SUMMARY

Fantastic music. Funny stuff. Twitter friends and others check in. Some follow-up from the One Voice Walk. Other appearances by yours truly.

LISTENING OPTIONS

• Direct link to file (mp3, 50:58, 46.6 MB)
• Get the show via e-mail!
• Add to your iTunes
• Play on jimmpodcast.com using PlayTagger triangles or PuPu player
• PodShow Plus page
• JIMM Podcast on MySpace
• Subscribe to the feed
• From ANY phone: +1 (650) 523-6856 (via Podlinez.net)

MUSIC

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

Title (with link to iTunes or other place to purchase, if available)	Artist (with link to the artists’ website, if available)	Album (with link to Amazon.com or CDBaby.com, if available)
99 Percent	The Mooney Suzuki	Have Mercy (Amazon)
Banjo Boy	Ryan Shupe and the Rubber Band	Dream Big (Amazon)
Bye Bye Baby Bye Bye	Ron Rutherford	Lone Wolf
Kids Rock	Tim Hawkins	TunaFish Productions (link to buy CDs, DVDs)
Domino’s Pizza	Paul and Storm	Opening Band (Amazon)
Staplegunned	The Spill Canvas	Denial Feels So Good (Amazon)

The Journey Inside My Mind theme is “Up and Go” by Rory. Background music during the Pod 5 segment is “The Jump House Rock” by after son

OTHER LINK-LOVE

• Pod 5, 1st and 3rd Tuesdays at 8:30 PM Eastern
  • Ed Ovett from Ed’s Mixed Bag
  • Brent Bradley from PodShow Radio
  • Dwight Dunlop from Much To Do About Nothing
  • Zack “The Mothman” Daggy from The Mothpod and several hundred other shows (j/k)
  • Daniel Johnson, Jr. from Journey Inside My Mind
• Tim Hawkins Audio Page
• Post It Cast LIVE with Michael W. Moss – join me on the show 10/9/2007!
• Journey Inside My Mind Blog – Interviewed in the Dayton Daily News
• Follow Daniel Johnson, Jr. on Twitter
• Thanks to ‘Captain Jack Sparrow’, Nathan Friedly, and Bill Green for their show IDs!
• Thanks to
  • Jen from the Dinkycast,
  • Jim Farley from Musical World Podcast,
  • Jersey Todd from the Jersey Todd Show,
  • Bryce Moore from Suffering from Sanity, and
  • Bill Green from KD8DRX

  for twittering in to say hi while I was recording!

• One Voice Walk content via Google
• Daniel Johnson, Jr.
• Journey Inside My Mind Podcast on MySpace

Three handsome male dogs are walking down the street when they see a beautiful, enticing, female Poodle.

The three male dogs fall all over themselves in an effort to be the one to reach her first, but end up arriving in front of her at the same time.

The males are speechless before her beauty, slobbering on themselves and hoping for just a glance from her in return.

Aware of her charms and her obvious effect on the three suitors, she decides to be kind and tells them, “The first one who can use the words ‘liver’ and ‘cheese’ together in an imaginative, intelligent sentence can go out with me.”

The sturdy, muscular black Lab speaks up quickly and says, “I love liver and cheese.”

“Oh, how childish,” said the Poodle. “That shows no imagination or intelligence whatsoever.”

She turns to the tall, shiny Golden Retriever and says “How well can you do?”

“Um. I HATE liver and cheese,” blurts the Golden Retriever.

“My, my,” said the Poodle. “I guess it’s hopeless. That’s just as dumb as the Lab’s sentence.”

She then turns to the last of the three dogs and says, “How about you, little guy?”

The last of the three, tiny in stature but big in fame and finesse, is the Taco Bell Chihuahua.

He gives her a smile, a sly wink, turns to the Golden Retriever and the Lab and says,

“Liver alone. Cheese mine.”

via e-mail from the Official Mom

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

Jennie and I talk about spending most of the day without sleep, White Castle hamburgers, Pepto Bismol, and getting beaten up with a chicken. Click play and let us know what you think by either leaving a comment, sending an email, or calling the Journey Inside My Mind Podcast hotline at (206) 666-5466

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

It’s called manualism:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NccQ8nCCZP0]

Mood: upbeat
Listening to: Keisha getting ready for bed
Reading: Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time
Eating: popcorn
Watching: The Perfect Man

This came via an email from Michelle P., who knows I have a sense of humor.

