I’m A Creative Type, How About You?

Before you read any further, you should take this short and free color test.

Not a day goes by that I don’t click on an excellent link from @GuyKawasaki, and this afternoon I was led to this USA Today article. It’s been obvious to me for awhile that I march to tbe beat of a idfferent drum, so I was eager to see what this test would say about me.

Best Occupational Category

You’re a CREATOR

Keywords

Nonconforming, Impulsive, Expressive, Romantic, Intuitive, Sensitive, and Emotional

These original types place a high value on aesthetic qualities and have a great need for self-expression. They enjoy working independently, being creative, using their imagination, and constantly learning something new. Fields of interest are art, drama, music, and writing or places where they can express, assemble, or implement creative ideas.

CREATOR OCCUPATIONS
Suggested careers are Advertising Executive, Architect, Web Designer, Creative Director, Public Relations, Fine or Commercial Artist, Interior Decorator, Lawyer, Librarian, Musician, Reporter, Art Teacher, Broadcaster, Technical Writer, English Teacher, Architect, Photographer, Medical Illustrator, Corporate Trainer, Author, Editor, Landscape Architect, Exhibit Builder, and Package Designer.

CREATOR WORKPLACES
Consider workplaces where you can create and improve beauty and aesthetic qualities. Unstructured, flexible organizations that allow self-expression work best with your free-spirited nature.

Suggested Creator workplaces are advertising, public relations, and interior decorating firms; artistic studios, theaters and concert halls; institutions that teach crafts, universities, music, and dance schools. Other workplaces to consider are art institutes, museums, libraries, and galleries.

2nd Best Occupational Category

You’re an ORGANIZER

Keywords:

Self-Control, Practical, Self-Contained, Orderly, Systematic, Precise, and Accurate

These conservative appearing, plotting-types enjoy organizing, data systems, accounting, detail, and accuracy. They often enjoy mathematics and data management activities such as accounting and investment management. Persistence and patience allows them to do detailed paperwork, operate office machines, write business reports, and make charts and graphs.

As I read through the results, and thought about past jobs I’ve had and what I like to do now, they seem to be spot on. I love creating things, and when I’m designing things, whether a web site or a brochure, I look at the finest details of various fonts so I can find just the right one. At the same time, the less rigid the work environment, the more likely I am to not only enjoy it, but be more productive.

When I look at the recommended careers, it should come as no surprise that over the past few years, through some form or another, I’ve had significant experiences in advertising, web design, public relations, music, reporting, photography, corporate training, editing, and concert halls.  I find myself continuously pursuing opportunities that allow me to be creative and solve unique problems.

Perhaps this is why some people have such a hard time understanding and connecting with me. I have a tendency to do random and completely unorthodox things simply because I can. I resist a typical 9 to 5 not just because I lose a lot of flexibility to do other things, but because that’s what everyone else does.

It’s also likely why I can sometimes struggle to communicate with others. I have a tendency to see the big picture and where something is headed, but I see it so far ahead of others that I don’t know how to explain it all to them in terms they can understand. Maybe that why I enjoy Twitter so much, it’s filled with other people are creative, see what’s coming before others do, and all the while try to find the next big thing.

Go ahead, take the quick color test, then take a moment to comment below. What does it reveal about you? Do you think it’s fairly accurate?

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Guest Post: My Brother, My Hero

Growing up, I wasn’t a shining example of how to act for my brothers and sister. While not the constant source of trouble that many kids are in high school, I didn’t exactly shy away from it either. Yesterday I wrote a post on the 5th anniversary of returning to ND. Today, I present to you an essay my sister wrote her freshman year of college (dated October 20, 2005). I probably would never have found out about this had her professor not wanted to publish it in something. She doesn’t know I’m posting this, but it’s still special to me, and I think some of you might like it too.

