Moving

Part of my side business is building web pages for people. And lately I've been busy building blog pages for folks. I'm utilizing WordPress for these sites. [I'll sing the praises of WP later.]

In order to better support the software I'm using, I decided I should be writing my blog in WordPress. So..... drum roll please..... I'm moving this blog. Slowly, I will be migrating all the past entries to the new page as well.

You can now find my ramblings at mmmm.emidor.com. This will be my last post using the blogger site.

If you have my blog in any reader software, be sure to update the URL so you can continue reading my sporadic and inconsistent ramblings.

Thanks!

Presidential Election Surprise!

My Movies

I'm a big fan of movies. Flixter is one of the web sites I use to track the movies I've seen and the movies I want to see. Here is a listing of my movie compatibility with a number of my friends.

If you would like to compare your movie tastes with me, you can
take the quiz by clicking here.

FaceBook Fun

Hi, my name is Dave and I'm a FaceBook addict.

Actualy, this social networking site has a lot of real fun ways to stay connected with friends and family that are scattered all around the world. One of the games on FB is called Friends For Sale. Using virtual dollars, you buy your friends which increases their value. Other friends are also trying to buy your friends, so you can see how the value circle can go.

I started this game after my daughter Kara was playing for awhile and her value had sky-rocketed. I made it my goal to raise enough funds through the Friends trade to buy my daughter. I made strategic alliances to help increase my funds, and finally at 6:30 AM on 6-Apr-08 I clicked the "Buy Kara for $117,241" button! Bet I won't keep her long as she is quite popular, but it is fun to have achieved my goal.

You Look Marvelous

Back in the 1980s, Fernando Lamas (aka Billy Crystal) used the catch phrase “You look maahhvelous.” It was a great Saturday Night Live sketch. Today, I realize that I am still trying to make myself look marvelous. Back in October I wrote about my attempts to make myself look good.

Why is it that I still want to keep up appearances? What is so inherently ingrained in my psyche that I want people to like me and don’t want to show my flaws? Why can’t I accept the fact that there will be people who still accept me, despite my inadequacies?

I struggle with lots of things. I’ve typed the list here and reedited it and ultimately deleted it because… I fear showing people what I’m ashamed of in my life. The shortcomings, the addictions, the flaws… some are major, some are minor; some I’m working on, some I try to ignore myself.

Ultimately, I am scared of what people will think of me. I’m worried about disappointing my family and friends. I’m apprehensive that people won’t like me if I’m really vulnerable.

So, I continue to put fresh paint on the broken down parts of my life hoping that they continue to look good. And I think I’m doing a pretty good job at looking marvelous.

Spanish Love Song

Maybe it is due to the distance between my wife and I right now (she's visiting family in North Carolina.) Or maybe it is because I keep trying to get my daughter to showcase her language skills. Whatever reason, I had to share this video!

Tag: Books

I've received my first meme tag, a kind of viral "who are you" process by which you self-reveal information to the blogosphere. This one comes from Mike Comfort.

Here are the rules:
1. Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more. No cheating!
2. Find page 123
3. Find the first 5 sentences
4. Post the next 3 sentences
5. Tag 5 people

Those who know me well know that I don't read a ton. But the book closest to where I sit is "The Billboard Guide to Contemporary Christian Music."

"Changing labels again, this time to Diadem, (Kim) Boyce released As I Am in 1997. This Adult Contemporary-slanted offering featured such key songs as the title track and "Amazing Love for Me," a duet about parenthood and sacrifice sung with her husband, musician Gary Koreiba. In recent years, Boyce has been active as a speaker at Christian inspirational conferences and other events."



I tag:
1. Josh
2. Jen
3. Janelle
4. Rich
5. Matt

Great Minds

Today I drove the planning committee for Jr. High Jamboree to Twin Rocks (our church camp on the Oregon Coast). This group of eight High School students help to plan and organize a weekend getaway for junior high students from our church denomination. I really enjoyed being a “fly on the wall” as these bright students chatted about school politics, social issues, musical preferences, relationships, and more. I found this group to be articulate, thoughtful, and energetic.

