Here is a link to my latest entry in the Snafu blog.

I would just like to point out for the record that this third shift job thing sucks. It's not just the staying up; it's the fact that I'm on a different schedule than other people. I was talking to Connie today (technically yesterday) via IM while she was at work and she mentioned going home for the day. It kind of threw me off because I had just gotten up. My day was just getting started and hers was winding down.

I hate the fact that when I get up I only have a few hours before my shift starts. On the days I work it's like my whole day revolves around my job. And then there's the matter of staying awake once I'm there.

But enough grumpiness. If you wanted to be grumpy you'd do something like stub your toe...not read my journal entry. Unless, of course, you're addicted to sorrow or something.

On the bright side I have a lot of time on my hands while I'm at work. 11 hours' worth of time, to be honest. I listen to music, I read, I excercise, I walk around (a lot!), and even get around to praying.

If I can get over the tendency for my eyes (and thus my contacts) to dry out, not to mention the tedium, I should be able to do this job for a while. I'm going to stick with it long enough to get a laptop. :) Once I have that I can get some serious work done; do work on my screenplay; design web sites; watch DVD's...it shall be great. The trick is getting to that point. At the moment I am just barely getting on my feet financially with this first check. It's going to be another month or so before I will really be able to start setting money aside. We'll see how it turns out. My supervisor is already talking about putting me at sites that pay $2 more per hour, and that would be really helpful.

It's almost 6am...time for bed.

Today I received a letter from the NC Employment Security Commission, stating that my unemployment claim has been denied. The adjudicator in charge of my case found that I lost my job because I was moving away; not because I was fired.

I intend to appeal, but this makes me furious.

28 years ago, on September 25th, 1977, my parents were married.

Congratulations to them both...mainly because if they had not been married, yours truly would not be around to write insightful blog entries such as this one.
Aside from producing me, I'm sure that they've done other things like love and cherish each other.

Quick story:
A few years ago my dad was in the hospital. My mother and I went to visit him and he was hooked up to an IV, an EKG, etc. At the end of our visit, my mother gave my dad a quick kiss before we left. The entire time we were visiting, we could hear the steady "beep...beep...beep" of the EKG as my dad's heart beat. When my mother kissed him, we heard "beepbeepbeepbeepbeep" as his heart raced. It's nice to know that after all this time she can still make his heart go pitter patter.

Happy Anniversary!

I'm leaving in a little while with my roommate Brandon to attend a youth leader's retreat. It's being held at the Outer Banks, and it should be a lot of fun. I'm planning to take pictures, and I'll share them upon my return Monday.

Later...

Once again I was asked to write a movie review for the newsletter. Once again I have done so.

---

"Why have you come here, priest?"
"I come in His name."
"You think you can cast me out? Try."

The Exorcism of Emily Rose, starring Tom Wilkinson and Laura Linney, is a movie that deserves your support. Far from being a typical horror movie, Emily Rose addresses some big spiritual concerns that make it the perfect segue into a spiritual conversation with an unsaved friend. Far from dismissing the concept of demonic spirits, the movie takes the subject matter seriously and leaves the conclusion up to the viewer.

The movie begins at the home of Emily Rose, a girl we soon learn is dead. Father Moore, Emily's Catholic priest who administered the exorcism, is taken into custody and is charged with negligent homicide for allowing her to die. The diocese brings Erin Bruner (played by Laura Linney) in to defend Father Moore. The trial begins and we are there in the courtroom as Father Moore's future is decided.

Emily is introduced in a series of flashbacks, detailing the problems she was experiencing and offers two competing theories. The prosecution's theory: that Emily Rose was suffering from a neurological disorder. The defense's job is to convince the jury that first demonic possession is real, and that Emily was indeed possessed.

This movie will be compared to The Exorcist because of its subject matter. However, the two films could not be more different. Having seen both of them, I can say that Emily Rose was made by people who believe in the supernatural. The Exorcist is mainly about shocking its audience and really doesn't have good theology behind it. Emily Rose contains some very Catholic theology, but what is presented is done so consistently and in such a way that it does not make fun of the people it portrays.

So is this movie worth your time? In my opinion, yes it is. It has a lot of good things going for it. First, it does not automatically assume that characters with religious beliefs are crazy. Second, it treats the subject matter with the gravity it deserves. Third, it does not preach at the viewer. It looks at the issue from a few different angles and leaves the final decision up to the audience.

