The Greatest Show on Earth!!...let me go back a few days to Saturday

.......it's a Saturday afternoon, let's go to the circus and watch the dancing elephants.......
I love that picture - it looks like something out of a disney movie.

I took Goose to his first ever circus. It was also my first as an adult. I think I only went once as a child. It was quite an event in the way the the olympic opening ceromonies are an event. It starts off with a big flashbang *music, singing, dancing, a parade of elephants, clowns, lights, fireworks, more animals, men with long legs, men with very short legs* and it is coming from every direction. So much to look at who couldn't be in awe.

I must admit there were some moments that I was on the edge of my seat - the people who do tricks balancing on top of a pole, the guy running on top of the barrel of a spinning arm a hundred feet in the air, the tight rope walkers, 3 motorcycles in a sphere-then 4, their was that one grumpy lion, and the girl hanging on to a bar by her toes way up high with nothing below. And the moment that made me most nervous was walking past any one of the hundreds of gift stands that they had placed every 15 feet along the corridor, knowing at any given moment, Goose will ask for something and the potential fit that could follow after I say no. They did draw him in, but he did a good job and didn't wine too much. What 2 year old boy wouldn't be distracted by shiny toys?

Upon arrival, I was trying to decide if I should park cheap and walk further or pay more and be closer. I always go cheap, but I was curious to see how much the close parking was going for. I looked over at the cheap parking and I saw the circus train. There was no other choice. For an added bonus of paying less money was the added attraction of parking next to a silver circus train. I had to drag Goose away from the train and convince him that it would still be here when the circus was over.

THE EVENING...let me go back a few days to Friday (part 2)

Friday evening Vernal and I got dressed up and headed downtown for the 8th annual Art Unleashed event, which is a fundraiser for the Humane Society of Kansas City.
The event takes place at Grace and Holy Trinity right off of Broadway, across from Bartle Hall. The picture above is of their event hall. All the art and food was inside that space. In the foreground is a magnificent courtyard that is surrounded by the the rest of the church on three sides. The drinks are served outside.
Vernal and I walked inside and viewed the art at a glance and then headed over to the food. The food is donated from an assortment of local restaurants. They had everything from BBQ to Chinese to Pizza to finger sandwiches, cheese and crackers, hot wings, all sorts of fancy finger foods, and desserts. Yum! We took our plates out to the courtyard to sit on a stone garden wall. From where we were sitting, we could see the power and light building peaking over the courtyard.
We also had a view of the space stations on top of Bartle Hall. It was a nice evening for being outside. We ran into a few friends out in the courtyard and talked for a long time forgetting about the time limit on the silent auction. When we walked back inside there were only a few minutes left. We weren't planning on buying anything but you never know when you might find something that you love and if you can get it for a steal.
Inside, the art is either hung on these sort of partitions or if it is a smaller piece they are set on tables. The white hanging form is where the silent bidding happens.
A lot of people come and the inside is usually full of people. Maybe, that is why we were outside for so long. The high light or funny part of the evening is when the live auction happens. They get real auctioneers and they know how to drive up the price. When the bidding comes down to two people, the auctioneer assistants will run back and forth between the two to have them one up the price. The will even bring the art out for a closer look. They are hounds.

Good times!

THE AFTERNOON….let me go back a few days to Friday (Part 1)

Friday was my half day at work. Mostly on my half days, I try to take Goose my 2 year old out for the afternoon and do some sort of activity. This provides Vernal a little sanity and relief to be left with Turkey our 9 month old.

Well, for this outing I wanted to check out the new arcade off of Shawnee Mission Parkway called PowerPlay. I heard they had a toddler zone. They had this huge – I don’t know what you call it – jungle gym?....one of those things that you climb with tubes and nets and different levels and all sorts of slides. Pretty cool! They also had a moonwalk to jump on, a little train track ride, and all sorts of other little things. Goose loved it.

After we left that area, we walked around to see what else they had and we came across the go-karts. They had some cars that were double seaters. I couldn’t resist, so we had the ride of our life.