Three men were hiking through a forest when they came upon a large, raging violent river. Needing to get on the other side, the first man prayed, “God, please give me the strength to cross the river.” Poof! God gave him big arms and strong legs and he was able to swim across in about 2 hours, having almost drowned twice.

After witnessing that, the second man prayed, “God, please give me strength and the tools to cross the river.” Poof! God gave him a rowboat, strong arms, and strong legs, and he was able to row across in about an hour after almost capsizing once.

Seeing what happened to the first two men, the third man prayed,”God, please give me the strength, the tools and the intelligence to cross this river.” Poof! He was turned into a woman. She checked the map, hiked one hundred yards up stream, and walked across the bridge!

Related tags: journey+inside+my+mind journeyinsidemymind jimm daniel+johnson+jr humor jokes hiking men+vs+women

Voiceover gods:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQRtuxdfQHw]

Related tags: journey+inside+my+mind journeyinsidemymind jimm don+lafontaine john+leader al+chalk mark+elliott nick+tate

A father passing by his son’s bedroom was astonished to see the bed nicely made up and everything neat and tidy. Then he saw an envelope propped up prominently on the pillow. It was addressed, “Dad”. With the worst premonition, he opened the envelope and read the letter with trembling hands:

Dear Dad,

It is with great regret and sorrow that I’m writing you. I had to elope with my new girlfriend because I wanted to avoid a scene with you and Mom.

I’ve been finding real passion with Joan and she is so nice. I knew you would not approve of her because of all her piercings, tattoos, her tight motorcycle clothes and because she is so much older than I am but it’s not only the passion, Dad, she’s pregnant.

Joan says that we are going to be very happy. She owns a trailer in the woods and has a stack of firewood, enough for the whole winter. We share a dream of having many more children.

Joan has opened my eyes to the fact that marijuana doesn’t really hurt anyone. We’ll be growing it and trading it with the other people in the commune for all the cocaine and ecstasy we want.

In the meantime, we’ll pray that science will find a cure for AIDS so Joan can get better; she sure deserves it!

Don’t worry Dad, I’m 15 years old now and I know how to take care of myself.

Someday, I’m sure we’ll be back to visit so you can get to know your grandchildren.

Your son, Chad

P.S. Dad, none of the above is true. I’m over at Tommy’s house. I just wanted to remind you that there are worse things in life than the report card that’s in my desk drawer.

got this via email from Jeff

Related tags: journey+inside+my+mind journeyinsidemymind jimm daniel+johnson+jr jokes humor funny parenting

crossposted to Journey Inside My Mind Podcast on MySpace and jimmpodcast.com

We came, we strutted, we struck poses, and in general just horsed around, but in the end, someone didn’t like it (eh, snowman?):

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbOKGbgYxlg]

Music: 37Hz [pmn], [myspace], “Just Beats”

Direct link to this video on YouTube

Related tags: journey+inside+my+mind journeyinsidemymind jimm dan+johnson 37Hz video family

Mood: up
Listening to: 1 Year Daily Audio Bible for July 10
Eating: breakfast, soon

Gary Burbank from 700 WLW AM in Cincinnati is a funny guy. Take a listen as one of his characters, Gilbert Gnarley, contacts the makers of his favorite jelly:

powered by ODEO

A man walked into the ladies department of a Macy’s and shyly walked up to the woman behind the counter and said, “I’d like to buy a bra for my wife. “What type of bra?” asked the clerk. “Type?” inquires the man, “There’s more than one type?”

“Look around,” said the saleslady, as she showed a sea of bras in every shape, size, colour and material imaginable. “Actually, even with all of this variety, there are really only four types of bras to choose from.”

Relieved, the man asked about the types.

The saleslady replied “There are the Catholic, the Salvation Army, the Presbyterian, and the Baptist types. Which one would you prefer?

Now totally befuddled, the man asked about the differences between them. The Saleslady responded, “It is all really quite simple …

• The Catholic type supports the masses,
• The Salvation Army type lifts the fallen,
• The Presbyterian type keeps them staunch and upright, and
• The Baptist makes mountains out of mole hills.

via Funny Jokes: Funny Jokes – Types of Bras – Humor and Funny Jokes

crossposted to Get That Job!

