This post has been a long time coming. As you might be able to tell from the dates on this post and the post immediately preceding this one. It’s quite ironic that my busyness has been keeping me from writing these thoughts down… 🙂

Something has to go. Maybe several somethings. I am still trying to figure out what.

The reason you have not seen me on here since Sep 12 is because I have been doing tons of other stuff! Seriously. Tons. I feel like I am running in a dozen different directions for most of most days. And, in that I am always trying to cut back… that is almost comical.

How can I be in the same boat as everyone else whom I think are so silly to keep so busy. How can they enjoy life?

Well, what it comes down to I think is that I just try to do toooooo much. I mean really too much. (Like, for example… I am writing this at 2:27am, because, that’s when I can do it…)

Couldn’t I just not do something? Maybe a couple somethings? Between my main job of web design and hosting solutions, to my new Apple computer gig, to my music, to this blog site, to my Buffalo Bills Review show, to the Buffalo Bills blog/column, to the newsvine page, to book sales and marketing… there’s always something going on. Something else to think about.

THEN, I do have a wife and four awesome kids, ya know!

And that’s the part that’s killing me. I love them so much, and want to invest as much as I can in them. So, after a long day of work, I try hard to spend every evening together as a family, and then weekends as well. Sometimes we are doing something (grocery shopping, playing, visiting with friends, cleaning up our house) but sometimes we just hang out. All the time is great, and a welcome change from previous years when we were constantly gone in the evenings, after a long day for me in the office.

But in the middle of the goodness… I am so weighed down by all that I am trying to do that I end up thinking about one, two, or three other things I could be doing while I spend time with my family. I can not tell you how much I hate that. That is the american way perhaps, but I really don’t want that for me, or my family, I guess.

I don’t want to constantly be somewhere else.

So, something has to go. Likely it will be something that I do that does not make me any money. I am constantly asking God for direction on this, because I am personally very grateful for every one of the great opportunities he has given me (even the free ones!). How can I give up writing a column for the Buffalo Bills? Or doing the most successful fan podcast for the Buffalo Bills? Or being an Apple Agent and helping connect people with fabulous Apple systems? Or, writing out my thought processes on life recently lived (or, just relaying fun stories from life with the Campbells) on this blog here and various other sites? All of these things are my offering to others completely gratis.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way! Except… I need to.

I will be needing clarity over the next while as I pare down some stuff, and learn to live more simply… while still enjoying the richness and fullness of life with God, with others – starting with the amazing family he has surrounded me with.

How could I not? Only by trying to enjoy too many things, I think.

Definitely time to simplify.

I’ll be posting an official story/review of the new Apple announcement later on today on my Apple website, but wanted to remind you that today is the day! (I know, some of you don’t care… but I DO!!! And this is my website!!!) 🙂 🙂

Steve Jobs will be making his announcements and big presentation today at 10:00am PDT. You can follow along “live” via MacRumors.com’s live coverage (the page refreshes every 60 seconds with text updates on what is being presented, and sometimes there are links to photos people take and post with their cell phone cameras.)

Apple will be announcing their iTunes Movie store, and probably the infamous “One More Thing…”

Stay tuned for details… if you’d like. 🙂 (also, see the newsvine article below for a preview of what Apple could be announcing.)

Whoohoo!! 🙂

Found this tonight at wired.com. As part of the remembering of 9/11, they posted some photos (concept drawings) of the buildings that are planned to go into the area where the old WTC was. It’s called the Freedom Tower, and looks pretty impressive. 1776 floors. Tons of security precautions built in. And, it looks cool.

Click the photo to go to the site and see several more concept images.

I do enjoy speculating as much as the next fellow. If you are curious about what Apple might be announcing next Tuesday, click the link below to read the article I posted on Newsvine today.

If you don’t care one bit… Carry on! 🙂

Newsvine – Apple, Movies and HDTVs – What Can We Expect on September 12th?

