I’ve been married for 7 years and a homeowner for almost two. For the first 5 years I lived 50 feet from my parents house and therefore had access to a lifetime supply of tools. My father was a high school shop teacher, so he had tools above and beyond the ordinary. At the time I didn’t realize how good I had it. After moving into my own home 30 miles away, I soon realized that my tool collection was sorely lacking and thus began my tool purchasing days. I’ve learned a few things along the way and here’s my top 5 tools that should be at the top of everyone’s list if they’re about to endeavor into home improvement.

1. Measure Twice – If you don’t have at least two tape measures, start here. Believe me. If you do no home improvements at all, you will need this to measure out your house for furniture or hanging pictures on the wall. When we were furniture shopping I pretty much carried a 25′ tape measure with me constantly. You need two simply because they “get lost” from time to time (read: this is something that your spouse will use and won’t put it back!)
2. Step it up – again, it doesn’t matter how many improvements you plan to make…if you hang curtains, paint the walls, or just need to change a light-bulb a step ladder is essential. Depending on your ceiling/personal height you may be fine with a 6′, but a 8′ might be a good option. Aluminum or Fiberglass is also your call…if you plan to do electrical work, go with fiberglass. If you’re a heavier fellow, make sure to get one that’s rated for 300lbs. In my case I have a 6′ aluminum one rated for 250lbs, but I’m 4’5″ and weigh 125lbs.
3. Drill Baby, Drill – I’m really not sure what people did before the invention of the battery operated power drill. It is used constantly in my household. If not for drilling holes, then for screwing, tightening and just speeding up any general screwdriver job. My advice- get the best thing you can afford. I’m not particular to brand names, but I’ve heard a lot of good things about the Lithium Ion Makita’s. Pricey, but I think worth it.
4. Nail it, Screw it. – I had a hammer, drill, and screwdrivers galore shortly after getting married…but until I moved into my own house (and away from my father’s collection) I didn’t ever have any nails or screws or fasteners of any kind. I remember at least 3-4 occasions after moving into my new house when friends and family would be over helping me with a project and they would say “we just need some screws”…and I would say “I don’t have any”. Kind of embarrassing really. So, go out and buy yourself a few boxes…personally, dry-wall screws go a long way and are useful in a number of situations. If you’re getting ready to start a project, I recommend buying twice as many nails/screws as you need. Inevitably in the future you will need more and it’s a lot more expensive to haul yourself to a hardware store and buy them again.
5. Buy It Once. This isn’t a tool specifically, but it’s probably the most important thing to remember in this list. Jen’s grandfather shared this mantra with her and I’ve found myself echoing it to myself over and over again, often the hard way. Sure you can go into Harbor Freight and buy a ton of tools for really cheap and in some cases, I think that’s fine. BUT for the things that you know you’re going to use for the rest of your life, for tools that are going to have a long, rough life, buy the good stuff. If you don’t, you’ll buy the cheap stuff, it’ll break or won’t work right to begin with and then you’ll buy it again (and again). So it may cost 50% more on the front end, but in the long run it’ll save you.

So, there you go, my list of the tools you need to begin your collection as you endeavor into the world of home-ownership and repair. Did I miss anything? Are there other tools that are vital for you? Let me know in the comments.

This was our first vacation in 6 years of marriage. Sure, we’ve taken time and visited family and our job often calls us to some pretty cool places, but it’s not really vacation…at least not how I think of it. It honestly took about 3-4 days for it to sink into my skull that my only responsibility was to have fun…to do whatever I wanted to do. Slowly the stresses and concerns of everyday life faded away and the enjoyment and pleasure modes kicked in and it turned into one of the best weeks of my life. Unfortunately though, we can’t live there, it’s just not realistic.

But what is?

We’ve been home for a couple days now and I find myself similarly unsettled to the way I was on the first few days of the trip. We spent so much time going and doing fun things, things that we WANTED to do and now that we’re back I’m finding it hard to slip back into my regular routine. Suddenly “relaxing” by watching TV just seems like an escape from the fact that my life isn’t as full as it could or should be. I need adventure…purpose…and pleasure. The difference now is that I’m not thinking about ways to just have fun, instead I’m thinking of ways to work the way I want to work, do the things I want to do, and make enough money so that I have the resources to take a vacation more often than once every 6 years.

The moral of the story is this: It’s time to start doing the things that I’ve put off for far too long. It’s time to turn of the TV, sacrifice a few hours of sleep and live in an adventure that will give me a story to tell.

Well, I officially have no complaint about Apple and have entered into fan-boy world. Two years ago I went on a rant after Jen’s Macbook crashed. I was pretty ticked that it was a widely known issue, but Apple wasn’t doing anything. But today that changed…they announced a recall that will either replace your existing drive or reimburse you if you’ve already replaced it.

Better late than never.

Not that this will protect you 100%, but I’ve decided to list a handful of tips that might help you to avoid having to make a panicked call to someone like me.

1. Back it up. - I don’t care how you do it exactly, but my recommendation would be to backup all of your important files to at least two different physical locations. You can do this by burning a few DVD’s, using an external hard drive, or through an online service such as Mozy. I would recommend backing up in some form at least once a week. If you go with an online service, it will do a daily backup automatically, which makes it pretty handy.

2. Be smart. - It’s pretty simple, most viruses, adware, and other malicious pieces of software built to destroy your computer lie in the seedy underbelly of the internet. If you don’t visit those places, you’re likely to avoid the bad stuff all together. Forwarded emails, Limewire or other peer to peer sharing applications are other things to avoid. Do not download or install any application that doesn’t come from a reputable source. Never click on a file ending in .bat or .exe unless you know exactly what it is and who it came from.

3. Get protection. – If you aren’t running anti-virus software you’re just asking for it. AVG Free is a good solution although it seems to be getting a little bloated. Currently I’m trying out Avast and so far I like what I see. Beyond that, an anti-adware application and perhaps a firewall of some sort would be a good base. Just go to download.com and look at the most popular (non-sponsored) programs in the category and that’s usually a good option.

4. Keep it clean. - Aside from the security programs that you should be running 24/7, I would recommend a handful of utilities to keep things clean and running smoothly. Start with keeping Windows updated. Even if you have automatic updates on, check the optional stuff from time to time. CCleaner is an app that I’ve come to really like. It cleans off temporary files, frees up space, and will also scan your registry to clean up errors. There are a handful of other programs that do similar things, but I really only use those if CCleaner doesn’t do the job first. Auslogics Disk Defrag is another one I tend to go back to often. It does the same thing as Windows Disk Defrag, but it takes a fraction of the time.

5. Google it. – Let me just pull away the curtain and tell you a little secret…after I’ve done all of the above, I go to Google and search for the exact symptoms, error code or otherwise. There is almost always an answer. If there’s not, well…it’s time for a reformat and that’s probably where you call me. In that case, do step #1, call me, and next time follow steps 1-4 thoroughly.

OR…

Instead of following all of these rules, buy a Mac. I am serious. I’ve been 100% Mac for 2 years solid, Jen has for 3, and we’ve had a secondary Mac in our house for 4. In those years, I’ve had exactly one major problem which was a hard drive failure (which happens no matter what). No anti-virus, no adware, no defrag, no registry cleaning…not even a worry about backups because Macs have that built-in.

I know Macs cost more initially, but think about all the time you’ve spent troubleshooting and fixing your PC. I have a PC at work and I’ve spent no less than 100 hours in 2 years trying to diagnose numerous issues. 100 hours x $10/hr = $1000. Enough said.

So, hopefully this was somewhat helpful. If you have any tips you’d like to share, hit me up in the comments.

A while ago we played the “Newlywed Game” at my church. It was a pretty simple and clean version and one of the questions was this: “Wives, if your husband could have any car in the world, what would it be?” My jaw dropped at the responses. Out of 6, only one said anything exotic or pricey. I think two of the responses were for a new Chevy Mini-Van. Seriously? A Mini-Van? Now, don’t get me wrong, I think there’s value in having dreams that are realistic and I don’t condone coveting what others have….but what I’m really getting at is dreaming, I mean REALLY dreaming. If you’re biggest ambition is just to survive life…wow… what’s the point!? DREAM BIG! If you never seek, if you never ask, if you never chase after something, you’re surely never going to have it. (And obviously I’m not talking about cars here, I’m really talking about life!)

