Turkey troubles

Every time we have a 'big' meal, like thanksgiving or Christmas there always seems to be something going on with the turkey.

Anyways, this year I bought a bigger bird than I normally get, usually I buy the smallest one I can find.  Bought it brought it home stuck it in the freezer and put it in the basement fridge on the twenty-first.  I figured four days in there would give us a thawed bird to roast.  Not so much.  I should have checked on it in that time but didn't.  I found a not rock hard frozen turkey but a kinda of softish frozen turkey.  A quick search on the internet found this web page about cooking a turkey from frozen.  We tried it, I mean what choice did we have?

It turned out very well actually.  Rave reviews from Tara and my mother in law and even our guests thought it was good.    This particular turkey was the fattest thing I have ever seen that used to have feathers.  I mean wow, drippings like crazy, we could have made more than four cups of gravy.  

So that's the turkey story of 2008.

Challenged.

There has been a Bible character that over the last decade or so, that has kinda jumped out at me around Christmas and afterwards.  Simeon.  The guy in Luke 2:21-35 that Mary and Joeseph met when they brought Jesus in for his circumcision.  

I heard a monologue given from the viewpoint of Simeon years ago and it struck me.  Then the other day I read this over at another pastors' blog.

And well, again, God is challenging me with some stuff from Simeon again.  What is my hope built on?  What am I looking forward to?  Would I follow if I was "moved by the Spirit" (vs27)?   How big a deal is Jesus?

There's about a zillion other questions that start to pop into my head, but then I breathe deep and remind myself that this Jesus; He loves me. As I am.  He wants me to know him.  So I dust myself off and move forward, thankful for the grace and mercy he has for me.

Today was a good day, I'm off to bed.  Good night folks.

Princess Bride Lightsaber Battle

Okay, this is just for fun. Made me laugh out loud, for real even!

cold

Took this today.  Did you know that it's cold here?  It is.

stitched with hugin.

Best viewed LARGE

Collage

Some pictures from Thanksgiving and early December of Phil, Erica and our family, there's even a few of my mother in law in there somewhere. If you are willing to click through you can find a supersized version.

(p.s. Mom, I will try and mail you one of these before Christmas!)

Likely your camera wouldn't take these pictures...

Most of the time I think that the best camera is the one you have with you.  For most of us, the limits of our photography are in our ability to translate what's in your head to an image.  

Sure I could use a better camera, sure it would help me make better pictures, but I don't believe I have come up to the limits of my camera as I have come to the limits of my imagination and ability.  

That being said; THIS blog post could be made into an ad for the sheer mind numbing speed and ability to focus of the Nikon D3.  Even if you don't read the post (which you should) just scroll down and see the mayhem.  Very cool pictures, I hope the guy was okay.

Livestrong

This video is intense. As far as communication goes, this is great. Take 2:47 and watch it.

More learning and maybe some inspiration

Lately, I've been hanging out a little at ted.com.  TED stands for Technology, Education and Design, it's all about ideas, as they say, Ideas worth spreading some you'll agree with, some you won't; but there's some great stuff in there, I've only scratched the surface.  Most of the talks are less than twenty minutes, which makes listening to them easier.

I've been thinking about communication this week; what does it mean to communicate something?  How do you communicate, or give to someone else that which defies words, passion?  Do you use a story, do you present and interpret numbers in a way that shows something really neat.  Do you show the problem and carry people through the solution?  All of them work, but bottom line is, are the ideas you're trying to share with people ideas that have changed your life?  Are the ideas that you are learning about are they things that can change attitudes, lives and if we let it the world?

I think the gospel fits into that space as an idea that can change attitudes, lives and indeed the world.  Can we communicate it in a way that people people will see that?

presentations

The other I did some learning.  I worked through a youtube video session (caution: one hour and eleven minutes) that was given by Garr Reynolds of the Presentation Zen blog.  He deals with presentations.  Here are some of the quotes from his presentation on presentations.

Simplicity means the achievement of maximum effect with minimum means. - Dr. Koichi Kawana

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. - Leonardo daVinci

Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated awesomely simple, that's creativity. - Charles Mingus

In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities. In the expert's mind there are few. - Shunryu Suzuki

It's taken me all my life to learn what not to play. -Dizzy Gillespie

[Presentations] are a balance of three rhetorical proofs: ethos (ethical), pathos (emotional), and logos (logical). - Aristotle

It was good.  I learned stuff. Not the least of which was that I learned (again) that Google Talks is an amazing little place on the interweb if you want to hear presentations on different things.  I love watching the styles of presentations that different people are using.  It's a good way for me to stretch my thinking in how to communicate.

Check it out.

For now...

I have been working on a blog post for too long. I likely will have to chop it up and let it out in a few posts now, but for now I looked for (and found) this little bit from Charles Swindoll.  I needed the reminder with the world being what it is.

ATTITUDE

by: Charles Swindoll

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.

Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.

And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes.

meetings

Had lunch with a guy from our church board today.  Got to try "Wild Bill's" pizza, very good!  Then I got to visit with a pastor friend.  Have you ever had lots of people who know you and then there are the few who 'get' you... ya, it's good to be understood.  It's good to be listened to.  

I've been trying to learn, practice and get better at listening.  Some days are better than others.

Here's a little bit from one of the books I'm currently reading;

"After he had received the last sacraments, a brother asked him if he were easy and what his mind was busied with.  This was the reply: 'I am doing what I shall do, through all eternity - blessing God, praising God, adoring God, giving Him the love of my whole heart.  It our one business, my brethren, to worship Him and love Him, without thought of anything else.' "

p108, The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence 

How often do we think like that?  That each moment was full of thankfulness and praise for God. I am aiming to be like that, blessing, praising, adoring my God without thought of anything else; wouldn't that be something?

  

A verse or two.

Something I read this week that jumped out at me.

 James 3:17-18 (The Message)

"Real wisdom, God's wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor."

today

Today, how do I describe it?

This morning, some email, more than a little prayer for the people in our church. I don't know everything that's going on with people, but God keeps prompting me to pray.  

