This is one of the funniest things I've read in a long while.

At least the Gremlins should ply you with strong dring before messing with you. It wouldn't hurt so much…

Rich

I hardly know where to begin, so many of you have sent me encouragement and kudos both here and via email, it's dizzying! I am warmed by the onslaught of well-wishing, and it tells me that I was in more folks prayers than I realized. I am humbled and pleased even while reminding myself of Rick Warren's mantra: "It's not about me...."
<b>@slw:</b> Thanks for the kudos! It's hard to know what God's best is in every situation except to recognize that it's important to be joyful and content in all situations. Not easy, but it's certainly easier in context: my travails are nothing compared to what they could be. I have learned to count my blessings, friend.
<b>@Kyle:</b> I don't know anything about Z's Latin textbooks, though I do know we've published an English, Greek/Hebrew, Latin triglot Bible. I don't know if that's still in print though or not. If you're serious, though, send an email to <a href="http://www.zondervan.com/Cultures/en-US/Authors/Author.htm?ContributorID=VerbruggeV&QueryStringSite=Zondervan">Verlyn Verbrugge</a> and ask him. He's the in-house editorial expert on ancient languages and if he doesn't know where to find a great Latin textbook, he'll know who does know that answer.
<b>@Michael:</b> Thanks, Mike, for your continued prayers, that pumps me up! I second that Amen.
<b>@Travis Johnson:</b> Dude, if you have a book idea, let me know. I'll pass it along to an acquisition editor or give you a contact. Honestly, if you have a good idea, you should start working it out. Write a book outline, write your first chapter, and flesh out a proposal -- who your audience is, what you have to say, and why you think you're the guy to say it. If there's the slightest chance for interest, getting that done will be a huge help. I can't say that being the "new guy" gives me any cred at all, but who knows?
<b>@tmzydowicz:</b> Resurrected Todd! Thanks for stopping by and thanks for lending your kudos! After looking over your blog, I can see you are well acquainted with difficult situations -- probably more than I am! I do, indeed, have much to be thankful for. I am in relatively good health, I have lovely children and a sweet bride, and to top it off, I have a great job! Praise God! I, too, pray that this is where I'm supposed to be. But I also recognize that wherever I am, that's where I'm supposed to do whatever God gives me, too. He'll lead me on if I need to be elsewhere. I just hope he lets me pay some bills first!
<b>@Carl Thomas:</b> The advance is in the mail. I'm sure you're be as delightful to work with as your book was easy to write. :: grin ::
<b>@Clay:</b> Bro, thanks for your excitement by proxy! I sure miss working with you and my fellow CTI peeps, but especially you and those long, rambling post 5 pm conversations about everything from typography to cameras to dogs to children to ministry to theology to sports. Well, never sports. But, everything else! And congratulations on your 10 years at CTI! Wahoo! Did they give you a celebration? What's the bling for the 10-year mark? A clock? I shall always cherish my wood Post-It holder...
PS: I hope it's either <b>more</b> than 10 years at the Big Z, or that it leads to a truly phenomenal ten years somewhere else. Otherwise, if I get laid-off ten years from now, I'm blaming it on you!
<b>@Don:</b> Thanks for the kudos, Don. I'll trust that you don't mean it when you wish me luck, right? Blessings, brother! Blessings! Not luck! :: grin ::
<b>@Tim Heard:</b> Thanks for the kudos! I have already passed your feedback on to the HR folks at Zondervan. Whether they appreciate it or not will be hard to say. I can say, however, that I found the employment page easily enough about 9 months ago. I set up a tracker to watch the page and email me the instant anything changed on it. That's how I knew about three job openings the day they were published. A truly motivated job-seeker will find those pages. A motivated and knowledgeable job-seeker will figure out ways to monitor those pages and act on new positions. (Incidentally, I was interviewed for all three positions that I contacted Zondervan about -- I guess they got tired of me bothering HR!) I had several employers in my tracking file: I was watching for jobs at Zondervan, Tyndale, Baker, Group Publishing, GospelCom, my denominations district offices in Illinois, InterVarsity Press, LifeChurch.tv, Regent University, Saddleback Church, Willow Creek, the Willow Creek Exchange, and more. And on each of those sites I never bothered scanning the page for the employment link: I always used Google to search a site with queries like <a href="employment|career|jobs site:zondervan.com">employment|career|jobs site:zondervan.com</a>. Saved me the hassle of searching.
Of course, not everybody uses that strategy when searching for job pages. But I learned a long time ago that most companies don't have a clue how to design pages for usability. That's something the job-seeking handbooks need to point out.
At the end of my first full week at Zondervan I can report that things are, indeed, going well. I think, anyhow. It's been non-steep meeting after meeting after meeting, sometimes with as many as seven hours of meetings in a day. So, I've had very little time at my desk to work on figuring stuff out or even assimilating what I'm hearing. But on the other hand, it's been great because I'm getting a very broad overview of the Zondervan culture and I'm totally immersed in that process without having to worry about being productive in my first week. I have a mentor to help me out (assigned to me, but he's a great guy, and he's a smart editor to boot), I had four of my five lunches in the first week paid for, I never ate alone in my first week, and I've met with HR four times to touch base in my first week. I've probably spent 15 hours with my manager in this time, and another 15 hours meeting folks from vice-presidents on down to various secretaries. It's been dizzying, but comforting at the same time: the Zondervan work culture is family-like, but still unlike any other place I've worked. It looks to be a very good fit for me.

Thanks, again, friends, for all your support. I mean it when I say I appreciate it. You can't know how much...
Regards,

Thanks!

I graduated from Highland High in 1986, left for college, and have only been back for visits since. Used to live on the cordner of Zuni and San Pedro where my parents managed a nursery/plant shop.

I miss the red-tinged sunsets bouncing off the granite mountains.

:: sigh ::

I actually like how stark and blown-out this image is. It works for me, but I like a little chaos mixed in with rigidity. I think the fact that the mug is broken means that purely straight lines everywhere else would be too much of a contradiction for me.

Who says you cannot have pure whites or blacks in your art? Go for it!