tvjames x blog

Work is not cooperating (A Work-Related Post)

noreply@blogger.com (James Lamb) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 04:18:00 +0000

My desire to simplify in 2012 has met with an nasty obstacle: my job.

Entering into evidence exhibits A and B:

Now, granted, I actually blocked a full half of my calendar for the week and did not attend any meetings (except for a two-hour phone call on Wednesday) but it's not like I otherwise was able to get caught up. I sat at the computer working, even worked (partially to make up for the time tomorrow when I have to take Ben to therapy) a few more hours last night after the children were in bed (Lori was at her mom's helping her with her post-surgery recovery) and I'm still just getting further and further behind.

These have actually been pretty cleaned up - at one point on Monday I was quadruple booked. I've still got a few overlaps I need to deal with, but I've started publishing my full calendar out to the entire org because this is beyond crazy, it's just plain stupid.

I have no time to work on the action items that result from all these meetings. (And no, I can't delegate - people are specifically asking for me. If there's any delegation to be done, this is the post-delegation calendar. Two groups were fighting over a lunch-time meeting today because they wanted me at their meeting that had to be today.)

Way to Go, Ben!

noreply@blogger.com (James Lamb) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:49:00 +0000

Ben came home with this today. Not sure what specifically was involved, but Lori said that Ben was awarded a sticker for each time he followed an instruction successfully. There was a dinosaur finger puppet in his backpack about a month ago so perhaps it's a month's worth of following instructions? No sticker sheet that time, but we suspect it was the same type of thing. Unfortunately, the finger puppet was quickly chewed to the point of not being safe and we had to toss it. Ol' Bob seems a bit more sturdy (complete with spring-loaded hammer action!). We're not always sure what they're working on with Ben (and they did reduce their objectives for the year) and it's been a bit of a discouraging day, both at work and at home, so it was really cool when Lori shared this news with me. Really improved my spirits.

Simplifying Google Reader

noreply@blogger.com (James Lamb) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Another area that I've been feeling is overwhelming is Google Reader. So I began cutting it back. Still, there are 184 links. That's too many. I was going to make a list, but I'm not still done paring, and if they are ones I'm not interested in following anymore, why would you want a list of them?

Though I will note that I dropped Inhabitat. While the architectural stuff is interesting, I know enough to know that their posts are sometimes wildly inaccurate, sometimes written by people who have no clue what they're writing about - like the tour of 15th. Ave Tea & Coffee that was actually posted months after it became a Starbucks and dang if those people at Inhabitat don't scream (not cry) wolf at least once a month. Talk about alarmist to the point of "Shut up shut up shut up SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!" Geez. I don't need that kind of stress in my life.

I have found now that I'm no longer running The Sift, I'm not feeling compelled to watch the links so closely for content that might be useful to that site. It's allowed me to be a lot more picky about what I bother to read, it's allowed me to skim much quicker, and it's meant if I don't bother to look at Google Reader for a day or two (or three) that I have to be all that worried about the avalanche that awaits me.

Blog Overload

noreply@blogger.com (James Lamb) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Does anyone really need more than one blog? I don't think so. I maintained several, but really to what end? One had outlived its original intent and two others were half-baked attempts to make money. But I lacked the time and effort and money necessary to invest in their success, so they simply became drains on my time, distractions from the other things I wanted to do. So near the end of last month, I closed them down. I didn't delete them, the traffic will still earn me a few pennies a month. But I won't actively maintain them and probably not produce new content for them.

This blog, too, will not keep up last year's experiment of a post-a-day. Again, to what end? I'll post when I have something truly worth sharing. And I won't look for it to make money or bring me fame. I will own it, it will not own me. (Like I mentioned on 12/31, I had already begun pre-populating, so the pace of one-a-day will continue for a few more days, but it's no longer a goal I'm aiming for.)

Goodbyes to:

tvjames x blog and dad2be will remain, although dad2be's been pretty dormant for some time now.

Things

noreply@blogger.com (James Lamb) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 08:01:00 +0000

As with all new years, it provides the opportunity for new starts, new beginnings, new attempts to better ourselves (yes, you know where I'm going with this), new goals for oneself, the dreaded new year's resolutions.

After years of varying participation from the not-really-hipster not-really-ironic mostly-just-idiotic "I resolve to have no resolutions" to a full-out multi-point plan with a number of objectives.

But you know what? Even those are just things. I have too many things. Phsyical, mental, it's all clutter. So, for this year, I'm going to have a simple motto:

Simplify.

That's it. That's the entire deal. What does that mean in practice? I'm letting most of my magazine subscriptions lapse. I haven't been able to keep up anyway. I'll go through my wardrobe - I don't need this many clothes. I'm going to stop getting new books from the library - I own plenty I still need to read. I'm going to unsubscribe like stuff like crazy. I'm going to take a long, hard look at my social media usage. And my Google Reader subscriptions. And my blogging. And my Remember the Milk tasks. And on and on and on. I'll volunteer less.

Maybe.

Because that last paragraph? That's crazy. That is absolutely the antithesis of Simplify. And that's how it starts. Take a great idea and ruin it with complexity.
No.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Simplify.

Certainly, some things are non-negotiable. God, family, work, friends. Can't really (and wouldn't want to) reduce those experiences. But simplification elsewhere may free up more time for those experiences that truly matter. (Composed 11/26 at 10:20 pm.)

Two-Thousand-Eleven

noreply@blogger.com (James Lamb) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000

The End of the Experiment

A goal I purposefully didn't tell anyone about was that I would post every day in 2011. I mostly got that. I can say I had a post for every day, but sometimes they were scheduled ahead of time and sometimes they were posted a little bit late. But actually, I ended up with 380 posts for 2011, so I guess some days I did more than one. When I add in all the other blogs I posted to this year, it was actually over 900 posts.

That's... way too much. That's... a big waste of time. Next year, I will post less often. I also shut down three of those blogs... more about that in a few days as I start the new year unpacking my theme for 2012. So I have some posts scheduled to launch in the new year, so it's going to seem like I'm still posting daily, but once they all run their course, it will slow down.

I do appreciate all of my readers and I hope that you find things worth reading in my posts and it's not just out of a sense of duty. But, hopefully my slower schedule makes it less to slog through.

Let's Rewind...