We’re closing on a house this week. It’s in an area 30 minutes away, closer to Cincinnati. People keep asking why we’re moving and what I want to tell them is that I just don’t want to live my whole life here and never experience what could be out there waiting for me.

DREAMS are out there and I HAVE to go chase them.

And by the way, if I could have any car in the world, it would be a Aston Martin DB9. “It is so choice, if you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up” -Ferris Bueller

At about this time last year I was really, really dreading what was inevitably coming in just one short month; our job with Radio City. The year prior we had a really bad experience and just never really clicked with any of the cast members and had pretty much said, “this is the last year” and we’re only in it for the money. Well…things changed and last year we ended out having 2 incredible months with a cast and crew filled with people that we really loved. So, now with only a month to go until we depart I find myself ‘singing a different tune’. I can’t wait to get there..

Last year as the show was winding down and we were about to head home I pulled out my journal and Jen and I composed a short list of things we wanted to remember about the year. I was afraid that we would go home and forget about the experience and the people that we had grown to love and I didn’t want that. I wanted to take the experience and use it to grow and mature. So, here is the list of things we wrote down:

1. There are always friends at Radio City

2. Winchester [and the surrounding community] doesn’t know it all.

3. It is a big world.

4. Talk to people, ask questions.

5. Non-Christians aren’t “evil”

6. Take Risks!

7. Be POSITIVE! Support each other, cheer each other on!

8. Find someone to learn from & train someone else to take your place

9. Do things just for the experience

10. If you need something, don’t be afraid to ask.

1. I love the power of the internet- how limitless knowledge is at my fingertips. I hate that it entices me so much that I burn countless hours staring at nothing.

2. I love the quietness of my town when I go outside late at night/early in the morning….sometimes it’s the closest I can get to pure silence

3. I love looking up to the stars above and being reminded of how small I am.

4. I love the heart that Jen has for animals, the innocent, and the underdog.

5. I love that she screams one minute at a bug, yet the next insist that it not be harmed

6. I love her new found joy of cooking and experimentation. whether the food is good or bad, the experience is always worth it.

7. I love the freedom i have with a few close friends to be unguarded. to truly speak from my heart with no fear of what they might think.

8. I love art. how it moves me and makes me feel emotions, even if it is sometimes painful.

9. I love getting phone calls from long time friends, especially those that have drifted away geographically. I cringe at the phone calls from relatives and acquaintances in which I know are only calling because they need a favor

10. I love the potential of the unknown future- dreaming about what might be and how fulfilling everything could become – yet I am fearful of not knowing the details of how exactly it’s going to happen

11. I like to plan things out and know what’s going to happen ahead of time, but I love it when things don’t go as planned and end in an unexpected adventure.

12. [I just experienced this one for the first time today] I love going into a good produce section and breathing in all of the smells and flavors and just thinking about how all of them are separate, incredible gifts of flavor and beauty.

The one thing I’ve realized through this process is that there is nothing I have to give to God that he doesn’t already have. When you think about giving a gift to a loved one, you’ll likely find a list of things they want or need…or maybe you’ll find something that you just think fits their personality. When it comes to God, there isn’t exactly a place to go for that gift. Which is where Psalm 116:12 comes in…it says this [from the Message]:

What can I give back to God
for the blessings He’s poured out on me?

You may be familiar with that passage, since Bono of U2 has been using it as a prelude to “Where the Streets Have No Name” in concert. The counter part to that passage I found in a song that we sang tonight at The Gathering called “I Will Not Forget You”. Here are the words of the chorus:

A grateful heart I give, A thankful prayer I pray,
A wild dance I dance before you
A loud song I sing, A huge bell I ring,
A life of praise I live before You

So, in that song is the answer- Get crazy with what you got. I know the church shutters at the word “dance”, but man, I just love the idea of truly dancing before God. Not for men to see, not for men to judge, but for the one that gives you breath, for the one that gives you a song, for the one that gives you rhythm.

Sing it, dance it, shout it, live it.

That’s what we can give back to God for the blessings he’s poured out on us.

I went to a wedding tonight that was very different from most. For starters, it wasn’t in a church and it wasn’t outside. No live music, no singing, no unity candle. But…it was still a wedding. In essence the young and nontraditional couple did things their way, but still held onto the real things that make a wedding. Loved ones were there, they exchanged rings, vows, and kisses and that was that.

I’ve been home for a few hours now and I just had an observation about it- that wedding was very symbolic of the coming generation. Give us what’s important, leave the rest, and we’ll figure it out.

I often think about the wall of books that set in my pastor’s office. It’s literally busting at the seams, there are books piled on the floor, others scattered on desks and furniture…almost all of them in someway related to the bible. [How is it that we can write volumes out of one simple book? Maybe that's a topic for another day.] When you crack open one of those books off of the shelf, what you’ll likely find is a story about a person or organization that defied the odds. They went against what was normal, what was expected, what was easy, and succeeded. I guess it’s only natural that our response to those stories is “oh, we’ll if they can do it, we can too!” So we come up with some contrived formula to make their ways fit our ways…

…but we’ve missed the point.

The point isn’t to try to copy what they’ve done, but rather to be inspired by it.

That’s what I loved about the wedding tonight and that’s what I love about my generation. We’re not going to do things your way just because. We’ll take what is necessary, what has meaning, and we’ll make it our own.

Give us what’s important, leave the rest, and we’ll figure it out.

Tonight I pulled up Netflix instant play and watched this documentary “Man on Wire”. It’s about a french man, Philippe, who back in the 70′s made it his obsession to walk on a tight rope drawn between the World Trade Center towers. The film is exceptionally well put together, with amazing photography and tons of actual footage of the days leading up to the event. What instantly drew me in was his undying passion for his art. There’s no way to explain it without just watching the film. In his words he said, “It is impossible that’s sure, now lets start working”. I just love that. How many times have you said that yourself? It’s impossible, but lets try it anyway? It seems like it’s a growing trend that we say, “eh, I think it’ll be a little too hard, lets try something else”.

anyway, that’s not really where I want to go with this. There was another quote (the title of this post) that I want to get to. After successfully going back and forth between the two towers, the cops arrest Philippe and as he walks by the reporters they shout out, “Why did you do it!?”. Philippe simply replies, “There is no why.”

There is no why.

As an artist, I love this statement. It seems too often that the things we do must have a reason. Everything is based on logic, control, reasoning… Why can’t we do things just for the sake of doing them? For the experience, for the expression, for the freedom that comes in actually creating something! Creating is something that I believe we’re all drawn to in one way or another, but most of us stop when we ask ourselves the questions “why do I need to create this or that?” or “What will I say when people ask me, ‘Why did you create this?’” I guess simply tell them there is no why.

I’m learning more and more everyday about myself. About what I should or shouldn’t be doing and the one universal truth I have come to is that I must be creative in what I do. I must create art. My problem is that I am trapped into feeling like I need a reason for it. I guess what I learned today is there doesn’t have to be a reason. There doesn’t have to be a why.

One really great thing about the internet is that you can be whoever you want to be. You can say things that you wouldn’t normally say, talk to people you wouldn’t normally talk to, and become someone, or at least create the image of yourself that your life is better/more interesting than it actually is. I get this observation from looking around on Flickr and thinking “i wonder what these people are like in real life” and often I think that they are probably quiet and kind of nerdy, but on the inside they have such incredible talents and insights that only people from 2000 miles away could/would ever appreciate.

This post isn’t heading where I thought it would.

What I initially wanted to say or refer to is that it’s never too late to start fresh. People CAN change and people CAN become who they want to be in real life…it just takes a little guts to put yourself out there. I have a good friend, who is about old enough to be my dad, that recently went through a drastic life change when he found out he had cancer. I didn’t know him very well before, but the man that I know now is…well…awesome [for a lack of a better word]. He has become the man that he wanted to be, started doing the things he thought he should do, and saying the things he thought he should say…and you know what, people love him because of it – I’m one of them! So my point is simply this- stop pretending. Stop creating the “image” you want people to see…and start actually being who you want to be. Let me say that again…

Stop creating the “image” you want people to see…
Start being who you want to be.

that’s all.

And it does!!!

I have a job.

No, not a 2 month gig that has unreal hours with unreal pay. A real, 9-to-5, sitting-in-an-office-chair, job. I would have mentioned the prospect earlier, but to be honest, it was somewhat of a whirlwind. A week and a half ago my pastor called me up and told me he had a “proposal” for me, so we went out to dinner where he told me that an employee had just turned in her resignation and would be taking another job in two weeks. He said that I was the first person that came to mind and pitched the job to me. It wasn’t at all expected so it took a little time to soak in and mentally adjust to the thought. A week later I found out some of the final details and accepted the position, then today was my first day! So…hooray for me!

