This is only a test (tm).

I'll be back around the 18th, and I promise to have some real content and commentary up then.

I'll be unavailable 'til Monday, but I intend to do some serious bloggin' after that.

Commenting is working again. I have no idea how long it's been down; I just thought no-one cared (or read. boo-hoo). Thanks to Horologium for the heads-up.

That is all.

They are up and working, in case you feel like wasting some time.

Oh, and a tip of the geek hat to whoever knows from whence I copped the title.

Note to self: If you are forced by AT&T Broadband/ComCast to change your email address, and your credit card number on-file with your web host expires about the same time, your site will go bye-bye if you don't update both in the web host's records!

ALL ABOARD!

Today in history:

753 BC - Today is the traditional date of the foundation of Rome.

1789 - John Adams was sworn in as the first U.S. Vice President.

1898 - The Spanish-American War began.

1921 - William E. Bell, Jr. (my father) was born in Slick, OK.

1972 - Apollo 16 astronauts John Young and Charles Duke explored the surface of the moon.

2004 - Scott W. Bell re-opened his weblog, Confessions of a Jesus Phreak.

Welcome to the re-launch of myblog!

As part of the re-design and re-launch of Confessions, I have moved to a Movable Type platform.

Well, I just finished transferring all my old archives over from Blogger. That was a bear. They're now here for you to peruse at your leisure. Or not.

Note that comments before April 2004 will not have their actual date and time, as I had to re-enter them by hand. bleh.

Other than the Quote of the Day, y'all probably won't see anything new today. The real world intrudes. But don't fear! I'm working on a post of denBestian proportions, and it should be ready tomorrow or Thursday. Hopefully it will be worth the reading.

In the meantime, check out the folks on my blogroll. They always have something interesting to say.

­hasta ma¤ana!

My wife, the Calculus teacher, informs me that she has been thinking about starting an education blog. Coincidentally I just happen to have the ability to set her up. So Jill is joining the ranks of Jesus Phreaks as our resident expert on all things educational, Calculated Risk.

She's got some strong opinions about vouchers, private schools, home schooling, etc., and they may not be what you would expect. Welcome to the blogosphere, Jill!

i am starting a personal fitness blog, Blog 4 Life. I hope to use it to keep track of, and help motivate, my progress. I've put a link under "All in the Family" on the blogroll. Feel free to visit; It is my hope that it will motivate others as well.

I'll be taking off from blogging for the rest of the week; must catch up with real-world obligations. Barring a terrorist attack or the equivalent, I'll be gone until Saturday the 14th. In the meantime, feel free to explore the blogs listed to the left. They're much more eloquent than I, anyway.

...from the real world.

I banned my first commenter today. I'm sure he'll think it's because I don't agree with his politics; he couldn't be more wrong. I encourage comments in general, and I enjoy a well-reasoned debate; but that's not the point of this post.

This blog is the equivalent of my home. When people come to visit, they are welcome to make themselves comfortable. However, I expect folks to behave in a well-mannered fashion. If I ask for help in a serious situation, snarky comments aren't appropriate or welcome. I enjoy a good joke, and will share one quickly as I hope others will with me.

I apologize for getting up on my soapbox. If this doesn't apply to you, just ignore it. If you are the one person to whom it does apply, then you know why your comments are no longer welcome here.

I've had to disable comments for now. I have been spending more time banning spammer IPs and deleting comment spam than I have with any other aspect of blogging. I was using MT-Blacklist, but it doesn't work since I upgraded Movable Type. Please bear with me; I'll have comments back in short order.

I hope.

I'm in the midst of upgrading from Blogger to Movable Type, as well as doing a major redesign. I'll be back soon, so keep checkin' in!

PLEASE NOTE the new blog URL: http://www.jesusphreaks.com/confessions