Andrew Dodson's Blog

Moving to WordPress?

2005-02-21T18:54:00.000-05:00

I've downloaded & installed WordPress 1.5 on my website. I've also imported all of my Blogger posts to the new WordPress system. I'm still debating on whether or not to move permanently to the new blog on my website. Hmm...

Go visit the new blog:
> http://www.brianandrewdodson.com/blog/

Downtown Photo Gallery

2005-02-21T11:37:00.000-05:00

As promised, follow the link below to view some of my nighttime photos of downtown Frankfort:

>View Gallery

Weekend Update

2005-02-20T22:26:00.000-05:00

I've been having blogging withdrawal. I haven't had a chance to get on here in the past couple of days. Here's the run-down:

Friday: I planned on going to the gym after work. That didn't happen. As soon as I got home, exhaustion hit me. It had been a fairly busy week, and it finally caught up with me. I fell asleep for about an hour. By that time, I needed to make a quick run home, then back to church for a Vertex meeting. The Vertex meeting lasted until 10 p.m..

Saturday: After an early-morning dress rehearsal in Lexington, I spent the afternoon milling about in Lexington. It's been a long, long while since I've been able to hang out in Lexington. I made stops at Carl's Music, CD Warehouse, Circuit City & Meijer. I netted a nice new hands-free ear piece for my cell phone (finally one that doesn't fall off my ear!).

Saturday night: A group from church went over to Justin's for his birthday party. Justin - our resident board & card game buff - broke out several obscure games for us to play, and I think everyone had a really good time. Oh yeah - we also ordered pizza and watched Napoleon Dynamite. Wow - what a stupidly funny movie (you must see it!).

Sunday: Church this morning was great. The praise band set went fairly well, and Rick's message was good. I skipped out on Sunday School due to having to be in Lexington early this afternoon. The Lexington Brass Band performed our third concert of the season. It was a good concert, but fairly boring for the percussion. It seems the French have some sort of bias against percussion parts in their music.

Sunday night: I just had a mixing session with Quincy of IN3 Entertainment. We also discussed the website, which I will be working on at some point this week.

Off to bed!

Minister of Breakfast

2005-02-16T23:50:00.000-05:00

I'd like to take this opportunity to publically (I use the word loosely - "public" being the 4 or 5 people that actual read this thing) thank Mr. Mike Barnes. At the same time, I'd like to designate him Minister of Breakfast.

Very faithfully, Mike makes a stop at Dixie Cream on Sunday mornings and provides doughnuts to the Transitions class. He's a hero to those of us who miss out on breakfast before coming to church.

To my surprise, Mike showed up at CLS this morning. In tow was a bag of cinnamon rolls and a bag of breakfast burritos from McDonald's.

Thanks Mike!

Shut Up and Love

2005-02-16T23:31:00.000-05:00

Rick Long says:

I think we Christians need to be promoting what we are for. The world knows what we are against. Actually, the world thinks we are against pretty much everything outside of baptism and designated offerings. I am sick of hearing the self-rightous and pious point out the filth, and much of it is indeed filth, while leaving the love of Jesus out of the equation.

I couldn't agree more. Specially, this whole "traditional marriage" debate. Do Christians realize that our aggressive support for one man/one woman is being viewed as hatred toward homosexuals?

Shouldn't we instead focus on reaching out to homosexuals? Instead of trying to interfere with how they live their life, we need to show them God's love. We need to support and encourage anyone who may be struggling with this issue. Help is available.

http://www.exodus-international.org/default.asp
http://www.peoplecanchange.com/
http://www.becomingreal.org/

.

I Use My Cam-er-a At Night

2005-02-15T23:22:00.000-05:00

Ok, so the title is a really bad reference to the 80's song "I Wear My Sunglasses At Night." Isn't that Corey Hart or something like that?

(as I'm typing this, the UK-South Carolina game has just ended. Ugh.)

ANYWAY...