The exorcism scene is great. The priest prays (in English, not Latin) and uses several Scriptures. He uses them with authority and does not seem to be scared of the evil he's facing. It must be seen to be believed, but it is worth the price of admission for that scene alone.

Unfortunately, the movie is not entirely perfect. Like most horror movies, it relies on cheap scares to get you ready for the real stuff later on. The movie tries to take the defense attorney on a journey of faith which is ultimately ambiguous. There is an abundance of Catholic theology (which seems to be the only accepted religion in the movie world), including some indirect Mary worship and a reference to the stigmata. If you have a firm grasp on what you believe then you should come through the movie without any confusion at all.

When dealing with the exorcism itself, the film's theology is mostly correct. As the priest deals with the demonic entities he uses a combination of Scripture and prayer, which the Bible tells us to use when engaging in spiritual warfare.

Usually when spirituality is in a movie, it is vague and nebulous. Rarely do they get it right. Theologically speaking, this movie gets more right than it gets wrong. The Exorcism of Emily Rose is rated PG-13 for "thematic material, including intense/frightening sequences and disturbing images," though there is some profanity in the movie as well. While it won't win any awards, it's the sort of movie that Christians need to support. Go see it.

I had my hearing tested today. My hearing is no better and no worse than it was a year and a half ago. There was a slight overall improvement, but it is small enough it can be attributed to two different people conducting the tests.

Subjectively speaking, my hearing is back to what is normal for me. The increased tolerance to noise that I experienced last night has disappeared, and I am once again having difficulty understanding people.

So what happened?

To be honest I'm not totally sure. I do know that last night something happened. For some reason it did not last, but I can't deny that last night my hearing was better. When I got in my car this morning and turned it on, the CD player was still set on the volume it was on last night. It was loud enough to make me wince.

Naturally I've been thinking about healing today. I came to the realization that when healing occurs it's not due to emotions. When Christians pray for people, they often try to get the person to "build up their faith," which is a code phrase for "act excited." Healing does not depend on the person being healed or the person doing the prayer. It depends on God to do the impossible, whether or not we're excited about what is happening. Yes, faith is required, but if you have enough faith to speak to an invisible God, you have enough faith to receive whatever He has to give you.

I've never heard of people being temporarily healed, but it apparently happened to me last night. As Job said, "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." I see what happened last night as a taste of what is to come. I have asked God to restore my hearing; and I believe that He will.

I woke up at 12:30 after working until 6am. Around 2 I went to First Assembly to talk with various people I know in the office. Doug mentioned a guy named Andrew Wommack was in town, and this guy is someone that Doug had wanted me to listen to because of his views on healing (not to mention his results).

I wound up going even though this meant wearing earplugs. Toward the end of the service I took my earplugs out and was able to stand the noise. Even when things got loud.

My tolerance for noise has increased. Again. On the way home I listened to the CD player on 10. Normally the loudest I can tolerate is 5 or 6. The window was down and I did not have an earplug in the exposed ear. Things sounded loud.

During the drive home doubt began to creep in that anything had happened. I've done my best to fight those feelings, and I've asked friends to pray for me. If God has not healed me, then in the morning my left ear will probably be showing some ill effects from all the noise I submitted it to.

No...looks like something has really happened. My roommate Brandon just got home. We were talking and I noticed I could understand him a lot better. Every time we have talked since my return to Concord, I have missed words here and there. I have to ask him to repeat himself. Tonight, though, I understood just about everything.

So am I totally better? No. As I type this I can hear the tinnitus...the constant ringing...but it is not as loud as it has been. I'm planning to get my hearing checked tomorrow to see if there is any noticeable change. As always, dear web audience, I will keep you posted.

I think something is afoot. No time to write now; I must go.

I give up! I am sooooooo tired. I was planning to stay up all night to acclimate myself to this third shift thing but I cannot. My bed awaits, and I'm tired of keeping it waiting.

Tomorrow I go to Salisbury for "training" for my job, and then tomorrow night I work from 7pm - 6am. I will probably work Tuesday as well, though that's up in the air right now. We shall see what happens.

In other news, I have noticed some improvement with my hearing. It's nothing monumental, but it is a step forward, which I've been told is impossible. At some point when it's not 2:44am, I'll go into this in more detail. But anyway. Bed.

I have a tentative title for my short film. For now I'm calling it "The List."

More details to come.

But not now.

We all know this is why flashlights were invented. 

I was too tired to make a face. 

I am the security guard because my hat says so. 

What's that? Oh, wait...nothing. 

Saturday morning around 3am I got bored and started messing around with the self-timer on my camera. 

The 5am - 6am hour, the last one, was the most difficult to make it through. I stayed awake, though. I came home and slept for a blessed 7 hours.

I am still really tired.

I'll post pictures from evening #1 later on.

In other news, I've got a new movie review assignment. I shall be watching The Excorcism of Emily Rose. Should be interesting.

Well, time for lunch and then I'm off to Tabitha's house to hang out with her and Jared.

I applied for a job as a security guard on Monday. This afternoon they called me back and offered me a job. My first day is...tonight. I'll be working an 11-hour shift that begins at 7pm this evening and ends at 6am tomorrow morning. In addition I have an hour of training that starts at 6pm.

I hope I don't despise this job as badly as I think I will. I think I'll be able to handle it, though. I also work an overnight shift tomorrow and on Tuesday. I wish I had had warning so I could get used to staying up.

Tonight and tomorrow are going to be torture; messing with your circadian rhythm is never fun. I'm going to be headed to the library to get some books and the store to get some caffeine. Feel free to call me tonight; it's not like I'll be busy. Maybe the vibration of the phone will wake me up.

Someone posted the following comment today in response to a recent post.

I thought I'd say that not everyone in the bible were healed. DONT forget
Paul. He was always saying he had a "thorn in his side" and it was never healed!
For some reason sometimes God chooses to not heal a person and they wont be
healed till heaven. Dont think your not being healed is something wrong with you
or God or anything. Its a mistake I've made for years. I have a thorn in the
side and it will never be healed. It happens. Your not alone, not everyone gets
healed. Trust me. Trust God to work with you with the thorn in the side.

This is a valid point. Not everyone in the Bible was healed. As far as we know, Mephibosheth, a son of King Saul, was never healed of his lameness. Isaac, son of Abraham, died blind. Michal, one of David's wives, was infertile. Paul had bad eyesight.

I thought about going into this in the previous post, but it was already long enough. Let's talk about Paul's "thorn" for a moment. For those of you that are not familiar with bits of dogma like this, let me explain. The Apostle Paul wrote some letters to the church in Corinth. We have two of those letters. In 2 Corinthians, Paul is talking about a "thorn" in his flesh to keep him from becoming prideful and conceited. No one really knows what it was; and I'll leave it to theologians to debate. It's generally accepted that the thorn in Paul's side was something physical in nature, though the truth of the matter is that we simply don't know. Here is the passage in question:

7To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great
revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to
torment me. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9But
he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in
weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so
that Christ's power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight
in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For
when I am weak, then I am strong.

1. When Paul encountered this thorn, he asked God to remove it. He did not simply say "Oh, I must be doomed to live with this." He pleaded with God to remove it.
2. God said no.
3. Paul called this "a messenger of Satan." This was apparently some sort of attack from the enemy.
4. Paul learned a valuable lesson that benefits us today; God's grace is sufficient. It is enough. God's power is made perfect in our weakness.

Let's apply this to my situation.

1. When I encountered this problem with my hearing, I accepted what I was told medically...that I was doomed to live with this. That there was no hope. Eventually I began to believe that God would heal me. I asked Him to do so, and nothing happened. So I asked if there was anything standing in the way of my healing.
2. God said that there is stuff in the way, and showed me some of it. Now the ball's in my court.
3. I'm willing to believe that the problems with my hearing are the result of some kind of spiritual attack.
4. I am learning some valuable lesons about trusting God and believing in Him to do the impossible.

Though the situations seem similar here and there, the big difference is the response. Healing is impossible without God deciding to extend his power. He can administer or withhold as he sees fit. Paul prayed for relief from his thorn. I prayed for relief from my hearing problems. God told Paul no. I have received no such answer. If anything, the response I received has been quite encouraging.

The thorn in Paul's side did not prevent him from fulfilling the call on his life. My hearing problems are keeping me from fulfilling the call on my life. I work within the constraints I have to the best of my ability, but the truth is that ministry is about people. If I am unable to be around people and communicate with people, then I am unable to fulfill the call that is on my life.

