pvanveldhuizen

If and only if you like Christian Music...

2011-05-19T16:51:00.002-04:00

Check out my music review Blog...If you haven't already.

It is updated often and has much for the music listener in all of us...

linking.......now: http://philsmusicreviews.blogspot.com/

Giving myself a headache

2011-02-10T10:50:00.002-05:00

A POEM:

You know...it hurts to bang your head against a wall that doesn't move.

It stings to run on a blistered foot.

It makes my head swim to read on a train.

Exercise is not easy.

Sickness feels lousy.

Coughing all night is pure misery.

I'm thirsty.

but still happy

I've got to share a feeling of Fan-mania

2009-09-25T08:50:00.007-04:00

Now that I have a little caffeine in me...I must share.

David Crowder Band is a, if not the top favorite of mine in the Christian Music genre. It all started back in 2005 when I came across their album: A Collision. It was for me very eye opening in the genre because unlike the rest ccm-dom (like film-dom or tv-dom) DCB set themselves apart, at the leading edge of modern worship. The album was well crafted as a full album, not just a few singles lumped together with some filler music like many of their contemporaries. It was artistic, worship filled, and rockin' with a humorous vein here and there. This was made even more evident with their live-show recorded follow up, entitled: B Collison. I was hooked. The catchy tunes and repeatable lyrics were constantly stuck in my head. My first mp3 player: the only songs I ever had on it were from DCB. I was hungry for more. I eagerly anticipated the next release: Remedy. That gem arrived in September of 2007, and I gobbled it up, pouring through the album over 40 times prior to it's street date (I get music early as a retail buyer). It was awesome in my mind, despite some critics claims that the band didn't set their sights high enough for the project. I got the CD, the songbook for Bethany to play at home (which was much fun for me to sing along), and I got the live tour edition of the album when it released and enjoyed that to its fullest as well. I soaked it all in for a good year and a half. Then...I heard they were planning to start recording on a new project. Oh, I was excited, I found that I had become a big fan. I had met David twice in my trips to Nashville, heard the band perform live once during those trips as well (see picture). So I read on their website that the recording would be shared by the fans via 12 web-cams in the studio, and much fun ensued. I read that they would be chatting with the fans in a chat room at the same time, which I partook of, mostly with youngest member Mark Waldrop as he chatted about the number of guitars the band had at their disposal. I watched the daily videoblogs of the recording process (31 days in all), the rockumentaries they created just to keep things light nad funny (4 in total). And then I sat back and waited for the album to be available to me early. Oh the joy of that day, it was splendid. I listened to the culmination of months of work and frivolity put forth by these artistic geniuses, who couldn't make bad music if they tried.
So the new project: Church Music will be a fascinating addition to their already spectacular arsenal of albums. It is a continuous play album, each song blends into the next, yet keeps the integrity of the individual song intact. I can easily say that every song is good and 75% of them are great. I don't even have time to delve into the record label they are on and how great they are: Sixst epsrecords . You might recognize the other names associated with that label: Louie Giglio, Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Charlie Hall, Christy Nockels, and Kristian Stanfill. Anyway the new album released on Sept. 22 and I got an email from the company with an introduction from David Crowder for the album. It made me laugh. Here it is:

David Crowder*Band CHURCH MUSIC Intro from sixstepsrecords on Vimeo.

