Tuesday was a good day for the Boxes. One reason is the arrival of our Nintendo Wii, the latest generation gaming system that uses motion-sensitive controllers. In layman’s terms, if you want to swing a sword at a dragon, you actually swing the controller (aka Wii-mote). It’s much different from a traditional gaming system and tons of fun. Sure wish I’d thought to buy stock in Nintendo a couple of years ago. Anyway, that was Jenny’s birthday present, and she might still be awake right now (2:30am) playing.

The other reason Tuesday was good is that I won a prize in SWA’s incentive program, called Operation: Kick Tail. If you attend a company event or get recognized by a manager or coworker for doing something well, you get an entry in a monthly drawing. I got a call on Tuesday saying I’d won a nice chunk of change. That left me with a pleasant dilemma: what to do with said unexpected funds? It’s not enough to retire on, but it’s definitely worthy of serious thought. I could save it, knowing we’ll be a single-income family soon. I could buy some audio gear for my home theater system. I could give it to IBC or ALARM or Ineo or WorldVision. I could buy stock in Nintendo. I could use it for a quick vacation with Jenny, maybe using what I learned from seeing the movie 21 the other night and going to Vegas to count cards (ha!). So for my new poll (powered by EasyPoll.com), I thought I would pose a similar question to you on the right side of this page. Vote now!

The votes are in from the recent vacation poll: Vegas is the winner, with 1/3 of the vote, followed by the beach (22%) and the mountains (also 22%). Thanks for voting! I suspect I know a couple of the Vegas voters. =)

Words are among our most powerful tools. They link people together, helping them understand each other, building relationships, and conveying useful information. The words “I do” transform a man and woman into a single unit in God’s eyes and men’s. “You can do it” can give a child the confidence to try something new. Words can also wound people, damaging in seconds a relationship or career that took years to build, whether you meant to cause harm or not.

Words are tricky. Most of them have extra information (the “connotation”) attached beyond the literal meaning (“denotation”), hints of color and association that affect how other people understand what we mean. Consider the word “brother”. Literally it means a male child who shares the same parents as another child. But depending on the speaker and context, it could also mean a member of one’s same college fraternity, a man of the one’s same race, a man of one’s own religion (often Christian), or simply a man who shares some other quality or belief, and any of those meanings could have positive or negative emotions associated with it. Words’ meanings can change over time and from country to country or region to region, as well. For example, a “toboggan” is a type of flat-bottomed sled, but some people use it to mean a type of hat. The word “bloody” means “covered in blood” in America but is an offensive swear word in the UK. The word “gay” used to mean “happy”. English is so complex that it’s a wonder we can communicate at all!

I try to choose the right words to convey my point with accuracy and color, especially when I write. Sometimes I succeed and produce a piece that truly moves someone, or makes them question one of their sacred cows, or wins the grant, or helps clarify something at work. Other times I fail, and my words confuse people even more or accidentally hurt their feelings, and I’m sorry for those mistakes. Thanks to all of you for indulging my need to express myself here. Since I’m not a talkative person, this site helps keep me sane, happy, and self-actualized. I hope you continue to gain something from it as well.

My small group from last year’s men’s Bible study introduced me to poker. (no, that’s not a heretical statement!) As a way to hang out outside the study, we started meeting once a month for games of Texas Hold ‘Em, one popular flavor of the game. Over pizza or other junk food, we matched wits, cards, bluffs, and wills for the title of Manziers Poker Champion. Thankfully (for me), no money was involved, just fun and bragging rights. It’s an interesting game because playing it well requires knowledge of probability (which cards are likely to show up next?), the rules (does a straight beat a flush?), technique (should I raise the ante slowly, quickly, or not at all for this hand?), psychology (is James bluffing? he looks kinda nervous. Or is he faking nervousness to throw me off? hmm…), and observation (Josh bluffs often, so keep him honest), plus some guts if you’re playing for real money. I’m no pro, but I win a few hands here and there. I think I got a straight flush once. I don’t think I’m a good liar, though. Strangely, an incredible hand doesn’t guarantee incredible money, since the size of the pot depends on how much the other players add to it, which depends on their own hands and how confident they are that they can win. Our group took a break from poker for a few months, but we’re getting together Monday night to get back in the game.