And I thought my Vista issues were rough…

Yesterday Jen’s Macbook crashed…hard. She was having some trouble with it responding and went to reboot…when she did, she saw the folder with question mark flashing (pictured above). I did a quick Google search using her iPhone (no internet on my computer, because I was using HER computer to connect) and found out that it was likely a hard drive failure. A little more digging and I was sure of it…so, off to Best Buy for a new hard drive. Usually I wouldn’t do this, but with Christmas a week away and my computer being reliant on hers for internet, I couldn’t wait for a HD to be shipped from newegg. Yes, I got ripped off by my sworn enemy- Best Buy.

So…moral of the story- back up your data! I’ve been researching some backup options for a while, but haven’t found the perfect solution. With this most recent encounter, I just can’t afford to wait any longer and neither can you! Your hard drive WILL fail, it’s just a matter of time.

And yes, I am pretty ticked at Apple. This is a HUGE issue with not just her machine, but many, many others. If you have a Seagate drive with firmware version 7.01, be warned…you’re living on borrowed time. If Apple hasn’t lost it’s class there will be a recall or extended warranty issued…and HOPEFULLY a way to recover the data. anyway, that’s all.

seriously, BACK IT UP!

Tonight we closed the Radio City show in Chicago and will be moving on to Des Moines in two days. It’s a somewhat bittersweet departure as I have come to really like Chicago as a whole. There’s a lot of things to do, places to eat, shops to explore, and I have a feeling that Des Moines isn’t exactly crawling with culture. Oh well, life goes on – plus, i definitely won’t miss the Chicago traffic…UGH! The run has been going exceptionally well so far. Being away from home has come as a welcome change of pace and our cast mates couldn’t be better if I hand picked them myself. I just don’t know what else to say, it’s been a really, really great month!

Beyond the normal, I’ve been trying to read as much as possible. In the past 2-3 weeks I’ve read half of book 6 in the Harry Potter series and the entire book 7. Once I got into it, I was hooked…book 7 took about 72 hours from start to finish! I’ve never read so much in so little time in all my life! And yes Jen, I know it only took you 48…but we’re talking about me here A couple days ago I shifted gears and started reading Rob Bell’s most recent book “Sex God” and I’m already about half way through it – no, it’s not about what you think…well, not really. It’s nothing earth shattering to this point, but I will say that there are definitely some positive things I can pull from it.

Christmas is just around the corner and I’m completely unprepared for the idea. I have 4 nieces and 2 nephews to buy for, which always turns into a battle against myself to find the coolest possible toy and in turn become the coolest possible uncle. Yes, I know that I can’t buy their affection…like I said, it’s mainly just me being transfered back into my childhood days and dreaming of the toys that I wish I could have. Maybe it’s some weird kind of complex?

Speaking of shopping, we’re heading out tomorrow to hit a couple shops that they don’t have around home (ie H&M) so I better get to bed so I can wake up at a decent time. Until next time…

The image/numbers up above are a little speed test for my new “turbo” internet service. 3-4 months ago I called asking about the service, but it was additional $20…too rich for my blood. Then 4-5 days ago they called offering a “free” upgrade…with the monthly charge of $5. I took it. So I went from 7MBps to 15MBps…and I now have the fastest internet service I’ve ever used anywhere. It’s pretty cool…of course, I’m about to leave in a few days, so the timing could have been better…and Vista still is sucking the life out of me…

…it’s just because I got Halo 3 today (and it’s awesome).

Life will return to normal…eventually.

Guitar- 1974 Guild Starfire IV, $1200 Pics here.
PDA – Dell Axim x51v + extra battery, $200
DVDs – CSI Season’s 1-5, $50

Also, I might be selling these two items:

iMac G4 (1ghz, 768mb RAM, 80GB HD), $500
Nikon F100, $250

if you’re interested, comment to this post or email me silentfool [at] gmail.com

I figured out today that my computer has been causing problems for about 3-4 months. I attributed it to the router or other things for a while…but I finally decided to do some troubleshooting and narrow down where the problem was coming from. So, i found the problem- Vista. Normally this is the point when I would try to fix the problem, but my attempts only led me farther down the rabbit hole. I was working with the network settings and now Media Center won’t work, which has nothing to do with the network. Then it got worse and currently I can’t hear any audio at all. I’m sick of it.

As soon as OS X Leopard is released or begins coming free with the new Mac systems, I’m buying one. That’s that.

It’s obvious that I don’t blog very often, but it’s not by choice. I just can never come up with enough to say or the right way to say it. While I was thinking about that, I ran across several other things that I just don’t do enough of. Visiting a couple of friends who are into photography I was reminded of what it’s like to shoot everything, everyday. My photography has turned into a formula instead of art. Likewise I saw a movie that made me want to play guitar, and write, and record video, and edit…

This isn’t the first post I’ve wrote like this and it probably won’t be the last. But I’m ever so hopeful that I can make the effort to do the things I wished I was doing more.

Warning: This post is a sure sign of my of geekness…if you find yourself interested in the post, you may be in danger of becoming a geek yourself.

Ok, with that out of the way…I have a few serious infatuations…sure I love all kinds of tech, but that’s so broad and ever changing. Beyond my general interest in computers, gadgets, and multimedia, there are a handful of things that I just like to look at, no matter how many I already have, or how many times I’ve looked before. One of those is pens, which I’ve mentioned in prior posts, but the one I want to mention this time around is flashlights. That’s right…flashlights.

I know you may be saying, how can that even be interesting at all!? Well…like everything else, technology is really changing the flashlight world. LED’s have taken over the market and made battery life last for hours when it once lasted minutes. Sure, LED’s aren’t generally the brightest, but they last and they get the job done. Well…there’s more good news from the LED tech…they’re getting brighter. In fact, a lot of the LED lights on the market are surpassing their incandescent counterparts.

So, here’s a little personal history…about 6-7 years ago at a family reunion a cousin pulled out this little tiny flashlight a “Princeton Tec Blast“…it took 2 AAA batteries and was nearly as bright as a 3D Maglite. A few days later, I had one…it was small, durable, bright, and had an OK battery life. I thought it was the end all flashlight…until I went to work in the theater biz. Backstage is pretty dark and in order to direct traffic backstage a lot of the crew used these Scorpion Streamlights. These are about the size of a common AA Maglite, but much, much brighter. In fact, the brightest flashlight I had seen…the only downfall was the battery life-50-60 minutes max. And not only that, but they use these CR123 batteries, which can cost as much as $15 a pair…so I never busted out the bucks for one of those.

So…fast forward to today…I was browsing through walmart or target and happened upon the flashlight section and my fascination was piqued again. I nearly bought a generic scorpion-type light but decided that like all things, i should do some research first and make sure it was a decent light in comparison to the others out there. Well…turns out it was an ok light, but while in process i found “THE light”.

Are you ready for this…

it’s a… “Fenix P3D CE“.

Whew. It just sounds tough doesn’t it!? Ok, ok…maybe not. And maybe I’m way too excited about a flashlight…but I just think it’s really cool. It’s LED based, takes two CR123 batteries (which have since dropped in price to $1-2 each)…and is smaller than a AA Maglite. Not only that, it’s also 80% brighter than a Scorpion Streamlight and the battery lasts almost 2 full hours (on high)! To put things in perspective, this site, Flashlight Reviews, has reviewed over 750 lights…and there are only 23 that are brighter than this one…and most of those are twice the price and about 20 times the size!

I know, I know…why do you need all that light? i don’t know…i’m sure there are other lights that would get the job done…but isn’t it nice to know that you have one of the brightest, most durable, lights in a nice little tight package that you can carry anywhere, right? Well, I sure think so. It is pricey, I will warn you, but in comparison to the competition, it’s a pretty good deal.

Anyway… that’s enough of my geekiness for one day I guess. I’ll try to post an update/review once I find the cash to buy one of these little things.

Anyway…the Reds game just ended (they won!) so I think it’s time to get off here.  One last thing to brighten your day…check this site out:

Farmers Only  -too funny.

I’ve been watching just about every Reds game I can. I don’t know why but for some reason baseball strategy finally started to make sense this year and it has made watching the game a lot more fun. I’ve always liked to watch, but now I just understand a lot more about it. The Reds haven’t been doing so hot this past week or so. Their relief pitching seems to be the weak point and their offense could use a kick in the pants as well.

