In Memory of Caroline Moulder

This is the saddest post I have ever made. It's been over a month, but I still don't know if I can get through this without crying, so bear with me.

On July 26, 2006, in Afghanistan, a very sweet, beautiful young woman named Caroline lost her life in a helicopter accident. She was traveling with her mother Darlene and her sister Bryn to visit her dad, a civilian contractor working on base in Afghanistan.

Caroline was a wonderful person and a true joy to know. She was always kind and always exhuberant. She and her mother and sister were active members of their church in Midtown Atlanta. Caroline had just graduated from Grady High School and would have started at the University of Georgia last month.

My fondest, clearest memories are of her and her best friend Kate joking around in class. Whenever we were working on a particularly difficult combination or routine, we could always count on them to remain upbeat. Together, they were a blast. The loss of Caroline makes me treasure Kate all the more.

Please pray for Kate and for Caroline's family, especially her dad. Perhaps it seems strange to ask that now, five weeks later, but I think now is when they need that prayer most. All around them life has returned to normal and settled into a new routine. But for those closest to them, the pain and emptiness left by the loss of the Moulder women won't disappear so soon.

Caroline, I can't wait to see you again. You know I'll look you up when I get to heaven.

Andy Goldsworthy, Nature, and Time

About three years ago, when I was finishing up my art degree, I took a sculpture class with Kyle Dillehay (who is definitely a very cool professor). He introduced our class to the work of Andy Goldsworthy, a truly intriguing artist.

Goldsworthy's work doesn't follow the usual course of things. He works with found natural materials, creating ephemeral works which are nevertheless breathtaking. They can be as small as a single stone, covered with petals, or a massive cairn constructed of stone. Some last only minutes; others withstand years of exposure to the elements.

I'm not entirely sure why his work so appeals to me. I love being outside, so I'm sure that's part of it. I just love God's creation; it reminds me of just how awesome He is, how far beyond us, and how blessed I am that He loves me. For me, the creative use of God's creation is truly inspiring, in a way nothing else can ever be.

The simplicity of the design is also appealing. Many of his pieces employ very basic techniques, such as stringing together leaves, sculpting sand, or stacking stones. It makes the work seem so approachable, inspiring an "I can do that!" response. I'm inspired to go outside and play, just to see what I can come up with.

But despite the simple forms, Andy Goldsworthy is a true master of design. "Simple" can mean many things; simplicity of form is not the same as "easy!" The example here uses only colored leaves, arranged in that most basic of forms, a circle. When there is so little to work with, real mastery of the principles of art is essential to create something so stunning.

For book lovers: Read. Code. Find. Love.

Ever asked yourself, "What should I read next?" Well, so have the people at StoryCode. And this interesting little site goes far beyond the usual model to help you answer that burning question.

Yes, I know there are tons of places with user ratings for books and even user reviews. But a simple one to five rating is often pretty useless. Do I really care how many people who are totally unlike me dislike a book? No! I want to know what other people with similar tastes like! Yes, Amazon and others have "what other users like you like" feature, but it's not reliable enough.

User reviews can be more valueable, since they give more of the bigger picture. I especially love the eloquent, well-thought-out gems such as, "this book sucks, dont by it" or "this book is the best buy it now!" But really, are the six paragraph diatribes much better? It can take forever to get to the useful ones; you know, the ones that actually evaluate the book and provide you with the information necessary to make an informed decision.

So why is StoryCode better? StoryCode doesn't simply ask for a rating. Instead, the user answers a series of questions about the book, covering General Information, Genre, Characters, Plot, Plot Type, Morality ("How much does it deliver a moral message?"), Story Resolution, Setting, and Atmosphere. Typical questions are "How much is the story driven by the plot or the characters?"The last two sections are more about you : Recommendations and Demographics. (Before you stress over the demographics, it only asks age range and gender!)

StoryCode then looks at your "codes" for the book and compares your book to all the books in the database. Each book has an average value assigned to each question, which is then compared to your book. And up pops a list of similar books, complete with the average rating, a readibility rating, and the recommended minimum age!

Obviously the usefulness of StoryCode is limited by the number of codes for each title in the database. That's why you should go code some stories now!