ladies and gentlemen, I give you the…

No, I’m not the loser because of the awesome mustache I had in that picture. I’m the loser because, well… this is how it went:

(A real phone call that took place last night between Mikey Mills and myself)

D.O.: Did Laura see her post on my blog?

Mikey: [turns to the side and asks Laura]… No, hold on.

[Time passes while Mikey and Laura read the post written in Laura's honor]

D.O.: Does she love that? I made the picture in GIMP.

Mikey: Yeah, that’s good… [increasing snickering in the background] This is real funny…

D.O.: What?

Mikey: Laura didn’t answer the question on that post.

D.O.: It said Laura!

Laura in the background: You should click the link on that comment…

D.O.: [Goes and clicks said link]… Holy crap… I’m such an idiot…

All: [Eruptions of laughter]

It turns out that Laura Nutter didn’t win (or participate) in the poetry contest. It was Laura Stiller, wife of my Arlington friend, Danny Stiller… I don’t know much about her, but, since she really did win the contest, I’ll tell you what I do know.

Laura is married to my Arlington friend Danny Stiller. They have a married people blog that I just added to the “theirs” section of my links. She confessed to reading my blog back in March and we here at odfm are very happy to have her. She has about a million different blogs. Her profile lives here. It’s overwhelming.

Congratulations Laura Stiller! No congratulations to Laura Nutter.

ladies and gentlemen, I give you the…

As promised, I’m giving the winner of my poetry contest a award as great as any I’m able to give… blog recognition. Our winner was one Laura Nutter who came up with the correct answers Ogden Nash and Joyce Kilmer.

For those of you who don’t know, Laura is one of my sweet friends from the beloved college days and the slightly less popular Dallas days. She’s proven to be a faithful and loyal pal over the years, and has provided many with some of the best hugs around. But boys, don’t get any ideas, because she’s taken. Mikey dates her. That’s right. Mikey.

So congratulations to Laura on her big victory. I hope our friendship will be able to endure this post… and that picture.

Honorable mention goes to Andrew Shepherd who successfully got Kilmer without using Google. If you’ve never checked out his blog, you really should. It’s far better than anything you’ll get in these parts.

gimp 2.4

The fine folks over at GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) have gone and outdone themselves. GIMP 2.4 has recently been released in its stable version and is available for free download here. It’s been available for a while, but the stable version hasn’t been available (to my knowledge) until a few weeks ago. Either way, it’s here now, and you should get it if you’re looking for a powerful photo editing and graphic design software. You no doubt remember my previous entry on the GIMP about six posts ago.

Now for the true reason for this post. Pictured above is my current – and possibly your future – desktop background. I’d like to use it to introduce the first online diary for the masses contest for November, 2007. The person/persons who provide me with the author of the poem written above the tree will have bragging rights in the blogosphere. However, the winner will be the one who provides not only the person who penned the provided poem, but also the author of the original poem from which the provided poem was derived. The winner will be rewarded as generously as I’m possibly able to reward someone. Google is a permissible resource, however if you are able to answer it correctly without google… I’ll come find you and hug you.

A hint: click on the picture above or you’ll have a very hard time reading the poem.

An observation: it is very presumptuous of me to expect anyone to participate in this contest. Yet another example of how I make my blog out to be a much bigger deal than it actually is.

coming soon…

In the very near future I will be constructing and publishing a post that is of much greater significance than most of what I’ve offered my readers lately. I have not the time to do it now (as I must drive to work for my last day), but know that it’s coming soon. In the mean time, feel free to guess the topic via your comments. Rule: if you already know, then don’t guess.

WINNERS!!

I’m at a loss for words. The response to my contest was overwhelming! Three guesses from two different households… I mean really, just when I think that people don’t read my blog, you guys come through in a big way.

If you haven’t been able to tell by the title and the accompanying picture, Rev. Brandon “Brandone” Rogers is the winner of the contest. His prize is to have his picture posted on my blog — a blog that is home to nearly half of the readers of his. Nearly.

Another winner is me. Remember two posts ago? The one with the giant bra picture? Well I got the position. Two raises and a promotion within a two week period of time. Not bad… so I guess I win too.

