An Artist on the Rise

Here is the latest offering from our young artist on the rise. Brianna is really enjoying art class and it shows with the wonderful work she's been doing. Keep it up Girly!

All Around Me - Flyleaf

This song is covered by David Crowder on his new CD. The original is by Flyleaf. It is a wonderful song.

My hands are searching for you
My arms are outstretched towards you
I feel you on my fingertips
My tongue dances behind my lips for you

This fire rising through my being
Burning I'm not used to seeing you

I'm alive, I'm alive

I can feel you all around me
Thickening the air I'm breathing
Holding on to what I'm feeling
Savoring this heart that's healing

My hands float up above me
And you whisper you love me
And I begin to fade
Into our secret place

The music makes me sway
The angels singing say we are alone with you
I am alone and they are too with you

I'm alive, I'm alive

I can feel you all around me
Thickening the air I'm breathing
Holding on to what I'm feeling
Savoring this heart that's healing

And so I cry
The light is white
And I see you

I'm alive, I'm alive, I'm alive

I can feel you all around me
Thickening the air I'm breathing
Holding on to what I'm feeling
Savoring this heart that's healing

Take my hand
I give it to you
Now you own me
All I am
You said you would never leave me
I believe you
I believe

I can feel you all around me
Thickening the air I'm breathing
Holding on to what I'm feeling
Savoring this heart that's healed

The Tea Party

For my ladies 40th birthday I threw her a tea party. Thanks to Krista for the help and supplies and my mom for the beautiful flowers the party turned out well.

This was a first for me. I know it's hard to believe but I've never thrown a tea party before yesterday. I did some reading on the web for hints to what needs to happen to have a successful tea party and the reading paid off.

The teas served were: Precious White Peach, Matevana & Rooibos Chai, Jasmine Dragon Pearls for the hot teas and Southern Sweet Tea for the cold tea.

The foods served were: cucumber sandwiches, avocado/tomato/mozzarella English muffins served hot, Russian Tea Cookies (by Krista), chocolate chip cookies, Skittles, and Dove chocolates. For the cake I made lemon cake with strawberry-vanilla frosting topped with crushed white chocolate crumbs.

Here is the spread.
Presenting the birthday girl with her cake. I spared her and our fire alarms the 40 candles.

Thank you to all the ladies that came to make this a special day for Kathi. We love you all.

Remember

Dual Screen Necessity

This is cool.

Look what's coming. I think I'm going to need one of these.

I have two 24" monitors at work and can't imagine working again without them. I figure the more work space the better. One monitor is for my email and database information and the other is my working desktop for active programs. The bummer about using laptops is that this is much harder to achieve. This new invention will be huge and will change the face (literally) of the laptop as we know it.

The Batman

Lately I've taken a break from the heavy reading and have been enjoying some Batman comics and graphic novels. I'm not a huge comic book reader but I've always enjoyed Batman. His humanness and uniqueness as a superhero makes him my favorite.

Where most superheroes rely on a supernatural power or object of power, Batman relies on his intelligence and physical ability. Yes, he's got toys like the Batmobile and Batplane but these are man made creations. His skills as a detective are top notch and his fighting abilities would put him on top of the UFC.

The reading I've done has brought me from the simple beginnings of Bob Kane's art and Bill Finger's story telling to the brilliance of David Mazzucchelli's art and the darkness of Frank Miller's writing. Of all the stories I've read thus far Frank Miller's are my favorite. From "Year One" to "The Dark Knight Returns" to "All Star Batman & Robin: The Boy Wonder". Jeff Loeb comes in a close second with the Hush series. The only one that I've read that I didn't care for much was "Batman - Arkham Asylum (A Serious House on Serious Earth)". Not only was the story dull but the artwork was odd and not in a style I care for.

One thing that is interesting about Batman is that he doesn't apologize for who he is. As the Justice League is frustrated by him and his exploits that leave a black mark on the name Superhero, he continues on. His methods are born from Man's desire for punishment on those who do wrong and from his own desire to clean up the city that he loves. He is harsh, dark and unconventional and that is why he is intriguing. Each writer has their own take on these traits but each holds true to the fact that although Batman fights against the bad guys he is not neccessarily a "good" guy.

