Something to Dwell On

My dad and I have been looking for things to do together recently. We've taken a few great trips. Several years ago we took a trip to Alaska, which was a fun adventure. Recently, we met up in Paris for a week and explored the more cultured side of life. This past weekend, we stayed a little closer to home and visited the vast metropolis of Hillsborough, NC. As a graphic designer, I'm interested in lots of areas of design, one of which is architecture. Dwell is a magazine that covers modern home design. Steph bought me a subscription last year. The magazine sponsors a competition each year that promotes pre-fab home design. The magazine has a national market, but strangely enough, both winners have built their homes in NC, just outside of Raleigh. Since it was so close, I thought it would be worth checking out the open house. When we arrived, we listened to a presentation by a pre-fab architect who plugged his website. We grabbed a shuttle and walked through the nexthouse. It was a good time with pop. It's fun to be able to share some of my interests with him. I'm looking forward to a fun friendship with dad... ummm... Glen.

Tune your run

So I recently picked up a very cool little accessory for the ol' ipod nano. It's a sensor that you insert into your running shoes. It transmits a signal to your ipod that allows you to track your distance. The real advantage of this is that you can run anywhere you want and know how far you've run. The ipod even gives you audible status reports and you hit milestones of your run. It's pretty slick. If you want to see my progress, check it out below:

High Standards

I've recently had a few casual conversations at work about what women want in a guy. It suddenly hit me that high heels play a large part in the modern match-making culture. Women often choose men who are at least their height + the height of their heels. This way, when the couple is in a social setting, the woman can look fashionable and still have a man who appears suitably taller and masculine. I was blown away that a little piece of plastic on an incredibly uncomfortable fashion accessory can have that much of an impact on our modern culture. I'm hopeful that most people see past this superficial approach to dating. My guess is that it plays a bigger part then some would like to admit.

You've got to be Joking

After recently seeing spiderman 3, I decided to take a break from all the lame comic book movies that have been flooding out of Hollywood over the last few years. It was really boring... and there was way too much crying. Comic books aren't remotely interesting to me when they come to the big screen. The villians are too nice, too fantastic, too... silly. Then out of the blue, my friend Matt sent me this:


Joker from the next Batman movie.

Now THAT'S a VILLAIN. That image alone intrigues me enough to go see the movie. Finally an interesting interpretation. So, that's the answer hollywood. Make the baddies bad.

An American in Paris: Day 3

Pics are now at flickr

An American In Paris: Day 2

Today dad and I enjoyed a bus tour. Here are some scenes from the day.



Sidewalk artist



The Louvre



Gate



Pop



Penthouse



Sidewalk Vendor



They're everywhere



Police Caravan



Notre Dame



Bridge



Triumph



A nap in the park



The End

An American in Paris

Bonjour. It's the morning after my first day in Paris. I'm at my hotel, typing on a French computer, which is a cultural experience in itself. The keys are all indifferent places so I've returned to the hunt and peck method. When I flew in yesterday morning, it was very foggy. The sun was just rising and I could barely see down to the ground. Looking down, I saw lots of farmland, but unlike the US, the plots were all at angles.


Foggy morning

As soon as we landed, I found myself in another line. This one was for customs. I slowly made my way through bus trips, subway stations, and train rides, until I arrived at the hotel. I was early and my room wasn't ready, so I took some time to explore the neighborhood. There were all kinds of small meat, bread, and produce shops. I only heard French speakers around me, but was able to order a small roasted chicken and some bread by pointing. With a full stomach, I went back to the hotel and checked in. I was amazed at how small the room was, but at least everything was nice. I slept for several hours and then decided to go explore Paris a little bit.


Lovebirds

It really is all that people say it is. It's very expansive and beautiful. Since my dad was flying in later, I decided to just survey the scene. I walked along the river, saw the louvre, the eiffel tower, had lunch outside at a café, and took a nap in a park.