As I was writing this blog and looking at the beautiful portrait above, I thought about making another contest, but decided against it. I was going to ask what things were different about me and Brandone from the picture to current day. Instead, I’ll just tell you the answer: My necklace is no longer worn given the fact that it broke, I no longer wear earrings because I saw an old guy with them and I didn’t want to be like him, and Brandone has since grown a full set of teeth per his wife’s request.

Thank you guys for playing, and as always, watch your top knot.

quiz time!

Way back in my college years I decided I wanted to get a tattoo. Being the honorable and respectful son I am, I asked my parents if that was a permissible thing to do. They promptly informed me that yes it was allowed, and made sure that I was aware that as soon as I got one, they’d stop paying for my college. Well I took that as a no. They also said that when I was out of school and supporting myself that I could do whatever I want.

I obliged.

I received these tattoos the other night from my new friend Meg. They were free because she’s an apprentice and she has to do a certain amount of promotional tattoos before getting certified. So for the mere cost of a trip to College Station, I got some neat permanent writing on my ankle.

Quiz Time: What are the two words/phrases?

People who are cannot play: Mikey, Jon, La, Jordan, Allen, and Aaron. Also, Butch Smith need not play, because he nailed it on the head before ever being asked. Someone was paying attention in seminary.

Guess away, and a prize will be awarded to the winning-est winner.

Happy Yesterday

Those of you who are my parents, or who have a facebook account, know that yesterday was my birthday. Those of you who are on facebook know that this picture is of the facebook guy. Mark Zucherburger or something. Smart cat. But this post isn’t exactly about facebook, nor is it entirely about my birthday. It’s about how people used facebook to wish me a happy birthday. So I guess it’s about both. And it may be about something else later. We’ll see.

When one logs on to their facebook account, the homepage houses a sidebar telling them which of their friends have birthdays coming up, including friends whose birthday is that day. This is an extremely convenient feature, because it allowed fourty people to wish me happy birthday who would have been none the wiser had it not been for said sidebar. I recognize that; I don’t expect anyone to remember anyone else’s birthday (save spouses and other immediate family), so when people like Jessica Schmale call me on my birthday just to talk, unaware that it was in fact my birthday, I really don’t mind. I say that to make sure that you — the reader who went through their day yesterday unknowingly failing to celebrate my birth — won’t feel a need to apologize. I don’t mind. It’s not big deal.

Anyway, of those forty or so facebook well-wishes yesterday, a couple stood out and I felt the need to recognize them. I decided yesterday morning I was going to hold a contest for who could post the best birthday comment, but I didn’t tell anyone. Sneaky huh? I wanted to have a first, second, and third place, but only two really stood out. And here they are:

2nd Place: Jessica Schmale said, “I’m still writing Happy Birthday on your wall… even though I feel like a lame friend” (upon realizing it was my birthday when logging on to facebook hours after we’d talked on the phone)

and…

1st Place: Catlin Whatley said, “I never write facebook birthday messages to people I actually like… cool picture.”

I thought that was absolutely brilliant. Catlin is a girl I worked with in Brenham this summer, and she’s sarcastic, and it’s great.

So there you go. Congratulations to the winners of my contest in which nobody knew they were participating.

In closing I’d like to thank, as sincerely as I possibly can on a blog, the people who did anything for me today, even if it was just writing “happy birthday” on my wall (again, a facebook thing). Thanks for that, for the calls, emails, dinners (rents), and for just letting me be your friend. I’m far from deserving it. Thanks so much, and I love you people a ton. I’ll also thank in advance whoever posts a comment on this post.

finally…

I hope that the length of time since my last update will keep your attention seeing that this post has no picture attached. I’ve already taken six since I’ve been here though! First, let’s get down to business:

I (heart) YUK
grey polyester
I (heart) NY
BCAAAAA
TUESDAYS
Martin Gymnastics
Pray for China
Aggie Pumpfest
BCA 1/4 Formal (that I didn’t go to)
iWitness ‘05
PC closing day
Jesus es mi amigo (new)
6 Chicks shirt
iW ‘06 (also new).

Therefore, Jon wins the contest (unless I miscounted, but I figured if he entered he would win).

