Get Off The Mooch List

You know who you are. You stop by the website, checking things out, but you never let me know you're here. You take and take and take. I know you've been here because I sometimes check the referrer logs.

But that's okay. I'm not disappointed in you. I want to give you an opportunity to get off the Mooch List and reveal yourself. You can leave me a comment (better known as 'guideposts' around here) or you can send me an email. In either case, just tell me that you want to get off the 'Mooch List'.

I'll even let you become an official part of this site, if you'd like. For example, if you're a Java programmer, you can become the Official Java Programmer for Journey Inside My Mind. It could be any particular office you'd like to hold, provided that another 'Official' has not already taken it. Then you can tell everyone that you are an important person, because you are. To me.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Motivation

Like others (too lazy to point out specific links right now) I'm dealing with my overall motivation for blogging. One could say that there is a bit of a famine among the blogosphere. Could it really be that there isn't much to blog about? I guess it depends on why one blogs in the first place. Is it to appeal to a specific audience? To attract the attention of other bloggers?

"To thine own self be true:" I blog for myself. If someone else reads it, then that's okay. I'm recording these things in the journey inside my mind for me.

But what of the other blogs I maintain? I've always considered "Letters to God" to be personal. That's why I don't have comments or a referrer log. I don't really care who else reads it. "Streams of Consciousness" is my own creative writing weblog. I recently removed comments and the referrer log from the template. I revised the settings to make it a private blog, but I'm not sure if it's working or not.

Then there are the other two, more public, blogs. "QuotesBlog" is something I maintain because I'm a little obsessed with collecting quotations; so I guess, in a sense, it's still for me, even though I have comments, a site meter, and am a member of a quotations webring. "Get That Job!" is something I originally started for myself, and it was good timing, because, in it's 1-1/2 year life span, it's become a popular site for other job seekers.

I started these blogs for myself, and I continue to maintain them for myself. I guess I can get a bit sidetracked from time to time in thinking I need to write something that others will be interested in. After all, I'm not getting paid to write!

Almost everything I've recorded in these blogs about myself has been true; I haven't made it up. But what if I did? How would you know? I guess there are those that know me a bit more closely than others; these folks might pick up that something is amuck. So what? I ask this question out loud for myself to hear.

I feel the temptation, because I know that this blog is being read by others, to do some self-editing. I'm finding that it's hindering the creative process, so I need to change. Who knows? I may even start up another blog under a pseudonym just so that I can regain some anonymity.

Mary Kate Olsen is NOT HERE!!!!

To all visitors who have happened to stumble upon this site looking for information about Mary Kate Olsen's weight problem, eating disorder, or mental disorder... you won't find it here! OKAY!

(Did I just ensure that I would get more of the same visitors?)

Current Dayton Weather Conditions

Yahoo! Weather - Dayton

More Current Conditions:
Feels Like:-13 °
Dewpoint: -6º
Barometer: 29.98 in and falling
Wind: W 15 mph
Humidity: 54%
Sunrise: 7:47 am
Visibility: Unlimited
Sunset: 5:53 pm

Tonight: Bitterly cold. Clear to partly cloudy. Low -4F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph.

If it feels like this in Dayton, I can only imagine what it feels like in Canada! Perhaps the Official Canuck will chime in.

Gramps

I got an email from my little sister in Texas:

Hi everyone,
I just saw today's date and remembered that it was 10 years ago today that Gramps died. I just can't believe it has been that long:

Hope everyone is doing ok. Got to go I should be doing my homework.

Gramps is our maternal grandfather, aka my mom's dad.

I remembered that it happened at this time of year. I also remember I found out about it a few days before I was supposed to give a communion talk in front of church. I wound up revising what I was going to say because of it.

When I was three years old, I had a hernia, and it gave me a distended stomach (it was "pooching out"). Mom and Dad would often take me and my sister to the fire house where Gramps worked. I enjoyed trying on the fireman's clothes and sitting in the driver's seat of the fire truck. I have a picture of me that was taken from back then.

I felt proud of my distended tummy because I looked like my Grandpa.

In the years before he died, he took to wearing a "beret"-type hat, which he caled his "Go to hell!" hat. He also wore a white beard. People thought he resembled Ernest Hemingway.

After he'd died I got to see a bunch of pictures of him from when he was younger. Most of my aunts and uncles had never seen them either. There was one picture of him at three years old. This must have been in the early 1920s. I remember seeing the wedding picture of him and Grandma - what a beautiful couple!

Grandma died in 1975, when I was five years old. I don't remember a lot about her, but the memories I do have are fond. I may talk about her some other time.

Name Statistics - How popular are your first and last names?

Daniel is the #12 most common male name.
0.974% of men in the US are named Daniel.
Around 1193150 US men are named Daniel!

