Thoughts on life, love and faith by Plasticmind.

Hope the crickets chirping over here at my blog didn't scare anyone off. I caught this little mantis to make sure the crickets don't come 'round again. (Ain't he cute?)

For those wondering whether I'd turn up dead along some abandon interstate in Alabama, thanks for the cards, emails and blog post suggestions. I've been really busy building a fallout shelter in case of a nuclear war. See, I found this nifty Family and Home Survival Kit in some of my grandmother's old stuff, and it's really helped me as I prepare for a "tornado, hurricane, or enemy attack."

Hey, don't get panicky, it's easy! Here's what to do in case of an air raid:

• At Home: Get into your home shelter immediately. (Instructions for building one inside the packet.)
• Outdoors: Seek the best available cover.
• Stay Put until you get a word to come out.
• Important: If you see a bright flash of light, take cover instantly.

(That last one's been rough on my wife and me. I've resorted to turning the camera flash off completely.)

I've been packing in all the time not spent cultivating my dystopian hobby with several other things. My wife and I are getting excited about our trip to the Philippines; we leave next week and we'll be gone for almost two weeks. I'm the lead puppeteer and guitar player, and I think I may be speaking at some schools over there. June has been a rather busy month for our church: AWANA awards ceremony, missions conference, leadership training classes, and coffeehouse. I whipped up a site for our missionaries to Uruguay the Glasses (not quite finished yet), and I launched a template tag reference site for Movable Type. I've also been working like mad redesigning Six Apart's Movable Type community site; tying to balance minimalism with originality has been the tallest order, but I think what we've come up is going to be really nice once we actually implement it.

And here's the one that's really killing me. I've just got to come out with it so everyone knows. PlasticMind.com is ugly. It's been almost two years since I've done anything with it, and it desperately needs an overhaul. Problem is, I've done up almost a dozen different ideas and tossed them soundly out the window and into my front yard. The front yard is littered with half-baked ideas until I can make time to mow. I've spent $160 in fonts and countless hours tweaking my logo. How come I can do this in a blink for everyone else, but when it comes to my site, it's like crossing the Sahara on a tricycle? Maybe I just want to accomplish too much: a link blog, a promotional site, a slammin' portfolio, an audio blog, this personal blog, and a professional journal (because heaven's knows no one here wants to read about XHTML). Well, my big projects are nearing an end (due to the trip), so maybe when I'm unplugged for two weeks, I'll have a brainstorm and get struck by enlightning... just hope I don't mistake it for a bright flash of light and bang my head while ducking for cover.

(Oh, and no pressure on the air raid thing, but FAMILY SURVIVAL depends on home preparedness!)