It's simple, but it ain't easy

It feels great, you know?  Having a goal, and envisioning what it would be like to have it in your hands.  Now hold on, I am not talking about some daydream here, no, I am talking about really picturing this goal as completed in your mind so that for all you know, it is real.  Envisioning it so much, and so hard, and with such confidence, that when you think about it, it is almost as if you are looking back on it, as if it were a foregone conclusion.  Like one of those "remember when" stories that you can share with friends and family, reminiscing about those great moments in your life from years past.

I think of that quote from Michelangelo and I get giddy with excitement. “In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and action. I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to the other eyes as mine see it.”

I look at my body, and my life, my skills, and surroundings, and as blessed as I am to have all that has been given to me, I know there is potential here for so much more.  I feel inside me a desire to see these hopes if mine, these dreams, these wonderful ideas come to life.  But for those things to become more than just the vapor that they are, more than just a passing ghost of what they could be, for that potential to truly see reality, it takes more than just hopes, more than dreams, more than ideas to accomplish it.

And I tell you what:

It's simple, but it ain't easy.

No, it ain't easy.  Not for a second.  Because when things begin to feel easy, you are at that moment beginning to head in the wrong direction.

It's because discipline.  Is not easy.  Discipline takes work.  Discipline to grow, to change, to break out of the shell you are in and grow a new, stronger, better one.  Discipline to get up at 6 AM  5 AM
4 AM and make the hard changes.  You know, one thing I have learned over my short time of practicing this, is that if you want change, 4 AM is almost always a good answer.  I mean, yes, you get up at 4 in the morning enough and soon 9PM begins to feel like 1AM, and you can't help but smash your face into a pillow.  But that 4 AM, it gives you so much.  Cause at 4 AM, it's all you.

You can do whatever you want.  It's free time.  All yours.  You can learn, you can grow, you can shape your mind, your body.  When you don't have other things vying for your time, it's amazing all you can get done.  And 4 AM gives you just that.  And it gives you something else.  Something else that is very simple, but never easy to deal with.  It gives you time for your "why".

What's your "why"?  Well, it's the reason you are doing anything at all.  And 4 AM is just one of those things that gives you the room to let your "why" take shape.  That "why" that fuels your vision, that pushes you to change, that causes you to discipline your life, that drives you forward to accomplish your goals.  And keeping that "why" clear, keeping it real, takes honestly -- brutal honesty -- and sometimes harsh introspection. You may need to come to face to face with your real fears, with your deepest wants, with your lows and highs, with your insecurities and with strengths you don't even know you have yet.  And for you, that may be the hardest part.  It may be the reason why in the past you have gotten derailed so quickly from accomplishing even that small goals you set.

So, what is your vision, and your "why".  What boulder are you looking at right now, which holds something deep inside only you can see?  What will you change starting right now?

 

I never use this.. really, i don't

I'm only on facebook when I'm on it. Hi me, the only person who reads this. Hi. How are you? Fine over here, how 'bout you? Just ok. Oh, really? Something wrong? Nah, just ok. Oh, ok.
(dramatic pause)
Alrighty then that settles it... we're going to Perkins for some pancakes. Ok.

Crossloop makes remote desktop sharing EASY

Summary of what's below: Gone are the days of phone tech support. Now, using Crossloop I can access and control my dad's computer in Rhode Island (just as if I was sitting there in front of it) from my computer 1500 miles away in Minnesota, fixing whatever computer problems he's having. And it's as easy as both of us downloading and installing a program.

For more details, read on...

So WOW! Finally!! I've been looking for a program like this ever since I moved to Minnesota... some program (preferably freeware) that would enable me take control of my dad's computer when he's got a computer problem, so I don't have to give him verbal instructions over the phone for a couple hours on a problem I could most likely fix in a matter of minutes.

