Grandpa's 100th birthday

The devotional booklet published by the Wesleyan church did a write up of my grandfather's 100th birthday celebration. He is my mother's father.

To read the devotional, click on the article below. It should open up into a full page that you can read. Enjoy!

12-step art

My friend Chris is an artist and has painted a picutre representing each one of the 12 steps. Here are some examples...

Step 3: We made a decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God.


Step 7: We humbly asked Him to remove all our shortcomings.

Step 12: Having had a spiritual experience as the result of these steps, we try to carry this message to others and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

To see all 12 paintings, or to order greeting cards of same, go to http://wordnet.net/chris/toc.html

a win, win, win situation

Dig a moat the length of the Mexican border.

Use the dirt to raise the levees in New Orleans.

Take the alligators from Florida and put them in the moat.

Any other problems you'd like me to solve?

JUST FOR KIDZ

• neopets create your own online pet and feed and take care of it. Lots of other games and activities too.
• kids.gov Lots of government sites for kids sorted by age and category
• great web sites Lots of great sites for kids organized by the American Library Association
• Magazine for teen girls by Focus on the Family
• TV disney Watch full length episodes of Disney TV shows
• homework spot Lots of helps for doing your homework!
• national geographic kids games, activities, and learning
• Virtual Magic Kingdom
• Disney games
• Switcheroo Zoo games
• PBS kids
• prongo a bunch of stuff for kidz, broken down by age category
• ranger rick games from national wildlife federation
• Links to coloring sites
• crayola Rainbow the Spouting Trout
• christianity today game zone
• kidzonearth games
• christian television network games
• stardoll Forget paper doll outfits. Dress up your favorite stars online at stardoll.com.
• everythinggirl.com portal of several sites for pre-teen girls, including polly pocket, barbie, and pixel chix.
• kid explorers from christian answers
• fcc (federal communications commission) games
• veggietales games
• imagination station from adventures in odyssey
• links to lots of kids' sites be sure to go to the bottom of the page and browse the categories. (tip: when you click on a category it will look like it brings up the same page. You have to scroll down again to see the links for that new category.)
• kaboose.com Lots of fun stuff for kids and families, many of them educational. This link takes you to the games page. Be sure to check out the rest of the site, too!
• HisKids.net Online Christian radio for kids. Kind of like radio disney, but christian. Either listen to the "live" station, or listen to the archive of various christian kids programs.
• millsberry.com games
• nick.com A bunch of games and stuff for kids based on the nickelodeon tv channel
• nick junior for the younger set
• monteray bay cam see animals play at an aquarium. under the cam there is a drop-down list to choose different animals, like penguins, fish, birds, and sea otters
• children's bible hour cbh zone games
• club penguin Club Penguin is a kid-friendly virtual world where children can play games, have fun and interact with each other. Safe.
• millsberry.com A virtual town where you can create your own character and go exploring. Click on “Tour” to watch how it works.
• Lava surfer http://www.lavasurfer.com/morekidslinks.html
• Kinetic city http://www.kineticcity.com/
• Webkinz http://www.webkinz.com/

Please let me know if any links don't work, or go to the wrong place. I need your help to make this the best blog possible! Thank you.

