I love cool apps for my Mac. I found this one today on my favorite website and thought I’d pass it along because it’s only $5 and it’s called Desktop Shelves.
Desktop Shelves is normally a $15 app so this is a really good deal. The app takes all your documents, pictures, or whatever you’d like and lets you drag and drop them on a “shelf” that is on your desktop. This is no mere wallpaper and you shuffle everything over it and pretend there’s a shelf. No, no, no. This is an actual shelf, equipped with cover-flow style browsing and sorting. Previews of documents and pictures and all. So I love it. I think you will, too. Check it out by following the link below if you think you’re interested. You can also watch this quick video to see how simple it is to use. I don’t get paid anything if you buy it. But I do get brownie points so go check it out!
You can follow this link to take you to get the app…but you better hurry because I think today is the last day to get it. It said the offer expires in 11 hours when I got mine. And let me know if you like it or get it! I’d like to know if you like my recommendations here.
Regina George sure has changed since Mean Girls! I love that movie! But when I saw this picture I about died. But first a little refresher from the best movie ever…
It’s just another day for Awesome God. He’s got so much planned for the day. But nothing is impossible for Him. If you see Him, say hello and thank Him for being so awesome…because that’s who God is…Awesome.
Well…I haven’t been in the 220’s for about 10 years. The last time I remember being this light was just after September 11th happened. At that time I was 225…and that was the heaviest I’d ever been. I don’t know how I got to 265 since that time…but for sure it was 1 pound at a time. So, working out and diet always comes down to be the answer. Lord knows I held out for my doctor to give me that secret pill that they hide and never share. It’s cool though…I can own my weight loss. It’s only been 4 months and when I lose 2 more pounds by Sunday (I can sort of tell it’s going to happen) I’ll be at 225 and will have lost 40 pounds. That’s almost 10 pounds a month. How the heck did that happen??
I started thinking last night…what the hell am I gonna do when I get to an ideal weight? Will I have the willpower and courage to maintain it? People have already sort of gotten used to me being lighter and I’m certainly not obsessing over my weight. But I’ve never been able to hold it off for long. But something feels different this time. This feels like a lifestyle change for sure. I’m happy with my health…and am getting better every day. I’ve gone from taking a 300mg blood pressure medication to a 10mg one…my blood pressure is textbook perfect now. I’ll keep you posted on how I continue to do. I appreciate all the love and support during my whiney times and my bitching. I can’t promise I won’t do it again…but at least I’m lighter for getting it all out and getting back on track.
Everyone, this is a brilliant performer in Houston named Tye Blue and he’s amazingly talented and funny. He posted this picture today and I just loved him more for it. Happy Chicken Pride Day! Thanks Tye for making everyone smile during this. I especially love you for making me smile and for being such a great human being. You’re inspiring. Thanks!
What’s your Home Screen have on it? Since most people consider their Home Screen to be the most valuable real estate on their device, your Home Screen can say a lot about you and what’s important to you.
Mine has a lot of social stuff like Twitter, FourSquare, Facebook and of course my Google+. I also use MyFitnessPal and really love the new Podcasts App from Apple now that they’ve updated it and it’s not so sluggish. If you don’t know about Podcasts you should try them. They are wonderful little broadcasts (usually audio) that are recorded by individuals or groups about a ton of topics. I have some business podcasts and fitness ones that I listen to for motivation. I’ll do a post on which ones I subscribe to in the future!
I have Spotify because I use it every single day (love that app). I can listen to all my songs on iTunes and on all my iDevices no matter where I am. This is great when I’m running or at the office. I can stream the music so I don’t have to take up a lot of memory on my devices. Love!
And, of course, I have the full suite of Facebook Apps to manage my pages and upload the photos quicker. The Messenger app kind of feels like overload to me and I don’t really use it that often, but I keep it handy. Usually I’ll get messages through the Facebook app itself.
I also use AppAdvice every day. They are probably the most comprehensive, up to date, blog I know of about apps. And their guides for Apps are amazing and so thorough. I can highly recommend them!!
So that’s it! What’s on your iPhone or iPad? How do you organize your Home Screen? Which apps make the cut?
I think I’m beginning to get a little better understanding of what is happening on the planet at this time. All of this talk of gay rights, Christianity and chicken got me so upset over the last week that I seriously began to doubt that we, as a species, would ever really find a way out of this. It felt hopeless. I have never felt the level of despair and hopelessness I’ve felt recently. As bad as it has ever gotten for me and my life, and believe me I’ve had some rotten times mixed into the great stuff, I’ve never ever lost hope that it could get better. Until I saw how people treated each other this past week. The things that were said were hurtful on both sides. All of a sudden you either believed in Jesus Christ and his selected bible passages…or you were a total heathen and deserved death, hatred, or at the very least, to be vilified.
