A Beginning, a Middle and an Ending

Posted on September 17, 2009 by Paul James

The results of neglecting a blog are either A — you decide it’s not worth the trouble and it slowly fades into history or, B — your mind becomes FILLED with blog posts and it keeps you up at night until you write something.  For me, it’s B.  I’m now starting to see that it doesn’t really matter whether or not I enjoy it — it’s just something that I have to do.  Since I’m out of practice the “flow” of this post may be a bit nonexistent.  I am sure of this though, it will have a beginning, a middle and an ending.

Random thought:  I think better at 170+ BPM.  That would be heartbeats.  I can’t listen to music when I run because it distracts me from thinking.  Ideas flow freely at around 170 beats per minute, but rarely do I remember to write anything down when I’m finished.  I think I’m okay with that.  It’s kind of like my own private blog that only I get to read.  Only once, considering I never write any of it down…

Random thought 2:  (Always) Listen to Music.  I was listening to a song today and immediately it was November of 2004, and I was on the square in Denton, with her.  It was cold, and overcast.  Today, the song reminds me of what it’s like to be in love.  Every time I listen to John Mayer’s album Continuum it is 2006 and I am in downtown Dallas, sitting at a table outside of a Starbucks or driving early in the morning from Houston to Palacios, TX for a college fair.  It’s not about the lyrics or the artist; For me, songs are just triggers for my memories.  While I’m at it, Matchbox 20′s  album Yourself or Someone Like You was my “Angry CD”.  The last time I listened to it I was in college and went for a drive and almost ended up in Louisiana (I was mad at a girl).  Word of wisdom:  If you’re going to drive while you’re angry, only drive half the distance you think it will take to no longer be angry.  That way, you’re at home (and not an hour away) when you finally calm down.  Just sayin’…

There were at least 5 other random things I wanted/needed to write down but I can’t remember them now.

As promised, here is the ending.

Posted in Blogging, Life | 3 Comments

I Repent…

Posted on September 7, 2009 by Paul James

We sang this in church yesterday:

I Repent
Derek Webb

I repent, I repent,
of my pursuit of America’s dream
I repent, I repent
of living like I deserve anything
of my house, my fence, my kids, my wife
in our suburb where we’re safe and white
I am wrong and of these things I repent.

I repent, I repent
of parading my liberty
I repent, I repent
of paying for what I get for free
and of the way I believe that I am living right
by trading sins for others that are easier to hide
I am wrong and of these things I repent

I repent
judging by a law that even I can’t keep
of wearing righteousness like a disguise
to see through the planks in my own eyes

I repent, I repent
of trading truth for false unity
I repent, I repent
of confusing peace and idolatry
of caring more of what they think than what I know of what we need
of domesticating You until You look just like me
I am wrong and of these things
I repent.

Posted in Religion, Spiritual, music | Leave a comment

What do teachers make?

Posted on September 3, 2009 by Paul James

I’m in love with this:

Posted in Education, Videos | 1 Comment

The Big Three: Three very cool things God is doing in my life.

Posted on August 22, 2009 by Paul James

1.  Job — while I wasn’t ever really unemployed, I have most certainly been UNDER employed for the past several months.  As of this past Monday I am now officially the new Webmaster at Lon Morris College.  I’ve been the unofficial webmaster there for nearly a year, working on a contract basis, but now I’m an actual employee which I am excited about.

2.  School — I registered for and (partially) paid for my first class at UT Tyler.  I was tempted to take two (don’t you just love alliterations?*) classes, but my budget doesn’t really allow for it and, since it’s been a while since I’ve taken a class, one should suffice this semester.  Eleven more classes and I’ll have my M.A.!