In other news, I’m doing well here in Brenham, I’m working with jr high kids and trying to teach them job skills and how to be a real man (which I’m certainly still learning). I’m also doing tons of video editing stuff, which I truly enjoy. I need not forget to mention that I’ve also been put in charge of driving a 15 passenger van around a town I do not know in order to pick kids up everyday. This provides tons of laughs for me, and an equal number of frustrations for my passengers.

This part has potential to be pretty long, so if you want to skip it, I guess you can. This past weekend I was blessed with the chance to go to Waco and experience a thing they like to call “poverty simulation.” The gist of it is that you are forced to go through the weekend with the same income as a single mother of three living at the poverty line. That’s not very much. I do not want to go into detail about the in’s and out’s of the simulation, in case you ever decide to do it (which I recommend… paying money to be poor for a weekend… brilliant). I do, however, want to elaborate on the weekend’s finale. I was so blessed to go to a Sunday morning service at Church Under the Bridge. This beautiful sanctuary is right across the street from Baylor’s campus, and is appropriately, under I-35. It’s members include a large number of folks who are homeless or marginalized in some form or fashion. There are also a handful of college students and middle-class people who meet under the interstate for worship each week. I was just really blown away as I looked back over the approximately 200 people who were in attendance, and I remember vividly my thought that Jesus must be happy with the goings on here. I found out that the speaker on Sunday, who happened to also be the director of Mission Waco, Jimmy Durell, is writing a book that will release soon. I was elated to find out that the person writing the intro to his book is none other than my current author-man-crush, Shane Claiborne, who wrote The Irresistible Revolution, and you can read about that here. So yeah, great weekend, great people, great God.

I am so sorry that I have not had time to check y’alls blogs, emails, phone calls (actually, I can do those… hint hint), but take heart! I love you people so much. I miss you guys a lot and for those of you on the field, I’m praying for you (hope you’re under a secure browser) and for those of you going to Lauren’s wedding, I cannot wait to see y’all! I love you again.

So sorry again that this isn’t exciting, and forgive me for all the apologies. If you aren’t inclined to post a comment or anything, I understand. I’ll still be your friend.

first ever contest!

Just as the Supercinski’s were inspired to offer contests on their blog by their friends, so too they have inspired me. That said, I welcome you to the first ever, online diary for the masses contest.

As you should know by now, I’m going to be loving people in Brenham this summer and getting paid to do so! I decided to pack 14 t-shirts for the entire summer, and to do laundry bi-monthly. What does that have to do with the contest? Well, I want you to tell me which 14 shirts I packed. So this contest, when all is said and done, will show who knows me (or at least my wardrobe) the best. I’ve already given you an enormous hint in the photo above. Your job is to describe each shirt to prove you know which one it is. Ex: red randomshirts.com (another hint: the red one IS NOT my randomshirts one). Get the idea?

You will enter this contest by submitting your answers, from top to bottom, in the form of a comment on this entry. You may only offer one set of 14 guesses each, so there’s no changing your mind after you click “post comment.”

Oh, and what would a contest be if there were no prize? Well it would be lame. Therefore, there will be a prize awarded to the winner of this, our debut contest. No purchase necessary!

In related news, I found out today that I will be focusing primarily on Jr High students and leading worship while in Brenham, which I must admit I’m very excited about. More on that in the near future, when I’ll be posting updates sans photos throughout the summer (as far as I know now…).

So that’s it! Submit your submissions. All entries are will be due before midnight Friday, June 2!

child’s play

Remember the days of yore when we were often prompted to look at two pictures and decipher what traits were different between the two? Well this is going to be a similar activity, however, instead of having two pictures placed before you, one will be provided (as you can clearly see) and the other will be mental. The fact that the other picture is mental clearly allows for more than two pictures total, because I can’t control how many pictures you have floating around in your mind. Anyway, I’d like you, my faithful readers and friends, to tell me what is different between the picture above, and the picture in your head of this same scene approximately two weeks prior to the displayed time. Please post your thoughts of the answer(s) on the comments section below. The winner will receive a prize of sorts. So play! It’ll be fun! Wonderful! Sweet! Cool!