I've finally learned how to use my camera at night. Needless to say, my camera's value or worth just increased. I went on a tour of downtown Frankfort tonight, taking pictures of some of the "landmarks." I'm going to set up an actual photo gallery on my website, but for now, I'll show one of my favorites from tonight:

(un-Photoshoped picture of the new Transportation building)

Dave Matthews & Christianity

2005-02-14T11:39:00.000-05:00

I thought this was an interesting read:

Matthews' spiritual searching apparently became a little more focused after the album's recording. A fall 2003 episode of VH-1's Top Twenty Video Countdown replayed footage of the artist on location while filming the video for "Gravedigger" at a church. It so happened that a youth retreat was being held there during the shoot. The kids, obviously thrilled to meet the superstar, excitedly asked him if he had gone through any recent faith changes. Matthews affirmed that he had been through "a lot of faith changes," but also added that he had been "washed by the blood of the lamb—that's where it starts." When asked if he would pray with them, he declined saying that he preferred private prayer to community prayer, but then encouraged them to pray for him on their own. We shall indeed, as Dave Matthews continues to wrestle with the greater questions of life.

Here's the full article.

IN3 Entertainment

2005-02-12T16:39:00.000-05:00

I've struck up a relationship with Quincy Thurman of IN3 Entertainment. I'll be helping him out as a recording engineer and webmaster.

I spent a few hours last night and an hour today recording at the Holiday Inn here in Frankfort. An artist that IN3 is looking to promote came down to record vocals on a couple of songs. It was my first experience recording R&B, but I had a good time, and everything went well. Quincy and me will sit down at some point this week to mix and master the recordings.

I've registered www.in3entertainment.com, and I'll begin working on the design sometime this week. It's looking like 2005 is going to be a good year for my business.

Vertex Site Coming Along

2005-02-11T00:07:00.000-05:00

The real Vertex site is coming right along. The lead team settled on a color scheme at our meeting tonight. I've spent the past two hours inputting content. I still have more content to add, and pictures as well. There is a very real chance the site will be up-and-running by late this weekend. That's the plan, at least.

New Blog Colors

2005-02-09T22:18:00.000-05:00

What do you think of the new blog colors?

No Snow?

2005-02-09T22:12:00.000-05:00

As my 25th birthday approaches, I'm a little disappointed in the weather forecast. Yes - it will be cold (the usual on my birthday). However, it looks like there will not be snow on the ground this February 11th. I've never kept a record or anything, but it seems like it snows every year on my birthday.

WeatherBug is forecasting a 40% chance of snow on Thursday, but they're not even going as far as listing an accumulation amount. Friday's forecast? Sunny and 42 degrees.

Oh well, maybe next year.

Georgia schools say Apple's peachy

2005-02-09T20:40:00.000-05:00

I'd be in full support if Franklin County's public school system wanted to go this route.

Bill's Blog

2005-02-06T11:22:00.000-05:00

WLEX meteorologist Bill Meck has a blog. It's actually a bit more infomative than his forecasts on the news broadcast.

I've sort of taken a very slight interest in the weather and what creates our weather. After all, being in Kentucky, we get some crazy weather (go outside and get a feel of the upper-50's February temps right now). Now, I have another source of education.

Another Crestwood Blogger

2005-02-03T13:05:00.000-05:00

Go check out Justin Evilsizor's blog. It has a few pictures from our class's recent trip to Gatlinburg.

Financial Peace

2005-02-03T13:00:00.000-05:00

I started Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University at Crestwood last night. Tim & Cari Chase are the facilitators, and there's a fairly good crowd taking the class. I received my kit last night which included Ramsey's book, a workbook, audio CDs of each week's session, budget forms, and more. It already inspired me to cut up my Chase, Best Buy, Musician's Friend, Gateway, and CompUSA credit cards. I'm pretty excited about what I'll learn over the next thirteen weeks.

Think Big

2005-02-03T11:27:00.000-05:00

I'm currently involved in the process of creating two new websites - one for CLS and one for Vertex. For the CLS website, I'm working with a graphic artist that helps out at CLS from time-to-time. She is extremely talented and someone from which I can learn a lot. Most importantly, she's inspired me to think bigger when creating a new site.

The "old me" would create sites based on what I already knew, or had figured out, about a program. The "new me" digs a little deeper into the program to find out what else I can do (drop-down menus, using templates and components, etc.). I'm reading the help sections more often and looking online to find out more about HTML/DHTML code and all that jazz.

Productive Evening

2005-02-01T01:23:00.000-05:00

I had a fairly productive night...

1. Rearranged my apartment. I'm not entirely sure that I like the new layout, but it might grow on me. It at least gave me a chance to clean and get some things organized. If anything, it looks a little more neat and clean.

