Filed under: Random Thoughts, Uncategorized | Tags: Blake Aaron Guthrie, Derek Webb, Phil Whickham, The Raconteurs
An odd grouping, I know… but hey, I never claimed to have typical music tastes.
Blake Aaron Guthrie – Love in Different Lights
If John Mayer were a Christian singing about Jesus and playing bluesy electric guitar riffs, this would be him.
Website:www.blakeaaronguthrie.com/
Also available at www.noisetrade.com/
Phil Whickham – Singalong
This is a great acoustic worship set that will have you singing with him in no time. It’s a combination of Phil’s original songs and great classic hymns with a modern sound. You can download the album for free below!
Website: www.PhilWhickham.com/
The Raconteurs – Consolers of the Lonely
I love their very eclectic sound and their changes in tempo/rythm in the middle of their songs. Jack White is an amazing musician, although a little quirky.
Website: www.theraconteurs.com/
Derek Webb – The Ringing Bell
I’ve liked Webb for a long time since his Caedmon’s Call days, and this album brings with it his honest lyrics while putting a new style on his sound.
Website: www.derekwebb.com/
Also available at www.noisetrade.com/
Things on my mind recently…
I really like…
- walking in the yard when it’s just been mowed.
- our new rug in the living room. It looks good, and it’s functional.
- dark roast coffee with shots of espresso in it. Yum.
- Stephen Cobert. He’s amusing.
- Star Trek. Not a Trekie, but the new movie was surprisingly good.
- Kahlua & creme. Takes me back to our cruise.
I really dislike…
- mowing the yard over and over and over again.
- alarm clocks. No need to explain.
- technology that doesn’t function the way it was designed to work.
- those annoying Time Warner commercials. Call today, install tomorrow, blah blah blah…
- to do lists that grow more than they shrink.
I’ve been wondering about…
- how well external hard drives really work as NAS systems. I guess we’ll see.
- what a call to ministry looks like in today’s world and Church.
- rearranging our living room. Not sure how yet, but I’ll post pics if we do.
- when I’ll find time to start the projects in my head.
- when the best time is to buy plane tickets for our trip in January. I dunno this stuff.
I’m excited about…
- meeting Ashley’s (& mine I guess…) nephew this weekend finally.
- getting a chance to talk to Tony & Katie about marriage.
- Hardees on the trip home. Oh yeah – Monster Burger, here I come.
- new business ideas for both the photography and the web design.
- some time away from life in June with good friends.
I’m hooked. I installed Linux Ubuntu 9.04 on an old desktop here at the house to use as a home file & media server, and it’s grown on me quickly. It’s clean, it’s simple, it’s STABLE, and it’s free! There’s no need to pay to upgrade OS every few years because it’s an Open Source project. Here are the things I’m currently working on figuring out: getting a workaround for iTunes/iPod, a graphic vector design program, and a photo editing program on par with Photoshop (not GIMP). Once I get these three things figured out well, I’ll likely make the switch over to Ubuntu on my laptop as well.
Yeah, I know… I’m a nerd. But, I’m a nerd with a sweet server and a cool computer system…
Filed under: Sports Info | Tags: Cajun Connection, Cubs Baseball, Ryan Theriot
I really liked Ryan Theriot last year and thought he was deserving of a spot in the line up this season on a regular basis. He and the other half of the Cajun Connection (Mike Fontenot) have provided a great deal of youth and energy to the middle of the Cubs infield. Suddenly Theriot has found a power surge, already hitting for 5 home runs this season compared to his 7 previous career dingers. On top of that, he’s already had a grand slam and a two home run game. It only takes one look at his short and stocky body to realize that he hasn’t been anywhere around a ‘roid needle. Here’s to players actually getting better on their own merits and hard work. Go RIOT!
This is Naula (pronounced New-la) and boy does she have a story… She was picked up as a stray wandering around a ritzy part of Cincinnati, with scars all over her forehead, ears, and face. At the SPCA, everyone assumed the worst about her because of her breed and her markings. She was labeled dog aggressive and a vicious breed, and slated to be put down a week after coming into the shelter once no one had claimed her. Ashley and I found out about her, and we called and worked out arrangements to take her as a foster if she wasn’t claimed. She came to us under weight and scared of the world. Her aggression to other dogs was totally fear motivated. She scares very easily, and her instinct is to fight to protect herself. With the help of a friend that’s a dog trainer, we have integrated her with Willow and our dogs successfully with only a few scuffles here and there. She’s gaining confidence in herself and in the world around her each day. It’s awesome to start to see her personality come out and to walk around with tail wagging and ears up instead of in a constant state of cowering. She’s got a long way to go still, but the progress she’s made in a little over a month is remarkable.