I’ve lived a pretty sheltered life for the most part. I didn’t have the same experience of coming out as a lot of teenagers and others have had. My parents accepted me the minute I told them I was gay. That was at 11 years old. At 9 years old I remember telling my dad that I was different than the other boys. I didn’t know why I was different…I just remember liking my boy friends and loved being with them. My dad and I sat on the floor in my parent’s bedroom and talked about it. He assured me that there was not a thing wrong with my feelings nor about my feeling different. He told me it was normal and that it may change, but not to worry about it…just be myself. Then we listened to music together…Roger Whittaker to be exact. The song I remember from that time is New World in The Morning. The lyrics went like this:
Everybody talks about a new world in the morning.
A new world in the morning so they say.
I, myself don’t talk about a new world in the morning.
A new world in the morning, that’s today.
And I can feel a new tomorrow comin’ on.
And I don’t know why I have to make a song.
Everybody talks a bout a new world in the morning.
New world in the morning takes so long.
I’m very appreciative of my parent’s love and acceptance of me. Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t experience that kind of love like I did. Whenever I did experience being called a fag or other hateful words intended to hurt me, I paid no attention. I embraced it for the most part. If you were going to call me fag or gay, then I’d be the best fag or gay you’d ever met. It was the ultimate in revenge really. In Junior High and High School I went so far as to wear makeup to school and dress in crazy clothes. Luckily it was the 80’s so you could pretty much get away with crazy stuff like that and everybody thought it was cool….mostly.
So here we are in 2012 and arguments are being started, wires are being crossed and a few people are stirring the pot for whatever reason. It reminded me when I read Plato’s Republic. The metaphor of the cave in particular, I believe, applies to this situation. There are a group of people in a cave. (cave could be interpreted to be life here). The people inside the cave can only look upon the shadows cast upon the wall of the cave before them. Light comes to them from a great fire burning behind them, higher up, and at a distance. Located between this fire and the people of the cave is a road at a higher level along this road a low wall has been built. Here other people have puppets, which they use to cast the shadows upon the cave wall.
These shadows are given names by the people in the cave, and they consider them to be real things. However anyone outside of the cave in the bright sunlight would no longer see the shadows (or be under the illusion manifested by the puppet show). The people inside the cave cannot stand the bright light of the sun outside, and so always avert their eyes back to the shadow wall.
These are the people who seem to be asleep to the spiritual world, dreaming a dream of worldly consciousness, and afraid of waking up. The process of ‘waking up’ or turning away from the obsession with ego, and the mundane awareness, away from the shadows and back toward the light, is Metanoia – the transformation of the mind from that which is worldly to that which is the light of true consciousness.
People, at any time, can choose to not be enamored by the shadows in the cave. The shadows have names…freedom of religion, the right of a business to operate however they want, the right to be married, the fear of God’s wrath when we say we know better than Him. All of this is just a temporary distraction from what is really going on here…there is a brighter place that we have feared to go to together. There are puppets used as distractions so we stay in the cave. There is fear that you will wake up and stop believing all this. But it’s really hard to save face and change your mind. There is an art to changing your mind. Christian’s can change their mind and stand on higher principals of love and acceptance. But if they did they would have to accept love in all it’s forms. My gay brothers and sisters would have to have a lot of compassion and understanding while we all grew together and come out of this cave. And we’d have to remember that there are going to be those who are SO committed that we stay where we are that they will use any means necessary to keep us there…including dividing us, killing us and separating us inside our communities. If there is a devil…surely this is it.
So what now? We are on the cusp of something big…I can feel it. All the distractions and smokescreens that will be thrown our way cannot take us off course from our journey together. But they will try. Chic Fil A is a distraction/shadow. Sarah Palin eating at their place and flaunting it is a distraction/shadow. Hate groups aren’t anything new…but they are also a distraction. The KKK was a distraction. It’s ALL a distraction. It’s nothing but shadows. So let’s get our head back in the game here and look for a way to bring this together. There is a new world coming…and a new world in the morning, that’s today.
Be kind to each other. For everyone (all of us) is fighting a hard battle.
Thank you dad (and mom) for the inspiration for this. You did a great job with me and I love you for it.
I’m such a predictable person. As much as I’d love to think I play life off the cuff, I am a creature of habit. This morning I was changing channels as I’m prone to do on Sunday morning. I was looking for a good movie to watch..but truthfully I was looking for one of the same old movies I have to watch when I see it on tv. We all have them…those movies you’ve seen a million times but for some reason when you see them on tv or find them on Netflix, you just HAVE to stop and watch. It’s a strange phenomena.
Here’s my top list of movies I have to watch when I see they are on TV:
1. White Chicks
I consider myself to be a smart man and have some good taste. But this movie is my ultimate guilty pleasure. Two heterosexual men have to go undercover as two bitchy, snarky white chicks who are spoiled and rich. The lines in this movie are PRICELESS. I seriously laugh out loud to every one of them…even though I’ve heard them so many times! You can read some of the best lines here.
