Still here...

…and I have some thoughts I'd like to post here. But I'm too tired tonight. Oh, KDE 3.1 came out today — go download it using the time you would have spent here.

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Merry Christmas!

Just thought I'd wish everyone in Bloggerland a very merry Christmas! In particular (Christopher gave me this idea from his Christmas post) I'd like to wish the following bloggers a very merry Christmas:

• Ciaran Hamilton - Hope you have a great Christmas over on your side of the “pond.” Thanks for all the interesting stuff you post on your blog.
• Kevin Hartwig - Merry Christmas Kevin… my day is certainly not complete without my dose of Sakamuyo.
• Christopher - Last, but not least, Happy Christmas to you “Mr. Wright.” Thanks for the idea of wishing my blog friends a merry Christmas, and for your ever interesting blog. And, also for wading through my sometime techno-jabber filled blog.

Have a blessed Christmas everyone!

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Christmastime is Here!

Well, it's the most wonderful time of the year, and I bought myself a new CD. The last few years, Michael W. Smith's “Christmastime” song has caught my ear on the radio, and so I finally picked up the CD. I was a bit disappointed at first that Smitty didn't sing more on the CD, but once I got over that, I must say it is a very nice disc.

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Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving with lots of Turkey, Mashed Potatos, Pumpkin pie, and family… I sure did. That in itself is worth being thankful for. And with that, let the Christmas season begin…

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Nine Eleven

Be still and know that He is God Be still and know that He is faithful
Consider all that he has done
Stand in awe and be amazed
And know that He will never change
Be still
     —Steven Curtis Chapman, “Be Still and Know”

I wrote up a small piece on 9/11 at Open for Business. You can find it here.

Still here.

Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart do? Will I dance for your Jesus, or in awe of you be still
Will I stand in your presence, or at your knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine, I can only imagine…
      - mercyme, I can only imagine

It has been awhile since I said anything, so I thought I might as well say something. I feel rather like waxing sentimental, the end of summer always makes me feel that way. The festivities of the summer are over, the brilliant color explosion of autumn are still on their way. Its kind of a time for quiet reflection, considering half the year has now been spent - either for good or bad. Hopefully more good than bad.

For me, its been a busy year. In the last six months, I started CS-FSLUG (with the help of the dedicated team of JW, Jerry Kreps, Ciaran Hamilton, and Jonathan Drews); revamped Open for Business into a mostly original content outlet, and pushed on some behind the scenes work toward getting FreeMoz (f/k/a OpenMoz) going again. LinuxDailyNews also came into existance - after an exhausting few weeks of work - in early July.

I've also spent a great deal of time on consulting work, which is really booming at the moment. I've hit the niche of designing sites for speakers and storytellers, and that seems to promise to continue to keep my company busy for the rest of the year.

On the RnR side of things… I've also taken two wonderful trips to the Missouri Ozarks outside of Branson, MO; and traveled to Indiana for the wedding of my grandfather. Pretty busy travel schedule - at least for me - I usually don't travel much (the amazing communications powers of the Internet prevent the need most of the time).

Anyway, that brings me to the present. Several questions loom ahead. I've tossed around the idea of launching another site, although I fear I may take on too much and live (or maybe not) to regret that. Also, while FaithTree.com has done alright, I would like to think of ways to bring those who have quit visiting back - and to bring in new visitors. Google AdWords are my current idea for bringing new people in - certainly FT hasn't been publicized much since its launch over a year ago. Also in the near future, I'd like to see what I might need to get a press pass for next year's LWCE San Francisco…

Oh well, before I bore you, my dear reader, to death; I guess I ought to wrap up this message. I'll try to keep this updated more frequently in the future…

I'm still here

Well, it's been over a month since I posted here, so I thought I should say something. There, I said something. What? You want me to say something actually meaningful? Well, okay…

I've been busy the last month, I went on two trips down to the Table Rock Lake area right outside of Branson, MO, worked on a number of articles for Open for Business, and I've been busy working on various client projects. That combination has kept me pretty busy, preventing me for the most part of doing other tasks such as working on OpenMoz.

Speaking of OpenMoz, depending on my amount of free time, I hope to get some stuff done on it this week. My current goal is to write some command line apps to take care of basic administration until the web-based interface is complete. The first such tool will be a short script to add users to the database and htaccess password list. More on this later…

With Hope

That is not at all how / we thought it was supposed to be We had so many plans for you / we had so many dreams
And now you've gone away / and left us with the memories of your smile
And nothing we can say / and nothing we can do
Can take away the pain / the pain of losing you We can cry with hope / we can say goodbye with hope
'Cause we know our goodbye is not the end
We can grieve with hope / because we believe with hope
There's a place where we'll see your face again
We'll see your face again
— Steven Curtis Chapman, With Hope, Speechless

My cousin passed away yesterday, and it is just hard to actually believe. She had been basically fine until about two weeks ago, and had even been improving a bit last week. Unfortunately she went in to a coma last Monday, and tests showed she was basically brain dead, so she was removed from life support. I do not know if she had accepted Jesus prior to her death.

My family has lost a number of people this past year, and it really makes one focus on the brevity of life. It certainly is something that can be snatched away so quickly - it definately should not be taken for granted.

Which brings me to an important point - if you are reading this, and have not come to faith in Christ - I urge you to consider the evidence for Christianity now, and not put it off. If you are already convinced of Jesus' claims but have not accepted him, I urge you to read The Steps to Faith and learn how to be reborn in Him - don't wait until it is too late.

Hmm...

What happens when you are puzzled about exactly what you are puzzled about? Well, while that question is puzzling in itself, I've been wondering that (I get weird thoughts like this sometimes).

Anyway, I thought I would mention why I never posted the photos I mentioned in my post about the Mayor's Prayer Breakfast. It occurred to me that I probably shouldn't start sticking people's photos on the internet without their permission, and so I decided it would just be easier to skip the whole thing. Sorry.

In other news, I'm looking for a good POS (Point of Sale) or similar program that could do online invoicing and balance tracking for clients (that runs under Linux, I might add). Do you, dear reader, know of such a program?

Day of Anniversaries

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet And a light unto my path. When I feel afraid,
And think I've lost my way.
Still, You're there right beside me.
Nothing will I fear
As long as You are near;
Please be near me to the end.
    -Michael W. Smith, Thy Word

Today marks a number of both good and bad anniversaries for me, so I'm not quite sure what to make of it. My grandmother past away on this day last year which is rather rough. The flip side is that I launched my company's script archive (Uninet Perl Company) five years ago today, and I launched this personal site of mine (in a much smaller form) one year ago today.