A walk along the river


River scene



Relaxing on the lawn



Reading a book



Peddlers in trouble


It was so nice to be in a different place. I'll be glad to have my dad around today. I haven't had a conversation with someone for quite awhile. I'll fill you in on today's events later.

Back in Black

It's been a mournful week for me. I've spent the last year and a half with a close companion and now she's not there anymore. and it's hard. I feel it was the right decision but it I do miss her. Relationships are such a difficult part of life. They are complex. They run deep into our emotions. It's amazing that someone can reach inside your heart and affect it like that. As I've been know to say, "I think it's all part of God's design." Our soul is meant to operate a certain way. God pre-wired us for deep relationship... especially with Him. These times of sadness always elevate my awareness of His presence. I feel humbled and small and not so self-sufficient.

Just a theory

One of the best parts about the show Lost is that it raises just as many question as it answers. It has an enormous back-story and depth to it's characters, which makes it so much fun to talk about "by the watercooler". So I have a new theory that only a "Lost" fan would understand. I was watching the last episode which describes Desmond's story in more detail. There is a character in his flashback/dream who is able to see into the future but doesn't act on her knowledge. She says that the universe corrects itself and that even if you intervened, the same thing would just occur again later. For example, if you knew someone was going to be killed in a certain way, you could prevent their death, but the universe would keep making attempt after attempt. You would have to intervene over and over and over. She then tells Desmond that pushing the button is the most important thing he would ever do with his life. Later in the episode we see how this plays out, when Desmond is able to see that Charlie is going to die and has to intervene twice. This made me think. We still don't know why the "Others" are still on the island. I think I might... just might... have the answer. Here it is... the Others have already found a way to unbalance the equation and change the destiny of human-kind. They succeeded in their experiments. (If you don't know about the equation, click here to find out )The reason they are still on the island is that the UNIVERSE CORRECTS ITSELF. The others have to keep intervening. They have to keep pushing the button an affecting the other environmental factors represented by the numbers in the equation. Now that the button seems to be out of the picture, there must be other experiments that were successful. Anyway, I'm interested to see how the story plays out. For those who have no clue what I'm talking about, you really need to check out the show.

In Progress

As promised, here is a cropped cellphone shot of my first oil painting. I'm still working on it. I should be finished with it in about a week. It's a still-life that we set up in class. Everyone was picking these close-up shots, so I decided to be different and pick a wide-angle view. Unfortunately, that has meant MORE work. This was really just an exercise for me so that I can get used to the oils, before I start experimenting. I want my next painting to have a little more meaning to it.

I Want My MTV

After months of missing key points in the TV show "Lost," I've decided to enter the 21st century and pay for cable. For some reason, whenever a train goes by my house (which is often) it causes major interference in my signal. There have been just too many moments when Kate FINALLY appears on-screen and then vanishes just as quickly as the freight train speeds by, it's loud horn mocking me the whole way. Never again. Now I can see her cute freckled face in all of it's high-definition clarity. Not only THAT, I can... get this.... REWIND. YES, it's true. DVR is a wonderful thing. I can set it to record any show on the schedule and watch it whenever I'm around. Tonight I've been enjoying the U2 Vertigo concert that all my friends payed 100+ bucks to attend. There also some great channels like the HD discovery channel, cooking channels, home remodeling channels, music videos.... I'm gonna learn so MUCH :)