Fresh out of business school, the young man answered a want ad for an accountant. He was being interviewed by a very nervous man who ran a three-man business:

“I need someone with an accounting degree,” the man said. “But mainly, I’m looking for someone to do my worrying for me.”

“Excuse me?” the young accountant said.

“I worry about a lot of things,” the man said. “But I don’t want to have to worry about money. Your job will be to take all the money worries off my back.”

“I see,” the young accountant said. “And how much does the job pay?”

“I will start you at eighty-five thousand dollars.”

“Eighty-five thousand dollars!” the young man exclaimed. “How can such a small business afford a sum like that?”

“That,” the owner said, “is your first worry.”

via the Funny Jokes – Funny Jokes and Humor page

Mood: playful
Listening to: JIMM 17 – Something for the Kids

In this podcast (20:06, 18.4 MB) I wanted to play some music that Keisha likes. We went to the Podsafe Music Network and picked out some Childrens songs. I wish I had a video camera and was able to capture Keisha’s dancing as I played these songs. During the last one, we both were up dancing:

The show was recorded at our dinner table, using the Dell Latitude laptop, a Labtec AM-242 microphone, and Audacity. The show was basically recorded in one shot with just a little bit of post-production processing of our filler between the songs. Oh, and there are a couple of new sweepers/station IDs, too.

By the way, if you want to call in your station ID, shout-out, or promo, call the Listener Hotline: 206-666-JIMM (5466)

Thanks for listening and for subscribing. Enjoy!

Songs played:

1. “Get Out of Bed” by The Egerton Boyz
   They have their own weekly podcast, called “the Smelly Monkeys podcast:” a show that provides the humor, wisdom, and perspective that only kids can provide.
2. “Autumn Leaves” by The Egerton Boyz
3. “Eat Your Vegetables” by The Egerton Boyz
4. “Thank You” by Smallfish
   The official Smallfish website address: www.smallfishadventures.com

As always thanks go out to the folks who help make this possible:

• Audacity, a bit unstable at times, but it gets the job done. Just remember to save early and often!
• 
• OurMedia.org and their partnership with the Internet Archive
• Anyone else I may have left out

Please call the Listener Hotline (206-666-JIMM), leave me a comment (guidepost), or send me an e-mail to let me know what you think!

Get ready for the following:

• No Audioblogger
• Some Workplace Humor
• Feelin’ Fishy

No Audioblogger

Audioblogger appears to be down. I haven’t been able to call in for the past couple of days. When I’ve tried to go to ListenLab.com, I get no answer.

Some Workplace Humor

We have a new client coming on: Interior Building Systems, or something like that. Anyhow, the name gets shortened to IBS, which also happens to be the acronym for a digestive disorder.

Now whenever someone inquires about the company, specifically which individual is taking care of them, the question will be something like, “Who handles IBS?” or “Who has IBS?”

I’ve already forewarned that employee. Yuk Yuk.

This is not meant in any way to make fun of people who have IBS; I just found it ironic that the acronym of a company also stands for a medical condition.

Let the comments begin!

Feeling Fishy

Lately in our home we’ve been having a taste for fish. Last Sunday afternoon we were going to go to this place on Libery Street near Race Street (or is is Vine?) in Cincinnati to get some. Jennie and I went on a date about a month or so ago, and we went there. The place is called Alabama’s. Superb fish. Yum.

We went there on Sunday only to find that the place was closed. Then Wednesday before our Midweek service at church, we stopped by Long John Silver’s and got some fish. That was really good.

Last night I went back to the same Long John Silver’s and got some more.

Now it’s getting close to lunch time, and guess what I’m thinking about having for lunch?

Podcasting is a hot phenomenon on the web right now. Over the weekend I decided to start getting into it. I downloaded iPodder and subscribed to some feeds, specifically those of the humor/comedy variety. Pretty cool stuff.

Ever since I was young, I’ve wanted to be in broadcasting. Podcasting may be a ticket for me to get into myself. We’ll see.

Heard on the Bob and Tom Show this morning:

Q: How many ADHD children does it take to change a light bulb?

A: Let’s go ride bikes!

I can relate. Now, what was I doing?

Google Search for “light bulb” jokes

• Background
• Attempting to Leave
• Beating Around the Bushings
• License to Pay
• Attempting to Leave, part 2
• Let Me Axle You About Your Hub
• Take Me Home
• Pick Me Up
• License to Pay, part 2
• Exceeding the Recommended Daily Limit
• Isn’t Science Wonderful
• Isn’t God Wonderful

Background

Last October, some friends from church gave us a ’94 Chevy Corsica. Shortly after we’d gotten it, we noticed that it had this odd way about it. The right front tire area would wobble and “bounce,” creating a lot of noise and shaking the car.