2. Updated a couple of clients' websites.

3. Went to the gym and burned off 400 calories (estimate).

4. Fixed my camcorder. As it turns out, the playback was messed up because I'd recorded things in both SP (short play) and LP (long play) modes. I rewinded the tape and recorded over the first 45 minutes of the tape in LP mode. Everything seems to be fine now.

Home Safely

2005-01-29T23:32:00.000-05:00

We made it home safely (thanks to Rick and Jeremy's good driving).

The crowd that didn't go skiing today went shopping in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. This was my purchase for the day:

The little numbers on the face aren't there all the time. You can choose several different settings, but they all have "Matrix" effect. I've never owned a watch this nice (or this funky) before. It has an 11-year warranty, so I'm not worried about breaking it. I'm worried about losing it...

Hello from Gatlinburg

2005-01-29T08:50:00.000-05:00

How about this? Our hotel has a wireless network installed.

Our plans for today: some people are going skiing, some people are just hanging out in Gatlinburg today. I'll be a part of the "hanging out" crowd. We'll grab dinner at some point tonight and head back home. See you in Frankfort!

Creative Shuffle

2005-01-27T23:01:00.000-05:00

Ok, I admit it. I'm addicted to the MP3 player shuffle craze. "Shuffling" (as it sounds) is when your MP3 player randomly cycles through a selected playlist, or your entire collection.

A couple of weeks ago, I created a "CLS" playlist on my Creative Zen. It's named "CLS" because it includes music that I've deemed "work safe." Don't get me wrong - it's not like I listen to inappropriate music. However, some of my musical tastes can be classified as "weird" by a great majority.

In response, I created the CLS playlist that includes more of the upbeat, enjoyable portion of my music collection. I think it's worked great so far. I've noticed several customers humming along to a recognizable tune, or even commenting on the music in the past couple of weeks. Not only that, but I've enjoyed it more than I thought I would. It's like having your own personal radio station that plays nothing but music you enjoy.

This has led to spending more time "MP3-ing" some of the more popular music in my CD collection. Tonight, I dug up a collection of CDs from my days at Georgetown College. They are CDs I put together during the Napster craze. The days when a college student's daily routine included at least two hours of browsing Napster and illegally downloading all of their favorite songs (I'm not joking about this - it was nuts). This led to the buying of my first CD burner. I went through a spindle of 50 CDs the first month I owned the burner. But, I digress....

Artists that are back in the rotation include Nine Days, Default, Evan & Jaron, Fastball, Shawn Mullins, Duncan Sheik, Silverchair, the Matthew Good Band, Jimmy Eat World and more.

Audiobloggin'

2005-01-26T22:19:00.000-05:00

I'll be heading down to Gatlinburg this weekend. Be on the lookout for audio posts from my cell phone.

I'm Like Superman

2005-01-26T01:17:00.000-05:00

From the August 15th entry of Oswald Chambers's My Utmost For His Highest:

To be born of God means that I have His supernatural power to stop sinning.

The challenge: put to use my supernatural powers.

Well I'll Be...Part 2

2005-01-23T23:04:00.000-05:00

I traveled to Lexington this afternoon and my Creative Zen Xtra is back in my possession. This is a good thing.

I stumbled across a "hack" driver for my Creative MP3 players that will make them work on my Mac. I've given the driver a try, and it seems to work like a charm. I'm able to transfer files between my MP3 players and Mac with no problems. I might be selling my PC after all...

Well I'll Be...

2005-01-22T23:16:00.000-05:00

I've given up on trying to make the iPod work. It's too much of a hassle. I'm meeting up with the original owner sometime tomorrow to get my Creative Zen back.

In a strange twist...

I plugged my Creative MuVoTX FM (my 256MB MP3 player - what I take to the gym with me) into my iBook tonight. I was just taking a stab in the dark, not expecting the iBook to recognize it. To my surprise, it mounted in OSX as an external drive. Fully readable and writeable. How about that?

A Day in the Life of Me

2005-01-20T20:14:00.000-05:00

I kind of thought this would be a neat idea. Here's the rules: I'm going to post my regular, daily routine. After you've read about a typical day in my world, post a comment with your daily routine.