Bonus #1 - Saves Time!
Bonus #2 - Saves both of our systolic and diastolic readings about 30 mm of mercury.
Bonus #3 - Probably saves my dad's monitor, keyboard, mouse, and anything else in the immediate area irreparable impact damage.
And a personal Bonus #4 - Allows me to geek out for a good half hour, saying to myself "Oh man I am actually controlling my dad's computer from 1500 miles away!!! And he's magically watching the mouse move around fixing his computer. Tee hee hee.. snort snort... (pushing taped glasses back up onto nose) "... well, more or less. But you get the drift.

Since the learning curve on configuring VNC (another remote access program) on a host system with a firewall, router, and Norton Security Suite is so high, that at first I thought it would never be done unless I was physically there to set it up on his computer. Since then, I have had moderate success gaining access to his desktop, by wading through the remote assistance option in windows messenger... that still being a bit on the almost unusable side.

But Crossloop is so easy. It truly is a zero configuration remote access program, meaning you just install the program (a few clicks) and you're basically done.

So just to test things out (so I wouldn't be wasting dad's time, making a day just worse and not better...etc) I had my buddy, who lives in PA, download and install crossloop. I already installed it and read up on how it worked, so we were good to do a test run, just to see if it lived up to the hype on the website.

1. We were on the phone, and we both started up crossloop (after downloading and installing, of course).
2. We both just clicked the big red X on the first window that asked for a login, because logging in (contrary to what you're led to think) is not necessary.
3. I clicked on the "access" tab, and he clicked on the "share" tab.
4. He read off the auto-generated access code on his screen and I typed it into my screen.
5. We both clicked "connect".
6. We clicked "unblock" on the windows firewall warning that came up.
7. In a matter of seconds, a live image of his desktop came up on my screen, and I was controlling his desktop, opening up documents, executing programs, and what-have-you.
8. In unison, we both said "SWEET!!" and nerdy celebrations commenced.

From the time it took to download crossloop to me controlling his desktop, it took less than 3 minutes. And not only is it that easy, but also the host (the computer being mysteriously and magically controlled) can cut off the user (the one doing the mysterious and magical controlling) at any time. So if you don't like what you see them doing, you can drop the hammer and kick them out of your computer. The host can also make it so the user can only VIEW their computer and not control it, which is another nice option... then you don't get 2 people having a tug of war with the mouse pointer.

Anyhow, enjoy.

A bag full of paper

On my drive to church this Sunday, one of the last 30 minute Sunday drives I'm going to have, a great sadness overcame me. I'm not talking depression, but really just a moment of hypothetical regret. Call it a moment of clarity. Imagine looking back from your future eternal life, and glance back to what you are doing right now, or yesterday, or the day before. Does what you see make you proud to be given the gift of life, or do you find yourself caught up in a rat race that you have been raised to both simply accept and be motivated to fight for?

Why are we as a culture addicted to $3.10 unleaded? Does that, or the entertainment that we are constantly told to focus on, bring us any more power that we constantly, futilly, innately try to grasp at?

There is a power greater than I can imagine attaining that I will never attain but will someday be completely overwhelmed by.

WOW

Has it really been 3 posts since Hannah was born? Well, to my adoring public, here is another morsel of delicious Ekelund goodness. Mystery baby number 3 is coming, but this time we know it's a boy. Rebekah's huge and craaaaaaanky, as usual ;), and you know what? I feel completely safe writing something that would normally get 3 kicks in the crotch and a week in the doghouse, because I know how many times people have accessed this page, and I am utterly confident that this blog would be read by more people if i hardcopied it and threw it out the window at 70 mph on the highway. So, yeah, ETA in 4 days.

BTW, what have I been up to since 3 posts ago?
A little Java Programming, a few needed tutorials on the subject here here and here

What!? So I don't like to blog! Big deal...

Hello out there!

Call mom (or anyone else in the US and Canada) for free, till the end of 2006

Ahem! Calls to US and Canada are free for the rest of the year. All you have to do is download Skype, install it, and when you place a call, type it in with this format: +1 555 555 5555

Don't forget the +1 at the beginning. That's what makes the whole thing work.