I undertook a huge sound renovation project at my church which has taken the better part of the past 3 days and looks like it will take the better part of tomorrow as well. It has been a lot of work…for something that most people will never notice or see, but I think in the end it was all worth it.

And finally, our church announced this week that Doug Thompson will be coming on staff to be the “Pastor of Discipleship” (something i knew unofficially for some time). His primary work will revolve around the 20′s age group, but he’ll also have a hand in student ministries. To say I am excited about his arrival at my church would be a huge understatement. I’ll admit that I was initially a little hesitant that we didn’t hire someone for leading worship, but after meeting Doug personally all of my doubts were laid to rest. It’s going to be a great year at W3CU.

In any case I think that global warming is completely bunk…and even if it’s not, there’s little to nothing we can do about it.  We would probably have about as much luck in attempting to stop earthquakes from occurring.  It’s just ridiculous and a waste of time and money to research if the globe is 0.4 degrees warmer this year than it was last.

With all of this said, this is one of the most intelligent and well written articles I’ve read on the topic:  Why So Gloomy?

part two of “that’s amazing” – the local weather.  I’m sure a lot of you have been effected by it but I’m still completely boggled by what has happened over the past week or two.  6 days ago it was 80 degrees.  I was outside in shorts and sandals…the very next day- snow.  I know Ohio is kind of weird, but we’re talking 45+ degrees of variance in 24 hours.  crazy.  I’ll be glad to have the warm days back again.

and the last part of “that’s amazing” – Easter at W3CU.  2-3 months ago when I arrived home from the Radio City gig there was already some buzz going about Easter.  As time progressed my pastor developed a vision of having 800 in service.  One small part of the preparation was to send out a mailer to 3000+ people.  Being the aspiring graphic artist that I am, I took the project and ran with it.  So 2 weeks ago we sent out 3170 mailers.  Additionally there were 1800 handed out personally by our congregation.  I also had a hand in a couple of other projects, but my role was pretty limited in it’s reach.  Most of it fell to the personal contacts that our people made to their friends, family, and co-workers.  To be honest, I didn’t think we would ever reach 800.  I thought 600-700 maybe.  Now, keep in mind that I live in a town with a population of about 1200 or so.  The biggest “city” is Hillsboro, 30 minutes away with a population of like 6000.  Our church normally runs around 375…so jumping to 800 was no small feat.   With all of that in mind- we did it…806 in attendance today.  I mean, that’s just insane, we doubled our attendance!  Not many churches can do that, I don’t care who they are.  Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s not all about numbers…but those numbers represents lives.  And today we had a direct impact on the lives of 806 people.  The service was great, one of the best I’ve ever experienced and I can only hope that a fraction of the people felt the same way and will dig in a bit more to our church and more importantly God.

Jen has been gone for the past 9 days and I have to be up in about 5 hours to pick her up at the airport. I think she had a good time with her family in Washington, but I’m REALLY looking forward to her return. Besides the normal stuff like cooking…I really get lonely in this house by myself. I can’t imagine living my whole life unmarried.

Politics are on the horizon. I go through phases I think…I got so burnt out from the last Presidential election, it’s taken me almost 3 years to recover. I don’t really like any of the candidates so far. I’m hoping that Fred Thompson (yes, the actor) might consider running. I was a big Bush backer back in the day…but it seems like he is just, without going into details- wore out. My political views are changing some too…I’m starting see the world as a bigger place than I once did. I’m still a conservative for sure, but I see both sides of the coin a bit clearer than I did a few years ago.

I’ve picked up yet another hobby in the past couple months- RC cars. Ever since I was a kid I always loved anything that had a remote control. I got a little cheap RC buggy for my birthday when I was probably 10-11 and I ran that thing to death. This past Christmas I asked Jen for a “real” one, like the type you buy at a hobby shop. For lack of better gift options, she bought it for me. Unfortunately it isn’t much fun to stand outside in the cold to run the thing so I had to wait for warmer days and I just recently started playing with it regularly. It’s really a lot of fun. I told my dad it reminds me of the feeling I get when I ride my dirtbike only there’s no threat of getting hurt.

One last thing. If you haven’t heard the new Jars of Clay album, Good Monsters, stop what you’re doing and go to iTunes, Amazon, or to your local shop and pick it up. It’s just one of the best albums I’ve heard in a while. Well, I’ve been addicted to Andrew Osenga‘s album The Morning for a while, but it’s a little more of a specialized taste, whereas I think just about anyone will like Good Monsters.

Anyway, that’s it for this edition. I’ve got to get some sleep so I can get up in a few hours. Leave some comments people!

so that’s that.  On a completely different topic, I found this fun little game online that I would advise everyone to play-

50 States in 10 minutes.

The name says it all…you have 10 minutes to remember and enter all 50 states. The hardest part for me: spelling Massachusetts! I forgot one the first time I played yesterday (Iowa), but I’ve got them pretty much down now. Remember, no cheating!

This isn’t the first time I’ve become self aware of my distractions and I’m sure it won’t be the last.  However for the moment I’m going to try to break free of my laziness and do something of worth for the next few days- read.  I have a stack of books on my bookshelf, some I’ve read, some I haven’t…and a few I have no intention of.  In any case, I’m setting new goals for myself so that I might actually read some of those books.  On the list:  Mere Christianity, Now Discover Your Strengths, How to Give Away Your Faith, and finish Searching For God Knows What
This isn’t of course all about books, it goes farther than that.  It’s about me doing what I say I’m going to do and putting action to my words.  With that said, I think reading is a good start.

I have this drawer in my desk that is stacked full of CD’s and DVD’s…some of them from last century (not too different from my MP3 collection).  So, my next goal is to go through that drawer, clean out, organize and throw away all of the junk that I no longer need.  It’s really weird how organization makes me happy…even the thought of it makes me happy!

Beyond those things, I should probably mention that I did sell the Wii’s on eBay successfully.  I put them on for 3 days and both sold within 36 hours.  I was a little scared because the market is getting more and more saturated and therefore prices were dropping.  I ended out undercutting the competition by $10 and that seemed to do the trick.  Oh, I should also mention that I did only sell two.  Of the other two, one went to my friend and the last one found a home in my home.  I knew that Jen would come around after playing with one for a while and of course I was right.  Everyone I’ve came in contact with loves the thing, even my sister whom hasn’t played a video game since like Pole Position!  It’s really a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to what games are on the horizon.

The last bit of news is that I’m trying to dig back into investing & finance.  Our church is starting this 13 week class called Financial Peace University and it has me thinking about such things.  We went to the orientation and were debating on whether we should take the class or not.  In the end I decided that I probably already knew most of what would be taught from reading several finance books in the past and what I didn’t know, I could easily find out just by reading the book Financial Peace (thereby saving me about $75 bucks).  While I think the program is probably really good and of huge value to a lot of people, it just didn’t seem to be what I needed personally.  Instead, I’ve been digging around on Amazon looking for investment books that will teach me more about the market and how to trade wisely.
Anyway, that’s it for this edition…I know it was a long one, I guess that’s what happens with the updates are so few and far between.

Well, as you can see I found a Wii.  Actually I found 4.  It all started on Tuesday…

*begin dream sequence*
I woke up and checked my email and a few websites I frequent.  One of those sites is this “Wii Tracker” which basically is just a list of places that carry the Wii and whether or not it’s in stock.  To my surprise that morning it showed up as “in stock” for the first time since…well November I think.  So I started clicking away, adding it to my cart, checking my shipping address, credit card, etc.  Meanwhile I hoped on the phone to call a friend of mine.  Her husband has been pining over the Wii for a while…in fact he has already bought games for it.  So, i asked if he had one yet…by the time she said no, I had already completed my order.  a few hours later i received a shipping notice and today it arrived via UPS.   This afternoon we went to do a little shopping I had to pick up a few things and while we were out my friend asked me to purchase a couple of accessories.  So, we were hunting around a bit…We had dinner in the food court at the mall when i noticed there was a Wii sitting in the window of FYE…and that we should check there for accessories.  We went in and quickly found out that they didn’t have anything.  The salesperson said “no, we don’t have anything but games…in fact we just got a shipment of the systems in.  we have 3 of them.  i looked at Jen and said “lets buy one and put it on ebay”.  She agreed so, out we walked with a Wii (#2).  We did a little more shopping, hit Sams and Toys R Us…then i thought…you know, if we can sell this on ebay for profit, why not do it with 3!  So…we rushed back, ran into the store and bought the other two (#3 & 4).

