8 Things I’m Passionate About

1. God’s forgiveness
2. Loving my wife the way she wants and needs to be loved
3. Being a dad who reflects the heart of my heavenly Father
4. Hymns, especially those of Charles Wesley
5. Classical (naked eye) astronomy, especially observing Venus (morning star) and watching the moonrise over the ocean.
6. Old Testament Messianic prophecies. I wish I could have been there listening to Jesus himself explaining these on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:27)
7. Rescuing children from sex trafficking (Check out Shared Hope International, and International Justice Mission)
8. Garlic and pretty much any food that contains a generous amount of it

8 Things I Want to Do Before I Die

1. Record and publish the scriptural children’s lullabies I have written for my daughters
2. Publish or at least write down the many night time stories I have told to my daughters, the details of which they remember many months after I have forgotten.
3. Record and publish my original worship songs (about 15 so far)
4. Be healed physically, feel it and know it
5. Take my family to New York City for Christmas, watch the New York City Ballet perform “The Nutcracker”, go skating in Rockefeller Center, eat roasted chestnuts from a street vendor, stay at a fancy hotel, go to a prayer meeting at the Brooklyn Tabernacle.
6. Travel: one or more of the following: ancestral homelands of Cuba, Spain, France; historical tours of Israel, missionary journeys of Paul; go hiking in the Canadian Rockies. Visit Middle Earth or at least New Zealand.
7. See my grandchildren grow up and be a good influence on them (note: my daughters are currently ages 9 and 7).
8. Speak Spanish well enough that people won’t feel embarrassed for me.

8 Things I Say Often

1. “Bless God” (I prefer it to “God Bless”)
2. “Ay, Yay, Yay!” (eye-yigh-yigh, like a Cuban)
3. “Sing it out!”
4. “Papa Loves You”
5. “Cool.”
6. “Wow!”
7. To me life is like a paella. “Pa’ ella, Pa’ ella, Pa’ella” (for her, for her, for her)
8. “I know you haven’t heard this song before but it’s pretty straight-forward. Just follow me.”

8 TV Shows I Recently Watched

We don’t have a TV or cable but I do get DVD’s from the library. Here are some shows I have watched on DVD over the past year.

1. 24 (seasons 1-5, waiting for 6)
2. The Civil War (Ken Burns documentary)
3. Baseball (Ken Burns documentary)
4. Jazz (Ken Burns documentary)
5. Ulyssees S. Grant (An American Experience documentary)
6. Mark Twain (An American Experience documentary)
7. Frank Lloyd Wright (An American Experience documentary)
8. New York (Ric Burns documentary)

8 Songs I Could Listen to Over and Over

1. The Maker of the Universe - Phil Keaggy (based on a beautiful poem by F.W. Pitt)
2. Broken Things - Julie Miller
3. When I Survey the Wondrous Cross - Kathryn Scott (soft arrangement of the Isaac Watts hymn)
4. Handel - Messiah (in its entirety but favorites are the 4 or 5 pieces based on Isaiah 53)
5. Beethoven - Moonlight Sonata
6. Mozart - Andante from Piano Sonata in C K545
7. Dvorak - Largo from New World Symphony No. 9
8. Kabalevsky - A Short Story (short piano song)

8 Things that Attract Me to My Friends

1. They have a sense of humor
2. They appreciate music
3. They have a passionate love for God that inspires me
4. They are honest and transparent
5. They love the classics (literature, music, history)
6. They care more for people than programs
7. They are quick to listen and slow to speak
8. They are givers and not consumers

8 Things I Have Learned (or been reminded of) This Year

1. The Sabbath was made for man
2. Leadership is caught rather than taught
3. My fictional capacity to do things is about 250% of the non-fiction version
4. My capacity to eat is about 180% of what I should eat
5. I need to dwell with my wife with understanding
6. I need to spend quite time in prayer especially when it seems my schedule will not permit
7. God is gracious, compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love
8. I am blessed

8 People I Think Should Do “8″

Mary, Paloma, Anna, Dad, Mom, Liana, JP, Robert

Dear Helena Empty (and Charles and Megan)…

Unfortunately even though I am, as you say, on the cutting edge of technology, I have been burned all too often by being a guinea pig…uh…beta tester…what I mean to say is…an early adopter of new technology. I subscribe to the philosophy of letting other lab rats work out all the defects in a product before I submit myself to such pain.