January: Hyperbole

I always thought it interesting that you heard a politician so often say "The Great State of California" when I lived there. I decided it wasn't a fluke, that either currently, or at some point in the past, someone had told people to say that, as a subtle part of a marketing campaign. On the other hand, we've suffered through "The Other Washington" and "Washington. The State"... Read More...

Also in January:
Estée Lauder * Haiti * Voiding the Warranty on my Washing Machine * Some Failed Resolutions

February: And Then There Were Two

When I arrive home, I park in the garage, come into the house and then ascend the long stairway from the basement to the ground floor. Most days as I'm coming up the stairs, the door is thrown open and one or both children rush to greet me. It's a nice way to be greeted. A few weeks ago, I was immediately struck with the thought "There should be three." If you asked me at the time what our plans were, I would have told you "We're not sure." Read More...

Also in February:
Lazy * Vacation * Open Letter to Seattle Times * Courage to Face Your Fears * Sick * Some Book Reviews * My Inner Grump

March: Suggestion for Comcast

Walking to my car after work on Tuesday, the thought occurred to me... Comcast should offer text-messaging. I'm not sure why I thought that - I already have text messaging through AT&T and Google Voice, I'm not sure I *want* text messaging on my home phone. But this little piece of inspiration wouldn't be dismissed that easily. "Hear me out," it seemed to beg. Read More...

Also in March:
Waiting for My Real Life to Begin * I Will Not Go Quietly * Who I Am * The Tough Job of Acting * Email Purge * If I Ran Foursquare * Apple's DNA

April: Labels

I think it's finally dawning on me. Maybe I'm late to the party. Or I've been overly optimistic. Or maybe I still have every reason to be optimistic. Maybe this is just my very literal nature getting the best of me. But after talking to Lori Saturday night, it seems like I'm not arriving at a place she's been at for awhile now. When we took our little guy in to the doctor a few months ago, we finally got a referral to Birth-to-Three. Read More...

Also in April:
Our Own Peter Warski * What's Up * No Power of Hell * It's Friday (Friday) (Friday) * Going Nowhere Fast * Belief Systems * The Two Bills *

May: The Shoulders of Giants

Lori was reading last night to Rachel. She was reading from 1 Chronicles 28 and 29 - David wants to build a temple for the Lord but God says no, it won't be David that builds it, but instead his son Solomon. It was David's vision and he had a passion to do it. He was ready to get going. But God said no. Read More...

Also in May:
Happy Endings * Nowheresville * Lobster Theory * The Shoulders of Giants * Will I Ever Shut Up About my Vacation?

June: Mentorable Me

If you've read "Outliers," you know that there's a theory that do something for 10,000 hours and you have a good chance at getting good at it. Were that the case, I'm less than a year away from being an expert employee. However, it's not quite that simple. I think maybe 10,000 hours of playing a musical instrument or playing a sport may make you quite the expert, but it also assumes that you've got a good coach, you know the rules and they don't change. Now, that may have been good enough for Bill Gates to become a really proficient computer programmer. But I'm not sure it works out so well when it comes to management. Read More...

Also in June:
100 in 100 * Taco Bell Doesn't Want You to be Healthy * Why I Drive * More Love Letters to Starbucks

July: Legacy

The word legacy to me brings to mind the word family. Jim and Shirley Denison led a Homebuilders weekend back when we were at Lake focusing on the topic of legacy. Legacy remains after you're no longer around. Sure, that can exist in an office, staff remembering who you were after you left, but that's incredibly fleeting, subject to revision and often negative -- even if untrue, the last guy out the door often gets the blame for a lot of stuff because once you're an adult "not me" can't get the blame anymore. So family legacy, that's something that endures. Friends of ours are part of a multi-generational close-knit family. Each successive generation has had larger-than-average families and so it just builds exponentially. Read More...

Also in July:
Khan Academy * Slow Me Down * False Sense of Security * Off-Brand * #trust30 * Brain Rules * This is broken

August: Big Finish!

Remember that 100 miles in 100 days goal? If you follow my blog, you should - I made that goal on June 11 - 56 days ago. Somewhere along the way I realized that was too easy a goal and upped it to 1.5 miles a day, or finishing in 67 days. I was looking at the chart tonight before my run and realized that I had six miles to go. Read More...

Also in August:
Silent Running * Rediscovery * The Awesome Vacation Lori Planned! * I Would Run 500 Miles * I Love Seattle * No Plan B

September: Endless Mode

You know those games where you encounter wave upon wave of enemies that you must take care of? And they come at you faster and faster and more and more? Eventually either something has to give -- you detonate a super-bomb or you get overrun and "Game Over." Wow, it kinda felt like that this week. Except not with enemies. Read More...

Also in September:
For Tomorrow We Dine * I Would Fail Second Grade Math * Rain! * Suicide Warning Signs * Stupid FedEx is Stupid * Do Not Taunt Happy Mini Bar

October: What's It Going To Be?

Some interesting thoughts in my head recently. Studying earlier this week for small group, the reading asked "What is your idol?" That is, "What do you place above Jesus?" The book gave some examples and I thought "control" fit quite nicely. We had another assessment with our son for therapy and that always makes me think about how I'm probably undiagnosed ADHD and probably somewhere on the autism spectrum myself. Read More...

Also in October:
Occupational Hazard * Pushy Salespeople * For Sale: You * CDO and the Thermostat * Curb Appeal * How Not to Sell a Car

November: Sense of Belonging

I was driving through the neighborhood tonight on my way home from work. Now that the time has changed, the drive is in complete darkness. And in that part of the neighborhood, that means nearly complete darkness because that's the non-association side and there's no street lamps. I recalled someone once who was just agahst - "Why on earth would you want to be part of an association?" I thought of how the next street over, a less traveled street, how rundown the houses are. Some, I suspect, might just fall over soon. And no one cares. Their neighbors might, but who cares, really? Read More...

Also in November:
Meta * Reasons why Comcast is better than DirecTV * Wish List * The Problem with the Internet * The Problem with the Theater * Muppets!

December: Controlling Serenity

After a few frustrating incidents recently, I was feeling pretty down and did some soul-searching. I realized that my frustration was the result of a feeling of being out-of-control. Now... not every case was something that I should have had control over. But there were also instances of places where I should have been in control and I wasn't. Either I was being neglectful or I was distracted. Read More...