We often hear the negative things about today’s youth, with all the problems of drugs, violence, and ambivalence to the real problems of the world. But I found great comfort in knowing that these young people were already becoming movers and shakers in our community and our world. I was honored to be in the company of these great minds as they openly discussed their involvement in the world around them. I am glad that I am a part of their community.

Oops, Thet cAint bee Wright

I recently saw a widget on Mike Comfort's blog that supposedly rates your blog for readability. When I ran it on my page, I was shocked. I'm not sure I agree with the results, but here you go:

Inheritance

A recent visit to my doctor revealed that I am mostly healthy. I was not surprised by the findings; relieved that I didn’t have diabetes. I do need to take off a few pounds and lower my blood pressure and cholesterol.

My research revealed that cholesterol is affected by diet, exercise, and genetics. While I can do something about the first two, the latter is part of who I am thanks to being my parents’ kid.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the traits and characteristics that are inherited. What parts of me are thanks to my parents, grandparents, and other ancestors? What am I passing on to my children?

I wonder if being a child of the King causes some “genetic” traits to be revealed in me as well. Sure I have responsibilities in staying spiritually healthy. But are there parts of my being that are a direct result of being God’s kid?

I sure hope so!

Finally, error messages I understand.

We are all plagued by those pesky computer errors that pop up at the most inopportune time. Well, I've recently discovered some computer errors that were new to me. Don't you wish they were all written like this?

I've posted more of these at my website.

Kewl Links

My friend Sherri often lists some of the cool web links she has found. So, I'm going to follow suite with my offerings:

• Caloriesindrinks.com with my new attempt at watching my caloric and cholestorlic (?) intake, this site proved interesting.



• Inca Cola! Many of us Peruvian missionary kids love this stuff. Now you can buy it here in the U.S.



• Oregon Media Insiders an interesting way to stay up on the news of the inner workings of Oregon's media outlets.

iJunk

Matt Butcher has helped me with my ChristianMusicArchive.com web site. This Christmas he had a very clever blog which, with his permission, I am reposting here.

As the holiday catalogs really start to stack up, I'm noticing a trend: iPod accouterments of all ilk grace the pages and websites of every retailer. And many of these are bordering on the ridiculous: A wall-mounted shower stall dock for your pod. A fake 3-foot juke box facade for you pod. And perhaps my favorite thus far, a desk lamp with an iPod dock (what it does, I don't know. Maybe the lights blink to the music.). I call this stuff iJunk.

So this got me thinking. Where in my life am I missing the capability to tote and play my entire music library? What moments of silence can be eradicated? I've come up with a top ten list. If you've got better ideas, send them my way.

1. StoveCast: An oven/stove appliance with an iPod doc that plays your tunes while cooking your food. Bonus feature: Music styles are matched to the ethnicity of the food being prepared.

2. DozeDock (aka PillowPod): A pillow with an iPod dock built in. It plays while you sleep -- perfect for subliminally absorbing information. Test tomorrow? Don't study. Just plug in your pod and hit the hay.

3. RockAroundTheMop: Household chores can really be a drag, but next time you get the urge to take a turn around the floor with your favorite mop, don't forget to plug in your iPod. With your favorite tunes at your fingertips, you can rock, rock, rock around the mop all night.

4. iSpresso: Get over the morning grog with a Latte and some tunes. It includes the wake-up cycle: (a) Play Bach's Wachet Auf ("Sleepers Awake"), (b) grind coffee, (c) play "Friday, I'm in Love" by the Cure, (d) make espresso, (e) play "Frothy the Snowman", (f) Steam milk and serve, (g) play "Flight of the Bumblebee" to get you pumped for the morning rush.

5. FirePod: There's nothing worse than having to put out a fire while not listening to music -- except maybe having a big red fire extinguisher that sits in your house with no other purpose other than putting out a fire if you should ever have one. Enter the FirePod: Make your fire extinguisher work for you. It plays tunes when you're not putting out fires. Heck, it even plays tunes when you are putting out fires.

