A productive Sunday...
First off I'd like to say a little something about my 10-24 post. I may have gotten a bit carried away. For the past few months I've make an effort to keep my blog non-political and focus on more things spiritual. I guess my Obamaphobia has been building up and I needed to let it out. John Kerry...doesn't scare me. Hillary Clinton..doesn't bother me one bit. Actually like the Clintons. Barak Obama...scares the living daylights out of me. He should you too!
So today was productive. I got in some cardio. I came home and got laundry done. I try to do a weekly load so I don't get too backed up. I did some grocery shopping to get food ready for the week. It's the fall season so I bought some apples to make apple cider. I have a juicer and I love making cider. I thought about getting a pumpkin to carve too. Did some cleaning of my bathroom but I'm not finished with that yet. Probably tomorrow.
I bought a thermometer. I didn't look at the packaging label because it looked like a digital thermometer. When I got it home I looked at the label and it said that this thermometer is used to check ovulation. I had a choice to make. I could take it back and embarrassingly exchange it for a regular thermometer. Or I could simply open it and hope and pray that this thermometer isn't exclusively for a vagina. I went with option 2. I opened the package and read the instructions. I was happy to find out that the only orifice this thermometer will be entering is the mouth.
I talked to my grandmother tonight. She is in the hospital. She's having problems with her lungs. She sounded good when I talked to her. They feed her and take care of her there. We had a good talk. I told her about my classes and what I've been up to. She filled me in on my cousin. The funny thing about our conversation is that she lamented someone stealing a picture of my mom that was drawn at Cedar Point when she was a teenager. The picture she described seemed vividly familiar. I told my grandmother that I have it and it's in storage with my mom's travel agent awards. My grandmother was shocked. I have no idea how it left her house. All I know is that I found it while I was packing the farm and put it with my mom's personal effects. My grandmother is happy that it is found and she knows where it is. I guess that is one long mystery solved.
We talked for over an hour. Her hand got tired so we said goodbye. I wish I lived closer to my grandma. She's realizing that she's getting old and most of her family is gone. All she has left is immediate family. She has Alzheimer's and her memory isn't going to be here much longer. I'm going to call her more. Every minute counts.
I have some last minute homework to do and some chili to wait on. The chili takes 5 hours to cook in a crock pot. Probably get in some facebook too.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Psalm 4
Psalm 4
There are three things going on in this psalm. Verse one has David again asking God to hear his prayer. I have looked at a few commentaries and it would seem that this is a psalm that may be referring to David's ordeal with his son Absalom.
Verses 2 through 5 David speaks of his enemies. They try to tarnish his reputation. Their words and deeds bring delusion. David tells them to be silent (in other words stop what they are doing) and search their hearts. If these wicked men realize their mistakes then they would offer the right sacrifices. David knows that God will listen to him and considers himself set apart for God.
The third part of this psalm deals with the people. David says that they ask "who will show them anything good?" David directs them to God. He ends the psalm writing about the safety and peace he has with God watching over him.
I like this psalm a lot. How many of us lose sleep over what others people think of you? David had problems with people who supported Absalom trying to ruin his reputation. In the psalm David was confident that God would take care of him and he hoped that those who slandered him would see the error of their ways and turn to God. That's a good lesson to learn.
I think we often try to take matters into our own hands and wind up making them worse. I had a co-worker that said a few choice things about me and I got angry. Instead of turning to God in the situation I opened my mouth and made things worse. It made me look bad and justified what the person was saying about me. Not cool. I learned a valuable lesson. I used to be conserned about the horrible things that were said about me and my parents at the trial. It doesn't bother me anymore. Those that knew my parents know that they loved the Lord and were good people. Those that knew Dale knew that he was man of poor reputation. Their actions speak for themselves. I leave it at that.
The verse about who will show us any good makes me think of the times we live in. On television we watch shows and people that make us feel good. If you think about it President Obama was elected because the people were tired of war and the economy. Obama talked a good talk about hope and change. A lot of people listened and gave him a chance because of it. What David is saying is that if you want something good then you should not look at man but for God. Just like David, God will put gladness in your heart. Let His face shine upon you. When your day ends, God will protect you and give you peace.
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm of David.
1 Answer me when I call to you,
O my righteous God.
Give me relief from my distress;
be merciful to me and hear my prayer.
2 How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame [a] ?
How long will you love delusions and seek false gods [b] ?
Selah
3 Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself;
the LORD will hear when I call to him.
4 In your anger do not sin;
when you are on your beds,
search your hearts and be silent.
Selah
5 Offer right sacrifices
and trust in the LORD.
6 Many are asking, "Who can show us any good?"
Let the light of your face shine upon us, O LORD.
7 You have filled my heart with greater joy
than when their grain and new wine abound.
8 I will lie down and sleep in peace,
for you alone, O LORD,
make me dwell in safety.
Footnotes:
1. Psalm 4:2 Or you dishonor my Glorious One
2. Psalm 4:2 Or seek lies
There are three things going on in this psalm. Verse one has David again asking God to hear his prayer. I have looked at a few commentaries and it would seem that this is a psalm that may be referring to David's ordeal with his son Absalom.
Verses 2 through 5 David speaks of his enemies. They try to tarnish his reputation. Their words and deeds bring delusion. David tells them to be silent (in other words stop what they are doing) and search their hearts. If these wicked men realize their mistakes then they would offer the right sacrifices. David knows that God will listen to him and considers himself set apart for God.
The third part of this psalm deals with the people. David says that they ask "who will show them anything good?" David directs them to God. He ends the psalm writing about the safety and peace he has with God watching over him.
I like this psalm a lot. How many of us lose sleep over what others people think of you? David had problems with people who supported Absalom trying to ruin his reputation. In the psalm David was confident that God would take care of him and he hoped that those who slandered him would see the error of their ways and turn to God. That's a good lesson to learn.
I think we often try to take matters into our own hands and wind up making them worse. I had a co-worker that said a few choice things about me and I got angry. Instead of turning to God in the situation I opened my mouth and made things worse. It made me look bad and justified what the person was saying about me. Not cool. I learned a valuable lesson. I used to be conserned about the horrible things that were said about me and my parents at the trial. It doesn't bother me anymore. Those that knew my parents know that they loved the Lord and were good people. Those that knew Dale knew that he was man of poor reputation. Their actions speak for themselves. I leave it at that.
The verse about who will show us any good makes me think of the times we live in. On television we watch shows and people that make us feel good. If you think about it President Obama was elected because the people were tired of war and the economy. Obama talked a good talk about hope and change. A lot of people listened and gave him a chance because of it. What David is saying is that if you want something good then you should not look at man but for God. Just like David, God will put gladness in your heart. Let His face shine upon you. When your day ends, God will protect you and give you peace.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
10-24-09 (warning it's political)
I should be a journalist...
Ninety-nine percent of the time I check my sources. I have written so many papers that I automatically bibliography everything I read. I bookmark web posts or print them out and file them. I don't use libraries because I buy the books I read to have as a reference. I'm a pack rat like that. Why am I saying all of this? Well, because I may have a job with the EIB Network.
The EIB Network is Rush Limbaugh's Excellence In Broadcasting Network. I would assume that EIB consists of Rush and his staff who carefully research and verify the articles and information that he talks about on the show. Rush brags that he is right 99.3 percent of the time. That's pretty darn good. Friday the .7 creeped in.
Someone had posted an article saying that Joe Klein from Time magazine had seen Obama's thesis at Columbia University. The article went on to site quotes which made Obama look like the anti-constitutional socialist that he is. I had no problems with it nor was I surprised by it. I of course wanted to read more so I googled Klein and Obama thesis. Nothing came up. I tried other variants and nothing came up. So I quickly assumed one of two things. The first thing was that Obama had caught wind of this and sent the cleaners to wipe any reference of this away. The second thing I thought was that this was bogus.
I was surprised that Rush ran with it. I would have thought that his people would have verified the story. They do a good job of that. I do believe that this one got through the cracks for the reason I stated earlier. It's not far fetched to think that Obama would say or think these things. Obama has never released any information about himself. We have nothing to go on with this guy except what he tells us. Heck. He won't even release his birth certificate. Obama has spent 1.5 million dollars so far to keep anyone from seeing his REAL birth certificate and we have only seen a paper telling us he has a birth certificate(certificate of live birth). So how do you judge a person who you know absolutely nothing about? You look at their friends and who they associate with.
We know his Chicago pastor (Jeremiah Wright) is a racist nut job.
His mentor during his teen years was Frank Marshall Davis a communist who fled Chicago to escape child sex charges.
Obama attended three of the most expensive colleges in the United States. But we do NOT know how he was able to pay his tuition without any job, why he changed schools, or why former Black Panther Godfather Dr. Khalid al-Mansour and New York Panther Percy Sutton, helped him into Harvard.
Obama denies any friendship but his non-friend friend Bill Ayers (domestic terrorist) helped Obama start his political career in his living room. They both very un-friendly-like sat on the same Anburg Challenge board together.