Happy Trees

I'm taking a painting class this semester at CPCC. I've decided that to accomplish anything in painting, I need a little structure. I considered renting a studio space, but that proved to be fairly expensive. For awhile, I even considered using the retail space that I bought as an investment a couple years ago. Considering the fact that the rates that I can charge in NoDa, continue to go up, that didn't seem to be the right decision either. I finally decided that the better route would be to take a class at the local community college. That way, I'd have some instruction, a place to work, and some people to relate to. Somehow I'm an extrovert stuck in an introvert's body. I really enjoy people. I didn't expect much going into it but there are some really talented folks in that class and it's been so much fun. It's very relaxing being creative in a setting where there are no deadlines. I go there every tuesday and thursday after my high-stress design job at Lucquire George Andrews Advertising. It's a nice change. My buddies in the class so far have been "The Kim," this crazy cool art chick with a great sense of style that loves to read and is working on a "question of the day" podcast. The other is Dustin, who is a student by day and an indie rocker by night. We all just chill and ask each other "would you rather" questions. An example might be, Would you rather be Hans Solo, Indiana Jones, or Jack Ryan, and why? You can get to know someone pretty quickly that way. The ages range from 19 to 60 so it's a pretty eclectic group. Good times. I'm currently working on my first oil painting, which is turning out pretty well. I'll be sure to post a pic of it soon. For now, I've pulled out some of the old acrylic paintings that I still have around. My best one to date resides in my parents house, but these will do for now. More to come.

Cry Me a River

It's only two hours now until the next round starts. I'm turning 29 tomorrow. In one sense, I'm starting to feel a little old. The grey hairs are plentiful which is strange to me, but I'm told it makes me look distinguished or something. In fact, it's taken over so much that some people even mistake it for HIGHLIGHTS. C'mon, I know I have the boyish good looks of my man J. T. but seriously... I refuse to spend more than 12.95 + tip on my hair. In fact, I just got my free haircut after my eighth hole punch in my Supercuts card.

In another sense, I don't think I've aged a bit since I finished puberty. Somehow, I feel like the same guy. In ways, I've matured. In others, I've regressed. I'm not sure what to make of it all. The longer I live as a single person, the more selfish I think I become. My family tells me that I need to find a mission in life. I think that is probably good counsel.

Working in a ministry situation for several years killed a bit of my desire to do that, but the motivation is slowly returning. It's not that it wasn't completely worthwhile. It was. Overall, it was a great experience. It's just that when ministry becomes your job, it's easy to lose focus and get caught up in the day to day frustration of working life. Somehow, in your mind, you start to associate that frustration with spiritual life in general. That's been my personal experience. I'm convinced every person in ministry needs a break every few years and I think some of us live our faith more effectively in a secular environment.

The point of all this is that I want to find a mission for my last year in my twenties. I'm hopeful that God will use me somehow this year. I'm exploring some ways to serve and trying to sense if God really cares about which one I choose. I think He probably does. That brings up the issue of general will vs. specific will, but I'll leave that for another post. I'm trying desperately to stay on topic.

An hour and half now....

You Are What You Eat

Growing up, I always heard that reading your bible daily and being involved in church was necessary for the health of your soul. It was spiritual food. I'm seeing the truth of this more and more as I sense my own mind and will being pulled in other directions. I need to start feeding my soul what it needs again. As humans, we have the tendency to get easily distracted. We set goals, but we quickly lose sight of them and our attention is redirected to things that are more immediate. The things we fill our mind with form how we think, what we value, and how we treat others. It's important. It's paradigm-shifting stuff. The trick is to maintain the perspective that daily disciplines are for our own health, not just for the sake of doing them. We don't question eating food every day. We know we need it to live. In the same way, our soul needs food every day. Our mind needs to be constantly refocused on the things that matter—the things that are eternal. This is not a new idea, I've just been thinking about it a lot recently.

A Life in Pictures

Some of you know that I have a penchant for small fast cars. I'm not sure where this desire comes from. As I probe deep into my psyche, it may have been the unfulfilled promise of a go-kart that began with the creation of a large bull-dozed go-kart PATH in our woods. On a daily basis, I took that path on my way to play commando with Zeb, but it was always on foot. Never did I realize the freedom that four wheels and a lawnmower engine would have offered me.


