Blake Thompson daht NetI'm just saying….

Wow, I’d not run in a while, but then I get caught up in the “everyone else is going to run it too” so I jump in there. I have to admit that I figured I would have done better than I actually did. Last year I did it around 27 and a half minutes. This year I was a bout five minutes slower.

But I’m glad I did it. There is always that inspiration to do it more and more and get quicker and drop a few lbs too. But that motivation always seems to ebb and flow. I was thinking about this as I was getting dressed today. I always have these “Now is the time to get __________ done.” Whether it’s to work out more, or run more, or eat better, or get this project done, or read this stack of books or whatever. But then my motivation…well, I don’t know if it drops for that, or just gets reallocated towards something else. And sometimes something else is sitting on the couch or eating a bag of cookies or whatever.

But I’ll say here and now, that I’m going to be healthier. Whether it’s a change in diet or activity habits…it will come!

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I got this from Christopher.

First, list your top six favorite TV shows currently on the air before looking at the questions.

I would love to, thanks for asking and in no particular order: (This list changes from hour to hour:)

1. LOST
2. Friday Night Lights
3. 24
4. Prison Break
5. Survivor
6. October Road

Now answer the questions:

01. Who is your favorite character from #2?
Matt Saracen: He was the average kid who was destined to signal in plays for the season behind the #1 prep QB in the country. But an early injury shoves him to the forefront. His character, confidence, innocence, his care for his grandmother, and how he handles the pressures of QB1 all mature as the season goes along.
02. Who is your least favorite character from #4?
Right now probably T-Bag. He seems a bit scary, but if neither of us had any weapons, I think I could take him. But I’m only about a third of the way into Season One so far.

03. What would a crossover between #1 and #5 include?
Hmmm. Well, they’re both already on the island. But somehow the Losties would have to incorporate the Immunity Idol. So when Ben and his crew kidnap Jack or Sawyer, you’d see Sawyer pull out the immunity idol from his pocket and say, “I’ll play it as this time” and Ben would have to let him go. I think YauMan would be flying under the radar and infiltrating the Other’s camp. And Dreamz would make both Ben and Kate think he was on each of their teams. Kate would kick some but in the tribal challenges. But Rocky would have been shot really early, because no one would have liked him on LOST either. Either way, Probst runs the show.

04. Who is your favorite ship from #6?
I’m assuming this means relationship. I’ll have go with Physical Phil and Pizza Girl. She’s quirky and different…he’s plain weird (hasn’t left the house in nearly 6 years). But she inspired him to finally leave. (Bet you thought I was going to saw the triangle between Nick/Hannah/Audry.)

05. If you were to set one person from #3 and one person from #6 on a blind date, who would they be?
Wow…two totally different sort of shows. Maybe Eddie Letekka and Kim Bauer?

06. If you could meet one person from #4 and spend the day with them, who would it be, and what would you do?
Michael Scofield. He’s obviously a smart guy who thinks ahead. But realizes that each moment has its own flavor. So I’d try to get him to teach me his forward thinking methods. He’s not one that looks like he enjoys having a good time though. Plus, he’s got some pretty cool tattoos.

07. If you could change one thing about #2’s plot line, what would you change?
I’m not sure that I would change anything. Of course not everything happened like I wanted it, but that’s part of the uniqueness of it all.

08. Explain a relationship between two people (not necessarily romantic) from show #5, and why you like the relationship between them.
Yauman and Earl. Earl is a tall black guy, and Yau is a small, skinny Japaneese guy. You wouldn’t normally pair them together. But they have cooperated and schemed together enough to make a great team.

09. If the lead title characters (first name in the credits) from #1 and #3 were both drowning, and you could only save one, who would it be?
Lost goes in alphabetical order, so it’s Sayid. 24 is Jack Bauer. So if we’re thinking these are real guys, I’d save Bauer. Because he’s saved our country from some serious crap a few times in his life. So I guess I owe him that.

10. If you could change the title characters’ order in the credits for #4, what order would you choose?
Keept it the way it is.

11. If you were able to add a new character, any kind of character you wanted, to the storyline for #6, what would the character be like, and what would their role be?
Maybe a little variety. Seems like most of the people there are cut from the same mold (except for Pizza Girl).