Also in December:
Death and Control * Death 2 * Not of Macy's Quality * Ford Hates You * Christmas * Unroll.me

Wow... it's been quite the year. And the same themes keep popping up... family, work, church, Starbucks, control, diet/exercise, order, information, simplicity. One of these is my theme for 2012 and hopefully it will help me with my approach to all the others. And it might not be the one you think, but don't be disappointed.

Here's to 2012. Happy New Year!

Past Years:
2010 * 2009 * 2008 * 2007a, 2007b, 2007c * 2006 * 2005

Death 2

noreply@blogger.com (James Lamb) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 23:57:00 +0000

So the other part of my thoughts on death was the whole idea of "It's not about me." This was something that I struggled with, if you follow me on Facebook (not the flippant personality on the right side of this blog, but the actual person me) - should I attend the memorial or not?

I didn't know the person very well, the first thing I remembered was an unintentional slight against my wife (that Lori had long forgotten about) and would I be attending for the wrong reasons? In the end, I decided I must attend - I must be supportive of my friend. He was my friend because I didn't unfriend him when he stopped being my co-worker. So even if I only virtually saw him on Facebook or when I checked in at the Starbucks where he's the mayor, he was still a part of my life and I his.

But I had wrestled with it. The only memorials/funerals I have been to any time recently were grandparents. The sense of loss is far different. These were people who had left behind a long legacy, and in some cases, struggled with illness for years prior to death. They were, if not ready to go, at least prepared. And so were we. Even in the cases where the death was more unexpected or without warning, their age to some degree may have given us warning.

But here was a young woman, younger than me, leaving behind a 3-year-old (and a husband, a friend). And I struggled with that. It was hard to comprehend, it made no sense. And if I went, would it be in part so that others from work would see me there and know I was a good guy? Would I have to talk to people?

In the end, I realized I had actually made the decision long before - when I became a Christian, when I became a friend, when I realized I was a human being not a robot -- that we are designed to be in community, to be there, to support others, and as a few friends said, "to show up." As I tried to debate attending or not, I also thought of another completely unrelated conversation earlier in the way where I had quoted Wayne Gretzy and the popular quote about how "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." If I was really going to work on my soft skills (an admitted and pointed-out area of weakness for me), I wasn't going to get any better by lamenting my weakness and then doing nothing about it.

I tried to think about how I'd feel in someone else's shoes... in my friend's shoes... or in her shoes... would I want someone like me attending? And I realized that in some ways, that was all irrelevant. At that point in that moment, it was both not about me and it was all about me. It was not about me because it wasn't my memorial, it wasn't a memorial for a close relative of mine. It was about me because all I had in that moment was how I was going to respond. It wasn't something I could rationalize or scientifically analyze. It was how I was going to be, as a human being, in that moment. Even the part of me that looks for signs pointed out that Lori's usual Thursday evening engagement wasn't happening this week, the memorial was only blocks from my house - what more did I need?

So in the end, I went. And it wasn't about me. I didn't see anyone I knew (save the husband) - there was just so many people there, it was a big church and I was able to sit near the back without looking like a loner or an outcast. It was about her, it was about her family and their ability to cherish her memory, and it was about Jesus and theirs (and my) belief that our lives here are but a glimpse and that there is life after death (and that it's a life in fellowship with God or permanently away from God) and their celebration of the confidence that she was now with God, not because of what she'd done but because she'd accepted God's invitation to join him by accepting God's gift of Jesus Christ. It's all about the people left behind, with is their family, is me, is the world, anyone who's still down here on earth. And that's how we're all connected.

And it was a beautiful time. Beautiful songs, beautiful memories from loving family members and friends, a beautiful slideshow, and just as importantly, true honesty, especially from her brother who admitted not understanding, and being angry and about the unfairness of it all as well as a really great quote from Hemingway (they had visited his house in Florida a day or two before her death):

The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong in the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry.

Maybe now I can put this topic to bed for a little while. Driving home listening to "Waiting for My Real Life to Begin" I was reminded of Josey, whose death I had learned of a few Christmases ago (she was my age and had actually died months earlier but no one told me) and realized I had almost made it through the season without thinking of her.

Today I thought of two more things I'd like for my memorial which will hopefully not be for a long time:
* The song "Untitled Hymn (Come to Jesus)" ("It is well with my soul" is kinda cool too)
* Helium balloons and Sharpie markers - so people can write funny or happy or sad things on the balloons and then let them go - I've always enjoyed writing things on balloons after birthday parties and then letting them go ("Help, I'm trapped in the Federal Way Party City" or "4 8 15 16 23 42" or "Celebrating my beautiful daughter's birthday today.") - it's an interesting way to possibly with unknown people and I think it would be a beautiful way for people to "let go" - it could also brings color and life and joy and laughter to what's, let's face it, ostensibly be a celebration whether you love me or hate me

But again, hope it's a long ways off. As much as heaven's supposed to be better than here and take away all the stress and the theory I like is that the time between your arrival and your relative's is instantaneous, there's still lots of love I want to give to my family.

Lori said she was going to invite Hanson to come and sing at my memorial and I said as long as they sing something good and further clarified that that means a cover of someone else's work and none of their songs

Ok, seriously, time to stop talking about this stuff.

Death and Control

noreply@blogger.com (James Lamb) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 06:49:00 +0000

I went to a memorial tonight. It made me think about what I might like mine to be like, especially if it happened early in my life, like this woman who was my age and left behind a 3-year-old.

By all accounts, this woman was quite extraordinary. I have no reason to doubt it, I didn't really know her.

However, if it were me, let's face it, I'm far from perfect. I'd hate to have a bunch of people stand up there and paint a picture of me that wasn't completely accurate. I think it would be fine to admit that. Then it's like you loved me despite my imperfections. It would be even more telling for those who attended.

I'd also like to make a video to be shown. Originally I was thinking of a "If you're watching this, I'm dead." But maybe that's not appropriate for a church. Perhaps I should make one like that and ask someone to post it to YouTube for me. But I have an idea of a video that I think I ought to make and have on standby. It would be timeless and really reflective of me.

They had a cool version of Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone) playing when we arrived. They also played Sarah McLachlan's "Arms of an Angel" and "Shiny Eyes" (lyrics) by Flatfoot 56 during the video. Shiny Eyes was a kind of upbeat sounding song, until you paid attention the lyrics, a warning and a suggestion they provided before the video started. Her husband ahttp://www.songlyrics.com/flatfoot-56/shiny-eyes-lyrics/lso played a song he had composed for her that was cool that talked about when he saw her again that he'd never let her go.