RECOVERY STUFF

http://www.teeccino.com/Quiz1.aspx

http://theraveproject.org/

http://www.tesh.com/ittrium/visit?path=A1x97x1y1xa5x1x76y1x3e70x1x65

http://ndvh.org/

http://www.priscillakelly.com/fears.htm

http://www.priscillakelly.com/anger_mgmt.htm

http://www.priscillakelly.com/relationships.htm

http://www.priscillakelly.com/anxiety_checklist.htm

http://www.priscillakelly.com/depression_checklist.htm

http://www.recovery.org/aa/

http://www.royy.com/feelings.pdf

http://www.royy.com/step4.pdf

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=www.newlife.com

http://www.safehavenministries.org/

http://peaceandsafety.com/

http://www.hazelden.org/#

http://www.apa.org/topics/homepage.html?fc_c=1071850x1685898x61709661

http://www.cbeinternational.org/new/index.shtml

http://www.spiritledwoman.com/display.php?id=605

http://www.royy.com/concord.html

http://www.christianhealingmin.org/

http://www.brainphysics.com/checklist.php

http://www.recoveryzone.org/docs/bigbook.htm

http://www.abbafather.com/

OTHER LINKS

• Want to feel better about yourself? http://home.hiwaay.net/~keiper/egod.htm
• Business info library http://www.bizinfolibrary.org/
• Business Toolkit http://www.hillsource.org/members/
• http://www.politicalassassinations.com/
• http://www.raidersnewsupdate.com/
• http://www.worldprayers.org/
• http://archives.wittenburgdoor.com/archives/victoriajackson.html
• http://www.mercola.com/townofallopath/index.htm
• http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/optout.html
• http://ideamatt.blogspot.com/
• http://lifehacker.com/
• http://www.heartlight.org/devotionals/
• http://www.worldprayers.org/
• http://www.charismamag.com/christianmovies/
• http://caringmedical.com/dietquiz/quiz_welcome.asp (metabolic typing)
• http://www.kettering.edu/~drussell/demos.html
• http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/helpdesk/?p=56
• http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/helpdesk/?p=57
• christ's church youtube videos
• plugged in Entertainment reviews by Focus on the Family. Very well done.
• Tesh's faves Ever up at night wondering what John Tesh's favorite web sites are? Wonder no more.
• CCM The legendary magazine about current Christian music.
• Better Business Bureau Check out companies or charities, file a report, etc.
• Blue Letter Bible Lots of Bible aids
• Letting Go of our Adult Children Read the full text of the book online for free.
• Blogging the Bible One guy's attempt to read the bible and write his uncensored reaction to each passage.
• cell phone gps tracker Find out where a person is using their cell phone number.
• satiety index How well do 240 calories of various foods keep you satisfied?
• Glycemic Index How likely are certain foods to make you hungry a few hours later?
• 
• modest needs Read stories of people in temporary emergency financial need, and see if you can help them avoid falling into the "cycle of poverty."
• National "Do not call" registry
• The Bible/UFO connection
• Calendar maker Print your own daily, weekly, monthly, or annual calendar in a snap...
  