Obama's close advisor and personal friend Valerie Jarret is family friends with the Ayers and the Obamas. I'm sure that's just coincidence.
The Green Job's czar Van Jones is a self proclaimed communist and believes that Bush knew about 9-11 before it happened.
White House Communications director Anita Dunn admires Chinease Communist Dictator Mao ZeDong and looks to him for political advice and philosophy. Huh!
---A.D.D Moment-- Shouldn't these people be quoting Jefferson, Adams and Lincoln and not Mao?
I could continue to list every socialist anti-constitution whack job that Obama surrounds himself with but I would be digressing. My point is that just by the people Obama associates with it is feasible and not surprising to think that Obama would say the things he supposedly said in the hoax.
So what did the hoax say Obama said?
This is the hoax quote from the fictional thesis. It's not real. So you're probably wondering why I or anyone else would believe that Obama would say or think something like that. Well, that's because in 2001 he said something along the same lines.
Here's what he said in 2001:
The quote I just posted is from a 2001 radio interview. Obama did say this.
Why is this important? Let me give an example. Let's say that your church just hired a new pastor. This new pastor has spent the last eight years in seminary and holds a masters degree in biblical theology. In his first sermon to the congregation he says that he doesn't believe in God and that he views the gospel as negative because Jesus doesn't address certain issues in modern society. He then proceeds to say that scripture is fundamentally flawed in this way. So would you stay at this church? Would you consider this pastor's views to be unchristian...possibly anti-christian? I would.
So take the words from his mouth(before running for President) plus the people who shaped his life (communists,black panthers) and who he surrounds himself with today (racists, communists) and put them all together. My Obama supporting friends still think he is a center-left moderate. I don't think so. How can you surround yourself with so many leftist socialists but yet be the voice of reason amongst all of them? Sorry. Doesn't make sense.
I don't think that president Obama has been up front with us conserning his views. He knows that if he came clean on what he believes he would never have been elected. I believe that a person's ideas and direction they want to move this country is important. There are many other Democrats to vote for whose views reflect the majority of the American people. Obama and his administration's views do not.
I believe that President Obama is a man of character and principle. I just don't believe in his principles. I believe they are bad for America. The greatest thing about America is that we as a nation every few years can participate in revolution. It's a revolution without guns and bombs. It's called elections. I urge every voter whether on the left or right to take part in this revolution and vote this man and his supporters out of office.
Let's elect someone who loves our constitution and is not hindered by it.
Ninety-nine percent of the time I check my sources. I have written so many papers that I automatically bibliography everything I read. I bookmark web posts or print them out and file them. I don't use libraries because I buy the books I read to have as a reference. I'm a pack rat like that. Why am I saying all of this? Well, because I may have a job with the EIB Network.
The EIB Network is Rush Limbaugh's Excellence In Broadcasting Network. I would assume that EIB consists of Rush and his staff who carefully research and verify the articles and information that he talks about on the show. Rush brags that he is right 99.3 percent of the time. That's pretty darn good. Friday the .7 creeped in.
Someone had posted an article saying that Joe Klein from Time magazine had seen Obama's thesis at Columbia University. The article went on to site quotes which made Obama look like the anti-constitutional socialist that he is. I had no problems with it nor was I surprised by it. I of course wanted to read more so I googled Klein and Obama thesis. Nothing came up. I tried other variants and nothing came up. So I quickly assumed one of two things. The first thing was that Obama had caught wind of this and sent the cleaners to wipe any reference of this away. The second thing I thought was that this was bogus.
I was surprised that Rush ran with it. I would have thought that his people would have verified the story. They do a good job of that. I do believe that this one got through the cracks for the reason I stated earlier. It's not far fetched to think that Obama would say or think these things. Obama has never released any information about himself. We have nothing to go on with this guy except what he tells us. Heck. He won't even release his birth certificate. Obama has spent 1.5 million dollars so far to keep anyone from seeing his REAL birth certificate and we have only seen a paper telling us he has a birth certificate(certificate of live birth). So how do you judge a person who you know absolutely nothing about? You look at their friends and who they associate with.
We know his Chicago pastor (Jeremiah Wright) is a racist nut job.
His mentor during his teen years was Frank Marshall Davis a communist who fled Chicago to escape child sex charges.
Obama attended three of the most expensive colleges in the United States. But we do NOT know how he was able to pay his tuition without any job, why he changed schools, or why former Black Panther Godfather Dr. Khalid al-Mansour and New York Panther Percy Sutton, helped him into Harvard.
Obama denies any friendship but his non-friend friend Bill Ayers (domestic terrorist) helped Obama start his political career in his living room. They both very un-friendly-like sat on the same Anburg Challenge board together.
Obama's close advisor and personal friend Valerie Jarret is family friends with the Ayers and the Obamas. I'm sure that's just coincidence.
The Green Job's czar Van Jones is a self proclaimed communist and believes that Bush knew about 9-11 before it happened.
White House Communications director Anita Dunn admires Chinease Communist Dictator Mao ZeDong and looks to him for political advice and philosophy. Huh!
---A.D.D Moment-- Shouldn't these people be quoting Jefferson, Adams and Lincoln and not Mao?
I could continue to list every socialist anti-constitution whack job that Obama surrounds himself with but I would be digressing. My point is that just by the people Obama associates with it is feasible and not surprising to think that Obama would say the things he supposedly said in the hoax.
So what did the hoax say Obama said?
"... the Constitution allows for many things, but what it does not allow is the most revealing. The so-called Founders did not allow for economic freedom. While political freedom is supposedly a cornerstone of the document, the distribution of wealth is not even mentioned. While many believed that the new Constitution gave them liberty, it instead fitted them with the shackles of hypocrisy."
This is the hoax quote from the fictional thesis. It's not real. So you're probably wondering why I or anyone else would believe that Obama would say or think something like that. Well, that's because in 2001 he said something along the same lines.
Here's what he said in 2001:
The Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth, and of more basic issues such as political and economic justice in society…. To that extent, as radical as I think people try to characterize the Warren Court, it wasn’t that radical. It didn’t break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the founding fathers in the Constitution … that generally the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties. Says what the states can’t do to you. Says what the Federal government can’t do to you, but doesn’t say what the Federal government or State government must do on your behalf, and that hasn’t shifted, and one of the, I think, tragedies of the civil rights movement was, um, because the civil rights movement became so court-focused I think there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalition of powers through which you bring about redistributive change…. I’m not optimistic about bringing about major redistributive change through courts… The Constitution reflected an enormous blind spot in this culture that carries on until this day … The Framers had that same blind spot … the fundamental flaw of this country.
The quote I just posted is from a 2001 radio interview. Obama did say this.
Why is this important? Let me give an example. Let's say that your church just hired a new pastor. This new pastor has spent the last eight years in seminary and holds a masters degree in biblical theology. In his first sermon to the congregation he says that he doesn't believe in God and that he views the gospel as negative because Jesus doesn't address certain issues in modern society. He then proceeds to say that scripture is fundamentally flawed in this way. So would you stay at this church? Would you consider this pastor's views to be unchristian...possibly anti-christian? I would.
So take the words from his mouth(before running for President) plus the people who shaped his life (communists,black panthers) and who he surrounds himself with today (racists, communists) and put them all together. My Obama supporting friends still think he is a center-left moderate. I don't think so. How can you surround yourself with so many leftist socialists but yet be the voice of reason amongst all of them? Sorry. Doesn't make sense.
I don't think that president Obama has been up front with us conserning his views. He knows that if he came clean on what he believes he would never have been elected. I believe that a person's ideas and direction they want to move this country is important. There are many other Democrats to vote for whose views reflect the majority of the American people. Obama and his administration's views do not.
I believe that President Obama is a man of character and principle. I just don't believe in his principles. I believe they are bad for America. The greatest thing about America is that we as a nation every few years can participate in revolution. It's a revolution without guns and bombs. It's called elections. I urge every voter whether on the left or right to take part in this revolution and vote this man and his supporters out of office.
Let's elect someone who loves our constitution and is not hindered by it.
10-23-04
TGIF!
Day two of not feeling well. I don't have a fever thank goodness. What I do have is an upset stomach and my joints ache. A friend recommended a remedy so tomorrow I plan on testing it out.
I went to class and to the gym. That was pretty much the extent of my day. I have Windows 7 installed on my computer finally. I've been playing around with it and installing programs. I worked out that I did a clean wipe of the hard drive and do a clean system install. My computer has never run this fast. All of my Adobe programs run without any drag. That's good because Premiere and After Effects used to drag or quit responding. Right now I'm installing my music collection. It's rather large so it may take a while.
I bought Transformers Revenge of the Fallen on DVD. I know what I'll be watching tomorrow.
Day two of not feeling well. I don't have a fever thank goodness. What I do have is an upset stomach and my joints ache. A friend recommended a remedy so tomorrow I plan on testing it out.
