Aperture 2...nice program

So I recently "earned" my free copy of Aperture from work.  I say "earned" due to the fact that it was sales based and I'm quickly coming to the position that sales is a lot like fishing, you can have the best "bait, tackle, line, and boat" but if the fish arn't biting, you ain't catch'in.

So all that to say God's been generous with my sales and I've meet (and passed some of) the goals that have been set for us. 

And all that to say I'm now the proud owner of my very own copy of Aperture 2.

Aperture is Apple's professional photo management and editing software.  I installed the program last night and to be honest had my doubts, well until I played with a couple of pictures this afternoon.  

I've attached below the original shot, edited the best I could in iphoto; and below it the edited version form Aperture.  

Let me know what you think.  I'm looking forward to using this to enhance my shots as we move forward.  The adjustments below where done to a picture in a JPEG format, I can't want to start shooting in RAW now!! (I sound like such a dork!)

Original in iphoto

Aperture

Teaching...Col 1:15-23

coming to work...

Here are some pictures form along my journey into work today.

My neighbor on the bus.  Not really my Neighbor neighbor as next door neighbor, but more of the guy I sat next to neighbor.  My favorite line from him, "I'm voting republican this year, he was in Nam, I was in Nam, it's the least I can do"

Where I wait for the bus.

A cool shot of one of F&M's buildings

Apparently "national coming out day" is coming up, at least that's what all of F&M's sidewalks had to say.

Another shot from F&M

my day...

Here's what my day is going to look like... at least this is what I'm planning on.

Watching Zuri nap while I try and finish up some homework.  Little does she know she's getting a bath before too long.

Our house is freezing, so I'm dressed up like I'm ready to go sledging!

I'll take a little ride on the bus

I'll work for a couple of hours in "da sto"

I'll have dinner with the wife at the mall

I'll work a couple of more hours and then head home to go to bed.

Fun day?  What's your day look like?  Hope you're able to enjoy it

My Morning...

Here's what my morning looked like...

Pearl hasn’t felt good, so I was able to listen to my new “corporate mama” work her business deals on the phone.  Not really business deal, she just had a conference call to voice in on.  

But she did sound really smart!

More shots of my little executive!

 

Zuri discovered a squirrel in the backyard, but once she discovered the squirrel knew how to climb trees  she wanted to come back in.

I tried something new with my coffee today.  A guy at work give me his “secret way of making it”  It’s a secret so I’m not going to post about it!

 

The heat had to be just right…. 

Not really I just liked this picture

but once it was all done I can say I’m enjoying one nice cup of joe!

 

Well, now it’s off to get the car inspected – YEAH for car inspections!!

I saw what I saw

Today I came across this video on a friends blog. 

 

The words of the song are ripping at me because for whatever reason God has allowed…

 

…my eyes to see the faces of those feeling the hunger pains of poverty

…my ears to hear the stories of those in unspeakable situations

…my path to cross those waiting to know just what will I do.

 

I unconsciously allow myself to retreat into the clamor “normal” life where we deny and avoid these issues.  Where we are able to live in a comfortable disremembering of these. 

But as the closing verse of this song says;

Your pain has changed me

your dream inspires

your face a memory

your hope a fire

your courage asks me what I'm afraid of

and what I know of love

and what I know of God

 

So as I sit here in my comfortably heated house eating the leftovers of a very filling dinner I have to ask myself,

What do I really know of Love

And in turn, what do I really know of God.

 

Corn Maze

Our "LIFE" Group from church went to a corn maze yesterday.  This was my first corn maze and didn't know what to expect.  Part of me was waiting for some scary kids to emerge from the corn all around us, but thankfully none did.

Over all we had a great time with some highlights being getting totally lost in this massive maze, seeing a pig race, watching my friends ride tricycles, and doing some line dancing with a 60+ year old instructor who loved to shake his butt!  Awkward but totally hilarious.

Here's some pics.

Notice the goat on the bridge.  They could walk over to a fenced in area on the roof of the barn!

Some of the guys racing around on Tricycles!

Some good ol' dancing - the guy with the hat was our instructor.

They call this corn.  I think you can eat it?

What you saw when you looked up.

Our GPS System

The view from a bridge in the middle of the field

Pearl and a random pot belly pig in the maze - yes random!

Gangsta Josh

Da farm

Why do we feel so compelled to stick our heads in these things?

Crap!  Which way do we go? wait haven't we been here before?

We've got some great friends!

Belonging...

This weekend I had the honor of teaching at a fall retreat for a group of High School students. I had partnered with their Youth Pastor and worked from teaching templates that he created. The central theme for the weekend was that of “belonging,” and each gathering centered around different aspects of belonging; us not needing anything to belong, not having to meet unspoken expectations, belonging no matter what we’ve done, and the support found in belonging.