7:00am - wake-up, shower and eat breakfast
8:00am - arrive at CLS, begin daily meeting
8:30-11:30ish - sit in front of an Apple iMac G4 creating art work for t-shirts in Adobe Illustrator CS. Answer phone calls, wait on customers, and write-up new orders in File Maker Pro 6.
11:30ish-12:00ish - lunch
12:30ish-5:00 - create more art work, answer more phone calls, wait on more customers
5:00 - leave work
5:15ish-6:00 - normally spent eating dinner and watching The Simpsons on Fox 56.
6:00-8:30ish - boot up one or both of my computers and begin working on websites, recordings, checking email, or surfing the web. I normally have iTunes playing through my MP3 collection or I've got the TV on in the background watching Seinfeld, Friends, evening news, etc.
8:30ish-9:30ish - my usual gym time, if I happen to feel like going.
9:30ish-11:00 - resume computer activities, practice drums, make phone calls, play PlayStation

in a perfect world.....

11:00 - get ready for bed, read my Bible, etc.

what usually happens....

somehow, I 'lose track of time' and before I know it, it's 12:30 or 1:00am and I've stayed up way too late...again.

anywhere between 11:00 and 1:00 - go to bed

iPod...Not...Working

2005-01-20T20:10:00.000-05:00

Hmm... it turns out, I'm having the same problems with the iPod as the person I got it from. It lets me load around 300 songs and then freezes. It won't let me add any more. Supposedly, this is an extremely regular problem with iPods. I'm quite surprised that Apple has yet to release a "fix" to take care of this problem. I'm going to fiddle around with it for a few more days. If I'm still not having any luck by the weekend, I'm meeting up with the former owner and getting my Creative Zen Xtra back. Anyone out there know how to fix this?

I Think This All-Mac Thing Is Going To Happen

2005-01-17T21:28:00.000-05:00

2 down, 1 to go.....maybe.

While searching for iPods on eBay tonight, I came across one being sold in Lexington. It's a 3rd generation 20GB. As it turns out, he's a PC-user who can't get the iPod to work on his computer. I emailed him offering a trade - my PC-friendly MP3 player for his Mac-friendly iPod. The result? He ended the auction on the iPod, emailed me back and let me know he's interested. I've emailed him back. If all goes to plan, I'll own an iPod in the very near future.

I Like These Shoes

2005-01-17T20:59:00.000-05:00

More Heat

2005-01-17T01:38:00.000-05:00

This is the newest addition to my apartment - a Lasko space heater. Whenever the temperature drops below 30 degrees outside, my apartment has a hard time staying above 65 degrees. Currently, it's making about a 5 degree difference, as my thermostat is reading around 70 degrees.

Why I Can't Go All-Mac Part 2

2005-01-16T14:12:00.000-05:00

Posted by Andrew Dodson @ 2:18 AM on Saturday, January 15, 2005:

3. Cool Edit Pro - this is what I use for mastering my recordings. I've yet to find a Mac-compatible program that has the same features at CEP. I know a lot of the ins and outs of CEP, so I'm hesitant to learn a new program, and risk sacrificing the quality of my recordings.

I found an mda Dynamics plugin in Tracktion that works great for mastering. I'm convinced that Tracktion is the best bang-for-your-buck recording program out there.

If I can find a Mac-compatible replacement for my Creative Nomad Jukebox 3, I'll be selling my Profile 4 for a Mac mini.

Website Updates

2005-01-15T13:29:00.000-05:00

Aside from watching the Cats vs. Georgia, I'm spending the afternoon updating all of my sites. I'm taking care of updating links, adding new dates to calendars, updating photo galleries - taking care of the small updates that I normally don't have the time to update, keeping my sites fresh. Thank God for Saturdays.

Why I Can't Go All-Mac

2005-01-15T02:18:00.000-05:00

Here's what's preventing me from selling my Gateway Profile 4 for a Mac mini:

1. Creative Zen Xtra 40GB MP3 player - this is my MP3 player. It's not compatible with Mac

2. Creative Nomad Jukebox 3 - technically, it's another MP3 player. However, I use it for a hard disc recorder. It's great for stereo recordings, and because of the FireWire output, the recordings can be transferred to my PC in about five minutes or less. Once again - it's not Mac-compatible.