My Brother, My Hero

by: Heidi Kirsch

If someone had asked me the question “What do you think of your older brother?” two years ago, I would have said, “I love him, but I don’t particularly like him.” Two years ago, Shawn, an average college freshman, attended Mayville State University. Twenty-three months ago, his sergeant called him, saying their company was on alert for deployment to Iraq. Twenty months ago, my family and I said goodbye and left Shawn in Fort Carson, Colorado, a few days before he left for “the big sandbox.” Shawn returned from Iraq eight months ago, after a one-year tour of duty with the 141st Engineer Combat Battalion of the North Dakota Army National Guard. Some people who knew him quite well before he left say he is a changed man, and, in some ways, I can see that; however, some things never change.

When he returned from Iraq, I saw some changes in Shawn’s lifestyle and habits, but some days, I couldn’t help but smile when aspects of his old being came shining through his tough, sun-baked exterior. When I said goodbye to him in February 2004, he was a risk taker, a kid of average intelligence who wasn’t overly ambitious, and a guy with little job experience; however, when he returned, he was a man who seemed kinder and gentler, exhibited a new brand of wisdom, and held the experience of an occupation unlike any other–and I like this version of Shawn a lot better than the previous.

In his high school years, Shawn spent a great deal of time arguing with my parents. Due to his job as a truck driver, my dad was usually only home on weekends, so all the negative discussions Shawn and my mom had during the week were revisited when Dad returned. I can recall one particular instance where Shawn’s argumentative, rebellious side was displayed. The night before his graduation, Shawn returned home very late. He had been in Dickinson with his friend, Matt. Shawn would have gone alone, but his license had been taken away when he was caught driving 113 miles per hour in a zone marked 65 [ed. Actually, I got my license back the day before]. Matt’s parents, who just happen to be the school superintendent and his wife, called my parents, worrying about their son. When Shawn and Matt returned home around midnight, my dad threw a fit. I had been sleeping pretty well up until that point, but when Dad started yelling, I woke up. He told Shawn, in a horribly loud voice, he needed to apologize to Matt’s parents before he walked across the stage at graduation in the afternoon. This incident upset me quite a bit, probably because my brother was going to leave home soon, and I hated thinking about the possibility of him never coming back because of the unstable relationship he shared with Mom and Dad. If I had only known what was around the corner, I wouldn’t have gotten so upset over this small matter.

When he returned after spending a year in Iraq, Shawn acted much better than he did before he left; he stopped arguing so much and kept his thoughts to himself. I believe the twelve months away from home made him realize how fortunate he is to have a family, especially one that cares about him. He still argues with Mom and Dad, but their fighting is less frequent. Shawn cares more about my brothers and me as well. He lets us borrow some of his things and maintains composure when a situation turns out opposite of what he had hoped for. I know the possibility of Shawn getting upset still exists, but it takes a bit more prodding to evoke a yelling and screaming match these days.

Shawn’s risk-taking side may have played a role in how he behaved in high school as well. He never applied himself as much as he could. He possessed the capability to get As and Bs in his classes, but he chose not to put forth the effort to get those grades and instead, got Cs and Ds [ed. It was Bs and Cs, but no, I didn't care]. I suppose it never bothered Shawn too much, but it hurt me to see him not do as well as I knew he could. I looked up to him, and his not doing his best made me doubt whether or not I should want to be like him.

When he returned, however, Shawn held a new brand of wisdom, a kind of intelligence shared only by those who had been with him in the Middle East. The news reporters, try as they may, lack the knowledge of what is really happening. We only see what they want us to see, but the soldiers know the inside story. Shawn, when given a start on the subject, speaks of the few close calls he had while on patrol, the high numbers of specific groups of Iraqi people we think are minorities, the fun the soldiers had, and the good that was done despite being in a bad situation. No one other than a solder can ever truly describe what the war in Iraq is like. I consider myself lucky to know a person so close to me who voluntarily shares his experiences and knowledge of the war of this generation.