• Fixed Earth Does the earth revolve around the sun, or the sun revolve around the earth?
• Best of the Web Lists of the best sites available for almost any category
• Dilbert A month of cartoons
• cool site of the day A new site featured each day. It's one of the places i discover good stuff that ends up here, in my blog.
• Speed Bump A month of cartoons
• Pandora internet radio Type in one of your favorite musical artists and bam, you're listening to an internet station with their music and others similar to them. Create and save up to 100 stations.
• slacker.comanother site where you can listen to, and customize music stations. Free.
• 419 Eater Tired of all the scams from Nigeria? Get back at them with their own game.
• The watchmaker A cool animated presentation about "intelligent design."
• clipart connection lots of free clip art
• John Stossel The dude from 20/20 that is always debunking commonly held myths. I love him!
• eVoice Free service that lets people call a specific phone number assigned to you and leave a message that gets delivered to your email. You can listen to it on your email.
• eFax Free service that lets people fax to a specific number assigned to you and the fax gets delivered to your email.
• Free Conference Call Free service that assigns you a permanent phone number and access code where you can host conference calls with up to 99 people.
• OpenOffice This is a completely free alternative to Microsoft Office. Includes word processing, spreadsheet, database, and presentation programs, among others. I use it.
• Meebo Have friends that are using Yahoo, MSN, and AIM for instant messaging? Tired of opening up, running, and minimizing all 3 applications at the same time to communicate with all of them? Try Meebo. Very simply type in your username and password for each of these that you have an account for, and BAM, you've got one unified buddy list with everyone on it. Very cool. You don't even have to sign up or register if you don't want to, although there are advantages to doing so.
• Cnet downloads Thousands of downloads that have been certified safe and free of spyware.
• Google spreadsheets Create spreadsheets online and let others view and/or edit them.
• TVU Music Television Hard rock/heavy metal Christian music aimed at teens. (Click on "Watch TVU online!" near the top of the page.)
• GodTV Christian programing with a fresh, upbeat, trendy, evanglistic, and prophetic bent founded by Rory and Wendy Alec.
• CBN Watch archives of news, interviews, special features, etc., from the Christian Broadcasting Network.
• Streaming Faith 28 online Christian channels, including TBN. Requires one-time free registration.
• NBC video clips Clips from current NBC TV shows.
• AOL TV Watch lots of TV shows that you love but may have forgotten about.
• Leadership Insights: For Emerging Leaders And Those Investing In Them My friend Steve's book that addresses the spiritual formation, ministry formation, and strategic formation of a leader.
• Days, Times, Measures, and Moments My friend Michelle's prose and poetry.
• Just for you My friend Michelle's words of wisdom, encouragment, and enlightenment
• Dick B's AA history site Extensive information about the Christian and Biblical foundations of Alcoholics Anonymous. Incredible research.
• Bible gateway Look up any Bible passages or topics in 20 versions. Commentaries, dictionaries, and other study tools are also available.
• First Fruits of Zion Challenging the way most of us view the "old" testament, i.e., the Torah, and it's role in our life today.
• Send an email to someone anonymously http://cyberatlantis.com/anonymous_email.php
• http://www.users.bigpond.com/rdoolan/teendirectory.html list of web sites for teens.
• http://www.christianitytoday.com/fun/features/classic.html games from christianity today
• http://www.christianitytoday.com/music/ Christian Music Today
• http://www.christianitytoday.com/women site for Today's Christian Woman magazine.
• http://www.christianitytoday.com/teens Campus Life's "Ignite your faith" site for teens.
• http://www.christianitytoday.com/ christianity today's site with tons of stuff for men, women, and teens.
• Is there a deep dark secret that you need to confess? Do so anomonously on this christian web site. http://mysecret.tv/ You can also read what other people have confessed.
• What does the world think of the evangelical right? http://www.evangelicalright.com/
• Jim Bakker's son's non-traditional ministry in Atalanta www.vivalarevolution.org/
• What drives you nuts about issues of media and faith? http://www.philcooke.com/
• Think you've heard all the conspiracy theories about 9/11 yet? Guess again http://911essentials.com/
• Let's scrap the income tax and try something that makes a lot more sense. http://www.fairtax.org/index.htm
• Women and Submission. What does Paul really say? http://mywebpages.comcast.net/wolfpakron/WomenSub.html
• submission in an abusive marriage http://members.aol.com/Wings2Fly/submission.html
• A sensible look at what the Bible really says about divorce http://www.divorcehope.com/bibleteachingarchives.htm
• the most extensive free clip-art site i have found. One drawback. Once you get your list of search results you have to open each one individually. http://www.clipartheaven.com/
• dumb little man. tips that will save you money, increase your productivity, or simply keep you sane. http://dumblittleman.blogspot.com/
• Forbes "best of the web" http://www.forbes.com/bow/b2c/main.jhtml
• Gcast. Free audio web-hosting. http://www.gcast.com/
• generous orthodoxy. a blog by and for those who are variously called progressive evangelicals, postconservative evangelicals, post-evangelicals, younger evangelicals, liberal evangelicals, and/or left evangelicals. http://www.generousorthodoxy.net/thinktank/
• getting things done. popular personal productivity program by david allen. http://www.davidco.com/what_is_gtd.php
• the hipster pda. For those that want something simpler than an electronic personal organizer. http://www.43folders.com/2004/09/03/introducing-the-hipster-pda/
• my favorite radio shows
• Chick tracts Tracks by Jack Chick covering such topics as demons, the occult, Catholicism, hell, and the King James Version. Simplistic and sensationalistic, with hokey illustrations. If you haven't seen or read "This was your life" you've missed a classic!
• Jesus Camp A documentary about young children at a camp which teaches them how to "take the world for God."
• Family Radio A network of several hundred Christian radio stations led by "brother" Harold Camping. If you've never heard him take Bible questions from callers on his "Open Forum" show, you've missed an experience! Former engineers almost always come up with interesting theories and interpretations of scripture based on complicated corellations of minute data. His most recent ones have been a series of date setting for Christ's return, the most recent being 2011. Of more import, he has been preaching and teaching for several years that at this point in end times prophecy the "church age" has come to and end and the Holy Spirit has left the "local congregation" and does not use that as a vehicle to reach people anymore. Therefor, the "true believers" will leave their churches because they are now under the dominion of Satan. In fact, this is the test God is using to see who the "true believers" are... If you stay in your church, you're not! Ironically, he has started a "fellowship" where true believers can gather together for worship and prayer and teaching and preaching. Feels like a church to me.
• God hates fags You have to see it to believe it.
• A True Church Q: Are you the only true church/believers? A: We do not know. There was a church in Murfreesboro, TN, but that has since dissolved.
• The Family a great look at the inner workings and effects of a cult.
• Fandango Buy your movie tickets before you leave home and beat the rush
• rethink conference January 17-19, 2008 at the Crystal Cathedral. A unique meeting of people with global influence, cultural icons if you will, each sharing 20 minutes with the audience particular insights about the world, faith, issues, etc. George Bush Sr. will be presenting by sattelite. Other notables include John Townsend, George Barna, George Foreman, and even Kathy Ireland. Churches can simulcast the event. (Click here for more information.) I think the impact of hearing what all of these unique world-changers have to say simultaneously about our present-day situation has the opportunity to be very powerful and life-changing for all who attend.

Please let me know if any of the links don't work. I depend on you to help me make this an awesome blog to come back and visit! Thank you.

