In a couple of hours I am going to Melbourne to attend Kidshaper 2010!

I can’t wait to learn from all the guns who will be speaking, hang out with Michael Chanley again (the cmconnect master!) and to have fun in Melbourne with my awesome friends.

If you live in Australia, work with kids and you didn’t register for it this year, make sure you do it next year, because it is a great conference.

Time to go…
Cadu

I happen to talk regularly to a few preteens during the week, and one thing that I hear a lot from them is that they are bored. Every time I hear then complaining about it I feel sad and think “But how? How can you be bored??”. I don’t think I ever felt like that when I was a kid or a preteen. Seriously, this often bugs me so much that I try to remember how I felt when I was bored, and I am never able to remember a time when I felt like that…

Even though I have a sister, I used to spend a lot of time on my own, and when I was not playing with her I always had something to do. And when I didn’t have something to do, I invented something. I never had a video game (until two years ago when I bought a Nintendo DS)… but I had a chemistry set; I liked to do experiments with plants and insects; I took an electronics course by mail; I played with matches and fire; I looked at my own sperm in the microscope (too much information perhaps, but still interesting); I learned BASIC; I tried to make a rocket (that turned out to be more like a fragmentation grenade that thankfully didn’t explode) and tried to make trinitroglycerine with a friend as crazy as me (which also didn’t explode, very sad…); I learned sewing, counted cross-stitching and knitting; I opened (and never closed) electronics and toys (and sometimes made something new from their spare parts); I recorded funny things on tape; I made some short films (and I didn’t have YouTube to publish them); and when I ran out of things to do, I found new ones…

Sometimes I try to compare their times with my times, and it looks to me that they have more alternatives to “waste” their spare time than I did years ago. They can do everything I could do, plus all the games and entertainment that is available today. They can even learn Python instead of BASIC! And yet, they are bored…

While I have some theories to explain why this is happening, I don’t have a concise explanation. Sometimes I think that all the technology and entertainment options available today is the reason why they get bored so easily, but I might be wrong. And that is where you come in to the discussion! If you have any ideas, any theories that could explain it, please say so in the comments… or if you read any recent research paper on this topic, please let everyone know about it! Also, if you have a solution for it, I will be very happy to know it!

I will probably write another post on this topic in the future, hopefully with more answers than questions.

Cadu

It is the 3rd of May, and I missed the opportunity of posting something yesterday (the only day of the month which is prime and even). Nevertheless, today is also a prime number day, and I shall post something before the spiders decide to move from my house to my blog and fill this place with spider webs…

First I would like to apologise for the lack of posts. And now I would like to inform you all that I moved! I really don’t like moving houses, but hey, now I live in Coogee, 3 blocks from the beach, and the photo above I took this morning while reading my Bible and having breakfast (sitting on the sand, at the beach). Isn’t it awesome?

The not-so-awesome part of all the moving thing is that I have so many things yet to be organised and cleaned. I am also trying to stop doing nothing while I should actually be studying maths, otherwise I will fail again this semester, and this is not something I desire. In addition, I am working on an iPhone (and Android, of course) app that will soon (at some point between today and next decade) be announced and fill you all with wonder and excitement. But that is all I can say about the app for now.

This means that if I fail to post on prime number days, please don’t eat me alive for at least two reasons: 1) I think I don’t taste good; 2) I have good reasons for it… 3) if you find a third one, write it on the comments!

But to not post something useless, I will teach you two important lessons, one regarding maths, and another one regarding life. Let’s start with the most important one (or not):

Did you know that any integer greater than 1 can be written as a factorization of prime numbers? Not only this, each number can be written as a unique product of prime numbers (not considering the order of the factors)! For example, 25 = 5 x 5; 192 = 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 3; and 100 = 2 x 2 x 5 x 5. Isn’t it awesome? This is called the Unique-Prime-Factorization Theorem, and it is the Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic. See, now you know…

The second (and probably more relevant lesson): If you ever have a problem with someone, please choose one of two options (or both): 1) talk to a good friend about it just to get the problem out of your mind and then pray for the person and forgive him/her; 2) or if it is something you should do something about, talk directly to the person you have a problem with (after praying and/or talking to a good friend might help), and solve the problem. Do NOT talk to other people about it in an useless attempt of fixing the problem. This is not only idiotic and foolish (ie. totally unwise), but it will make everything worse. I am not very old, but I can tell you this advice is true and good by (lots of) experience (and the Bible says so; it must be true).