The weekend overall was a great but the moment that struck me the hardest was on Saturday night as we talked about belonging no matter what you had done. We had taken some time to look the lives of the disciples, their failures, what it meant to be a disciple in that day and in general how they just did not measure up. We then had the students gather around a table and moved into taking communion together.

But here’s the kicker for me.

Communion for me is now seen in a different light. For years communion was seen as a reminder of how God came to “clean up” our sorry excuse for a pathetic life, serving as a reminder of how God had to bail us out of our helpless state of “screwed-up-ness.” But that night as we sat around a table, candle light flickering in the room, and retold the story of the disciples, and what they might have experienced that evening a new truth hit me.

In essence Jesus was saying to the disciples, I know the mistakes you’ve made, I know the ones you’re going to make, I even know what you’re going to do within the next 24 hours, but the next time you eat some bread and drink some wine I want you to remember that what’s about to happen to my body and blood was done so that you might belong. That you can belong not only around this table now, but also belong in my Kingdom, in my plans for this world, and as my disciples. I believe in you guys and I believe you can really be my disciples, following in my footsteps. That you can know what I know and do what I’ve done (except for the whole God part), I believe in you guys. I don’t see you by your brokenness but by your potential.

I recently had a friend tell me that the we doesn’t need to hear what’s wrong with us as much as we need to hear that we are loved and accepted. And that night as the candles flickered, I was reminded that for whatever reason I was accepted, that God loved me, even with all my crap, brokenness and screw-ups, I was loved, I was deeply loved, and I belonged.

So may I remember this acceptance when the candles are no longer flickering. May I live as one who belongs and not as the one with the “loser” sticker on his back, and may I remember to tell people of their worth, value, and acceptance rather then pointing out yet again their failure and mistakes.

So the next time we eat bread or drink some juice may we remember just how deeply we belong.


Here's some pics from the weekend:

Dan had us playing some crazy games

Dan explaining another crazy game

A game that was a mix of dodge ball + hockey + four square + couple of other things = a whole lot of fun

Some notes to each other

The woods were amazing, Fall is finally here!

A retreat is not complete without some campfire time

The Gang!

2 videos

here's two video's I came across this morning as I checked my blogs and twitters, so if you follow the same people I do, sorry for repeating what you've already seen. But if you've not noticed these, for some reason or another I enjoyed them both.

Hope you guys have a great weekend.
Pray for Pearl and I, we will be helping with a youth retreat this weekend, I'll post pics next week.

bus stop excitement!

I am yet again sitting at a startbucks, with my laptop, and a nice hot cup of “pike place” coffee.It seems like right now my life is in one of a few places, starbucks, Apple store, Home, or School work. I would say that variety is what marks my life right now. But with bus rides like I just had makes my days feel pretty “on wild.”

Here’s the story…
I needed to be at the Queen st bus station by 1:55 to catch my the route 19 bus out towards Manhiem. I needed to make it to the starbucks where Pearl, Josh and I all connect to head out to philly together.

I made it to the station, about a mile walk, with a little time to spare, so I purchased a 10 trip ticket and made my way to my loading zone. As I approached a saw the bus waiting with a couple of guys at the door. But the odd thing was that the door was shut, and the driver was totally ignoring us.

So the three of us where standing there waiting.
There was:
- myself
- a young African America kid who just graduated high school and was heading out to see “his girl”
and last but not least
- our entertainment or also known as one extremely drunk 40 year old man.

As I approached this gentleman was very aggravated and aggressive towards the driver, yelling and expressing his rather small vocabulary of profanity which consisted mainly of 3 words, which we would hear a lot, and I mean a lot.

I would go on to learn that this gentleman was on the bus, got off the bus to use the bathroom, and then was locked off the bus and not allowed back on it.

He smelt like the bottom of a beer keg and as the minutes rolled by grew in his expression and volume.

The driver was in “shut down mode” until some authorities could arrive to escort this man away.

Here’s the fun part, when this man realized that the driver was not going to open the door for him he decided he would show him who’s boss and climb on the front of the bus and entangled himself in the bike rack. Swearing he would hold on until the doors where open.

Me, seeing a good opportunity, pulled out my camera and started taking his picture, he smiled and waved back. Others joined in on taking pictures, and this attention only fueled his public display. Authorities finally arrived as the man was removed from the front of the bus.

I haven’t laughed this hard in a long time.

Here he is posing for his press picture

Here is the Driver ignoring this man as he shows his protest
Here is a little glimpse of his protest!

2 Lessons learned:
1 - the bus is a whole lot of fun
2- never try to reason with a drunk man, just take his picture