Upside of Down

Twitter Killed My Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Lemmer) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:21:00 +0000

Hi. Remember me? I am sorry that I have not been around a lot (actually if you are paying attention you can see that I have not been around for over a year).

It's not you...it's me - actually it was Twitter.

I am not sure exactly sure how it happened. I mean we were just having casual conversations (of 140 characters or less) and suddenly I was ignoring posting things on the blog.

I want to tell you, I am a changed man. I mean I still fall down a lot, bump into walls, have random thoughts that usually escape without monitoring, but deep down I have changed. I want to pay greater attention to my blog, Facebook, and Twitter.

So this is what I am going to do - I am going to shut down 'Upside of Down' on blogspot and create a new environment.

I need a fresh start - a new blog, a new location, but all the witty banter about God, wife, family, friends, and a lot of randomness will still be there.

I hope you will be too...

I will post one last blog post on blogspot in the next few weeks telling the time / location.

Will you follow me there? I promise to be better at posting (not necessarily content, but definitely frequency)!

NoiseTrade Widget

noreply@blogger.com (Lemmer) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:24:00 +0000

Email in Inbox this morning:

It was through the support and success you gave the Mockingbird experiment that inspired Derek, with the help of a few friends, to start NoiseTrade. Now any artist can freely distribute their music online, via NoiseTrade's remarkable and embeddable widget, offering fans the choice to tell 3 friends or to pay any amount in exchange for an immediate download.

Derek concludes, "If artists and fans realized how they could help each other and started making direct connections, without a middleman, the whole industry would change overnight. It would start a revolution."

Rather than over-charging for music, we want to let you choose your price or will give you the record for free in exchange for a little help. NoiseTrade believes it's time to stop applying the old rules to a new world. If we can work together, an environment is created for the long-term benefit of both fans and artists.

Thank you for your continued support of Derek and for participating in this grand experiment.

Check out NoiseTrade today!

No warning

noreply@blogger.com (Lemmer) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:34:00 +0000

I have decided that I have reached the end of the Internet and will be taking a blogging hiatus...no good or bad reason. I'm just going to take a break for a while.

What can I use the 'extra' time for?

Water shortage empties pocketbooks

noreply@blogger.com (Lemmer) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 00:26:00 +0000

Govenor Sonny Purdue put mandatory water restrictions on all homes throughout the state of Georgia this last year. The citizens of Georgia followed the regulations - stopped watering their yards and washing cars, shared shower and bath times, changed out normal toilets for low flow toilets, and turned the water off when brushing their teeth.

What was the result?

We conserved too much water according the city of Atlanta Water Board! What does that mean? It means that the city didn't make enough money off of the water usage and as a result they are raising the water and sewage rates!

Thanks Major Shirley Franklin...

Sleepless flights

noreply@blogger.com (Lemmer) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 00:56:00 +0000

The last couple times we flew with Morgan to Denver to see the grandparents, we planned the flight to coinside with nap/bed time. What better way to spend 2.5-3 hours on a flight than with a sleeping 2 year old? That time provides a time for Jen and I to re-energize our souls by reading, talking, writing, watching television or a movie (Frontier Airlines), or napping.

Things did not quite work out that way this time!

This was the first time that we have flown since Matthew was born - I am thankful that airlines still are not charging for infants (2 years or younger) that sit in an adults lap. We headed to the airport on Friday night bound for Denver. We followed our usual MO - late flight so that Morgan (and now Matthew) would sleep.

Not so much

Morgan talked, laughed, screamed, hit, swung, and kicked (I want to say I'm sorry to the people that sat in front of us on both flights) the entire flight! As soon as the wheels went up, the little 2 year old devil horns sprouted from her head. It was totally weird.

There were many 'conversations' between Morgan and myself in the bathroom about how to behave and to listen to what Mommy and Daddy say. Nothing worked. We just grinned and beared it until we began our decent to 15,000 feet - at which time Morgan took a power nap for maybe 20 minutes to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for the grandparents!

The flight home was pretty much a carbon copy of the flight out. I have come to the conclusion that we will not be flying out with Morgan anytime soon - so if you live out of driving range (5 hours) then you will need to fly to us!

