des liens

Some links to distract you from my own lameness:

1. With thanks to Aaron McKenzie of Idiots' Collective, a link to a popular TED lecture video about one man's desire to build a toaster from scratch. Literally from scratch-- as in, mining the necessary materials from the earth and moving on from there. While the video itself doesn't go into what the project was really about, Aaron's blog post does: he links the video to a 1958 essay titled "I, Pencil," which emphasized "how voluntary trade increases not only the material well-being of humanity, but also peaceful cooperation across borders (wood from Oregon, rubber from Malaysia, graphite from Sri Lanka, etc.)."

2. My friend Bill at Bill's Comments has written a cluster of short essays on a few topics near and dear to my heart: religious diversity, hermeneutics, and religious expression in America. Thought-provoking, and highly recommended.

3. An interesting poem by my friend Nathan challenges the reader to unlock the secrets of the riddle contained within. Having stared at the poem for only a short time, I find myself thinking Icarus-themed thoughts, but not getting any further than that.

4. My buddy Mike talks sports and flaunts his famous connections.


_