Confessions of a SmileyFreak :)

…seriously.

If you like messing around with color schemes, check out kuler. You can make your own color schemes, name them, and share them with other users, who can rate them and comment on them. Pretty cool.

Took this photo out at a local lake last month.

This article from the Associated Press brings to light that some recording artists who are given credit for songwriting, in reality may not have contributed to the writing of the song. Unfortunately, by some of the quotes in this piece, this may be a common practice in the music industry.

Singer-songwriters, or just singers?

EMI is the only major record label that gets it, apparently, as they have now agreed to give away unrestricted, DRM free MP3 files of songs thru a promotion at United Kingdom Burger King restaurants. When a “kids meal” is purchased, there will be a promo code that can be entered at a website.

This follows EMI deciding to offer it’s catalog of songs on iTunes in a DRM free format almost two months ago.

Story via Wired blog Listening Post.

Sometimes life gets to goin’ and it seems like your in a car moving 90 to nothin’ passing life by to where it becomes a blur.

I remember when I told myself long ago that I wouldn’t let my life become that, and yet, often as of late, I have found myself sitting in that moving car going 90 to nothin’. Oft times, behind the wheel.

I think that perhaps I need to re-evaluate my priorities, and recall that the brake is there…you know, the short pedal on the left.

Being involved in extra activities is taking its toll on me. I’m finding that I don’t have enough time for myself, to do things that I like to do that help me deal with stress in a positive way. I find myself reacting to situations in ways that aren’t healthy or productive. My patience level is darn near zero.

I miss painting. I miss writing. Lately, I have been to tired or too busy to bother with starting a painting project or a writing project. And I’m really not taking as good of care of myself as I should, either, physically or spiritually.

So that has led me to the conclusion that I need to cut some things out of my life, and I have decided that at the end of this year I will go off of the board of an organization I’m involved in, and that less of my time will be devoted to my church.

I think that will be best for everyone involved. I don’t feel like I’m able to devote the kind of effort that I feel is required of someone in the positions that I am in, and I would like to focus my attention to those things that I can be of real help with and have a real passion for. The spark is gone for the organization and for some things I am involved in at my church.

I am actively praying that whoever those people are that succeed me in these various duties…that there will be someone who has a love and a gift in these areas and can step in. And that I can continue with what needs to be done in the mean time.

So here’s to hittin’ the brake…but in a slow fashion as not to cause the back seat passengers to fly into the seat in front of them.

Yesterday I happened to have my camera with me, and after praise team practice I decided to take pictures of some of the flowers in the flowerbed outside of my church.

With the abundance of rain we’ve had lately, everything is so green and there are wildflowers blooming all over. It really is a beautiful sight, especially after the last several years of drought conditions, where the late spring and summer were hot and the grass was brown and dry.

It is a time of rejuvenation. And a time to rejoice in God’s beauty around us.

I have now seen it all…I might have to order these…just for the geeky lol’z. Har, har. via.

According to Mashable!, iTunes has released version 7.2 which includes the ability to purchase DRM free tracks for $1.29 a pop. Read iTunes’ DRM-free Music Now Available.

Bring rivers in this wasteland
Clouds into this sky
Bring springs of life into the wells that have been run dry

Rise up in this city
Gather in this light
Fall down on your people
Your glory and your life

Rain
Lord we thirst for water
Rain
We are desert Land
Rain
On your sons and daughters
Rain
Bring your rain again

-Rain Song by Day of Fire

I’m sitting here listening to the rain, and I’m reminded of how refreshing it is. It never fails that the dead brown of West Texas turns green and grows a foot taller after a good rain.

Sometimes we need God’s rain. Sometimes our souls are thirsty, and the only thing that can refresh us is the raining down of God’s grace and strength. Especially when our spiritual wells have run dry.

Perhaps this is why I love a rainstorm so much. It reminds me that the dry spells don’t last forever. Eventually the rains come, clean the air, and revive the land.

According to this article in PC World, Steve Jobs is lobbying for music publishers to release DRM free tracks. EMI has already agreed to sell DRM free tracks on iTunes, and according to this article, Jobs is writing letters to the rest of the big record companies to persuade them to follow suit.

For me, one of the most frustrating things about purchasing music online is the lack of portability of what I buy. If I could easily convert songs to MP3 format (which I prefer) or even buy those tracks as MP3 files (which I already do at eMusic) it would be awesome. I think getting rid of DRM is the first step in the right direction, and if the record companies offer consumers more choice with less restriction I believe it can only help their bottom line.