Mac turns 25

This past weekend I couldn't help but notice that Mac turned 25. As I listened to my iPod, surfed the net on my MacBook Pro and made some calls from my iPhone, I thought about how Apple has impacted my life.

So here in honor of turning 25 is the first introduction of the Macintosh.



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Happy Birthday Mac.

Dear Sasha and Malia

This has been making the rounds lately and I thought it was a great letter written from the Bush twins to the Obama girls.



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Rick Warren's Invocation

Rick Warren's prayer to begin the Inauguration ceremony was powerful. If you missed it you can watch it below:



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Life in Technicolor ii

Check out the link below for an interesting new video from Coldplay.

Life in Technicolor ii

Very unique.

Am I done?

Well it looks like Michael Jordan has announced the plans for his new shoe called Air Jordan 2009. (They sound like they're really cool and unique...click the link to read more) It seems that they are moving away from numbering the shoes each year. It was a natural break since last year was the Air Jordan 23 and that was Michael's number.

Now as most of you know I've been collecting the Air Jordan signature shoe each year since it has started. Yes, I have all 23 pairs and even some years I have multiple pairs. It's sort of an obsession that started when I was in 7th grade with the Air Jordan 3. And I will admit that most of the shoes in the collection have never even been on my feet. That's right, they're still brand new in the box. (But they are my size!)

So here is my question and my dilema: Is it time for me to stop collecting the shoes? Since they are starting something new this year and even increasing the price by $15, is it time? I know it's an easy decision for my wife to make, but this collection has been going on for 23 years! I really don't know how I feel about it yet. It's almost like I'm giving up on something from my childhood.

I will admit that I haven't been as excited over the past few years about getting the shoes. I used to be up at 5 AM waiting at the store to be first in line, lately I've been up at midnight getting them online.

So, maybe I'm just getting older...or maybe it's just smart to use the money in different ways. But I'm not sure I want to start collecting these new shoes....sorry Michael.

Book Review

The Faith of Barack Obama
By Stephen Mansfield

Just before the presidential election this past November I signed up to read and review the book “The Faith of Barack Obama” by Stephen Mansfield on my blog. I thought this would be a great time to read about then Senator Obama from Illinois. The election was coming fast and it seemed that this new candidate would soon be our new President. I actually finished the book this past December after the election had been completed.

This book seems easy to read, coming in at just over 150 pages. It is a quick read, something you can do in one sitting if you like. So why has it taken me so long to get the review done of such an easy read? Well I guess I could blame it on the holidays or just being lazy. (Those that know me well can make their own call on that one!)

So here is my review on the book:

Overall I thought the book was very interesting and a must read for those interested in the background of our President-elect. I’m not really sure how many books are out there on this subject but considering the length of this one it seems like a good choice. One thing I did notice as I was reading the book was that it had several different “turns” that almost gave me the feeling of several “mini” books wrapped into one. So in this review I’ll break down the “mini” books.

The book starts well by going a certain direction and giving detailed history into the life of Barack Obama. It really seemed to focus on what influenced him and what shaped him growing up. I was amazed at how many different religious beliefs or non-beliefs were thrown at him as a child. It almost seems amazing that after reading about his childhood he has retained any belief system at all. If I were to explain the book to someone else before reading it I would talk about this section of the book. It seemed to carry the most facts and background.

The first turn in the book came midway through when it hit the chapter of life that spoke of Rev. Jeremiah Wright and his influence on Mr. Obama’s life. Now, don’t get me wrong, this is an important section of life and one of the most important it seems to Mr. Obama’s personal faith. But the author almost gets caught up in this portion of his life. We stop and really dig deeper into the life of Rev. Wright and the book almost has a subsection called “The Faith of Jeremiah Wright.” The author leads us on a visit to the Trinity United Church of Christ and tells the story from his perspective as a newcomer to the church. For me personally it almost had too much detail about Rev. Wright and I seemed to lose interest in the rest of the story.

The next big turn I will review here was one of the most interesting of the book. Like I’ve said before, this seemed to be another “mini” book within the whole. It compared the faith of John McCain, Hillary Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. I must admit that these few pages were very enlightening and interesting to compare and contrast with the life of Barack Obama. But again, I felt I was reading another book, something I didn’t really sign up for. I was lost in the fact that the author wanted to show or validate Mr. Obama’s faith by comparing and contrasting it with three other major players in American politics.

Finally, I am glad that I had the opportunity to read “The Faith of Barack Obama” and would recommend it to others after explaining to them what is held in the book. That the book takes several turns and has several “mini” books within the larger book. But one big question I have after reading this book is “Do I know more about the faith of Barack Obama?” I do believe after reading the book that he has made a decision in his life to live for Jesus Christ. But I’m curious as to what that looks like in his everyday life. Has his upbringing caused his to add to his belief in Jesus? Are there many roads to heaven? How does his faith really impact his political views? I walked away with many more questions than when I began. But the insight and background did help me with some.

With this in mind, “The Faith of Barack Obama” is a good and informative read.

But the book here.

Greatest Ever

I can't believe that I haven't blogged about this. I know it was on twitter once it happened, but I've waited until now to post it here.

I am now the proud owner of an iPhone.

Sure it has taken me about two years to finally get one but that's not the point. After saving money to buy an iPhone several times (things always came up it seemed) I was finally able to get one on New Year's Eve. And I must say, this is the greatest phone ever made.

Seriously.

Now I've had every cell phone company at least once. That's right, I've been with Sprint, Alltel, Nextel, Cricket, Verizon and now AT&T. I think I've had several different phones (mostly free) over the years. So this was a big step for me. I was going to spend more money than I ever had on a phone. And commit even longer to AT&T.

But it was well worth it. And worth the wait.

The AT&T 3G network has been very reliable everywhere I've been. The battery life scared me in the beginning but I've figured out how to maximize my battery life. And it's nice having a real internet browser and the real internet at my fingertips. The touchscreen is very cool and makes using the phone a breeze.

It took me a little while to connect it to my Microsoft Exchange Server for email but once I had the right information it works great.

So, overall I'm incredibly happy with my new iPhone. I don't remember how I made it before.

But never fear, I'm still able to see my old Razor phone...since my wife is now using it!

Addicted

My name is Marc and I'm addicted to Lost.

I must admit, I've done really well until now. I had never seen nor knew anything that has been happening in the television show Lost.

But then it happened over Thanksgiving. I saw that my sister owned the first three seasons of Lost on DVD, so I asked if I could borrow the first two and start watching the show. Most of the television shows I watch were finishing their run and I didn't have much to watch over the holidays.

And I remember her warning me that once I started I would be hooked. And I'll be the first one to admit that I didn't really pay attention to her warning.

So my wife and I started season one once we returned home and that's when the addiction started. Crystal and I flew through the first season and jumped right into season two. I called my sister and told her she had to get me season three right away. (I also learned that she now has season four!)

So last night we finished season two and are ready to start season three. Here is what I know so far:

Like I said before I'm addicted to the show.
I like watching it on DVD, no commercials and each episode is 40 minutes long.
I'm more confused after finishing season two than I was when I started.

You're right, in the end I don't know much.

Anyway, I was hoping to have all four seasons finished before the new season starts in a few weeks, but that's just not possible. The good news is I'll be able to DVR the new season and then have the liberty of watching it straight through like I am now.

So if you've never seen an episode of Lost, don't watch one unless you're ready to be a Lost addict like me.

That's your warning...

Monday Fun

As most of you know, I take Monday as a day off. It's worked out pretty well, since Sunday is now a pretty busy day.

But one of the great things on my day off is that I get to hang out with my kids. And since school has started again, it is just me and my son who is 5.

And as usual, we ran around doing things together. We went to the movie store and I let him pick out some kids movies to watch. Then we went to Super Target where he was able to pick out a Hot Wheels car. I have to say, he likes the crazy looking ones.

Then we came back home to eat some lunch and watch the movies that he rented. But after he finished his lunch he came up to me at the kitchen table while I was working on my laptop. I didn't know it at the time but what was about to happen would be one of those great Father/son moments. He just wanted to give me a big hug and kiss. So, realizing that this moment was special, I picked him up and put him on my lap and we did this:


Day Off from Marc Cauthon on Vimeo.

May not seem like much to you, but those moments are priceless to me.

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