blogging

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A New Venture

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Way back in March of 2008 I began this blog by saying, “starting a blog is tantamount to saying what the world needs is more of me and my opinion.” I rarely blog anymore. Not even once a month. So somehow it feels like the world is just not getting enough of me. ;)Since the world is not getting enough of me, and since I do have a need to teach that is not being fulfilled to the degree that I would like, and since one of my friends is quite persistent, I have started a podcast.

The podcast is called UnApologetic, and you can find it on the nascent Introspection.tv podcast network.  The goal is for each episode is for me to answer a question submitted by a listener.  The introductory episode is up and very soon the second will be up.  You can find it here (here is the link on iTunes)

This is my first attempt at something like this. Consequently there are plenty of issues with this first “real episode.”  I really belabored my point a couple of times, missed some facts and, most significantly, I need to learn to moderate my tone. I will get better.

In order to get better though, I need questions.  If I’m going to keep answering one question per episode, I need more questions.

I am actually quite gifted at making difficult things simpler.  I hope that by listening I can clarify thingsm I also hope that I can help strengthen your faith .

Here is what I’m asking from you: -Listen to it -Forgive my mistakes. (I’ll work on them) -If you are using iTunes, rate the show -Send me questions -If you have graphic design skills, donate me some cover art or a logo

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Prediction Results 2012

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Each year on my blog I like to predict what will happen in the coming year.  I Invite my readers to make predictions in the comments.   I should have posted this a while ago but better late than never.  Let’s see how we all did. First …my predictions

UK basketball wins their 8th NCAA championship  - Yes Go Cats The UK football team will be no better than 7-5 and Joker Phillips will be fired - Yes Even though this is 2012, the world will still be here to make predictions about late next December - Yes I will go on a date this year – Sadly, No A passive 3-D TV comes out from a major brand (i.e. one with cheap glasses). Even so, nobody cares about a 3-D TV and they sell only because you can’t buy non-3-D TVs – Here’s how right I was, I actually had to google this to see if it happened Google+ remains irrelevant but doesn’t get shut down – Also yes.  I am on fire so far The Hobbit will be the number one movie next year.  Battleship (Yes, a movie about a board game), The Bourne Legacy, The Hunger Games, Spiderman (Again?) will all be in the top 10. – Wow, I was way off on this one. Only the Hobbit & Hunger Games were in the top 10 Republicans will make gains everywhere, but… - Yes Barack Obama is reelected president - Yes By year’s end I will derive more than 20% of my income from speaking.  – Sadly, wrong on this one too. I earned just under 3% of my income from speaking this year I will weigh less when writing 2013 predictions than I do today – This is a bit of good news I do weigh less.  Not much, but less

Overall I was 7-3 on predicting the future.  That’s .700; if I was a coach I would be highly paid.

How did my readers do at predicting the future?

Daniel Knoll I predict that i will still be single – Correct, although I say it’s just on a technicality Ryan UNC will make it to or past the Elite 8. - Yes The Panthers will go 8-8 or better. – Nope, close though 7-9 I will have a girlfriend or at least a real date.  – Got it because you hedged your bets. Date yes, girlfriend no The Dark Knight Rises will be the #1 movie of the year. The Hobbit will be #1 in December. (If it’s released in December, can it be #1 for the year?) Star Trek will be top 10. Skyfall (James Bond) will be top 20. – Dark Knight was #2, Hobbit definitely was December’s winner, Star Trek didn’t come out, Skyfall was #4.  So I’ll give you a No, Yes, Push, Yes Community and The Office will be cancelled – Not sure about Community’s official status, the Office is in its final season so I guess that is another push, and  Yes At least one glasses-less 3D tv will be available but will be more than $2,000 – as far as I know there are no Glasses-less 3D TV Apple will release Macbooks or iMacs with retina displays. - yes The world will not end on Dec. 21, 2012. – Yes