Lunch, preparation for the two lodge services in town.  I expected to have a memorial service at each, turned out to be only the one.  At the first (without the memorial service) some enjoyed it (or so they said afterwards), some fell asleep, and one talked loudly unintelligible words throughout.  

For the second service, the one at which I was to lead a brief memorial, some of the people there, well, for them the grief was not just at the surface, but all over, crying throughout our brief time together.  It's sometimes hard when you don't know the people there, all you see is their grief.  The longer I do this calling of Pastor, the more I think the words "God be with you" are about the best thing I can offer someone in difficulty.  

Psalm 23:6 (NIV)

 Surely goodness and love will follow me 
       all the days of my life, 
       and I will dwell in the house of the LORD 
       forever.

Now, I prepare for the home group I'll be leading tonight on James 2:14-26.  

God be with you, whatever is going with you.

One might wonder why...

... I'm posting this.  'Tis simply my current attempt at facial hair.

The Man behind the Log

An interesting story, and might I add, some great photography, here (six minutes and twenty one seconds worth of story).

thoughts in my head

For some time (a little more than a year) I have been following Post Secret.

It's a project where Frank, reads hand made post cards that are sent to him anonymously.  On the post cards people share secrets they have.  

I find that it's something that helps me stay compassionate when I tempted to throw up defenses around me.  A lot of people carry secrets.  Some are silly, some are scary.  Secrets, I think, can be heavy to carry with you. 

Lately I've been reflecting on the love of Christ for all.  Certainly not a new thought, certainly not the makings of a blog post that will cause all else to stop what they're doing and flock here to read it, but even after being a Christian since I was four, I uncover more about it.  I remember things, things I know the Scriptures say, things I have said/done that don't measure up to that rule of love and yet, to borrow a phrase from "The Shack" - God is still fond of me.

In spite of everything this world would have that would seek to undo us, tear us down, God loves us, he likes us (maybe not what we do), he is fond of us, he cherishes us.

So, ya, no new thoughts here, but thoughts that my heart has needed and I'm willing to bet that a few others need it to, if not everyone.

God is fond of "them" too, whoever "them" is.

these days

... I've been growing a goatee.  If you live near me, you'd know that (the stuff on my chin is what I'm referring too).  Maybe I'll take a picture sometime.

Lots going on, or so it seems.  Have to fight the tendency to withdraw, to become numb.  

One of my tendencies is that when I'm am feeling overwhelmed, or tired, or fed up, or whatever, I withdraw into my own little world.  Sometimes, you might not even be able to see or sense why, so I pray.  I pray for people, in my family, in my church, friends scattered all over.

I received word today of two deaths, one a person I've never really met, but they are related to someone I know, the other a person far away.  I'm sad.  I somehow wish I could do more than just say a prayer, and make a phone call.  Those things seems so, insufficient in the face of such loss.

Was with a few people today at lunch and we talked of death, of Christ and of Enoch.  

 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, 
       but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

-Psalm 20:7 (NIV)

Even so, come and take us home Jesus.

Post Halloween

After the night is all said and done.  I must say that Halloween here in our little town is, dare I even say it?  Nice.  Folks start trick or treating just after school and it tapers off significantly by 6 or 7.  I suppose I know this (as this is the fourth halloween we've had here) but it's so far from what I have always known Halloween to be that I forget.  

It was nice to see some folks and to have everything be less hectic and halloween'ish if you take my meaning.  

Kids are going to be nuts tomorrow.  Sheesh.  

It's all good. Tara will likely post pictures tomorrow too...

'Til later.

Halloween

I dislike Halloween. Sorry but it's true. I dislike it more than any other time of year. It feels out of character to 'celebrate' the dark and macabre.  It feels dishonest.  You might think I'm trying to be 'spiritual' or something about the whole thing, and likely I could do that but this year, today,  it's about something else.

This morning I found out about a funeral I will be leading next week.  Halloween, for all that it seems to focus on violence and death seems utterly out of place when I begin to prepare for a funeral.  Nothing about Halloween makes a funeral any easier to wrap your head around.

Don't get me wrong, I like costumes, I like playing pretend and make believe.  I have costumes in my head that I think would be fun to make one day, most of them for me, predictably fall around Lord of the Rings themes but I digress. 

We will take the kids out trick or treating, we will have fun pretending and rejoicing in near sugar comas; but there is still a deep unsettleness about some of the other aspects that some seem to place on Halloween.   But so much of Halloween seems to revolve around fear.  In my humble opinion, there's far too much that people are already fearful of that we don't need to add more to the mix.  So there's my opinion about Halloween.  Parts of it are fun, but there seems to be a rise in the ugly side of it all too.  I dislike that.  

Regardless of whether you agree or not, have a great weekend.

I also don't particularly like the colours orange and black together, I don't know why, but I just don't.  There I said it.

In an attempt to make you all fearful, I add this less than flattering picture of myself, it's as scary as anything I've seen lately.  For those keeping score, this is the longest my hair has been in likely a decade... but don't worry it will be gone soon...

frayed

If I can get you to focus on the fraying hat, maybe you won't see the parts of me that are fraying.

I haven't said much about this here, but my wife has, today, here, here, here, and other places that I'm too lazy to link to. My son struggles with school. He gets so upset at something and doesn't know how to deal with it so he either runs away or tries to run away from the school. Today he succeeded, again.

It is hard to know your child is struggling so much with something that is such a 'normal' part of life. We are trying to sort it all out. To do the most we can to encourage him, to make him feel loved, to help him see that some of the things he does isn't good.  

But on days like today, well, I feel frayed. But maybe it's just the hat.

Passion.

 

God has been challenging me with some things lately.  He's been doing it 'quietly' in the sense that there isn't any major crisis, tragedy or meltdown bringing it about.  

I wrote the other day about finding an encouragement card from my Bible school days in a Bible from my High School/ CBC days.

That has got me thinking a little bit about the things that we believe strongly are important.  The building blocks of ideas that we start from when we go and do what we do.  Encouragement is one of the things that God has used to push me to grow.  Yet often I'm not very good at passing it on.  I try, often half heartedly, because I feel like there's so much else going on that it gets bumped down the list.  This got me thinking about the other things that we believe are fundamental to what we do.  The basic building blocks upon which we know we should be doing life and ministry (paid or not).