GAMES

• http://www.planetarcades.com/
• http://www.kongregate.com/featured_games
• http://www.lavasurfer.com/kevin-ng/games.html
• some of my favorite old games
• Coin Arcade Tons of free flash games.
• game of the day free flash games
• zeeks.com Games, videos, puzzles, etc.
• armor games Free online Flash games
• mo fun zone online and downloadable games
• Soup Toys Download the toybox, and then play with all kinds of cool toys on your desktop. Caution: Could wile away many hours that should be devoted to something else!
• skiing games from norway
• addicting games
• bushtarion online multi-player game
• orisinal i have no idea how to describe these out-of-the-ordinary games.
• sliding puzzle
• playtonium lotsa games
• mini-golf
• "Best of the Web" More game directories
• "Best of the Web" Game directories
• classic consoles tons of free online games and a bunch of other fun stuff.
• free online games Play free games online. Thousands of games to choose from. Racing games, shooting games, flying games, puzzle games, RPG games and many more!
• ivillage games
• millionaire Play "Who wants to be a millionaire" online
• shockwave Online and downloadable games. Some free and some for purchase.
• R-cade more games
• starsky and hutch pinball One of the best i could find for a vintage "real" pinball feel
• Yahoo! games Lots of games, mostly to play with others. Requires a Yahoo! ID. Some free, some pay. I like playing literati (scrabble) online with folks around the world.
• nintendo donkey kong, mario brothers, ms pac man, etc. (Click on “English Language Games” in the top left menu, under “VNES Categories.“)
• free online games Scroll down page to see complete list of games.
• download.com You can't play these games online, but there are a lot to download. Either free, or "free to try."
• jigzone Tons of jigsaw puzzles you can do online. And you can choose how many pieces it will be and their shape!

Please let me know if any of the links don't work, or take you to the wrong place. Thank you!

The original dollar menu

I was just listening to a McDonald's commercial on the radio touting all the things you could get for just $1 each.

If my memory serves me correctly, McDonald's advertising slogan in the 60's was "change back from your dollar." And they weren't talking about for a single item. That was for a complete meal... hamburger, fries, and drink. 89 cents. 99 cents if you got the cheeseburger.

I remember when they first started charging more than $1 for the "all american meal" and couldn't use those advertisements any more. What would their new claim to fame be? So many years later, the advent of the Dollar Menu, once paying a dollar for anything would seem cheap.

But that won't last long. Most fast food places are calling it "Value Menu" now so they can charge more that a dollar.

How long before the "Dollar Store" will have to go by the wayside because it will be impossible to sell anything for a dollar anymore? Lots of dollar stores now are called "Dollar General" or "1-2-3 stores" to justify the fact that most of the things in there are more than a dollar now.

room with a view

The last couple of weeks have been consumed with moving... Although it is only to the building next door, everything still had to be packed up, broken down, thrown away, carried down stairs, carried up stairs, unpacked, reassembled, cleaned, etc. etc. etc...

The new place still has stuff cluttered througout, but I am already reaping the rewards of the move. My last place looked over a parking lot. The video above will show you what my new view is from my bedroom/office window. mmmmmmm....

Which way did he go?

I hope you weren't listening with baited breath to president bush's speech on the "new direction" for iraq. I was.

As far as I can see we're going the exact same direction, we're just getting a bigger engine, a set of new tires, and an alignment. That does not constitute a new direction.

I'm not commenting at the moment on whether we should or should not have a new direction in Iraq. However, I think that W is losing credibility rapidly during this window of opportunity that the american people gave him to prove that he had heard what they said in November. Many thought that he was finally listening.

From his speech tonight, I can't see any way that he was affected by the public outcry on election day. The mass intervention failed.

what sports teams boost your ego?

Yay! We're great! Go Gators! We're better than everyone else... So there!

Now, the truth is... I never watched a Gator game in my life. I couldn't tell you the name of the quarterback or the coach. I've never even been to Gainesville.

However, I live in "Gator Nation," and I'm excited, and I feel a sense of pride, and I'm going to celebrate. It boosts my self-esteem, my pride, my ego.

But I have a lot to make up for anyway.

I grew up in Syracuse, NY, and the Orangemen were OK, but we didn't hold out much hope of winning a championship. The basketball team had a knack for leading in points most of the game and then blowing it in the last few minutes.

I then went to Houghton College. They had a great soccer team. But who cares.

I went to Bethany Bible college. Sports? What's that?

I went to Gordon-Conwell Seminary. I heard a rumor that there were sports leagues available, but never knew anyone who was in one, and never heard about a game.

Then I moved to Boston.

