Hello friends. I would just like to inform you that my Vox blog will no longer be active. Not that it has been for the past few months. But today I have officially decided to put this blog on hold. There are two reasons:
One, I have my own website at www.danielabbey.com where all my ramblings are posted thereby making a second blog irrelevant.
Two, I have recently undergone a spiritual transformation which has compelled me to reexamine my writings and realize that I have written a lot of stuff that doesn’t glorify God. So I’m taking them down from my Vox blog and in the coming weeks will be editing the posts over at my website.
I will not, however, permanently delete my Vox account because of all the cool friends I have here (yes, you!) and want to be able to read your blogs as well as comment from time to time. So this blog won’t exactly die. I might even revive it in the future, if I find a need for it.
In the meantime, for those who actually bother visiting my other site, please bear with me as I overhaul its contents. I’m actually thinking of redoing the whole thing. Again, it’s all because of my renewed spiritual commitment to Jesus. I have wasted a lot of years and creative talent writing about things that frankly, should never have met the keyboard.
I regret every dirty word I’ve used to express myself; I ache because of writing about ideas and using analogies that have no place in the Christian vocabulary.
I deeply regret writing banal stories that brought reproach to the Savior. My heart literally aches because of my indiscretion. I wish I could delete every piece of trash I ever wrote and attached my name to on the internet. Some of it I’ll be able to get rid of; some, I’m afraid, will live on because they are out of my direct control.
As I give myself back to God and ask Him to forgive me and live through me, to use my talents to glorify His name, I pray that He redeems me and all the wasted time I’ve spent writing shameful things.
I also pray that other Christians learn from me and be careful not to write things that could damage the cause of Christ. It’s easy to succumb to the flesh and express an opinion; it’s very hard to take it back, especially from the internet where some things seemingly last forever.
I further pray that if you encounter something I wrote that is not at all what you’d expect from a Christian, that you please forgive me for my lack of self-control and worldliness. I have always endeavored to be funny in my writing and I thank God for giving me a sense of humor. But there have been moments where I’ve crossed the line and written shameful things in the name of “comedy.”
I wish I could take it all back. I really do.
It’s tough following Jesus Christ and I’m still learning. But I’d rather obey and gain Christ than indulge my sins and lose my soul.
Thanks for reading my stuff. I promise to keep writing. Bye, from here, for now.
Good quote from a book I'm reading which goes along with the idea of our church Journey.
"I know now not to think of my faith in Jesus as a destination. The magic I experience in Jesus doesn't happen when I'm living a destination faith. Whenever I feel like I have arrived in my faith, Jesus quickly pushes me back onto the journey. He continues to push me. And he pushes hard."
I feel alot like that right now. I'm not going to lie, I am tired of the "journey" right now. But Jesus is pushing me back into the fray. I'm ok with that though.
"You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God." Jesus in Matthew 5:6 (The Message)
Time to Re-inVENT Yourself.
That was the annual theme, but it would seem that many attendees of the annual Vent Haven Ventriloquy ConVENTion 2005 had already done a pretty good job of
this on their own.
With names that live somewhere between soft-core porn stars and drag queens,
the most ordinary little old ladies, car salesmen and the unfortunate
children of ubernerds re-invent themselves annually as ghoulish
caricatures made of wood and foam. Waco the Cowboy Weasel. Magnolia
Peckerwood. Spankee Doodle. Chadwick McNutley. I could not make this
shit up if I tried.
Vent Haven is the world’s only museum dedicated to the art of ventriloquism, and a delightful little sideshow nestled in a suburb of Fort Mitchell, Kentucky. It is home to an impressive collection of dummies and historical ventriloquy paraphernalia from around the world. Founded by Cincinnati native William Shakespeare Berger (again, not making this up), the museum is actually a residential home with three added structures that take up most of the yard. I could go into how disturbingly compelling it is to stare into a sea of dead eyes and lurid grins, but this you’ll really have to experience for yourself.
