Friday Funhouse: Sept. 28, 2012

Recap of the past week on TheIsleOfMan.Net:

- On Monday, I rehashed my last six weeks, learning how to be a dad.

- On Wednesday, I admitted how, deep down, I'm just an ungrateful Israelite.

- On Thursday, I posted links to some of the best blog posts I read this week.

Bring on the laughs!

Best Blogs Posts of the Week

This dog won an award. These blog posts are award-worthy. Dude on the left makes me laugh.

For the past month, I've been living in a war zone.

As most of you know, we had our first son, Aidan, on August 11th. The combination of that experience, us learning to how to be parents and me trying to launch my new business has resulted in it feeling like I've been living underwater.

As a result, I've drastically fallen behind on almost every aspect of my life. Specifically, I've slacked on my social networking, as a whole.

I used to read several blog posts a day from authors I respected and enjoyed. Anymore, I'm lucky if I can read a couple posts a week.

Last night, I got caught up, and I happened upon some real gems.

I thought I'd be a pal and share those with you:

The Israelites Were Ungrateful Jerks ... And So Are We

Photo by Creative Commons user hellojenuine

The book of Judges details a story of betrayal -- downright treacherous backstabbing.

The short version of the story is that God delivered his people from seemingly insurmountable obstacles, and he did it many times.

You'd think they would have been grateful. The Lord vanquished their enemies. He toppled walls.

He parted the Red Sea!

But, they weren't grateful. They grumbled. They wanted more. Nothing that God did was ever enough for them. In fact, not only did they not show their appreciation for his miracles and wonders, they turned from Him, on multiple occasions, and went so far as to worship other pagan gods.

As Christians, it's so easy to sit back, read those stories and pass judgement, making statements like, "How dare they turn their back on God after all He did for them!"

My question for you is this: Are we really any better?

A Look Back at My First Six Weeks as a Parent

Before my son, Aidan, was born, I had a lot of people tell me that this website would turn into a "daddy blog," because of my pride and pre-occupation with my new, baby boy.

I scoffed at those suggestions, but it was mainly out of complete ignorance in regard to what my life would become after the birth of a child.

I still don't know that you'll ever see a total changeover here at TheIsleOfMan.net, but there definitely has been an influence.

If you have kids, you feel me.

It's been six weeks since Aidan was born, and I wanted to recap the highs, the lows, the good, the bad and the ugly:

Friday Funhouse: Sept. 21, 2012

It's been a rough week.

Wednesday, I posted a bit of a "vent post," and I'm sorry if it was a bummer. It's hard not to let that kind of stuff go public. I meant it, and it was real, but I'll try and lighten up a little.

This should be a good place to start:

The Lack of Blog Posts and My Current Depressed State

Until today, I haven't written, this week.

I've been busy, but I've also been bogged down. I'm currently going through the toughest stretch of my life. I've never been under so much pressure. I'm married, I have a mortgage payment and a one-month old baby boy...and I haven't made significant money from my business in almost a month.

I knew this wouldn't be easy. I knew there was a reason why not everyone works for themselves. But, even with all that said, it's been somewhat remarkable the way that I just have not been able to catch a break, as of late.

Friday Funhouse: Sept. 14, 2012

It was busy week. For the first time in a while, I was able to step my game up and publish a whopping five posts; one per day.

Yay, me.

In case you missed any of it, here's a recap:

On Monday, we talked about jerks, parenting and what the two have to do with each other.

On Tuesday, we talked about the miracle of childbirth and how easy it is to take it for granted.

On Wednesday, we examined the topic of praying with expectations.

On Thursday, we shared a few things about ourselves in a fun, fill-in-the-blanks challenge.

Before we get to the funny pictures and whatnot, I wanted to encourage you guys to support a couple friends of mine.

My friend Chad Gibbs has an awesome new book out on the topic of sports rivalries. It's entitled: Love Thy Rival, and you can buy it HERE.

Another buddy of mine, Clay Morgan, has a new book called Undead, a book about the supernatural and revitalizing the faith of believers. You can buy it HERE.