3. Cool Edit Pro - this is what I use for mastering my recordings. I've yet to find a Mac-compatible program that has the same features at CEP. I know a lot of the ins and outs of CEP, so I'm hesitant to learn a new program, and risk sacrificing the quality of my recordings. see this post

There you have it. Until I have the money to replace these items with suitable Mac-compatible replacements, I need to keep my PC.

Vertex

2005-01-12T23:18:00.000-05:00

Tonight, I've been working on logo and website ideas for Vertex - a new bible study starting at Crestwood next month. I'm being a bit anal about this logo. To date, I've spent a minimum of three hours tossing around ideas, coming up with at least 20 ideas. The potential for this bible study is huge, so I'm wanting to make everything I'm in charge of (band, graphic design, website) to be perfect. In fact, the entire lead team is nothing but perfectionists. I think you have to be a perfectionist when you're doing God's work. What do you think?

Amazing

2005-01-11T23:08:00.000-05:00

Apple held their annual MacWorld Expo today, unveiling their new products for 2005. Wow. How about a new 6.5"x6.5"x2" Mac mini desktop for $599? They're targeting PC users, and I predict it will be an extremely successful move. I have a very good feeling that my next desktop will be a Mac mini.

They also released 512MB and 1GHz models of the iPod for $99 and $149 (a steal), a new office software (iWork), and announced updates to their iLife series for '05.

I'm very surprised at the pricing for the Mac mini and the new iPods. Over the years, Apple has traditionally been a bit more pricey than other computer-makers. However, in the last few years, in order to gain more of an edge on the market, they've slowly dropped their prices on new products. If you've never used a Mac, and are considering buying a new computer, I highly suggest looking at a Mac.

Anti-Sleeping Pill?

2005-01-11T23:03:00.000-05:00

This week is one of those weeks. Too much to do, and not enough time to do it. It's not a stressful week, but I have a pretty full slate. I might try and see if I can leave work early the next few days. A couple of hours here-and-there would really help.

It's times like these that I wish someone would develop an anti-sleeping pill. A pill that would make you feel like you've slept for 6-8 hours, and have the same affect on your body as actual sleep. Man - I'd be the first in line for some of those...

Think Again

2005-01-11T22:59:00.000-05:00

Just when I thought my cold was gone - think again! I felt great most of Sunday and yesterday. I thought I was out of the woods. Nope. Today, I awoke to a very congested head. I feel fine, but there's a lot of junk in my head and chest. The saga continues...

More Domains

2005-01-09T19:57:00.000-05:00

I'm considering purchasing another domain name or two for my site. Currently, "andrewdodson.com" is available. I can buy it through GoDaddy.com for $7.95 per year. I'd really like to buy "bad.com," but it won't expire from it's current owner until November 19, 2007. I was actually surprised to not be directed to a porn site when I entered that into my browser's address bar.

Small Changes = Big Results

2005-01-09T14:57:00.000-05:00

I always make sure to pick up a copy of Christian Single from my Sunday School class every month. Why? Well, I'm a Christian, and I'm single. It makes a whole lot of sense when you think about it.

There's a really good excerpt from John Trent's HeartShift this month. The title is "Small Changes = Big Results." While on a flight, Dr. Trent struck up a conversation with his neighbor, a NASA engineer. When asking about tolerances for flight path trajectories for space shuttles, the engineer replied:

'Be just two degrees off from when you blast off and roughly taking into account the time and distance traveled,' he said as he turned his calculator toward me, 'and you'll miss not only your point of orbital entry, but you'll miss the moon by a measly 11,121 miles.'

I learned this concept as a pitcher when I played baseball. If I made a slight change with the path of my arm, or the point that I released the ball - if even an inch - it could make difference of 12 inches by the time the ball crossed home plate.

The point of all of this?

It's the small changes, day-by-day, in our lives than can lead to big results in the future. If there is an area or areas in your life that you're wanting to make a change, take small steps toward change and you'll notice big results over a long period of time. At the same time, if you start to make bad decisions today, it could lead to extreme problems in the future. Find the areas in your life that you're wanting to change and apply this concept.

More Than a Drummer

2005-01-08T18:25:00.000-05:00

I've experienced a renewed desire to start playing keyboard again. I came across The Easiest Book of Piano Classics in Sam Goody, and couldn't pass it up. I went home, picked up my keyboard and brought it to the apartment. Aside from percussion music, I haven't read sheet music in a long time, but I'm picking everything up quicker than I expected.

