Journey Inside My Mind ™

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today is my Mom’s birthday, and it gives me a lot of joy to share how much I love and appreciate her.  Naturally, if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be here.  Happy Birthday, Mom!

For most of my life now, we have lived hundreds of miles apart from one another, yet we remain very close. It’s nothing for me to contact her through GoogleTalk or call her on the phone.  She is a great Nana to our daughter Keisha, and Jennie, Keisha, and I really loved when she lived with us some years ago.

Domestic Violence Awareness

My mom’s experience with domestic violence and abuse is a strong motivating factor in my passion in promoting domestic violence awareness.  She has publicly shared her story on her own blog, and, in honor of her special day today, I would love if you did me a favor and read her story. She wrote it in two parts.

It’s graphic. It’s not for the faint of heart.

She would say it’s only by the grace of God that she is alive.  But, and I think she’d agree with me, by sharing her story, it might help someone else in a similar situation.

Once again, my Mom is a hero to me. She is a survivor. My respect and love for her grows every day. I am proud to be her son. Read this and you’ll understand why.

• Why doesn’t she just leave? Part 1
• Why doesn’t she just leave? Part 2

Related posts you might be interested in

• Domestic Violence Awareness: Social Media Release
• One Voice Domestic Violence Community Awareness Walk, Part 1
• One Voice Domestic Violence Community Awareness Walk, Part 2
• One Voice Domestic Violence Community Awareness Walk, Part 3
• One Voice Domestic Violence Community Awareness Walk, Part 4

11 Years Old
Originally uploaded by danieljohnsonjr

Eleven years later and I can still remember it like it was yesterday. Here are some links to a 2003 series I wrote about her birth:

• Out She Comes! Part 1
• Out She Comes! Part 2
• Out She Comes! Part 3
• Out She Comes! Part 4
• Out She Comes! Part 5

Happy Birthday, Keisha! You make me proud every day. I’m so grateful that God chose me to be your Daddy.

—–
Check out my other blogs:
Daniel Johnson, Jr.
Get That Job!
Journey Inside My Mind
QuotesBlog
Twitter.com/danieljohnsonjr
Connect on LinkedIn
Interesting Things I’ve Read

Related tags: journey+inside+my+mind journeyinsidemymind jimm daniel+johnson+jr

I’ve already received a few wishes of Happy Birthday today. But my birthday isn’t really today… or is it?

It’s not my intent to deceive my friends, but rather to deceive those that aggregate my information. You see, there are several ways to compromise your privacy online, and one of them is by revealing your birthday. Combine that with a social security number and an address, and, as Chris Penn says, you have the unholy trinity of identity fraud.

So thanks for the birthday wishes. I should point out that my daughter has been in a month-long campaign of wishing me happy birthday. So feel free. I definitely appreciate it.

—–
Check out my other blogs:
Daniel Johnson, Jr.
Get That Job!
Journey Inside My Mind Podcast
QuotesBlog
Twitter.com/danieljohnsonjr

Related tags: journey+inside+my+mind journeyinsidemymind jimm daniel+johnson+jr

We went to Red Lobster tonight to celebrate Jennie’s birthday. The player below contains about nine and a half minutes of that time.

I’ve also been having ppl call in to leave a voicemail wishing her a Happy Birthday. I’m going to mash up everyone’s voicemails into a montage for her.

*FTW = for the win; i.e., used to indicate an awesome choice.

Related tags: journey+inside+my+mind journeyinsidemymind jimm daniel+johnson+jr birthday red+lobster utterz

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 54:03 — 49.6MB)

Summary

It’s my birthday! Renewing my license and registration, playing some great music and promos, and a birthday surprise. Be sure to check out the full shownotes at jimmpodcast.com.

Listening Options

• Direct link to file (mp3, 54:03, 49.6 MB)
• Play on jimmpodcast.com using PlayTagger triangles or PuPu player
• PodShow Plus page
• JIMM Podcast on MySpace
• Subscribe to the feed
• 1-click iTunes subscription
• From ANY phone: +1 (650) 523-6856 (via Podlinez.net)

Music from the Podsafe Music Network (PMN) and other places.