Jen felt a little guilty…”poor little Jimmy isn’t going to get a Wii because we just cornered the market!”.  I said “it’s supply and demand honey.  We have the supply, so lets take it to the demand!”.

I feel a little weird knowing that there are 4 Wii’s in my house and I can’t touch them!  It’s driving me crazy!  Anyway…
In other news Jen has been knitting like crazy.  If she would get her blog fixed, you would know this.   She asked me to post this picture and ask “which is cuter?”

I recently learned that one of my favorite bands, Over the Rhine moved out to an area in the country just a short distance from my home. It seems that I’m not the only one that thinks Ohio is nearly paradise, this is what they have to say about it:

My mind is refreshed when I remember that I’ll be back to the place I call home in just 7 short days. I can’t wait.

two other things to note…i imported all of my old entries from 2004-2005 when i was using movable type, so there are now over 200 posts to trudge through if you wish.  I also upgraded to WordPress 2.0 on the back end (should have long ago!).  I love the changes so far.

alright…two posts in one day, it’s a record!

Boston has welcomed us with open arms. The crowds have been amazing, the sushi is never ending, and the subway (or “T” as it’s called) is extremely easy to navigate. Not much negative to say other than it would’ve been nice to have a hotel with a laundry room, but I understand why they picked this place (it’s right around the corner from the theater).

2 weeks till Christmas, 3 weeks until we’re home.

It couldn’t come soon enough.

I’ve read another book since I last posted – “Velvet Elvis” by Rob Bell. As I was reading it, I didn’t think it was that great…but in retrospect I’ve found myself meditating on quite a bit of his writings…I’m on to another book now, “Searching for God Knows What” by Donald Miller. It’s good so far, but I’m only 1/4 into it. We just don’t have as much time to read here, but I’m sure I’ll finish soon.

I’ve been craving creativity if that makes sense. I just realized yesterday that I haven’t done anything of creative value in a month and it’s starting to eat away at me. So today I worked on my church’s website, glanced at some photography here and there, and I believe I’ve found inspiration to begin shooting again. I realized tonight that I’d lost the art of photography and got caught up in the portrait/people snapshot craze. So once I get some decent shots, I’ll hopefully get them up for all to see.

anyway…it’s late. so, i’m off.

I know that song is supposed to connect us with the fact that we are all human and we are all the same, but I can’t help but contradict it and say that it’s a very big world out there.

Growing up in a small town has taught me many things…and one of those is that your world is as big as you make it. I know some people from home who’ve barely left the state, who have only a handful of friends & family, and their world is very, very small. On the other hand I know people who have left for college, a career, or just to discover what else is out there…and for them, the world is a very big place.

What I’m getting at is that we all need to see the world through a larger perspective. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and as I’m stuffing myself to the breaking point, there will be people on the other side of the globe who won’t even have enough clean water to sustain them for the day. How can that not bother me. How can that not bother you?

…I am selfish, I am spoiled…I am your average American and it grieves me that my heart is as hard as it is.

With all of this said…

As the holiday season approaches, we’ll all be in the spirit of giving…some will spend hundreds or thousands over the next month on stuff for their friends and family all of it in which they don’t need or don’t even want. So, I want to encourage you, that while your in the spirit of giving, you consider giving to people outside your “small world”. Sure “Toys for Tots” and other charities are nice, but I hope that you’ll think about the bigger picture. Here are a few organizations that I would recommend giving to:

World Vision
Compassion International
Invisible Children

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving!

life:
We open the “Radio City Christmas Spectacular” tomorrow night in Chicago. It’s been a great couple of weeks and I’m looking forward to those a head of me. So far my experience with the cast and crew has been a very good one, minus a couple here and there. We definitely miss a few things about Nashville, namely our dresser and another cast member (unnamed to protect myself), but where they are missed, others fill the gaps. That’s kind of the thing about show-biz…you can’t get too attached. I’m also beginning to think more and more about the “big picture” when it comes to my life and am hoping that I can have a career that will support my family apart from jobs like this.

political:
the mid-term election finally drew to a close last night. I have to admit, I’ve fallen away from politics over the past 2 years. I think I just got burnt out during the last presidential election…maybe I’ll get back into it eventually. Anyway, I think it’s clear that the democrats won this round, but all it really proves to me is that people grow tired of politics and politicians. The democrats will come in, change a few things and a few years later the tide will turn again because the public will be tired of them and want something else. We’ll never be satisfied. With that said…whether you’re a democrat or republican, I think we can all agree that we’re happy to see the election over. NO MORE ADS! WOOOHOOO!!!

faith:
I’m happy to report that God is still at work in my life. I’m continuing to grow, even though I often stray from where I should be. I’m thankful for His grace. Jen and I went to Willow Creek for the first time last weekend and were blown away by the place. Not only is it huge, but the production side of things is just amazing. With that said, I was happy that the message wasn’t lost in all of the tech, music, and drama. The place made me want to go back…and bring friends…and that’s what it should be like. I’m learning more and more everyday what it means to be a Christian and I can only hope that my knowledge won’t go into the recesses of my brain, but rather find action in my life everyday.

Jen started learning to knit today and she just told me “maybe knitting IS my superpower!” …somehow I don’t think so, but it was funny none-the-less.

So, we’re in Myrtle Beach for Radio City rehearsals…things are going really well so far with only a few more days until we head off to Chicago to start shows. We picked up the new show really quickly, the cast is very good…so, we’re off to a good start all around.

Anyway, it’s 3 1/2 minutes long (3mb) and mainly I talk about my experience with a new Macbook and Jen being gone. A technical note that I didn’t mention in the podcast- I used “Garageband” to create it and used the built in mic on the macbook. Maybe if I get into it I’ll invest in a better mic.

Alright, that’s it. Enjoy!

::silentfool podcast – episode one::

Now I could go point by point and debunk the whole thing, since practically nothing in it is based on fact, but there are plenty of other sites that do that (links at the bottom) So, I’m going to just point out the major logical flaws.

1. If it was true, the film makers would be dead. – If the US government would actually plan such a horrific event, spend billions upon billions of dollars, and kill thousands of innocent Americans don’t you think they would actually want to keep it covered up? Have you never seen the movie “Pelican Brief” or “Conspiracy Theory”? If “Loose Change” was true, I think they would probably have killed the film makers long ago (they first started on the story in 2002).

2. Nothing like 9/11 has ever happened before. The movie spends a majority of the time trying to explain the reasoning behind why the towers collapsed that day but the closest thing they could find to compare was back in 1945 when a B-25 (they lied and said it was a B-52) hit the Empire State Building. FYI- A B-25 weighs 1/10th that of a 737, goes half the speed (max), and carries 1/35th the fuel. So how does that compare exactly? There is nothing, NOTHING that compared with the impact on that day…and besides, unless you’re a structural engineer, stop pretending like you know more than the experts.

3. What did we gain? Just looking around on the internet a bit and you can read that 9/11 cost around $500 billion…that doesn’t count the war that has followed. Overall, probably closer to $1 trillion. Oh, but we did it for the oil right? Not even close…if Iraq cranks it out they might be able to export $5 billion a year, in addition to their pre-existing commitments and after they pay off the debts to other countries. So, in about 200 years we’ll break even! Even in the brightest, most optimistic outlook there is no way that the financial cost was worth it.

So those are 3 major logical points to debunk the whole thing, in addition to all of the others which are outlined in the links below.

Don’t believe everything you see.

Internet Detectives
9/11 Myths
Screw Loose Change
Wikipedia – Loose Change
Debunking 9/11

They released digg 3.0 a couple months ago which was basically just some nice eye-candy and some new topic categories. This in turn, opened up a lot of social, political, and religious discussion in the comment section. should be a good thing right? um, no. Here’s what I don’t like:

#1 digg is filled with 14-30 year old men dominantly who like to talk about how great they are and bash pretty much everyone else. there’s no balance, no tact, nothing.

#2 it’s supposed to be democratic, but it’s not. If you state a comment or post a story that someone doesn’t agree with, it gets buried (censorship anyone?)…so more and more we see only one side of the political, social, and religious spectrum.

