Facebook killed my blog

Looking back, I see a direct correlation between when I joined Facebook and when my blogging started to dwindle. I still think longer, more thought-out blogs are important, but until I make the time to keep this site current, feel free to send me an email (listed on my profile page) and I'll tell you where to add me on Facebook.

Tagged

I got tagged by Livia the Great over in Switzerland (who I am deeply jealous of because she got to go here). Thought I'd better jump on it right away before my day consumes me with a stack of video tapes to shuffle through.

What was I doing 10 years ago?
Living at the foot of Pike's Peak in Colorado, married for four years to my soulmate Annie, eating all my sister's food, eating all my parent's food, making unbearably boring educational videos. (Wait, that's what I'm doing today.)

Five things on my "to-do" list today
1. Digitize a plethora of video tapes
2. Finish editing a video to be shown on Saturday.
3. Discover my life's purpose over lunch hour down at the bookstore.
4. Put gas in the car and check the oil.
5. Put away half of the books on my bedside table that threaten to bury me in the night.

Bad Habits
Procrastinate, overeat, forget to check the oil for weeks at a time, daydream during important meetings, leave my clothes on the floor until they stick there, pass the buck when scolded for not remembering important information during meeting, share too much about myself too quickly, retreat into cave for long periods at a time, tend to focus on my bad habits too much.

Five places I've lived
1. Bolivia, South America
2. West Palm Beach, South Florida
3. Columbia, South Carolina
4. Seattle
5. Chicago

Five jobs I've had
1. Hardware store sales
2. Scuba diving equipment sales
3. Chuck E. Cheese pizza maker and mouse
4. Assembly line worker
5. Landscaping crew member

If you find yourself tagged with one of these lists, drop me a line so I can pop over.

Out of the office

It's almost 8pm and I'm at the office, getting ready for tomorrow's shoot. I'll be out until Wednesday. See you then. Oh, and pop over to Annie's blog; she's got a doozy of a tale coming up.

Annie's Porch

My wife's (finally) up and blogging; find out what it's really like to live with me every... single... day over at www.anniesporch.blogspot.com. And just ignore the picture of James Denton.

Tagged: Love/Hate

Nebraska over at Braska Bear is excelling in her computer skills; not only can she read and write, but she's learned how to start a blog and play tag. Astounding! :)

I'm supposed to write about a few things that Ian loves and hates; since his communication skills haven't progressed nearly as much as Nebraska's, I'll have to take a guess at most of these:

Ian loves reading, movies, holding hands, long walks by the lake... kidding.

Ian loves it when I sing to him. He has a big toothless smile and it lights up his entire face. He hates being ignored - already. Even though he's only five-months-old. When we sit down for dinner and put him in his swing, he yells and whines until we give in and one of us holds him on our lap while we eat.

Ian used to hate bath-time; the first few times he screamed and cursed (those were most definitely swear words) and his face got as red as Martha Stewart's during tax audits. I'm not sure that he loves taking baths yet, but he no longer yells and I believe I've seen the occasional smile creep into his eyes. (I will love the day when the warm water doesn't cause him to shoot a stream across the tub.)

Ian hates being naked. I think it freaks him out or something. He wriggles around - wide-eyed - and throws a royal fit. He fights putting on his PJ's like he's taking Omaha Beach, his pudgy little arms flailing at the Onesie like a boxer moving in for the kill.

Right hook, left hook, jab, jab, punch.

KO! Ian - winner! Mommy/Daddy - lying unconscious on the tarp.

While I'm sure that Ian loves his big sister, he watches her with a wary eye. Silvi has the propensity for giving rough loves; I don't know if many of you have ever watched Benny Hill (this is not an endorsement), but he's constantly patting a fragile, elderly bald man on the head. I think of that every time Silvi "pats" Ian on the head.

I'm not going to tag anyone else. If you do write about your son or daughter's loves and hates, drop me a line and I'll pop over.

"You like me, you really like me"

Terri seems to think I'm funny. Even after this joke, which NOBODY got; not my wife, not my parents, not anyone. (It's not funny if you have to explain it, BUT... I thought it would be funny if a guy with the most common of names moved to a place with the world's longest name and got a part-time job addressing envelopes at a company with a really long name. He gets writer's cramp, see, and he.... Ha? Bueller... *crickets* .)