Title (with link to iTunes, if available)	Artist (with link to the artists’ website, if available)	Album (with link to CDBaby.com, if available)
Title and Registration	Death Cab for Cutie	Transatlanticism (Amazon)
Everywhere You Look	The National Pool	not on an album yet
You Just Don't Get It, Do You?	Paul and Storm	Opening Band (Amazon)
Modern Love	Michael Oliva Email Brian Email Michael	Modern Love
How Can You Say?	Jessica Mellott	not on an album yet
Dejame	Lovespirals	Windblown Kiss
Let's Have a Baby	Candy Butchers	Hang on Mike (Amazon)

Other Link-Love

• Check out this Flickr page
• Daniel Johnson, Jr.
• Follow Me on Twitter
  Dancing with Elephants
• Unwind with Anji Bee
• Christopher Penn and the Financial Aid Podcast
• SKHQuest.com – the Dayton Quest Center
• pmn= Podsafe Music Network
• Meet Joe Black (Ultimate Edition)

Related tags: jimmpodcast, jimm, journeyinsidemymind, journey+inside+my+mind, da
niel+johnson+jr, birthday, license, death+cab+for+cutie, the+national+pool, paul+and+storm, michael+oliva, getsemani+music, jessica+mellott, lovespirals, candy+butchers, twitter, dancing+with+elephants, unwind, anji+bee, christopher+penn, financial+aid+podcast, dayton+quest+center, meet+joe+black

Yesterday, was my wife Jennie’s birthday. I’ve learned over our 13+ years of being together that it’s important to her that it’s special.

Our church has a section in the weekly announcements called the “Christian Advertiser”:

Want to post an ad for your business? An upcoming event? A love letter to your Sweetie? Having a garage sale? Selling a car? Advertise here! Use this avenue of communication to reach the congregation.

I submitted the following, to honor my wife:

To my lovely and beautiful wife, Jennie Johnson. I am so glad you were born on this day, October 29th, because you have enriched the lives of so many others. Keisha and I are so blessed because of you. You complete me. You make me want to be a better man. In many ways, you are like my conscience. I praise and thank our God for you. You are the best mother for our daughter, and I’m amazed at the love and compassion you have. Truly, you are my wife of noble character. Happy Birthday, sweetheart!

Love, your husband,
Dan

This notice was sent in to those who subscribe via email to the announcements, and it was prominently displayed at both entrances to the building. In addition, it was announced at church that it was her birthday, much to Jennie’s embarrassment (a good thing!).

Afterward we went to Golden Corral, a buffet style restaurant, and a group of the servers came over and did a Happy Birthday cheer for Jennie that went something like this:

LEADER: I don’t know but I’ve been told -
CREW: I don’t know but I’ve been told -
LEADER: Jennie here is getting old!
CREW: Jennie here is getting old!
LEADER: The best thing is her dessert is free!
CREW: The best thing is her dessert is free!
LEADER: The worst thing is I sing off-key!
CREW: The worst thing is I sing off-key!
LEADER: Sound off!
CREW: Hap-py!
LEADER: Sound off!
CREW: Birth-day!
LEADER: Sound off!
EVERYONE: Hap-py birth-day… To You!

I imagine restaurants are doing that instead of the traditional “Happy Birtday” song because there still exists an active copyright for that song, and there are performance rights with that, etc.

Related tags:

journey+inside+my+mind journeyinsidemymind jimm dan+johnson birthday encouragement

I just put together a slide show using pictures from Keisha’s birthday party:

| View | Add Favorite

Be sure to check out the podcast, containing birthday wishes and more.

Mood: sleepy
Listening to: JIMM 58 – Happy Birthday Keisha!
Eating: fish and salad
Watching: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4)

It looks like PodShow+ has recognized my podcast, probably since it’s registered with the Podsafe Music Network. I haven’t opted to migrate everything to the PodShow Delivery Network – still counting the cost on that.

