Art is my (insert word)

Art has become a huge part of my life. It's what I do. It's how I express things that cannot be spoken or explained with words. It's my heart in the paper. It's in my blood spilled in ink poured out upon the canvas. Flights of fancy or hard reality. Joy or sorrow. This may seem slightly macabre to some, but please do not think of it that way. Reality is what it is and it cannot be denied. Art is apart of reality so much that reality begets art! It's funny how moments happen when I draw or write or create something that expresses my heart at that moment. Often quickly followed but lets put this away before no one else sees it! Ah, I am by no means a great artist. I do not have that force of skill that can call forth the images of the mind onto the canvas, but I must slowly peel away the many layers to find what wants to be and not what I would make. There's still a joy to it. A focus that I can reach within the drawing that I find nothing else matters. I have a horrible attention span. It is difficult for me to focus upon anything for long without wandering off to some corner of my mind. When I draw or paint... I can focus. It draws me in like a current. I've looked up to see hours have passed, and all I want to do is turn back to the page and keep working. Art is my hobby. My stress-relief. Art is many things, but most of all. Art is my passion.

Cool Story, Bro

I was sitting in a coffee shop one day, when a friend of mine walks in. He has a big grin on his face like he just won the lottery. I had to laugh because I knew it probably had to do with some girl he had met or talked to or randomly smiled at him as he was walking to who knows where. "Bro!" he said, excited to see me, or rather, more likely anyone with whom he could share his story. "Dude! You'll never believe it man!" I started to reply but he rushed on. "Okay, so you know how it's finals week and everything? Yeah, and remember that one girl I told you about?" As if I paid much attention to it when he told me in the first place, but I decided to allow him his story. I was sitting in a coffee shop alone. Not exactly too-cool-for-you status. "Which girl was this again?" I asked him. "You know! the one that kept smiling at me all semester?"
"Ah. That one."
"Yeah! Well, anyways, I was leaving after the Final for that one class."
"Which?"
"The horrible one. Horrible teacher? I complained all semester about it."
"Oh yeah. That one. What about it?"
"That's the class the girl was in."
"The smiley one."
"Yeah, she's so gorgeous! Anyways, I was leaving class and she said to me."
"Are you going to order?"
"No, she didn't say that. Where would you-"
"I meant, are you going to order a drink?"
"Oh, right... Be right back!"
He ordered his drink and came back to wait for it, continuing his story exactly where he left off.
"So I was leaving class and we just happened to be walking in the same direction..."

****

"You ready to be done with this semester?" She asked him, that smile on her face lighting up as she spoke. "Oh, I've been ready!" He replied, "Especially that class!"
"Tell me about it! I was anxious every time I went to class!"
"You're anxious? She's so feminist I was wrong even when I agreed with her!" He said, and she laughed at this. "Everything you are is wrong!"
"For real! White. Middleclass. Male... I was born wrong!" He shook his head, admiring her smile again.
"Well at least it's over now. What grade did you get?"
"A minus on the last project, I'll probably end up with a B for the class. You?"
"Your orders ready."

****

"What?" My friend asked, intently telling his own story.
"Your coffee is ready. You going to get it?"
"Oh! Hold on!"
"Not going anywhere dude," I said to him wryly, wondering where exactly this story was heading. He got back to the table and went on.
"So I told her what I got and she said she got an A."

****

 "An A. Wow, nice work," He complimented her.

"Thanks. So is this it for the day?" She replied, looking up at him.

"Yeah, I have another final tomorrow but that's it."

"What's your major?" She asked him, curiously.

"Liberal studies. Yeah, I'm getting my teaching credential." 

"Oh that's good, and you-"

"Get summers off. Week for Thanksgiving. A month for Christmas..."

"That's smart!

"So I'm just going to walk in and be like 'Okay kids, I'm here for the summers, just like you. So you don't mess with me, and you all get 'A's. Even you, little Jimmy special in the back there."

"Oh my word!" She said as she was laughing. Her blonde hair tossed artfully over her shoulder. 

"What's your major?" 

"Communications major, like with special cases. I just decided."

"What since you've been talking to me?"

"No! That's not what I meant! You're funny!" She laughed and hit his arm. 

****

"She hit your arm."

"Yeah man! She said 'You're funny' and hit my arm! Oh, and she was totally playing with her hair. Whole time."

"Oh wow, she is totally into you."

"Right?" He said as that sort of rhetorical question that ends up being an exclamation. 

"Go on," I said, my curiosity amused. 

"Man, I was on. I couldn't say anything without her laughing."

 "So why didn't you ask her out?" 

"Yeah, it wouldn't have worked out. Oh hey, gotta go," and with that he walked out.

---------------------

This is simply a short story meant to entertain. Any details within the story are purely for the sake of entertainment.

Mind over Matter

Challenge yourself.
Take a momentary thought
While it may just be second
Consider all you've wrought

Wonder about your wonderings
Talk of what you've sought
For in the end you'll find
It may be nothing that you've got

Take all that is important
Gather that which is naught
Let the chaff be blown away
Only necessity be caught

West Coast Conference is over...

Well, WCC is over now. Leaving a sense of emptiness after a week of intense work and socialization! It was lovely to meet everyone and especially those who I just met this year! I did try to take pictures with people but actually ended up talking and forgetting but I did take some! So enjoy! (also included are some from the ordinar-ordinance-ordainment-... You know, that one service!)

West Coast Conference

Who is ready for WCC?!!!

John's Tips for the Dating Inclined

It's been a while since I've touched on this subject. Previous reviews heralded my last post as "incontrovertible truth!" "So Useful! I am a better person because of it!" "What is WRONG with you?" and "dear heavens who let this guy near the computer?!!" I will endeavor to explain further the intricacies and inevitable fallacies that arise from the precarious insanity called "Dating."

  Well people, I must say that I have done extensive [read: none] research into the field of dating recently and let me tell you what techniques my quite exhaustive fieldwork has led me to discover! My number one tip on dating is so elegantly simple most people just wind up missing it! The truth is that if you are planning on dating, then you must keep this solidly in your mind, never let it go and it will keep you from making a huge mistake! This is can be summed up into a single word and that word is.... "Don't!" Tip #2 is "Ever!" These words will help prevent such erroneous tendencies such as courting and marriage and *shudder* children...
   "oh, you're just being cynical!" you say! "It can't be that bad!" oh trust me my naive and unknowing friend, it is much, much worse!! One day you start talking to an individual, it's all innocent and friendly and then -Bam!!- you've been married for 20 years and have ten kids and a mortgage! Oh yeah, and that sweet ride you had your eye on since before you could drive... That orange with black racing stripes '69 soft top Camaro... Yeah, it's somehow been transmogrified into a Aerostar Minivan!! "How could this be?" you cry! well, you dated it. You dated your hopes and dreams into oblivion! "but what if I like minivans?" you ask. You, my friend, need Jesus.
Now, don't get me wrong. I've dated and found it fun! I had a lot of good experiences in the frontlines of this war. But it only lasts a season and then you have to share food and go shopping and actually spend money on someone other than yourself! One horror after another my friend... One endless horror. So the next time you decide to talk to that cutie patootie who aint all that snooty... DONT!

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those of this blogger and should be only construed as a miss-appropriated and highly inaccurate rant and should never be taken seriously. Any endeavor to react in a manor implying that this is a serious posting will be laughed at and mocked repeatedly by people way cooler than you will ever be.

Random Post

Just thought I would post some pics for y'all! Some old stuff, some new stuff, some red stuff and blue stuff.


Enjoy!

In all of us we find
a certain point of view
things we see are not as they seem
perspective thrown askew

Simply put
we have a thought
of what that thing should be
and if it doesn't add up to that
then it's certainly not for me!

It's often hard to diversify
To find a different worldview
or at least accept that they exist
as differently from you

I understand that absolutes
exist and cannot change
There is a God who made the world
and Jesus is His name

It's just at times we do not see
the Truth in the Light of Him
But our lens of life and circumstance
bend the rays askew

So take a breath
and then eschew
that carnal minded
warped and blinded Personal worldview


This poem is kind of thanks to my diversity teacher. She's very... difficult... to listen to or want to be around. It's talked around class that the only reason anyone stays in her class is so they don't have to take it again. She is always talking about how we need to shake our worldview and accept that there are others out there who have different experiences than we do. People today who deal with racism, hate crimes, and profiling. There is a lot of correctness in what she says. We need to realize just how privileged we are. There are freedoms that we are completely unaware of simply because we've never not had them. You may be sensing a "but" coming up and you're right. She is right, but she doesn't say things in the right way usually. She comes of so abrupt and strong and in-your-face that it is difficult to want to care. At least for me it is. When someone gets so irate and incensed about something and tries to shove it down my throat, my passive aggressive tendencies shut the caring centers of my brain down. I digress, the point of the poem is that we can get so caught up in our worldview and what we know, or even what we think we know, that we can fail our brethren. Our Neighbors. I'm not talking about State Farm either! We need to learn to truly care about the plight of others. If we cannot care enough to pay attention... Then how can we say we love everybody. I think one of the greatest thing about Jesus is that moment when he looked over the city and was moved. He was moved for each and every one. He cared about, and loved, each and every single person. He cared about the lawyers who tried to trick him. The priests who tried to trap him. The soldiers who hung him on a cross. Doubting Thomas. Betrayer Judas. All. We need His Worldview. There is a song by Brandon Heath, it gained some popularity for a while on the radio a while back, called Give Me Your Eyes. The song goes something like, "give me Your eyes so I can see, everything that I keep missing, give me Your love for humanity..."

Guess Who's Bug--Er... Back!

Woot! Well, The Champ is running again! This guy is still weak in the knees so he has to take it slow, but he's getting better!

Ooh, also there's a new poll over there --->
Its for me to gauge readership. Since y'all are so anti-commenting :)

He Walks

He walks.

“He walks alone.
Contemplating the various paths
he's taken.
Much like the road
he is on now,
he did not know where
they would take him.
As he walks
he begins to remember.
Failures and mistakes
that he has made,
agonizing over
each and every
one.
His feet continue
step after step.
His mind travels
forward again,
pushing into
all the problems
that have arisen.
Some he solved,
others he slowly realizes
may never be fixed.
He walks.
He places one foot
in front of the other,
as fear grips him
of the future.
every problem,
mistake,
failure
he wonders
if there is any reason
to go on.
He struggles
within himself
over every
minute
detail
of his past failures.
It weighs him
like a burden.
He considers
the paths before him
in his life,
much like the road
before him.
He only sees one.
He walks. ”


This story-poem is a reflection of how I feel sometimes. If I can be vulnerable for a moment, this is how I feel most of the time. I posted it because there is a truth within the lines. When everything that weighs you down is too much... You just keep walking. You're not perfect. None of us are. If we allow every failure to stop us or even hinder us for a moment, then we will never move from the place you are in. "pressing for the mark" we must also realize that if we are ever going to make it, we are going to have to rely on God. His love and guidance will keep us in our darkest hour.