system (really just a big tupperware container with hanging folders in it).From there, I now have my filing system, a budget plan worked out, I have a planner that I'm using regularly, and I ganked (is that a word, really?) an unused 60-day organizer/calendar/thing from my current place of business, the Chester County Book Company (the thing hadn't been used since October 1994, no joke). My life is starting to become organized.Can I tell you a secret? Seriously, lean in close.It feels pretty damn good.Now don't get me wrong. Forcing myself to write down everything in my planner and on my calendar drives me freaking insane sometimes. And the filing system has gotten off to a rocky start as well. This certainly doesn't come as naturally t Read more:Organization
, Craze
Sweetest Birthday Ever. 2006-12-20 12:16:00 Yesterday was my birthday. It. was. Awesome!Many thanks to all of you who helped to make my birthday special. Here's a list of the things that I loved about this birthday, the things which made it far better than any birthday I've had to date:1. Tobin. I mean, and I don't curse, damn. She made my birthday rock my face off! First, it turns out I love the candy Smarties (I didn't even know this until recently), and so she made me a Smarties bouquet, attaching them to a letter opener, which made me laugh and was incredibly cute (Tobin, I know you hate being labeled with the word cute, but sometimes you are, and it's a good thing).Next, she took me to this fantastic place called Longwood Gardens -- the picture doesn't do it justice. The place has a huge outside area, where all the trees and gardens are decorated with Christmas lights during the holiday season, and the inside sanctuaries are wonderful too, with great smells and really cool flowers, like orchids with what Tobin Read more:Sweetest
, Birthday
President Bush ... The Devil? Wha??? 2006-09-20 20:02:00 Greetings, brothers and sisters!So I was watching CNN today, and I came upon something rather interesting: Apparently, Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, in a speech at the UN General Assembly, declared that President
George W Bush is none other than the devil himself.I pontificated over this for a moment. Could Bush and Beelzebub be one and the same?It was a tempting idea, but Bush clearly cannot be the devil: he's simply not popular enough! It is an unfortunate but widely-known fact that the devil has an approval rating well over 40 percent.Hahaha seriously though, I don't hate Bush. I just think we need a new President.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------That tangent over, here are some fun facts about what I've been up to lately (sorry for the length, I'm feeling wordy):1. Classes are going fairly well, although my children's literature class has turned out to be quite a workload. Oh well, I can't complain, conside Read more:Devil
, President Bush
Comeback Post #2: He's on a Roll. 2006-09-15 18:16:00 Hello all.Ok so the chief reason I am posting here is because I know Tobin will probably be reading my blog at some point tonight, because I had told her that I had posted again and that Jessica Jones had responded (on Facebook, I have my blog linked so that all of my adoring public can view it there now too). By the way, thanks Jess for responding, I hope you and Tobin are having a good time and lots of fun!Oh and thanks to Jonny Cagwin for responding too -- I'm also partially posting right now just to prove him wrong -- it will not be another two months! I miss you too bro.We're finally getting settled into the apartment here -- Pat Brown, Alex Christy and I -- we painted and furnished the living room, got TiVo (which I'm pretty sure scans my thoughts while I sleep, it records "TiVo suggestions" for us all the time), and also got a NetFlix account. I watched Lucky Number Slevin today, which was actually pretty good although it ended up being very violent which I didn't totally
I'm Your Huckleberry. 2006-06-29 23:07:00 I can't believe I'm updating this. Really, the motivation behind this update is that I entered a headline that made it onto this week's posts on Overheard in New York. That being the case, I'm assuming that maybe some people will see the link to my blog that I included and actually stop by to visit here.The headline of this post comes from a very fantastic movie, Tombstone. Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday is quite possibly one of the best characters ever, with his cocky swagger. The only character I've seen that comes close in similar fashion is Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean (speaking of which, the sequel looks to be fantastic). I watched two great movies today, actually, Tombstone and Boondock Saints. I was trying to determine what it is that makes The Boondock Saints such a great movie to me, and I think it's just the way everything comes together, the way nothing in that movie is frivolous or doesn't contribute to the masterful plot.Anyway I Read more:Huckleberry
