iPhone

Have you caught the iPhone fever? I believe I have. Last night I went to a Cingular store at 9pm to check out the iPhone, to my surprise they were sold-out! This morning I once again went on the iPhone hunt. This time I browsed the Apple website and tried to contact my local Apple store. This was a failed attempt as well. I decided the next best thing to buying an iPhone was making one. I grabed my cell phone and my 60GB iPod Video and quickly realized the iPhone I had created was far superior to the $600 iPhone. My iPhone works with my current cell phone service carrier, it has 60GB of storage, and it was free. Don’t get me wrong I would like an iPhone, but for now my creation will have to do.

With Love,
John

A Night with Family

I spent my evening yesterday with some great friends. Derek and Reggie are the coolest kids to hang out with. Reggie, the kid in the picture, loves to overuse the word dude and laughs about anything while Derek takes pleasure in saying funny things to make you smile when you would least expect it. After a long dinner with my friends, we ventured out to find ice cream. It was on that journey that I realized everyone should be just like my uncle Dan. The guy is so patient, he drove across all of Desert Hot Springs looking for a Cold Stone that didn’t exist, all with a smile on his face. We ended up having to settle for Golden Spoon (it’s too healthy for me but whatever). When we returned to the condo Julia my sister hung out with my aunt and cousin while my friend Pat (my cousin) and I went swimming. It was a great night and I loved getting to spend time with my family!

Accept,
John

Vlog: My week (Video Blog)

Click video box twice two play vlog!

Click video box twice two play vlog!

Take the time...

Too often I forget how great volunteer youth leaders are. This week I was once again reminded that most leaders are irreplaceable. Tammy, one of our group’s faithful leaders has been investing her time gathering donations for our annual community Graduation Night Party. I for the most part put the event aside until it is the day of the event but Tammy has been working hard making sure everything is perfect for the last week. Thank you for your dedication to making this night safe and perfect for all of the youth in our community, you’re the best Tammy. Take the time today to thank someone for doing a great job.

Accept,
John Denton

Tech Tip: Fast System Startup (msconfig)

Do you ever get tired of having to wait 10 minutes for your computer to boot up? Then you have to go through and close 15 programs after they auto start just so you can check what time a movie is playing or look at the day’s sports scores. I know I do! Every time you load a new piece of software or download an update it is likely that by default it automatically goes into auto startup (If you designed the software wouldn’t you want it to auto startup; talk about branding). Thankfully you can take the issue into your own hands, forget about the geek squad. Select what programs you want to auto start and what ones you don’t. It is that simple. Here is the step by step (with screen shots thanks to last week’s tech tip):

Step 1: Click the start button

Step 2: Click Run

Step 3: Type msconfig in the open field and click ok

Step 4: Click the startup tab

Step 5: Deselect all of the application you do not want to start up

ex. Qttask and iTunesHelper are two programs I do not want to auto start so I deselect them (warning: do not deselect programs that you need for startup such as windows operations and your sound driver)

Step 6: Click ok and then click restart when prompted

Step 7: After your computer restarts click the do not show me this message again box and then click ok

Step 8: Enjoy fast startups

Try at your own risk!

Accept,
John Denton

Surfboards, Strange Hats, and Relaxation

I love this picture because Phil looks so silly standing next to his new board. At the beginning of this week I took a few days off. I hung out with Phil and Zac, and did nothing but surf. It was super fun to get to hang out with friends for a few days and relax. I think that relaxation is vital for our spiritual, physical, and mental well being. Too often people ask me, “John it seems like you sit around and relax a lot.”

"If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met (Matthew 6:29-31, The Message).

I relax not because I am lazy; I just want to be fresh when high energy moments come around, and when those big decisions have to be made. Take a rest and let the world go on without you for a few minutes, God will provide.

Accept,
John Denton

(Paul wrote to Timothy about a few guys who relaxed a little too much (1Timothy 1:19, The Message) and started to miss the point)

Fathers Day!

For everyone out there who cares about my car you will be glad to know that the clutch install was a success. My car now actually has some pep! Today I am planning on playing volleyball and hanging out with friends in the church park! If you want to join us feel free to show up at 4:30pm and play. I am also looking forward to spending tomorrow with my dad! After all it is father’s day. I write about my dad a lot because he has been such a major influence in my life, but I think it is good to honor our fathers everyday and continue to tell them how much they mean to us. Enjoy this picture of my dad having fun!

Accept,
John

1988 Honda Civic Hatchback

My car is old. It has Hawaiian print seat covers that are old. The paint job looks pretty old, it’s the original one (at one time it was tan now people think it is white). I love my car though. It’s a classic. Plus it is dependable and gets about the same gas millage as most hybrids. Did I say dependable? I meant to say it was dependable, until it almost didn’t make it home from work on Tuesday. My clutch is old and has been getting lame, Tuesday it stopped accelerating altogether and my engine began to rev really hard. It was pretty funny, people were getting mad and flying around me; I wasn’t bothered too much and enjoyed cruising at 20 mph listening to Elliot Yamin. Today I took my classic car (or old car) into the mechanic to get a new clutch, and tomorrow I will be back on the streets of Riverside, shifting smother than ever. The best part about the picture is that it’s not my civic, I simply used Photoshop to try and make a blue civic look tan.