Back to the convention. Those who know me know that I am totally game for chatting up the odd oddball, but the Vent Haven Convention was an experience for which I arrived hopelessly psychologically unprepared. These folks have created a sophisticated social structure that doesn’t actually require talking to each other. If their puppets get along, all is right with the world. It took a good part of an hour to synchronize, to pick up the nuances of their interactions, to read between the lines of furry eyebrow trembles and awkward gestures. I felt like a chain-smoking Jane Goodall. Except more afraid.
The vendor rooms were a sight to behold. Puppet nerds talking to other puppet nerds about their puppet problems. Gay dummies flirting with other gay dummies. Animal dummies bonding cross-species. Religious dummies preaching to atheist dummies. This apparent unity gave me pause: if dummies ran the U.N., might the world be a happier place?
As a fellow nerd, I have to give respect. These kids have found each other. Kind of like marrying your Vulcan soulmate in the paper castle at RenFest.
I could go on, but words are truly insufficient.
The Vent Haven Convention 2007 will be held without fail, July 12-15, at the Drawbridge Inn in Ft. Mitchell, KY.
Refrence my Destiny post.
We are the SEC Champions, and hopefully soon to be National Championship. A few oddities of this years match-up and how they and the stars line up and foretell our victory.
1) This is the University of Florida's 100 year anniversary.
2) This is the tenth anniversary of our first and last football National Championship.
3) Our championship game that year was against Florida St. who we had lost to in our last game of our regular season. Just like Michigan-OSU did this year.
4) Our basketball team won the National Championship earlier this year.
These are sign of hopefully our victory on Jan. 8th. We'll see I guess. Go Gators!
...he is so innately insight-driven and humane. unlike most business strategies I've seen lately.
i want steve martin as a client.
"Some people have a way with words...other people, not have way."
- Steve Martin
So I'm on my way home from the gym, after work. Waiting patiently for the light, a white car speeds towards me, wrong-way down the street, and screeches around the corner I am about to cross.
Huh. Good thing I waited for the light, I think.
I am a chronic jaywalker.
The car crashes to a stop up on the curb around the corner. a guy jumps out and runs like a bat out of hell, back towards the intersection he just peeled through, past me, down the street.
2 SFPD cars come wailing around both corners, guns drawn, crawling all over the empty car, searching the alleys between the houses.
I am so helpful.
"Excuse me." I say quite canadian-ly to the nice man in the swat gear and the automatic rifle.
I fucking love america.
I walk towards him.
"Sorry, miss, you can't come into this block, there's a manhunt, guns are drawn."
I smile sweetly. "Well, the man hunt better move down the street, because the man who popped out of that car just ran by me in the opposite direction."
Blank stare.
"Thatta way." I point plaintively down the street, desperate for a sign of comprehension.
"Thank you, ma'am."
"You're quite welcome."
You know, sometimes, all you have to do is ask.
But I have a sneaking suspicion that I took all the fun out of their Tom Clancy play-date.
Addendum:
How do you tell a real cop from a leather daddy costume in San Francisco?
This is not a joke, this is a real-life problem. Every time I see a cop in this city, I have to supress my instinct to scream, "Hey girl!" and stuff a fiver in his pants.
I took this IQ test before and scored a 126. So here is my results this time. I must of had a bad day this time. Im still up there with Ben Franklin according to the picture. Boy that makes me feel good.
Your IQ score is 122
This number is based on a scientific formula that compares how many questions you answered correctly on the Classic IQ Test relative to others.
Your Intellectual Type is Inventive Inquisitor. You have the unusual distinction of being equally good at math and verbal skills. This means you are a creative thinker and are uniquely good at teaching others through experiences. You are also a great improviser and very good at handling change.
I took this test from the website Tickle. i found out about it from a neighborhood friend Tony. You can view it HERE, and take the test yourself for free from his post. Here are my results:
Your Unconscious Mind Is Most Driven by Peace.
You have a deeply-rooted desire to make peace in the world. Whether through subtle interactions with loved ones, or through getting involved in social causes, it is important to you to be able to influence the world in a positive way. You have a deep respect for humankind.
