Napster

Napster used to be known as the premier site for sharing/"stealing" music. Well as Napster went legit it has been transformed into a service that I REALLY love.

Unlike the Apple iTunes store or buying an MP3 from Amazon or Walmart.com, you can subscribe to Napster for a monthly fee. You basically then can rent unlimited amounts of music for 30 days. You can listen through your computer or download the music to listen to on "Napster-compatible" players.

Enough of the commercial... I love music and I will listen to just about anything and find ways to appreciate it. My playlist the last couple of days has included Britney Spears, Coldplay, Scarface, T.I., New Method, and Akon. Thank God for allowing us to have music as an outlet for our thoughts and emotions!

One more quick endorsement for another service at last.fm. If you like music, please join this and let me know so that we can share our musical tastes.

Update 2.12.11: The playlist I list above is no longer one that I would enjoy.  God has done some major renovation in my heart. I am a new creation. 2 Cor 5:17 ESV

More Photos

Random Snapshots

Time flies...

This is an entry just to catch up on some of the happenings lately in my life. I am writing this from my hotel room while on a business trip to Alpharetta, Georgia

The Boston Celtics are the 2007-2008 NBA Champions! They won in 6 games over the L.A. Lakers. Paul Pierce won the MVP and Rajon Rondo had an incredible Game 6 performance. But most importantly, Carson and I really had a ball watching these playoffs together. He stayed up late to watch just about every game he could as soon as his summer vacation started. He is able to name the top players for just about every playoff team. He is also picked up on all the team cities and names. It is hard to explain just how special it is to watch these games with my first son!

Richie is really starting to grow up. He is losing some of the ‘pudge’ and is looking like a little man. It is safe to say that we don’t have any babies anymore. We have kids. When asked who his favorite team is he’ll say the Lakers. Oh my, where have I gone wrong!?! :)

Avery is such a beautiful girl inside and out. She has a special heart that loves to help and nurture. She prefers the Food Network over ESPN and American Idol over cartoons. She and I have taken to watching Giada on ‘Everyday Italian’ as well as ‘Barefoot Contessa’. I never imagined that I would sit and watch such estrogen-filled cooking shows but nevertheless! Avery will now even describe her meals with sayings like ‘this rice is so meaty!’ and ‘the colors are fabulous’!

I think that I am maturing and growing up as well. I really feel much more comfortable with my roles at work, as a husband, a father and a Christian than ever before. I am in a good solid routine at work and with exercise that I have always wanted. I am coaching Carson Tee Ball team and have coached many a soccer team previously. I don’t feel overwhelmingly like I am not doing ‘enough’. This is a big deal since I pretty much used to go through everyday thinking that I was on the wrong track and was constantly under-achieving.

I would be completely remiss to say all this and not mention the incredible wife I have. She too is growing and changing for the better. She is exercising, working very hard part-time, and really taking her opportunity as a ‘mom’ to the next level. I believe it is all coming from her focus on her spiritual life. She is reading more and has some really good friends to laugh and learn with.

Thank you God for all that you have trusted me with!

Hi from Georgia!

Lifelong Boston Fan

Ever since the days of Larry Bird, Robert Parish, and Kevin McHale (i.e. the 80’s) I have been a fan of the Celtics. This year with Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett, Boston has made it back to the NBA Finals after a long drought.

The 2008 NBA playoffs have been especially great because my family has really taken an interest in the games. I am sure my over-the-top enthusiasm has something to do with it but regardless. Carson has been watched many games with me and since he is not out of school for the summer, he is staying up to watch the entire NBA finals with me. This is quite a treat since the games are over around 10:30pm.

More on the Celtics as the series continues.

Viva Exercise

I have been on a bit of a workout schedule for about 4 months now. Let me first say that I had two week long periods where I definitely lapsed. It is important for me to remember that because in some ways stopping and starting back is a encouragement. It is really hard to get back going again and for me to “get back on the horse” is kinda cool.

I started out just doing what I knew. Working out during my lunch hour, Monday-Wednesday upper body, Tues-Thurs lower. This left me with a flex day in the week if I needed to miss/skip or whatever. Getting a little bored with that routine, I switched to a program published on the Men’s Health website called the “Year-Long Workout”. There were supposed to be four phases but I only managed to get through one and a half. I usually have an idea of how well i should perform a particular workout and since I didn’t think I was done with phase one I kept doing it for longer than I really was supposed to. Then I came across this workout called P90X. Google it and you’ll see all kinds of a following for this. It get a ton done without relying on various exercise machines. A pair of dumbbells that you can adjust to different weights and a place to do chin ups is pretty much all you need. I am going on week 2 of this.

All that is just a quick summary of where I am. I thought I would say all this so that I can list some things I have learned from this experience so far.

1. Doing my workout gives me a feeling of accomplishment that I don’t get from anything else. A combination of avoiding guilt and muscle fatigue lead me to sit in my chair at work thinking “man, I am glad I did that.”