I've always thought "You're Not Alone" by Amy Grant was one I'd like at mine. It's actually talking about the end of a love, but the chorus talks about, well, not being "alone in this world" and I like the notion of that having a double-meaning, both of other people surrounding them who love them and that God is also still with them. So now I'm not so sure, but I do kind of like it.

"Slow Me Down" by Emily Rossum is also good. I suppose if I were going to leave real instructions, I'd probably have to look at the songs on iTunes and make a real list of possibilities.

Yeah, I'm liking the video idea. I'd have to find some time when no one else is around to record it.

Anyhow, if there's a funny side to all of this, I've been recently wrestling with control issues (or feeling out of control). And then here's a situation where you could say whatever you want, but when the time comes, you really don't have any control. I could leave a list a mile long and they could say "Forget it. We are not cremating you and putting your ashes in a a flower garden in our back yard." (I'm not suggesting that.)

If there was one thing I'd really like there to be in my service, whenever it is, is a really well-executed message of hope, one that's woven into everything.

I have a whole other set of thoughts around what memorials are really for. I'm tempted to write a second post on that another day. But for now, enough about death.

500 in 300: Boo

noreply@blogger.com (James Lamb) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000

You do not get the chart. The chart is depressing. I did another 2.7 miles today, but it was the first in a long time, and it was raining and snowing and possibly sleeting. I need the weather to get better. It will.

De-icing the Inbox (A Work-Related Email)

noreply@blogger.com (James Lamb) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 06:32:00 +0000

Every so often I get the opportunity to open the inbox wide and shine a flashlight back into the farthest corners. I would like to subscribe to zero-inbox but that's pretty much impossible. It comes too quickly and soon I'm overwhelmed. The closest I can get is triage - the simplest stuff gets handled first. Urgent stuff as well, unless there's a tidal wave of responses, then I might sit on it for a little while to see what comes of it. If I need to jump in, I will. But if I can wait, I've found that some things resolve themselves without me (sometimes thanks to my crack team or my terrific colleagues and sometimes by the very people who started the crisis in the first place). And sometimes, if I let people blow off steam, they forget about it. If I jump back in to defend a position or in an attempt to extricate myself, that gives them a handhold and they clamp on and drag me down. But if I ignore them, I can circle back later to find out if there's still an issue or if they're now cool.

But, some stuff just has a hard time rising to the surface. Usually, they are the unknowns, the overly complex or the lower priority. I started the day with about 175 of those and by the end had worked it down to about 80. Of course, that means what's left is the most complex of the lot, but I've still got a few more days, mostly interrupted (love it when nearly everyone goes on vacation at the same time) to chip away at it.

The unknowns are the worst - usually it's a "review this document/powerpoint" or "check out this article" or "watch this video" - there's no indication of # of pages, slides, or article/video length. And no pointers to suggest what I should do with said information, and nothing to suggest it's urgent. I dealt with a lot of those today. I read, responded, offered my thoughts, deleted and moved on. I'm holding those emails to send at the end of the day Friday (most people are gone, but if any are here, there's no sense in giving them any reason to add more email to my inbox this week).

Next are the overly complex - the ones that ask for some thought or a million questions or multiple thoughts. Or have a really large thread of related emails and attachments. If they weren't urgent, they get mired down. Call it "buffer overrun" if you want. Worse yet when they have different subject lines or add and remove people and update information previously provided. In times that those, I often will need to start a wiki page to start collecting the thoughts, making sure that the most up-to-date information and attachments are together and only then can I provide my response and input. Sometimes the wiki will only be for me and may never be used again, but it allows me to read 10 or 20 emails, synthesize the point and the desired outcomes, make a single response (or a series of responses to split ideas into their own separate threads to make it easier on everyone.)

And then the lower priority - things marked "non-biz" or "this is funny!"

Of course, I'll get this cleaned up and then the cycle will start all over again. Unless I can figure out how to delegate more and/or just reject more.

Back to the Grind

noreply@blogger.com (James Lamb) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 07:24:00 +0000

Today the kids let us sleep in until about 9. I heard both kids up and considering that Ben is in his crib until we get him out, I got ready quickly because I hate him being in his crib as a convenience to us. While I was getting ready, I realized it felt like a pancake kind of day. I quietly got the griddle out of our closet (we're still lacking for storage in the kitchen and pantry) and headed downstairs. Rachel came down and helped me quickly unload the clean dishes and load the clean ones and then we got Ben out of bed. Lori had woken up by then and helped get the kids going on food. It was more of a lazy day. Did some deep cleaning in the bedroom, did all the laundry, go some stuff from Christmas sorted and made sure I had a good list of all of the gifts I received so I can start thank you notes. (Yes, I'm doing them this year, darn it.) The kids were a little high strung, but I was able to get Rachel to get some chores done as well. (We'd play a round of monopoly and then she'd go take care of something and then we'd play some more. She's starting to understand it and it's totally giving her some great math practice. I do have to say, however, the cards are difficult to read in this version.

She received the Monopoly Pink Boutique version for Christmas which I have to say is quite interesting. It comes in a box that looks like a jewelry box which is quite clever. Instead of Community Chest and Chance, you have "Text Messages" and "Instant Messages." There's a few other subtle tweaks, but it's funny because it seems to be undecided about whether it's girly-girl pink princess or empowered female entrepreneurial business investor-type. The places are all trendy names of places young girls might stereotypicaly shop and you build boutiques and malls instead of houses and hotels. The playing pieces are a purse, a soccer ball, a massive cell phone from 1990, a small dog, a pair of sunglasses and the one I always use, a skateboard. The playing pieces are also charms that can be added to a bracelet if so desired. And the money is still multi-colored but different from the original so that it ends up being confusing.

And for reasons I can't explain, Lori rolls a statistically improbable number of doubles. Downright eerie.