#3 90% of all the “news” that comes across the wire is just regurgitated headlines from other sites…by the time it gets to digg, I’ve probably already read it somewhere else…if it is original or new information, it’s literally a race to see who can post it first and get as many diggs as possible before the other guy (usually the underdog) does.

I did a quick search on Google and it seems that I’m not the only one. http://www.google.com/search?q=hate+digg

You should check it out if you have the chance…semi finals are starting in the next couple days.

It’s not that I haven’t had the time or the motivation of words to speak, but moreso the lack of motivation to share what’s on my plate with the world.

Just a short run-down: spent 2 weeks with Jen’s youngest sister in town, 5-6 days in Missouri, then 12 days in Washington (state). So, basically I’ve been gone for the better part of the month. We leave for RC in two months which I believe will probably fly by…and by the way, we’re not doing Nashville…don’t ask me why, because I really don’t know, but we took an offer to do Chicago/Boston instead. I keep telling myself “it’s only 2 months, it’s only 2 months…” Other than that it seems that life outside of the entertainment world is slowly creeping into reality. It’s been a nice life for the past 3 years, but it had to end sometime.

Some good things going on at church lately. I’m really excited about some potential changes, but I’m not really at liberty to say much at this point.

anyway, sorry it’s so short and uninteresting, but i need to hit the sack. i keep telling myself it’s jet-lag, but the truth is, I just need to get to bed earlier! alright, i’m out.

I’m also considering a podcast to go along with the new changes. Not that I have an abundance of things to talk about, but i think it might be a fun project and a good learning opportunity.

stay tuned.

My latest life theory is that there is a true lack of “benchmarks” in life. I think this can go all the way to the core of our being all the way to how we spend our money. And while audio equipment isn’t the deepest subject to point to, it’s a passion of mine, so i’m going to talk about it for a second.

What is good sound? when you go to the theater to watch a movie, is that good sound? when you go to best buy and hear a set of “Bose Acoustimass” speakers, is that good sound? To most, the answer is probably yes. But the question is why? I mean, here’s the truth, neither of those actually give you great sound. It’s just that people have “benchmarked” those things as being “the best” and therefore measure everything on that scale. But to the audiophiles out there, Bose is about the worst thing you could buy. So either A) people haven’t heard what good sound really is or B) they can’t tell the difference. In either case society at large is being led astray by marketing ploys and ill informed sales people.

Just something to think about.

It has been a good three years and something I wouldn’t trade for the world, but I believe the time is right for us to depart. We didn’t plan for it to end like this, none-the-less it must end sometime and it seems natural that this be it.

On the horizon of things to come there is nothing but uncertainty but I will face that uncertainty with faith that God will carry us through whatever it may be. For now I look forward to the coming days when I am reunited with my family, my church home, and my physical home. I can’t wait to hug my nieces and nephew and just give them the assurance that I’m home to stay this time.

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ll say it again…there’s a song that I like to listen to right before I go home…it just reminds me of how content I am in Winchester, only in Andrew Peterson’s case it’s “Shiloh”. Anyway, here are the lyrics:

Rickety fence and a rocking chair
The smell of my father’s pipe
Cackling goose in the summer air
The garden is green and ripe

Better get on home to Shiloh

With that said, not a lot going on currently. We just finished a week of “overnighters”, meaning no days off. Thankfully this next week is going to be considerably slower. We have the next two days off in St Louis. Jen’s parents & youngest sister are flying in for a few days while we’re there. It will be great to spend some time with them and also fun for them to see the show (they’ve never seen it).

The countdown continues to the end of tour, just 19 days and 10 hours. I don’t know that I’ve ever been more excited about going home! I just can’t stop thinking about all the things I want to do!

Anyway, time to pack up and leave yet another hotel room. Check back in a few days for more.

PS: the subject- “#91″ refers to the fact that this is my 91st post. Woohoo…only 9 away from 100!

Oddly enough I had an audition yesterday for a web-based commercial for Altoids. I won’t know for another week or two if I got it or not. Either way, it’s cool…it was worth it just for the experience of auditioning. It’s just kind of funny how I keep running into the entertainment business eventhough it’s not my chosen profession. My comment today to Jen was “A lot of actors work a lot of other jobs until they can find an acting job, whereas I am working acting jobs until I can find another job”.

NY is an interesting city…I very much have a love/hate feeling for it. It’s fun to visit and it’s not bad in small doses, but I can’t imagine living my whole life here. There’s no space for anything, no driving (for the fun of it), no grass or trees, it’s just cold ( and not temp-wise). On top of that there’s just always this fear of people freaking out for whatever reason…walking in silence is a dream…silence at all is a dream! But there’s a lot to do, a lot of places to eat, a lot of culture…but I think I’ll stick with Winchester OH for now.

Speaking of Winchester, one week from today we’ll be home for a much welcomed, but very brief visit. After that it’s the home stretch…only 6 more weeks until Barney is over. In the words of Bill Mallonee, “I’ve got summer in my veins”

Instead take a look at this site: Fluid Effect (click portfolio, before & after) and smile. Even the stars don’t look THAT good.

Nikon D100 DSLR (6.1 megapixel)
+ vertical battery grip (MB-D100)
+ 2 batteries
+ AC adapter ($65 value),
+ boxes, manuals, and original accessories
+ 28-80mm lens listed below, if wanted
– paid over $2100, asking $750

Nikon F100 SLR (film camera)
bought it from a friend, he used it for about a year then sold it, I haven’t used it at all…I think I have the manual.
– original cost $930, asking $450

Nikon SB-80DX Flash (box, accessories, manual)
– asking $200

Nikkor 45mm f/2.8 P Lens (more info here: http://nikonimaging.com/global/products/lens/mf/wideangle/45mmf_28_p/)
– asking $200

Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 G Lens
- $50

This shot isn’t exactly “photoblog worthy”, but while we were in DC this little squirrel approached us more bravely than any other I’ve ever seen…if I saw the same actions coming from something larger like a dog, i might be fearing for my life. This thing litterally ran out in front of us and stopped, got up on it’s hind legs and just waited for some food…

on top of a dusty shelf in a small town grocery
boxes of some store brand flakes hadn’t sold in years
the manager that transferred in with marketing degrees
thought he could sell that cereal with his big fresh ideas.

holy flakes
holy flakes
holy, holy, holy
holy flakes

Still not a lot of progress on the photoblog. I’ve been taking more photos, but still not up to par with what I should be. Hopefully I’ll start feeling more inspired soon.

It is a battle, like many other battles that come in the Christian life. I pray that God gives me peace.

We’re planning to go home for Christmas Day…it will be a whirlwind trip, but I’m sure very much worth it. This may be the only time I’ll ever say this, but I’m really, REALLY hoping this isn’t a “white christmas”…otherwise we may be stuck in Nashville.

We were walking into work today when Jen spotted a patch of ice and said “Watch the ice…” The next thing I heard was the sound of my body (and camera) crashing onto the pavement. I was ok and at first I just thought it was my lens filter that took the brunt of it…but I was wrong. The entire lens is busted, probably beyond repair. The good news is that it’s a relatively cheap lens. The bad news is that it’s the second lens I’ve broken in a year…so i’m down to 2 working lenses. Oh well, could have been worse…could have been the camera itself…or a one of my bones!

1. Everything is 3-5 miles away. Of course 3-5 miles takes about 15-20 minutes to drive.
2. Stop signs are optional.
3. Blinkers…optional as well.
4. Stopping randomly while driving to exibit some of that “southern hospitality” is another option.
5. Shutting down a highway/exit for construction without any signs or notice a regular event!
6. Saying “Ya’ll” at least 5 times from the pulpit during any given Sunday is an unwritten rule.
7. There shall be no less than 12 churches per square mile, of which at least half must be Baptist.

Ok…that about does it for now. Nashville isn’t all bad…it’s actually pretty similar to Cincinnati, minus the driving issues. 4 more weeks to go!

Other than that things are going pretty well. Our hotel is pretty nice, Nashville is a decent city, and the cast seems to be gelling pretty well. It should be a good run, but for now I’m just looking forward to our opening so we can start a normal schedule!

All I Need

As I sit here and think
About all that You’ve done
About how You gave me Your one and only Son
And I’m trying to fathom
All that You are, but so far, Lord
You’re so beyond me
I fall down in reverence
And I fall down in fear
And I’m asking You, Lord, won’t You please draw near
Won’t You open my eyes
So that I can see
The way that You are working in me
All I need is Your love
To come and fill this heart of mine
My heart is a desert that has gone dry
And I need Your love to carry me bye , bye, bye, bye, bye
To carry me bye, bye, bye, bye, bye
To carry me bye
And I lay down my life
And I put it before You
All that I am is in Your hands
And I’m not going to question, why You’re so faithful
Why that You give me the blessing that You have
Let the glory be known, let the glory be shown
Lift You up unto the throne
You are my God, You are my King
To You I give, I give You everything
All that I need is Your love, my God

Almost a year ago I was pondering the possibilities for all of my free time that was about to begin. I had thought about going to school for a few months, reading an endless list of books, learning a new skill, and countless other things. Now that a year has passed I can look back and see what a complete bum I have been. I mean sure, my time wasn’t a complete waste, I did learn some things, but not nearly as much as I could/should have. I guess this is just a perfect example of how unmotivated I can be if I don’t have a specific plan for my time.

Regardless of all of that, my “life” (work) is about to begin again in just a few days. We’re driving down to Myrtle Beach for rehearsals which will last a couple weeks before driving to Nashville where we’ll be stationed for the rest of the year. This is my first year doing the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, so I’m a little nervous and little excited as well. Jen was doing the show while we were dating, so I’m somewhat familiar with it, but watching it and performing it are two seperate things. In any case, I’m sure everything will be fine.

Aside from that, it’ll be good to have some normal income again…we’ve been pretty much just living on the basics for a while, no shopping, no entertainment…only bills and food. So we’ll be able to do “fun” things again and just get back into the swing of it.

So long Ohio…you will be missed.

In the midst of the cell phone talk, Jen and I began a short conversation about “cellphone etiquette”. We are both pretty baffled at how some people can seem to lose all sense of social politeness when it comes to cell phone issues. For some reason, some people still think that carrying around a cell phone and flipping it out randomly like it’s a badge somehow makes them cool. Listen up…it’s 2005 folks, EVERYONE has a cell phone. EVERYONE. I don’t care how many more “bars” you have than me or how cool you think it is that you can take pictures with your phone. Give it a rest.

I cruised around the web and I am obviously not the first person to have issues with cell phone etiquette. Here are a few pages to help to diagnose yourself and tips on how to fix it:

CNet Quiz
Monster.com Quiz
Ten Commandments of Cellphone Etiquette
Yahoo Cellphone Etiqutte tips
Google Results

? iPod nano

- iTrip
- Time Warner cable outages
- non auto-pay bills

We Failed You?
Tribes

more updates on other topics to follow…

Lord, I pray for your mercy on the people of New Orleans tonight. No matter the outcome though, may we all find our peace and trust in You.

Read here: Church Hate

Obviously these people are completely out of touch with who God truly is. It couldn’t be simpler than the phrase: “God is Love”

I have my opinion on homosexuality and I’ll save that for another day…but I will say for sure that homosexuality is no more of a sin than hate or any number of other sins that we all (including myself) deal with everday.

shameful, disgraceful, reprehensible…no matter how you say it, these people are wrong.

I just walked over to my parents house and back and the loudest thing I could hear during this time was the gravel crunching beneath my shoes. This sound was challenged only by distant churps of crickets and other unknown insects…it’s 5:45pm on a weekday…”rush hour” in Winchester.

Is there any other place like this?

Rant- Family Guy. I will admit that there was something about this show that was entertaining. It was a “guilty pleasure” for a while, but since they came out with the new season it has been all down hill. They’re trying too hard to be controversial and spending way too much time on politcal and religious themes. I was excited about the next season…but after seeing the first two episodes it turned me off…so, I turned it off. Permanently.

Rave- Top Gear (UK edition). While Discovery has picked up the series to play here in the states…the editing is horrible. They slice several different episodes into one, change the voice overs, and take out all of the humor. It is much, MUCH better in the UK…(even if they do bash the US from time to time). I’m amazed at how they keep coming up with new and original ideas…it’s… clever. In the UK it’s on every Sunday night, so if you’re into this sort of thing, you can download it on Sunday’s around 9pm on sites like http://mininova.org

MYspace

Besides being an album filled with tons of provoking thoughts, besides being a truly original Christmas album, this album is purely genius musically as well. Unlike many modern day albums which seem to be just a hodge-podge of hit singles, this album was thought out and moves as if it were just one song with many different pieces fitting together to make it whole. If you listen to one song you may think it sounds good…but when you fit it into the puzzle, it sounds great- it all makes sense.

I love this album…even in July.

-Seinfeld, “The Pick”

I was in 5th grade, gathering my books into my backpack, preparing to leave when this boy Micah caught me. From across the room he shouted, “Ewww!!! David just picked his nose!!!” I froze in humiliation and quickly scanned the room to see who else was looking, but thankfully everyone else was busy scooting their chairs in…the rumble had covered Micah’s accusation…there was no one to see but my accuser and who would believe him!? It was my word against his…it would never stand up in court! From that day forward I became a closet picker. I was mortified that I would be caught again and I would have some horrible nickname for the rest of my life. Well…today, I think it’s time for that to change. I’m coming out of the picking-closet and i think it’s time everyone else does the same! I mean, come on people…we all do it! Why can’t we just admit it? Why must we do it in shame? No one has a problem with me cleaning my fingernails and I can only imagine what kind of gross things are caked under there! I can spit saliva from my mouth and no one really thinks much of it…i say it’s time that picking receives the same liberty! Free yourselves! Admit that you’re a picker! Say it with me…”My name is ______ and I am a picker”. See, what a relief it is! Now…go and share the message!

**Jen does not endorse this message**

I was reading through some other site and read one of Yogi’s famous quotes, “If you come to a fork in the road, take it”. Everytime I thought about that quote it just made me laugh. So I thought I’d look up some of his other sayings…I was litterally laughing outloud for a solid 10 minutes. It’s just the funniest thing I’ve heard in a long time. I hope everyone else can get just a fraction of the fun out of it that I did!

For the past 2-3 years I have become quite the “night owl”. I mean, I always have been. I remember watching Letterman when I was in high school not thinking about the fact that a lot of my friends had been in bed for hours. Now that I’ve matured and can stay up to practically any hour I please, and I often find myself doing so. I don’t know why, but for some reason it seems that my mind just thinks better late at night. There are no distractions, no people calling, no birds chirping…just me and the silence. It’s in these times that I usually have some of my best ideas…and its for that reason that I have began to stay up late again…I’m just curious as to what idea my mind will produce. Don’t get me wrong, not all of my ideas are pure gold…but even those that are a serious flop are entertaining to read when I awake from my slumber.

So…if you want me to work on cold fusion, be sure to ask me sometime between 2-5am and I’ll see what I can do.

THE FUNERAL CRASHER

Click here.

Ok, ok, so you probably think that is just absurd- gas prices are high, so spend MORE and buy premium gas? Yep, that’s it exactly…and here’s why: Now, this could be different for you and your car, so check it out yourself, but for my car I did a test. I drove with one tank of “regular” (87 octane) and then another with “premium” (91-93 octane). Driving at approximately the same speed on the highway I figured up my gas-mileage (actually, my car’s computer did it for me)…anyway the results were- 30mpg with regular and 33mpg with premium. A difference of only 10%…but, still a difference. Therefore if I can pay 10% more for premium gas I would basically be getting about the same mile-to-dollar value. However, if the price difference is less than 10% more, I actually get a better deal buying premium. For example, let’s say gas prices for regular are at $2.23, then premium would likely be $2.43, a difference of about 8%.. a difference of 10% would be $2.45 so basically I get 2 cents (or 2%) better, per gallon. I know that’s not a lot, but it adds up…AND…I’m putting better gas in my car, which is better for the engine. Not only that, if you look very long, you’ll probably see some premium prices being less than 20 cents more than regular (i think it’s a supply-demand thing, most people don’t want to pay for regular, let alone premium). This may seem crazy, but the higher gas prices go, the more relevant this theory becomes. The gap between regular and premium is fairly constant, while the gas prices themselve are not. .

Ok, if you’re still having trouble grasping this, think of it this way…you go to the grocery, you need some sugar. You can buy a 1 pound bag for $1.00 or a 2 pound bag for $1.90…sure the 1 pound bag is cheaper, but you get more if you pay more. premium is the same way, pay more-get more… so, go out and check your car…maybe yours will respond even better than mine to that “premium blend”.