6. MowDock: Jam while you mow the lawn. Along with a special vibration absorbing cradle, the MowDock includes automatic volume adjustment to really crank up the volume when the mower's on. WARNING: Frequent use of this device may cause hearing loss.

7. iAnswer: The answering machine was passé, almost eradicated by voicemail. But no more! Turn your iPod into an answering machine. Then, you can interleave those annoying messages with your favorite tunes. Listening to messages used to be a drag. Make it fun with iAnswer.

8. FlushDock (Several other possible names had to be removed here -- this is a family website): The average American spends over 40 hours a year using the toilet. (I'm at 72, and it is still November.) Do you really want to spend those 40 hours in silence? That's why there's FlushDoc. Just plug your iPod into the toilet and listen while you're on the go.

9. iSwear: Do you have a mouth like Chef Gordon Ramsey? Is that untamed tongue of yours getting you into trouble? If so, you need the iSwear iPod attachment. iSwear monitors your language, and when it detects certain speech patterns, it uses noise cancellation technology to censor your speech while simultaneously playing a socially appropriate alternative. Replace the F-bomb with "Golly." Downgrade excrement language. And with the auto-learning feature, iSwear can adapt to keep you out of trouble. Includes certificate for downloading audio files of "Golly," "Gosh," "[bleep]", "Darn it all to heck", "Goodness Me," and over 25 other socially appropriate alternative phraseologies.

10. SonicTooth: Medical research indicates that the average person spends far too little time brushing his or her teeth. Are we surprised? No! Precious listening possibilities are wasted while we brush those pearly whites. With the SonicTooth iPod dock, you can rock out while you knock out bad breath, gingivitis, and plaque. American Dental Association approval pending.

Keeping Up Appearances

I have been bit by the Facebook bug. Like MySpace and other social networking sites Facebook allows you to connect with friends (new and old) through the Internet. I have enjoyed reading the profiles of friends whom I've not seen in years and finding out what they are now up to.

But as I've read the profiles of people from around the world, I'm struck by the fact that nearly all of us are trying to impress the readers of our profiles. We put our best foot forward. We tell about our accomplishments. We "brag" about where we've been and what we've done.

This has caused me to wonder what it would be like if we became really vulnerable and showed our true colors. What would happen if I told about my struggles and failures as well as my victories?

I'm not saying that we should avoid celebrating the high points of life. But I would guess that if we presented the dark sides as well as the bright we would be able to connect with each other on a deeper level. If we shared our frustrations and defeats we would most likely be able to relate better with others.

At this point in my life I've been longing for deeper connections with those people around me. I want to connect with people who have experienced the same struggles as I so that I can learn from them and discover how they worked through those difficult times. I want to share with others so they can learn from my mistakes and not have to repeat the negative lessons.

So, here is to being vulnerable; here is to presenting the real me, warts and all. And I hope that as we interact, we will be able to grow stronger as individuals and as friends through the better understanding of our shared victories AND failures.

Discovery

One thing about living in a place for too long is that you begin to take things for granted. At least I do. I’ve lived in one of the most beautiful parts of the world for nearly ¼ of a century. But after the first few years I stopped exploring; stopped discovering; stopped recognizing. But then along came a life change, a fresh perspective, a new reason to enjoy my surroundings.

When my then future wife moved from El Paso to Portland, she was in awe of the wonder that is Oregon. And her excitement rubbed off on me. Again, my eyes were opened to the beauty, the majesty, the surroundings that I had become numb to. And I've spent the last seven years rediscovering my home.

During the past couple of weeks we have been exploring several of the small cities around us. These are places that I have had a very distinct mental image of what they would be like, despite never having been there. But with a renewed interest in exploring and looking and enjoying, it is with great pleasure that I recommend you visit: LaCenter and Battle Ground, WA, Silverton and Mt. Angel, OR… just to name a few. Go for the beauty. Go for the food. Go for the discovery.