That is it for today… I love random posts!
Cadu

5/5/09 – Redfern

Isaiah 40

“All people are like grass, and all human faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
because the breath of the LORD blows on them.
Surely the people are grass.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of MY GOD endures forever.”
- Isaiah 40:6b-8

“WHO can fathom the Spirit of the LORD (YHWH),
or instruct the LORD as his counselor?
WHOM did the LORD consult to enlightem him,
and who taught him the right way?
WHO was it that taught him knowledge,
or showed him the path of understanding?”
- Isaiah 40:25

“‘To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?’ says the HOLY ONE.”
- Isaiah 40:25

“He, the LORD, gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
[...] those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary;
they will walk and not be faint.”
- Isaiah 40:29,31

WHO can compare himself to God?
Nothing in the universe is comparable to God.
Idols are made of wood, metal, plastic…
they have eyes but don’t see,
they have ears but don’t hear,
they have hands but can’t move.
Not even flies are scared of them;
Flies come and sh*t on their faces,
but the idols can’t even clean themselves.
They are useless like a fly’s sh*t.
But GOD, THE LORD OF HOSTS, created the flies.
And with His word He can kill them.
The LORD is Almighty, Holy and Glorious.
His word will remain forever.
His enemies fear Him,
they run away like a scared rabbit.
Before the LORD they can’t do anything other than surrender,
for the LORD of HOSTS is powerful.
People are like ants to Him,
He can kill them with His pinky finger.
One little breath and they fly away like sand in face of a hurricane.
Compared to the LORD, they are NOTHING.
He is GOD. He is what He is.
He is because He is.
He is Almighty God.
He is the alpha and the omega;
Everlasting, Beginning and End.
Creator of the Universe, King of Kings,
Lord of Lords, Perfect and Eternal.
He is the Righteous Judge,
the LORD of HOSTS,
the ONE that never lies and keeps all his promises.
He is also MY GOD.
He came to Earth, became an ant like me,
layed down His life for me and died on the cross.
His death was not an accident, He died for me.
That cross was mine, the punishment for my sin, but He took it!
He died and rose again.
He is victorious over death!
And all His power is now mine, through His Son Jesus Christ!
Even though He is so HUGE and powerful, He calls me “son”.
And I call Him “Daddy”.
And if anyone wants to harm me, I can call my Dad.
He is scared of no one.
I am victorious, because of Him.
And because of Him, I fear nothing.
Daddy, all I am is yours,
every moment of my life is an offering to YOU.
Please take it and use me as it pleases you.
You are mine, and I am yours.
And I love you…
even when I don’t understand anything.
Even when it looks like the world is falling apart, I trust in you completely.
I just love you forever.

Amen.

Cadu

Today I am reviewing the series called “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” written by Jeff Kinney. So far it consists of 4 books, “Diary of a Wimpy Kid“, “Diary of Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules“, “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw” and “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days“. Apparently there will be only five books, with the last one coming out this year.

The books all look like a child’s diary, and have drawings and hand written stories relating the things that happen in the life of Greg Heffley, a kid that has just started Middle School (Junior High School). Although he is a fictional character, I think his stories reflect how many kids of his age see the world around them.

Greg lives with his two brothers, one older and one younger, and his mum and dad. His parents apparently don’t really understand him and don’t know how to show love to him, and he strives to be popular and look cool. In fact, according to him, nobody really understands him, and most of the time he is the best person he knows. Except for when things don’t work as he expected, and that happens very often.

Despite the lack of accurate dates in the stories (he only writes the day of the week, ie. Monday), I really love the way the stories are written. Some stories are incredibly funny, and all the books are interesting and can entertain me for hours. While it is written for kids, many adults will love them (specially the ones who work with kids…).

Bringing the books to reality, there are many kids like Greg, who don’t get real assurance from their families and strive to be popular and maintain a status of cool. While reading the book sometimes I feel sad for Greg, even though he doesn’t exist. As Children’s ministers we should be looking for these kids in our Church services and making sure we do everything in our reach to impact their lives. We can be the ones who will make these kids write a possible “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: A God Encounter” book to complete the series…

I really think you should read all the books! They are awesome!! The first three books are based on an online journal that you can find at Fun Brain. You can also buy the books from Amazon or your favourite book shop.

There is also a movie already available in some countries (including the USA) based on the first book of the series. I haven’t watched it yet, but if it is like the book, it is probably awesome!

