I just held the door for Steve. He seemed in high spirits today and even said, “Thank you!” 🙂

(I know, it’s dumb, but I just had to say something.)

I saw an iSight software update pop up in the Software Update control panel tonight, and it got me to thinking. When this little gadget was introduced, I had one within a week or two. It was a semi-impulsive buy and I’ve really enjoyed playing with it and chatting with friends from around the country, as you can see.

But the realization that I almost never use it hit me when I saw that update. I actually thought “Well, I could update, but I’d never reap the benefits of the update since I almost never use the thing.” That’s very unlike me when it comes to technology. The only thing I usually ask when someone offers me software is, “Why couldn’t I have had this yesterday?” So then I started thinking about how I could get more use out of my iSight.

I don’t know why I decided to do it this way. I just had to. Maybe I’ll keep it up a week. Or a day. Or a month. Or a year. I have no way of knowing. All I know is that I’ve found some pretty cool software that can actually detect motion, and then when it detects motion it uploads a photo, waits X minutes (X == 5 in my case) and then checks and does it again if there’s more motion. Pretty sweet!

Come enjoy odd, blurry pictures of me in horrible lighting, frowning down at my screen while you still can.

I’m curious to know how people feel about this, so I want to take an informal poll. Here are my questions. Answer some or all of them:

• How do you feel when an artist writes a song and you don’t understand what the lyrics mean?
• How would you feel if you heard the creator of a song you like claim that the song’s lyrics didn’t really have any meaning at all?
• How would you feel if someone you knew wrote a song, but refused to explain the lyrics to you, or tell you for certain what the song meant?

Just curious to get your answers on those questions.

I’m now hosting five different blogs besides my own on this server, and I’m guessing the community will only grow from here! Please allow me to welcome #4 and #5 to the fray: Helen and Eric Drotning.

Oh, but what happened to a proper introduction?

Steph has known Helen since they were each about seven years old, so obviously they’ve had the time to become pretty close. Basically like sisters for two girls who don’t actually have “blood” sisters. Steph introduced me to Helen a few years back, and she’s absolutely delightful. So when I met Eric through her (awhile after they were engaged) I thought right away he’d be really awesome.

I was so right.

So they’re friends of the family now, as you might imagine. We even took a few pictures at their wedding, just for fun, and they happen to still be on my server. And now, thanks to that link, my site’s bandwidth usage will spike for a few days. 🙂

They both graduated from St. Olaf College’s Music Department, which you may know has quite a good reputation. Eric is a percussionist and a grad student, and Helen is a music teacher.

My only two suggestions to new bloggers, with my sincere apologies if they seem obvious, are:

• Never talk about work-related situations with too much detail
• Never assume a particular person won’t see your entry

So, a big welcome to Helen and a big welcome to Eric! Glad to have you in the blogosphere.

Thank you for your prayers so far, guys. Stephanie has just posted an entry that explains part of what I was talking about the other day. This obviously impacts both of us very deeply, so your continued prayers are greatly appreciated.

It’s hard to know how to feel about things like this when they happen. Part of me thinks that after three miscarriages, I might be kinda used to it by now. Another part of me says, “Do you ever get used to people dying?” I really do think of my kids as “people” even though they never lived outside the womb, and I never got to know them on a personal level. Or at least I haven’t yet. The thought of that prospect–seeing them in Heaven for the first time and getting to know them there–absolutely shakes me to my core.

I could blubber on about “acceptance issues,” and talk about Job and talk about yielding to the Will of God even when we don’t understand it. But I think that would be preaching to the choir, mostly. I may understand it some day. I may not. Right now, I just want to feel some peace, whether it’s peace with understanding or peace without it. And I think it’s on its way.

Hey guys. I just wanted to give a quick request for prayer from all of you. I don’t want to go into specifics out here, but I need you all to pray for peace for me. There are so many things going on in my life, and I just have far too much to do. On top of that, some of the things that I’m trying to do just aren’t going well, and some of it is out of my hands. I don’t want to get into the “What’s going on?” part of it because it wouldn’t be appropriate, but pray for Steph and I to feel some peace in the midst of tumultuous times.

Thank you.

(I’ve been way too busy lately. So much so that it has made me a crabby person. Please forgive my lack of posts, and enjoy this little ditty, courtesy of a gift from Stephanie.)

Sometimes I don’t like being bald. I can think of all sorts of really awesome hairstyles I’d like to try (dreadlocks, the Ewan McGregor look, etc.) but I know I’ll never be able to. Even if my hair was really thick (which it isn’t which is one reason it’s gone now), it still sucks. It’s kinda floppy and poofy and dumb. Never really cooperated with anything but a bowl cut, or a really short trim. That’s just not stylin’.

There are also some days that I really love being bald. I mean, you can’t go wrong looking just a tiny bit more like the big guy (Sans muscles and cool eyebrows), and I even look a bit more like my favorite villain (Sans scar, white face paint, and midget). But a recent gift given to me by Stephanie has really made me love baldness. It’s called The HeadBlade. They’ve created this device that is made specifically for people who shave their heads, and it’s actually fun to use. The shave is close (almost too close, but not that bad) and you’re basically just running your hand over your head, leading with the blade. It’s sweet. You’ve kinda gotta try it to know why it’s cool, but if you ever shave your head for an extended period of time, pick one of these up.