“It’s My Birthday, I Can Blog If I Want To”
Thank for visiting my site and for all the gifts in the mail, emails, FB messages, etc, that have been flooding in…
i love you all!
Turning 31 years old marks 10 years since quite a few momentous occurrences in the life of Brent, so i’ll kick this post off with a list of some of those events mixed in with other trivial facts…
10 Years Ago in the Life of Brent at Age 21:
- i was full of piss and vinegar.
- smoked cigarettes and cig-a-weed
- drove a little cute but extremely loud blue CRX.
- moved to Austin, TX and subsequently began an 8 year tenure of living there.
- didn’t know many people outside my peer group, but was eager to meet new people
- witnessed 2 of my grandparent’s departure from planet earth to go be with Jesus.
- began cross training for endurance sports, just after rehabilitation from serious injury.
- spent a lot of time (sometimes romantically) entertaining best friend Krystal Kay!
- launched the website you’re browsing now, www.brentchristian.com
- began using Linux, exclusively, as my desktop platform.
- became of U.S. legal age to purchase and consume alcoholic beverages.
- started my first business, BCS – Brent’s Computer Services.
- formed acoustic-wanting-to-be-rock-n-roll band with friends Monte Peck and Derick.
ok, let’s see what has changed about your’s truly by contrasting the above with this…
Brent at age 31:
- full of the Holy Spirit!
- only ‘toking the Ghost’
- drives a Jeep Cherokee and a Toyota Corolla.
- been traveling a lot since leaving TX for the East Coast. (2 years ago last month) currently living in VA, and soon to take on a completely nomadic lifestyle.
- have made friends with the most outrageously fun and intelligent people i could find from all over the world.
- witnessed the birth of my 1st nephew.
- kept up endurance excercise on and off over the years, but getting more serious about it again as I begin to train for this exciting event – http://www.nationalmarathon.com/
- single, not a playboy anymore, knows how to treat women, and got my eyes on ‘the one’.
- just made a commitment to keep www.brentchristian.com freshly updated and will also be bringing all the original content love back onboard.
- still using Linux, i’m a genius working with it now.
- rarely consuming alcohol these days, but looking foward to a drinking a Guiness tonight for my b-day (mm …they’re so good for you, ya know)
- quit working with computers for a couple of years (as a proffesion) until earlier this year. launching a consulting business, just as I did 10 years ago!
- still playing guitar!!
I don’t even have plans about what i’ll do today yet, but i don’t really care… i’m just so excited to be alive that just about anything will suit my day. why is that? …because everyday is like a birthday for me!! (complete with cake even, thanx to the lovely Mrs Vera Mills who consistently bakes delightful cakes and other goodies for me nearly each week.) i could spent time on any one of my many projects and be thrilled about it. so far, i’ve been up since 5 A.M. working away, and having a blast at it! yeah!! i celebrate life everyday i wake up, and each and every day i’m thankful to God for another one.
if i have a day like today tomorrow i’ll be just as overjoyed as I’ve been all day today!
Now many of you may be thinking, “why is this guy so ding-dong happy about his life?” … well, seriously get to know me and it will only be a matter of time before you understand. In fact you might find yourself in daily celebratory bliss as well, because this Joy is contagious.
And for those of you who think you know me well and are also asking the same question; perhaps doubting my genuine happiness… what question you really need to be asking yourself instead is, “do i even know this brent guy anymore”, cause you aren’t nearly as close to me as you think you are! Most likely you are stuck with some past memory of me, have misjudged my life, or may even be in error on both accounts. Several instances of late come to mind in which people who i should have a closer relationship with, including family, have asked about my welfare, asked about my future, asked about what i’m going to do with my life, etc, etc. hilariously to me, they’ve been asking as if they are worried about me… meanwhile, i’m living it up over here and loving life! yesterday after fielding some of these questions over the phone, i just laughed my head off afterwards… ooh what a difference perspective makes. i know this person meant well, but i wish they’d get a clue! ok, so that’s my birthday wish! …that people who i love will take the effort to get to know me better, that they will see my life in the new light that it’s been brought into. Hint: anyone who truly knows Jesus will understand what i mean here. …ya know how life with Him only get better with each passing day!?