Johnson is the #2 most common last name.
0.81% of last names in the US are Johnson.
Around 2025000 US last names are Johnson!
source namestatistics.com

Original IRC Log of Matthew 13

Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a system to enable people connected on the internet to engage in live discussions. This example is ingenious, to say the least. It made me :)

found on VirusHead Random Musings

Space Shuttle Challenger - 18 Years Ago

It's been 18 years since we saw the space shuttle Challenger burst into flames during its liftoff January 28, 1986: I remember hearing about it from a classmate in high school, and thinking he was out of his mind. My dad later confirmed it as he picked me up from the library, where I'd walked after school.

• Last year's remarks in the 'Journey'
• Confusion, a poem I wrote January 28, 1986, the day after the disaster
• It's a bit ironic that this article about the ill-fated shuttle Columbia appeared in the news this time last year.

AiYo: your friendly shopping network

I saw this in a Google ad for this blog, and I'm considering checking it out further.

2003 Year In Review

The long-awaited (at least for me) 2003 Year in Review post is here. This is useful for getting a bird's-eye view of last year in "Journey Inside My Mind":

2003 1st Half

July

RIP Buddy Hackett

Ordinary Moments

Other Big Goings On

Realtor Reality

RIP Barry White

USA's 227th Birthday

5th of July (or When I Became the Ethiopian Eunuch)

Putting the "fun" in Dysfunctional

Still around, after nearly 7 years!

RIP Buddy Ebsen

Will It Bounce?

Frustration. Despair. Anger. Bitterness. Impatience. Hopelessness. Faithlessness.

Mind Change

It's Been Raining A Lot

The Listeners Make the Playlists

Birthday Preview: Invites, Presents, and Giving Back

Update on the 'Journey Inside My Mind'

The Rains Have Come Down

"I'm a sexy beast!"

Will It Bounce? Update

Admitting Struggles with Mental Illness

House, Attorney, Open House, Dessert, Prayer

Another Migraine

Remembering the Past: Dad's Bike

Out She Comes!, Parts 1-5

Spy Kids 2 Birthday Party

Buckeye Boys State

First Day of Kindergarten

Somehow You Found Me

Prayer Request: Mom, two kids die in pileup on I-70 & the Followup

Jesus Was A Blood Donor!

Da Beard Is Gone

Family Devotional

RIP Bob Hope

Dating My Wife

August

Bookworm

Dancing with My Wife

Isn't It A Bit Early for This Talk?

I'm a funny guy!

Tired

September

Those Misheard Song Lyrics

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Our PC Has Come Home

Our Soon-To-Not-Be-Home

The Journey Inside My Mind

R.I.P. Charles Bronson

Officials Update!

I Really Don't Know What To Say

RIP Warren Zevon

9-11 Remembered

RIP to two Famous Johns

A Day With Low Seratonin, A Day With Self-Injury

RIP Sheb Wooley

Staying True to My Tagline

Apartment Hunting

Relics, Family Heirlooms, Souvenirs

That Which I Do Not Want To Do, I Do

Transitions: Away We Are Going!

From Wired to Tired

While I Was Out (RIP Robert Palmer & George Plimpton)

"It's not good-bye; it's good journey."

October

'Alias' - Back and Still Kickin'!

Time is filled with swift transition

High-Flying with the Kitefliers

Let's Give Them Something to Blog About

Winds of Change

Anti-Leech Spambot Stopper v.1.1

Continuing the Journey

Officials Update: Announcing the Official Canuck!

My Distracted Mind

On 10-8, the officer was on duty

Cincinnati Bengals 34, Baltimore Ravens 26

Return of Some Old Friends

Favorite Mixed Drinks

Happy Birthday!

Some of the More Unusual Drinks I've Made

Fall Color Reports From Around Ohio

Hernia Scar

Pets Are Good For Your Health

Democrats for Bush in 2004

So Much To Blog About

November

I Have a Common Last Name

Man and His Best Friend

Mind Your P's and Q's

Depressing Day in the Journey

When Emotional Pain Becomes Physical

An Overnight Visit From the Repo Man

Family Time

Bengals End Chiefs' Chance At Perfect Season

Keep in Touch, No Matter What

Work and Some Advice From Behind the Bar

Yet Another Tooth

Officials Update

Blog Notes

December

Generosity

Logistical Issues

My Dreams Are Weirder Than Yours

An 'Alias' That Satisfies

Ohio's DUI Law

Strep Throat

News Where I Live

Love Defined (humorous)

Guitar

Bible Study: Overcoming

H2 Get a Book Deal

Library Blogging

I'm Covered

Christmas Service

Prayer Request

Me Update: In Brief (as if!)

Plans for the New Year