I found this, through a relatively long and twisting path through the interweb.  That links to a .pdf file.  It's written by a guy who works for a non-profit group.  It's good, read it.  I found it to be very thought provoking.

What do you think?

Jelly Telly

Back in April I blogged about Big Idea. Since then I have been following Phil Vischer's blog. He and his new team have a new project that is just about off the ground. The name of this new project is "jelly telly". They are very close to be up and running, but right now there is a preview video up on the main site. It's long, almost a half hour and it starts with Phil sharing his vision and then some of the content.

The content of this thing will be delivered via the internet and it looks like it will be a subscription kid of a thing. Phil mentions in one post that it's kinda like Nickleoden meets Sesame street. Puppets, simple animation and some live action stuff. They are looking for content from people too.

So far it looks really cool, honestly this stuff is good, Check it out.

Crystals

Found this link today.  National Geographic photo gallery of some simple crystals in a lead mine in Mexico.  

Okay, so it's incredible.  I can't imagine what they must look like in person.

Encouragement Card

Anyone remember these? Found this in a Bible. Brought a lot of memories back, mailboxes, friends, and growing.Feel free to post memories below, or to your own blog (a link would be helpful).

the shack

So I finished reading Paul Young's "The Shack". Others have reviewed the book with more skill then I could muster (I'll suggest one review here), but I will offer a few thoughts.

First, I have a tendency to get engrossed in a good story.  The writing at times is not as polished as some novels but I found the main character and his journey compelling enough to oversee them.  

While I am still processing some of the things in the book I will say this, it made me think.  The story, for me anyways, elicited even an emotional response.  This is a book that has theology in it.  Is God good?  That is a theological question and it is the one that Mack struggles with throughout the story.

I'm not sure I agree with everything that is presented in the story.  There was at least one thing that bothered me by it's absence, and that is the role of scripture in the book and in the life of the Christian.  This is a book to provoke thought and introspection.  I imagine it will help many to start to see more 'big picture' about God and free will.  

I can recommend that you read the book (if you haven't already), but, while it is distinctly theological, in that it deals with questions of God, free will, evil and the relationships all the way around; I would recommend that you use the book as a springboard to fuel some digging into other sources for more complete answers to some of the questions raised.  

I am, like many I know, sometimes skeptical of 'phenom' Christian books.  I think there is some excellent stuff in here, some good thoughts, some good perspective, some excellent imagery and a (in my opinion) compelling narrative.  Yet this book should not be a destination, if you take my meaning, it should be a springboard to search out these answers in the Scriptures themselves.  

 

Night light...

Found this visual essay on 'light pollution'. I found it interesting.Thought I would share.

The night sky, and the sky in general has always been fascinating to me. You can see some of my learning to take long exposure photos here.

Or view them in this slideshow thinger below.


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Our Thanksgiving

A little view into our Thanksgiving weekend.

Great time.

Something new...

I have started another blog.

I will keep this one.  The posts on the other one will be a photograph with a short description of my thoughts on the photo.

The photos will be posted larger then I can post here in this blog template.  Right now there are two posts up.  More to follow.  Check it out if you like.

A fall walkabout

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Justice...

... when evil is done, one response alone can overcome the evil.  Revenge perpetuates the evil.  Justice punishes it.  Evil is overcome by good only if the injured party absorbs it, refusing to allow it to go any further.  And that is the pattern of otherworldly grace that Jesus showed in his life and death.

-Philip Yancey, P224, Rumors of Another World,  2003 Zondervan

Educate me and maybe you...

I came across this powerful little piece of photojournalism from Chase Jarvis' blog.  

Tuberculosis, it's back.  It's mutated, it's a nightmare, look at XDR-TB.

Startling to say the least.

the start and the finish

Ecclesiastes 7:8 (New Living Translation)

Finishing is better than starting.
      Patience is better than pride.

This verse has been running around my head a little this week.  Finishing things is hard.  It takes more work then starting, it's harder to keep your energy up over a whole project, it's easy to get distracted on the way to the end.

Just thought I'd share.

Bee huts

*
Originally uploaded by salguodbocaj

Did you know it's fall?
and the bee huts are empty?

Not the greatest way to wake up

Owen woke up quite early this morning and, as we have instructed him, he came into my room looking for some help.  What help did I offer my beloved son?  I scared him silly.  Now do you have any idea how strange a sensation it is to wake up yelling at your son for no reason whatsoever?  I have no clue why I responded that way; usually I groggily wake up and say "huh?" if I wake up at all, yet this morning I woke up to find myself yelling at my son.  I can only guess that he startled me and I in turn startled him.  The whole house woke up.  Four in the morning is not a good time for any of us to be awake if it can be helped.  Not only did I take a decade or so off of my son's life, I think my wife is more gray today than she was yesterday, as the sound of my yelling, followed by the fearful noises (I can't even remember what sounds he made) of my son jolted her awake like nothing.

As we all resettled to sleep a few more hours before school Owen said to me, as I apologized profusely, he said "Daddy, don't ever do that again, I didn't like it all!"  I guess.

So we're all a little tired today.

edit: My wife blogged about this here.

My photos... something new for me.

Today I set up a Photrade account and uploaded seventy some pictures.  In their words:

Photrade.com is a new photo site that pays users for each view of their pictures. Photrade combines the best of photo sharing, stock photography, and photo sales PLUS the ability for users to earn ad revenue. 

Some more from them, about them.

Essentially it seems that it is a photosharing site that will give money to the photographer for the number of views on your pictures.  I actually started the account a couple of months ago and put up about 4 or 5 pictures.  I made $0.01 from those photos over a month with very few views.  So now, I've got 78 photos up and we'll see what they do.  I have made all them available for purchase even.  So if you like one of them you could conceivably order a print or coffee mug or sweatshirt or whatever made up with that picture on it and they will deliver it to you.   You can even purchase a license to use a photo in a project you are working on.