Tomorrow, back to the office. It should be quiet. For the one team, I'm the only one in the office. For the other, most of the team will be there, but they'll mostly have their heads down working hard, only surfacing if they need me to step in and referee something or provide coverage. I'll be carrying in tasty left-overs from here, so hopefully there will be some other people around to enjoy them. I'm toying with the idea of finding some other places within the building to work from to make it even quieter for me. I'm hoping it's the perfect opportunity to get caught up on my email. I think I have about 165 emails left in my inbox. They are, however, the most complicated ones - requiring research or reading or attachments or thought. That's why they're still there, they couldn't be dispatched of easily. But now, with everything else done, they will become the easiest.

Merry Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (James Lamb) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Love

wins.

Surprised by Joy

noreply@blogger.com (James Lamb) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Surprised by Joy
Message #3 of "Surprised by Christmas"
Pastor Jeff MacLurg, Our Savior's Baptist Church; Federal Way, Wash.; www.oursaviorsbaptist.org
Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011 (My notes from the 10:45 am service, I pray they will be helpful to you. Would love your prayers for me, our church and our pastoral staff)

"All I want is to be happy in life." -- 'Jill'
"You will never find it," said Pastor Jeff, "until you accept the One who brings joy."

You don't get joy by searching for it, you receive it (it finds you) when God enters your life. It's that elusive.

Joyless at Christmas? The same shopping hassles, the same songs on the radio. If you go to church, you hear the same sermons about the same parts of the Bible. How can there be joy in the same old, same old?

--- The Joy in those of Christmas Past ---

1. Zechariah & Elizabeth (Luke 1)

This couple could have been bitter towards God at this point, never able to have children. But the passage says that they were still focusing on God.

They were GODLY before God. (God's opinion of them.)
They were GIVEN to God.
They were GRASPING for God.

>> They rejoiced when they saw what GOD had done.

Joy isn't about getting things (children, spouse) but about being in God's presence when (or if) you eventually receive those things. Joy is not in the receiving, but in seeing God working in your life.

2. Mary (Luke 1)
She was AVAILABLE, BIBLICAL and INSIGHTFUL.

>> She rejoiced over what GOD HAD DONE.

She saw God working in her life, she was shown that her life was part of something larger than her present situation and that brought her joy.

3. Shepherds (Luke 2)

>> They rejoiced in what GOD WAS DOING.

4. Magi (Matthew 2)

They weren't looking for joy or happiness - they were looking for a newborn king to worship and honor.

They rejoiced at seeing GOD'S HAND AT WORK.

They were overjoyed at the sight of the star. They knew this was a God-thing -- they knew they were experiencing God at work.

When you see branches move, even though you can't see it, this is evidence of the existence of wind. This star was evidence to them of God at work and they were overjoyed.

--- Joy in those of Christmas Present ---

So what do their experiences mean for us? Joy is something we all deeply long to experience joy and to experience joy deeply.

"All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. The will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves." - Blaise Pascal

Guy de Maupassant - author, very famous, very wealthy. Tried to kill himself at the age of 42. Before he went insane, he wrote something that became his epitaph - "I have coveted everything and taken pleasure in nothing."

God has hard-wired us to want joy. But we confuse joy with pleasure. But all this "stuff" grows dull and lifeless - eventually you dread. In time, this will all fade and fail. All of these stories above were of people not chasing after happiness (or things) but of people who were seeking God and found joy.

God's joy: When you see God's HAND AT WORK IN YOUR LIFE.

This Christmas, GET INVOLVED IN PLACES AND THINGS WHERE YOU CAN SEE GOD'S HAND AT WORK.

Like what?
stretch - share Jesus
leave - go where you can help
serve - go serve people and let Jesus shine through you (and not just on Christmas day when everyone else is)
give - examples like our upcoming Caregiver Kit build
pray - get in touch with God. Pray for specific prayer requests of the people around you.
decide - commit to giving God control of your life in 2012 and work through you

Controlling Serenity

noreply@blogger.com (James Lamb) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 07:55:00 +0000

After a few frustrating incidents recently, I was feeling pretty down and did some soul-searching.

I realized that my frustration was the result of a feeling of being out-of-control.

Now... not every case was something that I should have had control over. But there were also instances of places where I should have been in control and I wasn't. Either I was being neglectful or I was distracted.

I don't want to portray myself as a control-freak, but at the same token, when you are feeling out-of-control, it's a feeling of hopelessness, a feeling that all is lost, a feeling of "why bother?"

Once I was able to diagnose my problem, I began to feel better. I could at least now name the issue and begin to work up a plan of attack. Fortunately, it aligns nicely with my theme for 2012. Maybe in some ways as I've begun to contemplate that theme it's forced me to confront that which has been causing so much discontent, anguish and palpable frustration in my life. That feeling of wanting to scream but realizing I really don't know how to scream, I wouldn't know where to do it and I'd have no idea to whom or what to direct those screams.

Fortunately, I don't have to now. Now that I know what's what, the cool and calm exterior I try to project can actually be matched with a cool and calm interior. It doesn't mean I've figured it all out or that I've fixed myself, but if knowing is half the battle, I'm 50% closer to a state of not being so messed up, and that's a good thing.

Now, I just need to figure out what I do control and reassert. And what I do not control... do I care? Do I need to find a way to acquire control? Do I need to eliminate it from my life? Do I need to eliminate something else of lesser value in order to leave room for ambiguity that comes from something being out of my control?

This will take time, but I've got that under control. The process, that is. I don't have time under control. (Though there are some time-management tasks I need to start re-practicing.)

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.

I don't care, I'm still free
You can't take the sky from me

Speechless

noreply@blogger.com (James Lamb) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 07:02:00 +0000

I was going to post last week's sermon from church today but instead, I'm going to post these links because I'm... yeah, I guess speechless is a good word. I want to... I don't know. I... Ok... here's the links.

MSNBC -- School accused of putting autistic student in bag

CHANGE -- Petition to End Abuse of Autistic Students in Mercer County, Kentucky

THAUTCAST -- Superintendent Responds To Petition for Autistic Boy Placed in Ball Bag

Also from a poster on MSNBC:

For those of you who may want to write to those involved:

Mercer County Schools
371 E. Lexington St.
Harrodsburg, KY 40330

Board Members

Ron Betsher
951 Bob-O-Link Dr., Harrodsburg 40330
(859) 612-9137

Pattie Burke
713 Greenwood Drive, Harrodsburg 40330
(859) 734-5132

Billy Montgomery
593 Ross Avenue, Harrodsburg 40330
(859) 366-4412

James Stinnett
645 Cummins Ferry Road, Salvisa 40372
(859) 684-4359

Larry Yeager
470 Tewmey Lane, Harrodsburg 40330
(859) 734-0671

This information was taken from the KY Department of Education website.

