In Christ Alone
Michael English

Welcome to my blog, updated whenever something of interest happens in my life (for the most part). Complete with pictures and video, you're sure to have a great time (although I can't promise you that). Anyway, thanks for visiting!

(pictures expandable by clicking)


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Of My Week & My Departure
October 20, 2007


Nothing too extraordinary happened this week, but we did celebrate my mother's 61st birthday! Yep, the big 6-1. That's getting up there. We're talking 9 years away from 70. We're talking more than half a century. We're talking ... about something else now (as mom looks over my shoulder).

Anyway, I love you, mom! God truly gave me a mother after my own heart, and I am grateful for you beyond words.

Well, I fly out on Wednesday for the Film Festival down in San Antonio again. I forgot to mention that my trailer was accepted! I don't know why I forgot to mention it till now (I was in MA when I found out). The other one Nathan Daher and I did also made it! Amazing to think that only 8 trailers get accepted every year, and 2 of them will be ours. In case you missed mine, here it is again ...



I'm so glad I was kinda able to incorporate my love for Robin Hood into this ... that is, with a bow and arrow, etc. Will be fun to see it on the big screen.

Just a quick addition here. 1 year and 4 days ago (16th), Pookie, my kitty of 17 years, passed away. It feels like 10 years ago.


I took this picture of her grave today.


One of my favorite pictures. I can't believe I still cry when I think about her. Seems absurd except for those who have been close to an animal for almost 2 decades. Just wanted to give this little tribute in her memory. Thanks.

All right, just a few pictures from the week. I'm warning you now, this entry's pretty boring, so I don't want any negative comments saying how boring it was (that includes you, Josef). I only want positive, warm fuzzy comments that make me feel good about myself. Thank you.


My 61-year old mother and 59-year old father. Still looking pretty good, I must say. We had an incredible meal of pizza and caesar salad at Jer and Danni's that evening (I LOVE caesar salad).


Oh ... that's a very ... nice ... necklace (I'm not a very good liar, am I? - and yes, that's my mom, not Audrey Hepburn. Don't ask).


A music CD from some friends in New Zealand. Anything from New Zealand is worth keeping.


To satisfy members of the KFC.


Kalea Having Some Fun ... (ok, a little more to satisfy the KFC ... I love how it ends. "You must have got Uncle Jordy's genes." - "What?")


And here's a completely random picture of Cody playing the guitar while wearing an 80s wig. Yes, this is the quality you've come to expect from Niednagel.com


And another completely random picture of myself with a turtle (well, specifically a terrapin for all you nature junkies) as I was heading out to the post office. I've come to the scientific conclusion that all turtles are Introverts. Anyway, this time of year it's common to see tarantulas walking across the roads, so that's why I had the camera in hand. Didn't see any tarantulas. :-(


That's right ... another completely random photograph for ya! On Wednesday nights I play basketball in Ava, and this last time I jammed my thumb while stealing the ball from another guy. It hurt SOOO bad. Ok, I know it doesn't look terrible there, but it was pretty bad for a couple days. I thought I had at least sprained it, but it's feeling better now, praise the Lord. Feel free to save this photo for your desktop.


With Jer and Danni in Texas and my mom and dad in Branson for a couple days, I had some quality time alone. Went on a walk on an absolutely GORGEOUS day ... about 75 degrees, strong breeze, colors of the trees beginning to change ... so wonderful.


A Boy & His Dogs ... Lots of times when I walk my dogs, I imagine I'm in the book "Where The Red Fern Grows." Anybody here ever read that? Even takes place in the Ozarks. A wonderful story, though with a very sad ending. *sniff* (a boy and two dogs ... you guess what happens ... no, they don't ALL die, you sicko!)


Our neighbor has a few fields I enjoy walking through. Just a glimpse of beauty.

See, I told you this entry was boring. Anyway, I leave Wednesday and get back Sunday, and of course I'll be taking lots of pics. Look forward to seeing some of you down there! Will be a blast. Farewell everyone, and the Lord richly bless your week!