I will be watching and posting here what my experience is with all of this.    If you're interested, just go and check it out.  Thanks in advance...

www.photrade.com/salguodbocaj

If you have no sense of humor don't read this...

This was posted on a bulletin board from fan site that I frequent for Runescape.   I don't normally share these things, but I laughed too hard not to share...

Chili Cook Off - hillarious



If you can read this whole story without laughing, then there's no hope for you. I was crying by the end. 

This is an actual account as relayed to paramedics at a chili cook-off in Texas . Note: Please take time to read this slowly. If you

pay attention to the first two judges, the reaction of the third judge is even better. For those of you who have lived in Texas , you know 

how true this is. They actually have a Chili Cook-off about the time Halloween comes around. It takes up a major portion 

of a parking lot at the San Antonio City Park . Judge #3 was an inexperienced Chili taster named Joe, who was visiting from 

Plainfield, IL. Joe: 'Recently, I was honored to be selected as a judge at a chili cook-off. The original person called in sick at the last 

moment and I happened to be standing there at the judge's table, asking for directions to the Coors Light truck, when the call 

came in. I was assured by the other two judges (Native Texans) that the chili wouldn't be all that spicy; and, besides, they told me I 

could have free beer during the tasting, so I accepted and became Judge 3.' Here are the scorecard notes from the event: 



CHILI # 1 - MIKE'S MANIAC MONSTER CHILI 

Judge # 1 -- A little too heavy on the tomato. Amusing kick. 

Judge # 2 -- Nice, smooth tomato flavor. Very mild. 




Judge # 3 (Joe) -- Holy crap, what the hell is this stuff? You could remove dried paint from your driveway. 

Took me two beers to put the flames out. I hope that's the worst one. These Texans are crazy. 





CHILI # 2 - AUSTIN 'S AFTERBURNER CHILI 

Judge # 1 -- Smoky, with a hint of pork. Slight jalapeno tang. 

Judge # 2 -- Exciting BBQ flavor, needs more peppers to be taken seriously. 







Judge # 3 -- Keep this out of the reach of children. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to taste besides pain. I had to wave off two people 

who wanted to give me the Heimlich maneuver. They had to rush in more beer when they saw the look on my face. 



CHILI # 3 - FRED'S FAMOUS BURN DOWN THE BARN CHILI 

Judge # 1 -- Excellent firehouse chili. Great kick. 

Judge # 2 -- A bit salty, good use of peppers. 







Judge # 3 -- Call the EPA. I've located a uranium spill. My nose feels like I have been snorting Drano. Everyone knows the routine by 

now. Get me more beer before I ignite. Barmaid pounded me on the back, now my backbone is in the front part of my 

chest. I'm getting drunk from all of the beer. 



CHILI # 4 - BUBBA'S BLACK MAGIC 

Judge # 1 -- Black bean chili with almost no spice. Disappointing. 

Judge # 2 -- Hint of lime in the black beans. Good side dish for fish or other mild foods, not much of a chili. 










Judge # 3 -- I felt something scraping across my tongue, but was unable to taste it. Is it possible to burn out taste buds? Sally, the beer 

maid, was standing behind me with fresh refills. This 300 lb. woman is starting to look HOT .. just like this nuclear waste I'm eating! 

Is chili an aphrodisiac? 



CHILI # 5 - LISA'S LEGAL LIP REMOVER 

Judge # 1 -- Meaty, strong chili. Cayenne peppers freshly ground, adding considerable kick. Very impressive. 

Judge # 2 -- Chili using shredded beef, could use more tomato. Must admit the cayenne peppers make a strong statement. 








Judge # 3 -- My ears are ringing, sweat is pouring off my forehead and I can no longer focus my eyes. I farted, and four people behind 

me needed paramedics. The contestant seemed offended when I told her that her chili had given me brain damage. Sally saved my 

tongue from bleeding by pouring beer directly on it from the pitcher. I wonder if I'm burning my lips off. It really ticks me off that the 

other judges asked me to stop screaming. Screw them. 



CHILI # 6 - VERA'S VERY VEGETARIAN VARIETY 

Judge # 1 -- Thin yet bold vegetarian variety chili. Good balance of spices and peppers. 

Judge # 2 -- The best yet. Aggressive use of peppers, onions, garlic. Superb.









Judge # 3 -- My intestines are now a straight pipe filled with gaseous, sulfuric flames. I crapped on myself when I farted, and I'm 

worried it will eat through the chair. No one seems inclined to stand behind me except that Sally. Can't feel my lips anymore. I need to 

wipe my butt with a snow cone. 



CHILI # 7 - SUSAN'S SCREAMING SENSATION CHILI 

Judge # 1 -- A mediocre chili with too much reliance on canned peppers. 

Judge # 2 -- Ho hum, tastes as if the chef literally threw in a can of chili peppers at the last moment. 

**I should take note that I am worried about Judge # 3. He appears to be a bit of distress as he is 

cursing uncontrollably. 







Judge # 3 -- You could put a grenade in my mouth, pull the pin, and I wouldn't feel a thing. I've lost sight in one eye, and the world 

sounds like it is made of rushing water. My shirt is covered with chili, which slid unnoticed out of my mouth. My 

pants are full of lava to match my shirt. At least during the autopsy, they'll know what killed me. I've decided to stop breathing it's 

too painful. Screw it; I'm not getting any oxygen anyway. If I need air, I'll just suck it in through the 4-inch hole in my stomach. 







CHILI # 8 - BIG TOM'S TOENAIL CURLING CHILI 

Judge # 1 -- The perfect ending, this is a nice blend chili. Not too bold but spicy enough to declare its existence. 

Judge # 2 -- This final entry is a good, balanced chili. Neither mild nor hot. Sorry to see that most of it was lost when Judge #3 farted, 

passed out, fell over and pulled the chili pot down on top of himself. Not sure if he's going to make it. Poor feller, wonder how he'd 

have reacted to really hot chili?