2. Getting the blood pumping in combination with my positive feelings from #1 lifts my spirits. I feel happier, more positive, and ready to take on the world, play with my kids, and give my wife a really good hug.


3. No workout can reduce your weight unless you change what and how much you eat. In fact, my theory is that if you must choose, choose to eat right rather than exercise if health and weight loss are your goals. I watch what I eat now much more than before because when I have a hard workout, I am REALLY motivated not to put those calories right back in me by eating the wrong things. I will say this though. I still will have the occasional pizza or Krispy Kreme doughnut and not feel to bad about it. My reasoning is that part of why I workout is so that I can eat high calorie stuff and not gain weight. It a balancing act that requires something I need in all areas of my life, moderation.


4. After that initial period of not really seeing any results, there comes a time (maybe 6 weeks in) where I looked in the mirror and noticed a difference! And there is no arguing with pants that now are too big. This definitely makes me feel good. But I decided a while ago to stop measuring my weight. I don’t really care what I weigh. I care about how I look and feel.


5. Going in again the next day is the most important part of the workout. Not how much you do or how long you are there. Technique and spreadsheets and all that tech stuff is not nearly as important as simply making time in your day to go exercise. All I really focus on is getting there and then, when I do an exercise, making sure I get tired. I usually just ballpark the weight and the repetitions. This works for me since all the administration that comes from tracking too much stuff takes some of the “fun” of exercising away.

I would highly recommend to anyone who doesn’t get exercise to just go do it. For your mind, your body, your soul. There is NO good reason not to get some kind of workout into your schedule.

Basketball finally...

Leaving at lunch from work, I went to the Nixa community center and played a little basketball. There were 6 of us total. It has been at least 3 months since I last played. That was with the HealthCareFirst team that did not turn out all that well since my knee was really giving me trouble. My left knee still is a bit sore when I play but I decided that I enjoy it so much that perhaps I can still play, keep the pain to a minimum, and be smart about it. I really do lose myself out there on the court to where nothing else really matters that much. I hope I get to play for a long, long time.

My friend, Doc

When Christie, Carson, and I moved to Poplar Bluff, one of the first things I ended up doing was trying to figure out when and where I could play some basketball. On one Sunday morning, we were driving through town and I saw a group of cars parked outside of the Poplar Bluff Junior High Gym. I said to Christie that I bet there are guys playing ball in there. She was a bit hesitant about me just walking in there but I told her to just give me a second. I walked in and, sure enough, there were about 12 guys in there. 5 on 5 on the court and 2 on the side. I sat down next to a lanky guy who I later learned was quite a played at Three Rivers Community College back in his day. After the usual "what's up" stuff I asked him about this group of guys playing. He said that they play pretty regularly and if I wanted in that I should talk to "Doc". Looking to where he was pointing, I saw an older guy running up the court with a slight give in this left leg. He was definitely the oldest one out there looking about 50-ish with his Kareem goggles on. He was usually the last one up the court but usually got a touch every time down on offense. When he got it, he could get his shot off whenever he wanted. He held the ball high and had his elbows out in a such a way that you would most likely foul him if you got anywhere close.

After the game finished shortly thereafter, I introduced myself. He said his name was Gene Hansbrough. From that point on, I not only found a great group of guys to play ball with but got to know his sons, Greg, Tyler, Ben, and their mom, Tami. He never seemed to be in a hurry whenever we talked. Gene and I got along really well. He even ended up doing the surgery on my right knee as all my years playing basketball caught up to me. I haven't talked to him in a while. I'll give him a call soon to see if his old cell phone number still works. I sure am glad I stopped in that gym all those years ago.

Say "cheese"!

I bought a new camera. It is a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18. I decided to go with the Panasonic over the Canon Rebel XTi thinking that this is a good "half-step". If I end up becoming very serious about photography, I can better justify spending more money on a camera. For now, this should do just fine.

The main draws for me on this camera are: RAW format, 18x optical zoom, and the wide angle lens. I just bought an Olympus telephoto TCON 1.7x lens and a Pemaraal adapteras well. Other than an additional wide angle lens and perhaps a better tripod I think I have a pretty well stock arsenal to take some pictures.

I am certainly no Ansel Adams yet but I am trying! I think I have a decent eye for this kind of thing. I certainly am capable of handling the technical aspects so hopefully this will be a good creative outlet for me. I am hoping that God blesses this!

I have contacted a local commercial photographer and I think that I will be able to help him out a bit. This will be great for me to learn exactly what a professional does.

I have tried many things in my life and many hobbies have come and gone. I am really trying to become a bit more focused in my endeavors. Hopefully I can focus on photography and perhaps I can turn it into more than just an after-work hobby!

Manny Pacquiao ends war

How big is Manny Pacquiao in the Philippines? THIS BIG!