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Another Week, Another Adventure
October 13, 2007


Well, I'm finally back on my normal Saturday blog posting schedule. Don't everybody get too excited at once. Anyhow (as Cody would say), this week was a good week, filled with both work and play. How was yours? I received a fascinating letter in the mail, and just thought I would share it with you. Opening up a lovely pink evelope, I found this inside.



lol, I stood there in the middle of the street for a few moments wondering what on earth I was looking at, when suddenly it hit me! First of all, this is from Seth Thomsen, a bright young "Brad & Kyle" fan I met while in Massachusetts. Any of you familiar with "As The World Turns Around the Young and Restless Days of All Our Children's Lives" (click to watch)? If so, you'll know exactly what young Seth drew here. The caption reads "A really, really bad accident," and the picture shows what I think to be a school bus and a semi truck ... with ... a body lying in the street (lol! why am I laughing? I guess because the concept is so violent). Great job, Seth! You really made me laugh once I realized what I was looking at. Way too funny. Thanks for sending that!

All right, you probably knew it was coming. Below is a little behind the scenes video of "Watchin' You." Basically, I just put in any funny or interesting parts. You'll see how many times Michael's guitar strap came off, as well as how hard it was for both of us to get the lyrics right ... and of course just how much fun we had doing it all.


A Glimpse Behind, "Watchin' You" ...

All right, with that, on with some pictures. I was blessed to spend some time with Jon Courville again this week, and we had a total blast (at least I did). Thanks, Jon! Oh, real quickly ... I just want to again praise the Lord for giving me back my voice as He has so mercifully done. I can't begin to describe to you what it's like to be able to talk and share all my thoughts and feelings again without inhibition. I do not exaggerate when I say that it's like being blind and receiving back your sight. In fact, I still find myself struggling not to speak too quickly, because for the last 7 years I've been forced to condense my words so as not to wear out my voice when talking to people. Thank you, Lord!

Here we go ...


Thursday, 11:35am, Springfield, Missouri. I'm supposed to have picked up Jon Courville by now, but I can't find the ... blessed exit! I've called him now ... what ... 5 times already? Well, I finally pulled into his driveway about 20 minutes later, and thankfully he was his normal kind and cordial self (must have been hard to keep it in). Man, look how big my eyes are. I look like Frodo Baggins.


Time for some mini golf! Jon's got the scorecard and we're ready to roll. I've actually NEVER played miniature golf in Springfield before ... I had never even seen one. Sure, this one didn't have all the fancy mechanical bells and whistles like some other places, but it was a blast.


Ok, I just gotta hit it over the bushes and under the ropes and through the river. No problem.


Jon lines up his putt. Don't you love my artistically crooked shots? I know Michael does.


Out On The Links ...


Check out the video above. There's one hole where you're SUPPOSED to hit it into the water. Too cool! I had never seen anything like that before. Anyway, this was not that particular hole ... so Jon hit it into the "lake," which drained out into a creek and ran down to another lake. Well, as his mis-hit ball drained out of the lake, he stood over the creek waiting for it, and as it came down, he hit it right onto the green. It was like the most illegal procedure I had ever seen in my entire life. I immediately dropped my bag, got in the car and left Jon just standing there. Well, I pictured myself doing all that at least. Next time I'm really doing it.


Inside the clubhouse they had a virtual golf room, where for $15.00 you could play 9 holes of virtual golf. I know! I was thinking the exact same thing! What a deal! So I threw down the money and 5 minutes later found myself in Hawaii playing the back 9 of Kapalua (I've played there before in real life). I have to admit, it was pretty weird. You basically hit a normal ball using normal clubs right into the screen, and all these nifty sensors detect your speed and velocity and everything else. Wild.


The head guy steps up to give me a few tips. After he saw me play a few holes, he asked me to join his virtual golf team, where they play once a week against other teams for prizes and stuff. I know! I was thinking the exact same thing! So I immediately signed up and ... ok, getting back to reality here, no I didn't join. Although I was certainly flattered, I was not about to commit to driving 1 1/2 hours every week to hit a ball against a wall with a group of ... kind elderly fellows.


Jon gives it a try. He injured his back about a month ago while playing volleyball, so had to be extra careful not to do any further damage.


All that golf makes a man really hungry. We first decided to go for some Mexican, but after pulling up to a rather scary looking place ... frightening even ... I suggested Olive Garden. Jon had never been there before, so it was fantastic. Good food and good conversation (even briefly discussed dispensational vs. reformed theology, oh my! And no black eyes!).