Given the education he had before leaving, Shawn, like many other teenagers in my hometown, had little choice when it came to jobs [ed. Actually had a tremendous amount of self education, but didn't have access to the technology to use that knowledge until college]. No one needs anyone to work for them, but there are some people willing to offer jobs to people they trust. Reggie, the youth leader at my church, gave Shawn a job on his farm. Shawn spent the summers of 2002 and 2003 working in the fields and around the farmyard. I think he enjoyed the work, but he couldn’t complain when he earned the amount of money he did. Being a farmhand was a good job for Shawn, but he needed experience doing something else; little did he know he was in for the job experience of a lifetime.

In Iraq, Shawn’s platoon held the responsibility of finding improved explosive devices (IEDs) on and along the roads, collecting them, and setting them off in a safer location. While some soldiers searched for IEDs, others watched for the enemy, ready to fire at them in a moment’s notice. During his first month in Iraq, Shawn e-mailed us his account of what had happened on one day’s mission. He had been looking for roadside bombs from the front of his humvee when a missile shot across the hood of the vehicle. Had the vehicle been going any faster, it would have gone through the front driver’s side window, in all likelihood, causing multiple fatalities. This was the sign those of us at home were praying for–the way we would know God was watching over our troops, especially Shawn. My brother also felt the excitement and power of being a gunner while he was in Iraq. On his birthday, he was chosen to be the shooter when they went on patrol [ed. This wasn't unusual, I was usually a gunner on mission]. When we heard this story, we asked Shawn if he killed anyone. He told us that they never went back to check, but he knew that his group avoided being hit because the Iraqis are “lousy shots.” Shawn, in addition to his “fun,” felt the pain of losing a fellow soldier when one man from his platoon died after being wounded [ed. From my company, but from a different platoon]. Being a soldier allowed him to catch a glimpse of real life–the life behind the scenes of the war.

Shawn has changed in many ways, but the most obvious change is that he has become a veteran. He is also, in my mind, a hero. He did not do anything special to make him better than any other soldier, but the fact that he willingly served our country makes him a hero in my eyes.

By recognizing the ways Shawn has changed, I can better understand why he behaves the way he does, and by doing so, help him. If I realize when he is in a “mood,” I know to avoid him and let him figure things out on his own. If he starts talking about something of which I have no knowledge, I know not to question his intelligence. Finally, if he talks about his experience as a soldier, I know to listen, so I learn all I can about what he went through.

If asked now what I think about Shawn, I would say, “I love him, but I’m still working on liking him.” Comedian Mark Lowry sums it up well when he says, “There are some people you love who you just don’t like. You know who they are. You’ll cry at their funeral, but you won’t go on vacation with them.” I feel the same way about Shawn right now, but as time goes on, I am certain I will begin to like him more fore who he is–my brother, my hero.

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Veteran, 5 Years Home

5 years. I can hardly believe it’s been that long. The older one gets, the faster time flies by.

High School

7 years ago, I was a senior in high school. 18 years old, doing the things you need to do to get ready for college, having fun with friends, playing drums in pep band, starting on the basketball team and getting ready for the quickly approaching district tournaments, with legitimate hopes of making the state tournament (though we ultimately came up short). That summer I would return to Missouri for AIT, the part of training that comes after basic.

College

So I graduated, went to AIT, worked for a couple weeks, then took off for school, away from my parents, on my own, with a plan for how the next few years of my life were going to happen. I quickly gained new friends, got involved with Campus Crusade, I was having a ton of fun, loving life, and the plan was off to a great start. Then we got to the end of October, and God started to intervene, by way of telephone.

It was almost Halloween, and I was being informed that we were on notice that we could go to Iraq. Not that we were going, just that it was more likely. Being a never ending optimist, I thought ok, but never once seriously believed I’d be going to Iraq.

Wednesday, November 26, 2003

It was Thanksgiving Eve, and I was hanging out in the dorm. The next day I would be going to Jamestown for Thanksgiving dinner at grandma’s house with a lot of cousins. But on this night, I would get another call. “Shawn, we’re going to Iraq.” Reality would slowly begin to set in as I realized ‘my plan’ was being interrupted. So, being a college guy that just received life changing news, I did the only logical thing. Grabbed a buddy, hopped in the car, drove to Grand Forks and didn’t really do anything. Grabbed some food, drove around town, visited some car lots, sat in a Nissan 350Z (my dream car at the time).

