Since I started working for Warman Productions I’ve had the opportunity to see a lot of neat things, that most people will never see in a lifetime. Over about six months I had a pretty cool chance to watch a Rolls-Royce RB211 jet-engine driven compressor made, from start to finish. I’ve always been a big fan of shows like “How It’s Made” so this video was definitely my style.

As a kid, I remember, when my parents were getting our basement remodeled, coming home from school everyday and sitting on the steps that led down to the basement and watching the construction workers nail board after board and wire light after light. Looking back on it, it probably made them feel like I was sent by my parents to make sure they weren’t slacking. Oddly enough I was more fascinated by their putting up studs and wiring lights than I was by watching whatever cartoon it was that my friends would be watching that afternoon. Later on in life I was given the opportunity to work at a hardware store and learn a lot about the ins and outs of fixing things around the house. In short, I’ve always been amazed by how things were put together and how they worked. This project gave me the chance to dive back into that childhood wonderment that seems so easily lost in a “corporate world”.

Death is a weird thing. On the one hand we fear death. We fight it with all we have, enduring everything within our power to remain in the flesh. To remain on the earth with those that we love. What we usually fail to see is that death is the goal. Death means your work here is done and you can go be with the one who created you. You can visit those who went before you and be free from fear, pain, tears, judgement, oppression. We were created to be in communion with the Lord and this life gives us time to prepare for that meeting.

So why do we fight it? We fight it for those who we’ll leave behind. It’s their grief that is hardest to take. Through Christ we are headed to a better place. We are headed to the best place. It’s hard for those who are left behind to cope with loss but there is joy in the loss of another. If we understand that the loss of that person is the end of their journey here and there promotion to everlasting life with the one who loves us more than anyone on earth ever could.

Embrace death for what it truly is, the shedding of our flesh and the joyous and everlasting communion with God.

So, I was an 80′s kid. Born in ’78 my first memories are surrounded by everything 80′s. Whether it’s Garbage Pail Kids, Burples, the Brat Pack, or even Debbie Gibson, who I am today was largely shaped by one of the best decades ever. We see traces of the 80′s in our culture now, even though they disappeared for a while. Mesh hats for example, cool in the 80′s, taboo in the 90′s and back again in the 21st century. It seems like we tried to get away from the 80′s but we realized that they were the best we’ve ever seen. I know I’ve only been around for 3 centuries, and my knowledge of those centuries before my conception aren’t my forte, but if you look around the 80′s are here to stay.
My nostalgic rant is all prompted by one thing: this picture of the Goonies cast years and years later. How awesome is that? You talk about a classic! Guess which one’s Chunk.

Oh yeah, and Happy Mother’s Day!!!

Sometimes getting out of town is the best thing you can do to refresh yourself and collect your thoughts. It gives you time to just live in the present and not worry about what’s waiting for you at home, at your job, and just in your everyday worries. You’re so far away from those things that there’s nothing to do but sit back and give in to wherever you are. For me, that place is usually the outdoors.

The outdoors not only gives us a chance to get away from the worries of life back home but , for me, it also gives back the connection to nature that, I think, every one of us longs for in our lives. There’s something about looking out to a shimmering lake surrounded by trees that says, this is where you belong. I think, somewhere along the way we got lost in the hustle and bustle of the world and forgot that we were originally designed as part of a bigger creation. The creation of nature and all those things around it. We’ve surrounded ourselves with concrete jungles and lost that vital connection to God in all of his majesty. That’s not to say that God isn’t present in the houses that we live in or the buildings that we work in, but are we present and available to God in those areas.

I get so caught up in technology, comfort and “the next best thing”, that I forget that God originally created me to have nothing more than a relationship with Him. I spend more time with my computer, or my guitar than I do with God and it’s only in the times when I get lost in nature that I truly open myself up to God. At home I’m surrounded by what I don’t have, in nature I have everything I need.

Reduce the complexity of life by eliminating the needless wants of life, and the labors of life reduce themselves.

-Edwin Way Teale

As you can probably tell, I had a great experience this weekend that gave me a chance to get out of town and revisit a cabin that I’ve known for quite some time now. It was out in the Hocking Hills and throughout my high-school and college years it was the go to cabin for a quick get away. Unfortunately it began to fall apart and I hadn’t been back for years, but, after a total overhaul, it’s back up and running. They tore apart pretty much all but the walls of the cabin and started from scratch. It was interesting to see that the cabin that now had a completely different appearance still housed the memories that had been built over so many years. It was at that cabin that I had many talks about God and his presence in our lives and it’s at that cabin that I hope to make many more.

Evidently there’s a little extra to worry about in the Hundred Acre Woods these days. Usually the only thing Winnie and Christopher Robin really had to deal with was Eore finally offing himself or Tigger coming off his high and going ballistic. Now they’ve gotta deal with breaking it to Piglet that he’s gonna be quarantined for the next 4 or 5 months until this whole Swine Flu thing blows over.

It seems like the swine flu is still the talk of the town and it’s not really gonna stop anytime soon. From what I understand it’s slowing down but it’ll pick back up again in the Fall. Hopefully they’ll have enough time to really contain it and come up with a good vaccine for it. There’s definitely a rampant fear about it going around. I tried to go to CVS today and get some antibacterial hand stuff (ie. Purell) and they were completely sold out! Not a single bottle on the shelves. I didn’t go looking for any but, evidently, they’re sold out of masks as well.

I read a tweet earlier today that said that it took a recession for people to actually start caring about change (the monetary kind). Well, the swine flu is making everybody afraid of money that’s been touched now. I guess we’re screwed. Just use credit cards from now on.

Ok, so, after really working on getting more of my blog completed I knew I needed to find a good way to display all of the items that are going to be in my “Portfolio” section. That’s where Shadowbox comes in. This thing is amazing.

Many of you probably know about it, or have at least seen it in action. It’s basically a Javascript program that gives great gallery effects to clickable links. Don’t believe me, click on any of the links below.

Pretty cool, huh? It took me a pretty long time to figure out how to use it to the best of it’s abilities but it should pay off in the end. I’ll be able to construct my portfolio page with all kinds of media and they’ll all have that neat effect you see here.

Anyway, I’m pretty impressed at myself for posting 3 blogs in 2 days so I’m gonna go grab something to eat and figure out something interesting to write about. If you have any questions as to where I found the Shadowbox scripting or how I configured it, let me know.