Journey Inside My Mind ™

I recently gave the Official Mom’s blog a makeover. Check it out and let her know what you think!

Oh my gosh! I’d started the draft of this post back on 12/14/2006, and just recently remembered it.

Ganns, the Official Superblessed Blogger of Journey Inside My Mind, posted a ten things that begin with the letter ___ meme. Here’s how it works: When you see this meme and want to participate, post a comment requesting a letter (as I did at Ganns’s site), and the blogger will respond in the comment form with a letter of his/her choice. Then you go back to your blog and post about ten things that start with that letter.

In response to my comments, Ganns, who says I’m one of the “most creative men [he's] ever had the pleasure of knowing“, has given me an “E.” These were the top 10 things that came to mind, in no particular order of importance:

1. Encouragement. I have been told that I have a gift for encouragement. I have the ability to see something good about something or someone and point it out. In college I used to call up friends and leave encouraging messages on their answering machines.
2. English. Not only is this my native language, but I was very good in it in school. I could one day become an English teacher, and the English teachers I had in school had a profound impact on my life.
3. Expressive. This word really describes my work personality. For example, at work I am gregarious and outgoing. I draw motivation from social interactions and relationships with others. As a result I help to make the company a better place to work.
4. Empowering. This word describes my leadership style. I am encouraging and motivating, and I help others reach their goals and dreams. People see me as a good mentor for my patience and talent for giving direction.
5. Elves. It’s Christmastime, and there is a lot of talk about elves, especially a certain jolly old elf that pays a visit to girls and boys this time of year. I have been fortunate to have worn the suit at different occasions in my life, and I have the opportunity to do that again this coming weekend. But don’t tell my daughter that, okay?
6. Emmanuel. God with us. We remember the birth of Jesus Christ at any time during the year, but especially during this time of the year. God invaded our world, grew up into a man, showed us how to live, and gave his life, enduring suffering to show us the extent of his love for us, to reconcile us back to him. Were there enough clauses in that previous sentence?
7. Eternity. God has set eternity in the hearts of all men. Everyone thinks about what will happen once they are gone. We can have eternal life with God through Jesus.
8. Evanescence. A couple years ago, while working at McDonald’s, Evanescence’s song “Bring Me To Life” came on over the stereo system being piped through the restaurant. Those familiar with the song will know that there is a crescendo as it builds up to the chorus. Well, it was during a busy part of the day on crew, and that song came on, and when the chorus first broke, I really got into it. I got into it so much that I yelled the chorus. The manager, who was in the far corner of the building in the back, came out to see what was wrong. I was a little overzealous, I guess.
9. Ed’s Mixed Bag. This is one of my favorite independent music podcasts, and Ed, as the Official Audio Commentator of the Journey Inside My Mind Podcast, has become a great friend.
10. Elvis. Back in the early 1990′s, Mojo and Skid has a song called “Elvis is Everywhere”. I was living in the Detroit, Michigan area, and I rented a video camera and made a music video of me singing this song. Lip-syncing it, actually. If I remember correctly, the chorus goes something like this:
    

    Elvis is everywhere
    Elvis is everything
    Elvis is everybody
    Elvis is still the King
    Man oh man
    What I want you to see
    Is that the King
    He lives inside
    You and me

Related tags:

journey+inside+my+mind journeyinsidemymind jimm dan+johnson ganns deen work personality leadership style christmas santa emmanuel evanescence ed’s mixed bag elvis is everywhere mojo nixon skid roper memes

I have been tagged by the Official Superblessed Blogger with the following five questions, which I’ll have to respond to in a separate post:

1. Describe yourself in three sentences, from the perspective of any movie character.
2. What five things bring you most joy?
3. What is the Bible verse you recite to yourself most during times of trouble?
4. Ultimate dinner party. Who are three of your guests?
5. Why should we journey inside your mind?

These are some tough, open-ended questions that require more thought than I can provide at this time. Readers want to know, so I’ll be sure to reply soon!