I feel like I haven’t been focusing much energy here lately, so I’m sure you know that when that happens, it has been focused elsewhere. Some energy has been given to writing, so I thought I’d post links here. Other to my web work. And still other to good times with family (Labor Day Weekend, “NOT” back to school day, and other fun stuff). Here’s a few things from my (our) recent past…

• Labor Day Weekend: Walker Family Reunion
  We celebrate every Labor Day weekend with Jen’s parent and siblings (and all of our kids) and we call it the Walker Family Reunion. Lots of food, the big Labor Day parade, some fireworks, and usually a lot of playing with little kids. (At least, that’s my role, it seems…) 🙂 This year was fun. We’ll probably put some photos up soon at our WeTheCampbells.net site.
• “NOT” Back To School Day
  This didn’t turn out like Jen had hoped (I don’t think) but we at least had a little fun on Tuesday when lots of kids went back to school – we celebrated that our kids DIDN’T go back to school. 🙂 We like that they don’t have to go off to school, and since they don’t get to celebrate “back to school”, we figured we’d celebrate that they don’t have to “go to school”. We had a nice special lunch at McDonald’s. (Happy Meals, PlayPlace and all!)
• GregsHead at Newsvine
  I posted my Apple article below to my Newsvine page again. I haven’t posted there in a while, but figured I might get back into it as Apple is starting to do some fun things again. Stop by and visit when you get a chance. GregsHead.newsvine.com
• Apple @ BWD
  I have been doing a little background work on my Apple @ BWD website (GregsApples.com). Soon, there will be two sites. GregsApples.com and GregsApples.info. The dot-info site will be just that… info. Where you can sign up for the mailing list, there are FAQs, an information request form… stuff like that. All the good stuff from my old GregsApples site.

  The new site contains links to my new Apple store (bwd-graphics.com/apple) and a “blog” with news on the latest Apple products, and a podcast with some cool 2-minute tips about Apple products. There’s a bunch of great stuff there. Stop by when you get a chance and check out the new GregsApples.com. (There is a new blog and podcast episode posted there this week.)

• BBR @ BuffaloBills.com
  If you haven’t heard, the Buffalo Bills gave me a blog on their site. They have a “Bills Blog Squad” which consists of four bloggers including me. (Though, one of those doesn’t seem to be writing any more?) It has been fun to be able to post there and to be encouraged to do so by the Bills. 🙂 There’s a long direct link, so I will just refer you to my personal Buffalo Bills site – the Buffalo Bills Review. There’s a link at the top of every page there to BBR @ BuffaloBills.com.

  It’s a busy time with the beginning of the NFL season coming up this weekend, so there’s a LOT to read there. Have been posting a bunch of stuff there. Check it out if you like. (If you’re not a Bills fan, you’ll want to skip the next bullet point as well…)

• The Buffalo Bills Review
  This week also saw the official start of the season for the Buffalo Bills Review – our weekly Bills podcast. There’s a pretty decent following of the show, and it continues to grow. It’s been fun to do, to be sure. We’ll be doing the show weekly during the regular season (which begins tonight, actually!) and then we do it sporadically throughout the off-season. There are lots of ways to participate, so if you are a Bills fan, please do! And if you know one, please pass along the link. (www.BuffaloBillsReview.com)

  We hope to interview some former players this year again, like we did last year. Players like Jim Kelly, Bruce Smith, etc. We do a nice thorough interview with stories from the past, and a where-are-they-now thing as well. Very cool interviews from last season… hoping for more this year.

  We have a new team member this year, too. Big Dre Smith. My bro-in-law Josh is moving, so he had to step aside for the season and his friend Dre is filling his shoes. Dre is a sports reporter (now sports designer) so he adds some extra expertise to our show.

  It’s certainly a fun thing going on here, and if you’re so inclined, I welcome you to join the fun.

• WeTheCampbells.net
  We made a few changes to the WeTheCampbells site this week. That’s our personal photos/movies site. Check that out when you get a chance… think there’s a new movie up… maybe some new photos… WeTheCampbells.net.
• The God Journey
  A few of you have read or heard some of Wayne Jacobsen’s stuff. He’s an author whom I have had the privilege of getting to know via e-mail and phone conversations. We have a similar path in our lives with God. He’s coming to visit at the end of this month, so we are looking forward to spending time with him in person. Well, he has a podcast called The God Journey, and on his website, there is a forum. That forum is chock full of people who are learning to live life with God in a way that does not involve systems as it once did for all of us. It’s been a great forum for sharing ideas, asking questions, and just encouraging one another. I have also been posting there on a regular basis. If you’re interested, here’s the link…

SHWOO!! That’s a LOT of stuff! I didn’t even know I was that busy!! And that’s just the past week!!! 🙂

Well, time to get to work. More to come soon. Don’t forget there’s a big Apple Event this coming Tuesday. It promises to be as big as the announcement of the original iPod back in 2001. More will be posted here, I’m sure…

Earlier this year, Steve Jobs alluded to something big on the horizon for Apple. He never does that. Steve (and thus, the rest of Apple) are always very secretive about any new products they are working on. For him to admit that there was something, and to say it would be “very big” (or whatever his exact words were) meant that something like the iPod was about to be announced.