So, anonymous commenter, I must disagree with you. These are two different situations. If God was not going to heal me, then I believe He would at least let me know. He is no respecter of persons; if He told Paul, then I'm guessing He would tell me.

I've learned the hard way that when you have an idea about something you've got to be extremely careful about who you share it with and when you share it. Getting either one wrong can mean death for the idea in question. This would be easier to write if I remembered a specific idea that bit the dust too soon, but at the moment I'm drawing a blank.

I have done both things in the past. I've shared an idea with the wrong person, and their comments killed the idea before it had enough time to take root deeply enough to withstand criticism. I have also shared an idea too early. There was nothing wrong with the idea, but somehow sharing it with someone else made it lose steam.

It's weird. When I get a new idea about something, I've learned to wait until the idea has matured before I tell other people about it.

What does this quite abstract post have to do with anything? I have had an idea for a short film. I've written about a page and a half in notes, but I am still undecided as to whether or not I'll pursue making this into a film. The subject matter is more risqué than that of Snafu, and while there is nothing morally wrong with the subject, I'm not sure if I should proceed.

I shall ponder this in my heart and obtain counsel before proceeding. I'll keep you posted.

Well, the Autopilot site is done. Now all I need is for people to sign up for monthly subscriptions and I'll be on the road to financial independence!

I'm going to go ahead and warn you; this post is entirely about issues related to my faith. I'll try not to veer entirely into spiritual gobbledygook, though if you come from a non-Christian background you may get lost. Heck, I'm from a Christian background and I feel that way. So...reader beware.

Since Tuesday I have felt as though I'm sailing into uncharted spiritual waters. To this point I've had a fairly run-of-the-mill Christian experience. I accepted Christ into my life at a young age, and I've followed him as far back as I can remember.

At some point I was sanctified...a spiritual term that simply means setting your life apart for God's use. It doesn't necessarily mean entering the ministry field, but it does mean that you'll put God first in everything you do and realize that your life is no longer your own.

Further on down the line I was baptized with the Holy Spirit (yes, with the evidence of speaking in tongues). I've done everything a good Christian is supposed to do. After you reach this pinnacle, though, where is there to go?

Honestly, it's pretty much maintenance. There's a list of do's and dont's that good Christians follow. Reject what is evil, cling to what is good. Don't involve yourself with potentially bad things, read your Bible every day, and pray every day. Tithe. Go to church on Sundays. And Wednesdays. Or every time the doors are open. If you have a key, you can even go anytime you'd like.

Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

This is not to say that any of this stuff is wrong; it isn't. I've simply grown up around it, and know "the keys" to being a good Christian along with the best of them.

In early 2004, tragedy struck. I lost a portion of my hearing, and in addition the hearing I have left is overly sensitive to louder noises. In order to keep the hearing I have left, I have to wear earplugs when I'm around anything moderately loud. These things include (but are not limited to) live music, groups of 5 or more people, children, car horns, and amplified noises of any sort.

This has seriously impacted my quality of life. In order to attend church, I need to wear earplugs. In order to go to a restaurant, I have to wear earplugs. If I want to drive with the windows down in my car, I have to wear an earplug in the ear facuing the open window. With earplugs in, it is either difficult or impossible to communicate with others. It is isolating, upsetting, and a real drag.

I have nothing to look forward to except for more of the same. There is no medical hope for my condition, which is called Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL). I've got two other ear problems. There is recruitment, which is responsible for the sensitivity to certain sounds, and there is tinnitus, which is a constant, continual ringing in the ears. I tried hearing aids, but they ended up damaging my ears (Not permanently, though I started to experience signs of ear damage, which went away after I stopped using the hearing aids). Cochlear implants would not help, because they amplify all volume. This would make me even more sensitive to louder noises than I am currently.

In addition to seeking medical help, I received prayer. The Bible says in James that the sick should receive prayer by the church leaders. If they have sinned (and caused their illness...or at least I see that as the implication.) they will be forgiven; the Lord will raise them up. They will be healed.

I obeyed the Biblical mandate, and nothing happened. Friends prayed for me. Family prayed for me. I prayed for me. Nada. Sure, people would tell me that God would heal me...but in all but a few cases (you know who you are) I chalked it up to people wanting to tell me something positive more than actually hearing from God.

