Deja vu

Applying for jobs again. Now that im living in yet another state, I need a new job. But a few connections were made today that might be good. 

I'm very happy to have internet again. Its been hard to do everything from my iPhone.

I just watched "The Social Network," for the first time. It was well done. Great editing work. And it got me to do some research. Currently, there are over 750,000,000 active users on Facebook. That is more than the population of the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Australia combined. 

The WELS family of churches has a page with just under 10,000 fans. Most of the churches in our synod do not yet have facebook pages or any other homes on the internet with the exception of a basic info webpage.

Facebook constitutes a large poplulation of people that spend multiple hours each week on social media sites. Perhaps its time to figure out how to do some quality outreach through Facebook. God knows, we need to have money to send missionaries all over the world. But using Facebook is free.

something to ponder more on

Arizona

State number Five that I have lived in. It's a very nice area too. However, my body is having trouble adjusting to the change. Much higher elevation than I am used to and less oxygen/water in the air. Rough night. But I just need a few more days to adjust. Sad thing is that for the two months I was in MN, I did not have one bloody nose and the first night here, I got a bad one. Must be the high and dry environment. I should remember this if I travel abroad one day.

Gotta keep this brief because I am at a starbucks to do work. No internet yet at the house. I'm almost done with the CAteQUIZ'em app. I'm hoping to test it today on my iPad. I'm excited. Hopefully the market is good for it. At least among Lutherans, it shoud be.

Well, more to come later. I need to keep this short today.

-D

Excited

Lorem ipsum . . .

Just kidding. But I would like to have a shirt with that displayed. I think that would be bad@ss. But seriously, I feel like my life has completely turned around, emotionally, in the last few days. Kurt and Sue are back and we are going out tonight. They are such great people and I'm happy that they are back, even though our paths will only overlap for the next few days.

I am being very optimistic, but I feal very good about taking this school-year off. It wasn't exactly a decision. It was more like making the best of a crumby situation. But God has not forsaken me and I still have a Savior so I will attack this next year with enthusiasm and take advantage of the time I will have on my hands to develope some artistic elements that I would normally not have time for.

For instance, I will be puting together the CataQUIZem program that I wrote about in the last blog. I also will put together a database of 2.0 Presentations (my title for them). They will adapt the ideas of a Powerpoint slideshow, but will be made in After Effects. In this way, I will add animation to the slides and typography that is synced with music in the background. I hope to build a library of a few hundred songs. All of these will be Contemporary Christian music. The reason for these is two-fold. The first is so that a church that is not blessed with a full band of musicians can still implement contemporary music. These videos will be easy to upload into Powerpoint. The second reason to creating these videos in this manner is so that everything is perfectly synced together and as soon as the video is initiated, the presenter can sit back and sing along.

I'm hoping that these will be a great tool for churches. Of course, the church needs to have their own CCLI Liscense in order to perform or print the music, anyway, but I still need to research if there are any copyright guidelines I have to follow. Specifically, if I ever want to sell this library to churches and ministries.

But, apart from that, I have a few other ideas that I am working on. I can see myself sitting at a coffee shop working on these programs on my days off. I've learned that I can get alot of work done when I'm at an outside location, particularly graphic design work. And I have A LOT to do over the next year. But, now is the time. I jus tneed to get a job so I can live, but if this takes off  . . . who knows? Only God. I think I will be back here in New Ulm in a year for school. But I'm leaving my life open for God's direction.

Have a great night. I'm not sure if I will have a chance to write another blog before I start moving. If not, I'll see you in Chino Valley, AZ.

God Bless!

cateQuizem

Recovery discs for my Gateway PC have not arrived yet. It cannot even boot up right now. Something in it was totally destructive. The discs were only about $30, so it was a good first step to recovery. However, I think that realistically, I have about a 25% chance of recovering it at all, based on the level of damage. I'm not sure if its just the factory data or Windows too. I think I was able to create an image disc for Windows, so we shall see. . .

So, I'm stuck on my 5 year old laptop now (maybe 6 years old, I can't remember exactly when I bought it . . But I remember I bought it from Circuit City, so it's been awhile.). I took it to a coffee shop today and I got alot of Wrieframing done for my new app I'm designing.

I'm basing my app off a game that I played in Confirmation class taht was released on CD-ROM. The last version was released in 2007, and it is not very impressive, anymore. It runs through Internet Explorer and hardly worth the $20 I paid for it. All in all, it was not built by a graphic designer or anyone with an artistic mind.

