Ezekiel's Temple

I've been interested in Ezekiel's temple lately. I've been studying up on this book of the Bible, being fascinated the mystics and strange people. Ezekiel probably fits in those categories, with all the inspiration he seemed to be under that was, to say the least, unusual.

So every word is worth considering.

I've always thought the temple section, everything from chapter 40 on, except for a couple of more interesting passages -- the returning of God's glory and the water flowing from the temple -- was very boring. I just stumbled through it, thinking of something else. Whatever!

But I've been more interested in that passage. And whether anyone has the key to it or not, and on the internet you can find all kinds of crap, I don't know. I tend to lean toward the passage as an idealized state of things from Ezekiel's point of view that is not going to be fulfilled in literal fact but still has symbolic, inner value. To me that's the kind of spirituality that's worth something.

Looking around on the internet, I found some of the graphics that people have come up with, which are very helpful to visualizing the structure of the temple set forth in the vision. And I came across something I'd never heard of, Google's SketchUp, which is like an architect's tool for putting building drawings in a program, so you can rotate it, zoom in, and see it like a viewer standing there.

There's a few graphics that folks have worked up about Ezekiel's temple with this program, and they are fascinating to look at. I couldn't really get the controls all to work, or maybe I'm expecting too much. But it's pretty fascinating to go into the Holy of Holies, for example, even if it's just a minimal computer mock-up. It's better than nothing!

I'd really like to be able to do more with it, but still it's worth checking out. You need to get the viewer.

After seeing the viewer, though, and moving things up and down and zooming in, all that, it feels weird looking at normal web pages. Like you're expecting them to move up and down just like that.

PIN Woes

I had some PIN woes today. I log into a site every month to make a payment. Maybe two years running.

But today -- just a routine day, you know -- I went there and the PIN was no longer valid. I figured maybe I typed it wrong, even though I knew I didn't. So I tried again and it was still no good. I tried again and it was still no good. By now I was "locked out" because they wanted to protect my security.

I figured, well, this isn't going to be any good. But I called them and they gave me the instructions what to do next. I did it and it worked.

Weird that it was just changed like that. I wish that wouldn't happen.

Father's Day 1990

I needed to find out a while ago what the actual date for Father's Day was.

I was going through some old records that I'm transferring from paper to the computer and I had two different dates in there for Father's Day that year. June 13 and June 17.

Well, thank goodness for the internet. You might not think it'd be a useful site that someone has to find out when the various holidays were observed in any given year. But it does come in handy in those rare cases when someone needs to know.

I wonder how many hits a site like that gets. It's good information to be able to find.

Of course I could've looked it up in an almanac. Get one of those perpetual calendars. We used to look at those all the time in school, like in the library. Look up the day we were born, etc.

Love Your iGoogle Homepage?

At my iGoogle page they have a line that says, "Love your iGoogle homepage? Share a story." I'm wondering what kind of story they're looking for.

My story would have to be a happy one, about how my iGoogle homepage changed my life. I used to have nothing but the normal Google search page. White space and one search box. I felt so bored, like there was nothing to live for. Oh, sure, on holidays they'd brighten it up a bit with a customized logo. Maybe a cuddly bunny on Easter, the two O's in Google being its big bright eyes. But then the holiday would be over and I was right back in the stew. Woe was me.

Then it happened. I clicked the link that said I could have my very own Google page, designed in the exact way I would want, within normal limits of course. It would still offer incredible internet vistas for me to discover, apart from Google's page itself. But I wanted more, much more. And my iGoogle page gave that to me. Since I've had my iGoogle homepage, I'm a happier person. I take care of my personal needs. I eat regular meals. I peek around my dark curtains to see if it's day or night. But really, everything I need is right here. I can look at the various Google gadgets, whatever you call them, and tell what time it is, I can see museum artwork, I can see five of my Gmail message headlines, the headlines from the New York Times, the Bible verse of the day, everything I might ever want.

These days I'm constantly sated, fat and full. My life is full of relish and whim. And I owe it all to my iGoogle homepage, without which I seriously don't believe I would still be here.

John McCain "Aware of" Internet

Anyone remember George Bush the First's experience at grocery stores? He went there for a visit and was amazed that food was sold, that it was stacked on shelves, that people came through with carts, then purchased it. He was dizzy from excitement, actually, when they showed him that items could be scanned as they were being rung up for the total bill.

Our current president, George Bush the Second, had some of the technical details messed up -- another intelligence failure -- when he spoke of The Google and the internets. He had a good excuse, though, living in a bubble. When you're in a bubble your biggest concern is with the bubble bursting and letting in whatever you're trying to avoid in the first place.

Now we have John McCain. McCain might be our last dinosaur, so I suppose we ought to treat him nicely. He's from a bygone era, recently wheeled out of a nursing home somewhere to make mischief for the country. And of course he has that whole throwback feel, like Gnarls Barkley's song "Crazy" or that great new song by Duffy, "Mercy." I'm not saying McCain is "crazy," but I am saying I don't plan on showing the old duffer any "mercy." Yee hah! You goin' down, boah. We don't much like yer kind 'round here!

John McCain was asked recently the most important question in the world, whether he's a Mac or PC? He took the middle course, saying, "Neither." Then he begged off on the question, saying he was illiterate in these matters. "No speak techese."

Well, nothing can be left alone for five seconds without an aide jumping in to defend the boss. You see this in saying what they really meant, how, yes, Poland was still an iron curtain country and Mr. Ford knew that all along.

The McCain aide of the day was Mark Soohoo, who gave this reassuring comment, "John McCain is aware of the Internet. This is a man who has a very long history of understanding on a range of issues." I don't suppose there's much skepticism over this comment. I'm willing to accept it as a fact that John McCain is "aware of" the internet.

This just in -- other things that John McCain is "aware of":

• Walkman cassette players
• Color TV
• Running boards on cars
• Automatic transmission
• Eight slice toasters