Overdue Posts

noreply@blogger.com (Lemmer) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 00:50:00 +0000

These last couple weeks have been extremely busy - maybe not physically, but mentally I have been extremely drained! Between work changes, traveling across country, exploding laundry detergent bottles, and Matthew going to school, Jen and I have not really had a moment to catch our breath.

So between tonight and this weekend, I plan on catching up on my blog posts. So the next posts will go out all in one night (maybe tonight?) or over the next few days. My goal is by Sunday to be caught up with 'past' posts and return to the usual inconsistent schedule.

Sound good?

Under Construction

noreply@blogger.com (Lemmer) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:25:00 +0000

Excuse the changes that are making my blog extremely long (format-wise) and the redundancy. I'm trying to figure out all the add-ins and such. I'm still thinking a out moving to a new blog host...

Tired

noreply@blogger.com (Lemmer) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:47:00 +0000

The once daily or twice daily blog posts dwindled to weekly posts. The weekly posts have dwindled even further to monthly posts. There is really no excuse, talking to some buddies lately I think I can be diagnosed with 'blogger's block'. There is a lot going on in my life, but nothing sticking to be 'blog-worthy' or really 'blog-ready'.

I sit down in front of blogger and nothing but random unconnected thoughts spew out. Maybe I need a change of scenery to write more?

I am sitting on the Light Rail from Littleton, CO to downtown Denver and can come up with different things to write about - again mostly random thoughts, but at least there is some sort of inter-relatedness (although I'm not real sure that is even possible). I am highly entertained by the conversations of those sitting around me and the different people getting on and off the train at each station (homeless, teenagers, business man, etc).

Maybe I should spend the day on the train and just post the smells, sights, and sounds of the 'daily commute' of Denver?

Hotter than the 12th level of Hell already

noreply@blogger.com (Lemmer) — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:27:00 +0000

In the mail yesterday I received my 'Certificate of Completion' from the nightmare of a marathon in October (a.k.a. 'Hotter Than Hell Fun Run'). Looking over the certificate, it states that I was a 'Participant of the 2007 Chicago Marathon'. Participant? How about "pissed off runner that trained for almost 2 years for a race that I was told I couldn't finish because of the Race Director's inability to get his head out of his arse"? I'm pretty sure that wasn't put on the certificate because the title was too long. They could have put "Survivor" and that would have been just as good.

I digress.

The reason for this post is not to rant and rave (any more than necessary), but to announce (ha! like anyone really cares) that I have figured out my training schedule for this year. It is simple - don't run outside in the heat! So, I will continue to exercise, but it will be 90% completed in-doors either on a treadmill (crap), elliptical (ugh), or a bike (ouch), plus some weights to get my 'swell' on!

Now I just need to find a race in the Fall and everything will be set!

Live Salty - the tattoo experience

noreply@blogger.com (Lemmer) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 18:06:00 +0000

If you are a friend of Dustin Bryson and have his contact information you need to change your gmail status to reflect the launch of pcitylive.com! If for no other reason than below:

Click on the picture to read the small print - I want to see my name as a tattoo on his face! That is commitment!

Book Review: Jesus in the Margins

noreply@blogger.com (Lemmer) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 05:00:00 +0000

Like most people in their mid-30s I was first introduced to Rick McKinley by Donald Miller in his book Blue Like Jazz. It was here that I first read about Rick’s passion to re-imagine church – to change the image of church for people that feel beyond reach. Pastor Rick and his wife moved to to establish a community “for people to discover the love of Christ in the reality of life,” (taken from his book’s back cover).

In Rick’s book, Jesus in the Margins, he explains how the encompassing love of Jesus reaches down into the margins of society. That He came to Earth for those broken souls that usually go unnoticed by mainstream society. Throughout the book, Rick walks the readers into the margins of life, showing them that it is in the margins that we see the image of God (Imago Dei incidentally is the name of the community started by he and his wife).

How many of you have seen the figurine of Jesus playing soccer, baseball, or football with the kids? This is the culturally agreed upon image of Christ most of us have in our heads – right or wrong. Rick’s description would be a harder sell in the Christian bookstores. He describes Jesus as a misfit in his family, town, and culture He grew up in (Chapters 2 and 3). Jesus grew up in a small, rural town amidst whispers, behind the back accusations, and branded an illegitimate child. He didn’t fit the status quo – he was a “friend of sinners” (p. 51).