Last Sunday she got to go with Ashley and I and the Waters family to go get ice cream at Mirandas. It was her first official outing, and she did awesome! She soaked up the attention and had a huge smile on her face from ear to ear the whole time. It’s moments like that which remind me of why we foster dogs from shelters that would otherwise be put down. I am amazed at the sweetness and love that these dogs have from all they’ve been through in life. I am a HUGE believer that with discipline and patience that any dog can be rehabilitated to be a peaceful and loving animal. Naula is the most recent example…
Filed under: Random Thoughts | Tags: blind moose, cheeseburger, grilling, summer
I think not! There are not many things better in life than a giant burger on the grill at home. I decided to make stuffed burgers, and I had a big thing of ground beef thawed. I didn’t want to have to deal with seperating/refreezing/etc… of all that, so I just threw giant burgers on the grill. I think that they were each a little over one pound before grilling. Needless to say, they well overlapped the buns, and getting it into the mouth was a difficult yet glorious process! OK, so maybe they were a little bigger than I’ll make next time, but man were they good. Next try – blue cheese crumbles inside the stuffed burger with cajiun seasonings (thanks for the thought Blind Moose)… Yum!
Filed under: Design Info | Tags: Earth Tones, logo concepts, Sarah Prout Photography
Sarah’s getting started on pursuing her photography career, and wanted a clean logo that kept a little fun in the design still. We love the color palette that she chose, but we’re suckers for earth tones if you couldn’t tell… Here’s her logo previews.
Concept #1:
Concept #2:
Concept #3:
Concept#4:
Concept#5:
Filed under: Faith & Theology
I’ve got friends that sit on both sides of this fence, so I’d like to hear thoughts… Is it possible to be a part of THE CHURCH (notice big T C), without being part of a church (little c)? Is your view from scripture, personal experience, passed on theology, etc…? Not looking for a fight here so please don’t come guns blazing…
Filed under: Faith & Theology | Tags: Communication, God, Heart Pain, Love, Marriage, Sex
Long post, but something that’s been on my mind for a while. I fleshed this out some time ago, and revisited it today. It’s one of the driving thoughts that makes me want to write a book on marriage and God, even if Rob Bell already did something similar… Hope you enjoy. It’s long. Even more, I hope you realize how much God loves you!
I find it interesting that a guy like me who inspires to be paid for my words cannot seem to find the right words to say to express to my wife the love that I feel for her. Sometimes it comes out correctly, but most of the time there is something great lost in translation in the short, yet seeming eternity, that it takes for a few words to make it from my heart through my mouth to her ears and into her heart. My heart thinks and feels in Shakespearian quality poetry when I am around her, yet I feel like the words I choose to express those profound feelings often sound more like Milli Vanilli than Romeo. Sometimes the love is so strong that it hurts. Literally hurts. The only way I can describe it is that it’s like that painful feeling you get in your chest when you swallow an air bubble or have a sudden shot of heart-burn. If you’ve been in love – real, sacrificing, deep, lasting love – you know what I’m talking about. Words cannot accurately describe the pain as there’s nothing else like it, but your heart literally hurts with a pain that aches in a deep place you did not know you were capable of feeling.
I remember when Ashley and I were dating that we had those blissful pre-marital conversations about what life would be like once we were husband and wife. We had such blurry red love-tinted glasses on as we looked towards our future together. Everything was going to be amazing and romantic. Yeah, that’s it… romantic. We’d tell each other that once we were married, we would fall asleep together laying in a tangled mess of arms and legs because we could not stand to be apart even when we sleep. We’d talk of sex and love and intimacy and raising children and all of those important conversations that couples need to have before they choose to get married. Those really are important conversations, ones that are essential to the foundation of your relationship. Conversations are important because it’s communication, and if you can’t communicate before you’re married… well, good luck trying to get that figured out after you’ve said your “I do’s”.
What you don’t talk about in those conversations though, is the fact that one of you snores or that the other one has a huge need for personal space when they’re sleeping and cannot stand to be touching anything else, let alone being tangled in a mess of arms and legs. Bottom line is, married life is not always the romantic dream that it is played out to be in our minds as we begin to enter into this crazy covenant of a relationship. (more…)
Filed under: Life Updates | Tags: Bark Ark Bully Rescue, Naula, Pit Bull, Willow
Meet Willow! She’s one of our two current fosters with Bark Ark Bully Rescue. She’s a small pit bull that is really sweet and really shy. She’s come out of her shell a lot since we got her as a foster about a month ago, but she’s still shy.
We also have a second foster, Naula (Noola) that is from the SPCA. She’s also a pit, that was deemed “dog aggressive” and slated to be put down, but a good hearted person turned us on to her story. We got her as a foster the afternoon that she was supposed to be euthanized. She has some aggression with other dogs, but it’s completely fear motivated. She’s had a crazy rough first year to her life, and has the scars to prove it. She’s made a great deal of progress in the two or three weeks that we’ve had her, and were confident that in time she’ll be adoptable and will make a great pet. Originally she was to be fostered by the person that discovered her, but we think that she is better suited for our home right now. She’s a longer term foster as we work to get her balanced and teach her that the world is an OK place. I’ll post a picture of her sometime soon.