Time has passed, and I've done my best to adjust to the situation in which I find myself. Over the past few months, though, I've started to believe that God can do what He said he can do in the Bible, and heal me.

Those of you that know me well know that it's a huge step for me to say something like that. I am pretty skeptical about a lot of the more "out there" Christian claims. Such as "everyone can be healed." I've seen situations where people who were Christians were not healed.

My dad has been chronically ill for as far back as I can remember. He used to be a Church of God minister, and his illness has really prevented him from being involved in ministry.

My grandfather on my mother's side died of complications from emphysema. We prayed for God to heal him. Nothing happened. I heard plenty of rationalizations about why it didn't happen. At his funeral people told me "Well, he's healed since he's in Heaven." That, my friends, is a cop-out. Another thing I heard is that his illness was something he brought on himself through smoking for decades, and while God may have forgiven his "sin" of smoking, his illness was his own fault. This, too, is a cop-out...and Biblically wrong. I'll explain why in a minute.

On the other hand, I've seen God heal people. A cousin of mine was playing around with gunpowder and it blew up in his face, causing severe burns. That type of injury is extremely painful and takes tons of surgery to correct. Instead, he experienced very little pain and his skin healed on its own. Within a month you couldn't tell anything had ever happened to him. There was a lingering problem with his vision, though. Later on he and his mother were at a Benny Hinn conference when he felt a warmth and suddenly he could see better. That, my friends, is a genuine miracle.

When my mother was born, there was something wrong with her legs. I don't know exactly what it was, but it prevented her from walking correctly. My grandmother was at a prayer service and they asked people to come up for healing. She brought my mother up and had the man speaking to pray for her. Nothing happened the first time, so my grandmother took her up again. This time, her condition was healed.

Sometimes people are healed. Sometimes they are not. And no one knows why. We try to make excuses, but none of them really hold water when compared to what the Bible says about healing.

Healing was a pretty big component of Jesus' ministry. The Bible speaks about how he would go from city to city, healing people. It's a pretty smart strategy, if you'd like to prove that you're God. In one instance Jesus started out by forgiving this paralyzed guy of his sins. The Pharisees were all upset because the only one that could forgive sins is God. Jesus then asked if it was easier to heal someone or to forgive sins. Without waiting for an answer, he then told the man that he was healed and to get up. The man then got up, totally healed.

Jesus used healing as proof that his message was true. After Jesus left the earth, his disciples were given the power to heal people. This happened after they received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It's made clear in the Bible that the power to heal never rested with the men; the power comes from God. All the men in the Bible did was ask, and God provided.

Healing can be found throughout the Bible; not just in the New Testament. It is apparently something that can be expected in the life of a Christian, but we see much too little of it in this day and age. It is referred to in the New Testament as "the children's bread," so I think it's safe to say that it's something Christians can expect. We are the children of God.

Healing is not something God is required to do. Anytime he does it, it is a demonstration of his mercy, his grace. God healed my cousin, so we can discount the "God won't heal you if it's your own fault" theory. If God has the grace to forgive you of the sin leading up to your current physical state, he has the grace to heal you as well. According to the example from the Bible I talked about, it's apparently no more difficult for him.

Christians have no problem believing that God can forgive sin. We should also be able to believe that God can and will heal the people that ask Him. However, because experience has taught us that not everyone that asks for healing receives it, we come up with all these reasons why healing does not happen.

There are some Biblical reasons as to why healing does not occur. There is a book I've been reading that talks about those reasons. However, I can't find the passage I need at the moment. It does say that there are things that stand in the way of people being healed. Unbelief will do it. Unconfessed sin, emotional hurts, and demonic spirits are all things that can stand in the way of a person's healing.

Obviously I have not been healed yet. It stands to reason that something is keeping that from happening. I made an appointment this past Tuesday with the prayer pastor at First Assembly, Phil Bennett. He's kind of "out there" spiritually, but I can't deny that God uses him. I asked him to pray with me as to whether or not anything was standing in the way of receiving healing. My friend Nathan Drye, also a minister on staff at First Assembly, was there, too.

I spent about 30 minutes talking with them both about what has happened with my ears, and then we prayed.

Perhaps I should say that we stepped into the twilight zone.

God spoke to all three of us about different things. To avoid making this mammoth post any longer, just take me at face value when I say that if you ask God to show you something, he will answer. There are different ways that God speaks and reveals things to people. Suffice it to say that He did that.