Lazy Day

2005-01-08T18:22:00.000-05:00

I'm enjoying a lazy Saturday. I was up at 7am for praise band rehearsal, went the bank after that, and I've been home ever since. Throw in a 3-hour nap somewhere, and that's been my day so far. The cold is still present, but it's nothing major. It'll probably hang around for a couple more days and then I'll be back-to-normal.

Winning the Battle

2005-01-07T22:14:00.000-05:00

So far, I'm winning the battle against my cold. Last night, my "hangie ball" (what's the proper name for that thing?) was about the size of a cucumber - irritation from postnasal drip. At one point last night, I woke up from how sore my throat had become. I experience a slight headache this afternoon at work, but nothing that ibuprofin couldn't handle.

I purchased a nasal spray, I've been drinking plenty of fluids (lots of water & OJ), and tonight, I had a tall mocha at Starbucks (warm drinks are good for a sore throat). The "hangie ball" is back to a semi-normal size. I started to feel very stuffy this evening. Another shot of the nasal spray, and I'm currently feeling great.

I can still tell that I have a cold, but I feel noticeably better than last night. The plan is to get plenty of rest tonight, and I should feel great by the morning.

One Down, Several To Go

2005-01-07T01:02:00.000-05:00

In case you're keeping score at home (see my To Do List: 2005), I just thought I'd fill you in...

Tonight, I paid off my CompUSA credit card. I still have a long way to go before I'll be credit debt-free by 2006, but it's a start.

Postnasal Drip

2005-01-06T18:04:00.000-05:00

From the category of "Things You Probably Don't Want to Know," comes this: I'm experiencing postnasal drip. It's that really annoying tingle in the back of your throat caused from sinus drainage. For me, it usually leads to a semi-sore throat, moves down into my chest, and from there, I start coughing.

I'm trying to win the battle before the war starts. I found this article useful. We'll see.

Berklee Uses Apple

2005-01-06T13:44:00.000-05:00

Apple's website has a great article on the use of Powerbooks at Berklee College of Music.

About Time

2005-01-05T11:43:00.000-05:00

I did not see it, but I've read that Ashlee Simpson was booed after her performance at last night's Orange Bowl halftime show. I DID see her perform on Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve, and I was not in the least bit impressed.

Do I feel bad for Ashlee? Yes. It has to be a horrible feeling. But, the ONLY reason she is semi-famous, and the ONLY reason she has been signed to a record deal is because of her older and more-talented sister, Jessica Simpson. Do I like Jessica's music? Not really - but at least she is a very talented singer. It's not entirely Ashlee's fault that she was booed. It's the not-so-smart executives at her record label that decided she'd be a good person to sign to a record deal.

I'm proud of last night's Orange Bowl audience for booing. I'm proud that they took a stand and said, "that was awful music." The biggest problem with the music industry today is they push young bands and artists that bring little or no talent and unoriginality to our ears. It's about time that our culture realized that most of the "popular" music the industry is pushing is horribly bad. Mediocre at best! As a musician, it gives me a hope that the music industry will do away with these manufactured acts and bring back the days when you needed talent to be signed to a record deal. Not because you're attractive, not because you sound just like 50 other bands that are being played on the radio, and especially not because you're the sister of a famous singer.

Audioblogger

2005-01-05T01:48:00.000-05:00

How about this? I can update my blog from my cell phone. I'm not sure if it plays the way I'm hearing it on my computer or not, but I sound like a robot at the beginning of the message. As it plays, my real voice gradually appears by the end of the message. Let me know if you're experiencing the same thing. It's in a small MP3 format that should play on most everyone's computers - fast connections and slow. Take care!

EDIT: It seems as though iTunes plays the MP3 message fine, but Windows Media Player makes me sound like a robot. Leave it up to an Apple program to get it right and a Microsoft program to mess it up!

Crestwood MP3s

2005-01-04T19:24:00.000-05:00

Go here to listen to MP3s of this past week's Awakening Service at Crestwood Baptist Church.

Be Patient...

2005-01-03T23:03:00.000-05:00

If by chance you're trying to access my site, be patient. Since I'm moving to a new vDeck server through iPowerweb, they had to delete everything from where my site originally resided (is that a word?). I'm currently uploading everything to the new location on the new server. Everything should be back to normal by the morning.