Ryan was 7-3-1 (.700) which means we are equal at prognostication

Roland UK wins the National Championship in Men’s Basketball. – Yes w00t! The UK women’s basketball team makes the Final Four. – Nope They were one game shy The Packers repeat as Super Bowl Champions. - Nope The Reds win the NL Central division. - Yep Mathis and I attend a baseball game in St. Louis. – No, although we had it on the schedule for a while I finish higher than Mathis in fantasy football. – No, mathis was 4th, Roland was 8th was it your worst season ever? Mathis speaks in at least 7 different churches – Yes, I spoke in 8 churches Mathis visits a new state – No new state this year All four guys that have posted in here go on a real date this year – Sorry to let you down, but I did not get a date, I even got turned down for 2 blind dates   That makes Roland 3-6 (.333) If this was baseball he’d probably be an all-star

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Prediction Results 2011

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On the last week of each year on this blog I make predictions about the coming year.  I invite my readers to do the same.  This is a recap of those predictions and how accurate I turned out to be.

  • The number 1 movie will be Pirates of the Caribbean.  Green Hornet in the top 5. The usual suspects like Harry Potter, Transformers, and Twilight will all be in the top 10 Pirates was #4, Green Hornet was #24, the other three were in the top 5.  I’ll give myself half credit for this one
  • Facebook will go crazy with 11:11:11 11/11/11 stuff I’m the only person I saw make a post about it, so I guess that one is wrong
  • Some tablet computer running Android will be a genuine alternative to the iPad I’m tempted to give myself credit for the Kindle Fire, but it’s way too early to tell, so I’ll call this one another loss
  • The iPhone will move to an additional carrier but Andriod will have greater market share at year’s end Bingo
  • The ratings for American Idol will be off by at least 25%.  It won’t be canceled but will not return with the same judges in 2012. I could not have been more wrong about this one.  Idol ratings were only off about 11% and people who actually watch like the judges.
  •  There will be at least 10 announced Republican candidates for president.  No democrat will run against Obama Yep
  • Kentucky will not be in the Final 4 I am exceedingly happy that I was wrong about this one
  • Bret Favre will actually retire…probably…maybe…maybe not…yeah he will. Yes finally, but the media keeps trying to drag him back
  • The world will not end on May 21 no matter what the billboards say I’m typing, so I guess the world didn’t end
  • I will catch a 7 lb. bass

    I caught the biggest bass of my life, but it was only about 5 lbs

  • I will not still be working at the Wood Shed at the end of 2011 Wrong
  • I will weigh less at the end of 2011 than at the beginning Wrong

A couple of my regular readers made predictions about the coming year

Roland predicted:

  • Cats make the Elite 8 Yes, and good news
  •  Reds finish higher than Cardinals in NL Central in 2011 Cardinals finished second, to the Brewers. Still won the World Series
  •  Mathis still lives in KY on 12-31-2011 Not only do I live here, but I bought a house.  I think they call that putting down roots
  •  Mathis doesn’t complete his goal of visiting all 50 states in 2011 but does add to his total number of states he has visited No new states, so this one is Yes and No
  • I will finish higher than Mathis in fantasy football in 2011 Socialist Tortillas 10-6, Titletown Tailgaters 7-9. The season is not over, but I have this one sewn up.
  • One of the following 3 teams – the Cowboys, Globetrotters, or Kisha and Jen, will finish in the top 3 of the All-Star Amazing Race Season 18 Kisha & Jen won

Ryan predicted:

  • UNC will make it to the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament (Basketball) The evil Tar Heels lost to my beloved University of Kentucky Wildcats in the round of 8
  • Panthers will win at least 4 games. Panthers are currently 6-9
  • I will get a girlfriend. Just like last year, I’m saying if so you are being awfully secretive about her
  • I agree that Pirates will be the #1 movie. Pirates was 4
  • A full size (30″+), glasses-less 3D tv will hit the market. It will cost more than $2k. Nope
  • Chuck will be renewed for a 5th season. The 5th and final season is currently airing

Looks like the final tally is that I was 4-6-1,  Roland was 4-3, Ryan was 3-3

The lesson you should learn is this.  If you are looking for solid predictions about the future, go somewhere else.  Cause really we are just guessing around here.