Enjoy, people! (Yes, I know I am the only one who reads my blog. Of course I know that!)

Banana Phone

What can I say? It's just one of those things. It's Banana Phone (Badgerphone)

Hannah!

What can I say? 7 lbs. 3 oz. of heaven in my arms. Came out on March 31, 2006. Eats, poops, and has 1/2 my DNA. What's not to love? If you haven't gotten one yet, I highly recommend it.

"The Office" April fools PSA's

Go here right now. Watch every video. Laugh. The End.

Bringing some funny

Mitch Hedberg Quotes - The Quotations Page

I don't own a cell phone or a pager. I just hang around everyone I know, all the time. If someone wants to get a hold of me, they just say "Mitch," and I say "what?" and turn my head slightly.

So on my google hopepage which you can totally customize to show entries from your favorite blog, give you the weather, or tell you the latest news, among other things, I have the "Quote of the day" - my daily dose of wit or genius, and saw a quote from this guy. He's got some funny, I'll give him that.

MysteryBox Time!!!!

Ok, so I went over to midnightbox and paid 6 bucks to get something (what?? - well that is the fun of the mysterybox - or in my case mystery bubblepack - you don't know what you're gonna get) and it was guaranteed that one lucky dude or dudette was going to get an Xbox 360 Premium (FOR 6 bucks!!!!) and all of us other guys would get dollar-store quality or better. Well, I was lucky enough to get "better" - an Oregon Scientific mp3 player/FM tuner/voice recorder!!! Who is Oregon Scientific? Who cares! I wanted one of these for a while now, and look what showed up at my door! pretty cool. It has 128MB built in and expands with an SD card!! Awesome! Thanks MB!!!

Edit: I also have noticed that the FM tuner doesn't work - still worth my 6 bucks, though.

Still up at 12:01 AM? Well I know where you SHOULD be...

Being up till the crack of midnight usually means I'm up writing papers, or in previous months, getting beat up online in Halo 2, but this time I'm talking about the crih-aaaazy deals you can get by figuring out what the heck they're selling over there at Midnightbox.com
Hop on over and take a look... you'll see what I mean :)

This is truly something you MUST do.

Ok, so this is not one of those "look at this for a long time and something scary jumps out" kind of things, because I HATE those. I pee myself. literally. That being said, this black and white pinwheel animation does something cool. Go to the link and after it's all loaded up and spinning smoothly, make sure you can see the whole pinwheel (F11 for fullscreen if you want), and just stare at the center white dot for a good 30 seconds or so. Then look at an object on your desk, or a picture or something. You'll see. It's awesome.

For real, this isn't a trick, just an experiment on perception. Hey while you're at it, visit the whole site!

Widget... wasn't that the little dude from Return of the Jedi?

Just download konfabulator and join the cool people who rock out listening to random Napoleon Dynamite quotes or putting in the numbers every 108 minutes, just because. Or see some Calvin and Hobbes (WHY did you go!) Or just sharpen your Sudoku skillz... without ever having to open a browser. So do it. Right now. And enjoy.

Pong!

So we all use Firefox, right? Well download this extension, and we shall duel like no two men have dueled before, with armies clashing on a virtual battlefield, as we wage war on each others' souls!!!!

Bob stop doing dishes

Why don't you just come and read my blog...

Battle for Wesnoth

Thank you Bobby for showing me this open source Turn Based Strategy!
You're the man. So everybody (all 2 of you) download this! Now!

Woot : Winners' Gallery: the Best of Contest 44

www.despair.com wannabees. Fan-made, and still funny.

Thanks woot!

The ol' mowing the heart in the lawn trick - gets 'em every time! ... ok, guess I better finish now. 

faster?... Faster!... FASTER!!!!