To me, he brought to mind the generational angle. As I mentioned earlier in this post, my dad's chronic illness has prevented him from being involved in ministry. In one fell swoop, I was rendered unable to be involved in ministry as well.

To Nate, God revealed five different words that have absolutely nothing to do with hearing loss. When he told me about them, though, it shocked me because those are five different areas that I deal with. I had not said anything about this to Nate, and there's no way he would know; and no way to be able to pinpoint them that accurately unless God had revealed it to him. He also had no way of knowing that I was experiencing some of the emotions at that very moment.

God told Pastor Phil that I had dreaded losing my hearing for a long time, and that this thing with my ears is an attempt on the part of the enemy to keep me from being involved in ministry. Phil had no way of knowing that I've felt for a long time that losing your hearing is a pretty terrible thing.

So, taken together, a fairly clear picture of this situation emerges. There are some emotional issues that need to be dealt with, and they stem from fear. There is a generational component to it, and the loss of my hearing is an attack from the enemy to keep me from being involved in ministry.

It sounds so weird saying that.

I don't understand this. I've never really believed that a Christian can be attacked physically by a spiritual entity. I don't understand how my family is tied into this. The Bible talks about "generational curses," though it doesn't call them by that name and overall it's pretty vague. I don't know how this ties into my hearing problems, but we asked God to reveal things and this is what he revealed. It must be connected.

I don't really know where to go from here. For the better part of the past week I've been coming to terms with what exactly it means for me. For some reason people that deal with this sort of spiritual stuff wind up kind of flaky. That's the last thing I want...but it's pretty obvious that I am going to have to learn how to deal with these areas if I want my hearing restored.

There is a spiritual component to this that I have for the most part ignored. How could "the enemy" attack me physically? Why would he even care if I can hear or not? It doesn't make sense to me.

I believe that God will restore my hearing. I'm faced with the choice of exploring this new way of looking at the world; that there are evil spirits that wish us harm and can actually do things physically. I can learn about spiritual warfare and how it works, and learn new things about prayer and about things that can stand in the way of healing. I can learn about generational curses and how to break them. Or I can stick earplugs in my ears and live with this problem.

I choose the former, rather than the latter.

I wanted to post the entry that has been keeping me occupied, but it's simply too late at night. I have church to attend in the morning, and I'm close to being totally exhausted; which makes no sense since I didn't do anything today.

I may be getting a job Monday. A real one. It will be very boring and the biggest challenge will be staying awake. We shall see if it pans out.

Oh yes, Monday is my 26th birthday.

I have not been posting over the last few days because of some recent events that have had me thinking pretty heavily. I guess that inside I wanted to get everything sorted out in my head before I write about those things. I shall write again, and soon...just give me some time.

I know three posts within 15 minutes is a bit much, but I had to share this.

Today, September 5th, 2005 is five years to the day that I began my first year of Master's Commission. I met some friends that I have to this day. It's amazing that it's been so long. I guess I'll say the same thing in five more years, too.

I was on the phone with my friend Carolyn when I noticed a message pop up on my screen. It was from the person I spoke with a week ago. This conversation was much shorter, and very strange...