Update: after looking at what else is in my collection now, I think my show arrived there because the OPML import finally worked.

Mood: almost ready for bed
Listening to: “When I Call On Jesus” – Nicole C. Mullen

As the post title, indicates, today was a big day for us:

Thing 1 – Keisha’s Birthday Party

We had a birthday party for Keisha at Big Top Bear, the same place where she got a newborn bear (refer to that particular episode of JIMM podcast). There were some kids from 4 different areas of her life:

1. church
2. school
3. ASL class/Camp ASL
4. neighbors

It was pretty cool to see all these kids spend time together. I took lots of pictures which might end up at the Flickr page soon.

Each girl got a bear. Keisha got lots of gifts. Big Top Bear is probably one of the best places to have a birthday party, in my opinion – they did it up for the kids.

Thing 2 – Campus Ministry Reunion

Jennie and I wound up meeting each other in the campus ministry through our church back in the early ’90s. Tonight there was a reunion, in which lots of people- close to 75 in fact – came in from all over – many from such distant places as Florida, Massachusetts, and Missouri.

Jennie got up and shared about her gratitude to the woman who invited her to study the Bible. She spoke very eloquently for being so nervous.

Lots of pictures and photo albums passed around. Some videos made from back then of me and some others lip synching to songs. Stuff worthy of YouTube and Google Video.

Some pictures taken. E-mail addresses left. Business cards exchanged. Sharing old memories. Sharing recent stories. Pictures of each others’ kids. Receding hairlines and bulging waistlines.

There were even baskets filled with typical campus stuff: deck of cards, pocket notebook, highlighter, Ramen noodles, box of macaroni and cheese, frisbee.

Good times.

Mood: great
Listening to: Dave’s Lounge 51
Eating: Chex cereal, milk, and orange juice
Watching: GeekBrief.TV

Yesterday, Keisha and I did something for her birthday. Something we’d done – or had done at different times before. Jennie was there, too. To find out more, you’ll have to listen to the next episode of the Journey Inside My Mind podcast.

Subscribe now so that you’ll get this and future episodes downloaded to your computer automagically:

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http://danimal0416.podshow.com

Mood: celebratory
Listening to: audio message (see below)

Today is my baby sister’s birthday. I recorded this audio message for her to hear – feel free to listen, too:

powered by ODEO

Today is my sister Stephanie’s birthday. I’m not going to mention how old she is except to say that she’s two years younger than I.

I recorded this message to send her, and it includes an excerpt from Dr. Seuss’s “Happy Birthday to You!” You can listen here after the jump:

powered by ODEO

Karen, the Official Goof of Journey Inside My Mind, has been blogging for 5 years. It’s funny how you start doing something like this, and before you know it, you’ve reached these milestones: one month, half a year, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, and now 5 years!

What is cool about this is that somewhere she has all that history she can check out. In the meantime, she’s got this little video posted:Five

Mood: medicated
Listening to: Jennie getting ready for work, Keisha getting ready for bed
Eating: turkey, dressing, broccoli, carrots
Watching: Treasure Planet

A similar post at Across the Pond! gave me the idea to do this post:

30 years ago. My mom and dad got divorced. I was 6 and my sister was 4. We moved in with Mom, and I abruptly switched school. I was in the 1st grade.

20 years ago. The Challenger space shuttle blew up. I was a sophomore in high school. My favorite class was English with Ms. Phillips. She made us write 1-page position papers. After the space shuttle blew up, I wrote a poem called “Confusion” and left it under my chair. Ms. Phillips found it and gave it back to me, showing her appreciation.

15 years ago. I had turned 21 years old. For my birthday my housemates took me out to an early dinner, and I got a martini or something to drink. I was working in the Detroit, Michigan area as part of the co-op program for engineering at the University of Cincinnati. I felt alone and needed God.

10 years ago. Jennie and I were about to celebrate our 1-year anniversary in Dayton, Ohio. We went on vacation back to Detroit, Michigan, came home and bought our first set of furniture. Later that year, we found out Jennie was pregnant.