day 1 of GMA week

2009-04-19T14:53:00.002-04:00

So after being dropped off at the airport by Bethany and my father in law, I walked unhindered to the check in station, checked in, (along with my checked luggage-$15), and proceeded quickly and easily through the security check point with only a bookbag on my back and my boarding pass. It took me less than 10 minutes to do all that, and I even had time to pronounce my name and get heckled for it twice. Security...no problem. Walking to my gate I felt surprisingly calm. Ahead of me sat a Philly police officer assigned to keep an eye on the gate corridor, a little way away sat his city-issued segway. No one else was currently in the hall so I aked him is the segway belonged to him. and he said yeah. I said very nice, and that I had never seen one that close in real life. he said yep, and I began to continue walking on my way. Then he said, "would you like to try it?". I said "really!?, sure!" It was very awesome, he showed me how to manuver forward backward and turn. It has a lot to do with your feet and where you put your weight. Heels and toes with a little sway in the handle bars is all you need to go anywhere. After driving it around in a limited area (people were walking past at this point), I thanked him for the unique opportunity got off and walked to my gate. This happened also to be free wifi weekend at PHL airport so I got a bottle of water, and sat down to write out my initial thoughts. Very exciting right now seeing as it happened about 30 minutes ago and only the start of my time away from the usual. I wonder how this story will sound after a few days of thought. hmmm...

look look look

2009-04-02T11:27:00.003-04:00

just an FYI, I'm going to Nashville again this year. Sweet, eh?

I was very excited until I started looking into all that was going to take place during the week. Now I'm a little nervous. I don't think it will be a ghost town, but companies are certainly not putting as much into it this year. It is kind of a sign of how the music industry is doing...not great. Especially the Christian side of things. It seems less promotional funds are being put towards Christian retail and radio and more towards general market. The more people "borrow" CD's from each other and copy on to their computer, the less this event will become. I would be very surprised if it (GMA Week) continues for the next 3 years. Although maybe I shouldn't make that full judgment until after I go this year. I will stay mildly excited until I have a real reason to be disappointed.

blog

2008-11-20T15:56:00.003-05:00

I blog about what I know.

I know I don't blog very often.

I know that things rarely work out exactly the way you plan them.

This blog is an example of that.

I know that I don't know a lot.

Maybe that's why I don't blog a lot.

hmm.

A few pictures from random summer fun

2008-09-11T15:48:00.009-04:00

These are some images from this summer.
Ranging from the Poconos, the shore, and at Citizens bank park .

pictures from recent

2008-06-17T14:21:00.003-04:00

local pond gets a fresh new look:

the hillcrest pond near our house has recently been drained for cleaning purposes. this lovely machine is what is doing the cleaning. a small stream still trickles through the pond area, and gives the remaining wildlife something to look forward to.

just a photo from the camping trip

2007-10-29T13:53:00.000-04:00

it makes a good wallpaper on my computer at work

yeah, I've got nothing for you...again

2007-10-04T14:54:00.000-04:00

So really this is a post about how I've got nothing to post about. My life is pretty straight up and straight down. Not boring, just relatively uneventful. Maybe I'm just a dull person.
I have been listening to a lot of music recently, but that is nothing out of the ordinary. Beth and I watched the entire 3rd season of The Office. That was fun. I enjoy watching DVDs with the audio commentary going. I feel that I get a fuller understanding of the entire process, and I really enjoy the humorous moments pointed out along the way. I'm currently writing and eating at the same time, so if my thoughts are disjointed you will understand why. Although I'm eating pork and mashed potatoes at the same time so its not like I'm switching between foods and thus thinking something different. Huh....anyway.
Well, this was fun, maybe I'll do this again some time soon.

ipod's new home

2007-08-29T17:33:00.001-04:00

This is where the ipod sleeps at night. His peaceful bed where he recharges overnight to start the next day full of energy. Unlike me, he doesn't need coffee in the AM to really get going. Now doesn't that look comfortable?
This picture was taken of ipod in bed while on vacation. He was so lazy that week. I think he stayed there almost the whole time.

Phl VanSimpson

2007-08-18T14:15:00.000-04:00

I must say, the recent Simpson's movie has inspired some great tech-ideas for advertising.
The simpsonize me website evaluated a picture of me, then I tweaked it in paintbrush to get this final rendition. Not too far off, if I say so myself. My face is a bit fatter than that though.