Jesus in the Margins opens and closes with chapters devoted to real life stories of people. They share their stories of life: neglect, sexual abuse, growing up fatherless, success-driven personalities, and homelessness. Each story is my story, not because I have gone through each of these circumstances, but because ‘margin dwellers’ feel that they are alone and have no real expectation to be welcomed if someone knew their ‘real story’.

We are not supposed to do life alone. We are supposed to live life in community with other Christ followers – we are “wired” for community. We need each other – without community we cannot become all we were designed to be (we were created on purpose and with a purpose). Just because we are meant to be in community, does not mean community is always neat. Rick says that “community is messy” (p. 162). It is messy because those that live in “community are required to fall at Jesus’ feet and beg him for the love it takes to obey the ‘one another’ commands” (p. 162). We exist for God and for those in our community.

Rick’s life is his book. He writes with an honest voice, accepting that he cannot do anything for God to love him more or less. He accepted many years ago that reality is a tough place to be with or without Jesus – life is not fair, but God is in control. Rick says that “sin is our desire to run our own lives any way we want” (p. 65), and that no matter how many times he fails, that “grace…keeps coming my way…” (p. 68). This is what resonated with me the most – no matter how many times I try to do things my way; I’m going to screw things up; just as much as I make a mess of my life, “You are accepted because of what Christ has done for you, not because of what you can do for Christ” (p. 144).

Sandwich: A Song For 10 year old boys

noreply@blogger.com (Lemmer) — Thu, 29 May 2008 01:28:00 +0000

I was reading Shlog's post this afternoon and was reminded of a song that my step-father used to sing when I was a kid:

Scab sandwich with puss on top,
chicken vomit,
camel snot,
cat's eyeballs and chicken guts too,
a scab sandwich is the thing for you!

There really is nothing like grossing out your sisters and mother when you are 10 years old and this always did it!

There really is no reason for this post - it just fits the mood I am in tonight. Man, I am a little hungry though...

Who wants free movies?

noreply@blogger.com (Lemmer) — Thu, 29 May 2008 00:22:00 +0000

Why am I always a day late and dollar short?

After seeing a number of people talking about Redbox on Twitter and now my wife asking me about it, it was time to look into this little gem of a company further.

What did I find?

How about free movies on Wednesdays, $1 a night rentals, and movie drop-off at any Redbox that is convenient? With gas prices increasing and day care costs increasing, I believe we will now be able to afford movie night! Sweet!

I can't imagine...

noreply@blogger.com (Lemmer) — Thu, 22 May 2008 17:50:00 +0000

Life is not fair.

Most people have heard the news by now that tragedy took grasp of Steven Curtis Chapman and his family with the death of his daughter on Wednesday evening.

I can't imagine what his family is going through right now: the loss of his daughter, the guilt his son is feeling. It all just breaks my heart and puts me at a loss of words; actually, there are a few words that I have for this entire situation, but mostly I am just sick to my stomach.

Pray for the family and friends that are directly effected by this horrific accident!

I <3 a challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Lemmer) — Wed, 21 May 2008 19:23:00 +0000

Most of you (remember, there are only about 6 of you that read this blog. I love my family!) know that I love to read and write. I read a lot and write on a inconsistent basis. Recently though I have begun to write more regularly (not on the blog obviously, but for work and for 'fun').

On my night stand there is usually no less than 5 books stacked in the corner under my lamp - which drives Jen crazy! She likes her night stand to be orderly, I like to be able to knock things unto the floor when I reach for my blackberry at 2 AM - different strokes for different folks. Right now there are a couple books that are kicking my arse - both in reading and writing.

Reading:

I am reading Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell and eventually will do a book review. Most people have read the book or have at least heard of Rob Bell. I have listened to his podcast for Mars Hill for a while and have seen most, if not all of his Nooma videos. But this was the first time that I have actually read any of his books.

Let me tell you he is breaking my bones. I'll explain more once I am finished with the book, but let me say that I am only on the third chapter and I am totally in inner monologue conversations with him challenging me on all levels. I love a good challenge - that is the only way we grow!

Writing:

I am writing a book review of Rick McKinley's book Jesus in the Margins. I am writing the review for a blog/twitter buddy - can't tell you about the project he is working on now, but should be able to link to it in the near future!

Jesus in the Margins was also a great challenge. In response to the challenge, my definition of neighbor, community, and love has expanded. I'll post the review when it is 'safe' to do so.

