Derek Brink - New Year's Eve

My friend Derek has recently posted a concept piece album and story combination. I've known him as a musician for awhile and I've enjoyed his writing for some time on his website and blog. He's been and continues to be a member of Blue Tattoo and the Michael Feldman Group. Now I want to recommend his latest body of work and urge you go download it right now as it is completely 100% free! Go read and listen to New Year's Eve, a musical novella by Derek Brink.

Honoring Soldiers And Their Families

The freedoms we enjoy often come from the sacrifices of the men and women in uniform. But many times the mission abroad leaves the families back home with their own struggles.

Sunday the National Guard paid tribute to the contributions of both the troops and their loved ones.

ABC News Channel 20's Mike Brooks takes a closer look.

One of my friends, a soldier named Ryan Keeter, is featured in the video on the following page. Go to Springfield, Illinois WICS ABC 20 Newsroom. This quote is from that page.

Let Me Rule Your Heart by Rubber Universe

I've mentioned Gina and Robert before. They are two members of a band called Rubber Universe. I met them through work, but they are both accomplished musicians and damn fine people. Here's an animated video to their song Let Me Rule Your Heart. Check it out.

SoNotTheNews.com :: Your site for stuff that is not the news!:

There's a lot of good news sites out there for those people who want to get the news. But if you want something that is NOT the news, look no further than sonotthenews.com; your site for stuff that is not the news!

Blue Tattoo Gig

My friend Derek (former music minister at Ferguson Christian Church) recently had a show with his band at a place called "The Chapel". I had really wanted to go, but couldn't make it. Be sure to check out the Recap on his blog.

Nikomas for President!

My friend Nikomas (former youth minister of Ferguson Christian Church) is considering running for president in 2016, since he will be 35 years old. He would be our first Mexican president. Read all about it on his post, The First Mexident.

Handknits by Susan

mittens
Originally uploaded by handknitsbysusan

One of my wife's old grade school through high school friends has a knitting blog. We got to visit with Susan and her family over Christmas when we went to Chicago. It was a lot of fun. A recent post she wrote is a great personal story with a happy ending of her reuniting some lost mittens with their owner. Check out her full site at Handknits by Susan.

Rat Lifter

2008-11-20
Originally uploaded by psychojelly@sbcglobal.net

My Friend Ryan has a new comic book he is posting online using Wordpress and various plugins. It's called Rat Lifter. It's not clear at this point who or what a Rat Lifter is. But there's fire, muscular bad guys, falling meteors, monsters and a few random stabbings. It should be fun.

Congratulations: J.D. and Megan Pohlman

I'd like to congratulate J.D. and Megan on their great wedding over this last weekend. I got my invitation a few months back and was surprised and delighted to learn that it was going to take place in Quincy, Illinois, which is apparently where Megan's family is from. This was a double treat for my family and I because Lisa and I used to live in Quincy as well and our oldest daughter was born there.

I want to have a full write-up and post a recap of the night, but it's too late at night right now and I'm too tired. For now, take a look at the following two links that helped point guests to the wedding.

• J.D. and Megan's Wedding Map - Wedding Mapper
• Free Personalized and Interactive Wedding Maps, Local Wedding Planning Tools - Wedding Mapper

I've linked to J.D.'s website before. In fact, his personal site was one of the first that I linked to, since his stuff was a major inspiration for having my own site.

JanetLackey.com :: Graphic Design for Interactive Media and Print

A friend and former coworker I admire has left her daily job as a graphic web designer and is leaping into independent work as a freelance for-hire web designer.

You have reached the online portfolio of Janet Lackey. I'm a graphic designer living in the midwestern U.S. city of St. Louis, Missouri. As I approach a decade in the design field, I find what makes my career so enjoyable are the colorful variety of projects and clients I work with.

If there's anyone that can pull this off and be successful, it's Janet. So check out JanetLackey.com. Also, catch up with her stuff on her blog, her LinkedIn profile and her flickr photos.

For the record, I'm not stalking her. She just has a lot of cool stuff she does online and this is just a few that I know of.

Duck Goes MOO!!!

I wrote about my friend Charles Guthrie's sites before, but here are a few other pages you should know about.

• Duck Goes MOO!!!
• Coffee-Walk
• GeekyKeen
• Mid America Web Design
• MySpace: Dr. Booty Man

bonkersjam.com fantasy gallery of illustrator Ryan VanMeter

A few months back, my friend Ryan registered a domain and set up a website to showcase his fantasy artwork. I posted about Psycho-Ink previously, but Ryan got a real domain and is developing it with a little troubleshooting help from me.

Check out bonkersjam.com.

Mark McCoy

My friend and coworker, Mark, has updated his website. He didn't win the mayor's seat back in March, but he is still stirring up activism and enthusiasm. His ideas are pretty out there, but this is only a symptom of his genius.

Learn more about Mark McCoy, Delegate-Hopeful for the Illinois Constitutional Convention.

Rubber Universe

Two of my friends, Robert Noles & Gina Ronat, are members of a band called Rubber Universe. Check out their site and their MySpace page. Robert also has a personal site called N9XS.COM.

indiekidonline

My coworker, Matt, has a personal site and blog with a pretty interesting design. Check out indiekidonline, as well as Matt's Flickr Pics.

HotBloc Online Store

My friend and coworker, Kevin, has an online store of refurbished technology products where you should be shopping.

HotBloc is one of the fastest growing online merchandise brokers to hit the internet. We are trying our very best to be first in customer service, with some of the most competitive pricing in the industry, specializing in new and refurbished items from the best names in the business!

Shop at hotbloc.net today. Also, be sure to check out Big Kev's two blogs at HotBloc and Game Day Ballaz.

DtotheK

My friend and coworker, Don K. has a MySpace page at www.myspace.com/stlurbanguy.

jer86gn on Popug.com

My coworker and friend Jeremy uploads lots of pictures from his cell phone directly to an online account so that their shared instantly. See his profile on Popug.com.

Bite Me | MySpace

My friend Toni has a message for you on MySpace. Please Bite Me!

Mark McCoy

Apparently, my friend and coworker, Mark, is running for public office in Collinsville. It's too bad that I don't reside in Illinois or I'd vote for him as many times as I could.

Learn more about Mark McCoy, the ONLY viable candidate for Mayor of Collinsville.