BlakeAtwood.com

I tweeted this yesterday:

Because the day before I felt like this:

While there are thousands of people much worse off than myself, part of my self-pitying ice cream coma arrived as a result of finally learning the answer to a specific job application process that’s lasted for the last three months. (The answer was no in case the picture didn’t clue you in). I drowned my sorrows in a PB&C shake from Cold Stone Creamery. It helped. A little.

But today, like every day, is a new day. Motivation has returned. Self-confidence, ever wavering though it may be, came back to roost. I have ideas for better utilizing my time. (I’ve watched the entire first season of 24 in about a week – thank you Netflix streaming -  and tore apart my defunct PS3, among other things). I’d like to help you, or your friends.

This is where you come in.

• Do you need a simple website?
• Maybe a brochure or newsletter or heck, even a magazine?
• An article written and pitched?

I can write. I can design. I can do layout. Yes, I will ask for a fee in return for these services, but it will be a mutually beneficial venture: inexpensive for you, experience for me. Pricing will be discussed up front, before any work is done, and will be on a case-by-case basis based on your needs.

So if you or someone you know is in need of a small website (I can host it as well), graphic design work, or copywriting, use the contact tab on the left side of this website to contact me.

I promise not to spill chocolate shake on your website.

[P.S. I am still looking for a full-time job in the DFW area, but plan to continue freelance work when a new gig is obtained... as long as the new gig is OK with it.]

The difference bewtween success and failure?
Timing.

HT: FailBlog

If you think the post title doesn’t make sense, wait till you see this. I’m not sure if I love it or hate it or both at the same time. The ending is face-meltingly awesome.

HT: TV Squad (“It’s so bad that it’s either making Jesus laugh or God cry in that order.”) and Everything is Terrible (“the greatest Christian Sci-fi story ever told.”)

I visited my cousin this past weekend. We got to talking. It got late. We came up with some of the following. If you’re offended by any of them, those were probably his ideas…

• I Surrender Some
• Mediocre Grace
• Blessed Insurance
• I Sit in Bemusement
• Above Most
• All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Political Clout
• Be Still My Soul
  (but not so still I fall asleep… again)
• Blessed Be Your Name
  (when the Cowboys win)
• Fiend of God
• Great is My Faithfulness
• Look at Me! Here I Am To Worship!
• How Can I Keep from Sinning
  (tomorrow)
• Oh Crappy Day
• It’s All About Me
• Your Grace is Almost Nearly Enough Most of the Time
• I Need Thee Every Few Years or So
• Come Just As You Are
  (as long as you’re not too messed up)
• Come Just As We Hope You Become
• Today is the Day
  (for a short sermon)
• My Redeemer Lives
  (in a land far, far away)
• Shout to the Lord
  (because He certainly hasn’t heard me lately)

This is all, of course, meant in jest.

Feel free to add your own in the comments, now newly renovated so you can login with your Facebook, Twitter, or OpenID credentials.

In an effort to not be too entirely downcast, dour, and depressing with some of the things finding their ways through my fingertips to your screen, I present to you THINGS I’M GRATEFUL FOR, henceforth to be known as TIGF, not to be confused with TGIF (which I am, in fact, thankful for, even though mine is actually TGITh, but that sounds like I have a lisp, which I don’t… not that there’s anything wrong with that).

Anywaysth. Onward.

TIGF #1 : Catfish Tuesdays
(Note: The ranking is not by priority, it’s by date recorded, and as this is the first TIGF, it gets to be #1. However, if ranked by priority, it’d probably be in the top ten.)

Catfish Tuesdays began as a mild addiction to a warm, friendly, delightful, and delicious place known as Catfish Parlour. When a co-worker and myself started finding ourselves there on a weekly basis, it became an institution. As a recent observer of Catfish Tuesday, I noted how my salivary glands started to sweat as soon as the thought of Catfish Tuesday entered my mind, an irrepressible Pavlovian response.

What’s so great about Catfish Tuesday? Oh, where to begin…

• The food, of course.
• The express line at lunch, wherein myself and my cohort-in-catfish-consumption will readily sneak by (and possibly make fun of) any rookies who can’t figure out the complexities of the express line.
• The buffet-style nature of the side dishes
• The service
• The old country ambiance
• The leglamp. Yes, the leglamp. Even though I’m not allowed to sit facing the leglamp (for fear of “temptation”), we still always sit in its vicinity. If you don’t know what the leglamp is, that’s probably all for the better. That way, you won’t be “tempted.”
• The corn fritters, what we’ve affectionately dubbed “critters.” This is actually the reason that Catfish Tuesdays are on Tuesday. It’s the only day the corn fritters are offered at lunch. Surprisingly, it took us a good few months to figure this out, despite the fact that it’s noted on their menu.
• The bad jokes printed on their receipts, to which we devote entirely too much brain power to. For example, today’s was “Why are circles so smart?” I thought I had the answer (and I still think it’s a good answer): Because they’ve been around forever. However, that was wrong. The correct answer is: Because they have 360 degrees. Butt, every now and then a good one rears its head: “What happened when the butcher backed into his meat grinder?” Answer: “He got a little behind in his work.”

These are the things that make Catfish Tuesdays great. What makes them awesome is the time I get to spend with a good friend, talking about life and work and faith. Feel free to join us any Tuesday; just know that we’ll probably make fun of you if you don’t know about the express line.

So, do you have a weekly dining obsession? If so, do share. And while you don’t have to be as detailed, you do have to relate why it’s a weekly haunt for you.