Related tags: journey+inside+my+mind journeyinsidemymind jimm dan+johnson five+questions+interview official+superblessed+blogger ganns+deen

crossposted to Journey Inside My Mind on MySpace

Blown away by the generosity from the Official Mom of Journey Inside My Mind and members from our church family:

Related tags:

journey+inside+my+mind journeyinsidemymind jimm dan+johnson jimmpodcast christmas+presents church+family generosity

A great big welcome to all of you visiting from the 2006 Superblessed Christian Blog Awards page!

For those that are not familiar, Ganns Deen, aka the Official Superblessed Blogger of Journey Inside My Mind, has just released the results of the 2006 Superblessed Christian Blog Awards:

I skipped the nominees this year because I have to mail that medicine box to Project Miracle this weekend. As I mentioned in a previous post, I would like to honor the winners of the Superblessed Christian Blog Awards 2006 by donating medicines to Typhoon Reming’s victims in Bicol in the names of the winners.

The winners of the Superblessed Christian Blog Awards 2006 are selected by sheer virtue of their having blessed me. Regardless of whether their blogs are explicitly Christian in nature or whether they ‘live the life,’ if you will, I wish to honor these phenomenal men and women of Christ, and pray their stars continue to shine brightly as they blog for Jesus. Be superblessed!

Imagine my surprise when, further down, I see this:

The Blog On! Most Superblessed Christian Blog of 2006.
Journey Inside My Mind. This year, I have seen Dan Johnson live his faith out in so many ways, it makes my head spin. When I look at him and see how his joy comes from God, despite things that would have felled lesser men, I am reminded of God’s power and greatness. No man deserves this award better than Dan Johnson, because in everything he does – as he takes us through a journey through his mind, if you will – you can see how Christ fills it up and leads him on. For being his brother in Christ, one of his prayer partners, and his friend, I am superblessed, honored, and privileged to give the Blog On! Superblessed Christian Blog Award 2006 to my friend, Dan Johnson.

How encouraging is that! Here’s this young man, who lives literally 12 hours away from me, never having met me in person, saying these nice words about me! Not only that, but he’s chosen to honor me and all the other award recipients with a donation to help those whose lives have been turned upside down by Typhoon Reming, which hit the Philippines a couple months ago.

I’m blown away. Here are the comments I left:

Wow. I don’t know what to say. I’m blushing. What great company to be among, especially given the history of these awards.

I want to thank the Academy… oh, wait. Wrong speech.

Seriously, though. Thank YOU, Ganns Deen, for being the Official Superblessed Blogger of Journey Inside My Mind! Thank YOU for blessing MY life as well.

A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. — Proverbs 11:25

• 2006 Superblessed Christian Blog Awards
• 2005 Superblessed Christian Blog Awards

Related tags:

journey+inside+my+mind journeyinsidemymind jimm dan+johnson superblessed ganns+deen blog+awards christian+blogs typhoon+reming project+miracle bicol superblessed+christian+blog+awards

Clean-shaven
Originally uploaded by danimal0416.

The Official Mom says I look about 5-years younger without the beard. But I think my eyes show my age.

Self-Portrait via Webcam
Originally uploaded by danimal0416.

The Official Mom sent us a webcam as an early Christmas present.

Tonight we talked with the Official Mom of Journey Inside My Mind via SkypeOut. We have the laptop speakers connected to the stereo system so that everyone could hear my Mom. Keisha, Jennie, and I talked for close to an hour, and I took some pictures, which will be on this post momentarily.

What’s great is that Keisha, who is hard of hearing, could hear her Nana very well and talk with her as though she was here. Technology is amazing that way.

Karen, the Official Goof of Journey Inside My Mind, shared this amazing YouTube video on her blog, which you’ll find after the jump:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4]

Maybe I should go get some posterboard and spend an afternoon in Fountain Square.