Youth Group Leader's Retreat

2007-07-31T10:12:00.000-04:00

Ok so not really at retreat, more of a vacation. We just all happen to be youth group leaders. It was a great time. This was taken just minutes before we left the place.

picture this

2007-07-24T15:16:00.000-04:00

What is that?! A simiril? An ice ball coming from the hand of iceman? No. It's just some LED flashing lights that I enjoy playing around with when I'm at work. (although it doesn't distract me too often from being productive)

A Sweet couple photos

2007-06-09T13:08:00.000-04:00

These will end up somewhere permanent, one is my wall paper at work already. -------------->

These are from around the pond yet again, one of my favorite picture taking places, mostly because of its proximity to my home.

I'm Getting Blogged Down

2007-05-24T17:59:00.000-04:00

Business has been getting more "Busi" and less "ness" lately. My plate is full. My cup runneth over and is starting to flood my workspace. In the words of a popular character from Monty Python's Flying Circus: "My Brain Hurts".

This has slowed down my ability to blog. Sorry.

FAME

2007-05-14T09:22:00.000-04:00

Not that I'm famous, but the people I'm with.

Jeff Deyo (with Brian Kennedy & I)

Jeff is an artist known for his worship albums. Here I found out that his last name is pronounced (Dee-Oh), not (Day-Oh), and that it is French in origin.

Phil & Heather Joel (with me)

Phil played bass with the Newsboys for many years, and recently he and his wife Heather started making albums for kids. I had to remind Phil of how to spell "Phil" when he signed his autograph for me.

Chris Tomlin and I

Chris has won more Dove awards

than anybody in the last two years (12) He wrote or made popular most of the best loved worship

used in churches all over the US, including: Indescribable, How Great Is Our God, Made to Worship, Holy Is The Lord, and many others. I told Chris this picture would make me famous, but he told me I already was. He didn't know my name though.

Todd Agnew and I
Todd is known for his growling low voice and his controversial lyrics which question modern-day Christianity. He also likes to perform barefooted, which he was when we took this picture.

Leeland (with Brian & I)

Now this new band is amazing. Leeland is actually the name of the lead singer standing next to me. His brother Jack is next to him, and is currently engaged to Michael W. Smith's daughter. These guys will be around for a while.

One of the Best

2007-05-09T18:40:00.000-04:00

Near the very top of my list of best Christian artists would be this man: Lincoln Brewster.

He plays guitar in worship like no one else. He sounds like Pink Floyd when playing solo rifts and then smoothly transitions into a great praise/worship song. Now I am not a big fan of all his albums, but if anyone is interested, my top pick for his music would be "All To You-live". I took this picture (slightly blurryas it is) while he was in the midst of a great performance at GMA week. The day before I was actually able to tell him how much I appreciated his music. At this event he said, "We [he and his band] like to praise the Lord, and use our mouths to do so if we have to". That sums it up for me. I took this bottom picture right after I met him and talked with him

Classic Rocker Stance

2007-04-30T19:45:00.000-04:00

So, I can't even remember who this is performing. I believe it's a relatively new group, but this guy had the stance down pact. Yes, I took the picture. I had great seats for most of the events.

I'm Home

2007-04-26T14:57:00.000-04:00

Hey, I'm back. Lots o' pictures to come soon

So long until Next Thursday

2007-04-20T10:41:00.000-04:00

Consider me gone. I'm off to Nashville until next Thursday.

I'll try to bring back lots of free stuff.

Admitting A Problem: Step 1 To Solving It

2007-04-10T14:32:00.000-04:00

So I realized today that I have a real problem. It is my hoarding, pack rat, collecting anything of minimal worth for the thought that it might one day come in handy, problem. Yes, collecting some things can be a good thing. Change is good to keep and so are receipts, But I recently caught myself trying to save envelopes from creditors sending invoices to the store. Here is the detail. One of the companies I order from sends an envelope with every invoice. This way CLC can send payment in the envelope. It is a courtesy saying "we'll give you the envelope, if you would please pay us". We all get this type of envelope with most of our mail-in bills. It just happens to be that this envelope is plain and unwritten on. Plus, CLC doesn't use them for pay-outs. So naturally these envelopes go into the trash. Well I figured I would start saving the ones that come for me and eventually I could use them without costing CLC for purchasing other envelopes. This is where I caught myself. I will never need or use these envelopes. It would be one thing if I were going to, but I'm not. I can for see no reason to use them, not even if there comes a time in the future, because at that point I will have forgotten where I was even keeping them. The best I could hope for would be to collect enough to package together and sell in the store as a church supply. But seeing how long that would take, makes it not financially responsible. The time it took would not be worth the amount of return.

