This is a VERY cool article about cybercrimes and how prevalent they can be. I'm REALLY hoping that the subject of the article goes ahead to write a book - I would SO get it!
I Was a Cybercrook for the FBI
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Monday, January 29, 2007
My Dearests
This has my two beloveds in it, so of course I have to post it!
Friday evening, we were watching a Farming Kids video that Jeremiah really likes, and he decided that he wanted to join us on the couch.
My camera phone in low light is a bit rough.
Friday evening, we were watching a Farming Kids video that Jeremiah really likes, and he decided that he wanted to join us on the couch.
My camera phone in low light is a bit rough.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
ApologetiX
This is WAY cool and awesome - our church has gotten ApologetiX (That Christian Parody Band) to come put on a concert at our church on February 16th at 7:45!!!
Check out their website www.apologetix.com and see who they are. They've been a band that I've listened to since 2000, and if anyone has eclectic tastes in music or enjoys Weird Al Yankovich, this is the band for you! They take hits from most all styles of music and do parodies of them with Christian lyrics. Go download some of their free downloads if you're curious.
So, if you're a fan or just curious, come on over and check them out. Contact me for tickets; they're $10 ahead of time and $15 at the door. It's at the Round Hill Elementary School's main auditorium at 7:45, and you'll want to get there 30 minutes early to make sure you'll get a good spot.
They have a terrific gospel message in their songs, oftentimes having direct Bible verses as the lyrics, and they share the Gospel and invite the audience to Christ in the concert. So bring friends (saved and unsaved), enemies (even better!), youth groups, and strangers!
Hopefully I'll see you there, and as an added incentive (or warning, depending on your POV) I'm going to be the emcee! Scary!
Check out their website www.apologetix.com and see who they are. They've been a band that I've listened to since 2000, and if anyone has eclectic tastes in music or enjoys Weird Al Yankovich, this is the band for you! They take hits from most all styles of music and do parodies of them with Christian lyrics. Go download some of their free downloads if you're curious.
- Elvis
- The Temptations
- Pink Floyd
- Beatles
- Blink 182
- Eminem
- KISS
- Toby Keith
- Kid Rock
- Metallica
- Beach Boys
- Trace Adkins
- Nickelback
- Stevie Wonder
- Big & Rich
- Smash Mouth
- and tons more - they parody everything!
So, if you're a fan or just curious, come on over and check them out. Contact me for tickets; they're $10 ahead of time and $15 at the door. It's at the Round Hill Elementary School's main auditorium at 7:45, and you'll want to get there 30 minutes early to make sure you'll get a good spot.
They have a terrific gospel message in their songs, oftentimes having direct Bible verses as the lyrics, and they share the Gospel and invite the audience to Christ in the concert. So bring friends (saved and unsaved), enemies (even better!), youth groups, and strangers!
Hopefully I'll see you there, and as an added incentive (or warning, depending on your POV) I'm going to be the emcee! Scary!
Monday, January 22, 2007
You may refer to me as Your Eminence
 | My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: His Eminence the Very Lord Jesse the Fifteenth of Molton St Anywhere Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title |
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Monday, January 15, 2007
Mr. McConnell's Marriage Help Book
The common misconception is that marriage takes work and selflessness, and there will be rough times. Nothing could be further from the truth! Mr. McConnell has been married for over two weeks at this point and has not experienced any fights or arguments. Mr. McConnell fully expects the rest of his married life to follow the pattern laid out thus far. He will be writing a book to help all the other married people reach this same state of marital bliss. Only $59.99!
When I said something like this to Doug at church yesterday he laughed and shook his head. I can't imagine why! Could he know something I don't? He groaned and said "Just wait, you'll learn," at which point Pastor Ray whacked him on the back of the head and said "Oh, let him live in his fantasies a little longer."
Well, I want everyone to know that I'm not totally naive and I know at some point Charlessa and I will have a disagreement. Just to make sure we experience a disagreement at some point, we've scheduled one for 2067.
The most common question I've been asked so far is "How's married life?"
Oh come on! How do you expect me to answer?!?!? I'm a newlywed! I've married a sweet, wise and stunningly beautiful woman - I should be groaning and complaining?
Official answer: "It's wonderful!"
When I said something like this to Doug at church yesterday he laughed and shook his head. I can't imagine why! Could he know something I don't? He groaned and said "Just wait, you'll learn," at which point Pastor Ray whacked him on the back of the head and said "Oh, let him live in his fantasies a little longer."
Well, I want everyone to know that I'm not totally naive and I know at some point Charlessa and I will have a disagreement. Just to make sure we experience a disagreement at some point, we've scheduled one for 2067.
