Think This // After Hours

Marek’s invited me to blahhhg on his blog. I have no idea what to really write about, so I think I’ll make my entries called “This I Love…” which will be similar to the NPR series “This I Believe…“. Instead of writing about a personal belief (which Marek has cornered anyway…*wink*) I’ll write about stuff that impresses me or stuff I just enjoy. That said…

I love Wikipedia. I love the concept where everyone chips in with information to build up a fantastic encyclopedia. Yep, I know it’s not always accurrate or up to date. Still, it came in handy when my daughter, Gillie, had to research her second-grade project on crickets last week. As for being out of date, well I love the fact that I was able to update my own entry on Wikipedia (which someone else must have started, because it certainly was not me).

Get this — they even have the tall WITI TV tower by my house listed in Wikipedia. If it were not for that, I would not have known that it was briefly the tallest free-standing tower in the world.

Lastly, as I’ve become more diet- and nutrition-conscious, I appreciated how balanced their entry on milk is. There’s a section on the health “benefits” but then an even bigger section on the detriments and controversies. It’s not a huge article, but it’s pretty well-written and talks about how a good portion of the milk in the U.S. would be illegal to sell in Europe or Canada because of pus or rBGH content. An interesting fact I learned from the site is that skim milk is 0.1% fat but is allowed to be called “fat free” according to USDA guidelines. That’s all for now…

[Marek: You can read more about Scott on his website at Yanoff.org.]

Someone very important asked me yesterday “Why do you blog?” That is a great question. I have been toying with the idea of blogging for already a few years, yes … years. Finally in April of 2006 I started this blog as “The Big Sail Blog” where I documented the preparations and results of the sailing trip with Scott. Then, the trip was over and I wanted to just blog about anything, but I couldn’t because this was a sailing blog. So, finally in the beginning of February ‘07 I re-branded this blog to “Think This //” and opened it up.

I blog because it is fun. It makes me think. I forces me to put into writing what I am thinking. I teaches me to write better. It allows me to express myself. It aids me to share with my friends and family. It facilitates finding new friends and networking with new people.

Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been tagged in the game of blog-tag by Jeff Larche, author of the Digital Solid blog. As part of the 18th generation of recipients of this playful meme*, I’ve been challenged to tell you a few, fun personal details and then pass on the challenge to others. This game was started by Jeff Pulver.

1. I was born in the same month the musical Hair premiered on Broadway and my dad was not allowed in the delivery room.
2. I grew up in Bielsk Podlaski, Poland. Yes, I am Polish, and no, English is not our native language, as I’m sure you can tell by reading my posts. I left Poland while she was still communist.
3. I love sailing and last year along with 3 other guys we sailed 600 miles in 7 days on the Great Lakes from Detroit, MI to Milwaukee, WI. I love music and enjoy messing around on my bass guitar. I like to travel and thanks to my wife who works as a flight attendant with Midwest Airlines, we get to do it often.
4. I am married to the most incredible woman in the world for almost 17 years! We have 2 daughters.
5. I believe in God, the creator of everything, and Jesus Christ the Savior, His atoning death and resurrection, His second coming, the Heaven and the Hell. I believe in 6 day creation, Noah and his ark with all the animals, the global flood, Jonah in the belly of the fish, dinosaurs, and the young Earth. I believe in the intelligent design from the Universe to the smallest strands of DNA.

*So what’s a meme?
The term was coined in 1976 by the zoologist and evolutionist Richard Dawkins, refers to a unit of cultural information transferable from one mind to another.

I am passing the challenge to these next 5 bloggers. Can’t wait to hear your stories.

Juan Irming
Susie Palmer
Scott Yanoff
Daniel Banna
Alex Hardin (sorry Alex for messing up your last name in the original post)

Lets see who does it first!

The top picture is me playing in the sand. Boy, I had a big head.
The bottom picture taken in 1928 is my grandfather Pawel (Paul) as the Polish Army private.