That's a lot of blogging

This is my 500th blogpost.  I'm not really sure that I ever expected to make it 500 posts when I began but here I am.  Here is a summary of what has gone down over the last 3 years. I began blogging on March 3, 2008 That is 150 weeks 3.3 posts per week 135 Best Web Junks

Over the course of my 500 posts there have been 731 comments.  Here are my top commenters.  They represent 54% of all comments to this blog and I am glad to have them as regular readers.  (I was only going to list my top 5 but 5-7 are very close in total comments)

  1. Ryan – 183
  2. Caroline – 66
  3. Webhick – 55
  4. Adam – 32
  5. Phil – 20
  6. Roland – 19
  7. Ashley – 18

My most popular day ever is still What’s the baby using from all the way back in August 20, 2008. It is the only time I ever had more than 150 views in one day

My top 10 posts ever are

  1. Bell's Palsy - 1 Year later
  2. What's the Baby Using?
  3. My Experience with the Miller's Analogies Test (This post will be #2 by the end of January)
  4. A Conversation I Keep Having
  5. Book Review: Confessions of an Economic Hitman
  6. 100 Things to do Before I Die (okay...actually about 40)
  7. Using twitter for church
  8. What Should the Government Do
  9. Help me name my Fantasy Football team
  10. Dual Book Review: The God Question & The Reason For God

I don't know if there will be another 500 posts.  I certainly don't blog the way I used to but I have no plans to stop.  To all of you who have been regular commenters or readers who don't feel the need to comment, thank you.

Seriously, I would have stopped writing stuff a long time ago if not for the encouragement I get from my stats and my readers.

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What You People Come Here For (December Edition)

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Most months I post the more interesting search queries that brought people to my blog.  I have not edited these in any way, simply cut and pasted.   Anything you see in parenthesis is my commentary.  I always wonder why people were searching these terms in the first place, then I definitely wonder why these searches pointed people to my site.

  • bad decision dinosaur
  • "do you care about my answers "

And in a new feature I am posting the most entertaining comment I noticed in my spam filter.  No idea why people spam me with bizarre things.  Without any further ado, I present the spam comment of the month:

makes me want to drink alchoholic beverages

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NaNoWriMo Take 3

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I just realized that it is November and we need to start another collaborative story on the blog.  This was incredibly fun for the last 2 years.  The only thing I regret about it is that it has only lasted a few days each time.  Here is a link to the 2009 story, and the 2008 version. Please write something.  The story going in unexpected ways is what makes it fun.

We will do this the same as we have for the last 2 years.  There is a tab at the top "collaborative story" that contains the story.  You add your portion to the comments and I will place it in the body of the story.

More rules

  1. No one can write two consecutive portions
  2. Portions may not be longer than 400 words
  3. Be aware of continuity.  Please read the story and relate your section to the rest.  We don’t want this to turn out like Snoopy’s novel.   Not too many meanwhiles etc.
  4. No quick endings.  Please don’t have aliens destroy the world, or some sort of catastrophy to end the story short
  5. Please don’t negate the contributions of others, (e.g. Then he woke up…it was all a dream)
  6. Don't worry about continuity.  This story will feature the same William, but he doesn't have to work for the Wisconsin board of tourism and cheese relations, he doesn't have to know anything about particle physics and he doesn't have to even know who Michael Strahan is.  This will be like the Simpsons where Homer still works at the nuclear power plant even though h has held 100 other jobs and been fired dozens of times.
  7. Careful of content/language.  Try to write your portions without swears or non PG-13 content.
  8. I reserve the right to edit your portion for spelling grammar and format.
  9. Have fun

Seriously...please participate!

