Those People

Today was a very interesting day.

Kristy and I were at the Coffee House in Waynesville tonight - only a very few others were there as most of the teens were on a field trip to Atlanta. It's neat being there. I really enjoy it. Tonight was great because we just sat around, drank coffee, ate chili, ate ice cream, and chatted.

God is really working. In fact, in our chatting we found out that God is in the middle of doing a miracle in one of the soldier's lives - there's been some heavy stuff looming around his life for a couple of years now and God is getting ready to take it all away. Pray for it. Pray for a miracle.

The rest of my evening was spent at Haywood Regional Medical Center. My buddy, Chuck, has been battling some pretty big health, among other, concerns. Tonight he was brought to the hospital for emergency surgery to correct some serious breathing problems. Our friend Robert was there and stayed with Chuck through it all. It was a blessing to see that kind of compassion. It wasn't anything spectacular. It was what those people do.

There are lots of people in our lives. But then there are those that you want to surround yourself with. There is something about them that is not the usual. There is some aspect about their approach to life and others that makes them stand out without even realizing it. Being around those people makes life better. Of course, I'm not just talking about Waynesville. I'm talking about those people that we meet - that are few and far between, and often unassuming that you know you have to be associated with because they're going to make life better. Not just by what they can do for you . . . but by what being around them does to you.

Maybe it's their positive attitude (bad attitudes aggravate me). Maybe it's their compassion. Maybe it's their straightforwardness. Maybe its the fact that you just know they care. Maybe its their passion. Maybe it's their gentle-spirit and kindness (I married one of those people). But you know those people when you meet them.

Are you one of those people?

Des

Shoool House Polka

I saw this on Saturday when the VeggieTales came on the NBC morning cartoon block. It is, indeed, brilliant.

Please enjoy - I particularly like the bit about adjectives.

Grace,

Des

My First Photo Comp

Hey, it's my first photo composition. This is Jonathan playing in front of a very large group of people . . . the concert was amazing. He just sat back there and played 'til his fingers bled. I managed to take this shot before security dragged me off stage.

You rock, Jonathan!

Vista on my Mac

I've been intrigued about the possibility of installing windows on my mac for some time. I haven't done it for whatever reason. But last night, I downloaded the latest Boot Camp beta, updated my firmware, and downloaded the RC1 candidate of Windows Vista ultimate.

I have to say that Vista looks pretty good. The polish is very nice. Lots of transparency, little animated things like windows opening and closing - the 3D rendition of fast alt+tab switching is in the picture above. I haven't had a chance to really get into it and play around - and I certainly don't foresee giving up OS X to come back to Windoze.

But I want to be informed!

There are more pictures online at http://picasaweb.google.com/desmondcsmith/Vista.

Des

Beating Lowe's Motor Speedway Security

Beating Lowe's Security

Have a Taste

Sorry no posts in such a long time. Life has been very busy, with school, work, and the numerous side projects that I have going at once.

I did want to give a little update though: http://www.razealittlehell.com is now live. All you'll see is a coming soon page, but it's one step closer to reality and I'm getting some great ideas for content that will go on that thing.

Enjoy. Let me know if you like it so far - you know . . . color scheme, etc.

Grace,

Des

I Like My Coffee Crisp

New York — Candy-cravers across America are claiming victory now that the U.S. is second home to a candy bar that, until July, could be found only in Canada.

After a six-year Internet campaign started by a 31-year-old candy connoisseur, the beloved Canadian candy bar Coffee Crisp has finally made it across the border.

In 2000, John Flaig, a Milwaukee software engineer, posted an online petition on his Web site, CoffeeCrisp.org, asking Nestlé to start selling the Coffee Crisp — a chocolate wafer bar with creamy coffee filling — in the U.S. Six years and thousands of supporting signatures later, Flaig can now find it in his state, and soon (very soon, he hopes), at his gas station.

Nestlé U.S.A., the American arm of the world's largest food company, Nestlé S.A., started selling Canada's No. 3 candy bar to select convenience stores across America in July.

"It's the first time I've seen that they've gotten a company to take an international product and market it domestically," said Cybele May, a food writer who runs Candy Blog.

My Grandkids will be able to Teleport to my House

Beaming people in Star Trek fashion is still in the realms of science fiction but physicists in Denmark have teleported information from light to matter. Sounds like my fax machine with scanning fax feature...

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