So I'm redesigning it for iPad. The name was never trademarked, at least not the way that it's laidout now. So I'm pretty open to go with this. However, I have to think about distribution, as well. The program that I purchased was produced through our Synod's publishing house. If I sell mine on the Apple Store for a fraction of the cost, am I taking money away from my church-body? The fact that the program is mediocre is a mute point. Or should I try to sell it to the Publishing House? Or maybe there's another deal that I can/should make . . . I'm going to have to ask around, but I think that there is potential in this idea. One thing that I should consider too is that not every church in our synod owns an iPad. In fact, I will go out on a limb and say that less then 10% of our churches have one. On the other hand, the majority have computers. So I may develope this app (with over 1000 pages) and have no return for my time.

Any thoughts?

dthwriter1@gmail.com

Twists and Turns

A quick blog update while I work on my homework:

So it appears that my program at MLC has been downgraded to the point where I do not qualify for any Federal Aid. As a result, I will also need to start paying back my student loans sooner than expected. And on top of my other financial obligations and expences, I still have good amount left on my car. So, I will not be going to MLC this year.

I am a little dissappointed that this happened all of a sudden and I was not aware of this before I moved. I was told the exact opposite of what is happening now. So, I guess I'll finish up with National University and take this year off from school. God will direct me in this time to understand where he is leading me.

But for now, it's homework time, then packing time. I will be leaving New Ulm on the 24th, which gives me a little over a week. My boss was really great about the situation, yet sad to lose me. Not exactly a good thing for my resume either. But I'll have a job with Applebee's in New Ulm, should I return next year.

God bless.

Zinfandel Blues

Well, starting a new class this week with National University. This is my third to last class. I'll be glad when its done and I can say that I completed my Degree.

Nice long day today. It was really slow in the morning and afternoon at work. I only had two tables before I was cut. second shift today was spent as a host, so I probably made more money as a host than as a server. I have another double tomorrow and Sundays are normally good. The best part is, I can make the 8:00 am service at St. Paul's before starting my shift at 11. St. Paul's, by the way is my new church.

Anyway, I'm now at home drinking from a bottle of Dancing Bull red Zindandel wine. Its not very good, I'm sorry to say. . . but that's what I get for buying bottles of wine under $15. Sorry, but I cannot afford more. And I'm barely through one glass and I'm feeling a little tipsy.  Maybe it was the Brewtus Micalob I had at Applebees after I got off. only $3:). I have some Muenster and Cheddar cheese here and crackers which tastes great with the wine. I might need to save the rest of the bottle for tomorrow night. It could be that I haven't been eating normal meals or drinking much water. The humidity is so high here, my body's having trouble transitioning. Several people say that this is abnormal humidity for MN. We'll see...

And I'm watching some of my favorite episodes of MASH. This is great. But one of the more "serious" episodes directed by Alan Alda requires Hawkeye to say goodbye to a someone that really meant a deal to him. It was hard. And I've suddenly realized how many people I've said goodbye to this year. I'd like to say that I will see them again over pxmas break. But with my father receiving a call to Arizona, I'm not sure yet where I will be spending Christmas.

Anyway, alcohol and depression go hand in hand so I think I will put the cork back in the bottle of wine and head to bed. I have a lot of great things to look forward to over the next few years. God has plans for me and my life, just like all of us.

Have a great night and I'll see you next time. . . Same bat time, same bat channel!

Cruise Control

You ever feel like your stuck on cruise control?

I remember the first time I engaged a cruise control on a car. It surprised me. I felt the pedal go down on its own and the engine purred consistantly until I turned it off. I'm not sure what I was expecting to feel, but not quite that.

And what's interesting is that when you put your car on cruise control you gain a little freedom, but you lose a little control.

It's a give and take.

With some cars, you can relax a little then, while still watching the road and being aware of others around you. But on my 3-day drive out here, there were times when I was not within a mile of another car. And so, for hours at a time, the cruise came on.

The problem with cruise control is that it can offer a false sense of freedom.

Thankfully, we got out here to MN without a hitch. But lately I've been thinking about the trip out here.

I'm very comfortable here in New Ulm. There are friendly people, a good environment, and its allowing me to get on my feet financially for the first time. But I need more to do. Its getting to be a little monotonous. Not the work or the people, mind you, but keeping busy.

I've been working on a few documents and I have reworked my website (http://www.danielthenning.com/). I think I may be on to something here. . . We'll see.

I like "getting into the groove" of things here, but very soon the cruise will have to come off. I'm starting school in a few weeks and I have no idea what pace I will be living at then. Well, I've juggled a full time job and school for a few years now. Not to mention ministry work and a few extras. I'm sure I can do it. I'll just have to find the balance between work, school, and everything else.

And while I'm at it, I need to make sure I'm keeping track of my surroundings, fatigue and cruise control can be a bad combination on the road.

And in life as well . . .