 

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What You People Come Here For (September & October Edition)

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This is a semi regular feature in which I post the most interesting searches that brought people to my blog in the previous month.  i haven't done this for a while so now I have a pretty long list.  This list is simply cut & pasted not edited in any way.  Whatever you see in parentheses is my commentary.

  • beaker tattoos
  • flee tattoo large
  • tattoos of slot machines (Seriously, one post about tattoos  out of nearly 500 and people come to my blog daily looking for info?)
  • ice age platypus
  • baby running with glue meme (I know nothing about this one)
  • this morning the labrador looked like it (I'd really like to see the rest of this search)

And now to my favorite spam comment of the month.  You really should see some of the bizarre tings that appear there, it is amazing that somebody crafts that stuff in hopes that it will make it to a blog.  Without any further the best of the last 2 months.

keep it real, iight

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What You People Come Here For (August Edition)

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It's been a few months, but I usually make a list of the interesting searches that have brought people to my blog in the previous month and share my favorites with you.  What you see is simply cut and pasted, there is no editing.  Anything you see in parentheses is my commentary on the search.

  • is it bad if my eyes water with bell's p (I had Bell's palsy 3 years ago and my right eye waters every time I eat, so I assume it's not bad)
  • dunkaroos manufacturing plant
  • cat mario
  • say the word pentateuch (pent-uh-took)

This time around I present a new feature.  This is my favorite quote from my spam filter during the prior month. I chose this one because it almost seems like it could make sense in some absurd world, but sadly it's just an attempt to get my readers to click on an ad for some drug.  So without any further ado I present to you the spam comment of the month:

you here bad At you a uneasy choice

(BTW: I think this would be a brilliant idea for a web comic.  Somebody with talent illustrate the ridiculous comments from the spam filter)

Am I A Former Blogger?

A few of my friends have commented that I don't really blog anymore.  A quick look at my calendar from the past month confirms that.  In fact, in July there was only one post that was not "best Web Junk."

I realize that this has happened.  The best way to explain my lack of posts is by simply explaining that my life has changed greatly in the last few months.  I have moved twice, I have begun 2 new jobs, and not much in my life is very settled even now.

Writing, even if it's only a personal blog like this one, requires discipline.  I put a lot of thought, time, and effort into the posts I write, and I don't want to half-do it.  Maybe nobody cares if I write poorly thought out or poorly constructed junk, but I do.

I can't promise that I am going to go back to my old pace of blogging anytime soon.  I do, however, still consider myself a blogger and I will make an effort to get back to it.

If you are a regular reader, thanks for hanging in there.  One of the reasons I work at blogging is that I feel like my small audience deserves the best I can do.

Oh yeah, and you can still keep coming here on Fridays to see what I enjoyed the most on the web this week.

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What You People Come Here For (Feb-Mar Edition)

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Usually once a month I like to take a look at all the interesting searches that brought people to my site.  I put them here just as they appeared I copy and paste them.  Whatever you see in parentheses is my commentary.

  • tattoos gcr (This one is here because of the image it conjures up.  I can totally see Dr. Akin rocking his Great Commission Resurgence tattoo)
  • tattoos za raka
  • funny junk cat
  • dizziness after loud dog bark  (I feel sorry for this person)
  • funny buying
  • the church of the platypus (I think platypoda go to Greek-Orthoxox churches usually)

Blogging

I started blogging 2 years and 2 weeks ago and in that period I have posted 397 posts.  That's about 3.7 posts per week.  That represents a significant investment of my time and effort.  And I have posted on a wide variety of topics.  Basically, if I can formulate a clear thought and think I can make it interesting, I'll blog about it, whether it is fishing, the Southern Baptist Convention, my life, theology, basketball, or whatever. However, in the last 2 weeks I have posted nothing except best web junk.

To say that a lot has been going on in that time would be an understatement.  And in the next few weeks many changes are coming to my life.  So consider this post as an explanation and a warning. I am not giving up the blog, a few of you actually enjoy it and read it regularly.  I am, however, going to be blogging less for the foreseeable future.  I have 3 posts planned. ( Two of them are even outlined, which is as many as usual.)