Thanks, Terri; I greatly appreciate it. And my wife also thinks I'm funny, but I do believe the way she uses the word is open to interpretation. Ha?

P.S. Run Lola Run rocks.

Blogging award

Kim over at Ramblings of the Bearded One has written some nice words about me on his blog. Thanks, Kim, for the award and for the many thoughtful comments over these past few months. They truly have helped lighten the load ever so much.

New look

I figure it's time to throw out a sweater once I am able to fit my fist through any extra holes not designed for human appendages. (Is the head considered an appendage?) Knowing my propensity for holding on to things that bring me comfort, I decided my character needed more stretching - like the neck of my favorite black sweater - and designed a new look for my blog to ring in the coming year.

Simple and to the point. Same great taste.

Tag, I'm it

I got tagged by Christina over at Prince Vince to write down seven wishes. Oh no, homework! Appreciate it, Christina. :)

Since it is almost Christmas this tag has a wish theme. It does not have to be realistic wishes or materialistic things. This is what you need to do: Write a wish list with seven wishes, describe your wishes, short or long, and then tag 7 Bloggers to do the same.

1. Health for my family, especially young Ian.
2. That, as I turn 40 this coming February (hint, hint), I would welcome middle age with grace and a level head. Or very drunk. Either way, I still have my hair.
3. For a few hours each day where I may dream on paper in order to finish just one piece of writing I can put on my bookshelf and say, "Look, I wrote that." So if you have a few hours you're not using, send them my way.
4. A plane ticket to anywhere in Europe, preferably somewhere where I can sit in a cafe and conjure up the spirit of Marcel, Kierkegaard or Weil.
5. The sketching talents of Kathe Kollwitz, directing ability of Nanni Moretti and writing skills of John Irving.
   
6. The comedic timing of Bill Murray.
7. Peace on earth. Or a Big Mac. Yeah, make it a Big Mac.

If you read this, tag, you're it.

Facebook

It's been kind of a downer of a few days. Probably dealing with all the emotions from last week. Or it could have been that burrito from Taco Bell. Either way, don't feel like saying much. I signed up for Facebook a few months ago, and am just starting to get the hang of it. It's kind of addicting.

If you have an account, stop in and say hi here.

Updating my blog

I've updated my blog to enable the use of blogger's latest features, which adds a lot of functionality and makes posting much easier. I also revived my Nanni Moretti banner. Enjoy!

Blog depression

There are a few blogs that I glance at most days. It's starting to get to me. Being the contrarian that I am, I like to frequent opposing viewpoints. I find myself reading a few Emerging Church blogs, such as TallSkinnyKiwi and Backyard Missionary, then click over to Slice of Laodicea or Apprising Ministries to read some rather forceful critiques. When I'm done with the "serious" discussions, I pop by Purgatorio for some old-fashioned satire. I sometimes follow links to the people that comment on these blogs, and their blogs usually reflect similar positions.

By the time I finish with these writers, I usually need a shower. I find some refreshment from reading Rain City Pastor, the blog of the pastor (obviously) I knew in Seattle. His thoughts are usually balanced and matured, seasoned by years of pastoring a rather large metropolitan church.

A few months of following the battle within the walls of the Church has me longing for something - solid. Maybe that's why I find myself gravitating toward Lewis and Chesterton and MacDonald. I'm searching for the "mere" in the chaos of modern-day Christianity.

Wordcloud

This is a site that scans your blog and generates a wordcloud based on the frequency of your entries. Pretty cool.

The ordinary

It's hard to write about the ordinary when I keep reading the extraordinary over at my sister's blog. Read her two latest entries here and here.

A video of Hannah

To see a video of my sister's daughter Hannah, click here.

A Father's Day Letter

My brother-in-law, Jim, wrote a beautiful father's day letter to his daughters here.

Inspire me

I stumbled across this website recently. "A weekly dose of inspiration to be creative, try new techniques and explore new mediums. We challenge all artists to get out their art supplies, experiment and CREATE!"

Only 908,443 blogs ahead of me

Da Vinci Code

Last one to mention the Da Vinci Code in a book, on a blog or talk radio show is a rotten egg.