(You'll also notice all pictures in this blog don't appear right now - they are linked from my website to this blog)

New DMB Album Site

2005-01-03T22:43:00.000-05:00

Oh... in case I forgot to mention it already, the Dave Matthews Band is my favorite band. You can expect to see a decent amount of posts regarding DMB.

Now that we have that out of the way...

The Dave Matthews Band is currently in their newly-built studio recording tracks for their new album. A few months back, it was learned that the band's management would create a new website for the album to be launched shortly after the New Year. Today, the new album site was launched. There is currently a video available, and a short news clip announcing Mark Batson (Eminem, Maroon 5, 50 Cent, Seal & more) as the producer. I'm intrigued....

iPowerweb

2005-01-02T23:18:00.000-05:00

I really, really like my web hosting company - iPowerweb. I'm currently running my site and the Lexington Brass Band's site through them. I've just completed a new project for Distinct Impressions Pageant Consulting, which will also use iPowerweb for hosting.

They're constantly adding new features. I learned tonight that they are offering blog services via B2. Also, they're now offering photo galleries (which are much better than the FrontPage templates that I use for my sites). Other features include message boards, chat rooms, email, etc. If anyone is looking for web hosting, I highly recommend them (they offer free transfers, as well, in case you're tired of your current hosting company).

1/3/05 Edit:I've moved everything from my site to a vDeck server. Lots of new features for my site. As my good Mexican friend Alejandro (Alex to his American friends) would say, "Excellente."

Crestwood Bloggers

2005-01-02T21:34:00.000-05:00

The great Rick Long and Mike Barnes have jumped onto the Blog Bandwagon. I'm looking forward to reading what they have to say!

Stephanie Champion also has a blog. She is documenting her experience with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. I would like to ask that everyone pray for Stephanie and her husband Phil (youth minister at Crestwood) while they deal with this issue.

Recording Talk: MOTU 896

2005-01-02T14:22:00.000-05:00

Meet my newest toy - the MOTU 896. I'm currently trying to sell my Echo Layla 24/96 and Mackie 1402 VLZ-Pro to help pay for the MOTU. I'm mainly using it to multitrack record Crestwood Baptist Church services on Sunday mornings, but I'm also looking for other recording jobs to put it use. So far, it's worked out great. I'll post links to this morning's service MP3s later on.

Getting Back in the Routine

2005-01-02T14:09:00.000-05:00

I've named today "Getting Back In the Routine Day." Being off work since December 23rd, Christmas & New Year's have knocked me out of my normal routine. Not to mention, my sleep habits have been affected. I've fallen into my usual staying-up-too-late pattern.

However, it all goes back to normal today. I had church this morning, came home and worked on the recording of the service, had lunch, etc. Tomorrow, I'll wake up at 7 a.m. and go back to work. It's been a very good break, and I feel ready to get back into the swing of things again.

News About Bloggers

2005-01-01T03:11:00.000-05:00

ABC News has named bloggers as their "People of the Year."

Time has another article about the popularity of blogs in 2004.

Recording Talk - Tracktion 2

2005-01-01T02:54:00.000-05:00

I use Tracktion as my recording software. It's a bare-bones, no-nonsense program that I've grown to love. It works great on both Mac and PC, which comes in handy for me. Most of my recording is done in the field on my iBook. It then gets transferred - via FireWire onto my Lacie 160GB external drive - to my Gateway Profile 4 (Gizmo) for editing and mastering (mastering done in Cool Edit Pro). It's great because I can use the same program on both machines.

Mackie is currently documenting the updates for the impending release of Tracktion 2. I'm interested to see how they improve an already solid program.

Happy New Year

2005-01-01T01:24:00.000-05:00

Obligatory Happy New Year post.

Yep...another year. I gotta say... aside from the previously mentioned goals, I'm trying to keep my expectations low for this year.

I'll be sending out an email soon to invite my friends and family to start their own blogs for 2005. I think it's a great way to stay updated and keep in touch with people.

To Do List: 2005

2004-12-31T17:18:00.000-05:00

I don't really like using the phrase "New Year's Resolutions," but here's a list of things I'd like to accomplish in 2005 (in no particular order):

1. Continue to grow as a Christian.
2. Continue to improve my health & fitness.
3. Pay off all credit cards. (~~CompUSA~~)
4. Spend money wisely.
5. Act upon the opportunity to get raises at work.
6. Keep in better touch with family & friends.
7. Obtain more recording/web design opportunities.