I went to class and to the gym. That was pretty much the extent of my day. I have Windows 7 installed on my computer finally. I've been playing around with it and installing programs. I worked out that I did a clean wipe of the hard drive and do a clean system install. My computer has never run this fast. All of my Adobe programs run without any drag. That's good because Premiere and After Effects used to drag or quit responding. Right now I'm installing my music collection. It's rather large so it may take a while.
I bought Transformers Revenge of the Fallen on DVD. I know what I'll be watching tomorrow.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
10-22-09
Under the weather with Windows 7...
I'm not feeling too well today. I am petrified that I'm going to get the swine flu. I went to the gym today and I felt awful. My workout was horrible. I chalked it up to getting too much sleep but as the day went on I felt worse. Right now I'm ready to go to bed but it's Thursday and The Office and 30 Rock are on. Can't miss that!
I purchased Windows 7 today. It's been an ordeal to install though. It's not Microsoft's fault. I'm really bad with backing up files. I have to do a clean install so it took me forever to back up everything and unlicense all my programs. I'm installing Windows 7 as I type this. I hope it's done soon.
Office and 30 Rock and then bed. I do hope I feel better.
I'm not feeling too well today. I am petrified that I'm going to get the swine flu. I went to the gym today and I felt awful. My workout was horrible. I chalked it up to getting too much sleep but as the day went on I felt worse. Right now I'm ready to go to bed but it's Thursday and The Office and 30 Rock are on. Can't miss that!
I purchased Windows 7 today. It's been an ordeal to install though. It's not Microsoft's fault. I'm really bad with backing up files. I have to do a clean install so it took me forever to back up everything and unlicense all my programs. I'm installing Windows 7 as I type this. I hope it's done soon.
Office and 30 Rock and then bed. I do hope I feel better.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
10-21-09
Finally back to class...
Today was my PhP class. You're probably wondering what that is. Well if you have a Facebook account you will notice when you look in the address box that at the end it says .php. It's an code used to provide data and information without recreating a new page for every item of data. It would totally suck if Facebook had to create a separate page for every friend you have. Instead they use php to bring up your pics and friends information in a template. That explains why Facebook looks the same for everything.
I also had a career development class. That's a good thing because a lot of kids at PTI need help with social skills and interviewing. I wouldn't mind learning a few new tricks myself. We'll be typing up our resume and other wonderful things of joy soon.
No gym today. My calves are sore and it's my off day. So I took a nap and I've spent the rest of my day working on a website. I finished the navigation buttons and the new logo design. Just e-mailed them to the customer. Let's hope they like!
I just looked at the clock and it's 9pm. I've been working on this stuff since 3pm. Wow!
Not much else to say about today.
Today was my PhP class. You're probably wondering what that is. Well if you have a Facebook account you will notice when you look in the address box that at the end it says .php. It's an code used to provide data and information without recreating a new page for every item of data. It would totally suck if Facebook had to create a separate page for every friend you have. Instead they use php to bring up your pics and friends information in a template. That explains why Facebook looks the same for everything.
I also had a career development class. That's a good thing because a lot of kids at PTI need help with social skills and interviewing. I wouldn't mind learning a few new tricks myself. We'll be typing up our resume and other wonderful things of joy soon.
No gym today. My calves are sore and it's my off day. So I took a nap and I've spent the rest of my day working on a website. I finished the navigation buttons and the new logo design. Just e-mailed them to the customer. Let's hope they like!
I just looked at the clock and it's 9pm. I've been working on this stuff since 3pm. Wow!
Not much else to say about today.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Movie Weekend
Movies Movies Movies!!!
I spent my break catching up on movies I have been wanting to see. A new cinema opened up at the new shopping center. It's one of those Cinemark cinemas. It's like a Wal-Mart that shows movies. The grand opening was this Saturday but it was open as early as this past Thursday. Digital screens, stadium seating, way too much candy and pop corn to eat. I love it!!!
I saw this movie last weekend. I still feel the need to give it mad props though. I'm not a zombie fan. Most of those movies creep me out and give me bad dreams but I really enjoyed this film. The zombies are scary enough but they are no match for Woody Harrelson. Where Bruce Campbell is the Elvis of zombie killing in the Evil Dead films, Harrelson is the Steve McQueen of zombie kills. When it comes to killing the undead he makes it an art form.
The movie for the most part is funny. The other main character is neurotic and afraid of everything. It's those nervous ticks and eccentricities that keep him alive though. He has a set of rules that he lives by and when one of those rules comes to mind in the movie, there is a pause and the rule number is mentioned. It never gets old. There is also a cameo by a celebrity zombie that is pretty funny.
I don't recommend for kids but if you want a good laugh with some horror mixed in then zombieland is a good time. To be honest I plan on seeing this movie a few times.
I saw this Friday. I went to an early showing which was a bad idea. I normally go in the evening because parents take kids to see kids movies in the afternoon. Kids don't realize that there not in their living room so it takes away from the experience. Interestingly enough it wasn't kids that ruined this movie for me. It was two female tweeners. They decided to have their own little party in the back row. It consisted of giggled loudly, crumpling bags loudly and spilling skittles and M&M's down 8 or 9 rows in the theater. It got to a point where I had to get an usher to discipline them. Come to find out the tweener's dad was sitting a few rows in front of them and was outraged that the usher would dare speak to his kids as if they did nothing wrong. What the heck! To make a long story short, the usher said I could go into a later showing of the movie for free. That's what I did.
If your emo or depressed then this is a movie for you. It's about a little kid in a wolf costume that runs away to a magical land of immature emo monsters. They probably are upset they didn't make the cut to be on Sesame Street. The kid becomes their king and realized that the monsters are more obnoxious than he is. The rest of the movie is the kid walking on egg shells to try and make them all get along and not fight. Finally he has enough and goes home. I guess the kid realized that if he was going to be miserable it was better to do it at home than with a bunch of emo monsters.
I don't know how much of hating this movie I can chalk up to my experience. All I can say is that this movie was painful. I tried to focus on the really cool CGI and how awesome the monsters looked but the story was too painful. I recommend reading the book. Save yourself the pain and don't watch the movie.
This is the first movie is what I call the Gerard Butler weekend. Gamer is about a future where the greatest reality show consists of death row inmates controlled by gamers fighting for their freedom in a war environment. If you lose you die. If you win 30 levels then you get a pardon.
As a multimedia guy I found the web stuff pretty cool. I would think that such ideas would be only years away. The movie is pretty violent. Body parts are everywhere and the blatant disregard for human life is numbing. I think that is the director's moral argument in this movie. That we as a society can come to a point where people are just pawns in a game and not really human anymore.
I liked it for what it was. It's not a great movie but it's a good escape for 110 minutes.
Had some trouble seeing this movie. I went at a 4pm showing in my first attempt. I had gotten through most of the previews and then the fire alarm went off. It's a new building and for some reason the fire alarm started malfunctioning. We all got free passes and I didn't get to see my movie.
Attempt number two was at 7:30pm. I had called to see if they had the problem fixed and they said yes. So I went back. This time my movie was interrupted by the yuppie couple from hell. Cinemark cinemas emphasize it often to turn off your cell phones. We weren't 3 minutes into the movie when the cell phone of the woman sitting next to me went off. She just sat there. I looked at her and said, "Are you gonna answer that?" She finally got her phone and missed the call. She says she has a voice mail and genius starts to call the person back. I say, "Are you kidding me! Are you really going to sit here in the movie theater and call them back!" She gets up and heads out of the theater to make the call. Behind me are some very disgruntled African-American couples who don't like to be interrupted while watching a Jamie Fox movie. They had a few choice things to say to the boyfriend which I will not repeat in this blog.
After the woman is done with her call she returns. The boyfriend brings her up to speed on what has happened. That's fine. It didn't stop there. This is one of those couples where the woman doesn't understand anything and the man has to explain everything to her as if she doesn't understand English or something. Well that got annoying real quick. I again leaned over and said,"Could you keep it down. We're not in your living room." And again the peanut gallery behind me added their comments which I will not repeat but they crudely said that the woman needs to shut up.
For the next hour it was quiet. That was until a toddler started crying at the end of our row. The kid had been quiet throughout the entire film. Kudos to the kid. Well, the couple next to me started complaining about the kid. I said nothing. The peanut gallery behind me said something. They said in a very offensive way that the couple next to me had talked through the entire film and now they were going to complain about a kid interrupting the movie. They needed to shut up. I do believe there was some threatening of bodily harm mentioned also.
So the movie ended and the couple just sat there. I pointed to them and said,"Movie couple from hell ladies and gentlemen." The audience responded with applause.
Some people need to realize that you are in a movie theater and there is a etiquette that needs to be followed. If you can't follow the rules then stay home. Many of us pay 8 to 10 dollars plus more money in soda and food to enjoy a movie. It's an escape from reality for 110 minutes. We don't want to be interrupted by some moron who thinks their at home watching the television. You don't talk during a play or a musical. Don't talk during a movie.
Almost forgot. I like the movie but I can see how some people may find the movie disturbing. The movie makes you take sides. Do you side with Gerard Butler who murders people in the name of justice or do you side with Fox who fights for justice but plays the courtroom games? It's a slippery slope which puts the viewer in an uncomfortable position. It's a great suspense movie but unless you are willing to be conflicted morally I wouldn't suggest it.