I just found a Sa-weeeet site that goes through step by step on optimizing your computer/internet/security settings. I totally went through the guide on desktop optimization, and guess what... my desktop actually boots up and runs faster! I actually am surprised it all worked! So if you're tired of waiting for your computer to work, go here and boost your computer speed. Oh yeah, and it's FREE!

LogMeIn.. please?

So I am looking for a VPN solution to remotely access and control my dad's computer (to help out with all the computer stuff) and I came across this one. I'd love to have a super-secure one that was just built from the ground up using free tools (Super-Geek!), but I doubt my dad would be able to install it himself on the host computer. We'll see how it goes :)

I've Got a Fever...

Well, if you actually do have a fever (and a broadband connection) then download the only prescription out there... more cowbell

Cause I gotta have more cowbell, baby!

(or as Boromir would say...)

Road Trip! (to Barnesville... 30 miles away) 

Cranified!

Fun Families Unite! 20,000 Game Giveaway

So it never happens, right? Just pick 3 pieces of clay that turn into smiley faces and you win a Cranium game! And guess what, yours truly got lucky and mine is coming in a week!! Awesome, right? Sign up and give it a spin... you can try once a day. Odds are you'll get it eventually :) Or if you're lucky you'll get it on the first try!!

Download this right now... no, RIGHT now.

This is basically one of the most useful programs I have come across... make that "print scr" button useful for more that just making your keyboard look really full... ACTUALLY PRINT THE SCREEN!! so try out Printkey 2000 v5.10. It's freeware so it won't hurt, and you will be soooooo glad you did! :)

Prisoner of Catan

So I was looking at how to make my own, durable Settlers of Catan game set pretty cheap ($20 total?) when I came across this guy who is apparently an artist and made his own set. It looks pretty sweet, right!?

Pirates of the Carribean

So I went to Maplewood State Park the other week, and I didn't think it at the time, but looking back I am reminded of how fun it was the time that I went geocaching with some friends. Not heard of it? Basically all you need is a handheld GPS unit like this one (I totally WANT that!) that shows you your longitude and latitude and a set of coordinates of a hidden geocache. Now, this is for outdoor-type people or adventurers who like hiking and all that, because some of these caches are miles down a trail. But that is basically the fun of the hunt - enjoying the hike. So there are thousands of these caches everywhere... you just have to know where to look. Man, that was a fun time!

Don't Panic (or do)

So I saw the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy, and I had read the book years ago, but it wasn't until recently that my brain started wrapping around this idea about the earth being a giant computer... and I thought about this, about cause and effect, and about our bodies, how they simply react to things that happen to them, both internally and externally... and I thought, does that apply psychologically as well, because if our emotions are controlled by chemicals pulsing through our brains, and those chemicals are controlled by I don't know what, what about how our brains store and recall things, or when we "come up with ideas"... are those "ideas" simply me reacting to something, be it psychological or physical or experiential, or most likely a combination of all of that... and I thought, "are we simply reactionary beings?"

And I took this further, and started thinking, "do I even have a choice in what I am thinking about, or am I simply reacting to my own experience and the world around me... Am I simply reacting? And I can't seem to find that I am not, unless I take into account the spiritual nature of things, which I still think I would be reacting to, actually.

So this thought pattern just takes off and I think, what does this mean about the world? If everyone and everything is simply reacting to everything else, then there must be a set outcome for every interaction, which leads to the next and the next, and carries over into memory which affects the next interaction... and I thought that if we had the technology and the information about cause and effect in the body and psychology of every living organism, and had information about the status of every molecule not only on the planet, but in the known, perceivable universe that could possibly affect us, then you could know how everyone would react to their entire lives throughout the end of time, that is if "you" were outside of the environment so that you wouldn't affect it.

So what would this theory say about the nature of fate? Or destiny? Or choice? Can you truly control anything? Well, I believe that we all think we do, and the fact is we cannot live without thinking that... it is a part of our framework of thought, programmed into who we are, physically. It is in our design. Because we can logically postualte a potential future action, even though we may not do it, we think that we could do it, and sometimes we do.