I'm not going anywhere, just slowing down a bit. And one day I'll be back blogging at the same clip.

If you feel like I need more content, feel free to submit a guest blog

Thanks for reading

What you People Come Here For (January Edition)

Each month I collect the interesting searches that bring people to my blog and share them with you unedited.  They are simply cut-and-pasted exactly as they appeared.  Whatever you see in parenthesis is my commentary.

  • the video of funny picturse
  • "if you're in a spiritual slump, let me
  • mythbusters tattoo armpit (Lots of people curious about this one)
  • right wrong tattoo
  • what jeremy said before die ?
  • what is means when life falls apart (I think the definition "is" only changes when Bill Clinton is talking)

I was a bit hard on the typos this month.  But they amuse me

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What You People Come Here For (November Edition)

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Each month I collect the interesting searches that bring people to my blog and share them with you unedited.  They are simply cut-and-pasted exactly as they appeared.  Whatever you see in parenthesis is my commentary. Again this month it seems like a huge number of searches included the word "tattoo."  Lots are weird, but only a few are funny.

  • tattoos with a purpose
  • fun with fire ants
  • wolverpuss (the legacy of Webhick)
  • mission: add me on facebook!!! facebook. (I don't have the slightest idea what this could be.  And why all the punctuation?)
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The beginning

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Here is part one of this year's story.  Have fun adding to it, it's in a tab at the top -

It was November and William was out for his daily walk through the neighborhood.  It was cold this morning but walking through the neighborhood was better than a treadmill and looking at the same wall for an hour.  As he arrived back at his house he checked the mail and found a package.

There was no return address on the package and he didn't remember ordering anything so he opened it as he was going into the house.

The package contained a t-shirt that said, "I'm with stupid," a note that read "wear this on your trip," and a plane ticket to Brazil.

"At least it's not a train ticket," he thought, recalling a frightening dream he had about a year ago.  He began to debate in his mind whether he wanted to be a part of another mysterious adventure.  The ticket was for a flight tomorrow at 7 a.m. so he had a while to make up his mind.

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NaNoWriMo Project take 2

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Remember this? That story did not go at all the way I expected it to.  I certainly didn't see Michael Strahan showing up.  It was kinda fun

Well it's November again, NaNoWriMo, so let's take another crack at writing a collaborative story.  Again this year I'll make a tab at the top with a link to the story.  You add your contribution in the comments and I'll move it up to the body of the story.

The one thing we need to make it better is your contribution.

Here are the rules.  same rules as last year:

  1. No one can write two consecutive portions
  2. Portions may not be longer than 400 words
  3. Be aware of continuity.  Please read the story and relate your section to the rest.  We don’t want this to turn out like Snoopy’s novel.   Not too many meanwhiles etc.
  4. No quick endings.  Please don’t have aliens destroy the world, or some sort of catastrophy to end the story short
  5. Please don’t negate the contributions of others, (e.g. Then he woke up…it was all a dream)
  6. Careful of content/language.  Try to write your portions without swears or non PG-13 content.
  7. I reserve the right to edit your portion for spelling grammar and format.
  8. Have fun

Finally – Try this. even if you don’t think this is your thing or if you aren’t creative, write one sentence.  Give it a shot.  I think this might be fun.

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What you People Come Here For (October Edition)

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Each month I collect the interesting searches that bring people to my blog and share them with you unedited.  They are simply cut-and-pasted exactly as they appeared.  Whatever you see in parenthesis is my commentary.  This month it seems like 40% of searches  included the word tattoo.  But only a few were funny.  Really it was a pretty boring month of searches overall

  • fence tattoos (really? a tattoo of a fence?)
  • dinosaur conversation
  • "is america being punk'd" obama (No idea why this would bring anyone to my blog)
  • tattoo speaker
  • who is john galt tattoo (I have no idea)