I was watching the Browns-Steelers game yesterday. I got disgusted with it and decided to see a movie midway through the third quarter.
This movie has it's funny moments but for the most part I was bored. I expect more from a Vince Vaughn flick. Like I said it had it's moments. What kept me interested was that I went to see this movie for all the wrong reasons. That wrong reason is named Kristen Bell. There were parts of the movie where I really didn't need sound. Kristen Bell is yet more evidence that proves the existence of God and that God is good! A movie with Kristen Bell and Megan Fox may kill me!
This movie may ruffle a few feathers too. The movie stars Ricky Gervais. He's an average guy in a world where humanity hasn't evolved to allow lying. Everyone tells the truth in blunt and pointed detail. Ricky goes on a date with Jennifer Garner and she honestly tells him that she isn't attracted to him and that their date may end badly. The waiter hates his job and tells them so. Gervais's secretary(played by Tina Fey) hates him and tells him this every day. The brutal honesty in this movie is quite hilarious. No one has a filter. It's like Liar Liar but on steriods.
Well, Gervais somehow takes the evolutionary step and starts to lie. At first he uses it to get money and his job back. But then he does something that not only changes this life but also the world. This is where the movie may offend some people.
Gervais's mom is dying. She is afraid to die and laments that there is no afterlife. Gervais makes up the story of heaven and she will have family all around her and they will live in a mansion. Sound familiar? The doctor and nurses hear this and withing 24 hours everyone in the world wants to hear what he has to say about the afterlife. Remember, no one lies. They believe he is telling the truth. So Gervais writes down ten principles on the back of pizza hut boxes. To make a long story short, he makes up god.
At first I was a bit offended. As a Christian I didn't find this cool. Not one bit. But to be honest that wore off as I continued watching the movie. I'm quite comfortable in the certainty of my religious beliefs. I'm not narrow minded enough to be upset by a movie that may question those beliefs. To be honest I don't mind the questions as I'm a person always looking for answers.
There is more to this movie. It's a comedy and a love story. I'm a big fan of Ricky Gervais. I loved him on The Office and in other movies he's done. He's one of the few British comedians who is able to cross over and do American humor. I did research on the movie when I got home and he is a professed atheist. He says in an interview that the movie isn't a knock on religion as much as a artistic outlet to explore and question why we do the things we do. I can respect that.
If you're looking for a good comedy that will make you think, then see this movie. If you are too busy watching the 700 Club and sending money to Benny Hinn then stay away from this movie. Your shallow and narrow minded world may get rocked.
That was my movie weekend.
Don't you want to come to the movies with me?
I spent my break catching up on movies I have been wanting to see. A new cinema opened up at the new shopping center. It's one of those Cinemark cinemas. It's like a Wal-Mart that shows movies. The grand opening was this Saturday but it was open as early as this past Thursday. Digital screens, stadium seating, way too much candy and pop corn to eat. I love it!!!
I saw this movie last weekend. I still feel the need to give it mad props though. I'm not a zombie fan. Most of those movies creep me out and give me bad dreams but I really enjoyed this film. The zombies are scary enough but they are no match for Woody Harrelson. Where Bruce Campbell is the Elvis of zombie killing in the Evil Dead films, Harrelson is the Steve McQueen of zombie kills. When it comes to killing the undead he makes it an art form.
The movie for the most part is funny. The other main character is neurotic and afraid of everything. It's those nervous ticks and eccentricities that keep him alive though. He has a set of rules that he lives by and when one of those rules comes to mind in the movie, there is a pause and the rule number is mentioned. It never gets old. There is also a cameo by a celebrity zombie that is pretty funny.
I don't recommend for kids but if you want a good laugh with some horror mixed in then zombieland is a good time. To be honest I plan on seeing this movie a few times.
I saw this Friday. I went to an early showing which was a bad idea. I normally go in the evening because parents take kids to see kids movies in the afternoon. Kids don't realize that there not in their living room so it takes away from the experience. Interestingly enough it wasn't kids that ruined this movie for me. It was two female tweeners. They decided to have their own little party in the back row. It consisted of giggled loudly, crumpling bags loudly and spilling skittles and M&M's down 8 or 9 rows in the theater. It got to a point where I had to get an usher to discipline them. Come to find out the tweener's dad was sitting a few rows in front of them and was outraged that the usher would dare speak to his kids as if they did nothing wrong. What the heck! To make a long story short, the usher said I could go into a later showing of the movie for free. That's what I did.
If your emo or depressed then this is a movie for you. It's about a little kid in a wolf costume that runs away to a magical land of immature emo monsters. They probably are upset they didn't make the cut to be on Sesame Street. The kid becomes their king and realized that the monsters are more obnoxious than he is. The rest of the movie is the kid walking on egg shells to try and make them all get along and not fight. Finally he has enough and goes home. I guess the kid realized that if he was going to be miserable it was better to do it at home than with a bunch of emo monsters.
I don't know how much of hating this movie I can chalk up to my experience. All I can say is that this movie was painful. I tried to focus on the really cool CGI and how awesome the monsters looked but the story was too painful. I recommend reading the book. Save yourself the pain and don't watch the movie.
This is the first movie is what I call the Gerard Butler weekend. Gamer is about a future where the greatest reality show consists of death row inmates controlled by gamers fighting for their freedom in a war environment. If you lose you die. If you win 30 levels then you get a pardon.
As a multimedia guy I found the web stuff pretty cool. I would think that such ideas would be only years away. The movie is pretty violent. Body parts are everywhere and the blatant disregard for human life is numbing. I think that is the director's moral argument in this movie. That we as a society can come to a point where people are just pawns in a game and not really human anymore.
I liked it for what it was. It's not a great movie but it's a good escape for 110 minutes.
Had some trouble seeing this movie. I went at a 4pm showing in my first attempt. I had gotten through most of the previews and then the fire alarm went off. It's a new building and for some reason the fire alarm started malfunctioning. We all got free passes and I didn't get to see my movie.
Attempt number two was at 7:30pm. I had called to see if they had the problem fixed and they said yes. So I went back. This time my movie was interrupted by the yuppie couple from hell. Cinemark cinemas emphasize it often to turn off your cell phones. We weren't 3 minutes into the movie when the cell phone of the woman sitting next to me went off. She just sat there. I looked at her and said, "Are you gonna answer that?" She finally got her phone and missed the call. She says she has a voice mail and genius starts to call the person back. I say, "Are you kidding me! Are you really going to sit here in the movie theater and call them back!" She gets up and heads out of the theater to make the call. Behind me are some very disgruntled African-American couples who don't like to be interrupted while watching a Jamie Fox movie. They had a few choice things to say to the boyfriend which I will not repeat in this blog.
After the woman is done with her call she returns. The boyfriend brings her up to speed on what has happened. That's fine. It didn't stop there. This is one of those couples where the woman doesn't understand anything and the man has to explain everything to her as if she doesn't understand English or something. Well that got annoying real quick. I again leaned over and said,"Could you keep it down. We're not in your living room." And again the peanut gallery behind me added their comments which I will not repeat but they crudely said that the woman needs to shut up.
For the next hour it was quiet. That was until a toddler started crying at the end of our row. The kid had been quiet throughout the entire film. Kudos to the kid. Well, the couple next to me started complaining about the kid. I said nothing. The peanut gallery behind me said something. They said in a very offensive way that the couple next to me had talked through the entire film and now they were going to complain about a kid interrupting the movie. They needed to shut up. I do believe there was some threatening of bodily harm mentioned also.
So the movie ended and the couple just sat there. I pointed to them and said,"Movie couple from hell ladies and gentlemen." The audience responded with applause.
Some people need to realize that you are in a movie theater and there is a etiquette that needs to be followed. If you can't follow the rules then stay home. Many of us pay 8 to 10 dollars plus more money in soda and food to enjoy a movie. It's an escape from reality for 110 minutes. We don't want to be interrupted by some moron who thinks their at home watching the television. You don't talk during a play or a musical. Don't talk during a movie.
Almost forgot. I like the movie but I can see how some people may find the movie disturbing. The movie makes you take sides. Do you side with Gerard Butler who murders people in the name of justice or do you side with Fox who fights for justice but plays the courtroom games? It's a slippery slope which puts the viewer in an uncomfortable position. It's a great suspense movie but unless you are willing to be conflicted morally I wouldn't suggest it.
I was watching the Browns-Steelers game yesterday. I got disgusted with it and decided to see a movie midway through the third quarter.
This movie has it's funny moments but for the most part I was bored. I expect more from a Vince Vaughn flick. Like I said it had it's moments. What kept me interested was that I went to see this movie for all the wrong reasons. That wrong reason is named Kristen Bell. There were parts of the movie where I really didn't need sound. Kristen Bell is yet more evidence that proves the existence of God and that God is good! A movie with Kristen Bell and Megan Fox may kill me!