The most common question I've been asked so far is "How's married life?"
Oh come on! How do you expect me to answer?!?!? I'm a newlywed! I've married a sweet, wise and stunningly beautiful woman - I should be groaning and complaining?
Official answer: "It's wonderful!"
Thursday, January 11, 2007
The Married Man!
We're back!
And yes, DG, we know we haven't posted anything since before the wedding. We've been a bit busy; little things like a wedding and a honeymoon you know. Deepest apologies and all that. Yeah, right.
Everything was fantastic!!! We prayed for a wedding time that would be filled with joy and peace, and it was! Both the photographer and videographer both said that this was the calmest and happiest wedding they had seen! Everything went smoothly. A resewn button, a quick Internet printout, and bridesmaids bouquets coming in a second trip were the biggest "issues". For me? I stressed when my sensei - one of my groomsmen - wasn't several hours early; he showed up only forty-five minutes early. Woe is me and all my stress! :^D RM, my bro-in-law, was there and helped with the boutonniere, gave me a shoulder rub, and helped keep me relaxed.
So what does a groom do for a couple hours before the ceremony if he doesn't stress? Well I danced silly dances with J and DM (my best man and best bro), I listened to my bride laugh and get ready in the room next to me, I burned the music CD for the reception, played bro DM's playlist of music and much to my chagrin actually liked it (yes, even Bumblebees), admired how very cute my son, J, looked in his tux, hunted for and found a cuff link he lost while playing, chilled with my very cool bro-in-law RM, kept for committing GBH (grievous bodily harm) on my now bro-in-law StG, had fun taking pictures with DM (we looked GOOOOOD!), practiced kata, practiced clogging steps, prayed with the pastor, prayed with the videographer, prayed, and had a good and relaxing morning!
Then the big event! I hate to disillusion all you poor guys out there who think your bride was the most beautiful, but you're wrong - Charlessa could have had an incredible career as a supermodel! I had the traditional deer-in-the-headlights feeling as I saw her walk down the aisle in her wedding dress. I don't know how to even begin describing everything. These pictures don't do her justice, but since I'm horrible at descriptive prose here's a link to some pictures the cloggers took. http://web.mac.com/rightathome/iWeb/BRTC/Gates-McC.html We're getting ready to put the wedding pictures on the web ourselves. Drop one of us a line if you want to see them too. Everything went off without a hitch and we had some laughs along the way! Hey Luc, :^P
We took more pictures after the ceremony, and the clogging group did a performance at the reception. They surprised and shocked us by having tuxedo outfits and a new clogging routine! (All You Really Need Is Love) We pulled on our clogging shoes and got to dance some! I'm not sure that receptions are always such fun for the bride and groom, but this one was! People usually described to me receptions as barely remembered blurs, and there was a bit of that, but not much. We had a completely and utterly fantastic time!
Then came the obligatory drive off and of course the totally decked out car! DM, DG, SG, and the cloggers all conspired to send us off in fine fashion! The car was festooned with purple paintings, a "Just Married" sign, tin cans on the back, streamers covering bumper to bumper, CD's stuck into every conceivable crack and crevice, and the grand topper? The car was totally filled, and I mean TOTALLY filled, with white, silver and purple balloons!
We made a loop out, cleaned up the car just a little (a couple boys near where we pulled off got all the balloons they wanted!) and went back to change and open gifts. I hate to start mentioning individual gifts and stuff, so I'll just say we have a lot of very generous friends. Clocks, crocks and picture frames - Cookware, plateware, tupperware, silverware - and the list goes on and on. Now it's time to start writing thank you cards! Whee fun. Two special thanks though: to Charlessa's sisters for the welcome-to-the-family marriage diploma and to the Thunder Cloggers for the wonderful quilt that everyone helped to make!
Then it was off on the honeymoon. Suffice it to say we had an unbelievably wonderful time from the very beginning. God has SO blessed us!
Many times the dream wedding is caricatured as a lavish affair - gorgeously decorated church, tons of flowers, rose petals, adorable flower girl, live band, and a catered reception at the country club. But there's also the Bridezilla, behind-the-scenes stuff. Arguments over decorations, yelling at the caterers, long waits, screaming that wedding flowers are late/wrong, groomsmen coming in hungover, missing limo, photographer canceling, live band problems, and all of it coming in at a cost of $50,000, minimum.
But God laid His hand on us and blessed us with peace, joy, happiness and love. Both of our families were able to make it out and even quite a few of our extended families were able to make it and help in the church decoration! We had friends galore to share our time and who did so much for us that at times we were almost at loose ends! The entire time was as far from the hectic, stressed wedding scene as could possibly be imagined!