So began the journey to Iraq. Like the other students, I took finals early so I could get home and do some final prep for our all expense paid trip to foreign lands.  I enjoyed Christmas with family, getting a lot of presents that I’ve never used (just because I go to Iraq doesn’t mean I’m going to suddenly start playing cards), and receiving a never ending deluge of ‘we’ll be thinking of you.’

Training

Shortly after Christmas, we all met at our various armories, and the 141st Engineer Battalion would proceed to load onto buses, heading for Colorado to train. In true North Dakota fashion, we left in the middle of a blizzard. We stayed at Fort Carson for several weeks, doing desert training in the snow, then made our way across the Atlantic and down into the middle east.

Iraq

We briefly spent some time in Kuwait, where we learned we would not be working as carpenters, but would be driving around looking for IEDs (roadside bombs). We quickly went to work reinforcing  all of our vehicles, because the Army was dealing with a backlog of requests for supplies, and we weren’t about to wait around for stuff to keep us safe. A large group of farmers doesn’t take long to weld up steel boxes, which I was very thankful for during our ambushes as I heard the bullets pinging off it around me.

Long story short, almost all of us came back safely. We went through a lot of ambushes, saw a lot of stuff blow up, did a lot of work around our FOB to help keep people safe, but most importantly, efficiently kept the roads clear for the hundreds of military vehicles that daily passed by.

February 4, 2005

Mom received a phone call at 4 am, as the kind people at a small airport in Maine were gracious enough to show up at 6 am and let us use their phones. “Good morning, Mom, I’m in Maine. I’ll be home soon.” A few hours later we would land back in Colorado, step off the plane to the sight of McDonalds logos everywhere, cheeseburgers for all!

I opted not to come home for 2 weeks leave during our year in Iraq, so they put me on the first plane home. Just in time for the Superbowl, and somebody pulled some strings, convincing some people to come in on the weekend and push through our debriefing period. This kept everything moving and just 4 days later, we would leave Colorado.

Tuesday, February 8, 2005

I had asked my parents not to tell anybody I was coming home, though I think everybody figured it out anyway. I was hoping to surprise people. We landed in Bismarck that afternoon, went through the welcome home line with a bunch of Generals and Majors from several military branches, and of course Governor Hoeven and some of his staff. We reached the end of the stairs and looked down at a large crowd of people there to welcome us home, with signs, balloons, cheers, hugs, handshakes, and tears. I found Dad and we took off. We made a quick trip to the mall to grab some things I wanted, and all the looks from everyone that came with that. When you’re dressed in desert camo, and have a good tan the beginning of February, people in ND tend to notice.

We started the trek home, stopping in Carson on the way. My youngest brother had a basketball game that day, so we stopped in to say hi to him and Mom. I was eager to get home though, so we didn’t stay long, and soon I’d find my other brother and sister at home. For the first time in over a year, our family had supper together, all of us at the table again.

My Plan Still Doesn’t Work

I thought my plan would now resume, finishing college and rolling on to whatever came after that, but God had other plans. College became so boring, and I wasn’t learning anything, so I only did 1 year after we got back. In the span of time since, I picked up 2 new MOSs in the National Guard, and worked a variety of jobs, including farm work, filling anhydrous ammonia tanks, electrician, computer repair, web design, basketball coach, youth leader, internet web app bug testing, and more.

Through it all, I’ve seen God’s presence at my side. I’ve made more than my fair share of mistakes, some of which I’m still paying for, and will be paying for a few years yet. College still crosses my mind, but I first need to settle in on a direction to take with it. But through all the ups and downs, my needs have been taken care of. There’s a lot of wants that would have been nice to have, but I’m surviving, one day at a time, and involved in a variety of things that I love.

