My Debian router system has two CD drives... one is a writer, the other is a reader. As I write this, the writer drive has constantly been opening and closing for the past half hour.

Open. Close.
Open. Close.
Open. Close.
Open. Close.
Open. Close.

Over and over. It's creeping me out.

The only thing that system ever does is handle incoming internet traffic, NetBIOS LAN traffic, host a little LAN webserver for network status, and is sometimes used as a terminal for testing some random Linux command. It shouldn't be doing this.

We just got another book catalog in the mail. (You get those kind of things when your Mom has decided to teach you school.) I saw on the cover some random kids' book that seemed to be a short story on the Chronicles of Narnia: LWW about Peter's decision to stay and help fight the White Witch.

Which is all very well and good, mind you. But... they used pictures from the movie, and there was a sticker on the book that said "NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE!!!!" and then I just went "pfft".

I've noticed that, ever since the movie was announced, more and more people were jumping on the Narnia bandwagon. You're getting devotionals, toys, books, music, study guides, releases of the old cartoon and BBC movies, reprints of the original CS Lewis books by countless publishers. Why now? What makes Narnia deserve all this attention now, may I ask?

It's always deserved this attention. It's always been this outstanding and amazing... but companies didn't see the potential for money in it until the movie was announced. Then they started churning out all these supplemental materials. I see it as rather odd and makes them seem to be after the most bang for their money than really being interested in making something worth reading.

They're hopping on the bandwagon and that bugs me. They did it with Lord of the Rings, too. I love both works to death, and seeing people trying to cash in on their hype just makes me mad.

One thing I'm not going to do is turn this blog into a super religious discussion forum thingie that only goes "that's wrong! and that, and that, and that!". It was just a post to tell you how I will try to react in the future. No more getting upset that people are getting upset.

Aaaanyway.

Ed, Cap and I played JA again lastnight. We did S-I-E-G-E (there, SIEGE, happy, Ed?!)... Anyway! We did siege maps. They're sorta like World of Warcraft objective quests. There's supposed to be two sides, invaders and defenders. You have 20 minutes to successfully assault a base or defend your base. Although I think if there were equal sides to this, it would be IMPOSSIBLE for the invaders to fulfill their objectives. Unless it's also score based, meaning that even if you don't win, you still get points for getting as far as you do. Each side seems to switch after every 20 minute round.

We just played as the assaulting teams versus a single computer player who didn't move. So it was basically us assaulting a base, battling the natural defenses, which were... uhm... cleverly placed. I think I explained the whole thing as like "Indiana Jones in a galaxy far far away with Goauld and Warcraft demons". There was even a ceiling that smashed me because I tried to go the easy way!

So, yep. That was really cool. Ed and I eventually started getting caught up in fist fights, and then after we'd finished all the maps, we had inadvertantly switched sides... I was on the invading team and Ed and Cap were on the defending team. (Which I accidentally discovered by blowing Cap away with a thermal grenade..... oops.) But then I concentrated my efforts on killing Ed! Although he killed me more often than not... I at least broke through the first line of base defenses!

TW was still at college, the poohead... and got back just as we quit the game. CONVENIENT!

Matthew 5:10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 5:12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 5:15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

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This whole fiasco, I think, is teaching me a major lesson. Not one most people would think, though. I resolve to be as intolerant and close-minded as ever! Why? Because it's the right thing to do. I know it's the right thing to do, and I should never let the world get to me for what I believe. There needs to be people out there who have the guts to stand up and say "You know what? That's wrong." and to be these Lights of the World.

The more people I make mad at me for pointing out what's wrong, then the more I'm doing what's right. Making people mad because of my mistakes, of course, are not acceptable. I will make mistakes, and I apologize for them in advance. However, I do not apologize for making you upset when I say "that's wrong!"

I resolve to be a Kent Hovind and use attacks to fuel my efforts! I will try to no longer allow such things to cloud my mind, for that is exactly what they're intended for. Though it means I've hit my target audience. There's no point in hiding what I believe just to be popular. Such actions are foolish and selfish. We're not supposed to be liked by this world... the less the world likes us, the more we're doing what we're supposed to do.

...and in that, I resolve to rejoice and take heart.