Why does God gotta be teachin' me humility?

These last few years I've acquired a bad attitude. I frequently find myself judging others for their shortcomings. The funny thing is, I'm not completely oblivious to my own shortcomings, Mainly, I just block them from my consciousness. God unfailingly inserts snippets of clarity into my life on a regular basis. (I'd like to think that most of the time I pick up on them, but that could also be one of my shortcomings.)

Today's lesson is on grammar. Within a half an hour of arriving at work, I was slapped across the face with an email containing, what I considered, horrible grammar. Minutes later, I came across a newsletter that contained a word I had felt been misused: “diametrically”. (Without going into much detail, we use the word “diametral” at work all the time. Some people use the word diametrical in its place. Until today I felt this was completely incorrect, and all users should be punished.) I looked both words up on both Definr & dictionary.com to verify their use. I read the definitions, and son-of-a-gun, I was wrong.

I'm not dumb. I know the right answers. I lack the discipline to stick to God's guidelines. Being humbled, when not expecting it, can be a bitch. But humility is necessary. I found a few verses that illustrate:

Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Philippians 2:3 (English Standard Version)

The reward for humility and fear of the LORD is riches and honor and life. Proverbs 22:4 (English Standard Version)

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. Luke 14:11 (English Standard Version)

God always says it better than I do.

Technorati Tags: Jesus, humility, reflection

A dark day...

What the hell? Why does it seem that my recent days are littered with dark days? To many, this will seem like I'm a whiner, and to a certain degree I am; but this issue is important to me.

Take away all other websites, but leave me my internet radio!

We recently received a memo at work re-stating the computer use policy. Teamed with the purchase of some new internet logging software, management wants to crack down on internet use. Generally speaking I don't have any problem with that. They already filter out Facebook, and I could give a rip about Myspace. Obviously, without the distraction of the internet, there's nothing really else to do except work.

Here's my dilemma. I've been with this particular company for 9 years. I've been listening to internet radio the entire time. I've watched internet radio go from flourishing in the beginning to the almost skeletal state that resides now. I've written several posts celebrating Pandora for its unique idea, and song selection methods. I've been listening to Pandora almost exclusively for the last 3-4 years. I've found that I'm most productive with the headphones on, and Pandora rockin'. I'm able to tune out all the BS that goes on, and concentrate on my work.

I've written before that music is a lifeblood of mine. I get cranky when I don't get my daily allowance; think of it as sleep. It's hard to explain so I won't do it here. Let's just say music plays an extremely important role in my life so a change like this has its adverse affects.

I can hear it now from all 3 of you...”get an MP3 player!” You're actually missing the point. Internet radio contains music I don't have. In the case of Pandora, it's all about music discovery; finding music I might like based on what I do like. Quite often, they're right. The alternatives (read: bit-Torrent) I don't consider practical; not for music discovery. The radio is a joke, so don't even say it.

I stand by my headline, “take any website, just don't take my internet radio.”

Technorati Tags: music, pandora.com, frustration, work

Baby steps...

I have recently re-evaluated my federal tax exemption. When I claimed “6”, I would get a fairly large return in April. I have since changed that for the rest of the year. Did you know you can claim “19”? That’s the max. On the IRS.gov website, there’s an withholding calculator. It’s actually quite interesting.

My plan involves paying down debt for the remainder of the year, and stashing as much as I can get away with. I’m going to then re-evaluate my withholding exemption in January, and again in June. I hadn’t thought of optimizing my exemption until recently.

See more progress on: Save money

Dear Digg: Girl Missing. Have You Seen Her?

Ok, so a friend of mine tipped me on to this. If you've got any information, it'd be hugely appreciated.

read more | digg story

Annoyed...LBP, where are you?

LittleBigPlanet - The Human Body Level

When I placed my pre-order for LPB a month ago, I used trusty Amazon.com. (Even though they had recently eliminated their 30 day price protection policy, I figured that game wouldn't drop in price for quite a while.) I haven't pre-ordered anything for probably 5 years, so I wasn't sure I would get it on the day of release. At the time, I didn't care. "What's a few days?" I thought. "I am saving $4 in sales tax." Little did I know...

During the last month, I have been amazed at all the things surrounding this game; from the plethora of pre-order goodies, to the reviews from all those using the beta. Screenshots, in-game videos, costumes, user-created levels, all get my hands twitching with excitement.

LittleBigPlanet TGS 2007 Trailer

Today I receive an email stating if I want to receive the game on the release day, I have to pay $5.98. Screw that! Even with the pre-order incentives, I'm way too cheap to pay $6 to ship something I can go up to the store, cheaper. But at the same time, I can't wait 5-9 days for shipping! I've decided to go up to GameCrazy and place my pre-order there. That way, I can pick up the game on the way home from work. (Not to mention, they have a cool carrying case.) I'll pay the $4 tax to have it on that day.

Now, I'm sure that all 2 of you who read my blog wonder why I would make such a big deal about having this game at launch. Just search LBP on google or youtube, and you'll see; or go to the LBP website. This game is going to be awesome for the whole family...

...and look at this cute costume for those who get the game at launch:

Technorati Tags: LittleBigPlanet, Amazon, video games,

And soeth starteth the film festival...eth

I started this tradition last year and I think it worked well. All year I add "scary" movies to my Netflix que. In October I watch all said scary movies, all month long. It makes for a pretty exciting month of October. Plus, it gets me in the mood for Halloween. This time though, I think I'm going to have to interject some 'kid movies' into the mix. The kids were somewhat annoyed that I used my 'emergency powers' to take over the que. The problem is, last year I watched many, many of these movies, and now I don't have many that I haven't seen. I'm really on the look out for a good, scary (not gory) movie. Take a look at my que (if you have Netflix. I can't figure out how to show it to the public) and give me a recommendation! I need it.

Technorati Tags: movies, October, netflix, Star Wars, scary, Halloween