So, thank you to friends, family and God from a VERY happily married man!
And yes, DG, we know we haven't posted anything since before the wedding. We've been a bit busy; little things like a wedding and a honeymoon you know. Deepest apologies and all that. Yeah, right.
Everything was fantastic!!! We prayed for a wedding time that would be filled with joy and peace, and it was! Both the photographer and videographer both said that this was the calmest and happiest wedding they had seen! Everything went smoothly. A resewn button, a quick Internet printout, and bridesmaids bouquets coming in a second trip were the biggest "issues". For me? I stressed when my sensei - one of my groomsmen - wasn't several hours early; he showed up only forty-five minutes early. Woe is me and all my stress! :^D RM, my bro-in-law, was there and helped with the boutonniere, gave me a shoulder rub, and helped keep me relaxed.
So what does a groom do for a couple hours before the ceremony if he doesn't stress? Well I danced silly dances with J and DM (my best man and best bro), I listened to my bride laugh and get ready in the room next to me, I burned the music CD for the reception, played bro DM's playlist of music and much to my chagrin actually liked it (yes, even Bumblebees), admired how very cute my son, J, looked in his tux, hunted for and found a cuff link he lost while playing, chilled with my very cool bro-in-law RM, kept for committing GBH (grievous bodily harm) on my now bro-in-law StG, had fun taking pictures with DM (we looked GOOOOOD!), practiced kata, practiced clogging steps, prayed with the pastor, prayed with the videographer, prayed, and had a good and relaxing morning!
Then the big event! I hate to disillusion all you poor guys out there who think your bride was the most beautiful, but you're wrong - Charlessa could have had an incredible career as a supermodel! I had the traditional deer-in-the-headlights feeling as I saw her walk down the aisle in her wedding dress. I don't know how to even begin describing everything. These pictures don't do her justice, but since I'm horrible at descriptive prose here's a link to some pictures the cloggers took. http://web.mac.com/rightathome/iWeb/BRTC/Gates-McC.html We're getting ready to put the wedding pictures on the web ourselves. Drop one of us a line if you want to see them too. Everything went off without a hitch and we had some laughs along the way! Hey Luc, :^P
We took more pictures after the ceremony, and the clogging group did a performance at the reception. They surprised and shocked us by having tuxedo outfits and a new clogging routine! (All You Really Need Is Love) We pulled on our clogging shoes and got to dance some! I'm not sure that receptions are always such fun for the bride and groom, but this one was! People usually described to me receptions as barely remembered blurs, and there was a bit of that, but not much. We had a completely and utterly fantastic time!
Then came the obligatory drive off and of course the totally decked out car! DM, DG, SG, and the cloggers all conspired to send us off in fine fashion! The car was festooned with purple paintings, a "Just Married" sign, tin cans on the back, streamers covering bumper to bumper, CD's stuck into every conceivable crack and crevice, and the grand topper? The car was totally filled, and I mean TOTALLY filled, with white, silver and purple balloons!
We made a loop out, cleaned up the car just a little (a couple boys near where we pulled off got all the balloons they wanted!) and went back to change and open gifts. I hate to start mentioning individual gifts and stuff, so I'll just say we have a lot of very generous friends. Clocks, crocks and picture frames - Cookware, plateware, tupperware, silverware - and the list goes on and on. Now it's time to start writing thank you cards! Whee fun. Two special thanks though: to Charlessa's sisters for the welcome-to-the-family marriage diploma and to the Thunder Cloggers for the wonderful quilt that everyone helped to make!
Then it was off on the honeymoon. Suffice it to say we had an unbelievably wonderful time from the very beginning. God has SO blessed us!
Many times the dream wedding is caricatured as a lavish affair - gorgeously decorated church, tons of flowers, rose petals, adorable flower girl, live band, and a catered reception at the country club. But there's also the Bridezilla, behind-the-scenes stuff. Arguments over decorations, yelling at the caterers, long waits, screaming that wedding flowers are late/wrong, groomsmen coming in hungover, missing limo, photographer canceling, live band problems, and all of it coming in at a cost of $50,000, minimum.
But God laid His hand on us and blessed us with peace, joy, happiness and love. Both of our families were able to make it out and even quite a few of our extended families were able to make it and help in the church decoration! We had friends galore to share our time and who did so much for us that at times we were almost at loose ends! The entire time was as far from the hectic, stressed wedding scene as could possibly be imagined!
So, thank you to friends, family and God from a VERY happily married man!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)