Judge # 3 - No Report!! 

translating in to pirate

So today is international talk like a pirate day… so the rest of this meaningless post will be translated by the international talk like a pirate online translator, it should prove entertaining…

 

Available here (note it only does one sentence at a time):

 Arrr, today Me have a few thin's on the go. Aye, me parrot concurs.  Arrr, most o' it happenin' in my own little world; phone calls, one hospital 'isit, a whole bunch o' prayin', some sermon writin' and I have t' burn a Cd or two o' the pictures I took o' a friend’s weddin' on Saturday. Gar, Where can I find a bottle o'rum?  Ahoy, what do you have on today? Gar.

 

Original text here:

Today I have a few things on the go.  Most of it happening in my own little world; phone calls, one hospital visit, a whole bunch of praying, some sermon writing and I have to burn a CD or two of the pictures I took of a friend’s wedding on Saturday.  What do you have on today?

Some techy tips

So I redid my theme again (if you're reading this in a RSS reader then you can't see it, too bad for you). I redid it for fun, for the challenge of it.  Tara had asked me to change some of the profile pages of some web forums/groups that she is apart of.  I decided my blog, as lax as my posting is needed a refresh anyways.

Now you may know lots about how you to go about designing a web page, I am largely ignorant of how it's "supposed" to be done, but I thought I would share what I do to help tie stuff together.  I know next to nothing about HTML, but what I'll share is how I come up with the picture and colors of what I'm doing.

I started with a layout that I largely liked that blogger has in the standard templates (I'm using the "Tekka" template from blogger).  I then added the gadgets and stuff on the right over there that I wanted.  (Although I may change that stuff too). 

Then with me being me, I took a picture I want to use as a header picture.  I rescaled and resized the pictures to fit the header frame.  For that I use the GIMP; then once the picture is in the right size, I adjusted the pictures just a wee bit to make the colors "pop" a little more.

This is the original photo from my Flickr stream, this photo is as it came out of the camera, no tweaking:

TEXT

1. Then added the text  I wanted to include, in mine I used two fonts, I used white as the text color here. 
   
2. I copied the text onto another layer, inverted the color, so it went from white to black, offset that black layer a little to make a shadow.  
3. Then I made a copy of the black text layer and blurred it using the gaussian blur in the GIMP, (although photoshop elements has the same thing) and offset it a little further.  
   

Then saved the GIMP file to keep all the layers intact (that way if you decide to redo the picture then the work you did on the text is the same).

Then saved that file as a jpg and loaded in the header space (in my case I wanted the picture INSTEAD of the actual text because my picture contained the title of my blog)

For choosing all the colors, which for me is one of the most daunting parts of the whole affair. Or at least it was until I found this really cool little website that creates color palettes for you based on a picture you choose.

You can find it here. 

Big Huge Labs has a whole mess of neat tools to play with your pictures.

So I gave the palette generator my header picture and it spits out fifteen different colors all of which are present and match your photo.  It gives the "hex color code", which is a alpha numeric code for the colors that our web browsers use. 

Then I open up the font & colors part of the layout menu and start pasting the new colors in.  After a few minutes of choosing which colors you want for what parts, you now have a customized blog/profile page for yourself.

I have done this on my twitter page, Tara's twitter, and one or two of Tara's online profiles.

Clearly not the greatest profile customization ever, but in my opinion better than the stock setup as it includes one of my own pictures, in Tara's case I used the same picture patterns as the custom blog template she won some time ago from Shera at Sweet and Simple designs.  I am fairly certain I could not come up with graphics like that on my own... I use a camera, and the method I'm describing above I think would work best with photos, but you can prove me wrong if you'd like.

I know for some of you, you knew how to do this, but maybe it'll help someone.

Have fun!

Balance

I thoroughly enjoyed this almost 7:30 minutes video. What do you think?

today

I wish I had a witty and intelligent something to say... but I don't.  Some weeks go as planned, and others are weird.  This week has been weird, not in a good or bad way, just different.  It's not that there's major stress, just the same old stress that's always there.  

I don't know.  So, for me, I'm just trying to stay engaged in the moment.  How about you, are you worrying about yesterday or stressing about tomorrow, or are you in the moment?

One day in the backyard

A few pictures I took in the backyard.

This one is my favorite.

*for the technically inclined, I was using a painted piece of plywood as a reflector (for the sun) in these. For a few there is a flash triggered wirelessly from behind and below the subject off on camera left. The sun was moving in and out of the clouds in these too.

Some perspective

The other night I lay out under the stars and just looked up. We often don't look at the sky. It seems to me, from my limited knowledge of history that many people through the ages studied the stars, some for science, some for other reasons, but as I lay there, I realized that I'm a relatively small part of the world. As I lay in my own backyard surrounded by kid's toys and bikes I also realized I'm the world to some. I need to lay under the stars more often... get a perspective. Just my thoughts.... 

nobody's home

So this happened a week or so ago, and I didn't blog about because, well, she normally blogs about those kinds of things.  Anyways, we're all sitting at the table, Aiden, being true to himself is trying to keep us all entertained with faces, jokes and antics.  Aiden's favorite brand of joke, the venerable "knock-knock" joke.  Often times they are very funny, in his mind at least.  So Aiden is excited to share another joke... this is the scene as it played out...

Aiden: "Ok, Ok, I've got a joke... knock, knock"

Everyone else.... "     "

Aiden:  "C'mon, C'mon, knock knock"

Owen:  " arrrrrgh... no one's home"

Tara & Doug look at each other and promptly try to stifle giggles.

Late Summer/Autumn 2008

A few pictures from the last while... this slideshow will likely grow over the next week or so.

This is also a post made from the "Chrome" browser by Google. Check it out (currently only for Windows XP/Vista).

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

7

I've been reading Rumours of Another World, by Philip Yancey. He brings up the seven deadly sins. Can you even name them?
I had a hard time.

Here they are:

1. pride
2. envy
3. anger
4. greed
5. sloth
6. gluttony
7. lust

A quote from Yancey

"Consider the seven deadly sins, a moral checklist that emerged from centuries of reflection. We live in a modern world so disordered from the original design that the entire notion of what is good for us has turned upside down." (p105)

How's that for something to think about?