It wasn’t bad enough for us to really do a lot about it, so we just lived with it. Over time, we noticed that the wobble only occurred between 30 and 55 miles per hour. Below and above, the car behaved almost normally.

Attempting to Leave

This past Thursday morning, when my wife came home from work, she said that the car was sounding really bad. A little concerned, I prepared to go to work anyway.

As I began to drive, I could understand what Jennie had meant. Instead of heading toward the highway, I headed for one of the nearby auto repair places. I saw a Midas, and I took the car there.

Beating Around the Bushings

I handed the owner/manager the keys, and he had a mechanic pull it into a repair bay. After he lifted the car a bit, he checked the right front wheel and called the manager over. After a brief moment, the manager called me over to take a look. The wheel was close to snapping off, and the car was definitely unsafe to drive in its current condition.

It turned out that it needed something called “sway bushings”, which are somehow related to the steering assembly; they had broken and were no longer useful. I told for them to go ahead with the repair and called my work to tell them I would be late by a few hours.

I decided to wait in their lobby, watching television, and thinking about the application I’ve been developing at work.

License to Pay

After the repair was completed, the owner/manager gave me the total cost, and I gave him my driver’s license so that I could use the car to go to the ATM to get the money. We don’t have a credit card, and the Midas didn’t take personal checks.

Attempting to Leave, part 2

I withdrew the $240 needed from the ATM, returned to Midas, and paid my bill. As I started driving toward the expressway, I noticed that the wobble was still there. I could tell that something was fixed because it sounded a bit different.

I stopped to get me some breakfast/lunch, and then I returned to the Midas. After I told the owner that the car still sounded bad, he had the mechanic who’d worked on the car earlier go for a short ride with me. He had test-driven the car earlier, but only in the Target parking lot. As I got up to normal driving speed, he heard and felt the wobble. We returned to Midas.

Let Me Axle You About Your Hub

He pulled the wheel off, and took a closer look. The manager returned to the waiting area and told me it looked like it could be a problem with the axle or the wheel hub.

I knew from an experience several years ago that replacing the axle was not cheap at all. The manager and mechanic later deduced that it was probably the wheel hub.

Take Me Home

After giving me the estimate, I told the manager to go ahead with the work and asked for them to take me home, since I didn’t feel like waiting around. The mechanic said he would take the car on the highway to test it out this time. I called work and told them I wasn’t going to make it in after all.

The driver and I started toward our apartment, and, about two-thirds of the way there, I realized that the apartment keys were still with the car at the shop. As we turned around to head back to the shop, I chuckled at how silly that was. I’m glad I had a sense of humor about it. I left the ignition key with the mechanic, and the driver took me home.

Pick Me Up

I went inside and went to bed for a nap. Jennie returned home from some training at her work, having gotten a ride from a friend. After a few hours, Keisha came home, and I was able to meet her when she got off the bus. We were home for a short while when Midas called to tell me that the car was ready. I told them to send the driver to come pick me up.

License to Pay, part 2

When we got back to the shop, the assistant manager gave me the total. I left my license again, needing the car to head to the ATM to get the money, approximately $200.

Exceeding the Recommended Daily Limit

I returned to the credit union I’d gone to before. They are not affiliated with our credit union, except for the fact that they have the same type of ATM, and we don’t have to pay a fee when we use it.

I drove up to the ATM, and tried to withdraw the $200. I got a message stating that I needed to contact my institution because the transaction could not be completed. I went inside the credit union, and the teller told me that, since they are not in any way affiliated with my credit union, there was really nothing he could do.

I drove home and called the credit union’s toll-free number, and I told the representative about the situation, including my needing the money for a car repair, leaving my license, and so forth. He said that the additional $200 would put me over my daily limit of $300, yet he would set the account up to authorize it for this occasion.

I hung up and returned to the ATM to try again. This time I the message on the ATM slip stated that the “Amount Requested Exceeds Daily Limit”. Perturbed, I returned home and called the toll-free number again.

The rep I spoke with the second time said that it was probably because they didn’t set up the addditional amount on my wife’s ATM card as well. I gave the woman that number and she said I should be okay.

