Yesterday afternoon my friend Adam H. sent me the code and database for Version3 of supafly.com. I’ve written about it a few times over the past year, but it’s basically a three column layout. This website has been up for over six years in a couple different versions. But it’s gotten to a point where I have create a site around a content, rather than letting the site decide what will go where. The biggest part of my site is my journals, and the new layout is that it gives easy access to all of my old journals.

So last night I spell-checked my old journals and added them to the database one at a time. It was pretty tedious, but it was nostalgic reading journals from 1999. I thought it was funny because shortly after I launched my website, I tried out for “The Real World.” I never wrote about any of the many interviews along the way. It was hard because I was so excited as I got closer with every step, but if I wrote about it, I know there would’ve been too much drama around campus.

The part that is so amusing to me is I remember talking about my website while I was trying out for the show, as if I had a corner of the Internet empire. In reality, I had only had the thing online for a couple months, and half of the sections hadn’t actually been updated. Another thing that cracked me up was how in one period I wrote almost one journal a day. If I remember correctly, I; was getting close to making it on the show, and I wanted to write as much to remind MTV how dynamic and interesting I could be.

I was feeling especially nostalgic, so I listened to a playlist on Rhapsody of the best Monster Ballads from the late 1980s and early 1980s. Although that music was from elementary through middle school for me, that music reminds me of a time where I felt like nothing exciting would ever happen in my life. I was just a kid stuck in a rural town in the South. So listening to Skid Row while uploading journals of my adventures in college gave me a sense of relief. I made it out of the small town!

Half way through adding my 1999 journals, people started to come over my house for our weekly 24 parties. These parties started a few years ago after XLT when a couple people would come over to watch an episode of 24 that we had recorded with Tivo. Now it’s different because one of our friends was cast as the assistant to; President Palmer. With 20 or more people in the room, people get pretty snappy when other talk during the show. But as soon as our friend shows up on screen, everyone roars claps, like we’d just won the big homecoming game. Then we’ll replay that three-second clip a few times just for kicks.

These parties have been good for the Catholic community in Phoenix. The success of a lot of parishes in the city are because the people there made a conscious effort to build community and spend time with one another. Sometimes “church social groups” can seem forced and dorky. But the 24 party is an organic thing. It just kind of happened, and it just keeps happening. When old friends are back in town, they come to the party. If new friends are in town, someone always brings them to the party. Strangers are in my house all the time.;

Matt Maher is in Nashville meeting with a lot of Christian music people this week. He’s a talented songwriter, and it seems as though several labels are interested in his stuff. We’ll see what happens. I think tonight or tomorrow night he’s going to Chris Tomlin’s party for the gold party for his latest album. That means he’s sold 500,000 copies. And one of Matt’s songs has been a popular song on the album. So I’m excited for Matt. A few years ago Matt had a song on a Grammy nominated album. I’m just excited to see people recognize my friend’s talent.

Once everyone left the party last night, I sat down in front of my computer and entered the rest of my 1999 journals. The site is still a little buggy, but I’m really excited about the new look. It will take some time to pull the portfolio section together, but that will be a lot of fun to do.