Now, I know i have collected dumb things in the past: rocks (not like a real rock collection, but just ones that "looked" neat), hand-made clay bowls (very dirty and crumbly), Dream Team McDonalds Cups (yep I had most of them), Christmas special soda cans (empty of course), my soap carvings (after this many years even something so clean can still look so dirty). This is just the short list. Anyway I have a problem and I hear that's the first step to fixing it. Hmm...I wonder what step two is?

spring spring spring

2007-04-02T19:05:00.000-04:00

Ahh Spring, my third favorite season of the year. I like it just after winter and autumn. Well if you like birds chirping and waking you up at 5 am and wet soggy grass everywhere, then Spring is the month for you. One thing that makes spring better is that April is Bethany's birthday month. That's one good reason. The flowers are another good reason.

a recent photo

2007-03-26T22:11:00.000-04:00

A friend from work took this picture of me last week, I have since received a much needed haircut and look a bit more presentable.

Truths from Uncle Screwtape

2007-03-09T12:38:00.000-05:00

So as I read through "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis, I find more and more interesting thoughts and ideas coming forth that scream at me. Currently I have found that the virtue of humility is much harder than I ever thought it could be. I know that I often exhibit so little humility that it scares me, but the narrow edge of walking the fine line between being humble and being proud just seems to get thinner and thinner the more I think/read on it. On one side I could avoid all humility and not even act like I'm humble and on the other side I could perform "acts" of humility and say to myself, "hey, I just did something humble. Good for me...humble, humble me." Or I could go a whole other direction and think myself humble by putting myself down when in the presence of other people thus showing my selflessness. Real humility is nothing like this, obviously, and the most humble people probably wouldn't consider themselves humble or even give it much thought. That is why I fell like I'm in trouble. I've been thinking about it too much, or maybe not enough. I guess I just don't have an answer. Anyway The Screwtape Letters have really pulled out my problem of either self-debasement or false humility and I feel that I need to really learn how to forget myself in the service of others. Man! that's hard.

Sorry to go so deep in this shallow blog.

In honor of Presidents day

2007-02-16T14:59:00.000-05:00

I did this around the same time as the previous picture, approximately 1 year ago.

The wrinkles are just from the paper drying after being wet with coffee. ...mmm...coffee...

oh so cold

2007-02-06T12:59:00.000-05:00

Its so cold I figured I would post my coffee and ink picture. Its called "Hobo-snowman".

Box Pusher

2007-01-26T15:24:00.000-05:00

So I've been busy and not blogging much recently, but I had to make mention of all the boxes I've been moving at our center city location of CLC all of which has been sunday school curriculum. Boxes that get moved in this case, get moved from the front of the store (where ups, fedex or some bulk delivery truck drops them off) to the back of the store, down a flight of steps to the basement, and back towards the front of the building underground. The actual lifting for me takes place when I put them on the dolly to begin with, when I carry each box down the steps to another dolly, and if need be actually lift them off the final dolly to their appropriate place. So far this month, and particularly three separate occasions, I have had to do much of this at one time. "Much of what?" you may ask. Well, the first shipment (which didn't even make it inside the door) I brought into the store, to the back, down the steps and to its proper place, totaled 33 boxes on a skid, 1000 lbs. I counted lifting each box 3 times, one of which included bring down a flight of steps. We'll count that as 3000 lbs. The second shipment was smaller only about 10 boxes, about 300 lbs. I lifted these 3 times as well including bringing them down the steps. So total 900 lbs. The shipment today was the large one. It was 32 boxes and totaling a little over 1600 lbs. Fortunately I only had to lift each box twice, including one of those along with carrying each box twice. So a total there of 32oo lbs, estimated (some boxes were 52 or 57 lbs each). So adding up all the box lifting I've done for Sunday School curriculum for this quarter, in this month we come to: 7100 lbs of boxes lifted. Divided by the number of actual lifting events (3) we get: 2367 lbs. per event. That's over 1.18 tons per event. WOW, I hope I don't have to do that again for a few months...oh wait, I won't. All I really have to say is...I thought I was just the music buyer...well I guess not "just" yet. Keep up the hard work everybody!