And if there is a set pattern of things (fate) so complex that we, honestly, could never understand it, then from the first moment the last thing was created, and all of the attributes of the universe were set in place and in motion, the end of all things was determined, because God can know all, and he can understand the place and existence of all things, because He created them. (Not to say that there is more to it than that, like the nature of time and God...) But if all that is set in place and at even the present time is in motion, then what is the nature of the earth, and what is the the culmination of existence for all things that exist on the earth?

But even if we could know about and "calculate" the end of existence, if we had the mass of data and the computer that could calculate it, we would then in essence be changing it, and at the point of knowing, that result would immediately become invalid, because that knowledge would change the environment. (But it is not like that ability to "see" the potential future would not have been possible, because it happened.)

See, the end of all things would came about without us ever seeing it, because we would not be able to calculate it. Because in knowing the calculation, and our knowledge being a "variable" in the "formula", that formula would then be changed.

So, basically, what did I come up with? The world is "calculating" something that we have no choice in changing. The outcome is "destiny" or "fate" which we completely have a part in, and at the same time cannot not do exactly what we do. But please, continue to think you have choice, although in the big picture, you really don't... you are just reacting... and this whole time you have been reacting to what I wrote here... and it will never go away (Mwa ha hahaha!!!).

And so the moral of this story?
Be careful what you listen to. It could effect the eternal destiny of the universe...

or not.

WHAT AM I DOING?

I should be reading and writing a paper right now, but I can't help it... I just read in Writght's book "Relational Leaership" about coming to terms with failures in your life. And I just had an epiphany of sorts - that I can't change the past... even the decision I made to stop working on my schoolwork to go through all the hooplah of posting to this blog from a not-at-home workstation. I am going to have to learn to accept the things I cannot change, like the past, and keep my eyes fixed on the prize. Ahhhhhhh... feels better now.

Let's move to.... CATAN!

What? You play Settlers of Catan, but you don't have any friends around to play it with? Well, downlolad this and join the 2,101 other active online members (including yours truly) of S3dconnector, the online version of Settlers. Trust me, there are games being played as we speak... i mean, as i write.

Ok, so you've done that, but noticed that the tiles are a little, shall we say, "dumb-looking"... don't worry, they did it that way on purpose. To fix it, download this and follow these directions. That will replace the tiles with the normal US version... or grab this (10.1 MB) and get a few international versions of the artwork as well.

I call myself "The Newbie-Bloginator"

Yeah, so since I haven't given out the web address to this blog yet, what are you even doing here... I mean I wrote this on a whim,a nd now you're here. You are so in trouble right now. But you know, since you stumbled upon me, hey! why not hand around for a few minutes and check out a few things... like:

Strongbad, or the coolest Praise and Worship Archive I have seen yet. You might even want to sign up with a cool picture sharing/chat program that my family, friends, and I use EVERY (other) DAY! What else is there? Oh, well there's this (which is all free) and this (which can come in handy sometimes), or maybe this for the DVD geeks. Do you officially consider yourself a geek, geeky, or slightly nerdy? Because you also might find this interesting(most likely not), which a friend wrote... and I recently downloaded and installed this (another yawn). It's supposed to be pretty good. Or you might just post your geekcode, and we'll call it even.

Other stuff:
Looking around? Use this, or look it up here and learn something new, or check out what your house look like from satellite.

I thought that this was pretty cool for trading dvds on the internet. I've traded a whole bunch through it.

eBay: try out auctionsniper. Free auction sniping to begin with, and, yes, sign up and it earns me free snipes, too :)

Now this is pretty nice - I used to go to Slickdeals and FatWallet to get some great deals (and I've gotten them - like $40 for a 16x NEC DVD burner with 50pk of dvd's included, or a $20 WD 80GB Harddrive, for starters)

One last thing. If you're not using this or this, then what are you even doing on the internet in the first place?

so... kept you busy? maybe not?
well, that's a quick snapshot of things I like.
see you soon?