Since we needed to get some groceries, Jennie and Keisha climbed in with me. We drove back to the ATM, and I tried with Jennie’s card, but the ATM wouldn’t even read it. I tried with my card, and I got the same message as before.

Seriously frustrated, I went inside to talk with the teller. I told him that my credit union had supposedly authorized me to get the additional money. He told me again that they were not affiliated with my credit union and that it usually takes some sort of nightly update f
or something like that to take effect.

Isn’t Science Wonderful

Deflated, I returned to our car, and we drove to Midas. I went inside and spoke with the assistant manager. I told him that I had a handful of ATM slips telling me that, despite my credit union telling me the contrary, I was unable to get the money at that time.

My biggest concern was that they would think I was trying to steal from them. Since they had my license, all they’d have to do is call the sheriff, and I could get arrested.

I asked them to hold my license until Friday morning, when I could get the money to them on my way to work. They agreed.

On Friday morning, I was able to get the $200 cash, pay for the repair, and get my license back. Isn’t science wonderful?

Isn’t God Wonderful

As I’ve reflected on this series of events, I’ve been able to see how God was blessing me through it all:

• I was able to get to a repair facility before the car broke down. I could have been on the highway when the right front wheel snapped off. Then I would have been in a much worse situation.
• We had the money to pay for the repairs.
• The repair facility was very understanding in letting me leave my license while I drove the car to get the money.
• These events took place during a slow part of my work week. Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday are the days when I’m most needed at work.

And I know there are other ways that God took care of me that I haven’t mentioned.

It’s nice to drive the car without the nasty wobble. It’s gotten so that I’ve nearly forgotten it was there at all.

This belated Easter joke was recently spotted on the Jokes and Humor Weblog:

Three blondes (natural) died and found themselves standing before St. Peter. He told them that before they could enter the Kingdom, they had to tell him what Easter was.

The first blonde said, “Easter is a holiday where they have a big feast and we give thanks and eat turkey.”

St. Peter said, “Noooooo,” and he banished her.

The second blonde said, “Easter is when we celebrate Jesus’ birth and exchange gifts.”

St. Peter said, “Noooooo,” and he banished her.

The third blonde said, she knew what Easter is, and St. Peter said, “So, tell me.”

She said, “Easter is a Christian holiday that coincides with the Jewish festival of Passover. Jesus was having Passover feast with His disciples when he was betrayed by Judas, and the Romans arrested him. The Romans hung Him on the cross and eventually He died. Then they buried Him in a tomb behind a very large boulder ..

St. Peter said, “Verrrrrry good.”

Then the blonde continued, “Now every year the Jews roll away the boulder and Jesus comes out. If he sees his shadow, we have six more weeks of basketball.”

St. Peter fainted.

But will my brackets turn out the way I want? That’s what I want to know. (g)

Here’s the news:

• On Track To Move
• Definitely MY Daughter!
• Guitar Man

On Track To Move

On Monday I posted about our Potential Moving Derailment.

Yesterday my wife called to tell me she got the job in Cincinnati (Cincinnati Interview – Ready, Set, Go). Last night she handed in her resignation notice, in which Monday, March 21st, will be her last day.

We had hoped to receive an offer letter in the mail, but the woman from the hospital who called mentioned that the nurse in charge of doing that had been so busy that she hadn’t typed something up.

(Aside: the lady who called asked Jennie if I was in broadcasting or something like that, because of how the outgoing message on our answering machine sounds. I could be in radio, dontcha know!)

Jennie’s first day is April 4th. Night, really, since she’s working 3rd shift.

We still need to find an apartment, and yesterday Jennie made a couple of appointments this Saturday for us to look at some places.

I’ve been concerned about my job here, but my boss yesterday said that they could work things out, if need be, for me to do some development work at home and not have to drive up here every day. We’ll see.

Definitely MY Daughter!

I love making Keisha laugh, and I can tell that she’s picked up my sense of humor. Last night we went to the library for a little while to return some items. After that, we drove to the gas station so that I could pay through the nose to fill the tank up halfway.

Whenever we are in the car – just the two of us – we’re always kidding around with each other. For example, Keisha started making scary faces at me, and I would glance over at her and scream out as though I was scared. That would make her laugh, and, of course, egg her on.