3.  Church — Last, but certainly not least, I found a church (as if the church were lost?  “I  found it!”).  This past year has been a bumpy ride for me theologically and spiritually but the journey has helped me figure a few things out regarding what I believe and why I believe it.  On the church website (www.livingactschurch.com) they say “we are first Christians, second Evangelicals, third Missional, and fourth Reformed.”  The last one, “Reformed” is probably the least important, yet it seems to help define (clarify or even redefine in some ways) the other three.  Not going to try to explain it here — maybe some other time :-)

4.  Yeah, I know the title says “The Big Three”, but this one kind of ties the first three together.  I spent the first half of this week helping out LMC’s Cross Country Coach with his training camp.  I can now say with a higher degree (get it?*) of certainty that I absolutely love working with college students.  Not just working with them, but investing my time, money and energy in seeing them succeed in life.  This is why I love working in Higher Ed. and why I’m going back to school to get my master’s degree.   And how does this tie in with church?  While my vocation is in Higher Ed., my occupation will always be Christ — teaching and preaching the Gospel is not just for the pastor, it is for every believer.  Bringing our occupation into our vocation — that is missional living in the workplace.

I’m looking forward to this school year — I’m expecting great things.

* If you ever wondered whether or not I was a nerd, this should remove any remaining doubt.

Posted in Education, Life, Spiritual | 3 Comments

Proper Comment Protocol

Posted on August 8, 2009 by Paul James

I actually wrote this back in January of 2007 but I figured it was worth revisiting.  Actually, I just think it was clever and cute and deserved another shot at being on the front page (and I’m too lazy to write a NEW post tonight)…

Gee guys, thanks for the comments!  I didn’t even have to prompt you guys or anything!  My favorite (use this as an example from now on):

“The calvinism shirt was funny but philosophically untenable. “This shirt chose me,” implies that the shirt has the ability to choose. It should read, “This shirt was chosen for me.””

Notice that the author begins with praise – “The calvinism shirt was funny”.  If you’re at a loss for words just start with telling me how good whatever idea or concept I expressed was.  The author then proceeds to point out a fault in the idea or concept but also provides a suitable substitute.  Now let’s see how NOT to post a comment.

A few months ago a reader wrote:

“You’re an Idiot”

Notice how this does not fit the formula stated above.  The author of this post actually suffers from severe mental deficiencies so I let it slide but it is not an example of proper posting protocol.  How could the author have improved this comment?  By starting out with a note of praise.

For instance – “Paul, you are such an awesome guy but I do not agree with your line of logic on this particular issue.  Maybe one day I’ll understand – until then you’re still the best!”

Notice how this comment is more grounded in reality. Also the addition of MORE praise at the end of the comment is always encouraged, but not necessary.

Try some on your own now keeping in mind the examples provided.

Posted in Blogging | Leave a comment

Part 2 of …

Posted on July 21, 2009 by Paul James

Picking up where I left off in my last post — Websites as a Service from the perspective of a freelance developer.

When I started out designing websites as a side job, I loved the idea of being able to just hand over a design to a client and not have to worry about it.  Hosting, domain registration, upgrades and uptime were not issues for me.  I began to realize, however, that most of my clients didn’t need just a design; they really needed someone who could manage their website.  I started to get calls asking why a site was down — “did you pay your hosting bill?”  Then it was calls about adding a web form here, and adding a log-in page there — “I’ll have to invoice you for it…”  Many decided it wasn’t worth the extra money, because they had already spent “alot” up front and a few couldn’t understand why the extra work couldn’t just be included in what they already paid.  In there minds, they had bought a product — why should I pay more for a product that I already own?  I’ve seen a few of these clients move on to a new company or freelancer to redesign their site, and only time will tell if the cycle will continue.

Websites as a Service — the idea here is to change the relationship between developer and client.  If a website is a service, the developer is no longer the salesman, but a service provider.  Few small businesses own the server they host their site on, they pay monthly (or annually) for the service.  Even the ones who do have to lease the line which provides them with internet access — so services are not a new concept for businesses.  Really, the concept of a website being a service rather than a product isn’t new in the business world either.  Most large companies have multiple people working for them to handle their web development and design needs — they understand that maintaining a website is an ongoing process.

Small businesses rarely have the resources to hire a full time web developer, so an entire web team is out of the question.  This is where a service oriented freelance developer can help by providing the same services that an in-house team would — just on a smaller scale.  As a freelance developer I often wear the hats of designer, developer, consultant and system administrator all on one project.  This allows me to offer clients full service web development to clients that need more than a site hosted on GoDaddy.com but can’t yet afford a full time developer or development team.

Can it really work?  The need is definitely there;  I think it can!  I’ll keep you posted :-)

Posted in Design, Freelance, Web, Work | Leave a comment