Unroll.me Beta - An Early Look (A Work-Related Post)

noreply@blogger.com (James Lamb) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 05:00:00 +0000

I recently read about Unroll.me on Lifehacker, a new website that promised to make decluttering one's mailbox brain-dead simple. At work, my team sends out all the emails for the organization. Because of how inexpensive email is (compared to direct mail, which they pay for out of their budget and email, which comes out of the organization's budget with no charge-back to them), and because of how many different ministry offerings we have, it can be a struggle sometimes to hold back the tide of emails that people want to send. But we remind them that they're not just competing with other departments for attention, but also Best Buy and Living Social and even your subscriber's mom and dad.

So when a new tool came out that promised to make unsubscribing as easy as clicking a checkbox, I had to show this to my co-workers.

Here's a video that explains more:

Unroll.me is currently in very early beta phase.

I was able to secure very early access by tracking down one of the founders (ah, the power of the internet).

When you get to the site, the first thing you do is select your provider:

You never provide your credentials to Unroll.me directly. Right now, they only support four major providers and for Gmail, only those that end in @gmail.com. I rarely use my @gmail.com account anymore, only for Google Analytics and Google AdSense since I can't change them, but everything else is on my Google Apps domain. I am looking forward to when they open it to Google Apps domains so I can give it a more thorough try.

After you select your provider, you are taken to that provider's website to grant access.

You never give your account information to Unroll.me, you simply grant them temporary access. I've blacked out the URL of the beta site, but even if you had it, it wouldn't do you any good if your invite hadn't been granted yet. (Get on the waiting list.)

Then, the program launches right into action. The FAQs say that it only searches your inbox, but in my experience, it also looked in subfolders. The subscriptions begin popping up on your screen one-by-one. Because I don't actively use the email address anymore, there wasn't a lot in my account.

Next to each one on the far right is a large checkbox. Once it's completed its scan, it offers you a big red "Unsubscribe" button and a checkbox offering... (Unsure.. a monthly scan? Or possibly you're signing up for an email subscription for a monthly reminder to rescan? That would be humorously ironic.)

Once you check one or more boxes, you're off and running and on your way to a cleaner, more organized inbox in seconds. (I wonder what happens for subscriptions that you definitely want to keep - if it de-emphasizes them in the list after a few runs or if eventually they add a second checkbox to hide that subscription from the main screen on subsequent runs.)

I would also like to be able to jump from the tool right back into my inbox with a query designed to show me all the emails in that subscription. Really I'm subscribed to modnique? What is modnique? Show me the emails. In this case, it was one of the Yahoo!Groups entries, but since it's not an automated process, you still have the ability to skip over ones that you want to keep or are unsure about.

All-in-all, this is a pretty slick offering. The presentation is nice, the idea fabulous (or scary, if you're an irresponsible emailer who relies not on relevancy but on intertia/laziness as a way of keeping your subscription count high) and the potential is great.

In this early beta, I only had a 50% success rate. Two of the four hits were actually for a Yahoo!Groups mailing list, but it incorrectly identified the individual sender as the list owner. (So maybe it's more like a 66% success rate.) But, it's still in early beta, so I'm pretty sure that based on my feedback they'll get this corrected in no time. I also would expect that the tool will learn over time from the collective wisdom of the crowd and learn more and more about how to identify less obvious or more complicated subscriptions.

How does it work? There's not a lot of explanation, but in the FAQs it does not that you might see some emails in your sent folder (I didn't), so in some cases, it may simply send the not-all-that-well-known "unsubscribe" reply email back to the sender. It may also rely on "unsubscribe" links in the emails or the X-Unsubscribe-Web and X-Unsubscribe-Email or any number of other possible headers (Good coverage here.) Not sure how it'll handle on-the-fly email addresses like tvjames+cnet@gmail.com, but people who use those kinds of tricks are already recognizing they want more control, so it's probably not going to target an audience like that.

What's the point? List Hygiene is always a struggle. On one hand, you have people who want to see quantity:

"I want a big list! I want to send to lots of people! Every recipient is a possible sale! Let's send out another blast!!!!"

and on the other hand, you have the people charged with sending the emails who aim for quality:

"If I sent to 30,000 people on Comcast.net and only 2,500 have even opened any we've sent in the last year, Comcast is going to consider us a spammer and deliver all 30,000 (even the 2,500 engaged reader's) emails directly to the spam folder."

and

"I have a mandated goal of a 20% open rate, a 5% clickthrough rate and an unsubscribe rate of less than 0.25%. If you keep making me send to all of those people who have indicated through their inaction that they don't want to hear from us, I'm not going to be able to make good on these goals you've given me."

Unroll.me becomes another tool in the arsenal available to inbox owners to re-take control of their inboxes. I am not sure yet how Unroll.me makes money - perhaps the momentum of Gmail, Yahoo!, AOL and Microsoft allows them to pursue deals with Comcast and other mid-level email providers. Or perhaps this is an engineering feat designed to get them noticed and hired by bigger email firms. No doubt there is also valuable data to be mined once this tool picks up steam and reaches critical mass.

I had begged for the early invite because I had a meeting earlier this week with a group that wanted to learn how to be "better emailers" - the meeting got postponed, but this is definitely something I will be presenting at the meeting... just another reminder that in the world of email (and social), the subscriber/follower/customer is in control.

Circles in Gmail

noreply@blogger.com (James Lamb) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Ok, this is cool. I had read about this recently, but not actually looked at it myself.

If you are using Google+ and Gmail, you'll now see a new option on the left nav - "Circles" - that if you click it open you'll find all of your circles.

Click on a circle and it will filter your inbox just to show you emails from people in that circle.

This is slick - a whole new way to sift through your inbox.

This will be a big boon for companies you add to your circles in Gmail.

The Sift 341-345

noreply@blogger.com (James Lamb) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000

The Sift 341: Google

The next stage in our redesign
Google Interface Designs: Welcome to Dullsville
10 New Google Analytics Features You Need to Start Using
A new frontier for Google Maps: mapping the indoors
Making ideas real with SketchUp

The Sift 342: Infographics

Protecting Your Online Reputation: 4 Things You Need to Know
How Much Money Will Consumers Spend This Holiday Season?
One Minute in the YouVersion Community
Beyond the Great Firewall: How China Does Social Networking
Social Thievery: Will Your Tweets Get You Robbed?