The more I read, the more I see the complexity of Batman. Superman has his strength and ability to fly, Green Lantern has his ring, the Hulk has his Hulkiness, and others have powers that have been given to them through accidents, aliens or whatever, but Batman has his anger, money, dual identity and drive. This keeps him going and makes him more interesting than the others.

A Litttle Diddy

For the past four years I've been on a journey. I truly believe that the Holy Spirit has prompted this journey in me and many others. There is a swelling of people in the Church that are questioning the status quo. In essence there is movement. People are moving. The Church is moving.

I first recognized my journey for what it is after reading Blue Like Jazz (thank you, Sarah). I was reading the book thinking "yes, this guy gets me. There is more out there. I want to be a part of it." Since then I've come to the knowledge that I was unsettled in my place in the Church. I was no longer fine with the way I was trained to think of church. I felt compelled to go beyond what I know.

I think the institutional church is in need of revolution and repair. What has been is in need of adjustment and repair.

I don't have the answers nor do I think I am the poster child of Christianity. I am just one on a journey that is filled with 41 years of experience. I feel like I've been there and done that but still feel like there is more out there for me to be part of. I think Jesus wants more from me.

At http://researchingforjesus.blogspot.com/ I am journaling my experience. I'm not sure if it will go any where or mean anything. I just feel like it needs to be written out. My goal is to go as long as I can, as far back as I can remember, and as truthful as humanly possible.

Star Wars Humor

Star Wars fans will get it.

AAAGGGHHH!!!

Brianna had the perfect opportunity to kill me tonight. Literally.

While I took Alex to TaeKwonDo our friend took Brianna to the library for a stage makeup demonstration. I didn't know about the subject of the library time until after I got home.

Alex and I had pulled up to the house and I was saying hi to a neighbor when Brianna came out of the house calmly saying "hey, Dad! look what I had done."

If she would have come out of the house holding her face and crying I would have keeled over from a heart attack.

Owen's Nemesis

Behind our house is a wooded area. When you have a wooded area you have critters. These critters have become Owen's nemeses.

On occasion I'll cut Owen loose to rid the backyard of the intruders. I think it makes him feel like the big dog. As a ball-less poodle he probably has some masculinity issues and this is probably good therapy for him.

Pink is Out

I guess nobody likes the strawberry very much. When I returned to the office on Friday most of them were still there.

I think I'll hoard all the orange for myself.

Starburst Experiment

Work has been a bit crazy lately and my stress level has been a bit high. Today I decided that I needed a distraction. So I made one up.

At work I am the candy guy. I have a dish (actually it's a record) that is filled with candy most of the time. Currently it is a mix of Starbursts and Willy Wonka goodies.

The experiment goes like this:

1. Fill the bent up bowl shaped Barry Manilow record with equal amounts of each color Starbursts.
2. Let the Starbursts get consumed by el co-office inhabitants.
3. See which is the last color standing.

My experiment was a success.

In order here are the favorites.

#1 - Cherry

#2 - Orange

#3 - Lemon

#4 - Strawberry

Not only was Strawberry last, not a single one was taken.

Since I am off tomorrow to help my sister out with a project in Washington I decided to further my experiment. I took a bunch of the strawberry flavors out of the bag and filled the dish with them. I want to see how many, since they are the only flavor, will get eaten while I'm gone.

My bet is that most will still be there. More to come...

Rain, Rain, ahhhh

On my ride home tonight it started raining - it's Oregon, what do you expect? Well I love it. I'm sitting here now listening to it come down. The sound is one of my favorites in the world. There are days at work when I drive down to the river just to sit in my car and listen to it. The sound is pure and cleansing.

It is random yet consistent. It isn't too loud and doesn't have volume control even if it was. I love it.

People I talk to at work from all over the world often comment on the amount of rainfall we get here in the Northwest and they are always surprised to hear that I enjoy the rain. Why not love it, it's what makes this place so green and beautiful.

Next week it is supposed to be back in the 90's but I have no fear... the rain will return.

Wendy's Fright

Have you ever tried to eat while you are scared? It ain't easy let me tell ya.

Today Brianna and I stopped at Wendy's (her choice) for a bite to eat before heading down to Dayton to visit with family. We ordered and sat down in the back to eat. I chose the back because no one was there and we could eat in peace. It's kind of like walking into the movie theater and finding the best seats that aren't near anyone. We had those. I had finished my jr. bacon cheeseburger and was starting on my value menu chicken sandwich when a shadow fell across the table and I knew our space had been invaded.