This movie may ruffle a few feathers too. The movie stars Ricky Gervais. He's an average guy in a world where humanity hasn't evolved to allow lying. Everyone tells the truth in blunt and pointed detail. Ricky goes on a date with Jennifer Garner and she honestly tells him that she isn't attracted to him and that their date may end badly. The waiter hates his job and tells them so. Gervais's secretary(played by Tina Fey) hates him and tells him this every day. The brutal honesty in this movie is quite hilarious. No one has a filter. It's like Liar Liar but on steriods.
Well, Gervais somehow takes the evolutionary step and starts to lie. At first he uses it to get money and his job back. But then he does something that not only changes this life but also the world. This is where the movie may offend some people.
Gervais's mom is dying. She is afraid to die and laments that there is no afterlife. Gervais makes up the story of heaven and she will have family all around her and they will live in a mansion. Sound familiar? The doctor and nurses hear this and withing 24 hours everyone in the world wants to hear what he has to say about the afterlife. Remember, no one lies. They believe he is telling the truth. So Gervais writes down ten principles on the back of pizza hut boxes. To make a long story short, he makes up god.
At first I was a bit offended. As a Christian I didn't find this cool. Not one bit. But to be honest that wore off as I continued watching the movie. I'm quite comfortable in the certainty of my religious beliefs. I'm not narrow minded enough to be upset by a movie that may question those beliefs. To be honest I don't mind the questions as I'm a person always looking for answers.
There is more to this movie. It's a comedy and a love story. I'm a big fan of Ricky Gervais. I loved him on The Office and in other movies he's done. He's one of the few British comedians who is able to cross over and do American humor. I did research on the movie when I got home and he is a professed atheist. He says in an interview that the movie isn't a knock on religion as much as a artistic outlet to explore and question why we do the things we do. I can respect that.
If you're looking for a good comedy that will make you think, then see this movie. If you are too busy watching the 700 Club and sending money to Benny Hinn then stay away from this movie. Your shallow and narrow minded world may get rocked.
That was my movie weekend.
Don't you want to come to the movies with me?
Thursday, October 15, 2009
10-15-09
Good morning. Good morning.
I just returned from the gym. I went in early to get a nice run on the treadmill and workout on the eliptical machine. It's cold and rainy here so I don't want to go oustide. I enjoy a nice morning cardio workout. I've been trying to run in the evening for months and it's been spotty at best. I'm a morning runner. What can I say.
Yesterday I took a trip to Ohio for a meeting with a friend. He needed help with an idea which is in the working stages. I was more than happy to contribute. I won't give any details about the idea right now. All I will say is that once this get's rolling it will make a difference in the lives of people. It was definitely worth the trip.
It was a quick trip and I was home by 3pm. I spent the rest of the day yesterday using Adobe Dreamweaver and catching up on some much needed HTML. I'll be doing the same thing today. I can knock out a few chapters a day. I hope to have my tutorial book done by Saturday. Then I'm going to read up on Flash. The code isn't that bad. I'm having trouble making my projects look pretty. I would like to know more artistic approaches for Flash. All my stuff looks cartoony.
I head back to the gym at 1:30pm and then the rest of my day is internet stuff. The Office is tonight. Better yet! 30 Rock season premiere!!!! yay!!!
I just returned from the gym. I went in early to get a nice run on the treadmill and workout on the eliptical machine. It's cold and rainy here so I don't want to go oustide. I enjoy a nice morning cardio workout. I've been trying to run in the evening for months and it's been spotty at best. I'm a morning runner. What can I say.
Yesterday I took a trip to Ohio for a meeting with a friend. He needed help with an idea which is in the working stages. I was more than happy to contribute. I won't give any details about the idea right now. All I will say is that once this get's rolling it will make a difference in the lives of people. It was definitely worth the trip.
It was a quick trip and I was home by 3pm. I spent the rest of the day yesterday using Adobe Dreamweaver and catching up on some much needed HTML. I'll be doing the same thing today. I can knock out a few chapters a day. I hope to have my tutorial book done by Saturday. Then I'm going to read up on Flash. The code isn't that bad. I'm having trouble making my projects look pretty. I would like to know more artistic approaches for Flash. All my stuff looks cartoony.
I head back to the gym at 1:30pm and then the rest of my day is internet stuff. The Office is tonight. Better yet! 30 Rock season premiere!!!! yay!!!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
10-13-09
Not happy. Not one bit...
Today I took my last final and I'm pretty sure that I blew it. None of my code worked. I didn't delete any of my code so when my teacher looks at it he can tell me what I did wrong. I'm sure it was something simple. It always it. I'm frustrated because of the position I'm in. I didn't expect this.
The most basic form for developing a webpage is called HTML. That's where you divide up your page into text, images, headers and footers, etc. Well, I have very little knowledge of HTML. I was supposed to learn it last quarter but the teacher I had didn't do a good job. Most of the HTML I learned came from outside of class on my own. This quarter we went on to more complex code. We went into CSS, Php, actionscript and a few others. I do pretty well with the new code. The problem is linking the code to the HTML page correctly. I simply cannot do that. So, I took an exam where I'm sure that my code is good but nothing showed up because I screwed up my div tags. It's like getting a poor grade on an algebra test because I don't know how to multiply or divide.
The other thing I'm upset about is my running and body fat content ratio. I have made great gains in muscle. That's fine. My problem is that no matter what I do I continue to stay at 19-20 percent body fat. I would like to get down around 10. I'm frustrated by it. I don't like busting my butt and not get results. I have seen wedding pictures from this past weekend and I find my current look unacceptable. I need to figure out if it's my diet or not enough cardio. I must find a solution.
I am frustrated by problems but I am quickly working on solutions. I am off for break from class this week so I have a few HTML tutorial books I am going through to catch up. I am looking over my diet and workout schedule to see if I can revise it to get the desired goals I want.
No need for me to get depressed. I just expect more from myself. Time to get focused and get the job done.
Today I took my last final and I'm pretty sure that I blew it. None of my code worked. I didn't delete any of my code so when my teacher looks at it he can tell me what I did wrong. I'm sure it was something simple. It always it. I'm frustrated because of the position I'm in. I didn't expect this.
The most basic form for developing a webpage is called HTML. That's where you divide up your page into text, images, headers and footers, etc. Well, I have very little knowledge of HTML. I was supposed to learn it last quarter but the teacher I had didn't do a good job. Most of the HTML I learned came from outside of class on my own. This quarter we went on to more complex code. We went into CSS, Php, actionscript and a few others. I do pretty well with the new code. The problem is linking the code to the HTML page correctly. I simply cannot do that. So, I took an exam where I'm sure that my code is good but nothing showed up because I screwed up my div tags. It's like getting a poor grade on an algebra test because I don't know how to multiply or divide.
The other thing I'm upset about is my running and body fat content ratio. I have made great gains in muscle. That's fine. My problem is that no matter what I do I continue to stay at 19-20 percent body fat. I would like to get down around 10. I'm frustrated by it. I don't like busting my butt and not get results. I have seen wedding pictures from this past weekend and I find my current look unacceptable. I need to figure out if it's my diet or not enough cardio. I must find a solution.
I am frustrated by problems but I am quickly working on solutions. I am off for break from class this week so I have a few HTML tutorial books I am going through to catch up. I am looking over my diet and workout schedule to see if I can revise it to get the desired goals I want.
No need for me to get depressed. I just expect more from myself. Time to get focused and get the job done.
Monday, October 12, 2009
10-12-09
What a lovely weekend...
It's official! Carrie and Steven are married. It was a beautiful wedding. I do believe fun was had by one and all.
I got in Friday afternoon and checked into my hotel. I stayed in the same hotel as the rest of the wedding party and thankfully they gave a discount. I met up with some friends and had dinner with them. The wedding rehearsal was at 6:30 and it was arlight. I mean it was a wedding rehearsal. The wedding rehearsal dinner was at Jim's Coffee House. We had some lasagna. I ate too much. Around 11pm I went to see my friend Tym play a gig with his band at a local bar. Tym is a pretty darn good musician and it's good to see him out performing instead of goofing around in his spare bedroom. He's quite talented and it should be shared. I only stayed for a few songs and then went back to the hotel to sleep. I had been up since 5am and I was ready to pass out.
Saturday I got up around 8am and prepared for the wedding. It was my responsibility to make sure Steven was ready. We went to Bob Evans for breakfast and then ran some last minute errands. I had to get brown socks and I'm glad I did. Nothing better than white tube socks with a tux for wedding pictures. So yeah. The trip to Wal-Mart was worth it. After our trip to Wally World we headed to the church and changed into our tuxes. Everyone else trickled in and we were ready to rock and roll by 1:30. I had a lot of duties to perform. I was an usher, reader, and escort. I enjoyed it because it kept me busy instead of standing around. The ceremony was short and sweet. I like a wedding that is quality and not quantity. Sometimes people do needless things and I don't understand why you would want to do that. I started to get pretty hungry towards the end and pictures couldn't have gottend done any sooner. The added bonus was that the bridal party table went first to eat at the reception. Oh yeah! I ate a big plate of food and then made my way around the reception hall to mingle with the natives. In case you didn't know I'm kind of a social person. ha ha. Thus ended the wedding festivities.