We'll look back on this list on December 31, 2005 and evaluate my success.

Less of Me

2004-12-31T13:31:00.000-05:00

What a difference a year makes. Losing weight wasn't necessarily a "New Year's Resolution" of mine for 2004, but I started going to the gym shortly after the New Year. I didn't change my diet too much, although I did cut out snacks and started drinking more water.

The result? During the course of this year, I've lost approximately 20-25lbs. I'm about 1/8th the Andrew that I used to be.

My goal weight has been 170lbs all along. That's my "ideal" Body Mass Index weight. Lately, I've been hovering around 176lbs, so I don't have far to go.

WordPress

2004-12-30T18:25:00.000-05:00

I'm somewhat hooked on this idea of having my own blog. It's much easier to update than my normal website. I've been studying a little bit more about it and decided to download WordPress today. It's a free blogging program that you can setup on your own website. It is extremely easy to install and has a lot of great features. There are a ton of templates available, as well, to customize the look of your blog. I imagine that at some point, I'll move this blog over to a WordPress blog on my own site. For now, I'll stay here though.

Sunday School Christmas Party

2004-12-30T13:17:00.000-05:00

Group shot

Kylie enjoying her dinner

Hangin' out

Chuck working on his fifth plate of the night

Puppies & Babies

2004-12-29T23:49:00.000-05:00

Bailey riding along in the back window of the car.

My 2nd cousin Lauren enjoying Christmas '04.

Change is good?

2004-12-29T22:30:00.000-05:00

Most people know that I bought an Apple iBook a few months back. Well... I continue to shift further away from Windows-based platforms & programs. Tonight, I downloaded Firefox - Mozilla's replacement for Internet Explorer, and Thunderbird - their replacement for Outlook. It's kind of like comparing apples to oranges at this point, but there's a lot of people that are making the switch. I haven't experienced any problems thus far, so I imagine I'll stick with the Mozilla products.

Oh...and for the record, the iBook rocks.

Internet....Down

2004-12-29T17:28:00.000-05:00

My cable modem service has been up and down (mostly down) for the past 48 hours. It's been quite frustrating. I called FPB this afternoon, and - get this - had to leave a message. What?! You're telling me they were too busy to answer my phone call? It's not like I was calling America Online. Anyway, I guess they checked my message and did something because I'm back online now. Thanks FPB.

I went out this evening and bought a bookshelf for my apartment. Finally. I went the el cheapo route and found one for $25 at Big Lots. Eh, it'll do the job.

Tuesday's Agenda

2004-12-28T10:37:00.000-05:00

Day #2 of my week off work. I'm planning on going home this morning to do laundry. This evening, I have praise band rehearsal. Other than that, I'll be working on websites and relaxing.

Even Paul Struggled

2004-12-28T10:33:00.000-05:00

You know... it's good to know that (aside from Jesus), one of the greatest people to ever walk the Earth struggled with sin. In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul explains the thorn in his flesh:

"To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." (2 Cor. 12:7-9, NIV)

Back from Lexington

2004-12-27T19:20:00.000-05:00

Not a bad day in Lexington. It was pretty crowded everywhere I went, but nothing too bad. From Old Navy, I ended up with a couple of long-sleeve T's and a pair of jeans. A trip to Best Buy resulted in three CDs - Blue Train by John Coltrane, Arriving by Chris Tomlin and Cry Holy by SonicFlood.

Off to Lexington

2004-12-27T13:16:00.000-05:00

It's that time again - time to head to the stores and return or exchange all of those gifts that you really don't like. However, in my case, it's just that the Old Navy fleece pullover I received from my aunt and uncle just didn't fit. I'm also going to put-to-use a Best Buy gift card that I received from another aunt & uncle.

I've got all of this week off - praise God! I have plenty to keep me busy - cleaning up the apartment, going to the gym, cleaning up and organizing both of my computers (yes, I'm a geek), and most importantly - building two websites. I'm sure there will be plenty of time to relax, though. It's nice not having anywhere to be until January 3rd. Adios...

Welcome

2004-12-27T12:55:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone - welcome to my new weblog. This is something new to me, so I'm still trying to work out the kinks, but I think it'll be fairly cool. Later!