See you again tomorrow, the 3rd!
Cadu

At the end of last year I decided to set up some goals for 2010 and the years to follow (2011 and 2012 perhaps). One of the goals was to blog more, and so far I am achieving it. Another one was to learn how to skate, and I also achieved it! There are many goals, some more important, some less important, but all of them are good and fun. The one I am really looking forward to achieving is “Learn how to fly”.

I don’t know exactly why I want to learn how to fly, but airplanes have always fascinated me… the sad part is that it is very expensive to get a license, and after I have the license, when will I fly? I don’t even have an airplane! I could hire one sometimes, but… for what? Sometimes I think I would like to be a commercial pilot, but I am almost finishing my Computer Science degree, and I am a software engineer! Ah… too many dreams, too many questions… I am a bit crazy, yes.

Nevertheless, some time this year I will have a Trial Introductory Flight (probably on a Cessna 152) to see how it feels like… apparently they let you guide the aircraft for a while, which is exciting and scary! What will happen after that? I don’t know…

(And that is only one of the goals in my list… lol)

See you again on the 29th!
Cadu

I decided to start a new series (actually two series): “10 things I love about me” and “10 things I hate about me”. I am working on both lists, and I should start posting soon. I will post one item at a time, and probably one love item and one hate item per day (prime number day, don’t forget!).

When I decided to write those series I was hoping to evaluate my life and get better by the end of it… let’s see how it goes. I also plan to write some fun posts about some of the items… you will see!

Now, just some unrelated riddles that my friends from twitter couldn’t find the answer (even though Google knows them very well):

- When do giraffes have 8 feet? A: “When there are two of them.”

- What is the shortest mathematicians joke? A: “Let epsilon be smaller than zero.”

See you again on the 23rd!
Cadu

Today is the 17th (at least where I live) and since 17 is a prime number it is time for a new post! And to make things more simple complicated, I decided that the 2nd and the 17th will be dedicated for reviews (books, music, movies, blogs, whatever I feel like reviewing…)!

Today I want to talk about Libera, an alternative kind of boy band, as they describe themselves. They are a British vocal band of boys that sing unique arranged songs that sometimes remind me of Gregorian chants. Libera is a latin word that means “free”, and while many of their songs are (partially or fully) in Latin, they also sing contemporary songs including their own compositions. Musically speaking, I think they are incredible and their voices and harmonies are perfect. Theologically speaking, ignoring the songs about Mary, some of their songs bring me into a place of worship and awe before the Holiness and Majesty of God.

My favourite songs are “Sanctus”, “Libera”, “Love and Mercy” and “Time”, from their new album “Peace” that should be released already. You can listen to their album “Peace” for free on their Amazon page. You can also visit their website www.libera.org.uk to buy their albums or donate.

See you again on the 19th!
Cadu

As you can probably see, I didn’t update my blog lately. The main reason is because I was away on holidays. Another, also relevant reason is that I don’t have defined days to update my blog, and this doesn’t help me. And now is when the awesome idea comes…

Inspired by my friend FMD and his The Thursday Blog (and also inspired by my own craziness), I decided to update my blog on every day of the month that is a prime number! In case you don’t remember what a prime number is, it is a number that can only be divided by 1 and by itself. For example, 13 is prime, and that is why I am announcing this today! If you are confused, the list of all prime numbers from 1 to 31 is: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31. That means that if you come here on any of those days, there will be a brand new post!

To understand why this will work you need to understand my mind: I like standards and when things follow some known or unknown defined logic, and I will not want to break a standard in my own blog…

See you again on the 17th of this month!
Cadu

I have many reasons to be excited and thankful to God!

First: I am going to the USA in 12 days! I am going to spend some time around LA and San Francisco, go to Disneyland and to Las Vegas to go to NAPKIN CONFERENCE! How cool is that?!

Second: I am going to Brazil for a week to spend some time with my family and a few friends! It will be awesome… I love my Country and I am happy to spend some time over there!

Third: I finally got my Australian Driver License last Friday! I transferred my Brazilian license and after an annoying test I got an unrestricted Australian license (no need for P1, P2 or similar annoying thing).

Last one (because I need to sleep): tonight we had an AWESOME kids service and I know tomorrow will be just the same… can’t wait to be a blessing to more children and families! And that is why I need to stop writing now… I need to go to bed…

Be blessed and see you in Vegas! (or at Church tomorrow, if you live in Sydney…)
Cadu