How I Am Like Spider-Man 2006-05-23 16:55:00 Hello All,I'm back, after all the craziness that has been my life. I still am having a hard time processing the fact that Nate is gone. I think it would be different if I saw him all the time, but for me Nate has been one of those friends that I just saw once in a long while. That being the case, I still feel like I could give him a call at any point. And as my friend Justin so aptly said, it's the times that you realize you can't ... that's when I miss Nate Graybill the most.So for a while my life had been feeling a whole lot like this:But just lately it's been feeling a whole lot more like this:So it's out: I love comic books. Particularly Spider
-Man. The thing is, for me they're not always just escapism or fantasy. In fact, I almost always find I can relate to my "friendly neighborhood Spider-Man" ... I've always wondered that is. Why do I relate so much to everyone's favorite wall-crawler? Maybe it's the neuroticism; Spider-Man and I are both known for a tendency to
Please Pray for Nate Graybill! 2006-04-30 14:25:00 For any of you that don't know, Nate Graybill was in a mountain biking accident this past Wednesday in which he received some major head trauma. Nate was taken to the surgical ICU at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and remains in a critical condition.I have created a blog more focused on Nate and what is happening with him, and you can find it at weloveyounate.blogspot.com. Please
check there continually for updates as to Nate and what is going on with him, as well as to add comments of support and encouragement.Those of you with photos of Nate can also go to www.dotphoto.com, where I have set up a space on the web to host photo albums of fun times or experiences with Nate, or just photos of him. The username and password are as follows: username: welovenate2 password: welovenateThe username and password were not permitted to be the same, hence the 2 on the end of the username.Please use both of these options liberally as a means of showing love and support
Almost Done ... 2006-04-25 11:00:00 So this year of school is really almost over. It's been a heck of a year. First semester was pretty terrible, but I'm back on my feet and trucking along. I've gone to see Tobin virtually every weekend this year and it has been awesome. I haven't really experienced such an enriching relationship until now. I know that Christ is my bread of life and my rock, but spending time with Tobin has definitely brought me closer to Him, which is fantastic, and I think I've come to learn more than ever that it's ok to depend on someone, even need them.I went on a school visit today, to Foose Elementary in Harrisburg. The class that I observed had health class with their gym teacher, who is a real jerk. The guy says things like "contribute to the class for once in your life" and "you're a mess man, straight up" to FOURTH GRADERS! I mean, ridiculous. Re-donk-u-shmous. It totally wasn't my place, as I was an observing college student, but if I was involved in that school in any kind Read more:Almost
Ooh, Update! Tasty. 2006-04-20 20:58:00 Well it has been suggested to me by someone that if I REALLY A) Like blogging and B) Want people to read my blog and maybe even (*gasp* the Holy Grail of Blogging) respond to it, I should just update consistently. Hence, here I am, a mere TWO DAYS after my last update!I'll give all 2 or 3 of you a second to recover from that shock.Anyhow, I figured since it has been a good, oh, 3 weeks since I posted them, now might be a good time for me to answer those questions that I put up earlier. So without further ado, my answers:1. Do you have any irrational fears, and if so, what are they?This is a hard question for me to answer. I think the closest I can come to a good answer is that sometimes I am afraid when I am standing in the shower and washing my hair that someone will be standing there whenever I open my eyes. I think it's because I feel so vulnerable, naked and with my eyes closed. Other than that ... when I was younger I used to think (I mean *really* think) that all the othe Read more:Update
, Tasty
Yes! I do yet live and draw breath. 2006-04-18 19:21:00 OK so I seem--read: understatement--to have a sort of like/hate/hate relationship with this whole blogging thing (meaning I sort of like blogging sometimes, hate it other times, and my readers (the dwindling few (ooh, multiple parentheticals) still not in delirium) hate me because I never update).Anyhow I have been spurred on by someone who still reads this (super quiz for bonus points: was it me, Tobin, or my alternate personality that does all of my work and writing while I "sleep"?) to update, and recommit to Write it all down. Quickly. So here's my attempt.Let me just say that Easter was fantastic. For those of you that don't know, Jesus Christ is alive and risen and I am head over heels in love with Him! Easter at Daybreak was fantastic, as was time with my family and Frisbee golf with Rich and Zack (man, that last hole was awesome, right Rich?). I also got a new phone!Here's a list (I love blogging list) of great things about My New Phone!: 1. First and foremost, I can call
New Pictures! 2007-08-06 21:06:00 Been living and enjoying life lately, sorry about the lack of blogging. Check out my brand spankin' new pictures here to see what I've been doing in lieu of blogging! :-)Gotta say hi to Tobin here -- things have been fantastic between her and me. I like you so much!Back for more later,Peace. Read more:Pictures
, New Pictures
Naptime! 2007-08-10 12:47:00 Sasha 'sleeping' on her cot :-) Read more:Naptime
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