The Bible: Day One

A friend of mine was going to read through the entire Bible over the summer. I thought that was pretty groovy. I know there are still sections that I've not read (or not in context). Also, there are always so many stories and pieces that I have forgotten or remembered incorrectly. So far, after one day, I've read the first 16 chapters of Genesis. Good stuff.

Genesis 1-3

Creation of the World, Adam and Eve, Fall of Man

Genesis 4

Cain and Abel, first murder

Genesis 5

Adam's Descendants, Long life spans, Enoch walks with God

Genesis 6-10

Noah and Repopulating the Earth, A year on the boat, Origin of nations and peoples

Genesis 11

Tower of Babel, a monument to man's power, language origins

Genesis 12

Promises to Abram, Abram in Egypt (lying about wife)

Genesis 13-14

Abram and Lot, the first recorded war

Genesis 15

God promises Abram a great nation

Genesis 16

Sarai gives Abram Haggar as a wife, Haggar speaks with God

Moving through scripture this fast is fascinating. Putting these stories so close together puts a whole new perspective on most of them. The time line interests me, and the "firsts" are just so interesting.

The posts here may not be always deep throughout this endeavor, but I want to try to keep a record of what I go over each day.

Smart Phones: Batman's Greatest Gadget

While teaching, I created in my head a new kind of villain-The Grammarian. A cruel fiend that, like the Riddler, would like leave clues behind. However, his clues would all be something that only a true linguist and language commander would ever have a chance to decipher. I pictured Batman screaming in the night, "Why didn't I learn to diagram?" I realized that all of Batman's gadgets are created and designed for very specific functions and he always must return to the lab for a lot of the tough stuff.

Why doesn't Batman have a smartphone? Is Gotham so outdated? Is Batman too proud? I thought of the later scenes of The Dark Knight when Bruce Wayne utilizes cell phone technology to plug his eyes and ears into the heart of the city. Had he a smartphone, he probably could have checked Twitter, seen that The Joker was trending, and tracked him down just as quickly. Think of all the riddles he always has to figure out, the time wasted wracking his brain. Just run a Google search. Riddler apprehended in no time. Apparently, Batman is a digital immigrant.

But really, maybe this is Batman's real super-power. In a world where technology rules and controversy explodes over the overuse of said tech, Batman lives and relies on it, but doesn't seem to demonstrate a short attention span, he has an excellent memory, and he lacks the impulses to update his status.