Something new... but not really

Music, Pictures, food and friends. Sound like a good time? Well one of the photographers I follow a little online Chase Jarvis posts about an event he and a friend put together. Now Chase has access to some "A" List kind of people, but the basic premise is this:

Get a really great spread of food.
Get a really cool big room.
Get some sound gear together
Get some photo gear together
Then put some musicians in the room and keep them fed and give em drink and watch and listen to what happens.

Spontaneous music and laughter, with pictures taken from inside the event (rather than the outside). The pictures that Chase took at this event are real. They make you feel like you were there.

Does this give anyone else ideas for stuff you could do with your friends?
It has put a couple thoughts in my head that I might just try and see what comes of it. It's the kind of idea that makes me wonder why we haven't seen more of it before? So it's new, but not really, this is the way a lot of people just are...

If you're interested in finding out more, check out "Songs for eating and drinking"

From my evening reading...

I thought I would share an excerpt from my evening reading.

A moose is asleep.
He is dreaming of moose drinks.
A goose is asleep.
He is dreaming of goose drinks.
That's well and good when a moose dreams of moose juice.
And nothing goes wrong when a goose dreams of goose juice.

But it isn't too good when a moose and a goose
Start dreaming they're drinking the other one's juice.
Moose juice, not goose juice, is juice for a moose
And goose juice, not moose juice, is juice for a goose.
So, when goose gets a mouthful of juices of moose's
And moose gets a mouthful of juices of goose's
They always fall out of their beds screaming screams.
SO....
I'm warning you, now! Never drink in your dreams.

-Dr. Seuss, Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book, New York Random House, 1962 (p40-41- you'll have to count the pages yourself as there is no page numbers)

Photo therapy

I had a day this past week where I needed to get out and take pictures. So I did.
I'm going to post these, but expect to hear more about them later.... and I may add a few more to the set... I haven't decided.


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Boys day at the Jone's Wildlife Sanctuary

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

888

Some things to celebrate today with;

Did you know that the eighth Old Testament book does not have 8 chapters (the book of Ruth) , but the eighth verse of the eighth chapter of the eighth New Testament book is here.

Eight Translations

eight in Afrikaans is ag
eight in Danish is otte
eight in Dutch is acht
eight in Finnish is kahdeksan
eight in French is huit
eight in German is acht
eight in Hungarian is nyolcas, nyolc
eight in Italian is otto
eight in Portuguese is oito
eight in Spanish is ocho


My eighth post on Blogger is here.
The eighth photo I posted to Flickr is here.


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.


UPDATE:
Found this news story... thought it funny.

Double update...
It appears I can't count. Several of these photos have only 7 items in them. I have no excuse. I can't count.

this was supposed to be...

this was supposed to be my blog post that celebrates 08/08/08 (I will still likely do that, I just think it's neat). But I can't think about that stuff yet because there are so many things bouncing around in my head that I can't sleep (despite it being 12:15AM and that I'm wiped out).

So you ask, what are you thinking about, in no particular order:

destiny
meetings
money
God
wife (specifically mine-- she's cute)
ice cream (with maple syrup)
Zune (the music player my wife won but can't use cause she has a mac)
I would've picked Twitch over Joshua, but I'm pleased
Meetings can be long
prayer
overflowing
Jack Johnson
why my son wore a pull up over top of his underwear to bed
pictures
need to do a computer back up tomorrow
runescape
why does it appear that when you and I disagree that we both be right?
sometimes there's too many voices that even silence doesn't help
life is sometimes hard
I like Canada
thankful for people who pray for me
thankful that God answers some of those prayers
thankful that God shows up
wishes learning didn't hurt my head so much
(to say nothing of the ego)
how can you tell if you're being too hard on yourself
I'm thinking I love telling my kids that I love them and have them say "I know Dad, I love you too"
nothing is better than being with the people I love.
sometimes even short phone calls are good.

A few of my thoughts- there's more in there but how do you type the formless cloud of emotion that sometimes hits your head when you're thinking too much and too tired.

God used this to speak to me today.

Hope you're sleeping as I post this and that tomorrow rises bright and clean - a brand new day.

Try this

Trying a new way to show my pictures... try this link.

8 eight 8 (is coming)

So I've been racking my brain to come up with something creative for 08/08/08.
There are a few things happening in the Flickr Community to celebrate 888 day.
The TWIP (this week in photography) biweekly photo challenge has their topic of Eight this time around.

So I've been thinking about 8. Eight has always been my favourite number. I think it has something to do the the symmetry. So if you seem staring off into space this week... that's why. If you have any ideas for a photo - go take a photo and submit to some of those contest thingys that are going on. Or just post it on your blog/flickr/smugmug/picasa/facebook/ page.

If you need a pick me up...

I found this article about Coffee from Geoff's blog.

Basically it says coffee is good.
And I needed a pick me up today.


(eventually I'll post something from my own head... but I don't know when... when I do though, look out.... it will be mediocre.)

Happy Anniversary to us!

Nine years.
You may be to understand this next statement (or not) but it seems like a long time and hardly any time at the same time.

We've been married nine years.
We've lived in seven different apartment/houses.
We've lived in three different cities.
We've had three children together in that time.
We've laughed, cried, yelled, whispered, and just been together.

I wouldn't trade it for anything.
Love you Tara

A few pictures...


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

God in China

So I flip on the TV and as I'm looking for something to watch I notice that Vision TV has a series this week entitled "God in China". It's on (from what I can tell) each night this week. It covers faith in China, including (thus far in the show) Buddhism, Catholicism, and Protestant faith. They have been talking about both the government sanctioned church and the underground church.

All I can say is that even this little glimpse makes me humbled in what we enjoy here.

what...

... do you hope for?

"Mark all as read"...

Okay with my Google reader at almost 500 unread posts... I will be missing some of your stuff people... I am not willing to spend the time required to chew through all of it when you continue to keep churning out good stuff.

Don't worry though, I am not doing that to those who I know in "real life" (although I think knowing someone on the web is real in some kind of way...), but I had to go through 25 posts on Amanda's blog...

So to those who don't read this blog and who write stuff I read to learn about stuff like photoshop and photo news... sorry.

back

We're back from General Assembly and some holidays. Lots of stuff happened, I took some 2200 (or so) pictures (most of which are bung) and now we're back. If you're interested, you can see some of those pictures on Tara's blog and my flickr page, both of which are linked around here somewhere.