The Patriots were an OK team, but not championship status. We had been to the Super Bowl twice in 30 years, and lost both times. And then Coach Parcells abandoned us, and our star quarterback, Bledsoe, got injured.

The Red Sox were great entertainment, but could never go all the way. Usually stopped by the Yankees. And we had the dreaded "curse" put on us by Babe Ruth.

So, I kinda got used to being a "loser." I would see cities celebrate on TV and realized that I would never be a part of that. It must be something about me.

When did the tides of fortune turn for me?

• Well, in February 2002 The Patriots surprised everyone by winning Super Bowl 36, with rookie Tom Brady as quarterback. Must be a fluke. And it will probably be my one life-time experience of the thrill of victory.
• Then in April 2003, Jim Boehoem led the Syracuse Orangemen to defeat the University of Kansas in the NCAA basketball championship. Did lightning strike me twice??
• In February 2004 Tom Brady and The Patriots did it again, beating the Carolina Panthers to win Super Bowl 38. Later in 2004 they completed a record-smashing 21-game winning streak. Maybe not a fluke after all.
• In October 2004 The Red Sox "reversed the curse" by beating the Saint Louis Cardinals to win the World Series. Unbelievable... And the way they did it was history-making. In the American League championship they were up against their nemesis, the NY Yankees. After losing the first 3 games and being behind in the 9th inning of the 4th. They ended up winning the 4th. And the 5th. And the 6th. And the 7th! Sweet.
• In February 2005 the Patriots decided to win a 3rd Super Bowl against the Indian Colts in my new home town, Jacksonville, FL. Maybe there is something about me after all?
• And then comes the Gators! In 2006 they win the ncaa championship for basketaball AND football. Never been done before.
• In 2007 the Gators win the football championship again! Never been done before.
• The Red Sox proved that "reversing the curse" was not just a fluke by winning the World Series again in October of 2007, 3 years after the first time!

I am taking personal credit for all these wins. Aren't I something??

I must confess it is getting kind of routine. Who's next? The Jacksonville Jaguars? Even after all the aforementioned positive experiences, I'm not getting my hopes up!

what are your spiritual gifts?

Here's a cool online test you can take to get some feedback about your spiritual gifts. It's 110 questions and will take you 10 or 15 minutes.

Why don't you post here what your top 3 results are? Mine are Wisdom, Knowledge, and Administration.

Here's the link. http://www.kodachrome.org/spiritgift/

First Quarter Goals

I need your help.

I'd like to make progress in a number of areas in my life, and have some goals in mind for each of the following categories...

• weight (Taken)
• personal finance tracking (Taken)
• cash flow
• getting an "agent" for my career
• life purpose
• ideas of new things to do or try at work (Taken)
• personal time/task management (efficiency and productivity)
• this blog
• dating (Taken)
• 2006 taxes (Taken)
• boundaries
• connection with people (Taken)
• moving, and arranging new home, and conducting open house
• relationship with God (Taken)
• spiritual connection with my kids
• being good to myself (Taken)
• my son

Here's what I need. I need you to pick one of these categories to help me with.

Don't be scared! The main thing I am asking you to do is to email me once a week to ask me how it's going and what my plans are for the coming week. That's it!

You are probably going to get more out of it if you pick a category that you have some interest in, but it's your choice.

Which category would you like to be my accountability buddy for? Choose quickly. They're going fast! lol

Once you choose, email me at dougdoan@yahoo.com, and I'll get back to you with what some of my goals are in that category, and tell you how to start.

This is a commitment for only the first quarter of this year, so you're done at the end of March. Give it a try! Remember, you don't have to be an expert, and the results are not up to you. What I need most is the weekly reminder. It would really mean a lot to me...

Thanks!

New Year's Resolutions

The last few years I have written up "goals" for the coming year. But not so much resolutions. Not sure why. Maybe because I know that my "resolution" lasts about 2 weeks. Wheras, if it's a goal, it's something I can "work on." Resolution implies "will power" to me, and I know I don't have a lot.

My two girls are swearing off "chips" this year, "unless they're tortilla chips."

Do you still do resolutions? Do you find they work for you? How long do they last? What were your resolutions for this this year?

President Gerald Ford

Gerald Ford became president in 1974 when I was 14. Honestly, I don't remember much about him from that time. I mean, now I can recite several pieces of his bio and family... but to think of something I remember about him during that 1974-1977 period, I'm having a tough time.

What are your memories of Gerald Ford as president?

what words or phrases bug you?

Lake Superior State University publishes an annual list of words or phrases they think should be banned, because of overuse or stupidity! Here's their list. http://www.lssu.edu/banished/current.php

What words or phrases are you sick of?