Last year while in England I started watching this show, “Top Gear”. Since then I’ve been downloading the show regularly. Last week while the in-laws were in town, we watched a few episodes…everyone was entertained. It’s a great show. So…surprise, surprise, America decided to copy yet another thing from England. Top Gear is now being shown on the Discovery Channel, regularly. It’s been edited for America and all chopped up, but the basics are still there. I will say though, that a lot of the humor has been cut, which is a mistake…so, long story short…props to Discovery for picking up a great show…but it’s a shame to screw with it.

On the same line of TV stuff…I’m sick and tired of commercials. I pay good money for cable…what exactly am I paying for? I understand that it takes a lot of money to put shows on the air…but there are far, far too many commercials. It doesn’t stop there though…now when I go to the movie theater I have to sit through 20 minutes of commercials…I paid $9.00 to sit and watch commercials? i don’t think so. if these companies are paying so much for this commercial time and space, how about dropping the ticket prices a little…or make it free for that matter! With TiVo, Media Center PC’s, and other gadgets such as the slingbox, commercials are going to be watched less and less…advertisers take note…it’s time to start thinking more like “The Truman Show” and getting inventive with advertising techniques (in show product placement).

Ok, that’s all that is coming to mind for now…

On the “fun” side of things we’ve seen a couple of good movies lately. We watched Batman Begins last week in Missouri. It was really pretty good. I mean, all movies have flaws, but for a comic book movie it was pretty good. In comparison to the other Batman films it was far superior to the last 3 and in my humble opinion is probably better than the first one. Last night, after about a month of procrastination we watched Hotel Rwanda. This movie, is on a whole different level than most movies. It was very intense, very nerve racking, and very, very good. It had some simularities to “Schindler’s List”…so if you’re looking for a “feel good” film, look elsewhere…but if you’re looking for a great story, great acting, and to be moved, this is it.

alright, that’s it for now…hopefully more updates as they come.

it’s a pretty fun game…especially when you win!

i made some more money on the market today. after this success i have been wondering if trading stocks is something i could do for a living. i have been pretty successful so far, but I’m not sure if i’m good enough that i could depend on such trades for regular income, although the thought is attractive i must admit. we’ll see how it goes for the next month or two before i head down that road. for now, it’s nice just to make some money on the side…

not a lot going on lately, just the normal everyday stuff. i sold my motorcyle yesterday which was a bittersweet event. I’m now looking for an upgrade, but unfortunately only thing I’ve found is in Conneticut and i’m just not quite that desperate…yet. anyway…that’s all for now, more updates to come.

Check out his site here: Sand in the Gears

If you look down on the right hand side of this page you’ll see a few little link boxes. In fact, if you look around to many news based pages or blogs you’ll probably see a lot of little links similar to these. So, what is RSS you might be asking. Well…Wikipedia says it this way: RSS is used to provide items containing short descriptions of web content together with a link to the full version of the content. Get that? It’s somewhat confusing in those terms so i’ll try to use some analogies to make it seem simpler.

Think of something like Headline News. They give you the world’s news in just 30 minutes, where as CNN, Foxnews, MSNBC and such give you twenty four hour coverage. Well, you could sit through and listen to hours of talking, advertisements and stupid marketing gimics, or you could just turn on Headline News and get the same thing in a fraction of the time. An RSS feed is kind of like that, but more advanced. You create “live bookmarks” for all your favorite pages (ie silentfool.com). And then when you wake up in the morning, instead of going to each individual page to see if there are updates you can just bring up your RSS reader, click “update” and it will hightlight all of the new stories/blogs/etc. Your RSS reader will then allow you to browse through the text without having to load any graphics or advertisements…you can just get the “meat”. And if you want to read more or actually check out the “real” page, you can just click on the supplied link and you’re there. It’s a extremely efficient way to absorb a ton of information in as little time as possible.

That’s a basic rundown of it. I hope I didn’t confuse anyone too much. If you’d like to read a little more here’s a link to Wikipedia: RSS Feeds

Also you might want to check out: Bloglines
although, I personally prefer Sage (Mozilla Firefox required)

Some of my favorite feeds:
Michelle Malkin
Slashdot
digg
Engadget
loveforaliar(needs to update more!)

I was just beginning to learn about the computer and at the same time, learning how to type in my keyboarding class. Well, every day we had about 10 minutes to do “warm-ups”…but my time couldn’t be taken up by such things, so I would cruise around the machine looking for trouble. When it came time to turn in those warm-ups I was far short, but no problem, I thought I would do them at home since I had made myself a copy of the program and brought it to my home PC. Well…I worked and worked, but eventually decided it just was taking way too much effort and time…so…I did my first hacking job, broke into the code and did a lot of copying and pasting. Long story short 2 pages of magically turned into 15…but of course I was 15 and couldn’t keep my mouth shut. I instantly told a couple friends about my “good fortune”, assuming they wouldn’t tell anyone.

Well, the time came when I was to turn in my work. It was a Friday at the end of the day…I put my work on the teacher’s desk and walked away with a smirk on my face thinking I had shown her. That unfortunately was the last moment of bliss for days to come, because it wasn’t an hour later that one of my friends told me that the jig was up and that my teacher knew…she was just waiting for me to turn my stuff in; I would be taken to “the office” on Monday. Needless to say, that weekend turned into the longest weekend of my life. I remember lying awake for hours just pummeled by guilt. So, there was no getting around it, I had to do everything in my power to make it right.

For the next two days I typed and typed and typed. To this day, that could possibly be the hardest I ever worked in any given weekend for school work (see what guilt can do!). On Monday morning I came in, layed my “real” work on my teacher’s desk and said “I cheated. The stuff I gave you on Friday wasn’t real. I felt horrible about it all weekend, so I redid all my work. I’m sorry”. She simply replied, “I know”. And surprisingly she must have seen something noble in me because she didn’t take it any farther than that. I waited all day to hear my name on the loud speaker, but nothing. I was on pins and needles all week waiting for something to happen, but it didn’t. Of course, the other teachers found out and my reputation was ruined, but hey at least I didn’t get in any real trouble, right?

So, that’s it, that’s my confession. Sickening isn’t it?

Hey Orrin, aren’t you happy now!? I have an RSS feed!

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
…
Part 9
Part 13

and as for the other “BB”…I was just reminded of how I despise Best Buy…I don’t know why I even go in there…read a few of these and you’ll probably agree: bestbuysux.org

UPDATE: New webpage layout in…10 days (or less)

Ok, that took way too long…so as for the other topics i’ll be brief:

iPod shuffle: looks nice, very sleek…but no display…and we’ll see how the battery does in the long run.

music: since i have a ton of spare time i’m looking to learn either piano, drums, or both. looked at pianos today…probably a purchase soon.

webpage: i just hit 100 post on this page…and with this, the 102nd post, i think it’s time for a change. while the election was on this format served me well…but my interest in photography, graphics and music just isn’t reflected…at all. so…probably a change coming in the next 1-2 weeks.

that’s it.

1. Braveheart
2. Passion of Christ, The
3. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
4. Gladiator
5. Matrix, The
6. Rudy
7. Princes Bride, The
8. Shawshank Redemption
9. Saving Private Ryan
10. Rear Window
11. Road to Perdition, The
12. Sandlot, The
13. Enemy of the State
14. Almost Famous
15. Traffic
16. The Insider
17. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
18. Truman Show
19. You’ve Got Mail
20. Run Lola Run (aka Lola Rente)
21. The Station Agent
22. Return to Me
23. 10 Things I Hate About You
24. Remember the Titans

Honorable Mentions: Band of Brothers (mini series)

Movies that I’m thinking of taking off the list: 10 Things…, Remember the Titans, You’ve Got Mail

Movies that I’m thinking of bumping up: Run Lola Run, Rear Window

Movies I’m thinking of adding: Dial M for Murder, It’s a Wonderful Life, Amelie, Monsters Inc, LOTR: Return of the King

and finally,
Movies I plan to soon watch: Lawrence of Arabia, Strangers on a Train, Vertigo, Mr Smith Goes to Washington, Patton, The Philidephia Story, Whale Rider

Any other great suggestions?

maybe i’ll change the site to be more like jen’s…i like her site.

Assault Weapons Ban Quiz

I’m not a militia man, nor do I plan to be. But I am pro-gun and I just think this law is ridiculous.

I put this together over the past couple days. I was looking for a visual related to being a fool and the only universal thing i could find was a jester, so i tried to make that idea as trendy looking as possible. how did i do?