A Tall Tale of A Life Well Lived

the last year

2012-01-04T11:52:00.000-08:00

time is constant and so goes another year. much has happened and much continues to happen. i lived in peru, i volunteered, i watched movies, i notched another wonder of the world off my list, i wrote music, i contracted giardiasis, i visited alaska, i read books, i hung out with family, i visited national parks, i listened to music, i drove through canada, i visited idaho, i packed my belongings, i moved, i started working. i made big decisions, i failed some, accomplished others, and learned from all. everyone always asks, "what's your next big adventure?" and i say to them " i don't know, something always seems to come about" but i always have ideas and longings. an adventure comes in many forms, some more glamourous than others but all the while you are adventuring through life whether you know it or not. you can adventure through the mundane, the busyness, the new, the old, or right where you've been all along. i am weary, i am nervous, i am excited for what comes next.

books i read: c.s. lewis' the great divorce & a grief observed, thoreau's walden, bunyan's the pilgrim's progress, twain's tramp abroad traveling the equator, shane claiborne's jesus for president, and robert hurst's the cyclist manifesto. probably my favorite book that i read would have to jesus for president which i wrote a little review of my thoughts early last year. good luck finding it.

movies i watched: too many, way too many. look back at my list that i watched in peru then add lots more but i want to highlight a few of my favorites: werner herzog's encounters at the end of the world & cave of forgotten dreams, all the harry potters, garbage warrior, carlos pt's 1-3, catfish, alone in the wilderness, the beatles documentary, 2001 a space odyssey, melancholia, and the tree of life. i could list so many more but these where the ones whether they came out last year or not were the ones that i really enjoyed and felt moved while watching them. my favorite would be hands down the tree of life which deserves a blog post by itself but i do not need to add to the overflowing amounts of blogs and articles that have been written about it. it is one of the most beautiful movies i've ever seen and such a moving film with not much narrative. the more i read and learn about the film i am continued to be amazed at how amazing terrence malick is as a director.

music i listened to: as i mentioned above, i listened to a lot of music in peru and still listening to all of it but the bands that stick out the most would be george harrison, akron/family, sufjan stevens, holy weak, mickey the jump, avett brothers, and of course fleet foxes. fleet foxes was my favorite album of this past year. it is my most played album and most played songs. they captured what really worked for them in their previous albums and somehow made it all more amazing. i can't praise that album enough.

i have made many new friends and enjoyed wonderful memories with family. i am continually reminded how blessed i am and how everything will be alright. excited to see what ebbs and flows come from this new year.

The New "New"

2011-10-18T16:55:00.000-07:00

today officially started my first day living in california. it's all new. new place to live. new place to work. new friends. new are to get to know. lots of newness. it's exciting as well as overwhelming. thankfully i have a roof over my head and some contacts trying to help me find a job. this area i'm in now, sherman oaks, is a great area and close to grocery stores, restaurants, stores, etc. all bike accessible which is wonderful. i've basically applied to 30-40+ companies and businesses in and around la and the bay area. now the waiting game.....hoping to hear back from them any minute. will update as soon as i learn more.

My Daily Mantra

2011-10-07T11:31:00.000-07:00

Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury,pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen

the past 6 months

2011-07-26T07:04:00.000-07:00

for the past 6 months i have been living in Cusco, Peru volunteering at a non-profit cafe called, The Meeting Place. it was a wonderful experience working here and meeting tons of new people as well as getting to know a new city. over the past 6 months one watches a lot of movies, reads new books, and listens to new music; i have kept a list of everything i watched, read, and listened to to remember this trip by. i know this seems odd but all three are such a huge part of my life and they help define me as a person so this is more for reference later in life to look back on. i also want to share the things that i plan on missing the most. so if you are interested take a peak below...

Things I'm Going to Miss About Cusco:

Meeting Travelers in the cafe

Dinner/Laundry night at the Englunds

Ken's Chili

Listening to Sigur Ros with Hippie Mike

Messing with Socks

Going to pub quiz at the Real McCoy

Chatting with Jeremy

Eating Carrie's awesome pastries & cakes

The view out from my room (best view in Cusco).

Books I read in Peru:

Bible: Pentatuch (First 5 books of the Bible)

Jesus For President by Shane Claiborne

Following the Equator by Mark Twain

The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan

Movies I watched in Cusco:

127 Hours

2001 A Space Odyssey

2001 A Space Odyssey The Making of a Myth

A Hard Day's Night

A Serious Man

Addicted to Plastic

Alone in the Wilderness

Badlands

Battle Royale

Blade Runner

Bottle Rocket

Burn After Reading

Carlos Pt. 1

Carlos Pt. 2

Carlos Pt. 3

Catfish

Che Pt. 1

Che Pt. 2

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Crumb

Days of Heaven

Drillbit Taylor

Due Date

Dumb and Dumber

Encounters at the End of the World

Exit Through the Giftshop

Garbage Warrior

Gas Land

Get Low

G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra

Greenberg

Hall Pass

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Harry Potter and the Half-Blooded Prince

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Pt. 1

Help!

Hobo With A Shotgun

Howl

Human Planet Series

I'm Still Here

Illusionniste

Inception & Special Features

An Idiot Abroad Series

Inglorious Basterds

Inland Empire

In Bruges

I'm Still Here

Jackass 1

Jackass 2.5

Jackass 2

Jackass 3

Lebanon

Little Fockers

Lost in Translation

Machete

Magical Mystery Tour (The Beatles)

Man Bites Dog

Megamind

Mega Shark vs. Crocasaures

Micmacs

Missing

Monsters

Monsters vs Aliens

Mr Nobody

October Sky

Pineapple Express

Rango

Red Dawn

Red Vs Blue (Seasons 1&2)

Restrepo

Rushmore

Step Brothers

Silent Running

Simon of the Desert

Somewhere

Source Code

Star Wars IV

Star Wars V

Star Wars VI (possibly)

Sympathy for the Devil

The Adjustment Bureau

The American

The Beatles Anthology (Episodes 1-8)

The Big Lebowski

The Conversation

The Darjeeling Limited

The Departed

The Fantastic Mr. Fox

The Fighter

The Good German

The Green Hornet

The Human Experience

The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus

The Informant

The Insider

The Kings Speech

The Life Aquatic

The New World

The Pianist

The Royal Tenenbaums

The Social Network

The Squid and the Whale

The Ten Commandments

The Thin Red Line

The Troll Hunter

The Vanishing

Tetro

Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! (5 Seasons)

Traffic

Troll 2

Twin Peaks (2 seasons)

Up In The Air

Youth In Revolt

Waiting for Superman

Waking Sleeping Beauty

Wildboyz (4 seasons)

X-Men Animated Series (5 Seasons)

X-Men First Class

Young Mr. Lincoln

Worst Movie: National Lampoon's TV: The Movie or Hobo with a Shotgun

Best Movie: 2001: A Space Odyssey

Best Documentary: Catfish

Favorite Documentaries: Alone in the Wilderness & Encounters at the End of the World

Most Influential Film: Garbage Warrior

Best TV Show: Tim & Eric Awesome Show Great Job!

New Music:

Akron/Family - Discography

Aaron Giillespie - Anthem Song

The Animals - Best Of

The Avett Brothers - Emotionalism, Four Thieves Gone, The Gleam, The Gleam II

Beastie Boys - Ill Communication & Licensed to Ill

The Beatles - Complete Singles

Bon Iver - Bon Iver

Cake - Fashion Nugget

The Cars - Best Of

The Clash - London Calling

Crosby Stills & Nash - Greatest Hits

Crosby Stills Nash & Young - Deja Vu

David Bazan - Strange Negotiations

Defeater - Empty Days & Sleepless Nights

Dogwood - Through Thick & Thin

The Doors - Best Of

Dovekins - Assemble the Aviary

Dr. Dog - Fate

Eddie Vedder - Ukulele Songs

Elvis Presley - 30 #1 Hits

Faces - Best Of

Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac

George Harrison - All Things Must Pass & Living in the Material World

I Monster - Neveroddoreven

Jimi Hendrix - Experience Hendrix

John Coltrane - A Love Supreme

Jose Gonzalez - In Our Nature, Stay in the Shade, & Veneer

The Kinks - Best Of

Led Zepplin - 4 & Mothership

Lou Reed - Transformer

Mason Jennings - Blood of Man

Miles Davis - Bitches Brew & Kind of Blue

Neil Diamond - The Essential

The O.C. Supertones - Supertones Strike Back

The Only Ones - Special View

Paul McCartney - McCartney

The Psalters - Ch.7 Tour EP

R. Crumb's Heroes of Blues, Jazz & Country

Refused - The Shape of Punk to Come

Relient K - Forget and Not Slow Down & Is For Karaoke EP

Roger Miller - Best Of

The Rolling Stones - Greatest Hits

Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness & Siamese Dream

Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz & All Delighted People

Underoath - Disambiguation

The Velvet Underground - Loaded & White Light/White Heat

Verse - From Anger and Rage

The W's - Fourth from the Last

Wallace Collection - Laughing Cavalier & Serenade

The White Stripes - Elephant, Icky Thump, White Blood Cells, The White Stripes

The Who - Ultimate Collection

Woody Guthrie - Discography

Yann Tiersen - Dust Lane

The Zombies - Odessey and Oracle & Greatest Hits

Most Surprising Band: Akron/Family

Favorite Album: Psalters Ch.7 Tour EP & Fleet Foxes Helplessness Blues

Oldie but Goodie: Rolling Stones - Greatest Hits & Elvis Presley's 30 #1 Hits

Most Disappointing: David Bazan - Strange Negotiations (needs more listening to)

Most Listened to Band in the past 6 months: Fleet Foxes 475 listens

Most Listened to Song in the past 6 months: Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues 106x

Supporting the Healthy & Discouraging the Unhealthy

2011-07-24T13:58:00.000-07:00

came across this great article talking about taxing unhealthy foods and beverages such as, soda, sugary juices, candies, fries, etc. while subsidizing healthier foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, etc. by doing so the revenue generated by the unhealthy foods could generate into the billions which could in affect help high health costs, go to community projects like bike trails, parks, community centers, etc. then by subsidizing the healthier foods you would be able to buy them at a more reasonable price which is great. the combination of all of the above could in fact help reduce many health risks especially diabetes. other countries and some states have already passed similar laws or are getting ready to take affect which is very exciting. if you are more interested in this article you can find it here: Tax Soda, Subsidize Vegetables

More Great Non-Profits

2011-07-09T11:14:00.000-07:00

Found out about a couple more cool non-profits helping people around the country and around the world. First I want to share about People for Bikes which is a cool organization that is helping individuals get connected in their community as well as nationwide to bicycle groups and activism. They have some great goals and make it real easy to get involved. A few ways you can get involved is signing their pledge which helps gather voices around the nation who are advocates for biking, sending your representatives letters (they have a great stock letter that you can add to and e-mail from the site), a write up section where you can share your experience and love for biking (I wrote about my cross country bike trip!), and lots of great suggestions on how you can get involved with bike groups in your community. There are so many great advantages to biking whether it be health-wise, economical, environmentally, and even just for shear enjoyment; this is one of the other ways I can help spread the word and I ask you to just check out the site and see what you can do to help.

Because International is a non-profit that a friend of mine from college, Kenton Lee, has setup. Here are some of his words about Because International: "Because International is a non-profit organization that seeks to develop innovative solutions to long-standing social justice problems." So Kenton has lived in Ecuador and Kenya and noticed that kids either don't have shoes or they are wearing shoes that are too big or too small, so he came up with an idea of "The Shoe That Grows", it's a fully adjustable shoe from size 5 to size 12. There are some great companies that I mentioned in a previous post about that when you buy a pair they give a pair, but the one negative drawback is that kids feet don't stay the same but they grow until they become an adult so that one pair of TOMS that was donated last summer might night fit them next year, thankfully they can hand them off to someone else but in all reality they're probably going to keep on wearing a shoe that is too small. So Because International wants to get involved with donors and companies like Soles 4 Souls and TOMS to distribute his "Shoe That Grows" so they can reach more kids instead of giving limited time support. Check out their video below to learn more.

Along the lines as well as bicycles is World Bicycle Relief which is a non-profit whose mission is to provide access to independence and livelihood through the power of bicycles. This organization wants to help people around the world be more productive, healthy, independent, and less hindered. Biking saves so much time since walking takes much longer, allows people to carry more weight such as food, water, school supplies, etc., and it increases the distances people can travel in a day so they can get more done or able to take advantage of more resources such as education, water, and supplies. World Bicycle Relief is working with bike supplies to improve the design of bicycles, enhance distribution with local sourcing, manufacturing, and assembly, and partnering with other existing non-profits to help aid in their goals. They are currently working in parts of India which have been affected by tsunamis, Zambia, and other places in Africa, more specifically working with the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative which provides 300 bikes in 6 countries to help specific HIV/AIDS initiatives. It's crazy how much a bicycle can change someone's life. Please check out their website and see how you can get involved.

firsties

2011-07-05T22:20:00.001-07:00

my first cassette tape: green day dookie. my first cd: blink-182 dude ranch.

A Pilgrim's Progress and Other Musings

2011-06-25T15:15:00.000-07:00

i have started reading john bunyan's "A Pilgrim's Progress" and it's fantastic. i have read about 100 pgs in less than a week, granted it's a pretty easy to read but so full of goodness. if you haven't heard of it i will give you the basics: the book is the whole journey of Christian, a normal person, who is trying to get to the Celestial City (Heaven); basically it his entire Christian journey. i am so impressed with bunyan because most of his writing is word for word scripture references. it is such a great allegory that keeps you wanting to read more. i am really enjoying this fresh new outlook on faith and the journey of every Christ follower. if you haven't read it, i highly recommend reading it.

to aid in this pilgrimage of mine i have gone back and have been listening to some older christian music as well as some new. i have been very encouraged with Dogwood's second album, "Through Thick & Thin". with songs comparing our journey to a sailing voyage or a visually great lyrical about the return of Christ or an encouraging song about brotherhood through thick and thin, this entire album has nothing but inspiration, humbleness, and love written all over it and in it. this was one of my most favorite bands growing up and never had this album of my own and have finally gotten it. my most favorite song is "stairway to sin" which is such a beautiful song of redemption and recognizing one's sinfulness habits and it goes through the thought/journey of letting go and allowing God to work. can you see all the similarities to journeying? check out the song above if you dare...

another older band but mainly just one song instead of a whole album is "Louder than the Mob" by The O.C. Supertones another favorite when i was younger. it's just one of those songs that speaks about our sin but just in a unique way and how great our God is and how forgiving He is even when we shouldn't deserve it. Here are the lyrics:
"I know I'm just another Judas, kiss Your face
While I drive the nail through Your hand
I know I'm just another Thomas, won't believe
Until I feel the hole in your hands
Then I will say, my God, I see not what You see
My God, what do You see in me?
My God, crowned in glory
The Lamb of God is worthy
My sin yells, 'Crucify!'; Louder than the mob that day
My sin yells, 'Crucify!', louder than any mouth."

the last song/album i wanted to mention is Psalter's, "Ch.7 EP". the Psalters are amazing people and gifted musician/songwriters; they sing some very impactful songs and i know how sincere they are. love them so much and if i lived in philly i would get to see them and hangout with them more. they are a breath of fresh air when thinking, talking, and living God's word. i digress, "Psalm 27" is a raw and encouraging song taken from David's Psalm 27, stating "the Lord is my light and my salvation, the Lord is my strength and my life! So I will not be afraid, no I will not be afraid!" such wonderfulness. please listen to it and check out all of their music, it will only do you good.

Sites to check out & Organizations to Support

2011-06-19T22:32:00.000-07:00

thought i'd share some cool websites that relate to travel or helping others out and hope that someone will gleam some helpful information from it. so here. we. go!

to start off i want to brag about my favorite travel website called Matador Travel; i visit it a couple times a month because it just talks a lot about cool trips to take like hitchhiking, hopping trains, woofing, biking, and has a lot of good articles and resources about specific countries or cities all around the world. i've submitted several photos and little write ups to them for my bike trip as well as volunteering here in peru. it's my favorite travel site and thought i'd share it.

if you are interested in gardening and traveling then you should check out woofing (world wide opportunities on organic farms). basically you purchase a list of a country and it hooks you up with contact information with organic farmers. in theory you contact a farmer and you work out an agreement of working for room & board. it's a great opportunity to see a new place and learn about farming. i hope to take advantage of this someday soon.

i know i've talked about it already but Earthships! i think its such a great concept and so awesome to be sustainable. basically a house made out of tires filled with soil, using cans and glass bottles along with adobe to form walls. so basically this house fully sustainable because the roof gathers and stores rainwater and uses a filter system to filter it 4 times for bathing, washing, drinking, and to water your garden; it has solar panels as well as a wind generator to harvest electricity; the house plan is specifically designed with an internal heating and cooling system in it; as well as a greenhouse to grow foodz. i plan to buy some land and build one of these in the near future; where? i don't know but i think this is a great idea.

another that is really common is Couchsurfing; i know a lot of people know about this but just in case someone doesn't. so if you have an open couch or guest room in your house and you're cool with letting travelers crash on it then you sign up and people send you requests to stay with you. it's a great free way to travel around the world (i've done it across the united states) and it's super safe and a great way to meet cool people. also the people you meet most likely show you great restaurants, hidden gems, music venues, etc.

GOOD is a magazine but also a cool website that breaks down into several categories such as: health, media, politics, transportation, technology, culture, cities, design, action, etc. and has awesome articles about cool new programs going on in cities or states or countries that help people or the environment or education. i find out a lot of cool websites and organizations that way. in conjunction with GOOD, is DWELL which is all about house stuff; super cool site and magazine that is structured the same way as GOOD.

CVDW, Centre for Vision in the Developing World, is an organization that has developed these cool self-adjustable glasses. basically getting optometrists to developing countries to make glasses for people is a tough and expensive ordeal but these glasses are relatively cheap to produce but also for kids and adults to adjust the prescription themselves. their goal is by 2020 that they want to give out a billion glasses around the globe! it's super cool and such an ingenious glasses thingy (i know real technical).

a good idea of buy a pair give a pair, TOMS has lead the way in this with their very popular shoes and now newly introduced sunglasses. so you buy and pair and they give a pair to a kid around the world. a lot of friends of mine buy the shoes and i'm sure will buy the sunglasses. a good trendy idea.

One Laptop Per Child provides rugged, low-cost, low-power laptops to kids all over the world to help with their education. i don't know a ton about them but have read a couple of articles about them and have checked out their website a handful of times and is a smart way of bringing cheaper more energy efficient basic laptops to kids. they also provide software to help with the learning process. since i don't know much more than that, i would say if it interests you check their site out.

another organization that i want to promote is The Water Project; i support this organization financially because i firmly believe clean drinking water is like having gold. it's our life support along with clean air and food and so many villages around the world don't have wells or clean water facilities and with hotter summers and more draughts these wells and storage systems are a huge help. it's really amazing that $50-100 can do so much for a community like provide clean drinking water for a couple families. i ran into this organization when i was in utah seeing films at sundance film festival.

my last organization is where i am currently volunteering 6 months of my time and that is in cusco, peru with The Meeting Place Cafe; which gives 100% of its profits away to 3 local missions in cusco: Project CORAZON (an orphanage), Casas Josefina (orphanage for developmentally challenged kids) and Casa del Aguila (farm/medical clinic/orphanage). there is a guest house and language school a part of the cafe as well and all those profits go out too. it's a great place and the owners are wonderful people. i'm so thankful to be able to be here helping.

i hope something here has helped or has shown you that their are some great organizations and websites out there to help others as well as gleam new and cool information about traveling or green living.

art for art sake

2011-05-26T15:47:00.000-07:00

back from the dead. indeed i am alive and well, thankfully. i was previously battling the terrible stomach parasite known as giardia which i obtained from the crystal clear waters of northern chile at a national park ranger station. needless to say that sucked and glad it is over. had a great time traveling around northern chile and southern peru for a couple weeks but glad to be back in cusco.

i finally am posting pics of some pictures i have shot and framed and have hanging in the cafe. thought i'd share them. they are all for sale and all the profits are going to the cafe. phil has put a few of his art pieces up that he has been working on and he sold one perhaps a month ago. very cool! enjoy.

great words from Watashi Wa/the big silence/observations of the Word

2011-04-22T21:12:00.000-07:00

great words from Watashi Wa:
- "In all my days and lessons on the way and no matter what tomorrow brings your all I ever need and some things stay but most just pass away and I am learning to cling not so closely because you're all I need. so take these things off my back with so much wisdom I lack and so today with all I do and say I give all my days to you with all my dreams and the ones I love I pray that you'll keep them with me whatever today brings." - Fepeste

- "Held down, completely, blindfolds of pride are in the way." - Simple Road Less Traveled

- "God's faithful, in everything, don't fear to dream." - Here's to Tomorrow

- "think before you act before you speak." - Here's to Tomorrow

- "lock up pride and throw away key." - At It's Finest

- these are a few of the lyrics that really stick out at this moment and time for me. i love Watashi Wa and am super thankful for their musical abilities. i hope seth roberts doesn't forget his roots. i would have to say that the lyrics to "fepeste" carry the most weight right now. "in whatever state, be content." - phillipians 4:11

the big silence:
i recently watched bbc's "the big silence", a 3 show series about a priest was wanting to implement silence into the lives of 5 people. only 1 out of the 5 actually believed in God at the start and it was shaky at best while a couple of the others grew up in the church as kids then fell away due to deaths in the family and other unfortunate circumstances. basically the priest, christopher jamison, wanted to show these people how important silence is; both in reflecting but as well as meditation. it was really interesting to see these people first start off with a weekend at an abbey going through the regular days of the monks there but then they went home and were challenged to implement silence into their normal schedule and they all failed. after 2 weeks or so, they had an 8 day silent retreat at another monastery. 8 days without communication, other than a daily meeting with their spiritual counselor, is a tough endeavor. only one really stays true the the silence while the others wander off and talk to each other or just flat out, out of defiance speak to others but then they all get sucked into the silence and find some wonderful healing, revelations, and comfort amongst the silence. people who never believed in God started hearing from Him. everyone was expecting to hear from God in one way or the other but He spoke to them or came to them in ways they did not expect. the whole time i was watching this show all i could think about was elijah and how God spoke to him in a still, small voice and not in the crazy wind, earthquake, or fire. the wind, earthquake, and fire are all the great distractions in this world: work, family, music, tv, movies, internet, facebook, sports (hockey), etc. finding time in our busy schedules for silence is necessary and i am trying to implement some time throughout my day to wait and listen for that still, small voice.

observations of the word:
i just finished reading through the pentateuch at have already shared some of my thoughts and observations already but here are the rest.

Leviticus:
- "The Lord makes people with defects holy." 21:23b

Numbers:
- "Moses was the most humble person on the face of the earth." 12:3; who was more humble before Moses?

- God spoke to moses "clearly and not in riddles"

Deuteronomy:
- "Do not cook a young goat in its mother's milk" 14:21 (repeated several times, what is the significance?)

- God lists the foods the Israelites can and cannot eat (Ch.14); God is very specific in the strangest aspects of scripture.

- "There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land." 15:11

- God knew that once the Israelites crossed over the Jordan (without Moses) they were going to fail Him and turn their back on Him even when both God and Moses repeated several times the blessings and curses as well as sending Joshua with them.

- God repeats, repeats, repeats His laws/blessings/curses to the Israelites because He knows they are stubborn headed.

- God reveals the future demise of the Israelites to Moses since Moses is about to die and be buried with his fathers.

Last days of Jesus (Luke 22-24)
- Jesus made the Scriptures known to the disciples as well as the two walking on the road to Emmaus that which pertained about Him. Crazy that Jesus/God just allows us to know things.

one and the same/mark twain & alex hackett

2011-04-17T15:14:00.000-07:00

my favorite author is mark twain. he was considered to be the funniest person alive. he has traveled the world several times over. he has written some of the best american fiction and funniest nonfiction. i am currently reading mark twain's "following the equator" which is his traveling circuit of lectures; i have read his "roughing it" and absolutely loved it. he has a way of using his words to intricately describe a situation or story that makes it easier on your brain. he inspires me to continue to dream, journey and seek to see new things, as well as find your passion and pursue it with everything you've got. granted we have similarities but alas we have vast differences as well but i thoroughly enjoy his life and written works. just some rambling thoughts of what was going through my head while i was watching a pbs biography of him.

today is the first day of 2 months

2011-04-13T07:30:00.001-07:00

tonight starts 2 months of intense play from the greatest sport on earth: the STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS! today people around the world are shaving their faces clean to begin growing their playoff beards in conjunction with their team's success in the post-season. the detroit red wings kick off the first round of the playoffs today versus the phoenix coyotes whom they played and beat last year in the first round. i am hoping for the same success as last year in this round.

let's go WINGS!

green living/off the grid/sustainability zzzzbuzzwordszzzz

2011-04-08T18:50:00.000-07:00

i have taken the bait. i am hooked, crazed. somewhat fanatical about sustainable living. recently i've watched garbage warrior and off the grid, ever since that's all i've been able to think about when i walk through the torrential downpour or feel the beaming sun. why aren't we taking advantage of this energy, these resources? call me a fanatic, hippie, tree hugger; that's fine. why would someone want to keep paying money to large energy and water companies? prices are only going to rise more. i'm sold on this idea and am trying to conjure up the means to build my own sustainable house when i get back to the states. more research, planning, and of course saving money but this is something i am working up to. granted even remodeling your current house is possible by mounting solar panels and a wind turbine or creating a rain catcher and even building a little greenhouse to grow food as well as a place to put your compost. lots of easy ways to help save money and help the environment.

i want to build an earthship.

My Autobiography Title

2011-04-07T21:13:00.001-07:00

i started a new blog today with potential titles to my autobiography. feel free to follow it, i hope to update it everyday with a new potential title.

Help Support A Good Cause!

2011-04-02T21:52:00.000-07:00

Hello all (not sure who all is).
Dear readers.

My oldest brother, Ian, and his family (the Charles) have been raising funds to build a new section on a hospital in Connecticut, it is a family and children section. It is a clinical care center for cancer and blood disorders. It is a very good cause and a little bit will go a long way. Check out the donation site to learn more: A Brighter Hope

No obligation but I am very proud of my brother and his family with this grand endeavor.

Thanks all.

recent thoughts (cue think bubble)

2011-03-30T18:03:00.000-07:00

- "The Bible" the graphic novel. feel like it would appeal to a different demographic and show God's love in a totally new way. apparantly someone has already done one for Genesis The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb

- chile adventure: the day after easter, we plan to take a trip down to chile. we plan on visiting the beach town of arica, visit a national park, and camp in the atacama desert. planning started strong today and the pictures look great. here are a few to wet your appetite:

- help portrait: i stumbled across a cool site that has inspired me to participate in, the site is called help portrait. basically it encourages photographers to take pictures of people in need and befriend them as well as help provide some of their needs. so when you take a picture of someone, you print it off and give it to them. they are also hooked up with nonprofit organizations to help give back to the community. so i had already been thinking of a new photographic project to do and this help portrait fits in perfectly! funny how that stuff works out. so i plan on photographing people in their work environment since in Peru it is truly unique: frame builder, metal worker, tienda owner, taxi driver, guitar maker. i am still trying to put together a portable light to bump up the people. stay tuned. Help Portrait

- fanny packs, districts, & michael jackson: in cusco, perhaps all of peru is like this, seems like all the young guys are wearing fanny packs. not sure what they are really accomplishing by doing this but somehow they are still hooking up with females. if you are looking for something i.e. a lightbulb, anything plumbing related, tools, etc. all you have to do is find the district that is in. the streets of cusco seemed to have been planned to make competition as competitive as possible because you go down one street and it is ALL plumbing stores or electrical stores. it's seriously the same shops from the displays to the inventory, how do they stay in business?! there is a shop full of school supplies. so i have been searching for a portable light to use for a photography project i'm working on but when one lighting shop doesn't have anything, then they all don't have anything that would work. a little frustrating that there are so many shops and they all carry the exact same things (i will give them the benefit of the doubt though). last but not least, peru loves michael jackson. i'm not mad about this, i love michael jackson, he's the king of pop for crying out loud but i have been asked twice if i know how to moonwalk and yes i have attempted and failed miserably.

- thoughts/observations from Genesis & Exodus: crazy that ch.2 of Genesis states the Tigris & Euphrates, these are rivers that are still around today that we know of. just crazy. God made clothes for Adam & Eve before they were banished from the garden. Enoch walked with God for 300 years. God took him away; why was Enoch so lucky? Abram and Isaac both told people their wives were their sisters to avoid getting killed, what a weird theme. God hardened pharoah's heart, pharoah did help. God gets angry (His anger burned against the Israelites) but in Nehemiah 9:17b "But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them." Moses had many contacts with God; talked face to face twice: on the mountain as a pillar of smoke, burning bush, and he saw God's back.

- inspiration: "it is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly...who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the worst; if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never known neither victory or defeat." - Teddy Roosevelt

i came across this quote last summer when evan and i were biking across the country. i have no clue where or when i found it but ever since it has been a great source of inspiration and courage. it is daring alone to start something but it's the failing that is super scary but at Teddy applauds the person who attempts. the bike trip was a huge endeavor for myself and there were several points when i wanted to just quite and that would've been alright but i kept pushing on. even today, this quote is inspiring me to go out and try and conquer a new endeavor for after peru. granted i still have 4 months in peru but i have been still thinking about after. if i try and fail, at least i tried and i will know more from it but there is always the possibility of succeeding and that would be great. thank you Teddy (my favorite president).

m-ss-ng

2011-03-30T17:23:00.000-07:00

internet that can stream hockey games/skype conversations.
riding my bike.
chocolate covered gummi bears.
hot water when washing hands.
being able to flush toilet paper.
winco.
mexican food (can't find it here).
the ability to call my family.

realizations. sacrifices. and everything awesome about kindness.

2011-03-09T07:22:00.000-08:00

back to the ol grindstone of blogging. peru has been quite the experience meeting new people, understanding a new culture, trying to get my feet in cooperation with the rest of my body during futbol, and eating some questionable food.

i want to take a few moments to talk about lent as well as some observations of my time here in peru. this year for lent i am going to give up meat, not being totally reliable on meat would be nice and it would give me a reason to try some new food as well as consciously remember to abstain from something that i really enjoy. i know lent is more of a religious act so i am also wanting to start focusing on reading through the Old Testament, more specifically the Torah, because the Bible is a building block and so much from the New Testament comes from the Old Testament. I am wanting to go through the Torah first and breaking up the Old Testament into sections to read through them. granted this lent is nothing that seems super difficult or trying but a challenge nonetheless.

living here in peru, mainly cusco, for over a month, i have come to the realization that peruvians are cutters, plain and simple. it must be engrained in their culture because no matter where you are or what you are doing, if there is a line, peruvians are cutting and are really bad at pretending to be there all along. i have encountered cutting at the futbol game, in line at a restaurant, and at the grocery store. i think i stopped cutting somewhere in the 3rd or 4th grade but alas the peruvian people will probably continue to get a leg up on their brother and sister until something drastic happens.

while we are here in cusco, we mainly walk everywhere we can but sometimes we have to take a combi (bus) or a taxi if we are running late or if its late at night and the combi's aren't running. while riding in an automobile, you are taking your life into someone else's hand because all of the laws of the road are thrown out the window. if you are driving down the road you need not adhere to staying in a lane because there aren't any lanes, i think there might be 4, 5, or even 6 lanes on a traditional 2 lane road; wherever you can place your car to give you a better advantage than another car (basically cutting) go for it. so while drivers are flying changing "lanes" at incredible speeds, the roads here are in poor condition with giant pot holes scattered all over the road like a minefield or for some reason if someone decides to fill the pot holes, they just get a truck full of dirt and dump it all into each of the holes leaving speed bump mounds so while you are speeding down the road, the driver comes to a halt to slowly go over the bump then he guns it. all along you are crammed into a van with 20 other people when it should only fit 12 or 13 people. nonetheless it is a thrill traveling on the road and as gringo's we make lots of friends with our tattered spanish and talking about all the highlights of America: hollywood, vegas, nyc, and then trying to explain where idaho or alaska is actually located.

just yesterday we all went out to the sacred valley, which is a gorgeous area just 30min to an hour by bus to a little town called coya for a carnival. we were under the impression we were going to hike up to a cross a little ways away where lots of people would be celebrating basically fat tuesday style with dancing, drinks, foods, and some traditional face paintings. we hiked up to the cross and no one was there but we saw many people heading further up the mountain. after an hour or so of hiking up along this path we met up with 3 men carrying a drum and two large recorders and a couple cow herders. after some chatting with them we made our way to nearly the top of the mountain where a large gathering of peruvians were celebrating carnival. here comes 8 gringos, we are the only white people up there (sorry joey); the party doesn't even skip a beat but they welcome us with open arms, handshakes, and started pouring us drinks to rehydrate us after the hike. the hodgepodge band assembled and started playing and we formed a circle and two women pick nate and ian to dance a traditional dance. the point here is how awesome the peruvians are; we are a bunch of foreigners and they accept us and help us join in on the festivities. we were all so thankful and taken back at how friendly and accommodating these peruvians were/are because in the states, if some outsiders, even American outsiders, showed up to a party of ours it would be pretty awkward and possibly people might act a little snobish. it's sad but true. we danced, drank, and even ate food with them at the top and then proceeded to get our faces "painted" and we marched as one celebratory group down the mountain with a huge peruvian flag with the bad playing. when we got to the bottom there were 50 plus more peruvians who welcomed us with food, drinks, more dancing, and kindness. we were one of many from the village. truly a wonderful experience.

even when there are some frustrating or possibly scary things here in peru, there are an equal amount of wonderfully, kind people to make you laugh, share their party, or even invite you in to play futbol. we are blessed to be able to experience this wonderful culture.

Another 6 months

2011-01-27T20:46:00.000-08:00

Today is day 3 of living in Cusco, Peru; I moved here for 6 months to volunteer my time and energy at a cafe called "The Meeting Place" which gives 100% of its profits to 3 local Peruvian ministries: an orphanage, after school program, and farm/medical clinic. Me and four friends are down here giving ourselves to good work. Even though I've been here only 3 days, I'm really loving it; Cusco is a great city with tons of history, mountains, a very relaxed culture, and wonderful people. As well as working in the cafe, we will be leading a few backpacking trips in the mountains with local youngsters, working at the orphanage, after school program, farm/medical clinic, and a soccer (football) ministry. Very excited to see how I grow and stretch these next 6 months. Will have lots of pictures, videos, and stories to share. I am going to try and keep this blog going but so far it's been tough. So you can check out my pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/talltale/ you can also follow our Cusco blog here: http://helpingcusco.wordpress.com/

Enjoy.

12/24/10

2010-12-25T00:16:00.000-08:00

been a long time since i've blogged on here. lots of things on my mind. christmas is a very impactful time of year. this year i spend it alone, lots of people (family & friends) seem real concerned that i'm not with them but i'm ok with it. i don't enjoy all of the buying, the celebrating of things other than jesus' birth, the commercialization. all that aside, that's not the point here. as i have emphasized this before, this blog isn't for others, it is a place for me to document my thoughts and feelings and i allow others to read it if they so choose.

the verse in Romans 7 has been very applicable lately: "i do the things i don't want to do, but the things i want to do those i don't do." more practice, more patience, more mercy, please.

also there is an upside down american flag with these words printed: "my kingdom is not of this world. no one can serve two masters. blessed are the meek. woe to you who are rich. blessed are the poor. love your enemies." these are things i have been trying to engrain and dwell on daily but have been failing. more practice, more patience, more mercy, please.

i was reading through multiple bible stories, analyzing them, trying to understand them better and writing songs from the things i learned or the feelings i gathered from them. one that has really stuck out to me is the story of Elijah on the mount battling against the prophets of baal (doesn't deserve to be capitalized). this piggybacks off of the previous paragraph. basically what is so amazing is how much faith Elijah had to call out to God and how God provided. Elijah was calling out to God to turn their hearts around and to renew with and through fire. nothing has changed from Elijah's time to now, we meaning me, am calling out to God now to turn my heart around and renew me with his fire. baal can be anything: it can be you, the world, money, loved one or a friend, your house, car, a job, or even pride. it is a false god. this is where the piggyback action comes into play. we cannot serve two masters because we will either hate the one and love the other or we will be devoted to one and despise the other. i know i have strayed towards baal frequently. more practice, more patience, more mercy, please.

i love relient k, they have a soft spot in my heart even after i met them and got a sour taste from them personally. all that behind, they know how to write some good things. the songs "silent night" and "i celebrate the day" are played together and really move me. its just amazing how jesus came in baby form, so innocent but with so much purpose and power. i am thankful that he came as a baby so he knows what it is like growing up. it's a tough thing. plus it reminds of how intricate the bible is with the foretelling of jesus' life and how i lack in my daily readings. more practice, more patience, more mercy, please.

i am so thankful to serve a God that cares so much to send himself to save us. i am thankful for a God who is merciful. i am thankful for a God who has given me a wonderful and supportive family. and i am thankful for a God to place encouraging, fun, and loving friends in my path. it's a daily walk for a reason because it's so easy to lose sight of the path. i ask for more practice, more patience, more mercy, oh lord.

attempting the next endeavor

2010-09-27T13:15:00.000-07:00

"it is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly...who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the worst; if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never known neither victory or defeat."
- Teddy Roosevelt

3 month hiatus

2010-05-08T11:36:00.000-07:00

today is my last day in idaho. sad, i know. after nearly 6 years going to school, starting up wonderful friendships, creating tons of memories, and working at my first real job, i am bidding farewell. i am not sure when i will return but this is a part of growing up. the world is too big to be stuck in one place and there are too many amazing people to meet.

starting may 14th evan and i are heading out on our cross-country bike trip. we are super excited and anxious to see what and who we encounter. we all have hopes and dreams so we can't just stay stagnant and settle down, go out and live your dreams! i cannot stress this enough. don't settle for a career or buying a house or something else if its not what you want to do. its your life, so live it. yeah we may make mistakes or bad choices, but everyone does and we have to learn from them and keep going. it doesn't mean that eventually you don't get a house or start a career, everything comes in time.

i am thankful to have such a great support from friends and family for this bike trip; it means a lot to me to be able to go on this adventure. i will not be the same person after this trip so i am not making anything final for what i do after. i have some ideas of what i would like to do: possibly join the peace corps, work on a documentary film, try and find a job dealing with video. it is up in the air but that is exciting to me.

when i left for college my parents gave me a plaque with Jeremiah 29:11 on it: "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" i don't know what my future holds but i am trusting in God to show me His way; He knows my heart and my desires and i am trusting in Him to honor them.

i cannot thank God enough for the time i have spent here in idaho. i have grown up a ton, figured out who i am, made life long friends, and grown in my relationship with Him. it's been amazing and hard to leave but this isn't goodbye, it's just see ya later.

if you are wondering where i am this summer or why i haven't updated this blog, it's probably because i'm living off of my bike. follow me on our bike journey at Will We Make It Across?

happy easter yall

2010-04-03T22:56:00.000-07:00

everywhere we look, it's all crazy, it's all false, it's all a dream, it's alright

spring is among us and it's a great thing. i am super excited for the warmer weather and the beauty that comes with it. sadly this easter doesn't seem any different than other easters but i know one thing is constant and that is that God is love and love is real; He showed His love by sending His son, Jesus, to die for each one of us. i am thankful for this love that i am receiving on a daily basis, even though i do not deserve it. there are many things i do not understand or fathom and one is why God loves us even though we repeatedly sin; i am thankful for this unconditional love and only through His grace will i even come close to overcoming it. "in everywhere we look, in everywhere we look, Allah, Allah, Allah"

i pray that everyday i show God's love to others and i hope to be continually used as a vessel. in the darkness a light shines and that light is God. i hope to shine that light in the dark. enjoy this song by mewithoutYou. it is something that we need to be daily reminded of.

*last note: one of my only real memories that stands out during easter is when my mom would go around the house saying: "He is risen. He is risen indeed." etc. i know she'll be doing the same tomorrow just somewhere else, somewhere a lot cooler than here.

peace & patience please.

kameras

2010-02-25T19:27:00.000-08:00

this is an experimental video that my friend, Rob, and I made for an art show that my friend, Chris, put on in his apartment a couple weeks ago. it was a lot of fun to make and this isn't even what we started out to shoot, very awesome to see how the idea transformed into this one organic video. then tonight, started an art show at the brandt center at nnu and the guest artist asked me to show it so it is on show.

the easiest way for me to tell people what the video is about is saying that it is a continuation of the lens. basically we used 2 video cameras to tell one free flowing spontaneous video to give the viewer different perspectives.

a lot of people have enjoyed it and have said some very kind things. i honestly didn't think it would have such a positive impact on people but i am glad that something i have made has inspired and in some cases blew people's minds. here is a link of it down below so check it out.

kameras from Alex Hackett on Vimeo.

Hongcouver Olympics 2010

2010-02-24T07:17:00.000-08:00

so i decided last monday on my way home from work that i was going to take friday off and go to Vancouver for the Olympics. i have been wanting to do this but it just slipped through the cracks and thought that i wasn't gonna get to go this time BUT luckily evan and andrew came with me too! so we left thursday at 8pm and got into Vancouver around 5 or 6am where we slept in the car in a Costco before we started our day. we strolled around beautiful downtown Vancouver or Hongcouver as Allen our friend through couchsurfing once described his hometown. it was in the 50's, sunny, and seeing the mountains made me miss alaska lots.

so we tried to get tickets to the sweden game but didn't have the money for it so we saw the olympic torch, the olympic rings on the water, graffiti exhibit, other art pieces they have around, listened to some singing groups on the street of some people from various countries, watched many events in pubs/restaurants, and luckily got into a hockey game.

we went with the intent to get $100 tickets and we talked to scalpers and they were selling tickets for $140 a piece, then the ticket booth was selling tickets for $135. so right when we were going to walk away the lady helping us said that a booth opened up and tickets were $50!!!!!!!! amazing! so we got them and sat in great middle seats a little bit up but no one was in front of us. we saw finland vs germany. it was a blowout by finland but still fun to watch a game filled with lots of hockey stars.

we stayed with some people we met through couchsurfing. 2 brothers and a girl from germany, i sadly cannot remember their names but they were super nice. we watched bad canadian movies and just talked till the wee hours for both nights.

then on saturday we strolled through town eating at tim hortons, donars, dennys, just all the classy places you can think of. we watched hockey games, curling, and anything else that was on in various places throughout town with people from all over the world. made some canadian friends and started various USA chants to rile up the canadians.

we had a ton of fun. and am glad we did it. we drove home on sunday. here are some more pics of what we saw. enjoy.

reminder

2010-02-01T17:06:00.000-08:00

"...I think you really should make a radical change in your lifestyle and begin to boldly do things which you may previously never have thought of doing, or been too hesitant to attempt. So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun." - said by Chris McCandless

vlogs from Iceland

2010-01-10T12:36:00.000-08:00

Bus Stop - Nate and I waiting for our bus to Selfoss, this is right before we met our good friend Magnus. This was the day after Iceland's national holiday where everyone goes down to the Vestmannaeyjabaer Island and celebrates. Magnus was a great guy and he talked with us for hours and answered all of our questions then showed us around his home town of Hveragerði. This town is also where we met our other great friend, Vilhajalmur Roe, who's parents own the gas station where we ate many pilsurs and he also gave us his bands CD, which i really enjoy so check out his band: Hitakutur

Eyrarbakki - Nate and I eating dinner on the coast. We threw up our tent on the beach reeds. A wonderful old town.

Gysir - Nate and I at Gysir, part of the Golden Circle.

Bus to Akureyri - Nate and I on the bus from Reykjavik to Aukureyri.

Sea Scout - On our bus from Reykjavik to Akureyri this Icelandic hero sat behind me and just cracked us up so this is him at a bus stop.

Bus to Akureyri - Me and flat Stanley vlogging a ways past Akureyri. Nate is in the tent.

Lake Myvatn - Nate and I at Myvatn which is in northern Iceland. We're just chilling. A wonderful lake surrounded by volcanic craters, big and little ones.

Joksularon - Joksularon, Iceland basically ice chunks that fell off the glacier. This glacier takes up a third of the country! It reminds me of what Portage Glacier was like back in the day.

Eating Ice - Nate and I at Joksularon, we wanted to taste the ice so we did!

Skaftafell National Park - Nate and I at the base of the glacier at Skaftafell. We got a ride from Joksularon right off the bat then got dropped off 2 km from the park and it started raining super hard so we took refuge here.

Skaftafell National Park Waterfall - Nate and I hiked up a waterfall at Skaftafell National Park. Looking out from the top.

Hiking a Glacier - Nate and I on top of a glacier at Skaftafell National Park. This is the same glacier as the previous video and the one at Joksularon! It was our first time ever hiking on a glacier, it was amazing!

Waiting on Crater - Nate and I waiting for a cloud to pass over us so we could hike to the top of the crater on Vestmannaeyjabaer Island. Yeah we look very haggard and tired but it was so worth the effort to make it to this island and to the top of the crater. We were close to the top but a large cloud was just hanging around for about an hour so we decided to wait it out.

Top of the Crater - Nate and I on top of the crater on the Vestmannaeyjabaer Island. After an hour waiting, it finally cleared up and we could see the whole island. Truly one of my favorite views of the whole trip.

live your dream

2009-12-24T17:08:00.000-08:00

saw this video Christmas eve and really liked it. i admire his filming capabilities as well as his message "live your dream". thats what i want people to remember this Christmas: "live your dream!" seriously, we only have one life to live so why waste it doing something you don't enjoy? i am thankful that God respects and honors our hearts and our hopes and dreams. just a little reminder. also i am thankful for jesus' birth and his life saving sacrifice.

My Day "Living the Dream" from renan ozturk on Vimeo.

NEW BLOG

2009-12-19T12:43:00.000-08:00

i stated a new blog called what i see, what i read, what i hear. its not taking anything away from this blog but focusing on my thoughts on films i watch, books i read, and music i listen to. hopefully it will give people some ideas and helpful insight on books, movies, music they might not know about. mainly its for me to just talk about what i am into and verbalizing it. still working on the blog layout, very simple right now. so check it out.

some new videos

2009-12-15T09:25:00.000-08:00

this video is titled: "l*ghts"

this video is titled: "once a relic"

once a relic from Alex Hackett on Vimeo.

stunt tater

2009-12-15T09:12:00.000-08:00

here are some pics from stunt tater episode 1 and then some production shots too. and yes, i am in it. i am the little crying baby potato and a couple adult potatoes in the crowd shot near the bottom. enjoy!

potatoes without faces

stills from episode 1:

finally a CHRISTMAS update

2009-12-15T08:37:00.001-08:00

after many long and empty weeks on this blog, i have comeback to spread Christmas joy! i had a great time in san diego with family but now i'm getting ready to move into a new house, head to Connecticut for Xmas, training on my bike, working on projects for the Idaho Supreme Court, stop motion project for Idaho Potato Commission, and getting ready to start a project for WINCO (a northwest grocery store). life is busy, life is good. i have also been trying to use my camera to stay creative. i am letting my friend joey borrow it as he heads to sudan, africa in january for 2 weeks to film a documentary for his church. so here are some pics/vids:

san diego pics:

gorilla vs helicopter:

shows

2009-10-23T07:46:00.000-07:00

in the past week i have played in 3 shows all at different venues. i mainly just play with my friend's nate and joey in their band, 2 girls, but last night(thursday) i opened for them and played some of my own songs. here is a pic for ya. i enjoy playing but am not totally used to it. we'll see if i continue.

HELP ME GO TO THAILAND!!!!

2009-10-10T17:56:00.000-07:00

my friend Evan and I are trying to win a free trip to Thailand so view the link provided and WATCH our video as many times as you can!!!! we have a good chance to be the ULTIMATE THAILAND EXPLORERS!!!

http://ultimatethailandexplorers.com/no_cache/destinations/phuket/applicants-profile/?user=alexevo>

ICELAND PICTURES

2009-10-10T17:44:00.000-07:00

well i debated on whether or not to post on my blog my pics from Iceland but I have so many and I don't like the picture uploading on blogger so I will attach a link from my Flickr where all of my Iceland pictures are so take a look at this link for my Iceland pics.

http://flickr.com/photos/talltale/>

Here are a few of my favorites though...

Gulfoss Vlog

2009-09-29T21:07:00.000-07:00

This is Nate and I at Gulfoss which is a part of the Golden Circle Tour in Iceland; truly one of the most epic places we saw on our trip. Enjoy.

over swine flu and feeling tons better! hope it was swine flu

2009-09-29T20:47:00.001-07:00

i probably have swine flu and it sucks

2009-09-17T15:40:00.001-07:00

editing photos at the moment...literally

2009-08-25T19:15:00.000-07:00

i have been editing my photos from iceland but it is taking me longer than expected. i've been super busy with work too. please be patient. updates to come, i promise.

greetings from iceland

2009-08-06T08:20:00.000-07:00

had to post something here so here it is. we have hitched around the south and just made it up by bus to the north. it is gorgeous here and vast. hard to capture with a camera. places to look up to wet your appetite: gulfoss, gysir, blue lagoon. all freaking sweet places. internet time is running out. peace in the frozen east!

memory

2009-07-25T07:52:00.000-07:00

after work, i went to a friend of a friend's pool yesterday with some of my friends. we jumped off the diving board and threw a football around and played with inflatables and hunted for a rock at the deep end. someone asked if i could walk on my hands and instantly came to mind the countless attempts mom and i used to challenge each other on vacations to see who could walk the farthest or stay as straight-legged. brought a smile to my face. i can see the progression in my life when certain things make me smile about her instead of hurting my heart like it used to. i am a work in progress...

recent adventures pt. 1

2009-07-12T12:36:00.000-07:00

for the past month probably, i have been adventuring. here's a glimpse at them. (enjoy)

blue lake pt. 1

2009-07-12T12:35:00.000-07:00

phil and i went up to blue lake which is 2 1/2 hrs north of nampa. its a little lake in the mountains. we spent the day up there hiking around and swimming. while we were there 2 storm systems were on our sides while the weather stayed fairly nice. the water was refreshing, the scenery was beautiful, and it was just a great time for phil and i to hangout. we actually went back up the next weekend (this past weekend) with his youth group for a "studs only" camping trip, more on that soon (gotta get my pics developed.) enjoy the pics....

oregon adventure

2009-07-12T12:26:00.000-07:00

i went to oregon a couple weekends ago to surprise my dad and brother for their birthdays, but there wasn't a surprise, the surprise was found out. o-well. i spent a handful of hours in portland by myself just strolling around. it was an awesome time but was glad to meet up with mi familia (it's spanish). we had a a great birthday party for my dad and brother, just visiting with family. we walked through a forest trail and then hit up the coast one day. here are zee pics....

craters of the moon

2009-07-12T12:21:00.000-07:00

joey and i went one saturday to craters of the moon, which is 2 1/2 hrs east of Boise. it is a lava field, some craters, lava tubes, and just a ton of dried lava everywhere. we got in for free because it was "free day"! it is a very cool place to visit and you can hike through old lava tubes and hike around a lava crater. here are some pics....

evening bike rides

2009-07-12T12:12:00.000-07:00

every evening for awhile my friend joey, phil, and i or just joey and i would bike at sunset. it's a cooler time during the day and there's not a lot of traffic. here are some pics from that..... (most of these pics are taken with my cell phone except a couple)

coon killer

2009-07-12T11:47:00.000-07:00

if you're looking at getting a prius, then you might want to make sure you don't hit any raccoons cause it will mess your car up. my dad rented a prius in oregon a couple weeks ago and hit one; from then on out prius' will always be remembered as "the coon killer".

sick

2009-07-12T10:35:00.000-07:00

i've been sick for the past week so i haven't posted anything. sorry folks. soon though i will post and put up some pics. don't get sick, it sucks.

Rocinante

2009-07-02T22:00:00.001-07:00

after almost a year without a name, my bike has finally developed one. first off, let me say that i don't normally name things except my car*. also if anything of mine does have a gender it is always male....except with my bike. i have decided to name her Rocinante after John Steinbeck named his truck/camper it in his book (one of my favs) "Travels with Charley" and he obtained the name from Miguel de Cervantes' book "Don Quixote" which it was Don Quixote's horse. the translation for Rocinante is work-horse or more roughly translated a low quality horse (Wikipedia). this is a big step for me cause i've been really wanting a name for her because she is a big part of my life now and we are going to be going on so many adventures.

* ("The Little Engine that Could" and before that, my ford explorer was called "the Flounder Pounder")

inní mér syngur vitleysingur

2009-06-15T17:14:00.001-07:00

this song has been feeding my icelandic craving for now; it will be amazing if we can see a sigur ros concert in iceland but just being there and listening to their music will be enough.

njóta (enjoy)

how the west was won

2009-06-15T08:17:00.000-07:00

joey, phil, and i went out shooting on sunday. it was a great time. we shot a .22 pistol and rifle and then a .357. behind us a storm was advancing towards us but we endured some rain before we left. lets just say if there ever was a zombie attack or a need of an uprising we are the guys you want fighting alongside with. joey had flashbacks from WWII while Phil remembered the West and who knows what i remembered. God's thunder and lightning was more magnificent and powerful than any of our weapons so we packed up and headed home.

the hardest thing to do in sports is repeat...especially when marian hossa is cursed

2009-06-12T21:19:00.001-07:00

2009-06-12T21:00:00.000-07:00

I'm looking through you, where did you go
I thought I knew you, what did I know
You don't look different, but you have changed
I'm looking through you, you're not the same

hacky sacky fools

2009-06-10T11:09:00.000-07:00

we play a lot of hacky sack at work, mainly during lunch and sometimes after work. it is something i never saw myself getting into but it is a funny game; we constantly laugh at each other cause we look goofy. we are pretty good and our record for continuous hits is 56 with 4 people. we constantly try and beat our record, we break into sweats more often than breaking records.

getting ready to stall it on my forehead.

stalled it on my forehead, my signature move.

more bike ride pics

2009-06-08T21:51:00.000-07:00

joey and i like to ride around 8:30 and 9p.m. to catch the sunset and ride around the countryside. been some awesome sunsets and all i have is my camera phone right now so here are some pics.

more pics from a ride with joey and phil. i got daring and am learning how to ride with no hands, basically every little kid can do this but i'm a grown adult just learning. i get super excited when i do it too!

props to props

2009-06-08T19:35:00.001-07:00

(yes the picture is mirrored, i don't have a digital camera at the moment cause i sold it to get a new one)

sunday went to the egyptian theatre downtown boise to watch the "best of i48". learned a lot from that one screening; i48 isn't really a legitimate film festival but more of a hodgepodge film festival where numerous awards are thought of and handed out to the teams to make the masses feel good about their "films". granted there were some good videos, but for the most part they were pretty hard to watch.

you probably sense some upseted-ness (maybe a word, most likely not), but glad i partook in this experience and would do it again next year. we won best use of prop (we used dice); an award nonetheless. it seemed like no team won multiple awards like you would see at the academy awards but one team won best picture while another won best cinematography and another won best screenplay. the one that won best picture deserved it; it looked good and it had a decent story but at least we could have gotten a second place but since we used the props so well in our film we won best props making us basically ineligible to take another award.

i will be the first to admit that our film lacked substance and story structure but i was really pulling for the best cinematography award cause i felt like ours looked the best out of any video there. o-well, we roll with the punches and i hope to be getting my new GH1 dslr camera this month so i can start shooting my own shorts.

just another nampa evening

2009-06-02T22:00:00.000-07:00

went biking out to lake lowell with joey and phil. one of the most beautiful nights i've seen here in nampa in a long time. it was a good 10 mile bike ride and we chilled at the lake for a bit. these guys are great and i am so blessed to have them here for the summer. hope you enjoy some cell phone pics...

dice pics

2009-06-02T14:42:00.000-07:00

here are some pics from i48. we haven't heard anything yet about if we won any awards. i'll keep you posted.

i48

2009-06-01T14:43:00.000-07:00

this past weekend my work participated in i48 which is Idaho 48 hour film festival; at 6p.m. on friday we got a packet with our genre (action/crime), prop (dice), character (gene/jean parker, musician), and dialogue ("see if it makes sense, when you read it aloud"). we brainstormed for a handful of hours friday night and finally came to a consensus that we were going to do a kidnapping/torture/serial killer short. we obtained a sweet location to shoot in for the main scenes and a group went out to shoot a scene that evening.

friday evening shoot:
my friend joey and i went back to nampa to sleep so we could be ready for working all day saturday, so we weren't at this shoot. basically our stand-in actor (not our main actor) was chasing a girl on the street and was supposed to grab her, but they tangled up in eachother's feet and ben, the stand-in, smashed his knee and tore his tdl and blacked-out. so that wasn't a strong start for us....

saturday shoot:
loaded gear at 9 a.m. and started setting up lights and set dressing by 9:20ish. i was dp (cinematographer) and 1st ad (1st assistant director); so i setup all the lights and helped setup camera shots. i am very proud of my lighting and can see my skill enhancing and being more comfortable with it. my friend joey helped setup lights for me and he ran audio; it was nice having him there since we were the only ones to have been on real film crews before. we shot a bar scene, torture scene, and a parking garage scene all before 6 p.m. i was very surprised with how well our team/crew got along and cooperated. i went home to watch the Wings game and i was going to go back to edit, but they had enough people.

sunday:
went in at 9:30ish a.m. to fine tune edit, add sfx, and add a sound bed. we finished the film by 5:45 and had to turn it in by 6:07p.m. so after we turned it in i went home to relax and watch yet another Red Wings victory!

here's a low-res video of it. i'm going to put a higher quality one up by the end of this week, we aren't supposed to be posting it places, so don't get me in trouble.

enjoy.

memorial monday

2009-05-26T15:32:00.000-07:00

getting back into the swing of blogging. i had monday off which was needed; i got a ton of things done that i've been needing to do for a very long time. anyhoo, i went downtown boise with phil, joey, and shawn which was awesome; we brought our bikes with us and biked out to lucky peak and back. it was a gorgeous day and i've biked that route several times, but this time it was the best i'd ever seen. we biked back to boise and grabbed some pizza from a great little place called the pie hole. a truly awesome memorial monday.

anyone say rematch?

2009-05-26T12:21:00.000-07:00

(me after the wings beat the ducks in game 7; i was celebrating for the rest of the night, literally)

so hopefully everyone is following the Stanley cup playoffs because the Wings are doing great...duh! so they are 1 win away from going to the championship where they will probably face the penguins. anyone remember last year's cup finals???? wings vs. penguins. won the cup in 6 games? well i feel like it will be a repeat.

every time i watch there games i put on my sergi federov jersey, grab my Wings cup, and pound, scream, beat the drums, and yell at the tv. i am very passionate about hockey and have had to miss some opportunities because it is more important for me to watch it. (sorry to those peeps who got passed up by hockey)

i just remember where i was a year from now, getting online at some sketchy internet cafe in europe hoping and praying that the wings won their game. i'd watch the game highlights and read the articles before i'd do anything, even write e-mails to my family. (sorry family)

i wish i was back in europe wandering around downtown amsterdam at 3a.m. looking for anyplace that would have the stanley cup game on. sadly i never found a place there and i guess that's the bright side of this story, i get to watch it this year.

memorial day hike

2009-05-25T11:26:00.000-07:00

dad keeps letting me know that i haven't updated my blog in awhile, so here i am updating it. i haven't had much to talk about lately just same ol same ol: work, hangout with friends, eat, sleep, etc. so for this past weekend my friends, joey, phil, and myself went backpacking out to the old mining town silver city out in the mountains on the border of idaho and oregon. we went up there because the other 2 places we wanted to go to were going to have thunderstorms and weather.com said that silver city was going to be sunny with few clouds so we ditched our tents and tarps to sleep under the stars. while we were almost to the top of the mountain the storm hit...

we were in shorts and t-shirts with not much other clothing to protect us. we made it to a clump of evergreen trees and the hail started smashing to the earth. maybe the size of pennies or smaller, they hurt none-the-less. there were 3 trees next to each other that we took refuge under. we decided to build a shelter to keep our stuff and ourselves dry so we each set out gathering sticks and branches and cutting down evergreen branches. we weaved sticks through the 3 trees' branches and built a wall on the side and covered the tops and sides with evergreen branches to cut the wind and keep out the rain. i dug out a firepit inside the shelter and circled it with rocks and we cleared the ground to lay our gear out. we got a fire going and rested while the thunder/hail/rain all that shabang pounded the mountain.

luckily it let up later that evening and we got to watch the sunset and several lightning storms light up the surrounding areas. it was truly gorgeous and amazing! i brought my newly acquired mandolin and harmonicas while my friend joey brought his accordion and shakers so we could play music up there. it was just a great time to spend with my friends and soak up God's beauty and power.

we only saw a couple deers and we ran into a good amount of snow; speaking of snow...after we built the shelter i decided to go take some pics around and phil was keeping the fire going and joey was off exploring and gathering firewood. i climbed up and around a mining area and to make a long story short i was circling back to camp and i was walking on a patch of snow, which there were many scattered patches, and i fell through; legs dangling, luckily i threw my arms out to stop myself from falling further. i pulled myself up and gained composure. joey was luckily close by and i showed him it and then took some pics of the inside; it wasn't as deep as i thought were i fell in but it sloped down further and i fell at an angle hence my feet dangling. it was an old mining shaft that was covered with snow; i'm lucky nothing happened.

this is long enough so we made it back home safe and sound. here are some pics of the trip; if you want to see more you can go to my flickr account on the side of my blog.

iceland bound

2009-04-23T16:10:00.000-07:00

it's finally coming together; i am going to iceland for 2 weeks in august. gonna backpack/hitchhike around the whole island with my friend andrew and nate. i'm super excited and can't wait to share the pics with you guys. here are some pics of what we're gonna see:

easter weekend

2009-04-14T22:40:00.001-07:00

so a lot happened this past easter weekend. here's the breakdown:

friday (after work): played one of my best roller hockey games

saturday: hiked in the mountains near silver city

sunday: sunrise service at lizard butte, slept/watched hockey and basketball, went to friends parents' house, bike 60 miles to swan falls (got back at 9:30p.m. from ride)

here are some pics but if you want to see more you can find them at my flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/talltale/>

Hike:

Easter Service/Lizard Butte:

Bike Ride:

home jim?

2009-04-06T22:05:00.000-07:00

so andrew and i have finally cleaned up our basement a couple weeks ago and have turned it into a pretty nice gym area. we have our bench press, some free weights, medicine ball, and i setup my mountain bike on my trainer down there too (not pictured). andrew setup his tv and dvd player so we can watch all the seasons of seinfeld while we get HUGE! so there you go, a little update and yes it is a little dark down there but we also put a lamp in too. the picture is already out-dated.

the little engine that could...

2009-03-25T23:01:00.000-07:00

had some car trouble on tuesday coming home from work...speeding home on the freeway, my temperature gauge started heading towards the dangerously hot section. lights. beeps. so i pulled over (crossed 3 lanes of traffic to pull over safely all within seconds). collected my thoughts and an idaho transportation vehicle showed up and the guy checked everything out and put a little bit of oil and radiator fluid in and said i could make it back out to nampa. i went approximately 1 mile and had to pull over again cause my car was on the verge of catching my engine on fire.

called my roadside assistance and got my car towed to the VW repair shop and had a friend pick me up from the side of the road. called work and told them i'd be in later the next day cause most of my friends are gone on spring break or are working in the morning. next day got my car in the shop and a fistful of money later i got my car repaired. guess my water pump imploded leaking all over everything else in my engine and my timing belt broke they also informed me that i needed some other stuff checked out so i figured i might as well get it over with so he'd be running better.

all in all i am thankful to have had some money set aside, actually for a trip, but i can save for that in the next couple months and push it back. i am also thankful to have good friends like joey to pick me up off the side of the road, tricia to make me a ton of spaghetti, and andrew to drive me to work. couldn't have made it without them. i am also thankful to jehovah jireh because he provides. funny how his plan works out when my plans fail...

p.s. before heading home and all this car trouble i bought a weight bench and other exercise equipment for andrew and i so we can workout in our basement. i'm sure the repairmen and tow truck driver was wondering what the heck i had in my car.

glad i didn't blow up on the freeway too.

medicine for the sick

2009-03-23T23:14:00.001-07:00

some say laughter is the best medicine, i will say it is definitely a good remedy but not the best. i am so blessed to have great friends and family. i know they are always thinking of me and praying for me, it's great. i have an old adage i used to say a lot, "you have to laugh to not cry", i think this works in some circumstance but sometimes you need to cry. i have done both recently and both have helped. laughter isn't the best medicine, a good one, but God has really been the medicine for me lately, even when i am not where i should be with Him. He loves unconditionally and i can't thank Him enough...i'm not saying i'm completely healed up from my recent low points but i am better off and it's because of God's love and peace.

more please...

sometimes what's inside needs to get out

2009-03-16T22:49:00.000-07:00

life brings hardships sometimes, it wouldn't be life if it didn't. we grow when life gets all life-y on us. it usually is a time for deep reflection and refocus. this is where i am...i can't wait to get out of it. it all just happens so quickly too, life. when you think it is going great and you can't complain, life occurs and your world feels like a shirt through the wash: inside out, twisted, and wrinkled.

refocus and revision please.

work stuff

2009-03-10T15:18:00.000-07:00

here are a couple things i've been working on. we made the year end dvd for BSU and here's the commercial that we created and aired on tv. the second is the marketing video i shot and created for payroll express. the third is a short spot i made for a loop to play at a united way convention, i made about 10 or so 10 second spots. all kind of similar. enjoy.

http://dtx.us.com/reviews/bsuyearendcommercial/index.html

http://dtx.us.com/reviews/payrollexpressmarketing/

quick update

2009-03-10T14:48:00.000-07:00

been super busy lately. just been spreading myself thin with work, hanging out with friends, working on side projects, and everything else. played a fun show last wednesday at nnu. that was a good time. been working again on my senior film. been writing music and taking pictures. just lots of stuff going on. i'll update again sooner with something more interesting. i stumbled across some funny squirrel pics at work so i'm going to add a few here. enjoy.

new pictures

2009-02-27T22:59:00.000-08:00

i have added lots of new pictures onto my flickr account. it is easier for me to add them their than add them onto blogger so go to the link if you'd like to see what i have been up to recently: http://flickr.com/photos/talltale/>

enjoy

80,000 miles

2009-02-27T22:57:00.000-08:00

tomorrow i will have logged 80,000 miles on my car. he is the little engine that could. i don't take as good of care of him as i should but he knows that i love him anyway. he's a champ. reminds me of when we were in leo's car with mike and we broke something like 100,000 miles or something historic. good times.

wrote 2 songs

2009-02-27T00:02:00.000-08:00

band update:

ha. so i wrote two songs: housemates (inspired by andrew bird and monsters) and Dixieland (inspired by non-true events). hope to record them somehow and put them up here. might be awhile. i am working on two other songs at the moment and am playing i think this wednesday night with Two Girls and the Collective. so there you go.

p.s. saw andrew bird the other night and it was amazing. he can rock that violin and whistle like a madman. things to aspire too.

David After Dentist

2009-02-19T23:45:00.001-08:00

very funny video. i imagine ian recording waylon someday like this.

a new endeavor

2009-02-18T23:56:00.000-08:00

tonight i visited my friends at the brick house and expected a time to hangout and catch up but instead i not only got the first, but also nate, joey, and i jammed. i've been playing by myself lately but it just felt so awesome to come together and rock. and boy did we. i have been thinking about writing some music and now i am just super inspired to, not guaranteeing anything great or even good, but i am going to try and get out of my regular box of when i write. explore some new things.

i am super excited. i hope to utilize the many instruments i semi-play. expect to hear more news about this in the NEAR future. but for now i'll leave you with my band name:

I am I
&
You are You

important day

2009-02-15T23:24:00.000-08:00

president's day...some great and not so great men will be "honored" today and that's all fine and dandy to me. today i will be honoring someone who has been more influential and inspiring than all forty-four presidents combined. it never gets old talking about how wonderful a person my mother was; i think that says something about her and her character. of course we all have our faults, but mom was all about overcoming those faults and helping others overcome theirs. i have learned so many life lessons from her, i am sad to say i won't be learning any more from her. i am glad to say though that i will be learning from my family members and friends.

i went out hiking on sunday and this thought came to mind: mom's death was the best and worst thing to happen to me in my life as of right now. it made me grow up faster and become the man that i am today which is good/bad. i am also closer to my dad than i was before; i never really felt like i had a strong relationship with my dad, just an average one, but now i am happy to say that we are much closer now mainly because we were forced to be.

onward. there are two pictures that i plan on reflecting on for today: one when i was in middle school and the other when i started college. both transitional periods in my life and my mom was right there with me. i knew that i could call her up and ask her if i was doing my laundry correctly or come home and unload on her about a crappy day. she's the person i would go to for everything. i miss this, i hope to have this someday with my spouse (if that ever happens). i know i have friends and family but sorry it's just not the same, being apart isn't the same as being together all the time. i want to remember these two times and reflect on the happiness that is brought with these pictures. a good president is nice to have, but it will never ever come close to how important a mom is on a kids life and even a grown-ups life.

"i miss you dearly mom. i ask God to tell you hello and i love you every time i pray, which needs to be more often. i hope to make it to heaven to see you. one day at a time i suppose." - me

step of faith

2009-02-14T02:07:00.003-08:00

this is such an inspiring video. i think this is a great thing Chris is doing. i think to a certain extent that it is great to respect and recognize other religions as well as truly care for their prayer requests. i think this is a great statement of faith, allowing God to provide and keep him safe on his journey as well as a spiritual journey for Chris and for the prayer requests. i think this is the kind of statement that needs to be shown to the world. plus it's dang awesome!

humbled

2009-02-12T23:28:00.000-08:00

two things have humbled me this week. two very personal instances (you have been warned):

1. saw a lady sitting on the side of the road with a sign that said "anything would help" and then another sign that had a smiley face. no one would acknowledge her, like she wasn't even there. i read a quote in a book, "under the overpass", by a homeless man, Peter, and he said this: "A smile is such an easy thing to give away, don’t you think?" that really hit me and i try and show people love through acknowledgment and a friendly smile and whatever else i feel prompted to do. so in this instance i was in my car headed to work after a shoot and i don't carry cash so i had nothing to give other than my smile. we locked eyes and i saw her light up from my measly little smile. not many instance have brought me to breaking out in tears, but this was one. God humbled me that Tuesday afternoon.

2. i stepped out of my comfort zone and played a couple songs at an open mic night at nnu at the brick house, mainly filled with friends. i knew the songs in and out, but nervousness and my ego got to me; i felt like i butchered the songs and was embarrassed for myself. coming home, i reflected on this and noticed it was a way for God to humble me and show me that i need to rely on Him and not on myself and my own talents. i have been saying a certain phrase whenever i feel pain or discomfort or embarrassment and that is "it only makes me stronger" and i feel like this is another instance that has made me stronger.

more grace please.

we are not the same as we used to be, if we are, we are doing something wrong

2009-02-11T21:51:00.001-08:00

mewithoutyou

2009-02-11T20:00:00.000-08:00

i've been listening to mewithoutyou a lot lately; they have some great songs and such awesome lyrics. here are some lines that i really enjoy. mainly from "catch for us the foxes".

- Why tear out single pages when you can throw away the book? Why pluck one string when you can strum the guitar?
- We'll be like torches! Torches together!
- My life is a cup of sugar I’ve borrowed before time began and forgot to return.
- I need more grace than I thought.
- Brother, I'm far; brother im far way; brother away from everything good!
- But you untied me - didn't you untie me, Lord?
- The trap I set for you seems to have caught my leg instead.
- In a sweater poorly knit...
- I do not exist, only YOU exist.
- If I come without a thing, I come with all I need.
- God is love and love is real
- A glass can only spill what it contains.
- Jonah where's that boat goin? Your ship set with eager sails?
- Oh, pretenders, let's go down. Lets go down- won't you come on down? Oh, pretenders Lets go down-Down to the river and pray?
- Daniel broke the king's decree, Peter stepped from the ship to the sea; there was hope for Job like a cut down tree, I hope that there's such hope for me.
- If I didn't have You as my guide I'd still wander lost in Sinai
- So I'll ask Your forgiveness with every breath, If there was no way into God, I would never have laid in this grave of a body for so long, dear.
- I'll ring your doorbell, until you let me in and I can no longer tell where 'You' end and 'I' begin.

the people speak, and they are heard

2009-02-08T21:39:00.000-08:00

Blink 182 is back. the best news i have heard in a long time. I can't wait to see them. get ready folks, they're coming!

i am an adult

2009-02-02T23:07:00.000-08:00

walking into my house tonight right around midnight, something just clicked. i am an adult. i am self-sufficient, i have no one asking me where i'm going or when i'll be back, i am not asking people for money or paying people back, i get my own food, i pay my own bills, i control my schedule, no one telling me to not buy something. it is a very weird thinking; something i've always realized, but never really clicked until tonight.

i also realized tonight, that i am a child. i am still holding onto youthful ways. i'm not saying that it is a good or bad thing; i will say that it's both. it's funny how and when certain things become realized to us. ironic.

not movie critics

2009-02-01T10:41:00.001-08:00

i truly feel that i am my worst critic. i say this a lot when referring to my own work whether it be working with videos, pictures, or playing music. i feel like i am such a perfectionist and have that ideal look or sound in my mind and somewhere in the transfer from mind to material (so to speak) bits and pieces get lost, thus tainting it. i think this drives me to try and obtain this perfection which i know in the back of my mind that i will never get to that point but i can make little increments towards it.

i may be my worst critic, but i feel like i have become my best motivation too.

frozen hike

2009-02-01T10:24:00.000-08:00

yesterday i had the opportunity to enjoy God's great creation. a few friends and i went out to one of our favorite spots, jump creek. every time i am out there, i am reminded of God's uniqueness, beauty, and love. i feel right now God has been really speaking to me through all sorts of His creation and sadly, not so much through His word. funny how that happens but then other times it's the reverse.

it has been super cloudy the past couple weeks and yesterday was no different but i had hope that the sun would poke it's head out for us and when we reached the top of the canyon, the sun, as phil said, "was just lovin on us." it was truly a peaceful experience; i did bring my cameras with me, but sometimes pictures can't capture the entire feeling and beauty. also i keep forgetting to switch from my telephoto lens to a wider lens so i didn't get the pictures i really wanted. o-well, means i have to go out there again. it was at first a little chilly, but once we got moving, we did warm up. enjoy.

french film night

2009-01-29T08:57:00.000-08:00

so last night i invited my friends over for french film night. i cooked up some french toast, french bread, and french fries for everyone and we had sparkling cider as we hung out a bit. we were supposed to dress like french people, but what do they dress like? well a couple people attempted and others didn't. i drew a mustache on my index finger so when i held it up to my lip it looked "convincing". we then all gathered in my living room to watch Amelie, a very funny and beautiful french movie. all in all it was a very fun night.

au revoir

watashi wa words to live by

2009-01-26T23:23:00.000-08:00

"it started in a novel
but then they, they changed it on the screen
and a dream became a dream in vain"

"If I sing at the top of my lungs
It won't say a thing if I haven't loved"

"cause when you're young, you take your own advice.
when your tired, you stay up every night.
when it's love, you're just a fool your heart is an anchor."

"Oh I believe that everything that hurts has a way
To make you see in ways you'd never seen
God knows I'm a broken man
And I need him to change who I am"

"Life doesn't always demand that we understand,
Just enjoy it"

"And its hard to tell someone, who cant see what you see, what they cannot see, most just aren't inclined to see."

"lost a few battles but won the war."

"Love never ever seeks itself. It serves when been spat on, even in bad health."

"Tragedy, questions our sanity, second guess theology, leads to despondency, despondency turns into atrophy, so hard for us to see, the way that God sees. I know today you're in a better place, its just hard today, to see Gods way"

a great loss...

2009-01-25T14:20:00.000-08:00

"And then, an insight: This is what we lose when our mothers die. We lose the person who rejoices in our accomplishments and agonizes in our struggles; the person who thinks we should win every race, woo every beau or belle, and succeed at every job; the person who knows what is best for us, or thinks she does; the person who brags about us in our absence and offers expert advice in our presence. In sum, we lost the person who is our biggest fan and our most ardent defender." - Peggy Ekerdt

updates

2009-01-10T12:43:00.000-08:00

i love love love it when websites or blogs get updated that haven't in a long time. one of my favorite bands, Lakes, has been recently updating in the past month and i am loving it. new pics, videos, and stories of their tour this summer. if you haven't heard of them, then you should. lakes.

i'm a rambler, i'm a gambler, i'm a long way from home

2009-01-07T23:01:00.001-08:00

more peace and patience please...

2009-01-03T22:39:00.001-08:00

few new things

2009-01-03T21:51:00.000-08:00

i just arrived home from spending the holidays with my oldest brother, ian, and his family. it was a great time to play with my nephews, see my new niece, and hang out with ian and jamie. and dominate on the wii...

andrew and i used to wear pins every friday but that has died off. i just acquired a new pin today, actually an olympic pin i found on my last plane to boise. i hope we revive blink-182 and pin friday...

thirdly, haha no first or second. i have added more pictures on my flickr account. check em out if you want or you don't. no worries. you can find the link on the left hand side.

good news: our house wasn't robbed, looted, burned, or frozen when i was gone. i turned the heat to 60 and i think i'll leave it till andrew gets home. try and save our heating bill.

a new year...not a nude year

2009-01-02T11:31:00.000-08:00

a new year has already begun and resolutions have been promised and already broken for some. i have never been one to do resolutions and this year is the same. i am excited for what is to come because it is all a new adventure. the only thing that has really been sticking in my mind about the start of a new year are some words by Josh Ritter: "Don't let me into this year, with an empty heart, with an empty heart."

live simple.

ESPN

2009-01-01T14:28:00.000-08:00

one of ian's friends got us into a tour of ESPN, which was awesome. we got to see all of the studios, research areas, control rooms, and everywhere else. i sadly didn't see any sports stars or mascots. man i wish i would've seen the orange man. a very awesome company and a nice place to gain a lot of experience. here's a few pics with my cell phone:

funny guy

2009-01-01T13:51:00.000-08:00

ian, joe (ian's friend), and i went to a casino and saw comedian kevin james. we literally had our backs against the wall and walked in right when kevin james walked out onto the stage. all in all it was a pretty funny show; he had a lot of good jokes and was clean. he sadly didn't have his mustache that he grew out for his latest movie...ugh

i dream big and live large

2008-12-30T22:10:00.000-08:00

if you're not tired of me, i really need your help

2008-12-26T21:41:00.000-08:00

Not That Far - Slick Shoes

Looking back what can I say?
There’s been things done the wrong way.
I have tried.
Sometimes it’s hard.
All the time I’ve wasted didn’t get me far.
I try to live my life right, but it seems so hard.
Why have I not used your help?
Now I see your sacrifice for me.
Now I know your watching over me.
Now I see the greatness of your love.
Now I know I’ll never be alone.
I hope you’re not ashamed of me.
I haven’t been the best.
I hope I’m not the worst.
Help me live my life for you.
I can’t do it on my own.
I need your help.
If you’re not tired of me, I really need your help.
Now I see your sacrifice for me.
Now I know your watching over me.
Now I see the greatness of your love.
Now I know I’ll never be alone.
I’m tired of wasting all this time.
Help me live my life.
I can’t do it all alone.
Please stay by my side.

i miss summer

2008-12-24T20:47:00.000-08:00

i used to really enjoy winter, the sledding, snowboarding, snowball fights, making yellow snow, ice skating/hockey, but it is a little more limited in ol nampa, idaho. don't get me wrong, i love each one of those but there aren't many opportunities to capitalize on these. i think summer activities have trumped over winter activities: hiking, camping, biking, roller hockey, driving. only 177 days till the official start of summer.

life list

2008-12-24T20:40:00.000-08:00

jotted some life goals down a bit ago and wanted to share:

-Bike across America for charity
-Work on a feature film
-Visit Iceland
-Visit Australia/New Zealand
-Visit Sweden
-Run with the bulls (Spain)
-Go to Olympics (watch hockey game)
-Live abroad
-Visit the Holy Lands
-See all Seven of the New Wonders of the World
(Great Wall, Petra, Christ the Redeemer, Machu Picchu, Chichen Itza, Roman Colosseum, Taj Mahal, Great Pyramid)
-See the Grand Canyon
-Ride in a helicopter
-Ride in a hot air balloon
-Scuba dive
-See the Stanley Cup
-Meet up with Bobby Hall (document it)

list not in any order what-so-ever. trust me i will do these and will gladly share my experiences with you. life is too short to live a mundane life. i am currently working on biking across america and iceland, but mainly biking. i have already been to two of the seven new wonders of the world

travel bug

2008-12-24T20:29:00.000-08:00

as of recently i have had an itching to travel...again. so i am looking into backpacking iceland for a month. not exactly sure when but i hope to do it soon. i'm trying to cook up a way to take pictures or video and sell it. still thinking though. i will say that i think iceland might be the prettiest place on the planet, just from pics i've seen. it's a bold statement but i hope to verify that soon enough.