And, I’m cheap.

But since you asked, here is a link to a really funny video about a guy, maybe a small business owner, who tried to get an iPhone. I hope you enjoy.

View “The Solo Entrepreneur and the iPhone”

Profile: Rick Tuttle of Papasoft at Startup Nation.

You may have different mentors for different areas of your life. You may look to your parents or a relative as an example of how to live. A teacher or a supervisor may become a mentor. One thing is necessary in a mentor: good character. You want someone who will give you an honest assessment and help to teach you right from wrong.

The godly offer good counsel; they teach right from wrong. They have made God’s law their own, so they will never slip from his path.
- Psalm 37:30-31 (NLT)

You won’t (or shouldn’t) just walk up and ask somebody to be your mentor. The right person will simply become a mentor to you as you build a relationship by asking questions and getting to know that person and their life. Watch how that person lives and interacts with others.

Are you a follower of Jesus? If you are, then the right mentor for you is someone who is following Jesus and has followed him for some time.

We use the word “mentor” because Mentor was an advisor of Telemachus in Homer’s Odyssey. However, the perfect example of one we should follow is Jesus the Messiah. Your mentor should be able to say, “Follow me as I follow Jesus.”

Maybe we should change the name. You need a “little Jesus”, not a “mentor”.

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,
but a wise man is he who listens to counsel.
- Proverbs 12:15 (TLB)

:p

I found some good online tutorials at kirupa.com that gave me some concrete examples to follow and I went to town.  Throw in a little ActionScript programming and now I can be pretty dangerous in Flash.

Along the way I’ve also picked up some skills in sound recording, editing and podcasting.  And on a personal note, one other thing that this old dog is learning to do is play the piano.  I’ve been taking lessons once a week for a few months now.  It helps that I play the guitar, know quite a bit of music theory already and I have a good ear.  I wish I would have done it a long time ago but that is neither here nor there.

If you think that life has passed you by and it’s too late to learn something then let this be an encouragement to you: It’s never too late to learn.

His story is similar to mine.  Started out on a Mac and then moved to Windows.  Now back on the Mac.

As an aside, our iMac at Calvary Chapel had a hard drive failure.  All the Windows folks that I have made learn how to use a Mac are now giving me grief.  C’est la vie.  Macs are not perfect.  Just the best for what I do.

It turns out that the It’s a Wonderful Life in its entirety is up on Goolge Videos.  It appears that the movie is in the public domain and the copyright has expired (someone please educate me if I am in the wrong).

We sat down and watched our favorite holiday classic and cried our eyes out as usual. Thanks Google.

Dear Papa,

I see you have a link to Line Rider on your site. Does that mean that it is taking over your life like it is mine?

Slip Sliding Away, Duluth MN

Dear Mr. (or Ms.?) Away…

I assume you are referring to the highly addictive Flash “game” called Line Rider. You’re right, I have provided a link to that “resource” under the del.icio.us links sidebar. (You do know about Delicious right? Web 2.0? Bought by Yahoo? Hmm? If not, then get a clue and read my fascinating thoughts on Web 2.0.)

Anyway, back to your cry for help about Line Rider; the game where your draw the lines that the cute monkey-looking sled rider follows. I have to admit that my kids and I have enjoyed the nifty videos that Line Rider freaks have produced on YouTube and Google Video (sorry for being redundant).

And since I am a “Web 2.0 Professional” I have taken this “tool” for a test run in the effort to learn more about what one can do with Flash. But, since I do not see any immediate revenue-generating opportunities from developing Line Rider skills I would advise that you focus your creative energy elsewhere. Here’s an idea! Maybe you could start a Line Riders Anonymous support group and make it a virtual community. Then all of you sick LR addicts could IM each other when you get the urge to slip ‘n slide.

If that doesn’t work then you may need to get professional counseling. I frankly do not have the bandwith right now so call somebody else.

(now where did I put that pen tablet?)