It seems to me that many people view religious fundamentalists as people who want God to crush their enemies.  This would have the added benefit of crushing God's enemies, since God's enemies and religious fundamentalist's enemies are surely the same.  Right? I awoke Saturday morning with this rather profound thought in my head.

We often want God to crush our enemies, but what if instead God allowed himself to be crushed by our enemies?

Isn't that exactly what God did through Jesus on the cross? - Sean

I came back to SDO after a couple of months to find an inch of dust and cobwebs everywhere.  I will have to have a serious talk with my cleaning service. Of course while you are cleaning house you might as well organize a little too.  I got rid of a bunch of the old junk laying around, fixed a couple of broken items, and caught up with my neighbors.  Now I am down to the major renovations like updating to the newest version of WordPress.  There goes a Saturday. For those of you who do communicate via email you should note that I will no longer be checking sean at seandareonline dot com on a regular basis.  Instead I have changed all the links on SDO to send email to my Gmail account.  This will insure faster response to emails as I check my Gmail on a regular basis. I also added a new link in the blogroll.  Peggy Gates, who wrote me a note of encouragement a couple weeks ago, has her own blog and I decided to point my faithful readers her way.  Check it out. - Sean

I downloaded and installed iPhone OS version 2.1 over the weekend.  2.1 eliminated almost all the bugs I was experiencing with my iPhone.  The only remaining bug pertained to my headphones.  When I would plug them in I could hear out of them, but when I made or received phone calls the person on the other end of the line couldn't hear me.  Aslo, the "button" in the mic portion of the headset didn't always work after plugging the headphones in.  To remedy this situation I would have to unplug the headphones from my iPhone and then plug them back in.  Occasionally I would have to unplug/replug multiple times to get them to work.  Although the 2.1 update reduced the number of times this happens, it does still happen.  I have talked with Apple and they have sent me a new set of headphones.  I hope they fix the problem. Aside from that I am back into a love/love relationship with the iPhone.  It is truly an amazing device.  I am amazed at how ingenieus humans can be when they apply the gifts God gave them. - Sean

NOTE:  I started this post in July (was it really that long ago?) and have returned to it today September 10th.  Section one relates my initial reactions from July.  Section two covers my observations now that I have spent two months with my iPhone.

Section One

Quality

Short of torture testing it like some of the tech reviewers on the web I can tell you that the phone is made exceptionally well.  The phone is heavy and solid and incredibly scratch resistant.  Also, it feels very comfortable in your hand.

Black or White?

I originally wanted a black 16GB model but opted for the white 16GB one when the AT&T employee told me they were out of black 16GB and had no way to order one.  I was skeptical but my desire to own an iPhone far outweighed the faint desire for black so I ordered the white one.  This proved to be a blessing as the white one hardly shows finger prints where as the black one, well, see below.

I wanted to send a special thank you to Ben and Peggy who sent me emails of support over the past months.  I know it may not seem like it but writing a blog feels a bit like giving a speech to an empty auditorium.  All you hear is your own words echoing back at you.  The only way I know people are reading, and more importantly enjoying, my writing is through feedback. Even though I have been in a writing slump these past months I have not been completely ignoring SDO.  Instead I have been thinking about what I want SeanDareOnline to become.  Do I want to use it as a springboard for my fiction?  Or maybe I should turn it into a daily journal?  Then again maybe it should just be a place for my sporadic ruminations.  I have come to some conclusions which I will reveal in due time, but in the mean time I wanted to illustrate that supportive emails and comments help keep this writer writing.  If you enjoy my writing then sending a simple, "I really enjoyed your story" type email helps me know what you enjoy reading, and in turn makes me want to write more of it.  Comments are also helpful, and can help me by providing direct feedback for the world to see. Alternatively if you don't like a piece you should tell me as well.  Don't worry about hurting my feelings.  A writer needs to write stories that people will read.  In turn any feedback, even negative, is a form of support.  It shows you are at least reading what I wrote. All that to say, if you read SDO please drop me a line telling me what you think.  And keep on sending me emails and comments as I continue to figure out how to be a better writer. - Sean