I just wanted to use this post as an opportunity to make note of Goose’s first go-kart ride at 2 years and 9 months. This info may come in handy later….

happy little accidents and discovering new music

Last Friday was my half day at work and I had about 2 hours left that I need to get done. I decided to leave anyway and come in on Saturday during the kids “quiet/nap” time. Fate, perfect timing, whatever you call it happened. A “what if” situation…. What if I would have finished my work on Friday? What if I left home after my first attempt, before Vernal asked if I could stay until she got Goose settled? What if my radio station was not set on NPR? What if this? What if that? …I could have missed out on this four minute window.

It just so happened, that God was looking on me with favor that day and decided to show me the beauty of his creation. I just happened to be in the car during the NPR show Sonic Spectrum and the host played a song from a band called Coco Rosie. The song was Noah’s Ark and I love every second of it – the lo-fi electronics and the two separate female vocals and the weird-ed out Billie Holliday vibe. The song was taken off their upcoming record to be released in a couple of weeks. I will definitely be looking up all of their music. Their music from what I can tell sound like the pictures below.

Excusez-moi! Puis-je partager vous le parapluie? .........It's raining in Paris, are you in love?

Earlier this week, I left my office during lunch and was walking around downtown. It was raining a bit, but if you had an umbrella it didn’t bother you. Cool was in the air. There is something romantic about umbrellas. Couples will snug together under an umbrellas protection. They are a great prop for pictures and art. Feelings are evoked with the use of an umbrella whether it is to keep you dry or shade you from the sun. And they drip of style to create a look as one would pick out a hat, shoes, belt, or jacket.

This weather reminded me of when I fell in love with a girl in Paris. Paris is an amazingly beautiful city with a spectacular view in every direction. The city dares you not to fall in love. It was spring time and Le Printemps was her name for she looked like a fresh flower that had sprouted from the rain. She was dressed in black with dark hair that got lost in her black umbrella. She was striking a beautiful pose in the rain as she was standing by a fountain outside the Museum of Modern art. She was clutching something in her hand. Was it a book, journal, map?? She caught me staring at her and smiled a smile that said “let’s see if it’s true- what they say about this city.” That image has forever haunted my memory. I snapped a picture, drew a sketch, and painted many paintings to remember my rain girl.

I'm going bananas over bananas...or some bananas are bigger than others, some bananas mothers are bigger than other banana's mothers

I like bananas.
I usually eat one around 10 am for a mid-morning snack.
However, I have a few hang-ups.

Why do I get grossed out over a mushy section of a banana that has been bruised? After I put it in my mouth and chew it all gets mushy anyway. For some reason, it grosses me out and I try to eat around it.

What's up with the long stringy part that runs the length of the banana? Is it part of the banana or the peel? I try to pull them off before I eat, but I usally always get part that hangs out of my mouth and that gives me the heebeejeebee's.

For some reason, I don't like to eat the very end of the banana - the butt! It has that spikey thing that hangs out and is a bit hard.

I don't like to eat green bananas.

...and what's up with those bite size midget bananas that I see at the grocery store. Is it like the veal of fruit?

painting complete...or how i spent my spare time over the last couple of weeks

The concept sketch on a 3x3 post-it note that was laying next to my desk. I got an idea, so I drew it out really quick and splashed some color on it.

Transfering the sketch onto the canvas and adding the background blue.

Adding more blue texture and bringing the grass to life.

The finished product!
....

Fun Frolicking Facts For Friday Friends Feeling Festive

• Sitting in front of my computer without looking, I reach for my mouse and grab a banana.
• I have a navy blue mug on my desk with about 20 pens in it. The handle used to face the right side, I just noticed that when I flip the handle to the left side it says "We can't spell s ccess without U.
  
• During an office lunch n' learn this week, I traded someone my pickle for their cookie.
• The facilitator of our lunch n' learn looked like David Hasselholf's older brother.
• I found an award that was framed and in a clear plastic bag under my desk. I put it on someone else shelf when he wasn't looking. At first he didn't notice it and then it caught his eye. A week later he took it down. :)
• I have been having a lot of computer problems lately. It has been crashing on me a lot. They got it to work temporarily, but then my screen went black. I get our I.T. person to take a look at it. He plugged the monitor back in.
• Maybe my computer problems has something to do with the banana.
• I was eating lunch at 12Main with some friends today. We were siting next to a window that looks black on the outside and you can't see in. Our widow forms a little nook from the sidewalk. A young guy talking on the phone thinking he is out of view enters the nook to continue his conversation. He manages to fix his hair, adjust his crotch, and scratch his butt inches from our laughing group.
  