5 years ago. I was working as a IT consultant in the Cincinnat and Dayton areas. We had moved back to Dayton after buying a house. I was working in Cincinnati on September 11th, and I wound up leaving work early to be with Jennie and Keisha.

3 years ago. I’d been blogging for over a year. I was battling another sinus infection. Dayton, Ohio was celebrating the 100th anniversary of flight. Jennie and I saw The Matrix: Reloaded.

Last year. We had just gotten a cat and were trying to get used to her. Sith happened. Things were a little subdued at work. The weather was unseasonably cold, and I was congested.

This year. I’ve been podcasting for almost 9 months. Our car died. I became an uncle-again. I’ve had some serious back pain and got a lumbar injection. Millions of people around the world celebrated my birthday by eating colored hard-boiled eggs, candy, and going to worship at the church of their choice.

Yesterday. It was unseasonably cold. I got an upper respiratory infection, and spent most of the day in bed.

Today. I went to the doctor and found out I have an upper respiratory infection and an earache. I spent most of the day in bed.

Tomorrow. Probably more of the same. Our apartment complex is having a yard sale.

Listening to: Audio Gumshoe 38 – Brand New

It happens every so many years. My birthday, April 16th, happens to coincide with Easter. I want to thank everyone in advance for celebrating my birthday with me by eating colored hard-boiled eggs, chocolate bunnies, and the like.

I get a warm feeling inside just thinking about it. Or is that from the wings last night?

Whatever the case, you are welcome to send any birthday wishes in the usual ways. I’m even planning on doing a feedback/birthday podcast this week. So why not call (206) 666-JIMM (5466) with some thoughts? Or, if you have a microphone attached to your computer, send me a voice message. It’s easy!

Yes, that’s right. Karen, the Official Goof of Journey Inside My Mind celebrates her 29th birthday (again) today. w00t!

Go Karen! Go Karen! Go Karen!

Today I have been blogging for 4 years. I started this blog on January 7, 2002 with the following words:

OK. This is the first time I’ve done this. I thought is was a good idea, based on what I’ve read elsewhere. I am so new to web-building and web publishing, and I am so happy that a forum exists for me to type what’s going on inside my mind.

Question: Is it possible to identify how many websites are actually available on the Web?

Mood: groovy
Listening to: Adam Curry’s Daily Source Code #276
Eating: microwave pancakes, chocolate silk coffee, and water
Watching: my wife sleep on the couch

I was spending time with my Dad and stepmother with my sister Stephanie. My Mom (aka. the Official Mom of Journey Inside My Mind), was in the hospital:

I’m the oldest in my family, and I’d had two younger sisters, but no brother. I was envious of my friends who had older brothers and sisters, and sometimes lamented that God had chosen me to be the firstborn. Yet that changed once I got the phone call that night.

Mom called and told me I had a new baby brother, and they’ve named him Paul, after his dad, my stepfather. We all decided to call him P.J.: Paul Jr. As he got older and began talking, he’d hear my Mom call me “Daniel”, which is my real name. He started calling me “Deenel”. It became a nickname for me, I suppose.

When I was 11 years old, my mom and family moved to Houston, Texas to take advantage of the promising job market down there. My sister Stephanie and I decided to stay in Ohio with my dad and stepmother. We’d visit Texas over the summer and Christmas breaks, but, since I graduated from high school, I haven’t been to Texas that much, and we haven’t been as close as we might have been if we’d lived closer to each other.

In 1995 he came up with Mom, my sister Mandy, and my step-brother Richard to be one of the groomsmen in my wedding. I was 25 years old then.

Now he’s been in the Navy these past few years, and naturally it’s been a busy time for him. Fortunately, I’ve been able to keep in touch off and on via e-mail.

I wish I could do or say something that would convey how much I love him, respect him, appreciate him, and am grateful that he’s my brother. Today he turns 25 years old.

Happy birthday, P.J., from your brother “Deenel”.

On Google’s front page today, and in the customized desktop, there is a special Google icon: