Archive for January, 2008
I’m Serious….
A little while ago I posted a desperate plea for some suggestions of music to buy with my iTunes Gift Card. I still need suggestions. This wasn’t some creative plow to get people to come to my web site. I really am stumped about what to buy.
So would you please give me some suggestions. You can read the original post for my music preferences. When I buy the music, I’ll post my purchases and give the people responsible credit. Thanks in advance for everyone’s help.
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Why I didn’t Post…
So above is the reason I didn’t post any blogs for the past two days. I was making some bookshelves for Shannon to go above our refrigerator. I spent all my free time on Monday making them and all my free time on Tuesday staining them. They turned out pretty good. I really like the room that it freed up for us. Plus now I can see what cook books we have. It’s just a win win situation.
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Woot.com
Hey everyone…sorry I missed the last two days. I’ll have a post up later today showing you why I haven’t been posting. For the time being, I wanted to post a quick blog about Woot.com. My friend Donald turned me onto this the other day and I wanted to share it with you.
Woot.com is an online store that sales one item at a discounted price. The thing is that it has a new item every day. You have only 24-hours to buy the item at that rate, and then it’s gone forever. It’s the one day sale on steroids. I haven’t bought anything from them…but it is cool to go drool over what they have every day. It’s a procrastinators dream.
They also have shirt.woot.com and wine.woot.com. Sometimes the shirts are pretty sweet.
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The Week in Review
Here’s a quick recap of last weeks blogs:
Monday: I forgot to write a blog (ok I was just lazy)…so I vowed to do two on Tuesday.
Tuesday: “Give it up.” was a post about the lack of generosity in the the church and people today. Huckabee Hater was one of my most commented blogs for the week. I talked about my dislike for Huckabee’s Christian platform.
Wednesday: You got another two for the price of one as I talked about the Belkin Podcast Studio and how I need one. I also put out a desperate plea for some suggestions for the use of my iTunes Gift Card.
Thursday: In Waaaaa. I’m Not Getting Fed, I commented on Vince Antonucci’s posts by the same name.
Friday: The The Black Screen of Life covers our need to get rid of distractions.
Saturday: The book UnChristian gave me the idea to post my own survey.
Sunday: I used this Week in Review as a sly way out of getting to write a new blog.
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Survey Says….UnChristian
I came across this video on YouTube of an author of a book that I really want to get. And after watching it…the question came to my mind:”What do my friends think when they hear the word…Christian?”So I’m posing the question here. Let your comments flow…just try to keep the expletives to a minimal.
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The Black Screen of Life
-picture courtesy of WriteRoom.com
If you haven’t noticed yet, I have really tried to start writing at least one post a day. I don’t necessarily have any planned goal in mind. I just decided that I really wanted to write more (with the encouragement of my wife and my friends). So I’ve been trying to find ways that will help me to do this.
One particular blog that I recently came across gave some helpful suggestions. Leo Babauta on his blog WriteToDone.com gives some really good advice on writing.
From writetodone.com:
Think about it for a moment — if you could write consistently for an hour (or two) a day:* You’d write a whole lot over the course of a month, or a year. Your output would be prodigious.
* You’d meet writing deadlines, because procrastination wouldn’t be a problem.
* Your writing would improve, simply from the amount of practice you’d be getting.
* You’d feel great about your writing, which in turn would motivate you to keep going.
* You’d solve the problems of war and world hunger, from the brilliance of your writing.
Now the last part might not be true (or could it), but the rest has been true. I have truly enjoyed witting something everyday (sometimes more than once). And the constant red underlines has really improved my spelling (plus Shannon’s proof reading). The one thing that I have had problems with is just sitting down and writing.
It’s not that I don’t want to…it’s that I get distracted. I’m like a toddler who trades the priceless ceramic figurine in his hands for a set of keys. I’ll sit down to type and all the sudden I’ll wake up and realize that I’ve spent the past 30 minutes watching videos on YouTube.
Leo had another blog on this post that I read today that was of great help. He made several recommendations…but the one thing that I have found to help the most is:
From writetodone.com:
3. Use Writeroom. Writeroom if you’re on a Mac, or some other similar software (Writer.app is another good Mac writing program, and DarkRoom works well for the PC — I’ve used all three and love them).Basically, these programs are for writing text, and nothing else. They block out the rest of your computer with a black (or otherwise faded) background, so that you have the text … and that’s all. They aren’t chock-full of features like Microsoft Word or OpenOffice. You write in full-screen mode, with no distractions.