i rarely ask for anything on my birthday. i really have most everything i want. of the things i would like to acquire, most of the items are somewhat eclectic items which i could never feel comfortable asking anyone to go out of their way to obtain. things like rare documentaries, books, electronics, etc. basically stuff that is pretty specific. because i don’t like telling someone exactly what i want when it’s a gift, i don’t. i rather be surprised with something i like than have to tell someone exactly what to buy me, that’s just lame! people who have a sincere relationship with you know what you like. that’s why true friends are usually the ones who give the most memorable gifts.
i can’t even remember any birthday wishes of prior years, but this year i’ve got some that certainly take the cake… i think it’s cause my mind has been on super-hyper-over-drive lately. some of you would be fast to quip, “…well isn’t it always”? yes. true. …but, this time my mind has REALLY gone off the charts people! now that just might scare some of you, but trust me it’s being channeled into 100% quality productiveness this time around. so, more on that later in upcoming post and to be seen else where online when i finally begin launching the handful of projects scheduled for release over the next few months. for now, suffice it to say that i’ll be putting up something around 20+ new tasty websites.
🙂
ok, still following along?? …umm yeah, birthday wishes… i actually have some this year!
when my mom asked me about what i might want, i joked with her about wanting a specific special woman for my b-day… only, i seriously wasn’t joking! spending time with her is all i want to do and would certainly make this birthday boy’s day a truly special one! …so there’s day-dream # 1…
my 2nd wish has now also turned into a daydream… what else i’m seriously wishing for is too HUGE to plan *this* year… i have this fantastic dream of calling up ALL my friends from all over the world and flying them into NY for a party! …and i’m talking about everyone i know! so yeah, kinda a big dream and a little expensive too. nevertheless, it’s fun to imagine what a crazy combination of beautiful people it would be and to see my favorite people all in one place getting to know each other would be really awesome.
i’ve always subscribed to the philosophy that people, whether deserving or not, should be able to ‘have their cake and eat it too’…this mentality applied to vision says to me, ‘what good purpose are those dreams without ever seeing them realized… don’t let the cake just go to waste while looking at it, you idiot!” LOL …so be certain that i’ll remain a busy boy from now on with not only day-dreaming about those b-day wishes, but also plotting, planning, and scheming up ways to make both these awesome dreams come true! …and how about by 32?!
until then… what i’m asking for, is for everyone who i love to give me at least an hour on the phone with them!
…”what?! an entire hour.. is he crazy?!” well, of course i’m crazy! ok, i realize in our busy world, an hour may seem to be asking a lot …but consider that i’ll really be the one giving up the most time by putting this idea into practice, especially in my case. being the oldest of 7 siblings gives me 2 hours with my sisters, 4 hours of brothers, and another 2 for Mom and Dad, which totals 9 hours worth of talk time just for family!
oops… this simpler wish also comes with a little bit of complication, which is that i cannot be available to talk on the phone until mid month October! so, i’m asking for commitments instead.
“commitments!! …yikes; what a frightening word! …see, he really is crazy!”
well if that scares you, i bid thee farewell… for we have actually nearly reached the end of today’s blog journey here anyways and i do hope you enjoyed it! many thanx for joining along with me for this lengthy birthday rant!! leave your questions, comments, blah, blah, etc. in the box down below.
 …for those brave souls wanting to chat it up with me over the phone as suggested, i’ve gone and made it super simple for you to grant my birthday by pledging to giving me a chunk of your phone time. just use the handy lil widget below to schedule a time and leave a message. (…and, no, it doesn’t have to be an hour!)