Accept,
John Denton

How to Print Screen (Prt Scrn)

Have you ever wanted to know how people show an image of their computer screen in a Power Point presentation or on their website? Think no more! Today I am going teach you the three easy steps to making an image file out of what is on your computers screen.

1. The first step is that you need to click the Prt Scrn key located at the top right of your keyboard next to your F Keys

2. The second step is that you need to open up image editing software; I used Photo Shop, most Microsoft applications will work

3. The third step is that you need to hit ctrl + v or right click paste. This will paste the image of your screen from your computers clip board into the application you are working with

There are endless possibilities for the print screen function. Have fun and I hope you enjoyed my tech tip of the day!

Accept,
John Denton

Paris Hilton Finds Jesus

I’ve been watching all of the hype about Paris Hiltons interview with Barbara Walters. Paris told Barbara that she has found Jesus and that her life has been changed. No one seems to be taking Paris seriously. This major event in her life may have actually helped her see the light. I know that when everything is going fine in life most people normally tend to not read their bible as much and to cool off in their spiritual disciplines. The harder life gets the closer we seem to get to God. Paris Hilton may be experiencing this as well. Should we be on fire for Christ no matter what? The answer is yes, but it’s perfectly ok to turn to Jesus in time of heartbreak.

John Mayor Concert

Last night Stephanie and I ventured to Hollywood to see Rocco Deluca, Ben Folds, and John Mayor in concert at the Hollywood Bowl. What a great concert! Rocco Deluca was surprisingly fun and bright. Ben Folds was amazing; his entire set I couldn’t believe I was actually seeing him live. John Mayor stole the show of course with his mind-blowing guitar skills and wonderful voice. He walked off stage at the end of the show but quickly returned to “change the world”. Before the concert I for some reason had the urge to take my picture with Tom Hanks hand prints at the Graumen’s Chinese Theater; strange. Stephanie enjoyed seeing the cast from Oceans 13 handprints, especially Brad Pitt’s. How fun!

Video Blog.

Click twice to play!

Click twice to play!

Running Cross Country

Competition and Comradely come from the same root word. It is important for us to remember that these two things build off of each other, the greater the competition, the greater the friendship. Today I was out on my run and thinking back on all of the great memories I have of running cross country in high school. At the time I wanted to be pro skateboarder and not a fast runner, so the experience at that moment did not seem too great. Over the course of running cross country I learned that a little competition is not a bad thing and if anything it only builds up a person and their relationships with others. If you look at athletes they are always part of these tight knit communities, they enjoy hanging out with their teammates as well as their competition. The skills I walked away with from my days of running cross country were not focused on the sport, they were life skills. I learned to enjoy and build relationships through competition. Don’t be afraid of your competition, embrace it.

Accept,
John Denton

Southern California = Stanley Cup Champions?

Thirteen years ago I was one of the biggest Ducks fans around. When the new team came to Anaheim the Kings were suddenly dead to me. Plus the Kings didn’t have a really cool movie. I had the ducks mask, the duck call, and even knew most of the player’s names on the team. Tonight I watched my first complete hockey game in thirteen years and I loved it, plus the Ducks won the Stanley Cup! Its funny but I felt like a kid again, I wanted to grab my hockey stick, lace up my skates, and go take a few shots in front of my house. Yes I am still that kid, just older: during the World Series I start wearing my baseball glove around the house and I bought a clippers jersey when I thought they would win the NBA championship. It is fun to celebrate all of the big things in life and we want to be part of all of it. As I celebrated tonight’s big win for the Ducks I came to a realization. Often we get caught up in waiting for all of these big events to happen, that we forget to celebrate the small victories. Yeah winning the Stanley Cup is cool but what about maintaining that high grade point average, getting a small promotion at work, or loosing a few pounds? We should be just as excited about these achievements, if not more excited. This translates over into our spiritual life as well. We must evaluate ourselves and make sure we are not overlooking the small things we accomplish in life.

Accept,
John

Angels in the Outfield

In 2002 the big screen movie Angels in the Outfield came to life when the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim won the World Series. I for one was of the belief that this was an anomaly and would never happen again. This could be the season, if the Angels play as good as they did against the Twins last night for the rest of the season, they might pull it off again. I always love getting to go to a good baseball game, yesterday afternoon I bought tickets and last night Stephanie and I went to the game. What a blast. We had hotdogs, ate peanuts, and even belted out “take me out the ball game” during the 7th inning stretch.

Oil Spill

Yes, you guessed right. That is indeed a picture of San Diego NBC 7 reporter Emily Chang. My normal routine was destroyed by a petroleum spill off the coast of the beach I haunt on my day off (thank you to a ship that decided to release fuel into the sea). I took this picture as I attempted to get interviewed by a San Diego News channel for the second time in my life. Instead of surfing beacons, I took a trip down memory lane and surfed in front of my old dorm at Point Loma Nazarene University, than ate a burrito from Adalbertos (The best 24 hour shady Mexican food restaurant in SD). Not even an oil spill could stop me from having a great day!

Accept,
John

The Verdict Is In!

So the verdict is in and the Iced Caramel Macchiato is amazing. Check out the pick of me drinking it. I think that it is one of the best beverages at Starbucks! Try one for yourself today (I Recommend it with nonfat milk)!