After reading this point, I downloaded WriteRoom immediately. I must say it felt a little weird at first writing with nothing but my text on a black screen. But then it became liberating. I was able to do what I set out to do…write. It’s amazing how many distractions we can fill our lives with (cell phones, email, web browsing, online games…email…and I have all these on just my phone). Sometimes we just have to get rid of all the distractions and do something.
If you like to write…I recommend WriteRoom. If there are other things in you life that you like to do but are distracted from…I recommend taking the time this weekend to decide what is distracting you from your goal. Take the time to find a way to eliminate those distractions and then do what you enjoy. It really is very liberating.
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Waaaaa. I’m Not Getting Fed
Over the past few weeks I have been following a series of blogs done by Vince Antonucci titled “Waaaaa. I’m not getting fed.” You need to go read all seven (it’s actually more) of them right now. Here is a link to the first one. I must say that I have completely enjoyed every word that the man has written. He has hit the nail on the head as far as American Christianity has gone.
We have become such a consumer mentality society that it has even crept into the church. I even use to have the mentality that it is the pastor’s job to feed me (probably is the reason that I went to church five times a week when I was growing up). Put the reality is that the pastor’s job is to teach us how to cook.
Ephesians 4:11-12 says, “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” The pastors and teachers jobs are to “equip” not feed. By equipping they are building the body up.
I remember telling my youth in Olton that if the only time you are opening you Bible is on Wednesday (or Sunday for most), then you are starving yourself. I have to say that I use to be the same way. The only time I opened my Bible was when I was going to church or when I was preparing for a lesson.
The greatest joy in my life has been over the past few months as I’ve started to spend time with God daily for no other reason than to just sit at His feet and learn. Before it was a chore to open my Bible. Now it is a pleasure.
Now I sound like one of those sappy Christians that I use to hate (who am I kidding I still have problems with them). But it is the truth. I feel different when I haven’t spent time with God. It feels like when I have to go to work while my wife is still in bed and I don’t get to talk to her until she gets home from work at 5pm. There is just something missing from my day.
So if you are the type of person who only eats once a week…I’d recommend adding to your diet.
P.S. I’ll post a blog in a few days on some tips and tricks for having a daily time with God.
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iTunes Gift Card
I had a friend give me a $15 iTunes gift card for Chirstmas, and I haven’t used it yet. I haven’t bought any new music in so long that I’m kinda stuck on what I should get. I don’t even have an idea of where to start.
So I’m wondering if you could give me some suggestions. Either favorite songs or albums that you think I should get. I like pretty much all kinds of music except country. Your country music suggestions will be pointless…so don’t give any. Other than that I’m up for anything.
So you know my favorite genres of music are hard rock and hip hop. So anything in those areas would be good. But I also like indie music. Just through out some suggestions and I’ll do the research one what I want to get. Thanks for your help.
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Belkin Podcast Studio
This has to be on of the coolest new products on the market (except for the MacBook Air). Engadget.com said the following about it:
The company’s Podcast Studio is a self-contained, iPod-interfacing podcast production device… and not much else. The unit features dual XLR and 1/4″ inputs, a built-in microphone up top, an embedded speaker, and the styling of some 1950’s-space-opera transmogrifier. You can slot your iPod in the top and record directly to the player, thus eliminating the need for a computer nearby — until you need to get it online, of course.
All I have to say is that I want one. I don’t know exactly what I would use it for…but it is so cool.
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Huckabee Hater
Ok so let me clear the air from the start…I don’t hate Mike Huckabee. I haven’t met the guy and to be honest I really haven’t checked him out that much (I’m a Ron Paul fan). But I have to say one thing about the guy just really gets on my nerves.
Whether it is by his design or not, it seems like his entire platform for president is, “I’m a Christian.” I know this might sound really weird since I’m a Christian, but follow me for a second.
I have known several people in my life who say they are Christians (and they probably are) and they are just complete jerks/idiots. We need to judge people by their actions…not their words. Therefore I think to vote for a person just because they say they are a Christian, is just plain stupid. The same goes for voting for a person based on their gender or race…it’s just plain dumb.
So I’m not a Huckabee hater (I’ll check him out if he get the Rep. nomination), but I do hate the trend/campaigning that says to vote for him just because he is a Christian. So my recommendation is to look past the words/race/gender and look at the actions of the candidates. You’ll sleep better at night.
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