Creativity Read.

Just almost finished re-reading this book. And, had forgotten how great it is. The writers philosophy: that creativity is less an act of genius and more a result of disciplined work habits. I highly suggest reading it if you're into tapping your creativity. It's a short but dense book, and a very fun read.

From, "My Utmost for His Highest"

"Enter ye in at the strait gate... because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way..."
Matthew 7:13-14
"If we are going to live as disciples of Jesus, we have to remember that all noble things are difficult. The Christian life is gloriously difficult, but the difficulty of it does not make us faint and cave in, it rouses us up to overcome. Do we so appreciate the marvelous salvation of Jesus Christ that we are our utmost for His highest?
God saves men by His sovereign grace through the Atonement of Jesus. He works in us to will and to do of His good pleasure; but we have to work out that salvation in practical living. If once we start on the basis of His Redemption to do what He commands, we find that we can do it. If we fail, it is because we have no practiced. The crisis will reveal whether we have been practicing or not. If we obey the Spirit of God and practice in our physical life what God has put in us by His Spirit, then when the crisis comes, we shall find that our own nature as well as the grace of God will stand by us.
Thank God He does give us difficult things to do! His salvation is a glad thing, but it is also a heroic, holy thing. It tests us for all we are worth. Jesus is bringing many "sons" unto glory, and God will not shield us from the requirements of a son. God's grace turns out men and women with a strong family likeness to Jesus Christ, not milksops. It takes a tremendous amount of discipline to live the noble life of a disciple of Jesus in actual things. It is always necessary to make an effort to be noble."
--Oswald Chambers

Mom Stuff.

I got a box at work. What an awesome thing! It's just like summer camp...that, "I got a package, and that makes me sooooo special" feeling. And, special it was! New threads for my wardrobe! And, I SO dig them...awesome...hand-made by mom! Amazing the detail, talent and hard work that went into making such beautiful clothes.

Gritty-filter

I tried the grit-filter again on this photo of Mom and Dad. It has a fun illustrative quality. I think it works best on high contrast imagery. That, I will need to take some more pictures that have a higher contrast. Yeah!!!

Good-n-Gritty.

I'm playing around with photoshop filters...check out this step-by-step application used above:
http://cs3tips4u.blogspot.com/2007/12/gritty-hdr.html

yummy cookies from Mrs. Jo after a long drive :)

the festival




crab roulette...I'd never seen this before. Someone call PETA!



Brad's beach photoshoot for Calvin Klein...



goodies for the road!!

Thank you Conner, Brad, Mrs. Jo and Mr. Ken!!!

Happy 4th of July!

New Office Space.

We took a tour of our new office space, now 3 weeks away from moving in. Matthew sitting in his future office.

Golden Ratio

Introducing my new bud...

He's currently on the wire, but will be charged in just a few hours!
His name is Nikon, but his peeps call him D80. We've become instant friends!

(:

Don't forget to hang your head off a pier this July :)

LensShiftFilter + UnsharpMask

Trying some filter combinations with some home photos. The sewing and Oxford photos are the LensShift mentioned in an earlier post. And dad cleaning fish is LensShift with spot UnsharpMask.

LensShift Photo Filter :: Mom in the Garden

Mississippi will miss you, Brad!

Looking so Hot yo! I think nyc will equally enjoy the new dreads...or lack of. I can't wait to visit! Here is the "free publicity" I promised you... Brad Belk, age 26 (soon), bff since jr hi when he moved in across the street from my parents house. Pursuing a career in "Being FAMOUS!" since, well, forever, but actively since making his first of many videos for the Real World casting call in 199(?). Talented (made it all the way to the finals in the casting call), Hot (see above), and about as 'cool as the other side of the pillow'. Oh! and THE best running buddy in the world...may your path be peaceful and your joy be in Zion. Love ya!

H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y ! ! !

City Life.

Conversation Monday night:

setting: in a local pizza place, close to downtown in the early evening, around 5:30. The street in front is very busy with end of workday traffic.

GIRL AT CHECKOUT: "OmyGosh! Y'all look! A wheelchair! In the street!"

BOY AT COUNTER: "Woah, that's crazy!"

[I look up quickly from staring at the newspaper. And, see a dark skinned elderly woman rolling in her chair down the busiest street in the city]

[dial tone. beep, beep, beep. beeeep. Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring. Click.

dial tone agian. beep, beep, beep. beeeep. Ring, ring, ring, ring]

MAN: "Yes, uh, there is a lady rolling down State street. Could y'all please send someone out to check on it? [pause], Yes, and, yes, there's a retirement home real close by"

[pause]

MAN: "Uh, Operator, uh, Ma'am, there is an ELDERLY Woman ROLLING down STATE STREET in TRAFFIC. She could easily be hit by a car. YES, YES Ma'am, I would most definitely consider this an urgent emergency."

[girl and boy still standing at the counter frozen in an elongated stance, gazing out the front window. I walk to the glass door, and step outside]

No Boxes! Mom's 60th was last week and I wanted to give her a painting. Finally a finished painting for her.
* H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y ! *

Dad was moving a birdhouse that he made and put out in the yard about 10 years ago. It had become old, so he decided to take it down. And, when he pulled the post up out of the ground, the bottom, which was solid wood when first planted, had rotted away into the image of a face. Mom hung it on the fence making it a permanent part of the "sculpture garden". The photo here is kind of blurry, but you can still make out the face. C U H - R A Y - Z A Y !