The Sift 343: Microsoft and Kinect

Microsoft outlines Code Space, looks to include Kinect in conference rooms, PTA meetings
Microsoft Xbox 360 successor rumored to arrive in 2012, make an appearance at CES?
CNET details the death of Microsoft's Courier and Bill Gates' 'allergic reaction'
Trio of Microsoft projectors lets you get quasi-physical with AR interaction
Microsoft Xbox Kinect Ad Pays Hommage To Hacks

The Sift 344: Apple

iOS 5's panorama enabled with backup hackery, jailbreak not required
10 cool things you can do with Wolfram Alpha and Siri
OS X Lion has a hidden 'drop box' for easy file syncing between Macs
Steve Jobs Pondered Creation of an Apple-Only Mobile Phone Network
Apple’s Only Dipping A Toe Into Mobile Payments, But It Could Make A Splash

The Sift 345: Education, Leadership, People and Thought

I want my moon shot
I Suck at Photoshop; Except I Don’t, and You Don’t Suck at That Thing You’re "Bad at" Either
Accentuating Differences
Adversity and the route to success
If Something Isn’t Happening, You’re Not Ready For It

Christmas is Coming

noreply@blogger.com (James Lamb) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 06:55:00 +0000

A nice day - spent it with Rachel and Ben. We had hoped to see Santa, but he was too busy. But we did still spend a lot of time together. And Rachel chose presents for Lori from her and Ben.

Also, Ben's best haircut ever. By far. The stylist was really happy, she kept saying "We're getting a real haircut this time." And no blood was drawn and we didn't need to stop and bribe or hold him securely. There was some fussing and hitting of me at the beginning but he calmed down quickly. Even (prompted) said both "thank you" and "goodbye."

I also put up some more lights and fixed some in the front yard. (A little more tomorrow?)

Watched "Miracle on 34th. Street" all the way through.

And ran the bread machine so put the smell of fresh bread in the house. (We watch Christmas movies, we put up a tree and lights, we listen to Christmas music - we might as well put it to our olfactory sense as well. Now to pump in a pine smell through the furnace or something.)

Pity Party (A Work-Related Post)

noreply@blogger.com (James Lamb) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 07:55:00 +0000

Q: What do you call a mandatory 3-hour meeting where you sit around doing nothing, eating food you brought from home while you wished you were somewhere else and work continues to pile up on your desk?

A. A work-related Christmas party.

So... I'm pretty sure I've attended my last Christmas party at work. Yesterday we had our division's Christmas party and today we had our department's Christmas party.

Yesterday's was 2 hours and I attended most of it (I was late because a meeting ran long and I also took a walk in the middle because I was bored) and today's was 3 hours and I was very late because I had work still to do. I figured I was the only one that would feel the pain if I didn't get the work done and I wasn't willing to inflict that on myself.

Both parties contained an obscene amount of food, most of it unhealthy. That's a little bit tough to see when we are a non-profit dedicated to trying to improve the lives of people in extreme poverty around the world. This was almost entirely paid for by the staff ("bring in a treat to share!") so we weren't taking money out of people's mouths for our own enjoyment. And, I'm culpable because you know I have no will power and so ate very unhealthily. If I skip the parties, that's one way to prevent consumption of unnecessary calories. Win for my diet.

Both parties contained a group art project. The first, decorating gingerbread houses. I'm pretty sure those didn't get eaten afterwards. The second, decorating massive Christmas stockings. Of course, the designers in our group won. I actually didn't do much to help my team, I was too busy cleaning up the mess everyone left on the floor. I figured someone was going to have to clean it up and I didn't know if it would be our group or the facilities people but I was so embarrassed by the mess that I felt it better if I just cleaned it up myself. That's fine, I didn't contribute to the art project.

Which is probably for the best because I'm apparently destined to be kicked if I try to be artistic. So... last year, there was a pod(8 cubicles in a cluster)-decorating contest. A co-worker went out and spent quite a bit of her own money and then worked after hours to decorate our pod. (I chipped in some cash after the fact.) It was really quite classy. When they handed out awards, they had an award for every single pod except ours. Not even a "thanks for playing," nothing at all.

I thought that was the worst thing you could do to someone who had worked hard on something. Until this year. This year, it was a "tree decorating contest." We didn't have a tree in our cube and I felt like we ought to have something. We've been running full-bore and didn't have any time. So while we were meeting with some people, I found a wrapping paper tube, mounted it vertically, and then ran fat tinsel down to the edges of the table alternating in gold, red and green. And then I wrapped silver tinsel around that in a spiral. While nothing special, it was a festive approximation of a tree. In half an hour (while working) we went from nothing to nice. I also mounted take snow along the entrance to our cube and some lights.

One team drew a tree on a whiteboard, another team dumped a bunch of tinsel on the table and said their tree melted. The other pods (apparently not as busy as us) all had these elaborate creations. One team made theirs entirely out of stacked and frosted pound cake. (Again, is that going to get eaten, or are we wasting food? Painful to see.)

So this year, they made sure they had awards for everyone. Some were nice, some were funny, all started with the word "Best." Except ours. It was "Worst in Show."

"Worst in Show"? Seriously?

It would have been less rude just to snub us altogether.

Next year, I will not participate in any contest within our group. I will decorate (and do better than this year) but not in any way that puts us in the running to be disappointed in any contest again.

Other parts of the two parties: sitting around watching the bosses play a game... doing the same trivia quiz we did last year... losing out in a "Christmas spirit" contest (my reindeer tie) to a guy in a Christmas-y Hawaiian shirt... people flipping little rubber-bandy-things all over the place... and a PJ theme. Yes, that's right - PJs. Lots of people didn't participate, some people looked silly, and and some... well... Nothing skimpy, just some stuff where the fabric was probably too thin for the office. Stuff that I wouldn't mind seeing on my wife but is just wrong for me to see on my female co-workers. And that's all I'll say on the subject.

Next year, I will not attend any Christmas parties. That will help me to stay in the Christmas spirit.

Drawing from nature

noreply@blogger.com (James Lamb) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000

I still can't understand why Ford had to draw so closely from nature. For the most part, seeing a Mustang is exciting because from nearly every angle, this is a beautiful car and evokes the thought of a powerful majestic horse. Well, almost always. Take a look.