TheOtherPerson (10:25:07 PM): hey fool! Me (10:25:41 PM): you are back! TheOtherPerson (10:25:52 PM): that is right! Me (10:25:54 PM): long time no see TheOtherPerson (10:25:58 PM): who am I TheOtherPerson (10:26:11 PM): you know now that my ex lives in GA Me (10:26:12 PM): I am apparently not the person to ask TheOtherPerson (10:26:26 PM): another piece of the puzzle Me (10:26:28 PM): Your ex? TheOtherPerson (10:26:38 PM): or is it TheOtherPerson (10:26:41 PM): ? Me (10:27:08 PM): John told me that his girlfriend Tory lives in greenville Me (10:27:19 PM): he didn't mention no ex TheOtherPerson (10:27:35 PM): John lol Me (10:27:38 PM): and he didn't want to tell me who Tory's roommates are Me (10:27:51 PM): so I'm still no closer to figuring out who you be TheOtherPerson (10:27:52 PM): brb! TheOtherPerson (10:27:55 PM): Fool! Me (10:27:55 PM): okay TheOtherPerson (10:28:03 PM): dont go away! Me (10:28:15 PM): I'll be here TheOtherPerson (10:28:31 PM): ok! Me (10:28:35 PM): welcome back Me (10:28:39 PM): I missed you Me (10:29:23 PM): (this is for when you get back, of course) TheOtherPerson (10:38:01 PM): I am back Me (10:38:11 PM): truly? TheOtherPerson (10:38:24 PM): Well, yes Me (10:38:33 PM): yay TheOtherPerson (10:38:51 PM): do you like combat sports? Me (10:39:08 PM): all sports are combatative in a way TheOtherPerson (10:39:18 PM): answer the question TheOtherPerson (10:39:26 PM): boxing etc TheOtherPerson (10:39:29 PM): . Me (10:39:38 PM): I'm not a big sports fan in general Me (10:39:41 PM): so no TheOtherPerson (10:39:48 PM): hmmm Me (10:39:54 PM): but if it's on I can watch it and know what's going on TheOtherPerson (10:40:04 PM): yes indeed TheOtherPerson (10:40:14 PM): do you like young girls TheOtherPerson (10:40:16 PM): ? Me (10:40:28 PM): lol Me (10:40:34 PM): not in a sick way, no TheOtherPerson (10:40:42 PM): ahh Me (10:40:43 PM): but in general I get along with them quite well TheOtherPerson (10:40:48 PM): ok TheOtherPerson signed off at 10:40:56 PM.

What a weird conversation. I have no idea why this other person asked me that question about "young girls." Nor do I know why it made them decide to stop talking to me. It was strange. This person is supposedly a senior in college. Now I'm not so sure...

Hillary Clinton is now calling for a "Katrina Commission." I have a feeling this will get on my nerves.

I would love to write a blog entry about what I've been up to, but I'm simply too tired. Church is in the morning and I need some sleep. But I'm telling you...it would have been a great entry.

My sister apparently had a great experience at 6:22 last night.

I heartily recommend it to any Episcopalians that may be reading this entry.

I have a long weekend ahead of me, and not a whole lot planned.

For the past two weeks I've been working on web sites for a company called World Factory Connections. It has not taken a large amount of my time, so my evenings have been fairly free. There are a variety of projects that I would like to do, and the evening is a pretty good time to work on them.

So, in no particular order, here they are:

Snafu, draft 2
Snafu is going to be my first feature-length film. Before I can make a movie, though, I need to have the screenplay finished. I've given the first draft to a number of family and friends, with mostly positive feedback. In this draft I'm changing some of the events that happen. I'm also working on characterization; making each character more distinct. At the moment, they all read like a different version of me.

I finished the first draft in January of this year. Last week I realized it's almost September and I haven't done anything new to the script. That's almost 9 months! So I started working on the second version of the outline. The way I've been writing is have an outline with the major events written down. When the outline is finished, I begin the task of writing out the details. For me, this is the most fun. I should be done with the outline in a day or so.

Autopilot CMS
Autopilot Content Management System is an online Internet application that I've developed. I have looked and don't believe there is anything else online that does exactly what Autopilot does. It builds a web site, page by page, and manages most of the technical stuff. This allows computer novices to build web sites. Well, that's the goal. There is a lot of room for improvement, and I intend to work on this some more until I have a product that makes it easy for churches to build web sites without having to hire a technical person. There is potentially a lot of money in this...assuming that I can get anything done on it.

My Short Film
Before I can shoot a frame of Snafu, I need to make a short film. I have yet to come up with a story idea. I've had plenty of ideas...but not one that I'm confident would be a winner. When I have this film completed, I will show it to potential Snafu investors as proof that I can make a film. I will also, of course, enter it in every film festival I can think of. Snafu will be my first feature, but this will be my first film. I know that it needs to be a comedy, since that is the genre Snafu falls into.

T-Shirts
A few years ago my friends and I had a great idea for some t-shirts with witty sayings. My friends never went anywhere with the idea, but I think it has a lot of potential, so I am going to carry on with it. This takes money, however, so that's going to go on the back burner for now.

End of List

There you have it. I intend to have some of these done within a year. I know that Snafu is at the very least a few years away, but I'm confident that within this next year I shall make some serious headway on it. The key is to stay focused.

Regular unleaded is selling for $3.49 a gallon in this area. This is ridiculous. I think I'm going to get a bicycle on Saturday. I will probably wind up saving money before this is all said and done. What are gas prices like in your area? Leave me comments.