STRUCK OUT AGAIN...the story of how my opinion doesn't matter because I am not normal

I've got opinions; loads of them.

A couple of years ago, Vernal signed me up as a participant for market research surveys. It is a good way to spend and hour or two giving your opinions and to make an easy 70 dollars. To do this, I would get a phone call and answer a few questions. If I fit the profile, I would meet with other people around a big table and talk about a product as led by the facilitator.

I started noticing that I was different form the average man, when I was called in to talk about jeans and jean shorts. Sometimes you never know what company is present behind the two-way mirror, but that night my bet was on Lee Jeans. The sampling of men present were of all ages from 20-50, and from different economic backgrounds. The facilitator would go through these excercises of pulling out 4 different pairs of jeans and we would tell her which ones we like most and least and to give her an explanation for our thoughts. To some guys this was hard as putting together a complete sentence. To others, it was difficult to see any difference. Others only liked the kind of jeans that they were wearing when the graduated high school in 1982.

For me this was fun. A chance to break the stereotypes of gay and straight men. I was the only one to pick the darkest navy colors in a choice form light to dark. I took a stand against crazy pockets, pleats, and other weird stitchings. I told them that it is just a bad idea to make cargo pants out of denim - don't try to make the blue jeans something it's not. It seemed like I had different opinions about jeans and shorts than most of the guys there.

Oh boy, I got way off course.

Lately, I have been striking out and can't seem to fit the profile they are looking for. They called me last night and we went through the generic questions:

Can we ask you a few questions.....Yes
Do you or any member of your family work for the following...... NO
Age: 31
Would you describe yourself as a cuacasian.....Yes
Income level range......that one
Do you have children.....Yes

Then the specific questions (and this is where my honesty eliminates me):

How many times do you eat out a month? Um...5-10 times (maybe?)
I need one number. Okay, how about 7.
Do you eat out at casual restaurants at least once a month? Define a casual restaurant.
A place you sit down at and order off a menu, usually they have a bar. Yes.
In the last 3 months have you eaten at:
TGIFridays........NO ( the last 10 years and the answer would still be NO)
Applebees........NO (but I used to go there a lot when I was in highschool.)
Chilis........(uh-oh, I see where this is going) YES (I half-lied, I know I've been there within the last year.)
Outback Steakhouse........YES (in all honesty, I was there a little over a month ago. We were eating with one of our consultants and he has eating problems. They have a special menu for his problems.)
Olive Garden......NO (it's been years, but I just ate at Garrozzo's a couple of months ago. Does that count.)
I'm sorry, you do not fit our profile. Can we call you back with another survey? Yes

So, I told Vernal that I failed to meet the normal profile again - that we don't eat at the joe average restaurants and that next time I am going to lie so I can get in and have some extra spending cash. She replied-(not her exact words)-yeah, but I bet you enjoyed answering 'no' and getting turned down by a bunch of lame-O restaurants. At least you have your honor.

art imitating life… or the brutal reality that the animal kingdom is not as cute as a whimsy painting

I have been working on my painting The Beagle and the Bunny all weekend long. I am almost finished with the majority painting as I am getting ready to “tinker” with it a bit. This is the process where I over-analyze colors and wonder if it is any good in the first place. Vernal says she likes the background colors, but I am not convinced and I would like to make them a little more subtle.

The painting has taken place in our family room, which is now where our beagle Molly sleeps. We put a baby gate in the door way, so she can’t leave that room in the middle of the night to bark at our neighbor’s cat from the living room which is close to our bedrooms. I am guessing that Molly has had plenty of time these last few days to see the painting of her standing at peace with the bunny next to her. If she could talk; she would probably be criticizing my efforts – my face doesn’t look that boxy, my tail’s not that straight, that’s not what grass looks like, and I would never stand idle next to a bunny, because I would chase it down and kill and bring it back to you, so that you would know that I am a worthy hound.

With a look of disgust on her face, Vernal told me, as I walked in the door after work, that Molly has something for me in the backyard. I guess minutes before I came home, Molly decided to demonstrate the reality of her relationship with the bunny. There it lay dead in the corner of our backyard trapped by the fence. It was a very large bunny, maybe too large to find an easy escape route through the fence.

As we explained to our 2 year old, Molly hurt the bunny. She wasn’t playing nice. I don’t think Goose has been confronted with death or the idea of dying yet.

Hey DJ! Paint me a SONG...or a few quick thoughts on painting and mixtapes and staying up way to late

I spent several late nights this weekend painting. (3:30am & 2:30am)
In the old days, I used to work into the wee hours of the night without any thought of what tomorrow may bring.
It was so easy to get into the flow and just go until you felt like you were at a stopping point or finished.
That is all different now. First, getting married and second, having kids. I can no longer be selfish with my time by staying up super late and then sleeping in until noon or later. But, it still fun to do every once in a while, and there is a price to pay – lack of sleep. The funny thing is that when I finally lay down at 3:30 to sleep, I can't. My mind is racing.

I love to listen to albums in their entirety. It is an audible pleasure to listen to the artist’s complete vision in one sitting. Finding time to do so is very difficult these days in our fast paced culture. If I can steal a term form my high school days that is now not so much a function but an idea and therefore the idea behind the name will be eternal, I love to make “mixtapes.” Mixtapes are no longer on tapes for me but on CD’s and now I can make copies for my friends. Mixtapes are also playlists that I can create on my ipod. I love the idea of finding songs that fit together to create a perfect mood. For instance, autumn has a sound. I love to puts songs together to recreate “that” autumn sound.

Painting is the perfect opportunity to listen to hours of music. This weekend, I was in a more mixtape mood. I plugged my ipod into the stereo and hit shuffle. My ipod was given full trust to play DJ and mix up the songs for me. She did a good job of setting the right mood for the evening. It is always exciting to see what will come next.

ONE FOR THE BOOKS, or how to completely embarrass yourself on the first day of your new job.

A person I know, let’s call her Amanda, started a new job yesterday. She spent the weekend before shopping for more professional clothes, because her new employer isn’t as casual as her previous. As everyone knows, the first day is an important day for making good first impressions. I saw her later that night and she looked good still dressed up in her office attire and sporting a fresh haircut. With her killer personality, it was assumed that she hit the ball out of the park – well except for one unlucky person.

Here is her story (from what I can remember):

I assume the office is rather large and that she hasn’t met everybody nor will be working with everyone on a daily basis. The problem started when she walked into the bathroom and there was an older lady at the mirror. She momentarily holds the door open for her as to be polite so she can exit, but the lady is working on her hair and make-up. At this point Amanda, enter a stall to take care of some business. The lady is still at the mirror. As Amanda lowers her bottom onto the seat, a sudden unexpected discharge of gas is released creating a not so pleasant noise. The lady is still at the mirror. Amanda can not wait any longer, and proceeds to pee hoping to be as quiet and controlled as possible. As the story goes, she was not able to control herself and all hell broke loose. She said that she ripped a pretty big one, long and noisy.

The lady was still at the mirror when all of this was happening, but eventually left. Amanda hoped that the lady wouldn’t remember it was her who walked in and hoped that she would soon forget the incident. It is a big office, right?

Moments later when Amanda was sitting at her desk, that same lady came by to talk to her about a project they would be working on together. She said nothing about the bathroom, (but we all know she was giggling inside.)

OFFICE MOVES...and a short break into childhood dynamics of the classroom with pretty girls and dirty boys and new seating charts

There is a new guy in the office today. I am not sure what his role is -he's not an architect - I think he is to do business development, marketing, or something like that.

I had to move to a new desk to make room for him. I sit closest to the principal that he'll be working with, so I moved two spaces down to the empty desk. It is not a big deal to move and it is kind of nice to go through all your stuff and do a little house cleaning. Right now, my desk is spic and span - give me a couple of days and it'll be trashed with drawings.

I think this location will difinitely be permanent. I get the feeling that this office doesn't move around a lot. At my old office, we would move 2-3 times a year. When new project started up, they would put the team members together to be more effient. That office was a real organic set up. The furniture was on wheels and our desks looked like flat kidney beans. We would move to a general area and cluster our desk together. Power poles were located in generic locations to make a quick set-up and plug-in to the network.

As a kid in school, it was always exciting when the teacher dicides to rearrange the seating. A lot of my teachers did the cluster of four desk together. I would always hope that I'd get put next to one of my friends or the pretty girls and not next to one of the dirty kids who used bad language, didn't take baths, were a year older, and wore heavy metal t-shirts. I guess the teacher in her knowledge knew better than putting me next to my best friend, but I would usually get lucky with a pretty girl and not so lucky with one of the dirty boys. I learned that as intimidating as the KISS t-shirts were, and as cocky as their language was, that I could get along with them. But I think for me getting along, meant for me to play down to their level which usually got me in trouble. I guess that all depends on the pretty girl. Who was I trying to impress more: the guy with Gene Simmons face and tounge on his shirt who could beat me up because he flunked out a couple of times or the pretty girl with her pretty friends.

Anyway, my new neighbor is a guy from Egypt. His wife is pregnant and he reads news online in Arabic about the persecution of Copts. From what little I know, a Copt is an Egyptian who is of the Christian Religion (not a TV show on FOX.) They are persecuted in a racist sort of way. They are identified by their names and by their national ID cards which state your religion. This all seems very fascinating for me, so I am excited about my new cubemate. He goes to Christian church here in town with other Egyptians who have left due to the persecution. He says that most Egyptians in America are Christians and they come here to worship in freedom.

Lake ot the Ozarks

(a quick and non-descriptive overview)

This weekend, Vernal and I went down to the Lake of the Ozarks with the young adult group at our church. We left Goose with my parents and took Turkey with us.

We took the 3 hour drive Saturday morning and arrived at the hotel around 11 o’clock. We killed some time down at the dock until lunch time. All of our meals were great. They have a kitchen staff at the Hotel that prepared all of our meals for us. We ate well.

Between Saturday and Sunday, we accomplished all of our objectives to have a satisfying weekend: We swam; we played with the wave runners; we took a sunset boat ride; we went tubing behind the boat; we avoided sunburns; and we got to hang out and play games.

The lake water felt great – it was the perfect temperature. Your hair always feels a little thicker after getting out of the lack. The hotel also has a swimming pool. So after swimming down by the docks, we jumped in the chlorinated pool to rinse off. The pool also had a diving board, so Vernal was able to go through her series of dives and flips that she perfected as a kid at the local pool.

After dinner, Vernal, Turkey and I got on the Pontoon boat for a slow cruise and tour of the area as the sun set. There is something relaxing about the lake, the lake air, the breeze, and the rock of the boat that put Turkey to sleep. (We also took him out for another boat ride and again he feel asleep.)

Later that night, we got a good group of people together to play some indoor volleyball at the gymnasium next door. The competition was fierce and friendly - a lot of laughing and posturing. We must have played for 2-3 hours?!?

Late later that night, we played games in the basement floor of the hotel (which was a meeting hall area that we took over for our group.) Some people played into the wee hours of the night (3:30am.) I called it quits after midnight, because we do have the baby with us.

On the way home, we took a detour over to Osage Beach to check out the Outlet Malls. I need to do a little shopping for some work clothes.

Mr. Happy Crack

I was driving down I-35 on my way to work this morning and I see the company vehicle for The Crack Team. Their mascot is a happy little guy - a piece of concrete foundation with a crack down the middle, smiling and waving at me. Mr. Happy Crack (above) is what they call him and I look closer and see that Mr. Happy Crack has a message for me. (below)
The longer I think about it, there is a lot of truth to that statement. I believe Dust and Sunrise could testify to the truth of that statement. They used to have problems with a leaky crack and it smelled. Long term damage could be caused if you have a moist, wet, or leaky crack. A dry crack is happy! You no longer have to wipe up any unexpected messes and the bad odors go away.

a fly on the wall (or overheard e-mail conversations during work)

[m] I got Starflyer 59’s TALKING voice vs. singing voice........first song –THE CONTEST COMPLETED- is amazing,
it is sneaking up on me.

[f] Yes, I love the vocal harmonies on that album.
The first song is great and I also really like GOOD SONS, A GOOD LIVING, SOFTNESS GOODNESS,
heck they are all good.

I picked up STARS-set yourself on fire this weekend. I am still wrapping my ears around it. I love the male/female vocal exchanges. AGELESS BEAUTY is a perfect song and very beautiful.

second song....EASY STREET is a great transition from the first one, almost a slower extension of the first one.

stars are great.
get their other album........HEART, which is equally as good.

and i mentioned Ken Stringfellow earlier, i really like his stuff. he used to sing with POSIES.
album called....TOUCHED is the one to get.

latest and last Luna album RENDEZVOUZ is another good album. if you dont have it yet, you should get it.
it is full of slow dreamy songs. got the new WEEZER, i am not sure about that sound. it has some good songs,
but the whole album is almost very close from being a super cheesy album.

Is the Stars –HEART a hard album to find, because I haven’t seen it in any stores? I suppose I can get it online.
Does it differ from SET YOURSELF ON FIRE?

I’ll have to check out the new Luna. I love slow dreamy songs!

HEART is a little happier, less edgy. the song 'HEART' is fantastic, it is one of those songs that you want
to go back to it over and over. sounds little like 'death cab' there.
i would get it from amazon.com, would be less than 10 bucks.

new luna is very good. it is a nighttime cd (except one song...speedbumps). his voice is mellow and deep,
very clean guitar chorus, not that many instruments, strip down to the basics, lyrics are simple,
he does not repeat most lines, like lou reed or jonathan richman. this is an album i will listen to during a sunset
looking at the ocean with someone i love.

speedbumps is the only fast song, which is amazing. it has so much energy you cant believe.
there is a line in that song that says.....

'On the way, to Kansas City.

Who are we supposed to be?

It's raining rain, it's raining snow

Tell me where you wanna go'

100% boy

(…this one is for my sister-in-law “T”)

Goose, who is now in his second year and eight month, is now 100% boy.

First, we started potty training this week. Off goes the diapers; on goes the tightie whities. It is a funny sight to see his skinny little legs and now his tiny little butt running around the house full speed.

Second, the spirit of adventure is alive. He is climbing everything that goes up and leaping back down to the ground. He will jump from sofa to sofa. He loves to spin himself dizzy, play roly-poly on the ground, and attempt summersaults.

Third, his vocabulary is quite stellar. I thought boys weren’t supposed to be so wordy, but this guy will talk your ear off and he knows big words.

Fourth, he has discovered the importance of pockets and their use for collecting all things fascinating. Some of his favorite objects I have pulled out of his pockets are interesting rocks (especially white shiny ones,) small twigs, leaves, etc. But the best is when he pulled something brown out of his pocket and said “Look Dad, his legs came off.” I then feel his pocket and hear a crunching sound. I reach in and pull his pocket inside out to release his small collection of cicada shells that he collected from outside.

Fifth, I taught him to throw a ball overhand.

music snobbery

To the average music listening person - those who buy fewer than 10 cd's a year (if I can make a bold classification, but don't know if it is accurate) - I might seem like a music snob, because I love music and take it a bit serious. I have definite opinions on music (and I have to admit that I have great tastes.) Just like someone, who is more well read than I am, may suggest and encourage me to read a book they like; I too like to challange ones ears with new music.

To the serious music fan - those who have a wish list of music to buy when the funds become available - I am someone who can spend an evening talking about great songs or a great band or what is good about music today or what is bad about music today. We have a lot of commonality, because we are always pursuing good music and feel the love when we can share it. We like to make mixes for each other and comment on the mood of the mix and are always excited to learn about an undiscovered band. I always learn and expand my taste from these people, because they are different from me. Yes, we may share some commonalities yet they may lean a bit in a different direction than I would generally go.

To the music snob - those who feel they have an elitist taste and view of music and are generally unimpressed with all music unless they discovered it and then dislike them once they release a major studio ablum - I generally don't like you. Your not very fun to talk to, boring in fact. These people forget that music can also be fun or something to shake your hips to. There is not an exchange of ideas, no give and take. They try to be too cool for guilty pleasures or anything remotely mainstream and can't admit a good song, because of the snob code they live by. I generally avoid music talk with these people.

Anyway, I was visiting one of my favorite music discussion groups online where music fans and snobs alike are present talking about music and I found an interesting exhange that made me go "YES!"

Music Fan A:
Have you heard the new song by XXXXXX band that is posted on their PureVolume website. It is so good and beautiful! I can't wait to hear the new album.

Music Snob B:
It's alright, but I'd listen to their first album from 1996 if you want to hear good and beautiful, because everything they have done since then has gone downhill.

(I like the commentary of this next guy)
Music Fan C:
you just experienced the unique dynamic that lives on this board; show enthusiasm and get deflated by indie snobs everywhere. here's how you stay alive round these parts, be stoic, remain unmoved by even the most beautiful music and be cynical about everything. Always express your displeasure of anything you see posted here and NEVER EVER admit you like anything but if you have to, just say "they're okay." hope this helps.

...and one more thing NEVER use exclamation points, they'll just get you into a whole lot of trouble.

Art Unleashed concept sketch

Above is an image of a painting I donated to be auctioned off at an event called Art Unleashed. I have donated artwork for the last 3 years. All the money raised goes to benefit Wayside Waifs, an animal shelter. All the artwork must be "pet themed" and so I have done a series of paintings of my pet - Molly the Beagle.

The event takes place in late August, which means if I participate this year, I need to submit my artwork within the next week. I have been thinking about the painting, trying to come up with ideas in my mind, drawing a few sketches here and there. I want to do something similiar to the painting above, I have used that beagle image on several paintings. I like the look of the beagle being broken down into straight lines and being outlined in bold black lines. Whimsy is the theme I am going for -and that seems to work well with "pet art."

This year I wanted to put the beagle with her arch enemy, the bunny rabbit. Molly goes crazy over rabbits, especially on walks. The funny thing about her is that she uses her nose and not her eyes. She'll follow the scent trail of the rabbit roaming around in crazy directions and miss seeing the rabbit resting 10 feet away. The rabbit will then dash away, and Molly will then see her and the chase begins until she reaches the end of her leash.

I came up with this little sketch yesterday. It came to me at work, so I drew it on a 3x3 post-it note. I think this is the look and layout that I'll go with. I'll post more photos once I start laying it out on the canvas and get a finshed product.

I too am sick of Worship Music

(inspired by Darwin's rant)
Don't get me wrong, I am not sick of worshipping God through music. I just can't handle the worship music genre and industry and popularity. Right now, wor$hip music sells and labels can make a ton of money off of christians willing to spend money on albums that recycle the same 50 songs.

Every 2 months for the past two years, I get a box in the mail that has books and worship CD's. These are for the young adult class at my church, so I have sampled each of them and they all seem to be blah. I do have a few records in my collection that I think are good. They were made with honesty and integrity, but they were made before the industry became about the Money. Seriously, do we need every single rock and pop artist to release their own worship album that has the same songs as every other album.

I could go on but I really wanted to write about the use of that music when the heart is not focused on worshipping God through music. I need to chose my words carefully, because this can be a bit hard to explain. I try to live my life as worship to God and realize that worship is more than just music.

I hate worship music as background music. I don't know how others feel, but to me worship music involves participation on my part. We each have our own way on how we worship God through music. I feel like my mind should be on set on what I am going to do with the music. So, I have a hard to accepting worship music to be played as background noise or just as a filler over the airwaves. I believe that you just get numb to it and it loses its power on Sunday morning. So I set it aside, for when I truly will focus on God. (I hope this makes sense, because I am typing this quickly over my lunch hour.)

I realize that music means more to me than to most, so maybe this isn't a big deal to some.

I say all this to talk about the young adult BBQ and Volleyball party we had last night. We had an outdoor sound system blairing out the tunes. It was a fun time, but the tunes consisted mostly of worship CD's. We are eating hot dogs, playing volleyball and socializing to the tunes of some bland worship CD. My teamates and I are trying to figure out how to keep Dust from scoring when the songs want us to SHOUT TO THE LORD! Sorry, I can't balance both, it has got to be one or the other. Finally when someone said "haven't we heard this song 3 times already" and someone else said "we don't have very many CD's," I ran to my car to see what I might have. YES! I found a mix I made called Summer 2003. My summer mixes are more upbeat driving in your car kind of music- which is the perfect soundtrack for volleyball in the sand and sun. My mixes are usually 85% by artist who consider themselves christians and 15% who are just good music. (I hope that's okay.)...because the party just go started.