There are several things floating around my mind for a few years now that I’d love to do, whether God allows me to do them or not remains to be seen. I think some of them will work out, because I continually see developments that are like pieces of a puzzle fitting together, small steps leading up to the grand prize. I have a ton of fantastic friends, both to hang out with every week, and to chat with online, Twitter has connected me to some amazing people from around the world. I see God at work in my life, even as I continue to mess it up. There are great people around me to challenge me and call me out when I do something stupid, or encourage me when I need it most.

Iraq was an interruption to Shawn’s plan. The 5 years since have been crazy, but it seems God has me right where he wants me, and keeps throwing things in front of me where I can put my skill set to fantastic use. I hope everyone reading this can remember that no matter what comes your way, God is working in it, whether you realize it or not. When your whole world gets turned upside down, it might be so you wind up in a certain place, at exactly the right time. For me, it seems to be Bismarck, ND, in position to help a variety of people move forth in things they have started, but were needing someone to lighten the load, to help them take the next step, to encourage them, and inspire. I hope you come along for the ride and help us too.

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Officially Use Bitly Pro

The other day I wrote about my little work around to use my short url with Bitly, but now Pro is officially here!

Verifying my short url was a snap, I adjusted the A Record a few days ago. It was slightly troublesome to verify the url to track, the html file that I downloaded to add to my site didn’t work, so I finally want to adjust the cname. After several agonizing minutes (I’m an anxious geek, I want to play wi SQUIRREL!), it finally verified, I threw a link into Tweetdeck, and yippee! It works, just as advertised.

Sadly, we do not yet have the option to customize the shortened url further, as you can with the regular bit.ly. So for now, I couldn’t take my post about dating conduct and shorten it to something like http://ttdu.de/dating. No big deal for most, but as I roll out some pages with specific content, I’d like to make a shortened url very specific to that page, regardless of title length. Mostly so I could remember shortened urls at a moments notice for tweeting purposes, rather than having to copy and paste again.

Anyway, bitly.pro is here, and I hope you take the time to check it out. I’m excited to shorten links that can be traced to me at a glance.

When you see something with http://ttdu.de/ in it, you can bet it came from me.

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Proper Date Conduct: Treating Ladies Right

Dear Internet,

I recently went on a date. For those who know me well, you already know that this does not happen often. For those who know me really well, you already know that I wasn’t sure if it was a date when it started.

How can I not know if it’s a date? Well, maybe it’s because I go on so few of them that I’m not totally sure what constitutes a date. Maybe it’s because I have a deep desire to get to know someone before we start dating (but trust me, there was no shortage of communication between us after we first met), and the date happened relatively quickly after we met. How did I realize it was a date? I went with my initial feeling of ‘we’re hanging out,’ but having no oppositon to it being a date if she called it such. Later that night, she referred to it as a date, so I’m going with that. I doubt she realized that’s how I was going about the evening, but I have only one regret about it.

But, internet, I’m getting sidetracked. This is a touchy subject in today’s culture, how should a guy treat a girl on a date? What’s the proper conduct?

Don’t get me wrong here, I’m an old school kind of guy. Open the door for her, properly escort her from place to place (I bring this up because we walked across a lot of ice, don’t let her fall), hug or not (again, old school, take it very slow with the kissing), give her your jacket when she’s cold (her teeth were chattering, so I went out in my t-shirt, despite her objections and insistence I wear the jacket), should I pay for everything myself? But what if she doesn’t want that treatment?

This is where it gets tricky, I think. It seems to me that some girls have been through some stuff in their lives, and are fiercely independent. Maybe they don’t want the door opened for them. They might think they didn’t prepare for the night well enough if I give them might jacket. Some modern women are just very self sufficient, and feel a bit insulted if us guys do too much for them. Others may be insulted if we don’t do those things for them. Others might not care one way or another, and just think that it’s sweet.

My use of social media makes things dicey too. I can’t help myself. I’m a smart guy, so I keep things vague, you’d have to know one of us pretty well to really figure anything out, but I don’t exactly hold back from hopping on Twitter/Facebook and say I’m going out with a girl tonight. Definitely don’t say anything I might regret later. But all my online friends really know is I’m going out, I’m a bit nervous/excited, and she’s smart and pretty.

