Oh Dear...

Service this morning was quite inspiring. My. My, my. The Message?

"Striving Against Sin"

So timely. So on point. So insiteful. So scary. Sometimes I'm so in agreement that I could whup myself ("Self, you're BAD! You're NOT gonna have your way! *whipping ensues*)......

....but I figure God's got that one covered. So our job is to attack our flesh the only way I know how we can - by more consecration.

Godspeed on your spiritual journey.

*heads off to Street Meeting*
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How to Make People Not Respect You

1. First, upon meeting them, be extremely nice.

2. Agree with everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING, they say, even off-the-wall opinions.

3. Tell them how great they are.

4. Admit that you don't like yourself. Put yourself down in personal way, all the time.

5. Be extremely wishy-washy in your views: agree with people who don't agree with you, and when they call you out about not agreeing with them, make some excuse.

If successful, you will be fondly considered slightly dumb by some, completely ignored by others, and generally thought by all to be the group "submissive." No one will want you on their team.

- 2nd bitter observation from said "Old Journal" (observation, mind you, not personal experience)
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How to Completely Alienate Yourself From Everyone

1. First, be extremely opinionated in coversation - to the degree that you begin to insult others who don't agree with you.

2. Then be offensive and ask complete strangers questions about their personal life. Personal questions, mind you.

3. Then offend the people who know you by asking THEM personal questions in areas you know are sensitive.

4. Be rude and arrogant by always making the other party the cause of the argument. NEVER admit to being a part of the problem.

5. Be intellectually offensive by making lofty comments about others nationality, sexual prefence and religion. Adopt a smirking, preachy, self-righteous attitude. Impose it on others.

6. Refuse to go away until the anger dies down. Stay in their face, constantly pestering and being underfoot.

7. Then apologize profusely at every chance you get. Don't stop apologizing, keep going until they are extremely annoyed, and keep an "I don't understand" attitude at all times. Play dumb!

If successful, even people who agree with your opinions will hate you, and yes, your very own friends will recant and reject you, in an attempt to distance themselves from you.

Now, you will be alone to pity yourself in peace.

- a bitter recrimination from said "Old Journal"
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Found an old Journal

and it was both SCARY and CATHARTIC reading it. Wow. I had no idea I was such a tortured soul back then. Ok, yes I did, and so did everyone else - but it is so encouraging reading what God told me back then, and looking back in hindsight to realize that when I was in that place, furiously holding onto scriptures and hope, scared out of my little mind about life, and what would happen to me - how God was prophesying my future RIGHT TO ME, RIGHT THEN.



Oh my God. You have no idea the very words he spoke in direct scripture, and how looking back, I can see clearly how they have come true in my life. Its awe-inspiring to me, especially given what I am facing now. Man! Its actually pretty cool to think that God watered my little soul with courage when I was in a very dark place - no light in sight it seemed - and how even then its clear now that he was reaching down and lifting my chin, so-to-speak, and saying "Cheer up, daughter" or "Courage, child!"



He told me he would bring me out into a wealthy place. And he did exactly that. He did. He SO
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So Yeah. Happy 25th Mark!

Now Mom and Dad have no lil "chil'ren" under age 25. Scary huh? Anyway, had a great surprise visit from Aunt Lolo (who is more like a "cousin"), and after boring her to tears (which is what will happen if you visit my house during a workweek - we got JOBS people - meaning a 12 midnight bedtime!), we finally celebrated Marks 25th in the fashion he wanted: going out for dinner at California Pizza Kitchen in Naperville.

Big sister Tiphy came through in clutch with a suggestion to try out the Brunswick Zone off of I55, so she could check it out for her class - and indeed, the night ended with me polishing off the birthday boy and all others in bowling.

YEAH, baby!

Do you see what getting old brings us to? :) That was not only a long night for me, it also wore me out physically! :o)
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Awesome Service Tonight

Wow. Pastor was in rare form in bible class tonight! :) The Message?

"Keeping the Right Attitude"


Wowzers. Some of those examples. Whooooa.... But so true! So true!
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Great Quote #1

Some people have what you don't, because they've done what you won't.
- quoted by a texan
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I'm on the Workout Wagon

Yes. You heard me right - Im on the wagon. The workout bandwagon. So today I went and signed up at the local clubhouse, and now have access to all their facilities, including trainers, classes, etc. Nice, right?

Why would I do this, you ask? Well. Let's review.

#1. I know it needs doing.
#2. OTHER people seem to think it needs doing and feel free to constantly tell me! (rude, yes?)
#3. The workout equipment in the basement just isnt appealing to me, and I dont want to spend $20k finishing the basement to make it aesthetically appealing so I'll go down there to actually work out. On the flip side, Im not moving the equipment upstairs, either.
#4. I had a blast from my active past on the 4th of July, when we set up a volleyball net in my backyard, and I literally ran volleyball ALL DAY. It was awesome - I almost felt young again (ha!)
#5. I prefer active team sports rather than working out, but I highly doubt I'll be able to get the gang together for weekly, or bi-weekly games on a regular basis, so working out it is.

Anyway. We'll see how it goes - I have to schedule myself over there for an initial orientation on the equipment and a physical with a personal trainer (I dont look forward to that person telling me how much body fat I have (*sigh*) but I do think I'll be happier to refer to that readout over the next few months as I (hopefully) shed pounds).

Im stoked about it! I actually packed my workout bag and have it by the front door - I wanted to go over there tonight, but I have company for the next couple of days so working out will be out of the question for the next few days - still. Im excited. Can you tell Im excited????
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Great Slogan #1

Talk Less. Say More.
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Forums v. Blogs

Whats the difference between a forum and a chat room? I'll tell you. Chat rooms seem like transient things, where you type something into the ether, and it disappears forever (although its been years since I've 'chatted,' that's how it seemed back then). In some respects, IMing is the same thing, but IMing is more tangible because depending on your client, it saves the IM log and you (or your guardian/parent) can review the entire conversation at a later time. Plus - with IMing, you can send files, and also Video chat, which is cooler.

But back to forums. Forums are just cool - admit it. The nice thing about a forum is that you can post something, and it never goes anywhere, provided the host doesnt disappear. Second plus is that this posting feature allows the poster to leave a cogent thought, and other members to read it, think about it, and post something cogent (or not) later. Lengthy, well-thought out posts are more prevalent in forums, allowing for expanded discussion on more in-depth topics. Plus - forums have edit features, so if you have an attack of conscience, or suddenly see the light on stupid comment you made, you can always go back and delete your idiocy.

Really good forums turn out some really good like mini-columnists. Kind of like when you plop in to read a Op-Ed piece in the newspaper - except now you can respond to the column and generate even more discussion!

To me - Blogs are nothing more than a natural progression of forum posting. Forums gather large numbers of people in one common place about a common theme, whereas Blogs allow for the same type of comment/answering post feature, save for the fact that Blogs instead gather a large number of comments from ONE person in one page host, and allow for external commentary.

Blogs pivot on 1 person w/many themes.
Forums pivot on many people w/one common theme.
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A First

This is it. The first post - so lets check it out.
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