The Christmas picture we didn't use

2007-01-05T15:32:00.000-05:00

This is the Christmas picture we didn't use for anything this year. It was too close in and didn't look good in a frame. Too much detail as well. Bethany looked perfect, but I needed a good deal of work; a trim on my face, a haircut, some exercise, and maybe even some tooth-whitening products. The lighting was good though. I used a bit of red eye reduction, but you propably didn't need to know that either.

Here we are none-the-less.

two pictures to keep it movin'

2006-12-19T15:21:00.000-05:00

here are some recent pictures from the pond behind Phil-mont. Enjoy

imagination at its peak

2006-12-08T10:18:00.000-05:00

So for anyone who checks my blog, here is something to read.
Have you ever had those dreams where you are really small, like honey I shrunk the kids small? I have, and they are probably some of my favorite dreams to have. I guess I always wondered what it would be like to be the size of a G.I. Joe figure or the size of a Lego man. There used to be this really cool half-life board that was to that type of scale designed like a kitchen. You could run around in the walls and even enter the freezer. This is a really cool idea (no pun intended...honestly I didn't try that one). The image of being this small is what made the honey I shrunk movie so good(the sequels left much to be desired). It is also the genius behind Toy Story and Ants/A Bug's Life, not to mention the game SimAnt. This concept made playing with Army men fun enough to turn it into a video game as well. As you can see my facination with being tiny has stayed with me since my youth, and I hope it doesn't leave me any time soon. I wish my imagination was still as strong as it was when I enjoyed making cars fly and building lego boats, but maybe this is one daydream will stick around. Just a thought.

thanksgiving picture

2006-11-28T16:56:00.000-05:00

I'd like to thank Matt(b.i.l.) for this photo on his blog.

This is all of us at Thanksgiving at my sister Rachel's house. I was tired, Beth was sick, and we had a three hour drive ahead of us. Smile for the camera!

left to right:

Back row: Aaron Flnner, Phil VanVeldhuizen, Bethany VanVeldhuizen, Jonathan VanVeldhuizen.

Middle row: Betsy Flinner, Hannah Flinner, Eli Brunton, Nathaniel Young, Micah Young

Front row: Matt Brunton, Mary Ruth Brunton, Caleb Brunton, Jeanette VanVeldhizen, Jim VanVeldhuizen, Seth Young, Rachel Young, Troy Young.

WOW what a long list of long names.

recent pictures

2006-11-21T09:59:00.000-05:00

These are a few recent pictures taken with our newest digital camera, and printed at home I might add. Enjoy

still diggin' it!

2006-11-16T09:17:00.000-05:00

Mipod that's what I'll call it. I'm still adding music to the fathomless memory bank of 27.something GB storage that I have. I am listening to old albums I haven't pulled out in years. I guess that's one one the neat features of owning an ipod, it releases you from just some of your music and opens you up to your entire library at any given time. Quite liberating I must say. I actually listened to DC Talk last week. To be fair, there aren't many things I won't listen to once, accept country music or middle-eastern music, or modern poop (I mean pop) music, or goth music, or disco music, or latin salsa music, or screaming death metal, or most non-Christian rap, or southern gospel, or most asian music, or quite a lot of folk music, probably not some of bluegrass, or most of the oldies (50's and older), or most modern rock, or about half of all ccm, otherwise known as adult contemporary Christian music, or much of what is considered r and or b music, or traditional native american music or any subdivision of it. Come to think of it, there are a lot of things I won't listen to once if I can help it. I guess I'm a music snob. And in the words of a popular evil emperor speaking to the non-conformist Luke Skywalker: "So be it...". The ipod is sweet, did I mention that?

Digging my ipod

2006-10-31T09:58:00.000-05:00

Ok so after one week of owning an ipod, I've run the gambit of emotions in using it. I went from excitement to disappointment to appreciation back to excitement with lots of appreciation and also a bit of frustration. Currently I'm at enjoying with a sense of hope for how much I will continue to enjoy it in the future as I get the hang of adding already ripped mp3's, adding videos and pictures and ultimately using it for all its worth. What a sentence! Probably a run-on, but who cares.

The leafy green Summer reduced to brown dirt

2006-10-20T16:58:00.000-04:00

Oh that some one would come and sweep away the many leaves that litter the ground during the wonderful fall. Oh that no one would ever remove the crisp autumn air from my nostrils. Leaves come and go, but they don't go as quickly as I would like. Not that they are a threat to my survival or a stain upon our society, but merely a yearly bother and a smart move on God's part. If the leaves did not fall after changing their colors in september, October and November then man would too quickly fall in love with Autumn and esteem it as the best season of the year and the other three seasons would be quite upset and do nasty things to people out of spite. I can see it now, Summer scorches people with heat, spring inundates us with rain, and winter blows with blustery cold chill just because of our love for Autumn. I know most people think this way and I must say I agree. But the leaves...Aahh! they make sidewalks slippery, keep the grass too wet ect. ect.
Well that's my thoughts for now. later...

Walking on water isn't as easy as it sounds

2006-09-29T15:35:00.000-04:00

No really this is true.
"CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--MIT researchers report in the Aug. 7 issue of Nature that they now understand how the insects known as water striders skim effortlessly across the surface of ponds and oceans.

In addition, the researchers created Robostrider, a mechanical water strider that uses the same fluid dynamics to move, although not as gracefully and quickly as its natural counterpart.

The hydrodynamics underlying the surface locomotion of these semiaquatic creatures (the family Gerridae and others) is poorly understood, said John W.M. Bush, associate professor of mathematics at MIT and author of the Nature study. In addition to water striders, he intends to apply his expertise in fluid dynamics to other surface swimmers.

Bush's water strider study solves a 1993 problem known as Denny's Paradox. It had been thought that water striders moved by creating waves that push them forward. Stanford University marine biologist Mark W. Denny pointed out that, theoretically, baby water striders could not swim because their legs weren't fast enough to create waves. But in fact, newly hatched water striders row across the surface just as well as adults.

"Denny's Paradox called out for a careful experimental investigation," Bush said.

Using mathematics, high-speed photography and a variety of flow visualization techniques, Bush, mathematics graduate student David L. Hu and mechanical engineering graduate student Brian Chan uncovered the true way in which water striders walk on water.

As the insect rests on the surface, the tips of its thin legs create miniscule valleys. It sculls the middle set of its three pairs of legs like oars, causing the water behind those legs to propel it forward as the surface of the valley rebounds like a trampoline.

Although the rowing motion does create tiny waves, "the waves do not play a significant role in the momentum transfer necessary for propulsion," the researchers wrote. "The momentum transfer is primarily in the form of subsurface vortices."...."

MIT website: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2003/robostrider.html

So you see bugs are amazing little wonders of God's creation and we should treat them with respect from a creature standpoint although they still are quite a bother. I guess that's why they are called pests.
Nice point about the math though, huh?

some more

2006-09-22T16:58:00.000-04:00

here are a few more pictures from vacation in august

maybe just a few pictures

2006-09-22T16:55:00.000-04:00

posting is just too hard, but for you diehard blog fans...

I Need To Vacate

2006-08-10T16:41:00.000-04:00

So Friday we leave for Stone Harbor and the Jersey shore. This will be the longest we've been on vacation since our honeymoon, three years ago. I know I am really looking forward to fishing, because you don't need a license to fish in Jersey. We are already starting to pack which makes it exciting right now even though we don't leave for another 24 hours. So between painting, fishing, reading, shopping, swimming, playing games and just hanging out, oh and eating I can't forget eating, I hope to get the rest I need to work another full year before another vacation like this will come along. I will post some pictures when I return to show how good of time we had on this splendid vacation. See you then.

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2006-08-04T22:17:00.000-04:00

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djsdva

thats all I have to say about that.

hey look, a new post

2006-07-17T13:33:00.000-04:00

Gatorade Rain, ingredients: water, sucrose syrup, glucose-fructose syrup, natural flavors, citric acid, monopotassium phosphate, phospheric acid, red 40, blue 1.

Now lets pull out the interesting things about this list.
1. Water is the first and therefore largest ingredient. This is a good thing
2. Sucrose, glucose, fructose. These are all sugar. So far we have sugar water.
3. Natural Flavors...uh...the drink is called rain, so the natural flavor of rain has been added? ok..
4. the acids: Citric and Phospheric mmm...yummy stomache fun.
5. Monopotassium phosphate: uhh... I'm guessing this is a preservative meant for my well-being.
6. The colors duke the colors! Red 40 and blue 1, making the drink purple in coloure. You see there is something about the influence of the music artist Prince. He had a song called "purple rain" and thus the drink has such a color. Yes I'm very sure this was deliberate by the company and not just a weird coincidence.

So that's it. Fun with ingredients.

2006-06-26T17:17:00.000-04:00

I hope you enjoyed the pictures from my previous posts, more will be coming in the near future.

What is most interesting about the weekend is how much I long for it as soon as it is over. Now without trying to be philosophical, I would like to point out that this seems to be the pattern with most good things. (except maybe good food that you've had way too much of) Let us look at drinking a can of soda for example: You open the can (Fssst-tcht) Now at this point you have two options, 1. drink straight from the can if it has already been chilled to the optimum temperature. or 2. Pour into a drinking glass containing ice which will chill your soda for you, but will of course melt and ultimately water down your drink. Once you are passed this decision you can start enjoying the beverage. The first sip/gulp is always wonderful, unless you are like me and manage to either spill it on yourself or try to breathe while drinking causing yourself to choke and gasp as soda tries to pour down your windpipe like water going down an un-clogged drain. This happens to me all the time, and that is why I say I have a drinking problem. Anyway, to continue: the first sip isn't always the greatest, good but not great. So you work your way through the frosty liquid not paying much attention to the amount you swallow at one time. Finally you get to the very bottom and realize its just about gone. If you are using the can you flip it upside down and try to shake the absolute last remaining bit into your mouth which is all of a sudden very thirsty dry. You wiggle that can around making sure not to miss anything. If you are drinking from a glass, then you tip it up pouring the final contents into your mouth wondering why its so watered down. The ice at the bottom isn't near as good as the soda you just finished but still desiring moisture you suck the ice, maybe even crush it with your teeth and eat it. The point is, you reach this point and are disappointed that you are out of the soda you started drinking with much anticipation. It leaves you wanting more as soon as it is gone. The real big question is what do you do with that desire, what do I do with that desire? Nothing.
I work and wait, because the weekend is enjoyable for that reason; it's the week's end. It can't always be the end of the week. So think about that as you go about your weekly jobs, chores and duties. Keep things in perspective knowing that the week will end. This will make the week seem much more enjoyable as well.

Hmm, so I did go a little deep. Next post I'll try a bit more frivolity.

more pictures, see previous post

2006-06-21T14:04:00.000-04:00

Here are some more pictures from the same week
From Top To Bottom, L to R.
Smokie Norful, Starfield, Toby Mac, Sanctus Real, Starfield(again)

Some other pictures

2006-06-21T13:58:00.000-04:00

These are photos taken by myself in the wonderful city of Nashville back in April when I attended GMA week. I do this every year. Enjoy! Top to bottom, L to R, Hawk Nelson, Kutless, Aaron Shust, Kevin Max, Phil Keaggy(very tiny in middle of photo)

a fun picture

2006-06-20T16:38:00.000-04:00

Just remember, use new plungers for ears, if you are going to use any at all on a superhero costume. This is me realizing Larryboy had not followed this advice. Picture Taken at GMA Week in Nashville, April of this year.

Hey look at this

2006-06-08T09:43:00.000-04:00

I can post again. Now I know all you blog readers out there in cyberland have been wondering what I've been up to. No?.... you haven't? Well then I guess I can save some time by not telling you what I have been up to and tell you what I'm doing now.
I am typing a blog entry for you few readers to read. What would be great is if I could throw a picture of myself doing something cool on to this entry, but since I rarely do something cool, you'll just have to imagine it. Picture me cliff diving off a very high and crag filled cliff, into a very large, deep cavernous pool of crystal clear water. On my arms are what looks like paper-mache wings spanning out 6 feet from either side of me. Connecting them behind my back is a small but powerful jet propulsion motor of some sort, very quiet but very powerful. The picture you see of me captures the exact moment when the wings catch a glorious updraft launching me, not into the deep cool of the water below, but rather lifting me to new heights of unknown wonder and spectacular views. You can imagine the high pixel quality allowing you to see the sheer exuberance on my wind blown face as I am about to fly like the birds of the air. I am about to put so much distance between myself and what used to be my life of walking or driving from place to place on the heavy, solid, dull earth of a life I new before. Sure I would return for the ones I love, for my work and sports as well, but in this moment, this tantalizing now that this imaginary photo captures brilliantly. I am free of all that would keep me grounded. I am no one, yet in some grand sense I am everyone. I am flying and a mere picture, processed in your mind, imagined to be on a small blog that few people read, cannot fully expose and explain what beautiful emotions run through the being who is now encapsulated in wonderful weightlessness.

WOW! What an imagination you have. Maybe you should go get a glass of water or something. I don't know if I can keep up with all that.

ok so reality sets in and its about once a month

2006-03-13T10:10:00.000-05:00

"no really" was a fluke. I'm a mess of unsubstantiated claims. I can't even keep a promise to myself. Ok, I'm done self-bashing. I was very busy last week, Tuesday was guy's bookstudy at Jon Markus' house. We are going through a study of the Westminster Confession of Faith. Oh, and we had Pizza. Wednesday was Dinner at Mom & Dad VV's House. I made Chili for the occasion. Thursday was Soccer night at Phil-Mont. Friday was Phil-Mont's sports awards night in which my brother Jonathan received player of the year for wrestling, and my wife Bethany had to present the player of the year award for the girls middle school basketball team which she helps coach. I was not there for the awards ceremony but came afterwards for the volleyball Tournament of which I was a participant. My team technically shared in the victory with a 3-1 record, although we were in a soft bracket. On Saturday night Beth and I went to meet some friends in Telford. We stayed out late and didn't get to bed until 1 am, very unusual. Sunday night we stopped at some church friend's house after evening service and boy are we ready for a slow week. Not that it's gonna happen. I've got an event tonight starting at 10:30 pm so maybe I'll have a break by thursday. Maybe.

no really...

2006-02-02T11:00:00.000-05:00

I'll be posting more often, honest.
and just wait till I get my cartoons up and posting.

welcome to my real blog

2006-01-20T18:39:00.000-05:00

Ok, this is the real blog. And I promise to update it at least twice a week.
Guaranteed, well almost.
So I will start with some humorous and move on from there.
I will include drawings I have done, doodles, photos I have taken and try to keep
giving an update as to what's going on in my life.
Currently I am working, and at some point I may even list all my job requirements, but not now.