People I talk to face to face, however, know more. It’s a more personal connection when I can see them, and I know I can trust them. I’m sure she’s told some of her friends about the night too (hopefully good things).

Anyway, how should us guys act on a date? I consider myself a chivalrous guy, and want to act as such, but I don’t want my date to feel uncomfortable either.

Maybe I’m over thinking it. Maybe all guys wonder about this stuff, and we just don’t talk about it. I don’t know, I’m just expressing a lot of stuff that’s been mixing through my head more than usual for about 4 days.

What was my 1 regret from the date? I didn’t start it by praying with her. Say whatever you want about me, I’m counter cultural like that, so deal with it. It’s simply something I decided I wanted to do while reading Joshua Harris’s excellent book, Boy Meets Girl. Fellow believers in Christ should understand, if the rest of the world doesn’t, that’s fine.

Regardless of how you feel about the previous paragraph, please comment here about what you think. Talk about me as much as you want, but if you know who the girl I was out with is, please respect her privacy and leave her name and any identifying details out of the conversation. Just because I live on the internet doesn’t mean everyone else does.

Thanks internet,

Shawn

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Geek Without Cell Phone

I don’t have a cell phone.

I haven’t had a cell phone for a year.

The only reason I think about having a cell phone is lack of wifi.

For the most part, I don’t miss it. The first few weeks without it took a small bit of adjusting. But armed with an iPod Touch and Google Voice, I have stayed connected enough. Sporadic wifi access on the go allows me to check text messages and “read” voicemail (transcription is a wonderful thing).

It helps that I’m not a fan of talking on phones. Never have been. Twitter, Facebook, text messages, email, those are simple, concise methods of communication. Too often a phone call can take 5 minutes or more, even though the purpose of the call was completed within 30 seconds. Also, unless you record your calls, you can’t easily look back at what you said, should you need to remember.

There are many people who still can’t grasp that I haven’t had a phone. I’ve simply had Google Voice set to run through Skype. If you’ve had a phone conversation with me over the last 12 months, I was probably in front of the computer, using Skype. Recently I picked up an Ooma Telo though. Partly because the Ooma has always intrigued me, partly because it will offer me some flexibility for future plans that I hope work out, and partly because I like gadgets. It didn’t hurt that on the day I bought it, Ooma announced new features are coming, like better integration with Google Voice.

How many of my fellow geeks could care less about their phone’s voice capability? Just admit it, you spend all day checking email, Facebook, Twitter, and other social web stuff. I’m finding more reason to have a cell phone now, but only because I want to check into foursquare, and many places don’t have wifi access.

It has been healthy to be disconnected though. I still find myself constantly pulling out my iPod to check things whenever I can, but when I have no connection to the net, I pay more attention to the things around me, I experience more of life. As hard as it may be for us geeks to admit, there is more to life.

So I don’t have a cell phone. I usually don’t miss it. If I get a cell phone again, I have absolutely no plan to include a voice package with it, only data. I challenge you to try it. Live without a cell phone. See how well you can survive.

Besides, that’s $100 every month that I no longer hand over to Verizon.

Time to use that wonderful comment section (where you can simultaneously post your comment to Twitter, Facebook, and other places. You’re welcome). How do you feel about your cell phone? Is it still worth having?

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In A Rut?

What happened to me? I’m still the same guy, Christian, geek, early adopter, rural America advocate, sports lover, but things changed. Habits. Creative mojo. Time allocation.

Some of these things are easy enough to change. Time allocation is always in flux, depending upon what projects I’m working on and how quickly they need to be completed. What is bothersome is how much of my time is now spent contemplating, rather than doing. In some regards, contemplation is great, but when you start over thinking things, some stuff needs to change. I need to get back to decision making from the gut, and living with it. Besides, if something isn’t working, it’s easy enough to change later. This is the beauty of CSS.

