Go to www.faith-journey.com if you want to find me and read what I'm thinking

After much deliberation, I've decided to retire this blog. My random thoughts and such will now reside at paulbowman.blogspot.com for the time being. I considered going wordpress (the .org kind) but aren't ready to shell out the cash to host it and the other wordpress (the .com kind) just didn't quite pull me in.

I'm can't promise prolific blogging, as I am finding myself way busier these days. However, I have signed up for a twitter account and have been using that for little random updates (kinda silly but fun). That's also over at the new blog.

Well, it's been real. If there is anyone that still stops by here occasionally, hope to see you at the new place.

Oh yeah, I'll keep this blog up as an archive of sorts.

buh by

An anonymous commenter asked where I've been, so here's the answer.

I'm still around, honestly I have just lost a little of the blogging passion. A lot of times, I just don't know what to blog about or for what purpose I am blogging. I still value blogging, I just want to have a reason to blog, not just putting random thoughts on-line. So, that leaves me kind of in limbo.

Meanwhile, I've been writing quite a bit over at www.faith-journey.com but as for this blog (or any personal blog) I guess I'm gonna let it rest for a moment and see what happens.

Stay tuned...

For me, a little snow makes the cold weather a little more bearable!

Happy New Year!

2007 is getting off to a rainy start, but I'm hoping & praying for a great year!

This morning as I sat on the sofa with my cup of coffee, watching the rain come down, I prayed that, just like the rain, God would rain down His Spirit on the world this year. His Spirit of love, hope, peace, grace & joy. That this Spirit would reinvigorate His Church and His people and that it would be poured out on all the world so that those that don't know Him yet would come to experience His love.

Now, I don't really know much about him or about where he stands on particular issues (though he addresses some important issues on his website), but John Edwards may have a fighting chance at winning the 2008 election for president if he sticks with his current campaign strategy. It appears that he hired a bunch of tech-savvy people who realize the power of the internet and the social-network / blog movement. He's got a tech-loaded campaign complete with video-blogs, a flickr group, you-tube group, regular blogs (one campaign blog and one contributor blog), myspace & facebook. He also seems to be working on tapping into heart for social action of so many gen-xers with his One Corp and the campaign slogan "Tomorrow starts Today." So anyhow, I stumbled onto his site and thought it was very interesting (the site and his campaign). I guess we'll see if it pays off!

technorati: john+edwards

Well, 2007 is almost here so I thought I'd take a moment to write down some of the things I'd like to accomplish/work on in the coming year.

Here goes.

In 2007 I hope to:

Run a 5k (already started working on this one)

Take more pictures

Watch less meaningless TV

Read the following books (its hard to plan what books to read because there's always the ones that you find along the way, but I'd like to at least read these):
The Emotionally Healthy Church by Peter Scazzero
The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Uprising by Erwin McManus
The Contemplative Pastor by Eugene Peterson
Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Work by Eugene Peterson
Blink (have started reading this one on my last few visits to Borders) by Malcolm Gladwell
Enter the Worship Circle by Ben Pasley
The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard
Following Jesus: Biblical Reflections on Discipleship by N.T. Wright
(already I can see this list getting a little long, but hey....)

Enroll in / begin grad school (I've been saying this for over a year now, but I'm telling you this is the year!)

Love more, Live more, Dream more

Reflect more, Risk more, Do more that will live on after I’m gone

2007, Here I come!

My little sister in law just got engaged last night! Congrats!

I heard about this Christmas album from indie artist Sufjan Stevens on the Relevant Magazine Podcast and I thought I'd go check it out on i-tunes and see what all the fuss was about. I listened to a few clips and thought, "hey, 42 songs for $16 - why not?" Well, let me say that this is one amazing piece of work! Classics carols and hymns along with some originals, all with a unique and beautiful sound. The album is quirky, fun, stirring, and unlike any I've heard. I literally have been listening to it non-stop since I downloaded it onto the i-pod. If you're looking for some new Christmas tunes, definitely go check this out.

technorati: sufjan stevens

My 1 gig flash drive arrived today. Thanks to slickdeals.net and Jeff letting me know about it, once I send in the mail in rebates it will be 100% free! Sweet!

This week I've got 3 Christmas parties! Tonight is Rachel's work party at Michelle's Restaraunt, tomorrow is mine at the Modern Maturity Center, and Saturday is the Young Adult party. Gotta love Christmas parties!

My good friend Jordan is now selling 2007 calendars that feature his amazing photography. And these aren't just ordinary photos of sunsets and puppies, but photos of his missionary travels to third world countries where he helps build sustainable communities while sharing the love of God. I have to say that these calendars are really top notch - photos, design, print quality, the whole package. And lastly, the money helps him continue helping people around the world live better. Go here and buy one!

I've switched to Beta. So far I have mixed feelings. Some things I like, some things I don't, some things I don't care about. I'll have to play around with the look to get something I like. Hopefully as they continue to develop it, some new features will roll out (perhaps things like image hosting for custom headers, integrate w/ technorati for easy tagging, integration with other popular blog related programs for ease of use.....). Time will tell if Beta will be enough to push Blogger ahead of its competitors or if it will just be enough to catch up.....

Just finished reading Donald Millers Through Painted Deserts. This is the third book of his that I have read, and I have to say that he has really become one of my favorite authors. This is a revised edition of his first and now out of print book Prayer & the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance. Basically this is a journal of a cross country trip that dramatically altered his life & faith. Upon finishing the book, it felt like I had joined him on this trip. This is definitely a book to hang on to and one that will probably be read several times throughout my life.



technorati:Donald Miller, Through Painted Deserts

Free Microsoft Office like programs at openoffice.org

This is no joke, I downloaded them since on my new computer I only have an older verson of Word and I was really wanting an Excel like spreadsheet program.  Not only did I get that but also "powerpoint", "word", "access" (which I have never used), and a few others.  I haven't gotten the chance to play around with them too much, but at first glance they seem to be very similar to the old Microsoft standards and also seem to be compatible (I was able to open an old Excel file easily). 

So if you're struggling to get along without word, excel, and powerpoint or don't want to pay for an upgrade check out openoffice.org

Tags: open+office

I went hunting this past Saturday for the first time in over 10 years!  My friend "G" invited me out to his in-laws farm to do some waterfowl hunting.  We saw a couple of flocks of geese, but nothing came close enough to shoot at.  It was a good time, although 5 am was a bit too early for me. 

Last night, we saw the new Will Ferrell movie Stanger Than Fiction.  It wasn't exactly what I expected (the standard Will Ferrell comedy), but I ended up really enjoying it.  It seems that Will is working on breaking the stereotype that he only does one type of role.  This was a really good movie that had a good blend of comedy & drama and it makes you think a little.  I definitely recommend seeing it.

Tags: stranger+than+fiction, will+ferrell

I started training for a 5k this morning.  Well sort of.  Rachel and I have been wanting to get into running for exercise for quite some time, and now we've finally started.  She downloaded a podcast called "From couch to 5k in 9 weeks", and today was the first day for me.  It actually wasn't bad, getting out of bed and going out to the cold garage where our treadmill is was the hardest part.  So, we'll see, in 9 weeks we should both be gearing up for a 5k! 

Tags: running, running+podcasts