Rumors seem to be circulating that rival the level of secrecy, and the language used in 2001 when the iPod was first introduced. No one knows what the announcements will be next Tuesday, but it’s now official that there will be an announcement.

The invitation sent out to the media (in the link below) shows the Apple logo in 4 Hollywood-style spotlights with the words, “It’s Showtime” below it. Most people know that Apple has been working on the movie studios for a LONG time to strike a similar deal with the iTunes store to what Apple has with the music industry. So far, the movie people want a subscription, or a rental type of service rather than the purchase/download/own model that iTunes has been so successful with. It will be interesting to see what compromise (if any) the two parties have been able to agree upon.

Aside from that, a few rumors focus more on the hardware. Perhaps Apple will release a wireless router that will stream video to a TV? Perhaps a radical update to the Mac Mini line? Perhaps a 23″ iMac that could serve as a living room PC? Perhaps a completely revamped (“true”) video iPod with the full-screen, touch-(or motion)sensitive controls?

There are certainly lots of options.

It took a couple years for the iPod to really gain an immovable foothold in the digital music market, but from the very beginning, the iPod was revolutionary. I have no reason to doubt that Apple and iTunes, with their already sizeable foot in the door with the TV and music video industry, will release another culture-shifting device and service starting on September 12th, 2006.

Stay tuned. It’s just starting to get interesting…

Read The MacRumors.com Article:
‘It’s Showtime’ : September 12th, 2006

One more thing on Steve Irwin…

Animal Planet Will Air a Tribute to The Crocodile Hunter Tonight at 6pm

I have been thinking off and on throughout the day about the Crocodile Hunter. I am certain that you have heard of his untimely demise. And the way it happened. Freak accident… never happens… no way it should have happened. I have thought of his family who are without a husband and a daddy tonight. I have thought of what he is doing now.

I have also placed myself in his shoes. OK, so I wouldn’t be diving with giant sting rays, but apparently this time he wasn’t even in that dangerous of a place. And that’s my point. I have thought about what a “freak accident” it was, and how what happened to him could have happened to anyone – but mostly doesn’t happen to anyone. I guess the randomness of it is a powerful reminder that no one can escape death. All of us must some day succumb to it’s hold on us, and no one knows when, or how we will take our last breath.

I was telling a friend tonight that I noticed when someone familiar to you (even a TV celebrity) dies, especially suddenly, and at a young age, there is first shock that they are gone. Then perhaps disbelief. And, depending on the closeness of the relationship, some level of grief. I keep thinking, “I can’t believe that happened… can’t believe he’s gone like that.” But then every time I catch myself and wonder why I can’t believe it. We all die, right? Every one of us. We will all die. I will die. But… I think that perhaps we (or maybe I am just speaking for myself) get lulled into thinking that death will not touch us. We will somehow be the one to cheat death.

Not gonna happen.

So, I think when we lose someone, even a public figure like Steve Irwin, it reminds us of our mortality. Reminds us that no matter how hard we try to escape, how good we are at ignoring it, death will come. Nothing in this life is secure, including this life itself. It’s very easy to forget that.

Perhaps it’s easy to forget it because it’s not right. Somehow, deep down inside, we know it’s not right. It’s not the way it’s supposed to be. Right? You’re not supposed to just be doing your normal life one moment, and then BAM! next moment your heart is pierced and you’re dead. How can we be that fragile? But we are. Life is not guaranteed. It feels like it should be (because I think God originally intended it that way) but… it is no longer that way.

At this point, it is good to remember that Jesus actually did beat death. And he said we would follow him. And I do believe that. I know that my death is not an end, but a beginning. But at the same time, it’s just weird to think about it, and perhaps that’s why when someone you “know” dies… it is a stark reminder that we will all face that same moment.

Well, I plan to watch a Croc Hunter episode or two in honor of one crazy bloke from down under. I do like the show. It’s defintely sad that he is gone so soon. But actually, it sure seems like he got to do what he loved to do in life. In fact, that’s in the official statement on the Crocodile Hunter website.

And, I plan to remember that life is not guaranteed. Live every moment to its fullest. Death tends to remind us to do that.

