Doing the Life Thing

Yes, I'm still here.

It just seems like nothing really "bloggish" has happened in my life lately. Wait . . . maybe some things have happened that are kinda cool!

We just tried out a new service from Google called GOOG411, and it's pretty neat (in a tech geek kind of way). When you don't know the number of a business you want to call, or when you want to find a category of business in a certain area, you dial 1-800-GOOG411 and speak the name and location of the business or business category you want, and after you confirm the place you want to call, GOOG411 will connect you! Suhweet! :-)

The doctor checked me out today and I'm a healthy young man! :-)

I've gotten a good deal of work lately which is nice. Running wires, hooking up speakers, crawling through attics, setting up home theaters, the usual. It's pretty fun work - and my boss pays for meals! :-)

I'm still working on my Media Writing class and studying for Intro to Business :P Well, I'm trying to study, but "life" keeps getting in the way! Have no fear - with God's help, I shall overcome!

Oh, and I'm also growing a full beard. All of the females in my family say it looks good so that's a good sign. :-)

And . . . that's all I can come up with for now.

~Mac

Motivation

Yep, it's that time.

That time when you just want to chill, veg out, hang free, whatever.

That time when schoolwork seems to be the most unappealing thing.

I'm struggling with motivation. It's happened before, but right now I seem to be spinning my wheels trying to keep going with classes and such. And I end up wasting my time on lots of little trivial things :-P So I'm asking you:

What do you do to stay motivated and concentrated on the task at hand?

I welcome your comments!

~Mac

Dancing the Night Away

This past Thursday, my family and I attended a Civil War era dance at a friend's house with about six other families. I was not sure I wanted to go, because I had never danced before :O but I decided to go, and it's a good thing I did, because I had a BLAST! They taught us to line dance, circle dance, polka, and waltz. I discovered that I actually had a left foot AND a right foot! :O Now I can't wait for another dance, which will probably happen around Christmas! Till then, I'm gonna have to practice to keep up the muscle memory. And if any of you guys/gentlemen/young men have a chance to learn to dance, DO IT! :-D

~Mac

Finally . . . A Use for K'Nex!

Yes, I know . . . some of you may be upset that I knocked K'Nex. But to me, they are inferior to LEGOs in every respect except one: creating strong frames. Of course, I never really figured out a good use for this, so my K'Nex sat in the attic . . . UNTIL this morning!

I suddenly had an inspiration, so I dragged out my box of K'Nex and got to work.

Behold the results!

A suhweet holster for my LEGO Glock! :-) It fits in the thigh pocket of a pair of cargo pants ^

Or clips to a belt or the top of your pants ^

Using this clipping piece here ^

It draws very quickly and smoothly, and reholsters well too! I'm feeling very happy that I kept my K'Nex! :-) It was a good morning . . . and a good break from school! Now I'm ready for LEGO combat and law enforcement action!

~Mac

Only Trust Him

I got a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach as I read about the government's latest attack on free speech and its frantic desire to cover itself in the face of the November elections: the DISCLOSE Act, which would force ads to reveal the sponsor's top five donors several times in each ad. In effect, this is attempting to prevent conservative groups from protesting the government's current agenda.

As I sat there, I thought, "What can we do?" I've contacted our representative and Senators, but they are conservative and will probably vote against it anyway. Which is good and bad - good because our reps are voting with their constituents, but bad because we feel like we don't have an influence - helpless in the face of a government that has no respect for God or His truth. I find it hard to trust God is these circumstances, knowing how much our country has angered Him and is deserving of His wrath. But nevertheless He commands us to rest in His good and perfect will, and He will give us the peace that passes all understanding.

And then I was reminded that there is one thing that all of us can do, a thing that is easy to overlook and trivialize: PRAY! Pray for our leaders; pray for our country; pray for revival to sweep across this land and make America what it once was: "One nation under God." And finally, pray that whatever may come our way, that God will give us grace and peace to stand firm.

Only trust Him, only trust Him,

Only trust Him now!

He will save you, He will save you,

He will save you now!

Only Trust Him, John H. Stockton, 1874

That is my prayer for us, our country, and the world.

~Mac

First Classes!

Last week, I enrolled in my first online college class and will probably enroll in a second one sometime this week!

Needless to say, I'm excited and nervous at the same time.

For the first few days, I have been navigating the system, figuring it out. Now I just need to get on with the lessons!

Prayers would be appreciated as I start this next phase of my college education.

~Mac

Lights, Camera, Action!

Recently, I've had the opportunity to help some friends with a movie that they are shooting this month. I drove several actors to the set, and then I got a cameo role as an undercover policeman :-D Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from the shoot, but it was very fun! We filmed a scene where an FBI team raids a suspected safehouse - so we had five people in FBI shirts with airsoft guns repeatedly blasting into a nice house in a (mostly) peaceful subdivision shouting "FBI!"! Needless to say, we got some strange looks from drivers and passersby. Only one neighbor called though! They're all probably used to this movie filming by now :-D Once filming and editing is completed, I'm going to take a shot at composing the score for it, so that should be really fun and will hopefully give me some material to add to my composer's demo reel :-)

~Mac