This is a 48 second photoshop attempt to make me look Italian. It was Jon's idea. Oh! You would not believe what happened. So there we were, talking, when the conversation turned to our latest music video (the one with Michael Thomas and I). Then, we started talking about something else, when all of a sudden a cell phone rang at a table across from us where two ladies sat. Guess what her ring tone was!? "I've been watchin' you, dad, ain't that cool?" Talk about ironic! I then stood up to introduce myself as Atkin's backup violinist, but Jon pulled me down and suggested that it probably wasn't the best idea. Anyway, thanks again for the fun time, Jon!


After dropping Jon off, it was time for some last-minute shopping. I call this one, "Complete Frustration While Looking For A Mother's Birthday Present."


This makes me look fat ... and bored. (hah! And you thought the infamous dressing room pictures were a thing of the past!)


I really liked this modern sweater / turtleneck thing. After much deliberation, however, I decided it was a little too controversial. I'll explain it to you when you're older.


The Brain Doctor and I, out once again for some family golf. Pretty amazing to see me in pants, huh? The weather's been pretty nippy (I love it).


Us again, with the addition of Jeremy.


Now THIS is rare ... my dad letting loose and acting like ... well ... me.


The gallery rudely talks as I hit my shot. I'm sporting the "epic look" on my face, though not on purpose.


And for all you KFC members (Kalea Fan Club), here's a somewhat artistic shot of her running towards everyone with her cute little backpack on. This will be a great picture to look back on years from now.

All right, thanks so much for stopping by, and have a blessed week.


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Of Michael And A Music Video
October 7, 2007


Well, it was now my turn to host a Thomas family member, even if it was only one. Michael drove in last week for a couple days, and boy did we fill them up to the brim. He's looking at some job opportunities both near here and in Colorado, and would appreciate prayer for wisdom and direction as he tries to decide what to do and where to go.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, we present to you a little music video we put together. Hope you enjoy watching it half as much as we enjoyed creating it. :-)



I think Michael should pursue a musical career. Anyway, on with some pictures.


The blogger nerds duke it out.


As long as we look to see where we're going every 10-15 seconds, we're fine.


Taking a photo of a leaf. Again, I was thinking the exact same thing you're thinking right now. Anyway, we stood in the cool water for like an hour and a half just chatting about any and everything. Michael is truly a man of depth.


Ok, enough chit chat. Let's do something manly! Both wearing our jeans, we threw caution and sanity to the wind and jumped into the water ... and umm ... afterwards ... flexed for the camera (thank goodness for Niednagel.com's state-of-the-art automatic censor technology).


We arrived home to find Sean Spears eating dinner. His birthday was in 2 days, so we decided to celebrate a little early. That looks like a chocolate cake, doesn't it? It's banana. It even smelled like chocolate. Talk about bait and switch.


I present Cody with his birthday card, which the Thomas' helped me put together while in MA. Good grief, who sealed the back of it with that icky pink wax!? It looks absolutely terrible! (not to mention totally disgusting!)


Yep, an official Austin Crowe birthday card! What could be better? Inside it says, "What's thith? Another birthday?" You can design and make professional greeting cards at Winkflash.com.


Michael: "Hey guys! We've just packed down a huge load of chicken and banana cake! Let's go do some pull ups!"


Taking on a celebrity. The ball looks cool there.


Why do they both look totally mischievous? Who knows what they were doing.


I think Michael enjoyed my king-sized bed. He better have.


It's 10:00pm. Time to take the Code Man home. Boy, Michael, that jacket looks familiar.


The next morning we partook of a delicious breakfast at Jer and Danni's house.


Kalea hams it up for the camera


Lee Strobel, the author ofThe Case For Christ, just released a new DVD documentary to compliment the best selling book. It was extremely well done. This is Jeremy beforehand ... umm ... doing something.


Mike and Kally.


Michael is given a tour of Jer & Danni's world-renown garden.


You thought I was kidding when I said it was a concentration camp.


Where are you guys going? Why, to shoot our music video!


I prepare the camera. Check out that vulture in the distance behind me.


"I've been watchin' you, dad! Ain't that cool ..."


That's a wrap! Funny how, in reality, Michael doesn't know how to play the guitar and I don't know how to play the violin, but I know how to play the guitar and he knows how to play the violin. That's Hollywood for ya, my friend (or Nashville).

In case you missed my trip to Massachusetts, see ... The Return To Rehoboth. As always, thanks for stopping by, and have a great week.





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