After the wedding I went over to Carrie's parents house and we hung out for a bit with other family. I'm pretty close with the Slones so it was nice to spend time with everyone. Some of the girls from the bridal party wanted to go see a movie. It was Patrick Swayze celebration night at the Lorain Palace Theater so we went to that. They played Road House and Dirty Dancing. We almost got thrown out of Dirty Dancing because we giggled an talked through the movie. C'mon "No one backs Baby into a corner."
After the movie we hung out over a friend's house and then went to a local diner for some more food! I went to Tym's around 3am and called it a night.
I was up by noon Sunday to get my Browns pre-game on. They played the Bills and this was one of the four games I expected them to win this year. They did. It was ugly but they won. After the game I left and drove back to Pittsburgh. After a long weekend I took a call from a friend of mine and after we talked I headed straight to bed.
So now I'm up bright and early to work on my Flash project and get ready to enjoy my break. I head back to the gym today too. It's nice to get back to the daily grind. Looking foreward to it.
My break is this week. I may head to WV to take care of some stuff in my storage shed. I don't know. Depends on what I want to do during my break. I may just sleep.
Nah! To WV I go!
It's official! Carrie and Steven are married. It was a beautiful wedding. I do believe fun was had by one and all.
I got in Friday afternoon and checked into my hotel. I stayed in the same hotel as the rest of the wedding party and thankfully they gave a discount. I met up with some friends and had dinner with them. The wedding rehearsal was at 6:30 and it was arlight. I mean it was a wedding rehearsal. The wedding rehearsal dinner was at Jim's Coffee House. We had some lasagna. I ate too much. Around 11pm I went to see my friend Tym play a gig with his band at a local bar. Tym is a pretty darn good musician and it's good to see him out performing instead of goofing around in his spare bedroom. He's quite talented and it should be shared. I only stayed for a few songs and then went back to the hotel to sleep. I had been up since 5am and I was ready to pass out.
Saturday I got up around 8am and prepared for the wedding. It was my responsibility to make sure Steven was ready. We went to Bob Evans for breakfast and then ran some last minute errands. I had to get brown socks and I'm glad I did. Nothing better than white tube socks with a tux for wedding pictures. So yeah. The trip to Wal-Mart was worth it. After our trip to Wally World we headed to the church and changed into our tuxes. Everyone else trickled in and we were ready to rock and roll by 1:30. I had a lot of duties to perform. I was an usher, reader, and escort. I enjoyed it because it kept me busy instead of standing around. The ceremony was short and sweet. I like a wedding that is quality and not quantity. Sometimes people do needless things and I don't understand why you would want to do that. I started to get pretty hungry towards the end and pictures couldn't have gottend done any sooner. The added bonus was that the bridal party table went first to eat at the reception. Oh yeah! I ate a big plate of food and then made my way around the reception hall to mingle with the natives. In case you didn't know I'm kind of a social person. ha ha. Thus ended the wedding festivities.
After the wedding I went over to Carrie's parents house and we hung out for a bit with other family. I'm pretty close with the Slones so it was nice to spend time with everyone. Some of the girls from the bridal party wanted to go see a movie. It was Patrick Swayze celebration night at the Lorain Palace Theater so we went to that. They played Road House and Dirty Dancing. We almost got thrown out of Dirty Dancing because we giggled an talked through the movie. C'mon "No one backs Baby into a corner."
After the movie we hung out over a friend's house and then went to a local diner for some more food! I went to Tym's around 3am and called it a night.
I was up by noon Sunday to get my Browns pre-game on. They played the Bills and this was one of the four games I expected them to win this year. They did. It was ugly but they won. After the game I left and drove back to Pittsburgh. After a long weekend I took a call from a friend of mine and after we talked I headed straight to bed.
So now I'm up bright and early to work on my Flash project and get ready to enjoy my break. I head back to the gym today too. It's nice to get back to the daily grind. Looking foreward to it.
My break is this week. I may head to WV to take care of some stuff in my storage shed. I don't know. Depends on what I want to do during my break. I may just sleep.
Nah! To WV I go!
Friday, October 09, 2009
10-09-09
A weekend of weddings...
Last night on The Office Jim and Pam finally got married. That and Michael hooked up with Pam's mom. Today I'm sitting in a hotel room starving to death. I'm waiting for some friends to call so we can have dinner before I head to wedding rehearsal. Tomorrow Carrie and Steven vow to tolerate each other till one of them kills the other...or something like that...in holy matrimony. yay! I'm in the bridal party and I must say that I look pretty darn good in my tux.
Did I mention that I'm starving?
There will be dinner after the wedding party too. Today is my lucky day.
Last night on The Office Jim and Pam finally got married. That and Michael hooked up with Pam's mom. Today I'm sitting in a hotel room starving to death. I'm waiting for some friends to call so we can have dinner before I head to wedding rehearsal. Tomorrow Carrie and Steven vow to tolerate each other till one of them kills the other...or something like that...in holy matrimony. yay! I'm in the bridal party and I must say that I look pretty darn good in my tux.
Did I mention that I'm starving?
There will be dinner after the wedding party too. Today is my lucky day.
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Psalm 3
Psalm 3
A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom.
It's taken me a while to post on this psalm because I have struggled with it. You would think that deliverance would be an easy subject. For me it is not. If you look at what David is writing he is asking God to deliver him from his enemies and for God to use his situation to be glorified. David is delivered from this ordeal and lives to be a great king in Israel. But David is one example of deliverance.
My problem has to do with the word deliverance. Webster's dictionary defines it as rescue from bondage or danger. There are many examples of God's deliverance of his people throughout the bible. Some were not as fortunate. There are examples of righteous people whose lives end at times when you would think that God's deliverance would benefit. The apostle Paul had been delivered from prison, beatings, a shipwreck and poisonous snakebite only to be martyred later. Paul is but one example. So is the bible inconsistent on God's deliverance?
I think it has to do with the way we view our lives in contrast to how God views our lives. We as humans focus our entire world being and existence on this earthly realm. I wonder how many of us truly focus on the heavenly realm? Do we live with an eternal mindset or do we live for this existence? If we live for this existence then death as an act of deliverance is a raw deal. We then narrow deliverance to our own reasoning that the outcome must perpetuate earthly existence. But if we allow ourselves to view life through the eternal and heavenly perspective then it opens up another facet of deliverance. God can deliver us through death.
What!!! Deliver us through death!!! Bob your crazy!!! Look at Paul's life. If Psalm 3 is the norm throughout the bible then Paul should have lived a long life and continued to be invincible from persecution. That didn't happen. Every apostle except John died a martyr's death. That doesn't seem to fit our definition of deliverance now does it? But they were rescued from bondage and danger. God deemed it necessary to bring them closer to him. God delivered them from the earthly realm and brought them to the heavenly realm.
We talk about heaven and life after death in church all the time. Do we live our lives as if this is more than talk? Paul did. He understood. It's through Paul's life that I have found peace with something I have been struggling with regarding deliverance.
For nearly two and a half years my parents and I had to deal with a tyrannical neighbor who became violent and took my parents lives. He even tried to take mine. I have struggle to find the deliverance in that. What kind of deliverance consists of two dead and one left behind? See, my parents and I were members of a wonderful church. We worshiped together as a family and prayed together as a family. The struggles and trials we went through with this oppressive neighbor brought us closer together. We prayed for deliverance and God provided. At the peak of my parents faith, God brought my parents home. He took them from this broken earthly realm.
For the rest of us we feel loss. I feel their loss. I also feel joy. You should too. God can deliver us in many ways. Just understand that death is one way he can deliver us. Psalm 3 shows us that if you ask God for deliverance he will give it. He may not be done using us just yet.
I used to be angry but now I am thankful that God delivered me differently from our ordeal on the farm. I am alive to write this post. I am alive to tell those who read this that if we focus our lives on this world and the next we can see life for what it truly is. It's an eternal blessing that those who believe in Christ can enjoy and cherish forever. Be thankful for whichever way God delivers you.
A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom.
1 O LORD, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!
2 Many are saying of me,
"God will not deliver him."
Selah
3 But you are a shield around me, O LORD;
you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.
4 To the LORD I cry aloud,
and he answers me from his holy hill.
Selah
5 I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.
6 I will not fear the tens of thousands
drawn up against me on every side.
7 Arise, O LORD!
Deliver me, O my God!
Strike all my enemies on the jaw;
break the teeth of the wicked.
8 From the LORD comes deliverance.
May your blessing be on your people.
Selah
It's taken me a while to post on this psalm because I have struggled with it. You would think that deliverance would be an easy subject. For me it is not. If you look at what David is writing he is asking God to deliver him from his enemies and for God to use his situation to be glorified. David is delivered from this ordeal and lives to be a great king in Israel. But David is one example of deliverance.