[ Yikes!! This calendar schedule widget area is broken… but that’s ok, it’s not my birthday anymore! …and I don’t need random stalkers looking me up anymore 🙂 ]
while i mostly look forward to spending some time with close friends or family, those of you who are regular readers and would sincerely like to get to know me more here’s your chance. When using the app above to schedule a phone meeting, please leave some additional notes about why your interested in contacting me though. – thanx!
ok, after proofreading this article i’m going for a nap and then out to eat!!
woa, what’s that i hear?!? … a package delivery! …hooray for Birthday presents!!
[thank you Janice for all the shoobie doobie stuff, and who would have thought, a delicious birthday cupcake in the mail – wow funny!]
Thank you lovelies for hanging out with me here ~ blessings on all of you 🙂
– brent
Posted in Biography, BrenT's ThoughtS and tagged austin, birthday, BrenT's ThoughtS, God, miracles, web journal by Brent with 2 comments.
Divine Connections
so… I finally arrived home after taking a much delayed flight!
…but no complaints whatsoever since it was all part of God’s awesome design at work in my life! For me, this weather related flight delay was a joyful myriad of opportunities.
Just about every time I step out of the house it seems God has some great provision awaiting me through one of His servants. Likewise, every time I go out He also puts many people in my path of which I have the joy of meeting and serving.
As I just traveled home after 3 days away for a “job training”, I had many of these connections along the way, all of which details will be included in my latest book-in-progress aptly titled, “Divine Connections”.
It is most remarkable to realize that almost every person I meet along my journey through life are of utmost importance to my destiny. Whether it be it a lowly beggar or a rich ruler I rarely take for granted these great encounters lest I be blinded by sin and miss God’s best for me. It is because of these wonderful experiences, and my trust in Jesus that I continue to look for blessings in even the worst of situations and welcome these “Divine Connections”.
Posted in BrenT's ThoughtS, Travel and tagged BrenT's ThoughtS, Compassion, Homeless, Jesus Revolution, miracles, Travel, web journal by Brent with 2 comments.
nostalgia
welcome to my online turf… www.brentchristian.com. it’s nice to be back after almost 8 years of not being online! i certianly couldn’t foresee (or even scarcely imagine) being away for so long! i have been a computer junkie since 9 yrs old and i ‘lived’ online well before the internet was widely available. while it seems the idea of even having an ‘online identity’ is still a rather new concept for many, i was keen to the idea back in 1993 which makes me seem old since it may be difficult for you to imagine life without the internet now, however i’m only 29 years old. my personal site started out hosted on my own server thanx to an old box running Slackware 1.7 and it died shortly after my last post on 7/7/01. i miss all the cool people and the good vibes of those who where web journaling back before the Pyra folks started calling us ‘bloggers’. if you check out some of those old websites courtesy of the way back machine you’ll see what i mean… or umm probably not, it’s one of those things where you like had to be there. anyways, i love/hate computers and have been working with them since 1988, i used to run up the phone bill dialing BBSs and actually miss those times (not the 1200 baud connection though, or monochrome screens). the sad thing was that i was still playing on BBSs when radiply more and more than just an elite few started to enjoy the ‘world wide web’ and with higher and higher speeds, mind you; while i was stuck out in a small rural town literally chomping at the bit. when i finally got set free from small town hell i started my own computer company during the dot com pre crunch era… ahhh where am i now ….and what am i talking about?? wow this is seriously ancient boring stuff, but i bet you read at least 90% of it. that is time you’ll never get back my friend, hope you don’t mind LOL!! next time read faster using spreeder.com. …ohh yeah, i would call myself the ‘internet rock star’ if that title didn’t properly belong to ben brown.
enjoy my new personal site www.brentchristian.com and thanx for visiting, you big reader you!!
peace out – brent
Posted in Biography, BrenT's ThoughtS, Technology and tagged 1993, 1995, BBS, ben brown, bloggers, brent christian, computer history, online, prya, slow connections, web dev, web developer, web journal, web log, weblog by Brent with no comments yet.