Creative mojo is tougher. I have come to learn that I work better in open spaces. Quality of work, inspiration, great ideas, efficiency, I just do better in areas I can spread out in a little. That died, a lot, when I moved. My work area is now a small fraction of what it once was. Ever so slowly, I am coming up with better ways to organize things, making it feel bigger than it is, but it’s still not the same. And a north facing window has no comparison to a south facing window. I miss the changing light throughout the day as the sun shifted across the sky.

Most disturbing of all though, are my habits. Before the move, and the blog database that tanked about the same time, I felt like I was finally developing a good groove amongst RSS feeds, Friendfeed, Twitter, and blogging. First off, the move really messed things up. Between not doing the things I was accustomed to before, particularly at Church and Youth Group, and adjusting into a different set of things I was doing (now at a different Church and Youth Group, though a large quantity of the stuff are basically the same tasks).

Twitter habits are particularly bothersome though. I once did a significant amount of link sharing on Twitter. While I still share a lot, much of it is different content, and not as much ‘look at the cool thing I found in my feed list!’ This can partially be traced back to not actively reading feeds like I used to. I find myself spending more and more time on the iPod marking things to read on the computer, and less time actually reading them. This also impacts my Friendfeed use, which has dropped off a cliff. I really like Friendfeed too.

But back to Twitter. I don’t know if it’s the rapid influx of less geeky people, or a lot of people spending different amounts of time on Twitter, at different times of day, or just that I’m tending to use it more earlier in the day than I used to, but the conversation is diminishing. I used to frequently be part of 50 tweet bursts amongst 15 different people, and learn something fantastic in the process. These days any conversation tends to be more in the 15-20 tweet range, and amongst 5 people at best. Definitely a lower value in Twitter this way.

Through it all, I’m realizing that several somethings need to change. Maybe I just need a catalyst to shake me out of a rut, as I type this, changing my Tweetdeck color scheme comes to mind. Maybe removing the Facebook column in Tweetdeck too (and killing most of my Facebook activity in the process).

Any thoughts? How do I get out of a rut?

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Christmas Gift #Fail

Hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas! I celebrated mine locked up in the apartment as the wind blew and the snow fell. For nearly 2 full days, much of North Dakota saw the roads in a “no travel advised” condition. I94, I29, and Highway 83 were all shut down. Today we got to dig out. Of course, here in Bismarck, many people still remain stuck at home, because the city leaves a lot to be desired when cleaning the side streets. (my little home town would at least make a single pass down the middle of the street, giving you a chance to get somewhere).

Anyway, I haven’t seen any of my family in over a week, when they all just happened to be in town. I’m sure somebody got me a present, but I have no idea what it may be. Nevertheless, I’ve had a lot of time to think the last couple days, while I should’ve been serving up blog posts for you. Something that amuses me as I look back, is bad gifts.

Not that people don’t put thought into these, but most people who think they know me really well, don’t know me very well at all. I have one friend who is a notable exception, but we’ve been thinking alike for nearly a decade. It’s odd, because as Apple guys, we’ve been taught to ‘Think Different.’ Oh well.

Anyway, the bad gifts. Some just boggle my mind. Like cookbooks. I know how to cook, and I can cook pretty well. But I don’t like taking a lot of time to do so. If it takes more than 10-15 minutes, you’ve lost me. So why people give me cookbooks year after year astonishes me. I never use them, some of them I’ve given away to other people who want them. I’m sure there are some fantastic recipes in them, but if I want to cook something new, it will be something I see somewhere, and I’ll find the recipe online. Beyond that, most everything I make is something I memorized how to make years ago. If you want to give someone a cookbook, think of my sister. She’ll use it. somebody else.

Some gifts could be good, but they’re just horrible timing. Or they don’t serve enough of a purpose. Or both.