Growth is hard, but well worth it!

Refrigerator Test

noreply@blogger.com (Lemmer) — Wed, 21 May 2008 18:01:00 +0000

I found this blog-stalking this afternoon and had to share. How well did you score?

You will be asked four questions and you must rely on your common sense to answer them correctly. It is said approximately 90% of the professionals tested get all of the questions wrong. But many pre-school children got several correct answers. This supposedly means most professionals have the brains of a four year old. What do 'they' know.

Q1. How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator?

Correct Answer: Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe and close the door. (This question tests whether you tend to do simple things in an overly complicated way.)

Q2. How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator?

Wrong Answer: Open the refrigerator, put in the elephant, and close the door.

Correct Answer: Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door. (This tests your ability to think through the repercussions of your actions.)

Q3. The Lion King is hosting an animal conference. All the animals attend, except one. Which animal does not attend?

Correct Answer: The elephant, since it is still in the refrigerator. (This tests your memory.) [I prefer to think it tests my patience.]

Even if you did not answer the first three questions correctly, you still have one more chance to show your abilities.

Q4. There is a river you must cross, but it is inhabited by crocodiles. How do you manage it?

Correct Answer: You swim across. All of the crocodiles are attending the meeting! (This tests whether you learn quickly from your mistakes) [My common sense tells me that if you cross crocodile infested waters you don’t get to make any more mistakes.

HT: Larry (Ode 17)

Senator Kennedy

noreply@blogger.com (Lemmer) — Tue, 20 May 2008 20:00:00 +0000

Please pray for Senator Kennedy and his family - he was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor this weekend. The tumor is a malignant glioma tumor - which means that the brain cancer is formed in the supportive tissue in the brain.

Here are a couple links from the American Brain Tumor Association explaining gliomas:

Gliomas (defined)

What patients and families need to know about gliomas.

Compassion Bloggers Trip #2 (Dominican Republic)

noreply@blogger.com (Lemmer) — Fri, 16 May 2008 19:17:00 +0000

Man - I would love to go on this trip! Go and check out the new web site for Compassionbloggers.com, while you are there pick up a widget, put one on your site and select the child or children that will be ever changed because of your love!

Favorite T-shirt

noreply@blogger.com (Lemmer) — Thu, 15 May 2008 16:37:00 +0000

I couldn't get a good picture of the shirt (besides my crappy cell phone), so I found something on Flickr that had the shirt's 'logo'.

Homes: Dwarf, Victorian, and Otherwise

noreply@blogger.com (Lemmer) — Thu, 15 May 2008 16:35:00 +0000

This past weekend we took a family trip to Savannah (Jen's parents, sister, and our clan of Lemmings, plus the dog). We were looking forward to a great weekend and were not disappointed. Here is a 'brief' recap of the trip:

New food places: original Chick-fil-a Dwarf House near the Atlanta airport (did you know this is the only Chick-fil-a that is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?); Firefly Cafe' (food was fantastic);
Churchill's Pub and Restaurant (food not so good); Spanky's (the original chicken finger place on Tybee Island - food was good; you really can't mess up chicken fingers); Paula Deen's place, Lady and Sons for Mother's Day (food was a disappointment).
Savannah-time: horse-cart tour of Savannah - great history of the squares, the city, the homes, some ghost stories, etc (overall it was awesome); Tybee Island was great (imagine a non-commercialized Panama City minus the rednecks) - we'll be back for sure!; our accommodations were pretty cool - pretty much in walking distance of historic downtown Savannah - it was a 100+ year old Victorian house that pretty much looked like IKEA vomited within it;
Entertainment: Lulu's Chocolate Bar was freakin' tasty and the art work was 'out-there' (very cool); Jen and I had a date afternoon and saw 'What happens in Vegas' (deserves 2 1/2 star - but what do you expect with Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz? it was cute, but should have just rented it in a couple weeks); the alone time with Jen was awesome- Thanks Mimi, Papa, and Mama for putting up with screaming kids (oops!); we also watched 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil', I had seen it a couple times before coming to Savannah - Brian (FIL) said that if they would have seen the movie before the reservations in Savannah, we would have been somewhere else for the weekend!

We had a great time in Savannah and can't wait to get back (maybe next time Jen and I will get to go without the kids and will be able to experience it without being 'mommy and daddy')!