I actually thought we’d see this headline long before now… but it is still sad. And, it’s even crazier that he was killed by a sting ray, which only happened to three other people in Australia.. ever?! I figured it would be a snake or a croc or something.

Sad for his family, too… he leaves his wife and two young kids behind.

Read the article…

I really love what God created when he made family. There are not many things that get me “choked up” in life, but family coolness is one of them – even in the movies.

OK, so I wasn’t really “choked up” tonight, but there were some real moments of coolness in the movie Cheaper By The Dozen 2. I don’t know what you think of that movie, or the idea of 12 kids in one family, but I don’t really think that matters. You may choose to stop earlier than a dozen for financial (or, sanity?) reasons… and we will likely do the same. But the coolness of belonging, acceptance, and sacrificial love that can happen in a family is so worth all the hardness.

Before I continue, please know that I am well aware that not every family is a great place to belong. I was talking with a friend tonight who has apparently had a not-so-good family life, and another friend came over for lunch and mentioned at some point how she really wants to make sure her child(ren?) have the family she didn’t. And another friend is even writing a book about how his family life was way harder than it should have been. I know. The world is not as it is supposed to be, meant to be. That is quite obvious. But actually, that’s one of the cool things of the CBTD movies.

The family is obviously not perfect, but beyond the squabbling, constant mischief and a few internal arguments, there is that place to belong. Gary & Anne Marie Ezzo in Growing Kids God’s Way call it “Family Identity”. It’s the things that you do together, the things that you are, things that are important to you… these things define who you are. The Campbells are loved by God and want to love others the same way. We want everyone in our family to know they are accepted and loved as they are. And, we want our kids to see that we try to love other people that way – the same way God has loved us. I think that is our identity.

There will be other things like, walks through town in the evening after dinner… Monday nights at the library… trips to Chill & Grill for ice cream… reading the Bible with Dad in the mornings… reading books with Mom… learning math and other book things from Mom… eating meals together (though at the moment with a 4-year, 2-year, and 5mo old that is not all that pleasant…)… holiday traditions like making cookies with Dad, decorating with Mom and visits from the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus and the Three Kings. All of these things add to the richness of who we are as the Campbells.

But the greatest of these is love.

That was so obvious in the movie tonight (they did a good job) and it just seems so obvious to me in life. The most fun people to be around are the ones who have learned to listen to you, and accept you, and help you feel like you’re important to them. Ideally, the people who are that for you the most are your family. Often, we let our busyness get in the way of that. Certainly it is mostly unintentional… but it still happens. Dad’s too busy with work, Mom’s too busy with projects, and everyone else is to busy with whatever is currently distracting their attention from the important stuff in life – relationships.

In the end, that’s what it comes down to. The old, tired cliche is so badly wrong. “The one who dies with the most toys, wins.” We know that’s not true, but sometimes we still pursue it. It doesn’t even have to be for financial gain. My goodness… I have so much to keep me occupied that doesn’t pay me a cent. (Thankfully I don’t actually need more than 6 hours of sleep a night, so I do get to keep doing a lot of those things… and don’t have to sacrifice time with friends and family to do it…) 🙂

This is not a condemnation. I am not calling anyone out. I was just reminded again tonight of how amazingly I have been blessed with a wife who loves me – a lot – and great kids who are such unique and fantastic creations of their Father (the one who “Art In Heaven”…) who loves them more than I can even imagine. I love the friends God has placed around me, and I even love that I can be a friend to people I don’t even know.

Most of all, Father astounds me. I like to call him that. I’m glad Jesus did. I’m also glad I have a great Dad here named Tom who has been a great reflection of how our mutual Dad loves us. Generous, sacrificial love. My dad’s not perfect. But he’s done (is doing?) a great job. I hope I am, too. For my kids. I love them so much. (Can you tell?)

I really hope you get time today to love someone God has put close to you. You are not where you are by accident. We can take that too far sometimes and say that “everything happens for a reason”. I suppose I don’t know that it doesn’t, but I am pretty sure that God knows who is where. And who you’re with (family, friends, neighbors) are who you can love and be loved by.

It’s not your house, car, job, hobby, church, pets, volunteer work, dreams, or any other thing you can do that will matter in life. What will be remembered of you is how you loved and were loved. The other stuff is mostly irrelevant.

Hope you’re part of a great family today. Blood relation, or Blood relation.