March 31, 2005 at 10:32 pm
threeinthree - 93 photographs in 31 days...
Actually, it was more like 550+ photographs, but the end result is 93…
It’s the end of March and the photograph-taking phase of my threeinthree project is finally complete.
While I haven’t been uploading pictures every day (as I said I wouldn’t) I have continued to take them. And, I am still going to assemble everything into a pictures-and-words book of sorts.
Stay tuned.
March 31, 2005 at 9:41 pm
Bus Proverb #13
“You ever eat that butter without salt in it? Don’t taste like nothin’. Now, these potato chips… Ooh, they salty. When ya don’t eat salt for a long time, it come at’cha right quick like that. That’s how they addict you, ya know?”All Bus Proverbs
March 31, 2005 at 06:15 am
Mortality, part 4
Coumadin, baby aspirin, Norvasc: Many nights, as I trudge into the bathroom to take my pills, I become annoyed. I pitch a fit. I get grumpy. I ask (no one in particular) why I have to keep taking pills every night.
I really make quite a scene sometimes.
Julianna is patient with me. She understands better than I do.
I was talking about this with my friend, Katy Raymond, a couple of weeks ago and she said something interesting that kind of put it all in perspective…
I was complaining, “I just hate the fact that I am going to have to take pills for the rest of my life.”
In turn, Katy responded, “Yeah, but if taking pills means that you’ll have a ‘rest of your life’...”
That makes sense. Still, why do I have this ongoing, internal struggle everytime I see my pill box?
I think I know why…
Each night, when it comes time to take my pills, I am reminded that I am mortal. I am reminded that my heart attack was real and that I am living a temporary life. You see, it’s easy to recognize a temporary life — we all know that we won’t live forever — but it’s quite another thing to be confronted with it every night of your life.
(Read more entries on my mortality.)
March 30, 2005 at 10:52 pm
The MAX...
Today’s CAT meeting was pretty interesting… Not only did we get to communicate some of our questions and comments to those in charge of training the bus drivers, but we got to see the new MAX bus in person. By the way, we were the first of the “public” to see it in person.
I was told not to take any pictures of the bus, as it won’t be publicly “unveiled” until April 3rd, although I didn’t think a quick shot of the logo on the side of the bus would hurt. In any case, you can see what the bus actually looks like here (since finding this site, I’ve found out that no one was supposed to post photos publicly yet — oops!).
I’m excited to see how this new bus plan works out for the city. It’s supposed to go into action this coming July.
March 28, 2005 at 1:03 pm
Easter in Breck...
Through wind and snow and icy roads: at four o’clock a.m. — after 11 hours of driving — we arrived safely at our condo in Breckenridge, Colorado.
No, we didn’t attend church on Sunday. Nor did we recognize any formal religious activity. What we did do was experience God’s creation: more glorious than words can describe.
Majesty and honor to the Creator of where and when and who and what we are.
Thanks for an amazing weekend, Julianna and Mary!
March 22, 2005 at 12:03 pm
Holy Week...
We’re three days into Holy Week and I’ve gotta tell you… I’m just not feeling it this year. Because of a crazy schedule over the past month (social gatherings, familial obligations, work, working out, etc.), I haven’t been able to partake in the scheduled Lenten activities at church as much as I was planning to. And when I’m facilitating (Friday evenings), it’s not the same as being there just to participate; my mind is mostly on making sure everything is timed right to fit within the alotted hour that we meet.
But this isn’t all to say that I haven’t gotten anything out of the season. On the contrary. I’ve had a great time attending what nights I could, and Wednesday evening break-fasts are always good. And I’ve written some interesting things in the process as well (this piece comes to mind), just not as much as I might have liked.
In any case, I feel inspired to pass on a couple of links for you take a look at:
- 40, by Si Smith (where the illustration up there is from — awesome!)
- Reflections of Holy Week, by me (2004)
Happy Easter, everyone! May Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection be as real to you as the mouse button your index finger is hovering over…right…now.
March 21, 2005 at 7:22 pm
WORSHIP Art, Liturgy, and Preaching
Some of the workshops that sound good to me:
- Drinking From the Well of the Liturgy: Confessions of an Anabaptist, by Heidi M. Yoder
- Think Globally – Worship Locally, by Corey Nelson
- Ancient-Future Worship: A Cultural Analysis, by Robert Webber
- Creating Sacred Spaces, by Joe Meyers
We’ll be there the entire time, so let’s try to hook up!
March 15, 2005 at 7:38 pm
threeinthree progress...
threeinthree is coming along nicely. I opted not to upload photos to my Photoblog everyday (as I did with “Project 365“ ), because it just proved to be too demanding on me. Instead, you’ll just have to settle on seeing the final book when complete. (Speaking of my Photoblog, it’s got a brand new design, so check it out sometime.)
Anyway, today marks the middle of the month (and the project), though, so I thought I’d give you a peak at today’s “triptych.”
I’m not sure how these photographs will be laid-out when in final book-form, but this may be close to how I’ll do some of them.
Sixteen days to go!
March 13, 2005 at 10:33 pm
The longest story ever told...
Thanks again, Jason!
March 08, 2005 at 11:15 am
Offended by Seek Truth?
Has anyone heard the recent radio spot, presumably created by anti-smoking advocates Seek Truth? I witnessed it on 965 The Buzz last week sometime. I must say that I usually dig their tactics whether televised or not — people do need to be educated about the health risks of smoking and corporate tyranny of pro-smoking organizations such as Philip Morris. The most recent radio spot from See Truth really offended me, though.
I can’t recite the commercial verbatum, but I’ll attempt to paraphrase:
“I’m standing here in ‘Chinamen Square’ looking at a bunch of…Chinese people. Did you know that if you smoke, it could stunt your growth and you could end up like all of these Chinese people? Short… So don’t smoke, because it will stunt your growth. Or, worse yet… Make you Chinese.”Ok, was I just hearing things? Was this a joke aired by 965 The Buzz? In all cases, could someone have thought that this was actually a good idea?
I hereby apologize to all of my Chinese friends. This commercial (whether from Seek Truth or 965 The Buzz) just plain sucked.
March 08, 2005 at 08:31 am
Bad oranges...
I’ve been pretty displeased with the oranges that we bought a couple of weeks ago from . Especially since recently visiting California, where oranges are the size of cantelopes and taste like nector poured down from heaven, but I digress. I mean, how could I complain? We bought the oranges from ALDI for God’s sake… But, in all honesty, ALDI oranges are usually pretty good.
Anyway, the oranges we bought a couple of weeks ago are tasty, dont get me wrong. And the size of them (a smidge larger than a tangerine, but definitely an orange) doesn’t really bother me that much… At least while they still have their peel on. What bothers me is that fact that whoever picked these oranges must have had either very little patience or way too much fertilizer on their hands. Why you ask?
These oranges have peels that are at least 9 mm to 12 mm thick!
March 07, 2005 at 06:17 am
Yard work...
Hours and hours this past weekend — the following picture shows us at about half finished with the cleanup.
March 04, 2005 at 08:33 am
One year on the Kansas City Metro...
One year ago today, I took my first, fateful trip on the Kansas City Metro. Today, as I was standing at one of my stops (on 39th and Broadway), waiting for my (late) bus (Fridays are days-off for most regular drivers and substitutes aren’t always…punctual), I was enjoying the few extra moments: nice weather, lots of action on the city streets, a couple of other regular riders standing or sitting and chatting next to me…
In the last year, I’ve ridden on 11+ bus lines from South Kansas City, Kansas to Independence, Missouri.
In celebration of my one-year Metro anniversary, here are some links to various Blog entries about my experiences.
Enjoy!
Writing:
- Bus Proverbs (series)
- PTD (Public Transit Doofus)
- Hometown doofus makes good — story at 10…
- Time for Sacred Space
- The nerve!
- Three and a half hours on the Metro ain’t no fun
- Transit Lament
- What were your transportation expenses over the last 5 months?
- New Transportation Costs = $0
- Random thoughts on a Thursday morning
- September CAT meeting (a photo essay)
- Rainy days and busses
- Bus Portraits (series)
- Metro Stops (series)
- Sunrise As Framed By a Bus
- Reading On the Bus
- Emtpy Bus
- KC Metro Symbol
- “Welcome 2 the Bus Stop Have a Good
WaitTime” - What Are They Doing To My Bus Stop?!
- September CAT meeting (a photo essay)
March 03, 2005 at 07:59 am
Self-Portrait Day!
March 02, 2005 at 1:26 pm
gDrive...
This…is…awesome!
A set of PHP files to store files of any size in your gMail account. Other gmail drives are limited by gMail’s max 10Mb/attachment.gDrive is tiny and installation is as easy as uploding the source files to any PHP-capable server.
(Link via lowercase.)
Update: While the concept of gDrive is very cool, I’ve had a few unfixable issues… The author or gDrive has responded to a couple of these issues, but has not replied about a major, faulty download bug.
March 02, 2005 at 11:41 am
Preston Reed...
Prompted by my recent incessant listening to Kaki King‘s music (you may remember me mentioning her here), I read a recent interview in Pop Matters. In it, she mentions being inspired by a guy named Preston Reed (maybe “inspired” is not the correct word):
“Basically, what I do is that I play just like Preston Reed,” says King. “I’ve always acknowledged this and I’ve always had a certain amount of guilt about it.”This led me to find some songs by Preston and give them a listen. Admittedly, Kaki’s playing style is very similar to Preston’s. I am surprised at just how alike they are. Both Preston and Kaki play the guitar by strumming and hitting the strings (and the guitar) to produce a very rhythmic style of folk/jazz/rock. They both write instrumental songs that don’t contain lyrics. They both have a hippyish appearance… One difference that I can hear is that Kaki’s playing seems a bit more intense — a bit of her younger angst coming out, I’d assume.
Still, both musicians are well worth the listen. Preston is fairly unknown compared with Kaki’s recent stardom, but he’s been around for a while and has some audible wisdom in his songwriting. Both Preston and Kaki put my guitar playing to shame and tantalize my ears with awe-inspiring licks.