It might also be that I spent most of my early driving career behind a powerful, slender, sexy, toyota tercel with a cool 87 horses under the hood. Mine didn't have those rear-view mirrors on the ummmm.... hood... if only I'd known they were available.
Toyota Tercel

With the demise of the long-toothed Tercel, due to a head on collision with a drunk driver who lost control, I was determined to move on with my life. My love affair with small fast cars began with my entry-level salary. Enter, the honda del-sol.

Honda Del Sol (the sun)

This 2-seater was a thrill to drive. I still remember the first day that I removed the top. Like most inexperienced young men, I fumbled with the strap... errrr.... latch. With the wind rushing by, I felt like I was Magnum P.I. Unfortunately, the Del Sol was basically a Civic, so it lacked the real pep that Higgin's ferrari would've had.

All that changed when I set foot in my s2000. Now I had power under the hood. I'd never felt actual speed. In a very carefully planned speed test, I located a paved back road on a former farm. It was a perfect straightaway that must've gone for 2 or 3 miles. There wasn't a cop within 30 minutes, so I opened it up.. 60...90...100....130.... I stopped there instead of proceeding to the supposed 160 listed in the brochure because I valued my life. It was pretty exhilarating. Mom, you'll be glad to know that I never repeated it. I had to... at least once.

kidding...


Honda s2000

The s2000 and I parted on practical terms, but I truly missed zipping around in a fast stylish little car. So....after some indecision, I have finally returned. Thus begins a new era (in my most melodramatic voice)... ME... AND... the Z.

My 350z

It's practically new (17k mi.) and I got it for the price of a newish accord. but it's got a heckuva lot more umph than an accord. If you care to know the details, Click here to get to know it.
If you care to register your complaints, click here.

Put Some Pants On

One of my favourite pastimes involves stopping at my local Starbucks on 7th street, grabbing a large (I refuse to say venti) hot Caffè Americano, and going next door to Heroes Aren't Hard to Find. It's chock full of great graphic novels and comic books. I usually go straight to the graphic novels because I think super hero comics are a little goofy. If I see tights on the cover, I don't even open it. I just wish they'd put some pants on. I know I'm probably offending half the guys my age by saying that but I just CAN'T do it. It makes me feel like a child and I have the kind of personality that prefers to act a little more like an adult... ummmm... video games aside. It's hypocritical, I know. It's just how it is. Anyyyywayyy, I love checking out the "novels." In my opinion, the best one of late, is a book called DMZ by Brian Wood. He rocks, by the way. The basic premise is that the island of Manhattan has become a war zone. The events sound a lot like something you'd hear on the news in reference to the middle east. It's almost like he's trying to put the Israel/palestine conflict into a context that we can related to. It was a very interesting read. The drawings are great too. The characters look and sound like people I know, only he places them in unfamiliar and dramatic situations. Anyway, if you get tired of men in tights, you should check it out.

My Next Oscar

I've recently gotten access to a very nice HD video camera and it's just begging to be used for something. Since I'm not exactly Steven Soderbergh, I've been trying to think of something simple to try. Here's my best idea so far. I live in an area of Charlotte, NC called NoDa, which is a bit of an arts district for Charlotte. In my opinion, it's a pretty happenin' place. In fact, I've been told that I talk about it a bit too much. What can I say, I love it and it loves me. Anyway, I live directly across from an old historic mill called Mecklenburg Mills. There has been some controversy over the way this mill has been managed and the city of Charlotte is currently considering what to do with it. In fact, I personally witnessed the eviction of all of its tenants from the view of my living room window. It's now sitting empty. A non-profit organization called Artspace is exploring the idea of upfitting the place into live/work studios for artists. There is very strong support for that idea in this area, especially since NoDa is becoming a bit too pricey for artists to afford. I might try to make a simple documentary that explores some of the questions around it and demonstrates support for the project. I could submit it to a local news channel or post it on youtube and e-mail it to city leaders. It would involve spending an evening or two attending a gallery crawl and asking people how they feel about it. If any of you creative folks have any ideas to add, let me know.