I may have been bombarding your inbox with prayer requests & updates about my trip to Nigeria. Yesterday I was told that the dates of the medical project have changed to July 20-26 soooo I will, God willing, be going then. I still need your prayers though specifically for $$ for my ticket.

The Lord did a miracle and I got my visa, although they didn’t want to give it to me because they said I didn’t have any blank pages in my passport…but I found one! yay

Thank you ever so much for your prayers! They really do work, please keep them coming.

Do your part to make someone’s day a little more annoying!

The Internet has given us so many opportunities to celebrate. Why, with Google as your guide, almost every day can be a celebration. We have:

International Peace Day
International Tolerance Day
International Biological Diversity Day
International Dog Day
International Numbers Day
International Old People Day
International Sharing Life Stories Day
International Mine Awareness Day
International Towel Day (Discovered via Chuck’s chat status)
International Talk Like a Pirate Day
International Goof Off Day

And my personal favorite: International Day of Awesomeness

I want to give something back to the community that has given so much to me, so after prayer and some heavy thought processing, I give you “International Get An Annoying Song Stuck In Someone’s Head Day!” or if you prefer, International GAASSISH Day!

The premise is twofold but very simple; on International GAASSISH Day, you will try to get as many people as possible singing one song of your choosing by singing it repeatedly until it wears annoying song grooves into their subconscious mind. Or, you can try to get just one person singing as many different songs as possible by the same method. It’s really much easier than I imagined it to be. Just today I got my friend Nyna to sing the following:

“My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion
“Bless the Broken Road” by Rascal Flatts
“The Hairbrush Song” by Larry the Cucumber
“Till the End of Time” by Francesco
and “Take One Step for Jesus” by Unknown since I couldn’t find the Ultimate Family Songbook*

Since this is the first International GAASSISH Day in the history of same, I think you’ll agree that it needs a push of some sort to get it started. I would appreciate it greatly if you would spread the word and tell your friends as a first step. Also, in my brilliant mind I have devised a plan to give you all the incentive that you need to make this a reality. Whoever can get a.) The most people singing an annoying song and/or b.) One person singing the most annoying songs will receive a prize. Simply tell me in the comments section whose subconscious you wore down with your annoying song and which song/songs they were and not only will you be the subject of a special Interview of the Month feature telling us all about how you did it to inspire and motivate next year’s GAASSISH Day hopefuls, but you will win one of the following:

Friend Marky has agreed to have a - how to put this delicately? - a sweet cyber love-up time with any female winners age 18 and older.

Friend Nyna has agreed to do the same with winners of the male persuasion.

I kid you not, people. I have their chats, I will send them to you and they’ve both agreed to give you the best online fellowship you’ve ever had. And if you aren’t into that (what?) then you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that you were a part of something international, something great, something wonderful! Plus the satisfaction of knowing that you’ve made a shy and socially awkward girl (hi!) feel like a part of something bigger than herself.

So, one week from now, May 27th, 2008, marks the first International GAASSISH Day, and I hope you’re excited as I am. Now go spread the word!

(*Songs mentioned in this post are in no way annoying on their own. The process of having them worn into your subconscious through repeated exposure is the very process that renders them annoying.)

Whew! Back from Wordstock and I’m totally exhausted! We just drove for nine hours and I haven’t slept in five days. It was soooooo awesome though, the spirit was so strong and all the bands were incredible — my neck is so sore from all that moshing and I lost two toenails playing soccer but it was just totally awesome. It was great seeing all my old friends and I MISS YOU ALL already! I have tons of pics to post, but gotta go sleep. Here’s one pic of me and Big Name Musician.

Tradition dictates that around this time of year, someone must make this type of post on their blog, so regardless of whether or not Wordstock actually happened, by the grace of God I was determined to be that man. P.S. Marky, would you believe that this is one of the only two photos that exists of the two of us? We should take more if we’re to be married. I promise to make you mine just as soon as I’ve made my fortune. You’ll wait for me, won’t you?

Connie, may this be a marvelous year for you. May you run your 5k with the greatest of ease. May you learn to love to do lunges and and have the firmest butt ever. May your coffee always be fresh. May your computer never crash. May the allergens in our room dissipate. May I learn to keep my stuff on my side of closet. May Michael always have wine to sell you when you need it. May you find the perfect facewash. May your tennis shoes always be supportive. May the network never go down. May you never miss a deadline. May your border crossings always be quick. I wish all these things and more for you on this day of days. Happy Birthday!

Since this feature started it’s been ten months and I’ve done only five interviews. Since “Interview of Every Second Month” just doesn’t sound as good I’m stepping up the pace. I’ve even done next month’s interview in advance and timestamped it - do I rule or what? I figure if by the end of the year I can bring up my average to an interview every 1.5 months at least, I’ll be happy. That being taken care of, on to more interesting things, like:

I’ve been thinking that if my friend Dan Emerson in all his awesomeness is but a chip off the ol’ block - how awesome must his dad be, since Dan is a diluted version of him? A concentrated version of Dan; is such a thing possible? We’ll discover this together right here on 77ZI, hopefully - you know…if he answers. Interview guidelines found here.

So Dan’s dad, firstly, what is your current name and what names have you held throughout your lifetime?

State your favorite and least favorite country that you’ve lived in and why.

What where you doing with your life when you met the Family and were you one of the “I knew in that moment that I was supposed to join” types or did it take longer?

Name three of your heroes when you were a teenager and three of your heroes now.

Most memorable construction moment?

If you could go back in time to before you had kids and give yourself one piece of parenting advice, what would it be?

Have you ever held a job that you were entirely unsuited for but did out of necessity or for the cause of Christ?

What trait has Dan inherited from you that is most apparent to you?

On the pictorial post below. They’re very interpretive and poignant. And thus concludes our Nepal coverage.