Keeping Up With the Joneses in Delhi
Emily Wax writes today in the Washington Post about a growing trend in India’s large cities — extravagant birthday parties for young children, complete with catered buffets, moon bounces, performers, and elephant rides. The parties are rivaling the extravagance of Indian weddings and are becoming a growth industry in and of themselves. And parents are attempting to outdo each other:
“The birthday party is the new wedding in India, and the sky is the limit,” said Rakesh Gupta, a party planner who has seen his business double in the past few years. “It’s a serious industry now, and people want to spend lavishly and outdo each other. People in India don’t like to save. They want to enjoy life and live for today after so many years of poverty and struggle.”
Sounds like the US to me.
I’ve been to a few lavish birthday parties for children here in the U.S., so I don’t think India has cornered the market on this, but it’s interesting to observe the parties as another example of the rise of India’s upper middle class. Wax also describes the dramatic gap between the rich and the poor in India, something that becomes more apparent to me every time I visit.
As for extravagant Indian weddings, mine (yes, I was married in Delhi) was a bit more modest: I didn’t get to ride in on a white horse. But I did get to wear a turban!
A Favorite Quote from John Stott
Earlier today I mistakenly attributed the post referred to below to the blog’s owner, Justin Taylor; instead, the author of the post was Tullian Tchividjian, who is guest blogging for Mr. Taylor this week. My apologies to both. And, please read Mr. Tchividjian’s explanation for his interesting name.
Justin Taylor Tullian Tchividjian at Between Two Worlds expresses his appreciation for the work of John Stott and provides a few of his favorite quotes.
For the past few years, I’ve subscribed to a mailing list that provides a daily quote from Stott’s writings. Over the course of a week or so, the quotes address a particular theme, such as “Politics and the State” and “Christianity, Religion and Culture”. Here is one of my recent favorites, filed under “Evangelism and Social Action”:
Evangelism is the major instrument of social change. For the gospel changes people, and changed people can change society. (Issues Facing Christians Today, London: Collins/Marshall Pickering, 1990, p. 71)
Justin Taylor also linked to an essay on Stott by the New York Times’ David Brooks a few years back that is a great description of the man and his work.
Sarcasm is One Thing . . .
Rudeness and hatred another. Michelle Malkin, Power Line, and Volunteer Opinion Journal (via Instapundit) cover the online left’s insane remarks about Chief Justice Roberts’ accident and hospitalization yesterday.
My prayers and concerns are with him and his family.
Christmas in July
My order from Desiring God’s recent “All Books for $5″ sale arrived yesterday. It includes
- Desiring God
- Don’t Waste Your Life
- When the Darkness Will Not Lift
- What Jesus Demands from the World
- God Is the Gospel
I will try to post my thoughts on a few of these as I read through them.
Japanese Knotweed, Part 2
Lifehacker writes of an article by the Nature Conservancy on invasive plants and how to fight them. The article isn’t really that helpful; its suggestions for combating the spread of invasives include replacing invasives with “non-invasive alternatives” (Hmm, maybe native plants? But, first gotta remove the little devils, and how to do that?); volunteering at your local park to help remove invasives (you are welcome to come volunteer at the small park in my backyard, thanks in advance); and, best of all, donating to the Nature Conservancy!
I suppose my chosen method of ripping the beasts out root and all and applying a good dose of glyphosate (just follow the directions on the label) is a little too aggressive.
Three Great ESV Bible Tools Added
I’ve added three tools, all based on the great web services provided by the ESV website, to this blog that each help the reader experience God’s word.
The first is a daily RSS feed of a verse from the ESV Bible, just below the search box on the right side. I learned of this feed from the ESV Bible Blog, which described Paul Klenk’s reasons for displaying the feed on his blog. Paul explains how the feature “sets the tone for all my other content”.
The second, also inspired by Paul’s blog, is a search box for the ESV. You can enter a book, chapter, and verse from the Bible, or keywords from a favorite verse, and the relevant verse(s) will appear in a new window. Thanks Paul!
The third feature is a WordPress plugin, written by Chris Roberts at Exploring the Mystery, that recognizes and formats Bible verses in blog posts. Chris provides a good description of how the plugin works, but as a quick example, by simply including a verse in a post, like Romans 10:9, the plugin will create a hyperlink to the verse at the ESV website. The plugin was easy to install, and Chris’ instructions are clear and easy to follow.
Toastmasters
I joined Toastmasters at work a little over a year ago. I’ve only given two speeches (don’t want to rush things you know) but along with table topics and evaluating fellow members’ speeches, I’ve learned a lot and have definitely become more comfortable in front of an audience.
Lifehack.org has a good post on why joining Toastmasters might be a good idea.
Apheresis Sounds Scary But Isn’t
I normally give blood every eight weeks at my church, but I missed the last donation due to vacation. Inova caught up with me via email though, and I donated Tuesday at Reston Town Center.
During my interview, the phlebotomist asked me whether I’d be interested in donating my red blood cells through apheresis, rather than just the standard pint of whole blood. I’d heard of the procedure, but only as it is used to donate platelets or plasma. Using the dual red blood cell procedure, I would be able to donate twice the number of the red blood cells normally contained in a pint of blood, which would make for a more useful donation for someone in need. I had two questions: How much longer does it take, and does it hurt more? (I know, a real tough guy.) Satisfied with the answers (about 15 minutes for a total of 30, and not at all), I agreed.
Japanese Knotweed
Bird Dog at Maggie’s Farm reports on the invasive plant Porcelainberry and its rampage throughout the northeast U.S. I’ve been battling an equally notorious invasive, Japanese Knotweed, since we moved in four years ago. It can grow to over 10 feet in height and is found in the eastern U.S. along with a few midwestern and western states.
I have been slowly getting rid of a big patch in my backyard through pulling, mulching (with both newspaper and shredded hardwood), and, yes, good old chemicals. Roundup seems to work well; one group in the UK, where it is illegal to grow the plant in the wild, advocates “injecting glyphosate into hollow stems immediately after cutting”.
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Best CNN YouTube Debate Question
It has to be Jackie Broyles and Dunlap of Murfreesboro, TN. Good on ya, brothers!