My problem has to do with the word deliverance. Webster's dictionary defines it as rescue from bondage or danger. There are many examples of God's deliverance of his people throughout the bible. Some were not as fortunate. There are examples of righteous people whose lives end at times when you would think that God's deliverance would benefit. The apostle Paul had been delivered from prison, beatings, a shipwreck and poisonous snakebite only to be martyred later. Paul is but one example. So is the bible inconsistent on God's deliverance?
I think it has to do with the way we view our lives in contrast to how God views our lives. We as humans focus our entire world being and existence on this earthly realm. I wonder how many of us truly focus on the heavenly realm? Do we live with an eternal mindset or do we live for this existence? If we live for this existence then death as an act of deliverance is a raw deal. We then narrow deliverance to our own reasoning that the outcome must perpetuate earthly existence. But if we allow ourselves to view life through the eternal and heavenly perspective then it opens up another facet of deliverance. God can deliver us through death.
What!!! Deliver us through death!!! Bob your crazy!!! Look at Paul's life. If Psalm 3 is the norm throughout the bible then Paul should have lived a long life and continued to be invincible from persecution. That didn't happen. Every apostle except John died a martyr's death. That doesn't seem to fit our definition of deliverance now does it? But they were rescued from bondage and danger. God deemed it necessary to bring them closer to him. God delivered them from the earthly realm and brought them to the heavenly realm.
We talk about heaven and life after death in church all the time. Do we live our lives as if this is more than talk? Paul did. He understood. It's through Paul's life that I have found peace with something I have been struggling with regarding deliverance.
For nearly two and a half years my parents and I had to deal with a tyrannical neighbor who became violent and took my parents lives. He even tried to take mine. I have struggle to find the deliverance in that. What kind of deliverance consists of two dead and one left behind? See, my parents and I were members of a wonderful church. We worshiped together as a family and prayed together as a family. The struggles and trials we went through with this oppressive neighbor brought us closer together. We prayed for deliverance and God provided. At the peak of my parents faith, God brought my parents home. He took them from this broken earthly realm.
For the rest of us we feel loss. I feel their loss. I also feel joy. You should too. God can deliver us in many ways. Just understand that death is one way he can deliver us. Psalm 3 shows us that if you ask God for deliverance he will give it. He may not be done using us just yet.
I used to be angry but now I am thankful that God delivered me differently from our ordeal on the farm. I am alive to write this post. I am alive to tell those who read this that if we focus our lives on this world and the next we can see life for what it truly is. It's an eternal blessing that those who believe in Christ can enjoy and cherish forever. Be thankful for whichever way God delivers you.
10-08-09
Busy Busy Busy...
Poor yesterday. We had so little time to know each other.
I slept in yesterday. No class and gym at 1:30pm. I got up around 11am and started my daily routine. Headed to the gym where I deadlifted and did back. Today I think I'll stand because I'm really sore and it hurts to sit down. Yeah. I though it would be cool to add the deadlift to my workout. It was cool until I started lifting heavy weight. Now it's not so fun. I start to make those grunts noises that powerlifters make. I guess that means I'm doing something right. Who knows.
Did I mention I was sore?
I rocked out my Flash assignment yesterday too. I have most of my code working. Today I'm going to work on the bells an whistles needed to make it look all pretty and exciting. It's almost finished. Today I finish my marathon week with arms and then another day of Flash joy! Tomorrow I leave for Carrie and Steven's wedding. joy!
Quiz question: What is Bob doing today?
Poor yesterday. We had so little time to know each other.
I slept in yesterday. No class and gym at 1:30pm. I got up around 11am and started my daily routine. Headed to the gym where I deadlifted and did back. Today I think I'll stand because I'm really sore and it hurts to sit down. Yeah. I though it would be cool to add the deadlift to my workout. It was cool until I started lifting heavy weight. Now it's not so fun. I start to make those grunts noises that powerlifters make. I guess that means I'm doing something right. Who knows.
Did I mention I was sore?
I rocked out my Flash assignment yesterday too. I have most of my code working. Today I'm going to work on the bells an whistles needed to make it look all pretty and exciting. It's almost finished. Today I finish my marathon week with arms and then another day of Flash joy! Tomorrow I leave for Carrie and Steven's wedding. joy!
Quiz question: What is Bob doing today?
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
10-06-09
Today is self proclaimed Flash day!!!
Here's a bit of news that no one except for web nerds like me will enjoy. Adobe Flash now has the ability to make applications for mobile phones. That's huge because of the market for smart phones right now. Flash is that media format that you look at stuff with and it tells you to download a new edition of flash player. I hate that. It's even worse on the new phones. I prefer to make websites in Flash and now you will be able to look at them on your phone. Yay!
More Flash!
I have a final project due next Monday. I won't have time to work on it over the weekend so I hope to have it finished by Friday. Today I will be finalizing all of my artwork and tomorrow and Thursday is code. If I can get all of the code done I may just submit it Friday and be done with it. It's a lot to do but it's worth it.
The Psalms
In case you have noticed I have posted two blogs on the Psalms. I have been doing my own study of the psalms over the past few months and I stopped recently. So I decided to start over and take a look at what I wrote down about them and expand on it. I plan on posting Psalm 3 maybe today or tomorrow. I haven't yet because I'm spending more time on this one that the others. Some I can use as a daily devotion and others I need a little more time to reflect on.
I recommend anyone to do a daily read of the psalms. They deal with a diverse range of life subjects. I find the psalms to be openly honest and deal with matters of the heart. I would like to get some input from people too. I like to share. Feel free to share back.
Well, I'm off to the gym and then an full day of multimedia projects.
Here's a bit of news that no one except for web nerds like me will enjoy. Adobe Flash now has the ability to make applications for mobile phones. That's huge because of the market for smart phones right now. Flash is that media format that you look at stuff with and it tells you to download a new edition of flash player. I hate that. It's even worse on the new phones. I prefer to make websites in Flash and now you will be able to look at them on your phone. Yay!
More Flash!
I have a final project due next Monday. I won't have time to work on it over the weekend so I hope to have it finished by Friday. Today I will be finalizing all of my artwork and tomorrow and Thursday is code. If I can get all of the code done I may just submit it Friday and be done with it. It's a lot to do but it's worth it.
The Psalms
In case you have noticed I have posted two blogs on the Psalms. I have been doing my own study of the psalms over the past few months and I stopped recently. So I decided to start over and take a look at what I wrote down about them and expand on it. I plan on posting Psalm 3 maybe today or tomorrow. I haven't yet because I'm spending more time on this one that the others. Some I can use as a daily devotion and others I need a little more time to reflect on.
I recommend anyone to do a daily read of the psalms. They deal with a diverse range of life subjects. I find the psalms to be openly honest and deal with matters of the heart. I would like to get some input from people too. I like to share. Feel free to share back.
Well, I'm off to the gym and then an full day of multimedia projects.
Monday, October 05, 2009
10-05-09
My weekend...
OK. Now I can say what it is that I did this weekend. I put together a bachelor party for my friend Steven. He's getting married next weekend. Before you start thinking that is was a night of debauchery I must let you know that it wasn't. We went to Dave and Busters and Steven played ski ball and first person shooter games till his little heart was content. The best man got him a cake. We bought everything for him that night. It was totally about him. I'm not a Dave and Buster's fan but I took one for Steven. Like I said. It was his night of fun. We did this Saturday night.
Friday evening I drove into Sandusky. I made plans to hang out with my friends Kristen and Logan. When I come into town I usually visit with them in Elyria so it was nice to go to Sandusky where they live. It had been a while since I had been to Sandusky. I usually bypass the town and head straight to Cedar Point(THE GREATEST AMUSEMENT PARK IN THE WORLD WOO HOO!!!).
As I drove to where Kristen and Logan lived I noticed the Sandusky Mall and the Red Lobster. When I was a kid we would drive to Sandusky and have a mini-family road trip. It was kind of a treat for us. I personally thought it was more about my dad going to Sears to buy cool tools than eating at the Red Lobster. ha ha. It brought back a lot of memories. I have been doing pretty good with dealing with loss but Friday night I was hit pretty hard. I stayed in a hotel and I guess being alone and being overwhelmed by the memories got to me. I miss my parents so much. I wanted to call and I couldn't.
Sometimes the sorrow gets to you. I'm alright though. It's just one of those things. I would be concerned if I didn't feel anything.
Saturday during the day Kristen went to work and Logan and I hung out. We watch the movie Sky High on Disney Chanel and then went to the mall. On the way back he took me to the Sandusky pier and I could see Cedar Point. It was cool because when I would go on the Ferris Wheel I would look out into the lake and see land. I always wondered what town that was on the other side. Now I know. It's downtown Sandusky. So I was looking at the Ferris Wheel from the view point of being on the other side of the water. cool!
Sunday I woke up around 3pm. It was a long Saturday night. I was able to watch the Browns almost not lose which is better than when they don't show up and lose bad. My friends Amy and Axel were leaving to go back to Germany Monday so before I left for Pittsburgh I swung bye and said goodbye again. I miss them a lot.