Happy Car

Happy Horse

Fast Car

Fast Horse

Stylish Car

Stylin' Horse

But then it's like Ford Motor Company is flipping you off because when you get passed by a Mustang, it's like looking at a

Horse Butt

Dodge Charger doesn't have this problem.

Never

noreply@blogger.com (James Lamb) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000

I could never imagine being so carefree as to pay $30 a year for a license plate that shows I can't spell and don't care.

I saw one today that was "CAD STS" - and it was on a Cadillac STS. I guess they were worried that lettering affixed on their car by the manufacturer wasn't enough. (I also saw "SCION XB" before, but at least it did help since you would be forgiven if you confused it with a box on wheel.)

The Sift 336-340

noreply@blogger.com (James Lamb) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000

The Sift 336: Social Media

Why there are so many social media experts
Google Blog Manager Flies to Twitter
Ashton Kutcher Is Making a Big Twitter Mistake
5 Reasons Google+ Could Win the Social Enterprise Battle
The expertise badges

The Sift 337: Entertainment, Technology, Fun and Games

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings Reflects on What Went Wrong
Will 3D Televisions Actually Hurt the TV Business?
How to Load Up Your Ereader with Ebooks For Free
Warner Bros. Withholds New Release DVDs From Blockbuster
Barnes & Noble pulls DC Comics from shelves over Kindle kerfuffle

The Sift 338: Advertising, Marketing, News and Media

Verizon begins collecting user data for targeted ads, is kind enough to offer 'opt-out' escape route
Why Can’t Newspapers Make Money Online?
Placement is everything
Reporters Use Twitter to Promote, Not Report
Was the AP Wrong to Reprimand Reporters for Publishing News on Twitter First?

The Sift 339: Email

Visualize - How many emails Yahoo! is receiving (and blocking) and the subject lines
Hotmail’s Graymail: Their Plan of Attack
Facebook Acqui-hires Email Prioritizer MailRank
Fix Gmail’s Newest Annoyances with These Userstyles and Userscripts
Make Labels Stand Out, Create Filters, and Other Things You May Be Confused About with the New Gmail

The Sift 340: Finances and Banking

PayPal Takes Payments Offline With "PayPal Wallet"
PayPal Facebook app lets you send money and greetings to friends, only takes 2.9-percent cut of your 'free' e-card
Introducing 'Simple'
When Money Can Buy Happiness, Use It
Google Checkout Merges With Google Wallet

Surprised Seekers

noreply@blogger.com (James Lamb) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000

(Cross-posted on YouVersion)

Surprised Seekers
Message #2 of "Surprised by Christmas"
Pastor Jeff MacLurg, Our Savior's Baptist Church; Federal Way, Wash.; www.oursaviorsbaptist.org
Sunday, Dec. 11, 2011 (My notes from the 10:45 am service, I pray they will be helpful to you. Would love your prayers for me, our church and our pastoral staff)

"I finally found what I've been looking for."

What are you looking for? Peace? Happiness? Something different? Or perhaps truth?

--- Sincere Seekers ---

Matthew 2:1-12 - the magi - number unknown. Probably from Babylon (modern day Iraq), probably 600-800 miles from Jerusalem based on the route. These people studied the sky and God used a method designed for this group of people. God will provide directions to anyone who is honestly looking for Him. God doesn't believe in coincidence, He believes in appointments.

1. ...are guided by GOD TO GOD. (in a way that reaches out to them). Has there been a star shining in your life and you've been trying to close your eyes to it?
(Jeremiah 29:13)

2. ...go; intending to RESPOND. If you're really looking, you should be anticipating a change in their life - not just to receive, to be satisfied, but to give. If everything was good as-is, why look for something else!
"We saw the star and came, intending to worship."

3. ... PERSIST in seeking. (Matthew 7:7-8)
Even when there are obstacles, keep on going. Even when there's more to go, keep going. Keep pursuing God. A lot of time passed between the time the magi left and the time they arrived (they arrived at a house and found a child - as nice as the arrival-the-night-of-birth story is nice, it's not true.).

4. ...become SINCERE WORSHIPPERS.
As great as the gold and incense from Frank was, the magi knelt down and worshipped, they gave their lives. It's hard to bow down in worship - it leaves you vulnerable. You are admitting that you are not the king of your own life and that can be tough.

Why hold back?
We go to church, not worship.
We have lots of other things we need to do.

Promise: You will find
Motive: Intend to respond
Attitude: Persistence
Result: You will become a worshipper

--- Suspect Seekers ---

There is a reality to sincere seekers that phonies can't imitate.

1. ...get IRRITATED BY SINCERE SEEKERS.
When King Herod heard, he was concerned.

2. ...let others do the SEEKING FOR THEM.
Herod consulted advisers and then sent the magi on, asking for a report back, saying he'd visit later. You can't rely on a church sermon or a TV preacher to do it for you. (Herod could see Bethlehem from Jerusalem.)

3. ...may CON SOME people, but can't CON GOD.
The magi didn't realize that Herod wasn't genuine in his interest (let alone dangerous). Don't bother being fake. If you do want to be genuine, ask God for help, be honest.

4. ...ultimately SHOW THEIR TRUE COLORS.
(Show true colors = nautical term - sail up to an enemy, flying that enemy's flag - but at the last minute, raise the actual flag and begin firing.) If you're not genuine, why bother.

--- So then ---

Calvin: "I feel bad that I called Susie names and made her feel bad."
Hobbes: "Perhaps you should apologize."
Calvin: "I keep hoping there is a less obvious solution."

1. This morning, DISCERN WHICH you are, and DECIDE WHICH YOU WILL BE.

2. This Christmas, seek JESUS CHRIST intending TO RESPOND TO HIM.

Stop seeing only the baby in the manger, see the king.

This week...

noreply@blogger.com (James Lamb) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 07:37:00 +0000

Well, this week should be fun. Hmmm... Wonder if "fun" is the right word. I resisted checking my work email all week. I have the gist of a few things based on calendar invites, emails my coworkers sent to my home email address and because previews appeared on the screen each time I turned on my iPad, but for the most part, I'm going into the week blind. Oh, and with 37 hours and 15 minutes of the week already busy on my calendar.