Because I've ALWAYS Done It That Way

I started my annual fantasy football league yesterday. 12 years ago, when I started this thing, I religiously watched the football games and compared my picks with friends who joined in. I tracked everyone's picks in Excel and sent out e-mails on a weekly basis reminding everying to send in their choices for the week.

Now I utilize a the fantasy sports portion of Yahoo to drive my league and I only have to make my own picks, not track everyone else's activity. Due to my spot in life, I also don't watch as many games as I used to. Seems there are more important things to do with my time.

So, why do I continue this game? Why do I spam all my friend's e-mail boxes once a year to invite them to join, when only a handful actually participate?

I think it is because I like consistancy. I enjoy knowing that things stay the same. I like the fact that even though I'm not writing a personal e-mail, at least I'm contacting my friends on an annual basis. Not really the best mode of conversation and relationship building. But hey... I've always done it that way!

Invisible Children

I just spent a couple of hours with some of the youth from our church who were showing a movie regarding the Invisible Children of Uganda. This is a documentary showing the suffering and plight of children who run from their rural homes to the cities to escape the atrocities of being abducted and forced into slavery, raped, turned into soldiers, or even worse, killed.

It seems impossible for me to express the impact this had on me, so I invite you to look at the InvisibleChildren.com website.

The documentary was very moving and made me wonder what I could do. I’m just one man and these kids are on the other side of the earth. Can I really make a difference?

And then I watch my daughter and her friends as they work to raise awareness of this African tragedy. Tonight they are recreating the 5-mile walk many of these kids take each day and night to go to school and then back to the safety of hospitals and other public places. They will sleep at the local hospital and then walk 5 miles back to school tomorrow morning.

These kids are putting action to their beliefs that we should do something. And while it may seem insignificant, they are jumping into action with the resources they have. So when did I become complacent and think that I couldn’t make a difference any longer? I fear I am making myself invisible out of ignorance and lack of action.

Bigger and Better

"Now with twice the calcium!"
"Home of the largest airplane in the world."
"More horsepower than our competitors."

I’m struck by society’s need to out-do everyone. We want “new and improved.” We have to have more capacity. A large soda isn’t enough, we have to upgrade to an extra large.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand that technology allows us to create more for less money in less time. I’m aware that innovation spawns growth.

But sometimes I wish that we could all just enjoy status quo. That keeping up with the Joneses would mean staying in touch with them as individuals, not trying to buy a better boat or a bigger lawn mower. How can I make “bigger and better” refer to my relationship with people, and not with things? Is it possible to connect with people without having to compare ourselves with their things or their status?

I hope so…

A Hard Act To Follow

When I started this blogging adventure, I had grandiose ideas of documenting my thoughts on a daily basis. But to be quite truthful, I’ve found it difficult to come up with anything interesting to say the past couple of days. I long for the skill to be witty and clever and to change the world with my thoughts [insert maniacal laugh of Dr. Evil here].


I have been inspired by several folks who blog nearly daily. These people write about their observations, feelings, and opinions.

My favorite is a second cousin whose nearly daily entries are succinct, entertaining, and thought provoking.

I also enjoy reading the thoughts from our music pastor and church secretary (yes, they are married… to each other).

My goal is to be more aware of my surroundings and document the things I care about. I think that means taking a more active, intentional role in my day-to-day activities.

It's OK...

.... to be in a bad mood.

You know, growing up I thought that bad moods were supposed to be pushed down inside and covered with a fake smile. Being upset was a bad thing. My parents never really taught that in words, but that is what our family did in action. I've lived under that motto for nearly 3 1/2 decades.

Then I met the woman of my dreams. And she explained... no encouraged me to own my bad moods. All I have to tell her is that I'm mad, or grumpy, or sad. And I'm free to vent that emotion. I can't tell you how freeing that is. I'm no longer an emotional pressure cooker, shoving more anger and frustration inside, waiting for the top to blow. Now I just express my moods and let them desolve away. At least that is the goal. 35+ years of stuffing practice is a hard habit to break.

That being said... I'm in a funky mood. And its OK.