Invaded it was. Sitting perpendicular to us was the intruder. With all the empty seats and tables available this was a peculiar choice for the invader. Again with the movie theater analogy - it is like sitting in an empty theater and having someone come in and sit right in front of you. Odd. So I peeked over. It was a quick peek. Very quick. GAH! I didn't know what to think. I know this is somebodies mom and grandma but I was scared. This lady had on makeup that was scary. More scary than Mimi from the Drew Carey Show.

I notice that Brianna had looked too because she was now facing the window trying to quickly swallow the bite she just took and to avoid eye contact with me. We both knew. It was time to go.

"Briannna, are you almost done there? If you want you can take it with you and eat in the car."

I looked again. She was staring at us with the face of a scary clown. I know you think I am exaggerating but I'm not. She was staring. Let's just say that metallic blue eye make up was nothing, even though it covered half her face, it was the lip makeup that did it. She had painted exaggerated black lines around the edge of her lips with something that probably resembled a Sharpie pen. Scary! Black on pale pink - not a good combo.

After was seemed like an eternity being stared at by Scary Clown Lady, and 50 questions to Brianna about the state of her food in like 30 seconds - "are you done" "are you sure you want those fries" - and the offer to have her eat in the car she relented. "Dad, maybe I can finish this in the car." "YES, you can." Whoosh. Off we went leaving Scary Clown Lady to stare at our empty seats.

Phew. Safe. The moment we passed the threshold of the front door and with the knowledge we couldn't be heard we turned to each other and said simultaneously "DID YOU SEE THAT?" and burst out laughing. I know I'll be punished for laughing but it was the kind of laugh you have after a fright that could take your life and I couldn't help it.

Mom's Glad I Never Did This!

Extreme Pool Jump - For more amazing video clips, click here

Beer. Mmmm...

Yesterday I attended the Oregon Brew Fest down on the Portland waterfront. The weather was hot, the crowd was large, the music was rock'n and the beer was flowing.

My pallet votes best in show a tie between Rogue Ales Latona Pale Ale and Widmer's KGB. These beer's were very different from each other but both were outstanding.

My pallet votes worst in show as Terminal Gravity Brewing's Festivale. This was not a good beer. It was a brown beer that tasted like something brown was put in it. Sorry Terminal but if I was to drink a full glass of that I think I would have been terminal.

In fairness I will say of the 80 plus beers on tap I only sampled eight or so. It was disappointing to see how many breweries ran out of their featured beer so early in the day. McMenamin's Concordia Breweries featured beer was Hot for Teacher IPA which was out by the time we got to their tap and was replaced with their Ruby which is a very fruity beer I won't drink.

The crowd was typical Portland. Which means a bit of everyone and everything was there. The one thing that surprised me was how many people brought their kids. Granted there were some stands for craft soda's which would be fun for the kids, it just didn't seem like the place to take a kid. The crowd for the most part was on its best behavior which helped make the experience better.

People in line were very friendly and most wanted to talk about beer which is good because that is why we were there. Over the years my appreciate for beer and what it takes to make it and the variety of flavors has grown. The beauty of living in Portland is that there is no shortage of fine crafted brews.

Goodbye 40, you were good to me.

Hello 41, you need to be better.

Sparring

For Alex's birthday we bought him some sparring gear for his Tae Kwon Do class. Last night was his first night to participate in the beating session and he loved it. I totally enjoyed watching him and the others and wished that I could have joined in. When we can afford to I think we'll have the whole family in the class. For now I'll live vicariously through my little butt kicker.

Here's Alex all geared up before class. What you can't see is his favorite part (the cod piece). When we bought the gear he had to try it on which embarrassed him thoroughly.
Here he is delivering a fine front kick.
The boys he was sparring with were all higher belts than him and he held his own. Here he is defending against a side kick during free sparring.

Moo!

This picture makes me smile.

I'm Melting

I'm not too big on the heat. Right now it is too hot for me to be outside long. It makes me cranky. Old man on the porch yelling at the kids kinda cranky. The only positive thing about weather like this is that it makes my iced tea taste soo good.

Thanks to a portable airconditioner our house is tolerable. The poor pup is hot which isn't good because he is a total lap dog and wants to sit on me all the time. No can do pup. Too hot.