After you read both books (and you're going to read both books...right?), please make sure and leave them a kind, five-star review on Amazon. It's the right thing to do.

Ok. Let's get this party started:

Fill in the Blanks

Wanna play a game?

Awesome. I knew you would.

Here's how it's going to work: I'm going to start a sentence. You finish it. It'll be fun. I promise.

1) If I could change one thing about myself, it would be...

2) I wish I had more time to...

3) The thing that currently makes me the happiest is...

4) Knowing that it's almost Autumn again makes me feel...

5) If Ben and Jerry named an ice cream flavor after me, they'd call it...

I'll go first!

Praying Expectantly

It's been a crappy month.

There. I said it. I try to be more positive and inspirational with what I say here, but, sometimes it's tough just not to vent.

That's half the reason we blog, anyway, right? If we can't vent here, where can we?

As most of you know, I was laid off a few months back. If you've been reading, you also know that my wife, Kim, and I just had our first baby, and that I've recently started my own web design business from out of our home.

It's been a roller coaster ride.

I've Taken Miracles for Granted

Photo by Natalie Fowler

Today, my son, Aidan, is one full month old.

That blows my mind. It feels like it was just yesterday that he was born, and only a moment later that we were bringing him home -- newly minted parents who were scared to death of ruining or breaking their baby.

But, it's been a month. A month of learning. A month of sleep deprivation. A month of self-sacrifice. A month of pain. A month of depending on each other, as well as our friends and family.

And it's not okay that that is those are my initial comments when you ask me how it's been going.

This Blog Exists to Rid the World of Jerks

You're not gonna like this.

I anticipate this being one of my most widely read posts, and I also expect it to be largely loathed. Here's why.

I'm gonna drop a dump truck load of truth on you, and people don't generally love hearing the straight up truth. The response is usually a cringe or a "you really shouldn't say that."

I know there's something to be said about speaking the truth in love. It's something I've worked on. With that said, I simply can't divorce myself from my passion for speaking truth.

It has a lot to do with the "why" of how this blog came into being.

Friday Funhouse: September 7, 2012

It was a short week on the blog. Monday was Labor Day, so I relaxed, and I didn't write. This vacation extended into Tuesday, and quite frankly, if I don't have anything worth saying, I'd rather just take that day off and not write.

On Wednesday, we had a group discussion about what we've all been up to lately.

On Thursday, we talked about our dreams and what we wanna be when we grow up.

But today -- today is Friday...the day that we amuse ourselves with pictures of animals, babies and stupid people.

Enjoy.

Life Isn't What I Thought It Would Be...It's Better

I was like most kids.

I had big dreams. From the age of 10 to about 14, I wanted to be a professional hockey player. Wayne Gretzky was my hero. I even was blessed enough to see him play, in person. There are no words to describe it. I wanted to be just like him.

At 14, I picked up the guitar, along with dreams of being a rockstar musician. I played in various bands. I had songs that were played on the radio. I even did a national tour, coast to coast. Our band was in talks with a couple of small record labels. But, after five grueling years, we broke up. It just never happened for me.

I've worked just about every job you can imagine. Most recently, I was laid off from my teaching job after six years of indentured servitude.

Now, I run my own web and graphic design business from out of my home. It's a work in progress, and I'm crossing my fingers that I'll be able to make enough money to keep doing it. I love it. It's perfect for me.

I also write for a mixed martial arts (MMA) webzine called MMAmania.com. It's a part time thing. I don't get paid a ton, but it's fun, and I hope it will eventually lead to bigger opportunities.

None of this is what I had in mind when I was growing up. But, I'm not complaining.

What Have You Been Up To?

What are you looking at?

It's Wednesday.

Why am I telling you that? You know what day it is, right? I'm telling you because it's Wednesday, and I haven't really written anything here for days.

Why?

It's not because I don't love you or because I don't love writing here. I've been busy. Really, really busy. I've been busting my butt trying to get a new graphic design business off the ground. I've been trying to figure out how to be a dad, and how to get my kid to sleep at night.

It's been a whirlwind, but I'm making myself sit down and write, because I don't want to neglect this blog, and I certainly don't want to neglect you.