#2 The Matrix
I love this movie so much I can barely stand it when I see it on TV. It’s usually on one of those channels that broadcasts it as a 5 hour movie, with 3 of those hours being commercials…seriously hate that. But I’ll watch it anyway because I love it so much. It’s hard to believe it’s been out for so long…over 10 years ago. But this movie literally changed my life. It made me question if the reality I lived in was really real. Did I have a choice in who I was going to be in life…or was I just acting out some predetermined hallucination? Very powerful stuff. I can quote all the lines from The Oracle and it usually drives everyone crazy who happens to be sitting in the same room with me while it’s on. Seeing Neo become who he really is is simply the most moving experience I’ve ever had at the movies. I loved it so much, it helped redefine who I think I am for myself and others. I’m very grateful for this movie and it’s subsequent sequels. But this one started it all.
3. Planet of The Apes
I was born in 1968, when this movie came out. By the time I was old enough to see the movie there had been a few sequels to it like Beneath the Planet of The Apes and Rise of The Planet of The Apes. Anything that involved time travel, apes, space and cute guys garnered my attention immediately. The first time I watched Planet of The Apes was on a late night movie broadcast on a local channel in Houston. I couldn’t sleep…I was so thrilled that I literally could not sleep. I thought about the movie over and over again. And since this was so long ago and there were not rebroadcasts of the movie or even VCR’s nor DVD’s, I couldn’t watch it again until many years later. This movie opened up a level of creativity and critical thinking in me that I had not experience before. I actually felt different as a kid, being gay and all but not knowing that’s what it was. I identified with every character in the movie at some point in my life. I appreciate the forward thinking this movie provided.
#4 Logan’s Run
Wow…how do I explain my love of Logan’s Run? It was made in 1976. I was 8 years old but I’m not sure when I first saw it or where I was. I only remember the profound impact it had on me. I would often joke that I don’t know what my life would be like after 30…but it didn’t matter because I wouldn’t live that long anyway. Before I got sober nearly 15 years ago this year, I remember thinking to myself how fast and hard I lived my life believing that I wouldn’t be alive past 30 anyway…just like the characters in the movie…so I decided to live life full-on! The only problem with that was that the drugs I used didn’t really allow me to live life full-on…it wasn’t nearly as glamorous as it would seem…lol. Logan’s Run inspired me in art class one year as I remember drawing transport tubes for people to travel inside from city to city. Science Fiction made such a huge difference for me while growing up. This movie was an important part of my development as a young man and I’m forever grateful for it. There was a version of the movie called The Island (with Ewan McGregor) that I loved also. It’s a little different premise than Logan…but just as exciting!
#5 Girls Will Be Girls
OK…how do I explain this movie. Three actresses at various places on the Hollywood food chain navigate the minefield of love, aging, and ambition. Oh, and they’re all played by men! This movie is hilarious. The lines are incredible. The humor is amazing and so sharp. The characters, all played by men, are so well written and thought out. This started out as a little internet skit video and turned into this little masterpiece that isn’t broadcast too often on television. But it is on Netflix and that is dangerous because I have to watch it every freakin time I see the movie poster. I see something different in the movie every time I watch it and laugh louder and think how did I miss that? This isn’t a gay movie…the characters aren’t gay men…they are actually playing women in the movie…actually there are no women in the movie at all (a little bit of trivia). It helps to have the subtitles on so you don’t miss anything. This is one of my all-time favorite movies and I find it intoxicating and amazing. The sequel is on it’s way soon and I’ll be there watching it for sure!
There are many more movies I could tell you about…but these are my absolute favorites. They continue to delight and inspire me on so many levels. They make me think. They make me believe that life is going to work out after all. And they remind me that there is a future and it is bright and love works out all in the end. Thanks for reading. I’d love to know what your favorite movies to catch on television or Netflix and why. So how about it? What’s your movie??
UPDATE: I just found this incredible Advanced Screening Preview that was made for theater owners to hopefully select Logan’s Run to play in their theaters. It’s got some pretty amazing unseen before scenes. Check it out for a blast from the past and super treat!
Desktop Shelves is normally a $15 app so this is a really good deal. The app takes all your documents, pictures, or whatever you’d like and lets you drag and drop them on a “shelf” that is on your desktop. This is no mere wallpaper and you shuffle everything over it and pretend there’s a shelf. No, no, no. This is an actual shelf, equipped with cover-flow style browsing and sorting. Previews of documents and pictures and all. So I love it. I think you will, too. Check it out by following the link below if you think you’re interested. You can also watch this quick video to see how simple it is to use. I don’t get paid anything if you buy it. But I do get brownie points so go check it out!
Downtown Harold's Place 