Political Cycle

noreply@blogger.com (Lemmer) — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:47:00 +0000

Growing up in the late 70s/early 80s my favorite toy was my Big Wheel.

I would spin out, slam on the brake, crash into anything moving or not moving, and generally raise havoc. The only problem with the Big Wheel was that after a week or two of racing my friends and crashing into the curb to stop, a portion of the front wheel would flatten out. From that point forward, the sound of wind blowing through my jacked up 1970's hair cut was replaced with the 'thwump, thwump, thwump' of the Big Wheel.

For the last 13 months the US has been bombarded with 'news' stories and commercials (radio, television, Internet, email, and phone), telling us how great or pitiful those running for the nomination to be President of the United States. Generally, I am a person with strong political views - I'm not going to bash you over the head for your beliefs, but will contribute to a 'discussion' if I am in the mood to rumble; especially if you are 'drinking the cool-aid' of a politician or political system and have done no research to understand 'your' belief. (Unfortunately, America is full of 'sheep-ole'.)

Rambling. Sorry.

All that being said. I am so sick and tired of this political cycle 'thwumping' through my head. The Democrat Party can't decide on who is going to best not be George Bush, and the Repuke-licans can't find someone to nominate that offers voters a voice for tomorrow. I still can't believe that we are going to have 7 months of this political unrest before the lesser of two evils is selected to lead our country.

BLAH...

It only took 3-4 weeks

noreply@blogger.com (Lemmer) — Mon, 05 May 2008 19:50:00 +0000

We have finally decided on which child we are going to sponsor through Compassion! Everyone meet the newest addition to our family!

We can't wait to get to know Olupot Najin from Uganda! We will introduce Morgan to Olupot (well at least to his picture - maybe one day we'll actually all get to meet each other face to face!) and get her to color some pictures for him.

We are so excited to be able to share our blessings with Olupot, and expect to be blessed by his letters, pictures, stories, and prayers.

Please add him to your prayers. If you are looking for a way to add to your life, while helping a child receive the assistance to reach their full potential please consider sponsoring a child through Compassion!

Prayer

noreply@blogger.com (Lemmer) — Thu, 01 May 2008 14:29:00 +0000

Seeing that today is the National Day of Prayer, I thought that I would share my new quote of the day.

Your prayer life is more important that you think, and is weaker than you think!

Prayer is our vertical connection with God and connects our souls. Stop and pray today. Say a short prayer in your cubicle; when you are stopped in traffic; as you walk to lunch or the bathroom. Pray for wisdom and strength; your community, city and state; world affairs and social justice (poverty, hunger, AIDS, malaria, and other conflicts)!

What sort of impact can you make with prayer?

If you have a prayer request, you can contact pinkhairedgirl.net via the button on the right side of the page.

Hometown Bandwagon

noreply@blogger.com (Lemmer) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:50:00 +0000

I'm not a huge fan of professional sports, but I will on occasion jump on a bandwagon of a team that is outside of Atlanta. Typically all sports in Atlanta are terrible - an exception to the rule are the Braves, Georgia Force, and the Thrashers. So I guess that only leaves the Hawks and the Falcons.

Well, as of last night I am on the Hawks bandwagon! I turned the Hawks-Celtics game on last night and the Hawks were losing 13-3 and could do nothing about it, but then when I wake up this morning I found out that they won?!?! How the....?

The series is tied at 2-2, with two games left. Could the Hawks pull it off? Probably not, but if they do you can hear me say with gumption - GO HAWKS!

World Malaria Day

noreply@blogger.com (Lemmer) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:10:00 +0000

According to the CDC,

Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease caused by a parasite. People with malaria often experience fever, chills, and
flu-like illness. Left untreated, they may develop severe complications
and die. Each year 350-500 million cases of malaria occur worldwide,
and over one million people die, most of them young children in sub-Saharan Africa.

Each day 1 person dies of Malaria every 30 seconds. That is 565,000 deaths per year that can easily be prevented by giving out insecticide-treated bed nets for kids and families to sleep under, as well as by giving anti-malarial drugs.

The fastest thing we can do is to buy bed nets for the people living in the malaria rampant areas (see map above).

Follow the links below to buy a net and save lives ($10 will buy one, $20 will buy two, you get the picture) --