I once got an electric ice scraper. Typically, as a gadget lover, this would be amazing. However, I got that 3 days before I left for Iraq. And it doesn’t really scrape. It has the basic shape of an ice scraper, but it has a coil like you’d find in an oven. That coil will scratch glass, leaving me unable to actually scrape ice with it. It also takes a really long time to warm up. I learned this from the one time I was able to use it. We had a huge ice storm come through, and when I went home 2 weeks later (that’s right, the one time I needed it, it wasn’t with me), I used it to get the ice off of my mirrors. It took about 20 minutes to do both mirrors, holding it flush to the mirror until the ice softened enough to attack with a real ice scraper.

Side note: The year I went to Iraq was the same year I was given (in total) a dozen packs of playing cards. The only cards I play are solitaire and free cell, very rarely, and on the computer. This is not a secret.

Perhaps the most bothersome thing about those gifts is that they all came (though the cookbooks still come) when I was sending out wish lists (I still add to my Amazon wish list throughout the year, which needs to be cleaned up). I did all the work, creating a web page with a prioritized list including pictures, a link to the cheapest place I could find it, and a link to Amazon. I’d send out an email to everyone who might possibly get me a gift (though few ever did, which is totally fine and probably better, there are better people to spend money on than me) and…….

…never once did I get anything on a wish list. They weren’t extravagant. Nearly every item on them would be under $30. But, as they say, it’s the thought that counts.

I’ve gotten some good gifts too though. I don’t really play Operation Simpsons, but I take it along to parties and other people love it, which is great. I’ve been given some fantastic movies too, Boondock Saints springs to mind.

But not having gotten any presents yet this year, I still have hope that among them might be The Smashing Book, or an electric can opener, or cash. Cash would be fantastic at this point in my life.

But none of it really matters anyway, does it? The point of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, who came to earth to die for our sins, that we all might have the opportunity to gain eternal life in heaven. As commercialized as this holiday has become, we tend to forget. But Christ’s birth is one gift that didn’t fail, and I hope we all remember that.

But for everyone’s entertainment, hit the comments. What are some terrible gifts you’ve gotten? How about some great ones?

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I’m Back! TTD Soft Launch

Hello everyone! Did you miss me? A lot has happened since you last saw me blogging here.

I’m still not sure what happened, but in early August, my database disappeared. For those who don’t know, the database is kind of a big deal. It’s one of the very core pieces of necessity to hold the site together and make it do what it does. Anyway, I woke up one morning and it was gone. Worse yet, I was just starting to think that my practice (or un-practice) of not backing up anything on my blog needed to change, and was going to start doing it that very week.

Turns out there is an alternative to better late than never. Sometimes never means never.

So if you’ll look around, you’ll see that EVERYTHING that I ever blogged about is no longer here. Gone. Disappeared. Kaput. No more.

Fortunately, I will be able to repost some of it, because it had been cross posted elsewhere. So if something in the next few weeks looks familiar, it’s from sheer luck that I am able to repost stuff that I have already written. Also, anyone who has linked to my posts in the past, well, those links will most likely result in a 404 now. Hopefully I can quickly get some fresh content up here so that 404 page can lead them to something interesting anyway.

But I’m back, I’m blogging, and as usual, still tweaking things. I moved to Bismarck, ND the middle of August, promptly lost a lot of creative mojo, got swamped with a lot of random stuff needing to be done, dove head first into volunteer work at my new Church, and this blog sort of got pushed to the side. I finally found a bit of time in November to start piecing things back together, then found WP Remix, the theme I am currently using. Switching to WP Remix brought me back to square one in December, but I plugged away at it, and finally have something to show for it.

Triple Dudes

Single Dude

But as I already mentioned, still tweaking. With the two obvious examples, the pictures on the home page and the main blog page. These need to be changed, and I’m not quite sure what I want to do with them yet.

This is where you come in. Use your creative process to come up with something refreshingly unique, or just vote for something already listed, or both. I’ll take your votes under very heavy consideration. Feel free to hit up my rocking new comment section to discuss it too, I’m pretty excite to have JS-Kit’s Echo comments on here, I’m eager to see how they work out for me.

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