That’s got to be the greatest mixed metaphor ever, a combination of “rare as hen’s teeth” and “like pulling teeth.” It’s kind of humorous, but I suppose it still could still be descriptive: not only is a task difficult, but it’s difficulty is now compounded by scarcity. The only direct application I can think of […]
MadMania
Faith, Books, and Stuff
Month: January 2010
A while back my friend The Bob texted me to let me know he had found the Hebrew version of my alias, MadMan, in the Bible: Joshua 15:31 “And Ziklag, and Madmannah, and Sansannah,” I thought that was exceedingly cool, and over the weekend I decided to look up the meaning. It means ‘dunghill.’
I recently read Dracula by Bram Stoker. It wasn’t my first attempt at reading this book, but it was the first time I succeeded. Overall, I liked it a lot, and it’s easy to see why it’s such an enduring classic. The first third of the book is amazingly slow; it’s told from the journals […]
I’m making a cudgel. For those of you who are not Howard Pyle aficionados, a cudgel is a heavy staff with which to deter or defeat enemies (those without missile weapons, anyway). The one I am making is only about four feet tall–perfect for a miniature nerd. Which is good, as it is for a […]
In the book of The Princess Bride, the giant Fezzik attempts to overcome a moment of cognitive dissonance upon seeing the Man in Black leaving the cliffs where he had fought a duel with Inigo. Fezzik couldn’t explain to Vizzini (inconceivable!) the idea that Inigo could have ever been beaten, so he rationalizes something to […]
A few years ago my daughter, Ally, who was seven at the time, came back to my office. “Dad, I want you to tell me the truth,” she said seriously. It’s always scary when one of your kids says that. “OK,” I said. “There’s no Santa Claus, is there?” I took a deep breath and […]
Last summer we built a large set for our church’s Vacation Bible School program. While we were outside spraying our 100 faux stone blocks, my wife brought me a sandwich. “Thanks, gorgeous!” I said Another woman who was helping with the project said: “I wish someone would call me gorgeous.”
I made my first two pies this weekend. I’ve been re-reading Pascale LeDraolec’s American Pie (nothing to do with movie of the same name). It chronicle’s the author’s drive across America looking for pie, and it includes a bunch of pie recipes. My first two attempts were marriage pies (pies containing two different but complementary […]
“Could you hit me, like, right around Iowa?”
“I don’t think you have a huge butt.”