12. What happens in your favorite episode of show #2?
Usually the comical disagreements by Coach Taylor and his wife.

13. If you could kill off one of the characters in #1, who would it be and how would you do it?
Charlie…and I’d let Claire get mad about something (again). So he’d go storm off. And the smoke monster would bash him around. He hasn’t really been that easy to get along with much lately. Seems to think he’s deserved or something.

14. If you got the chance to visit the set for either show #3 or show #5, which would you choose?
So I can either visit the set of 24 out in LA, or Fiji Island? I’d go with Fiji Island.

15. If you could date anyone from any of these shows, which show and which person?
I’m thinking my wife wouldn’t appreciate me dating anyone else.

Let me know if you work through this meme in the comments.

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Meet Carlos…or Los.
He is a blogger that I think I first discovered either through Scott Hodge‘s blog or Anne Jackson. But he’s one that I check out pretty often. He’s got a unique outlook on stuff, usually humorous, really loves his family, and is a Mac guy too. He leads worship at his SoCal church with a passion and puts out a podcast once every few months.

But when I first started reading this guys stuff…he was in flight over to Korea to adopt his son. He posted daily video diaries of it and they were amazing! You have to check them out.

Anyway, on to my dream. A couple of weeks ago I had a dream w/ him in it. Nothing weird. But I went to his house to play ping-pong. Not sure if he’s ever mentioned ping-pong before on his blog. But that’s why I went. But he had some crappy paddles and a crappy table. So even though I beat him…I couldn’t dominate like I would have in real life…but still won.

I saw him on AIM and told him. He asked, “Did I kick your arse?” I replied, “Of course not!” So he said, “Then it was a dream…”

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Last Friday night The Wife and I met my dad in Starkville.  We at supper with him at The Wife’s favorite restaurant, and then he took our girls with him back to his house. Yup, they were staying with the grandparents for a while!

So what did we do? Well, we immediately went to a Mississippi State baseball game (the Dogs won!) and enjoyed Dudy Noble Field with friends we met up with from Florida. Then we went home and did pretty much whatever we wanted. There was a lot of freedom there. It relaxed our schedules and let us meet out for lunch. We got some stuff done around the house, and I even watched too much of 24 – Season 3 on Saturday.

But even though we enjoyed some time just for us (heck yes we did!) we missed them. And they’re back now. And after the initial rush of hugs and showing us new stuff they have and all that, they crashed. I laid Ella down and she went right to sleep. Addie went to read some books on the couch to have some “rest time” and now she’s snoozing. They are wiped out.

But they’re home.

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Tonight is the last soccer game of the season for Addie. This spring season was close to the same as the fall season: Addie started a touch timid and reserved, but then gathered steam and confidence at the same time.

It’s nice to see her really enjoy something. Is she good? She’s okay, maybe a little better than average. But not a superstar. But she gets pumped about it all day long. But I’m not sure if she’s as excited about the actual game tonight, or the end of the year party afterwards.

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For three summers of my life I worked at Camp Lake Stephens. In many, many ways it shaped a large part of my life. I think it was there that I was stretched and grew in my faith. There was where I began to take up more and more roles in leadership and ministry. It was at CLS that I made some really good friends that I still cherish today. And it was there that I met my wife…or the girl who would become my wife.

In the course of your average day as a camp counselor, we would have store time (usually after swim time.) And almost every day I would eat two Whatamacallit candy bars. They were like eating two bars of heaven every afternoon. They were SO GOOD!

One day, a girl (who would later become my wife) said I couldn’t go a day w/o eating one. I told her (with a voice of male confidence) that I could go the WHOLE WEEK without eating one. I said I’d do it if she didn’t eat any desserts either. So the pact was born.

We couldn’t eat any thing considered dessert or sweets during the week (the weekend was fair game.) And it ended up stretching through the summer and into the school year. And I think I was healthier because of that.

So the pact is back. No sweets/desserts at all except for on the weekends. We’ll see how this goes. Sad t say that last weekend we were in Target and bought a bag full of Easter candy at 75% off. So now I have some chocolate eggs calling my name.

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I came across this yesterday. I don’t think that a talk or sermon has to have a video clip just to make it “cool” or relevant. And I’ve seen instances where I thought a speaker just threw one in to have one…that it might have been a better message without it completely.