After I’d finished paying through the nose at the pump, I climbed back in with my back to Keisha. I’d put on a silly face to surprise Keisha, but, when I turned toward her, she had a silly face of her own to show me!! We both laughed at each other.

Another thing I love to do to make Keisha laugh is some slapstick – a la Buster Keaton or Johnny Depp’s character Sam in Benny and Joon.

As we started toward the steps of our apartment building, I pretended that one of my legs kept wanting me to turn around and go the other direction. I had Keisha laughing so hard she nearly wet herself!

Guitar Man

I’ve been going through the songbook we use at church to learn to play the chords on my guitar. I’ve especially wanted to learn the songs we sing in Kid’s Kingdom. Thankfully, most western music is based on a three-chord progression, and this has been the case for most children’s music.

Sometimes I get lucky and there are only two chords used; the root and the dominant fifth. In rare occasions, I only need one chord.

It’s been fun, though, to play these songs at home. Last night Keisha and I sang a few before she went to bed.

There are a few things for me to mention today, so here goes

• The Skinny on Mr. Big
• Dan’s Links
• Becoming More “del.icio.us”
• Post Titles
• Expandable Post Summaries

The Skinny on Mr. Big

Mood: Upbeat
Listening to: “INXS of U2″, a playlist of INXS and U2 music I brought from home
Reading: check out the reading list at Dan’s Domain
Eating: pizza that others in the office have purchased – thanks!
Watching: The Stepford Wives

Dan’s Links

I’ve updated the Dan’s Links page to include links to local radio stations. Click on the station’s logo and head over to hear radio in the Dayton area.

Becoming More “del.icio.us”

In addition, I’ve indexed posts in the 2004 Journey Inside My Mind archive from July through December. I plan to do this with the entire blog’s archives. The posts are labeled with various tags, and you can click the link to any of the tags to view a list of posts and other web pages I’ve bookmarked accordingly. Right now the tags with the most links are “family” and “humor” respectively.

• Dan’s Links
• del.icio.us/danimal0416

Post Titles

Moreover, I’ve begun traversing through the archives, from the First Post to this blog, in order to provide the posts with titles. At the time I wrote them, I gave the posts a title and made the text bold, but that was before Blogger started giving users the ability to create Title tags (or whatever it is they call them).

One side effect of this is that permalinks used in later posts may no longer be valid. If you happen to discover one of these instances, please let me know. I’d like to avoid linkrot as much as possible!

Expandable Post Summaries

Finally, many of the posts are long, so I’ve taken advantage of “expandable post summaries”, i.e., the “Journey Further” link you see on the bottom right-hand corner of each post. (Did you know, by the way, that not every post is set up this way, even though every post has that “Journey Further” link?) What I like about having these is that you’re able to condense the amount of text readers see on the main archive page and provide a link so that they can continue to the post page for the rest of it if they want. Hopefully I’ve set up the expandable post summaries in a way that it’s intuitive to readers.

For more information on how to set these up within your blog, read the following article: Blogger Help: How can I create expandable post summaries?

Update, 2/14/2005: I’ve tagged most of the posts from November 2003. I also revised that month’s archive to have title tags for each post. As for 2002, where I began, I’m up through June’s archives. That is to say that I’ve revised that month’s posts to have title tags and expandable post summaries.

Update, 2/23/2005: I’ve finished going through the September 2002 archives. I’m also checking the referrer log to see which posts are being read, and revising those posts accordingly.

Moreover, as I see a post referring to another post that also needs revising, I’m revising that one as well. Clear as mud? Good.

I’d have to say that the past few years have been the most challenging of my life.

Recently, I spent some time reviewing my blog entries from 2004, starting with January and going up through December. As I read, I noticed a common theme, and I was somewhat surprised to see that we’ve made it through everything. That is not to say that our circumstances are all that better right now. In some instances, they’re worse.

I guess I’m encouraged that we’ve been able to persevere and maintain a healthy sense of humor. In addition, I’ve renewed my perspective on God. Last year, I saw myself pull away from God in terms of my own commitment to him. I’m spending more time with him now than I did last year.

In previous years, I’ve posted a summary recap of posts from the previous year. I haven’t decided yet whether I’ll do that here. For now, browse the monthly archives:

• January 2004
• February 2004
• March 2004
• April 2004
• May 2004
• June 2004
• July 2004
• August 2004
• September 2004
• October 2004
• November 2004
• December 2004