When I look back at what I’ve posted here recently, it’s pretty entertaining … funny stories, interesting photos and videos, and controversial issues. But there seems to be a lack of substance … a turning away from the good stuff.

So enough of that. For the month of May, I’m going to try something new. Every day I’m going to attempt to post something real, something meaningful or genuine. I’m not sure what that’ll look like … maybe personal revelations, hard questions, disturbing stories, hunches from my spirit, or lessons I’ve learned. I’m not going to try to defend or explain them too much … so take them as you will.

And as a reminder, webeldotnet is not me. I know that it’s natural to judge a person by what he says, but there’s always more to what you read here. If you have a question or problem with what I write, just call me … I’m often wrong, and I really appreciate feedback and smackdowns from my friends. It’s good for me … and for our friendship too!

I think Jon and I would’ve been fast friends.

[original photo]

“Thanks for the advice, Mr. Webel. I don’t know why, but sometimes it’s easier to talk to you than to my mom. That’s kinda weird.”

– Elise, sixth grade

Call it mean, call it inappropriate, call it whatever you want … but there’s just something about Falling Hillary that keeps me coming back for more.

Maybe it’s the physics … I find it to be quite mesmerizing. I think I could sit and stare at that rag doll for hours …

[hint: when she gets stuck, use your mouse to free her.]

Living in China …
Buying a house …
Becoming a landlord …
Finishing grad school …

No … I don’t want to do my taxes!

It was cool to find this random post about my marathon experience on the web today.

I think I learned today that I’m just not good at cutting my losses … I push to the end, hanging onto hope in the bleakest of situations. I can count at least five current scenarios in my life that might reflect this tendency … pressing until others are over the edge, until hope is gone, or until I’ve become absolutely shredded. The problem is … I can’t tell if I’m there or not.

Is this a character flaw or merely a bad habit?

I’ve been using Yahoo mail, on and off, for the past nine years. For the most part, I’ve liked it … it has steadily improved in both features and storage space, it’s got a pretty good organizational structure (with filters and folders), it picks up my webeldotnet mail, and it integrates well with some of Yahoo’s other services.

Gmail, on the other hand, is something that I’ve avoided since its introduction four years ago. Here’s what I wrote about it in 2004:

I have a promotional Gmail account (I don’t think they’re available to the public yet) that I created a couple of weeks ago. I’ve never used it. But I’ve already received about 10 spams … not at my Gmail address, but at the email address I used to sign up for Gmail. Yep … they have given away the address I used to register.

Whether they intentionally sold it or had a security breach, they have violated my personal rights. How do I know it was them? I use a website called SneakEmail to monitor and control the ways companies use and distribute my email addresses. It’s foolproof … I once caught and confronted Sprint giving away my email address to spammers. And now Google is doing it. I’m highly disturbed.

I’m surprised. But the facts speak for themselves, and I wouldn’t trust Google with any personal information any more. They’re gonna have a lot of ’splainin to do before I use them for anything but general web searches again. I may even start looking for alternatives for that as well.

Needless to say, I’m now reconsidering. Recently, I’ve begun to use more and more of Google’s services … maps, calendar, Blogger, and news … on a regular basis. And I’ve re-activated my Gmail account and explored how it’s set up. The spam filtering is better, and it integrates even tighter with my webeldotnet mail.

But what’s up with the organizational structure? I’m not sure I like how you have to use labels instead of folders … it seems like it’d be really hard to stay organized after a while. And the ads seem a bit more intrusive, perhaps because the text seems to conflict with the messages or something.

So what do you use? What do you like?

“God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness.”

– Genesis 1:4

“God called the dry ground ‘land,’ and the gathered waters he called ’seas.’ And God saw that it was good.”

– Genesis 1:10

“The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.”

– Genesis 1:12

“He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.”

– Genesis 1:17-18

“So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.”

– Genesis 1:21

“God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.”

– Genesis 1:25

“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.”

– Genesis 1:31

“The LORD God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’”

– Genesis 2:18

I’m starting something new in my advisory (a group of sixth grade boys that I build into every day) called Tough Stuff. Basically, I asked them yesterday to think about some really hard questions … things that adults don’t like to talk about. Here’s a taste of what they came up with:

Why do people do things when they know it’s bad?
Why Spanish?
I heard that the Bible says music is only for God and worship. Is it true?
Should we be scared of the 2nd coming of the Lord (apocalypse)?
Why did God make animals that can hurt us?
Why would God make other planets and universes and have nothing living there (or at least not that we know of)?
Why do people take the easy way?
Why isn’t cooking in the curriculum?
Why do Islams kill people?
Why do parents and adults always think they know how we feel?
Why did God make us and the earth?
What is an easy way to include people?
Why do movie stars always end up corrupted drugees?
If killing is against the 10 commandments, why are Christians in the army?
Do we absolutely need to do every assignment?
What is laughter and why did God give us it?
Why is this called a Christian school when if you look around it doesn’t seem like it?
This is serious … would getting shot or getting your head cut off be painful? Just wondering.
There’s a girl that I like, and she likes me too, and kids are teasing me. How should I handle it?
Why do adults have power over kids, why can’t we have our own decisions?

So interesting … and sobering. We’re gonna work through these questions, one at a time, for the next two months. And I’m really excited about teaching them, learning from them, and shining light on some dark places. What a sweet opportunity!