the G sides » blog

Where Are The Posts?

Grant — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:05:36 +0000

Good night…I’m hoping this is just a season for me but I can’t seem to write anything worth posting lately.

Busy? Yeah, but who isn’t, right? It’s not really busyness that’s kept my blog quiet as of lately. Actually, pace has gotten better in the last few weeks. I’m getting my feet underneath me learning this new culture, new role, new town, new friends, new everything. And everything is new.

I’m not sure why the dry season in my writing right now. It just is. Been here before…doesn’t make it any less frustrating but at least I know in the back of mind it’s not going to last forever. Or will it?

That’s the real fear of dry spots – both in writing, in our marriages, in our work, in our walk with Jesus. The real fear and anxiousness isn’t that it’s dry in this moment. The real fear is ‘how long will this last?’ Is this it? Is this as good as it is ever going to get? Have I hit the wall?

I’ve responded in two different ways in that spot. Go backwards or go forwards. Remember the good old days? They really weren’t that good when I was there and I’m not that old. Let’s go back to what we know. Or – slam it forward. Do something to trigger this funk on up out of here. (Insert bass line here.)

Is this the point where a spiritual sage says – “Stay in the moment.” “Be still and know…” Maybe. I think there are times we’re still, I think there are times to spring forward through the dry times. Going backwards? No. And I don’t see backwards as repentance. Repentance is a course correction as we go forward.

Odd thing…not dry in my walk with Jesus…just dry in writing, putting thoughts on paper…or in HTML as it were. To steal a line from C.S. Lewis – time to go ‘further up and further in.’

Facebook To Own Stuff Forever…What To Do?

Grant — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 02:47:01 +0000

With the new user agreement at Facebook, my attention was drawn to this line…

You hereby grant Facebook an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to (a) use, copy, publish, stream, store, retain, publicly perform or display, transmit, scan, reformat, modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and distribute (through multiple tiers), any User Content you (i) Post on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof subject only to your privacy settings or (ii) enable a user to Post, including by offering a Share Link on your website and (b) to use your name, likeness and image for any purpose, including commercial or advertising, each of (a) and (b) on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof.

What implications does this have for my blog and me feeding my blog into Facebook? I wasn’t sure so I started clicking around. This post seems to have the latest info but it still doesn’t really answer (at least in language that I can understand) if I post an article, artwork, or song that is originally mine – can Facebook take it and use it for their profit?

I’ve asked the Facebook blog/owner guru people with no answer yet. Until they do…I’m not importing my posts here into Facebook anymore.

UPDATE: Rob Williams wrote this to help clear the mud.

Rejoining Humanity

Grant — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 17:43:11 +0000

At least it feels like it… we finally have internet and TV service at the house. It’s a small taste of normalcy in two months of life that has been nothing but normal.

It’s funny that we really haven’t missed the TV as much as the internet. I guess that’s because we stay connected through email, facebook, and the blog. For Amy and the kids, it means the return of some Webkinz as well. (And paying bills online.)

[Sigh of contentment]

It’s especially nice to have these things today as it takes the sting out of saying goodbye to two dear friends as they head back to Colorado. What a great weekend of late night talks, cards (the guys dominated the gals), laughter, and fun. It was way too short and we’re already looking forward to seeing them as well as the rest of the Pinecrest family next month.

Test Driving My iPhone

Grant — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 05:27:51 +0000

I am writing this from my iPhone trying out the WordPress app. It really is a pain to type on the phone for a long blog but for a short one it would work.

Any one else out there blog from their phone?

New Plug-in For Facebook users of WordPress

Grant — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 17:20:27 +0000

Or WordPress users of Facebook…however you want to roll.

Here’s the plugin page: Status-Press Widget – this is the widget version.

This is the non-widget version.

I’m using the widget version over there on the right.

Basically it rips the status off an RSS feed from Facebook and let’s you display it on your website. Pretty cool, pretty amazing.

I didn’t have any problems installing it and using it. It did take me a while to figure out how to change the text size and margin on the widget. Here’s the simple version – look at the sidebar of Brian’s post on the widget and pay careful attention to the stylized format lines.

Then go here and use all the fun CSS you can imagine to make it look like you want.

Now I can annoy Amy in two places.