You care about the future of the world, even beyond your own involvement in it, and you inspire others to feel the same way. Your innate drive toward peace guides you in daily life towards decisions that are respectful toward yourself and others. Your psyche is very rich; the more you learn about it, the more you will understand who you really are.
Explains why I do alot of things. Kinda interesting stuff.
Early this morning, I along with the rest of the core group, handed out cups of free coffee to people going into stores to shop. There were lots of people (as can be imagined on 'Black Thursday') and most where I was stationed wanted the hot cups of coffee. We had a table set up at the front of the store draped by paper with our Journey logo on it. We were serving Starbucks' Christmas Blend. Many thanks to all the people who made this happen, it truly would not have been possible without them. A funny thing happened the entire time as I was there was people would ask if we were opening a new store (thinking we were with Starbucks.) We would then point to our logo and explain that we were a new church starting up in the area, and for them to check us out when we open. There was no verbal explaining of the gospel, there were no tracts of pamphlets given out. Just the name of our church and the fact that we were Christians. Many said thank you, occasionally a few commented on the fact that this was a nice thing to do, and several church-goers gave words of encouragement to us as they sipped on their coffee. We helped several people to their cars with their merchandise, which was a welcomed act of kindness as opposed to someone snatching them and running off with them. But this is what my mind was consumed with, that most of these people would have done just fine without our free coffee. Granted they would have had to dealt with the cold without the comfort of their cups. They would have had to put of their cravings of caffeine for a few hours until they could spair a second from their busy schedule of shopping to swing by Starbucks of Dunkin' Doughnuts. They could have possibly gone on with the day without ever thinking about how nice it would be to have a cup of Starbucks coffee to sip on as they shopped. But they didnt have to. They could enjoy their caffeine high and their shopping high together, at the same time. They could sip on something warm for their insides while the outside of their bodies stood shivering in the cold chill of the early, predawn morning. As I stood there at our table, I thought about what was going through these peoples minds. Some might have thought "What did these so-called 'Christians' do to that coffee, they must have put some hypnotic drug in it." Still others surely thought "Well thats nice of Sears to offer free coffee to us this year, thats an improvement from last year." Perhaps some said "Thats so nice and thoughtful of these people to come out and offer us free coffee while we shop, good for them" While others thought "Yea, a cup of coffee would be nice while I shop, that is so nice of these nice people." But my thoughts were'nt so much stuck on them. My mind was captive to those others who thought other ideas like "What compels these people to serve us free coffee?" Or "Why would anyone wake up at three in the morning to come and serve US coffee while we stand in lines for ourselves?" Or those who question "What would drive these people to serve us in such a normal everyday activity as shopping?" Those were the people I was thinking about. Those were the ones who I wondered what was going on in their heads. Jesus taught that when we serve even the weakest or smallest person, we are actully serving Him. We as Christians are called to share the Gospel. We are called to bring Heaven to Earth today. We are called to show the love of Christ. We are called to show life to its fullest. Did you catch the word in those last two sentences, show. We must show the Gospel with the everyday activities of our lives. One of my favorite quotes of all time (one which I rarely live up to) is from St. Francis of Assisi. He is quoted as saying "Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words." We must live out the Gospel at all times, we must show it with our actions. We must live out the love of Christ. Christ wants to shine His love through us. And so as the night is winding down, I ask myself the question, "Did those people today see the love of Christ, did they see Christ in us?" So as I am getting ready for bed, I have now come to the answer of my question. Yes, yes they saw Christ.
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, what ever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." Jesus in Matt. 25:40
"By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." Jesus in John 13:35.
"just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Jesus in Matt. 20:28
"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full" Jesus in John 10:10
"Thank you guys so much, this is a really nice thing to do. Thanks." woman shopper who saw Christ' love.
The book about O.J. Simpson has .....blah blah blah. I am so sick of this crap about O.J. and his book and "confession." He's a sick man, and we all know it, so let's move on.