Mood: elated and slightly tired
Listening to: a program on PBS about Lucille Ball
Reading: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5), with Keisha – just finished ch. 3

Bene Diction, the Official Canuck of Journey Inside My Mind, writes (my links):

Journey Inside My Mind has found his niche. Dan – you are a natural at podcasting. And thanks for introducing us to Ganns Dean (Superblessed) music, which I think is very cool.

Ganns is the Official Superblessed Blogger of Journey Inside My Mind, you may recall.

I’ll be doing the 60th episode this coming weekend, and I realized a short while ago that I’ve almost been doing this for an entire year. Please check out the show, and leave feedback – good, bad, and ugly.

Update: It looks like Ganns is up at the Podsafe Music Network as of today. I think that’s supercool because he’s got the potential to get played by podcasters from all over the world now, not just my little show!

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

An 80 year old woman was arrested for shoplifting. When she went before the judge he asked her, “What did you steal?”

She replied: “a can of peaches.”

The judge asked her why she had stolen them, and she replied that she was hungry. The judge then asked her how many peaches were in the can. She replied 6.
The judge then said, “I will give you 6 days in jail.”

Before the judge could actually pronounce the punishment, the woman’s husband spoke up and asked the judge if he could say something. He said, “What is it?”

The husband said “She also stole a can of peas.”

via e-mail from the Official Mom

My baby sister Mandy will be having a baby today, Valentine’s Day 2006. This is her first baby and the Official Mom’s first grandson. So we’re excited.

As of 9:52 AM EST, Mandy had just received an epidural and was dilated to 5 cm, so it will be less than two hours.

Mandy has been miserable these last few weeks, so it will be a welcome relief to finally see her son James.

This is the same sister whom I remember vividly holding when Mom and Paul, my stepfather, brought her home. She was a “bald-headed” baby. I remember teaching her how to crawl, and that she would suck her middle and ring fingers and call me “bro-bro”.

Now she gets to look forward to the same things with her son.

I am just praying for everything to go okay, and that James is healthy. Mandy, too, for that matter.

More to come later.

no iPod required

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!

Mood: yucky
Listening to: BusinessWeek podcast for 12/21/05, interview with Paige and Gretchen of Mommycast
Reading: Luke 5, Gen 1-2, Ps 1
Eating: Krispy Kreme donuts and vegetable soup – drinking lots and lots of water
Watching: “To Kill A Mockingbird” on TV

The first section of this post is kinda gross – you may want to skip it

THE GROSS PART

Hey everybody. I’m feeling pretty yucky. I’ve caught another cold, which may be evident if you listen to this week’s podcast.

The medicine I’m taking helps thin the mucus, but it also makes me drowsy and thirsty. In addition, this morning I got ready for church, but decided to stay home at the last minute because I’d started throwing up mucus.

Then I changed into bed clothes and went to bed. I’ve spent much of the weekend sleeping and resting.

THE NON-GROSS PART

Prayers go out to IreneQ, the Official Blogger of Introspection, as well as to Paul, the Official Dirt Track Photographer/All-around Missional Redneck Chaplain, of Journey Inside My Mind. Both of them are starting off the new year without jobs. I know of others who are starting off the year looking for gainful employment.

I created a blog for job-seekers in 2002 called Get That Job, which has a lot of information and resources to help, for what it’s worth.

Related tags:
businessweek, podcast, mommycast, to kill a mockingbird, sick, prayers, official, unravelled, steelerdirtfreak, journey inside my mind, job seekers, get that job

Hey folks! I put a podcast together some time ago, sharing some “Podcasts in My Ears“, but I thought you might be interested in knowing everyone I listen to. So here’s the exhaustive list of podcasts in my subscription list, in alphabetical order:

1. - Teknikal Diffikulties -
2. 43 Folders
3. 6620 West Kidcast
4. Accident Hash
5. Adam Curry: Daily Source Code
6. Bedtime Stories My Kids Love
7. Bluestreak Network: Joke of the Day
8. Bluestreak Network: Weekly Wacky Almanac
9. Cincinnati church of Christ
10. Coverville
11. Dave’s Lounge
12. Digital Flotsam
13. Echoes Podcast
14. Ed’s Mixed Bag
15. Encouraging Audiobooks – Comedy Clip of the Week
16. Funnyindian (Cincinnati Comedian Rajiv Satyal)
17. IMAO Podcast
18. InsytWorks for Self-Help
19. Journey Inside My Mind Podcast (yes, I listen to my own podcast, especially to see what my other listeners are experiencing)
20. K-LOVE Closer Look Podcast
21. K-LOVE News Podcast
22. K-LOVE Pastors Roundtable Podcast
23. KCRW’s Martini Shot
24. Laura’s Hollywood Dirt
25. Lynn Parsons
26. Miami Valley Musicast
27. Murmur Music and News
28. No Idle Frets
29. One Minute Tip (www.oneminutetip.com)
30. podCast411 – Learn about Podcasting and Podcasters
31. PodCheck Review
32. podictionary – the podcast for word lovers
33. PodQuiz.com weekly trivia quiz
34. Podsafe Music Network Playlist – Journey Inside My Mind (songs I pick to be played come to my computer/mp3 player automagically. I’ll let you know how you can set this up, if you’d like.)
35. Promos (promos for other podcasts submitted to the PodShow promos site)
36. Tanfastic (JW – the Official Cheesehead of Journey Inside My Mind)
37. TGN: Behind the Scenes (another how-to podcast)
38. The Audio Collective
39. The Mr. Nice Guy Show!
40. The SG Show
41. the tartanpodcast
42. U-Turn Cafe
43. WGBH Morning Stories
44. World News Mashup (you’ve never heard the news quite like this!)

How cool is that?

Karen, the Official Goof of Journey Inside My Mind, believing in “helping others through [her] own experiences”, offers some tips on how to prepare for a colonoscopy:

So many good tips that it’s not worth posting them all here. I like numbers 1, 14, and 15 the best.

Ganns Dean, aka the Official Superblessed Blogger of Journey Inside My Mind, has been holding the Superblessed Christian Blog Awards, since 2003, to honor some of his favorite blogs.

He writes:

This year, the Superblessed Christian Blog Awards turns three. Those who’ve been around for the whole journey know I first launched the Christian Blog Awards in January 2003 to honor the God-bloggers who blessed me immensely in 2002. At the time, when it was known as the Mere Madness Christian Blog Awards, it created little buzz but did bless Christ-bloggers who were in my immediate circle of blogs.

This year, all categories stay the same, save for the Favorite Christian Blog 2005, which I am renaming in honor of Bene Diction, God-blogger and first recipient of my Superblessed Hall of Fame Award. In honor of BD’s favorite encouraging phrase, I’ve renamed this category to the Blog On! Superblessed Christian Blog of the Year 2005.

Again, thank you, all our friends (and foes) online for helping make Superblessed what it is today. We’re blessed by you in ways you’ll never know.

Not only is Bene Diction, aka the Official Canuck of Journey Inside My Mind on the list for receiving the Hall of Fame award, but Clarence, aka the Official Hillbilly Prince of Journey Inside My Mind, is nominated for the Most Inspirational/Encouraging Blog award for his blog, “Can You Hear Me Now?“

So big hoo-hahs to these Officials!

Anyone can become an Official of Journey Inside My Mind unless that particular “office” has been taken. For more info, check out the FAQ

My Life

Karen, the Official Goof of Journey Inside My Mind, has been doing this list from time to time, in which she rattles off 13 miscellaneous things about her.

It’s a cool idea that I might like to try.

Mood: joyful
Listening to: SG Show 22
Eating: leftover LaRosa’s Pizza

Greetings to all listeners of the SG Show! Steve and Sam played comment Keisha and I made about watching the recent Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on their recent show.

The Official Mom told me about this interesting Christmas tree, made from Christmas lights: