Rant

What day is today?

September 11th.

Does that ring a bell? Is there anything special about September 11th, anything that stands out in your mind? Is there any significance to this date???

Apparently, Google.com does not think so. Good ole Google, everyone's favorite search engine. You know, the one that changes its "Google" logo on important days, such as holidays or famous people's birth/death dates?

Well, I suppose 9/11 doesn't mean much to the folks at Google, for today their homepage logo is curiously unadorned by any references TO THE SINGULAR MOST HISTORICAL DATE OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY.

While I'd like to believe that this omission represented some gross forgetfulness on their part (a mistake that even a first grader wouldn't make if you asked them about 9/11), common sense tells me that perhaps the folks at Google have some sort of agenda or worldview that wants to downplay the significance of 9/11.

Given that fact that Google has also failed to change their logo on other patriotic days such as Veteran's Day and Memorial Day, I can't help but wonder if my suspicions about their political leanings are true.

Shame on you, Google.

Fancy B

OK, this is sort of a calligraphy project, sort of a drawing project. Not sure what inspired it, but it was fun.

Basically, a ridiculously fancy capital B, copied freehand from an 1883 book of ornate lettering...

Bargain

OK, my wife and I went to some antique stores up in the mountains, and I bought...

...a Parker 51 special desk set. Onyx base, black pen with chrome tip. Nib seems to be a medium, and lays down a good thick line.

The price? $16, BUT she said that entire booth was 50% off, so I got it for $8. Shweeet!

I like buying pens, but I LOVE buying pens at ridiculously good prices!

Blood

Here's a little calligraphy project, reflecting on the agony Jesus suffered in the garden of Gesthemene. I cannot imagine the battle raging inside him, the temptation to avoid the cross, to call down legions of angels to save himself...

What a Savior we have!

Flex

OK, here's a rule: don't try and write with a flex-nib fountain pen in one hand, while trying to film the action with your cell phone in the other hand!

Not the best video quality (grainy, low light, subject not centered, etc) but I think it gets the idea across!

Techie details:

• Pen = 100-year old A.A. Waterman eyedropper fountain pen with gold semi-flex nib
• Paper = Clairefontaine 90 g/cm2 Seyes-ruled (bought in Clermont-Ferrand)
  
• Ink = Private Reserve Dakota Red.

Drums

OK, as a Mr. Bean fan and ex-drummer, I gotta post this one...

Turquoise

Here's another little calligraphy project...

• Pen: 1915-ish Arthur A Waterman eyedropper flex-nib fountain pen
• Ink: Pelikan Turquoise
• Paper: Clairefontaine Seyes-ruled
• Quote: Christian missionary Jim Elliot, who gave his life for the cause of the Gospel
  

Artsy

Well, the long dull days of winter seem to over (finally!)...

Over the last few months, I've been on sort of an artsy kick, experimenting a bit with watercolor painting and lately with flex-nib calligraphy...

Watercolor-wise, I have done four paintings over the last month or so...three for Cathy and one for me! Cathy's paintings are all garden and flower related: a pink rose, a blue hydrangea, and a garden-y cottage:

Last week, I painted something for me - its a closeup of the hood of a 1940's Pontiac, complete with the Indian hood ornament. Painting shiny chrome is very challenging, especially with watercolor, but I think it came out pretty well...

On the calligraphy front, yesterday I bought another old flex-nib fountain pen, an A.A. Waterman. Got a steal on it, only $15. These pens are what people used about 100 years ago, and using them you can get some wonderful calligraphy effects, varying thin and thick lines. Maybe I'll do something that combines the watercolor with the calligraphy... Any ideas?

Music

My talented and lovely wife Cathy put up a great blog post, about how songs are so amazing at being able to bring back memories, both good and bad...

I liked her post, and thought I'd post a few random ones from my childhood...

• "Like a Rhinestone Cowboy" by Glen Campbell - I have a distant memory of being in the car with my Dad at night, coming back from some random shopping trip in the nearby town Fairfax. This song was playing on the AM radio, and I remember Dad humming along, tapping out the snare drum on 2 and 4 with his wedding ring against the steering wheel. Its one of those tiny, warm, happy memories.
  
  
• "Ebony Eyes" by Bob Welch - Another Dad memory. The year is 1976, and one of the big fads that year is beer can collecting. My brother David and I were really into it, and were always trying to figure out how to get cans from other parts of the US, and from other countries. A bar in DC (Brickskeller) boasted having over 500 kinds of beer. So, David and I talked Dad into going into DC and buying a case of beer, with 24 different brands. We drove there on a Saturday, and this song came on the radio. Another good (although sort of bizarre) memory of Dad!
  
  
• "Cat Scratch Fever" by Ted Nugent - I remember going on a church youth group event in junior high school (to a roller rink in Sterling VA?) and this playing on the radio. Sort of a big contrast, there, don'tcha think?
  
  
• "Deacon Blues" by Steely Dan - Mid 70s, long car ride in the Green Machine (1971 Ford Ranch Wagon station wagon) to Wisconsin, two adults and 3 kids (no Angela yet), bright sunny day, radio playing. Good times.
  
  
• "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" by Stevie Wonder - This is a great memory. I think I was about 12, and I came down with something and was in the bed for a number of days. Couldn't do much but lay there. My Dad bought me a red Panasonic portable AM radio, just out of the blue, as a gift. It had a little white earphone (one ear only) so I could listen to it at night without bothering my brother, who shared the room. On this little radio, I remember listening to Casey Kasem's Top 40 countdown, laying there in my bed. Someone sent out this song as a "special dedication", and for some reason I remember that moment. That little radio was my introduction to pop music, and (part of) the start of a lifelong love of music. Probably my favorite gift anyone has ever given me. :) Still have that radio (see picture).
  

Anyhow, isn't it amazing how our mind associates songs with events in our lives, no matter how trivial or important?

Like Cathy, I will probably do another post on Christian music which has played a big role in my life...

Ciao!

Ambigrams

You know those blog posts that you read and say, "Wow, I wish I could write meaningful, moving, uplifting posts like that!" ?

Well, this isn't one of those!

In my long tradition of bizarre, random post topics that continue to confound and baffle my lovely wife (as in, "where on earth did you come up with that?"), I present to you "ambigrams".

Ambigrams are words that are written in a "font" such that the same word can be read when you turn it upside down. I first saw this on an album cover long ago, and since I am into calligraphy and lettering and such, I thought it was cool...

Here's an example (be sure and turn your head or your screen upside down and test it!):








(That's the word "Revelation", in case you had trouble reading it...)

Or, sometimes it reads as one word right-side up, and another word upside-down, like this one (Life/Death):






Kinda neat, IMHO.

Anyhow, here's my first attempt, using my own name...










Want your name done this way? Drop me a note on the blog, and I'll take a shot at your name!

In The Zone

OK, I'll start off with the usual "sorry I haven't blogged in so long, been busy, yada yada..."

Yesterday was pretty cool. My band, Last Road Bluegrass, drove up to Spindale NC and recorded a "live in-studio" session for WNCW.

WNCW is an "eclectic" radio station in western NC, that plays good music from every genre (blues, jazz, rock, celtic, bluegrass, etc etc). For 15+ years, I have been tuning in on Saturdays to listen to their all-bluegrass show, "Going Across The Mountain." It is one of the highest-rated bluegrass radio shows in the country, and is heard every week in northern GA, western NC, southwestern VA, and eastern TN.

So, it was really cool that our band was asked to come and do an in-studio "show"! We played five songs live (as in, one take, no edits!) and were interviewed by the show's host, Dennis Jones. For those of you who might like to tune in, the show will air next Saturday, 28 Feb, at 11 AM on 88.7 FM.

We were a bit nervous about the "one take only" thing...if you mess up a song, that's what gets broadcast! So, you pretty much have to nail it on the first take. Fortunately, things went very well. The picking was solid, the vocals were on pitch with tight phrasing, the tempos were right, and there was a good "vibe" on all the songs. You could say we were "in the zone".

It was a good time. All the hours of practice, re-working vocal arrangements, and working on breaks paid off. Dennis says that on the average Saturday, up to 25,000 people tune in to Going Across the Mountain. That's a lot of people that will hear the gospel message through our original songs like "Set A Place At The Table" and "There Is A Promised Land"!

Now, fast forward to this morning. Cathy and I have started a new Sunday School class at First Baptist Simpsonville, and are in our third week of it. Things are going well -- we have about 12 or 13 people who have come each week! That's a great start.

It has been a pleasure for me to be able to once again sit under Cathy's teaching. In the same way that God uniquely equipped me to play music (bluegrass and otherwise!), God made Cathy to teach the Word of God. When she is teaching, you can tell that she is "in her zone" -- doing exactly what God has uniquely created her to do. It is an awesome thing, seeing people who have discovered their "zone" and are pouring their time/efforts into honing their craft for God's glory.

Mind you, Cathy would want me to point out that she does not want the glory for this, it should all go to God. It is He who has given us our abilities and talents, He who has given us the time and good health to be able to serve Him. Nonetheless, it has been wonderful for me to see, over the past three weeks, my wonderful wife serving Christ in the exact area he has gifted her for. You go girl!

Do you know what God uniquely created you to do, for Him? Have you ever experienced the peace and satisfaction that comes from knowing that you are doing what you were made to do?

SDS

My good buddy Jeff Craddock is an incredible electric guitar player, and plays in the contemporary praise band at First Baptist Simpsonville. His favorite modern Christian band is Seventh Day Slumber, and their lead singer's name is Joseph Rojas.

Check out Joseph's awesome testimony...



...and this song which tries to reach out to hurting teens...

Spoof?

I thought this was a spoof, but turns out this was a real Christian pop band from the 1980's called "Sonseed"... Wow, Contemporary Christian music sure has changed! (thank you, Lord)...

Fun

Never doubt what white paper, scissors, glue, a little creativity, and a ridonculous amount of time can do...

The Big Picture

Y'all know what Thursday night means...yes, a brand new episode of The Office! We are at commercial break, and Michael has just ungracefully broken it to Andy that his fiancee, Angela, is having an affair with Dwight. Ouch!

Earlier in the show, Michael had a good line...(well, one of many actually). He related to the camera that the CEO had asked to meet with him to discuss some "big picture" issues. Michael admitted that he had no idea at all what that meant, but that it was probably bad!

I am a firm believer in the importance of stepping back and looking at the big picture. At work, this is an important concept no matter what line of work you are in. If I do this, what will be the ramifications? What are the larger implications of this action or decision, five or ten years from now? What is REALLY important? (Of course, this is what managers like Michael are supposed to be good at!)

When Brandon and Zach were little, we would frequently have conversations similar to this:

Brian: Why are you playing Nintendo?
B/Z: Why not?
Brian: Because I told you to finish your homework! It's important that you finish your homework...
B/Z: Why?
Brian: Because if you don't, you'll get a bad grade.
B/Z: So?
Brian: So, it is important to do well in school.
B/Z: Why?
Brian: So you can get into a good college.
B/Z: Why does that matter?
Brian: So you can get a degree, and then get a good job.
B/Z: Who cares about that?
Brian: You'll care, that's who, when you're digging ditches instead of.... yada yada yada

You get the idea. Of course, I was trying to help the guys see the "bigger picture" instead of just focusing on what was easy or fun at the moment.

But it is amazing to me how many people in life fail to keep asking these kinds of questions, which seem to come so naturally to children... Once we "grow up" and get a job and have a family, we relax and think that we have discovered all that there is.

I am thankful that at age 23, God created within me a curiousity to keep asking the "bigger picture" questions... Who am I, really? Why do I exist? What happens when I die? Is this life all that there is? Why does it matter to be "good"? What did God uniquely create me to do? What should I be doing with my life? What we believe regarding the answers to these questions will in large part determine how we live out the remainder of our lives. God's answers to these questions certainly changed the course of my life.

With 2009 starting, instead of just making New Years resolutions this year, why not step back, and consider the "bigger picture" questions?