But I came across one yesterday that I want to use sometime. It’s deep. It’s powerful. And if you watch it, be careful. It can wreck you for the next few minutes. But it’s awesome.

99 Balloons 

Tell me what you think.

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A: YES! 

I’m a movie guy. I like to watch a lot of movies. And now I’ve gotten into a few tv shows that I’m having to play catchup because I missed them when they first came on television (like 24 and Prison Break). So DVD’s are awesome.

I remember when I had a friend first subscribe to Netflix. He said it was pretty neat w/ a decent turn around time. But I still was living in Amory and would just go to the local Movie Gallery.

But after moving to Clinton where we have a Blockbuster, I decided to give them a try with the “online rental” system. In comparing them to NetFlix, Blockbuster would let you rent three out at a time like Netflix but at a $3 less (14.99 vs. $17.99)…but, you also got two coupons a month to be able to rent free movies from the store. Slam dunk, right?

So we go w/ Blockbuster Online. It seems to work pretty well. Sometimes a movie would get delayed or something. And right after Blockbuster had lots and lots of commercials on during the Super Bowl a year ago, movies would sometimes be labeled Short or Long Wait. But they soon added distribution centers and it seemed to even out and be fairly quick again.

While Netflix kept their prices the same, Blockbuster raised theirs to match those of Netflix. But the two free rentals a month still tipped the balance towards Blockbuster. But then Blockbuster reduced that to only ONE free movie a week. That made me start to look over the fence at Netflix. But then Blockbuster pulled, what for me, is the clincher.

Before, after watching a movie, I would have to send it back in the envelope in order for them to process the return. And then they’d send out the next movie in my queue. So from the time I placed it in the mail box to when I’d get a new one it would be about four days, sometimes five. BUT….now I can drive it to my local Blockbuster, grab a new movie off the shelf, exchange it for FREE…and once they scan the returned movie there in store the distribution center goes ahead and sends me the new one.

It boils down to this. Instead of me waiting about four or five days for a new movie. I can get one that day, and then get another one in the mail in about two or three days. How is that not a perfect system?

Now some people will complain that the system is flawed because the whole point of online movie rentals is so you don’t have to worry w/ going in the stores. But I drive by Blockbuster pretty much every day when I’m out in town.  It’s not an inconvenience at all. Others will say that Blockbuster’s selection doesn’t have the foreign and independent films that Netflix does. Maybe not, but I’ve never gone searching for one that I couldn’t find. Never. So I guess I’m not indie enough for some people.

So…hands down, Blockbuster Online is a much better deal for me and my family. Netflix isn’t bad…but not as good.  Jason, on the other hand, feels strongly about the Blockbuster/Netflix dilemma and believes Netflix is the better option. But I think his whole opinion is skewed by his “in store” sign-up experience. Give him a read and see what you think.

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This morning we headed up to the church for the Easter Egg Hunt. But this one was unique. All the little kids were bundled up in coats and toboggans. It was stinking cold! My two year old did quite well, but my 5 year old hardly got any because she wanted to finish coloring and writing her name on her picture before going outside.

So we walked over next to where the two year old was, and she gave her big sister some of her eggs. Even the Golden Egg she found. I doubt we see that happen any more in the years to come (the golden egg part.)

But as cold as it is right now (highs in the 50′s, lows in the 30′s) compared to the 80+ we’d been feeling, it should be interesting tomorrow at church for Easter Sunday. The day that so many females have that special, cute, perfect dress to wear. The dress that is almost always a “warm weather” dress.

So will all these women/girls be tough and wear it tomorrow and be cold, or postpone it til next weekend. As if Al Gore needed something else to be wrong about!

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Appetizer
When you travel, which mode of transportation do you prefer?
With friends or interesting people. That’s more imporant that the mode.

Soup
Have you ever met a blogging friend in person?
Not someone I met first on a blog, no.

Salad
When was the last time you were really, really tired?
I think Monday I got a headache, came home from work and really needed a nap.

Main Course
If you could have dinner with any one fictional character from a book or movie, who would it be?
Jack Ryan? Frodo? John Rambo? William Wallace? Lots to choose from…

Dessert
Fill in the blank: One day, I hope to see _______________.
My scrapbook filled with photos and memories from my world travels.

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