I got on the road around 9pm and drove back. I got into Pittsburgh around 11:30 and went to bed.
Today was classes and a quick trip to the movies to see Zombieland. That movie is off the hook. Woody Harrelson is one bad mutha-shut-yo-mouth! I laughed all the way through.
I got my tux for the wedding today. I look pretty darn good. It fits perfectly. I'm gonna show up the bride and groom. hee hee.
OK. Now I can say what it is that I did this weekend. I put together a bachelor party for my friend Steven. He's getting married next weekend. Before you start thinking that is was a night of debauchery I must let you know that it wasn't. We went to Dave and Busters and Steven played ski ball and first person shooter games till his little heart was content. The best man got him a cake. We bought everything for him that night. It was totally about him. I'm not a Dave and Buster's fan but I took one for Steven. Like I said. It was his night of fun. We did this Saturday night.
Friday evening I drove into Sandusky. I made plans to hang out with my friends Kristen and Logan. When I come into town I usually visit with them in Elyria so it was nice to go to Sandusky where they live. It had been a while since I had been to Sandusky. I usually bypass the town and head straight to Cedar Point(THE GREATEST AMUSEMENT PARK IN THE WORLD WOO HOO!!!).
As I drove to where Kristen and Logan lived I noticed the Sandusky Mall and the Red Lobster. When I was a kid we would drive to Sandusky and have a mini-family road trip. It was kind of a treat for us. I personally thought it was more about my dad going to Sears to buy cool tools than eating at the Red Lobster. ha ha. It brought back a lot of memories. I have been doing pretty good with dealing with loss but Friday night I was hit pretty hard. I stayed in a hotel and I guess being alone and being overwhelmed by the memories got to me. I miss my parents so much. I wanted to call and I couldn't.
Sometimes the sorrow gets to you. I'm alright though. It's just one of those things. I would be concerned if I didn't feel anything.
Saturday during the day Kristen went to work and Logan and I hung out. We watch the movie Sky High on Disney Chanel and then went to the mall. On the way back he took me to the Sandusky pier and I could see Cedar Point. It was cool because when I would go on the Ferris Wheel I would look out into the lake and see land. I always wondered what town that was on the other side. Now I know. It's downtown Sandusky. So I was looking at the Ferris Wheel from the view point of being on the other side of the water. cool!
Sunday I woke up around 3pm. It was a long Saturday night. I was able to watch the Browns almost not lose which is better than when they don't show up and lose bad. My friends Amy and Axel were leaving to go back to Germany Monday so before I left for Pittsburgh I swung bye and said goodbye again. I miss them a lot.
I got on the road around 9pm and drove back. I got into Pittsburgh around 11:30 and went to bed.
Today was classes and a quick trip to the movies to see Zombieland. That movie is off the hook. Woody Harrelson is one bad mutha-shut-yo-mouth! I laughed all the way through.
I got my tux for the wedding today. I look pretty darn good. It fits perfectly. I'm gonna show up the bride and groom. hee hee.
Friday, October 02, 2009
10-2-09
I'm heading to Ohio today for a stealth mission this weekend. I can't say what I'm doing just yet because it's top secret.
I will post soon...
I will post soon...
Thursday, October 01, 2009
10-01-09
Feeling under the weather...
I'm not feeling too hot today. I think I'm coming down with something. Not good.
I have an exam tomorrow. I'll be studying for that for the rest of the day. We're allowed to use our notes so I'm going to make sure I have the information I need to get a good grade.
This past weekend I visited the old church I used to attend in Ohio. I was suprised to see a dear friend. Her name is Grandma Grace. She is a staple at Church of the Open Door. I started attending there in the mid 90's. I had been there a few weeks and people I came in contact with would ask if I had met Grandma Grace yet. I said no. They said that I soon would. So, one Sunday I was at the water fountain and I hear this voice say, "God loves you. I love you!" I look up from the fountain and see this little old lady standing there. She says, "Hi. I'm Grandma Grace."
She's an excentric old lady but she has the kindest heart. Everyone knows her and she knows everyone. She lives across the street from the church so it makes it easy for her to make the rounds. I don't think there is a person at Open Door who doesn't know Grandma Grace.
I got to visit her this past weekend and I gave her my address. Today I went to my mailbox and low and behold there was a letter from her. I never doubted that I wouldn't get a letter. It was just a matter of time. I plan on writing her back. She would love that.
Grandma Grace's letter made my day. She added a page from a Daily Bread devotional. I took the time to read where she highlighted. Did I mention that her letter made my day?
Well, I'm going to get off this computer and write Grandma Grace back.
I'm not feeling too hot today. I think I'm coming down with something. Not good.
I have an exam tomorrow. I'll be studying for that for the rest of the day. We're allowed to use our notes so I'm going to make sure I have the information I need to get a good grade.
This past weekend I visited the old church I used to attend in Ohio. I was suprised to see a dear friend. Her name is Grandma Grace. She is a staple at Church of the Open Door. I started attending there in the mid 90's. I had been there a few weeks and people I came in contact with would ask if I had met Grandma Grace yet. I said no. They said that I soon would. So, one Sunday I was at the water fountain and I hear this voice say, "God loves you. I love you!" I look up from the fountain and see this little old lady standing there. She says, "Hi. I'm Grandma Grace."
She's an excentric old lady but she has the kindest heart. Everyone knows her and she knows everyone. She lives across the street from the church so it makes it easy for her to make the rounds. I don't think there is a person at Open Door who doesn't know Grandma Grace.
I got to visit her this past weekend and I gave her my address. Today I went to my mailbox and low and behold there was a letter from her. I never doubted that I wouldn't get a letter. It was just a matter of time. I plan on writing her back. She would love that.
Grandma Grace's letter made my day. She added a page from a Daily Bread devotional. I took the time to read where she highlighted. Did I mention that her letter made my day?
Well, I'm going to get off this computer and write Grandma Grace back.
Psalm 2
Psalm 2
Nations are made up of people. They may elect their leaders but the leadership of a nation is a reflection of it's people. That is unless you live in a dictatorship. Then the people are subjugated by it's leadership. But I digress.
If you look at the history of the nation of Israel in the Old Testament you will notice that Israel faces God's wrath when the people turn away from Him. God deals with corrupt leaders like Saul and sinning leaders like David in an individual way but when the people turn to false gods and immorality then God allows Israel's enemies to overrun them.
When I read this psalm I think about us as a people. We may complain about our laws and our politicians but if we as a nation of individuals turn from God and decide to do whatever we want regardless of the consequences then we will lose God's favor.
Right now America suffers because of greed. We as a nation wanted too much too fast and now we're paying for it. Our enemies worship other gods and have an animosity for our God. They gather together to conspire against us at the U.N. They have meetings to secure nuclear weapons that they can use to destroy us. Will God protect us from our enemies?
God will protect us if we remain righteous. I'm not just talking about or leaders, but us as individuals. We can't continue to live our lives and blame our politicians for our ills when we sit around and watch television. This psalm may be directed towards our leaders and the leaders of our enemies, but in a constitutional republic like ours, the people must take refuge in Him.
Mind your heart nation.
1 Why do the nations conspire
and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth take their stand
and the rulers gather together
against the LORD
and against his Anointed One.
3 "Let us break their chains," they say,
"and throw off their fetters."
4 The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
the Lord scoffs at them.
5 Then he rebukes them in his anger
and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
6 "I have installed my King
on Zion, my holy hill."
7 I will proclaim the decree of the LORD :
He said to me, "You are my Son;
today I have become your Father.
8 Ask of me,
and I will make the nations your inheritance,
the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You will rule them with an iron scepter ;
you will dash them to pieces like pottery."
10 Therefore, you kings, be wise;
be warned, you rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the LORD with fear
and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry
and you be destroyed in your way,
for his wrath can flare up in a moment.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
Nations are made up of people. They may elect their leaders but the leadership of a nation is a reflection of it's people. That is unless you live in a dictatorship. Then the people are subjugated by it's leadership. But I digress.
If you look at the history of the nation of Israel in the Old Testament you will notice that Israel faces God's wrath when the people turn away from Him. God deals with corrupt leaders like Saul and sinning leaders like David in an individual way but when the people turn to false gods and immorality then God allows Israel's enemies to overrun them.
When I read this psalm I think about us as a people. We may complain about our laws and our politicians but if we as a nation of individuals turn from God and decide to do whatever we want regardless of the consequences then we will lose God's favor.
Right now America suffers because of greed. We as a nation wanted too much too fast and now we're paying for it. Our enemies worship other gods and have an animosity for our God. They gather together to conspire against us at the U.N. They have meetings to secure nuclear weapons that they can use to destroy us. Will God protect us from our enemies?
God will protect us if we remain righteous. I'm not just talking about or leaders, but us as individuals. We can't continue to live our lives and blame our politicians for our ills when we sit around and watch television. This psalm may be directed towards our leaders and the leaders of our enemies, but in a constitutional republic like ours, the people must take refuge in Him.
Mind your heart nation.
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