For the most part it was a good time away. Some good times with the kids and some good time with family.

I have some blog posts percolating somewhere in the back of my head, but it might be some time before I get those out.

Hope your summer is relaxing.

A cloudy day

Took a few pictures of the sky while a thunderstorm skipped by town.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Or to go right to the page go here.

Today...

I have no pictures to share of today, I didn't take any, but today was an exemplary day. I had the distinct honour of dedicating three children (all of the same parents) and then I got to baptize 7 (yes, seven) people. As far as I'm concerned, child dedications are the second most fun thing in church services, baptisms are number one.

Really, really good morning, we skipped the sermon, listened to what God has done in these young people's lives and got dunkin'.

Then I fixed the kitchen sink while my brother entertained the boys. Saturday morning the handle to the kitchen sink came off in my hand, bought a new faucet in S'toon saturday, tried installing Saturday night, but it was more than a quick switch as the existing faucet had really long connects and the counter top (actually 2 layers of countertop) was too think for the new faucet's connections. All that to say, it's fixed now.

Then we all went swimming, ate homemade burgers (I'm not sure Dave has had a super thick burger for a while) and talked.

All in all a very good day, but I'm tired, so goodnight.

Wow

So it's been a busy week. I've taken loads of pictures, so many in fact that there is a great backlog of stuff I need to go through.
Took pictures of 2 kindergarten grads, 1 pre-k grad, a little photo journey that I've been wanting to do for months, a whole mess of candids and macro stuff, plus all the pictures that Tara has taken in between, this morning I snapped a few of the Children's festival here and tonight is our youth group wrap up.

I likely won't post many here... but I will on my Flickr (first) and then a few will trickle to my Facebook page as well.

Thanks for staying tuned...

Camera update

So London Drugs called, and my camera is back in the province.

Great!

Too bad it's three hours to Saskatoon, each way (give or take). But thanks to the www a friend is on their way to pick up the camera. Robyn is heading into the city with her family to catch a wedding. She found out the camera was ready for pickup because of Facebook - which I have linked with my Twitter (think a site that just does status updates, allows me to put those on FB and on the side of my blog over there). I get my camera back without having to drive into the city, she and Garth gets to test drive the D40 for a weekend (my bet is they'll want to buy a new camera soon). We all win.

Expect to be taking pictures some on Monday (my day off!)

Here's the picture of my D40 before it came out of its box.

believes, hopes, loves

One quote from my reading this week... perhaps there'll be more quotes today... we'll see.

That all things are possible to him who believes; that they are less difficult to him who hopes; that they are more easy to him who loves and still more easy to him who perseveres in the practice of these three virtues.

(italics his)
Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God; p20

Tonight I asked...

Tonight, I asked God for some big things.  Things that I have been thinking about for a long time.  Situations I have made a mess of.  Situations I am way over my head in.  In my own life, in the lives of those I serve, and other stuff besides.  Tonight I even asked God for things that I don't need, things I want, luxury items in every sense of the word.

Part of me is pleased I finally let go of whatever illusion I have of being able to make it through some of these situations by myself, another part is scared of being disappointed.  Now, don't get me wrong, I know God is big enough to answer.  I have seen God do a lot of really amazing things.  I get to see and hear about those things often.  But the reasons that I am in the situations I am in, at least the situations I'm concerned about, maybe those reasons haven't been fulfilled yet.  

So I wrote out my prayer.  I even showed it to my wife.  I'm sharing a little of the process with you.  It's out there now.  I'm not sure how I feel.  Relieved, scared, nervous, hopeful, and some other stuff besides.  

Of this I am sure though, I will keep striving to know my God.  I will do my best to serve him.  I will do my best to show others that anything of value in me is because of him.  

Tonight, I asked.  What will you ask God for?  Will you wait?  Will you expect?  Will you hope?  Or will you just throw up some requests and see what sticks and protect yourself from disappointment?

Tonight, I am trying to wait, to trust, to have faith.  

Good night.

Today... on film

So, with my camera in for repair and me going through photo taking withdrawal I picked up my Nikon FE



and realized that there was still unused film in it. So, I picked up where I left off. I have used this camera (or it's twin that sadly died a few years ago - but that's another story) far longer than I have used my Nikon D40 by years. So it was not with much difficulty that I was able to start snapping again.
That being said, the very distinct mechanical sound startled me some and EVERY time I've taken a picture I've lowered the camera to look at the back of the camera as if I'd be able to see the photo I'd just taken.



It's been neat to pick up the camera again and look through it. A bigger brighter image through the viewfinder, in some ways easier to create the picture from the viewfinder, harder to tell if the setting I used where correct - as I still haven't finished the roll. When shooting digital I tend to take multiple exposures of the same scene. Sometimes 8 or more. With the FE, think it through and 'click'. Wasn't even a thought. And my right thumb instinctively advancing the film like I never stopped using it.

Odd. I learned a great deal about the basics of photography with this camera, a gift from my Dad (thanks, again!), and yet I've learned that much and more about the art and passion that is picture taking. Digital caters to my impatience. Film seems to be catering to the romantic notion of pictures, although I must be careful not to shoot too much... it costs. Many of our photos we leave in the digital realm, using them here, flickr, facebook or email. Besides film costs money.

So, while I still love this little camera, I still want my D40 back!!! Oh, and that's why there's no new pictures up anywhere from me. Some are being taken, but it might be awhile before I even see them.

genuine

"Let's not imagine that we are hollow inside."


I read that in one of my books this week and copied it down. I'll leave where I found it out... as I'm sure to post more from this book soon. It's from the foreword of a classic I'm reading.

My camera is still away, totally unknown as to when it will return. I'm in a little bit of a weird space these days. I have had mixed feelings about my "performance" the last few weeks.

I have been very pleased with a few things and then there have been a few moments that stand in out in my mind as me totally making a mess of it. I have been trying to focus more on my devotional life - examining what I do, and why... seeing what's going on there. Trying to find meaning in things that I do and not doing them out of repetition or a sense of duty.

How have I done? Well, at first glance I'd say not as well as I'd like; but then, I have been truly struck with the love of God for me lately. My thankfulness has increased. And despite all the stuff that's been bouncing around my head and my life- when does life ever slow down? - I feel some peace. That peace comes only from God.

You know I used to kind of balk at people who would be a little "touchy feely" about God and about people sensing his presence and feeling his love and that kind of stuff, mostly because I tried at times to find that genuine emotional response in my own devotional life and it seemed that contrived emotions could be there, but sometimes it felt like a genuine continual sense of God's peace was hard to come by. Over time though I have sensed God move closer and closer to me. So, all that to say, you can balk at me saying "I feel at peace" all you want... I understand, I have been there.

Genuine. The picture of the word genuine is actually a picture of one of my sweatshirts. For my old Bible school friends, you may recognize it as old Youth Conference SWAG. I have always really liked the sweatshirt because it reminds me that I have to be real. Real with myself, real with my family and friends, and real with my God.

I think it's important to be genuine, to not fake it, to not sugar coat things, in my experience most people have a pretty good sense when you're being fake. In fact, I think usually I'd be the last person to know that everyone else knows I'm being fake (did that make sense?).

I mentioned my camera at the beginning of this post... you might wonder why... if you didn't... I'll tell you anyways. One of the things that I like about photography is that it makes me look at the world in a different way. It makes "see" things. The photographers that I really love, especially the ones who do event photography (weddings, graduations, whatever) is that they see moments that slip by most other people. They see a girl blowing bubbles in a crowd of graduates. Or maybe they see a portion of a person or animal that normally isn't seen and draw attention to it, an expression, or posture, of even the tranquillity of a certain space.

Photography is an attempt to capture the world, to slow it down, to see. You can fake beauty sometimes, you can fake a lot of things, but you can't fake a genuine moment. A moment where truth is revealed. Love, anger, fear, joy, sadness, desperation there are moments where those shine through.

A mentor of mine used to always say "time and truth go hand and hand". Meaning if you give it enough time, the truth will always come out. In my life I have seen that. Sometimes it takes a long time for the truth to come out, and even if you don't see it, God does. So in my way of thinking, being genuine is what I aim to do, I suppose I'll let others decide how well I'm doing at that... I can't tell - all I know is, I'm trying.

Art in the craziness that is our world

If you've been thinking about environmental issues at all recently you need to check out Chris Jordan's site. He's an artist and his work will stagger your mind.

I was looking at his "running the numbers" page. All I can say is "wow".
Scroll through as much as you can.

3 to 6 weeks

So I have bad news. One of my lenses for my Nikon D40 seems to be dead. It's under warranty, but it will take 3 - 6 weeks for the camera and lens to go and come back. That's right, I have to send the camera too. I just hope I get it back in time for our trip to Ottawa this summer. I feel a little like a friend is leaving for a vacation.

The other thing about the whole affair is we have to drive into the city. A 3 hour drive, oh well, some good quality time, maybe I'll make Tara drive and just take pictures with my other lens the entire way, I wonder how many pictures I could snap in a 3 hour drive at 2.5 pictures a second... (some of you have figured that out already), what would all those pictures look like in a collage? How big would that file be?!
We should get to see my brother and his wife though, I'm pumped to see him again.

Hope you have a wonderful Victoria day... I'm off to bed to get ready for it.

Public Service Announcement

For those who have followed things around here for awhile... I'm experimenting with a new way of getting pushing my pictures around the web.
If you see things get weird... don't worry, I'll try to fix things as we go.

SPN

I'm off to our SPN (Senior Pastor's Network) mini retreat/meeting/get together thinger, we've never been good at labelling it, but it's a good time with talk about ministry, some sharing, praying and time to be with peers.  I hope to be able to bring some more photos back with me.  

Why don't you take some time to be quiet... that is if you can.  Quiet is good.

See ya soon.

Olivia bath time... and a full head

Too much stuff happening in my head to express anything that wouldn't ramble incessantly and whatever I wrote wouldn't even make sense to me.

So why blog today? Pictures! Bath time pictures of my daughter... so ya, enjoy.









As for the "post" that I referred to in my last post that I was working on... I forgot what it was about.

PicLens

I'm working on another post... but for now you must check this out. This is really, really cool, just about any site that you view images on, Google Images, Flickr, Facebook, Photobucket, whatever, after you install this plug in, you can browse these images in a kind of 3D wall format where you can easily skim and zoom in and out on each image and then pop open the page for that site.

I have been using a number of sites to help surf Flickr, but this, this right here is neato.
Check it out.

EDIT: you can browse YouTube videos too... wow.

Some Random Doug thoughts

What follows are some things I scribbled out in one of my journals today after walking through a park with lots of waterfowl.


So much life.
Despite all the chaos in our world, despite all the brokenness, the pain
- life still thrives -
Despite everything, pollution, global warming, species extinction, superbugs, pandemics, war, hate, intolerance, confusion, misunderstandings, there IS love and beauty still.

Perhaps that sounds cheesy. Sentimental. The mystery of the world is astounding. The simple/complex beauty of nature. The abundance of life in a flock of birds lifting off the water and seeing them span out across the sky.
The beauty and inspiration that comes from watching someone do something they love to do.
The peace of a child with their parent.
The smile of a friend when they see you.
The "newness" of spring after a long winter.

I think sometimes we get sucked inot the responsibilities and challenges of our lives; we are proud of the responsibility we have, we enjoy the challenges. Yet, as important as these things are, we miss things.
There is still beauty to see, music to hear, kindness to show, hope to share.

There is still life.

Some of my inspiration

I'm a big fan of Flickr. I like to see the work of lots of learning "picture people", professionals, hard core amateurs, budding enthusiasts, gear crazy hotshots, people who just "see" stuff and point some camera (any camera) at it and shoot... all of them learning. I like reading the stories about pictures. About what pictures mean to them.

Anyways...
here's a few of my favourites on Flickr. If you refresh the page you'll get a different set of the (currently) 176 of my favourites. Here's all of them in a row... or some to look at below: