Thursday, April 23, 2009

Quick and to the point

Yes it's been awhile... but I don't always have something interesting to say. Sometimes life just continues on, and while there are moments I continue to appreciate (many many of them); they are often - individually - brief and fleeting, and not really worth the time to write about. So yes, it's been awhile, and I'm sorry about that, but I avoid drama - mostly - and so I'm often a pretty "boring" person to anyone besides myself (I mean, I find myself very interesting all the time... but that may just be me).

Anywhoodle, so a quick word (or two):

First, I'm going to see Earth tonight. I'm very excited for this, and I can tell you that you will be hearing more about it once I've seen it, both on my blog and in person. I'll be repeating my excitement/opinion on it a lot I'm willing to wager, so if you hang around me often, be prepared.

Secondly, I put up our pendant lighting last night. Russ was kind enough to assist* me (*read: do it while I stood by holding tools and "looking" helpful) in installing the canopy/rod system that you mount to the ceiling, over Easter weekend. I picked up the lights this last Monday, and last night spend a great deal of time going through the process of installing them.

It's a very very very very tedious task. Seriously. (No, seriously. Just ask Wendy.) But finally, I got them exactly how we want them, and they're up and running! Yeay!



They get crazy crazy bright if you turn the dimmer all the way up. The brightest of these pics are at only 50%. I realized after I left this morning that I should have snapped a picture with them off so you could actually see the fixture itself, but I didn't think it through, so... sorry! You'll just have to come over and see it in person.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Typography - dashes

This will probably bore many of you, so I'll keep it as short as possible, and stick to linking to topical info, rather than quoting.

That prefaced, I've been inspired to research — and now attempt to properly use — typography correctly (in this case, the dash and quotes).

Ever notice when typing in MS Word, that sometimes when you type a dash and follow it with a word, MS Word will replace your hyphen with a longer looking dash?
Or, perhaps you were looking at your "Character Map" program in Windows, or one of the Wingdings fonts, and noticed that there are a number of different looking dashes?

Maybe you've noticed that this "quoted text" (produced by the double quote on the keyboard) is different than this “quoted text”

Apparently, in typography, there are clearly — or perhaps not so clearly — defined rules on when a type of dash/quote is intended to be used. Who knew? I always thought that the ones that are available on the keyboard are the right ones.

So how and why did I go about looking at this?

Well, as you know I'm a programmer, so I often will use special characters for my work. Additionally, I'm always reading articles, and using tools to make my programming easier.

Today, I came across this: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/04/02/typography-keyboard-layout-download-now/

“Really cool”, I thought, since many of those characters I use for the websites I make. As I read about the tool, I was feeling slightly reproached, since the blog author begins by making clear the habits of good designers. Apparently, I have some bad habits!

Anyway, this lead me to look into perhaps the most odd and confusing of the rules: the rules regarding dashes. Where did I turn? Why, to my good friend, The Wiki, of course!

If you're so inclined, read this here about the dash, em-dash, en-dash, and minus.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dash

Interesting stuff... at least I think so.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

MBA - Me Be Awesome

That's right... I've now officially joined the ranks of the Awesome - the MBA's. For you other wee little people, who are clearly unenlightened, an MBA is a Master Burrito Ambassador.

For your enjoyment, here's a little taste of my official adoption into "the group".

The Gear




The Certificate




The Cards


Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Singing Women

Ok, as talents that reflect image go, there's really not much that's hotter in a woman than one with a great voice... unless she is a dancer with a great voice. (am I right guys? *amen*)

So why is it that I just can't seem to get into female artists? It appears that I love female singers, unless they're leading a band, at which point I'm either bored, or annoyed.

Put in a male as the lead and I'm all over it. Better yet, add a solid female vocalist as support in a song lead by a man, and it's likely it will find its way to one of the most enjoyable in my list. But give that girl a mic and free reign to sing on her own, and I' done.

What's the deal with this? Wendy and I were talking about this the other night, and strangely she also seems to agree with me.

So what is it about female artists? No really - I'm actually asking you... what's the deal?

Notice the playlist to the right? Yeah. Devoid of femininity in its entirety. I'm not wanting to be a chauvinist... it just appears that I am one anyway. At least as music is concerned.

Let me drive home the point (yeah, I know... you've got it already, but this blog is called The Long Winded for a reason, so deal.):

Caedmon's Call. Enough said, yes? Awesome band. Great music. And most of my favorite songs involve female vocals in the background. Yet you give that girl the mic, and I wanna tape her mouth shut. Ok, that was harsh (yet slightly true all-the-same)

On the other side you have Faith Hill. Yes, she's talented, and certainly she's good looking... but she's also boring. Excruciatingly so. I may not want to tape her mouth shut, and I'm not put off by hearing a song or two, but as far as buying one of her CDs? What a waste!

So what's the deal? I'd say, besides the annoying/boring factors, there's also an inherit lack of credibility as a headliner if they're female. I'm not saying it's not possible, I'm just saying that being female immediately puts them at the bottom of a far steeper hill than their male counter-parts.

Which brings me to more specifics:
What the heck is with female Christian artists? I semi-appreciate Rebecca St. James, and Michelle Tumes, but that's it. That's all I got, and if I'm frank; I gotta tell you that these two aren't even that great of choices... they're just the best I have.

Is it the way God intended? Is there a deeper spiritual meaning/reason behind men's voices being (overall) more pleasant to listen to? Do you even agree with me? Do you have any Christian female artists that you actually enjoy?

Friday, March 27, 2009

When God Moves

I'm in awe. Really, I am. I've felt God moving in my life now (significantly) since last Oct. Obviously, that isn't to say that He hasn't been moving in my life before that... I just never felt it.

I'm now changing my mind about this though. Perhaps God isn't moving in my life at all. Rather, I'm beginning to think that He's just moving... He's in action... and I can either step up and be a part of it, or watch His work pass me by.

As many of you know who speak with me regularly, and certainly those of you who read my blog whenever I post - God's in action. He's doing something. This becomes far more apparent to me as the people I know, the people I love, are beginning to feel the force of God's hand in their lives, and they're responding to it. Simply read a handful of the blogs you see on the list to the right. Almost all of them have recent posts about God calling to them, wanting more from them, desiring to really have a relationship with them.

God's speaking out right now, and almost everyone I deeply care for is hearing Him. I don't know what He's up to, but damn ... I want to be a part of it.

I couldn't get this image out of my head, so I searched Google images until I found one that fit exactly what I was feeling. This exactly represents what I'm picturing in my "mind's eye". God is right now drawing His fingers across the surface of the earth, and it's creating waves... it's stirring so many people into motion, into action.

There's a lot that goes on during surfing. Vigilance is an important quality for good surfers, because you have to constantly be paying attention to make sure you don't miss the best waves... and I'll tell you, there's a lot to distract you from them. Whether it's the hot blonde on the board a few yards away from you in the skimpy bikini, the fog or overcast lighting that obscures the waves or blends them into the rest of the ocean, the enjoyable conversation you're having with your buddies, or even the hypnotizing, calming motion of the small waves as they roll by; there's always plenty to keep you from noticing the perfect wave.

The problem is, you have to work to catch waves. Simply seeing them coming isn't enough. When you see them, you have to start paddling to get enough momentum so that the wave takes you with it, rather than just flying by you. You have to move to get correct positioning so you can ride it, instead of being in a bad spot, where the force isn't enough, the wave isn't formed well, or worst, the wave is gonna land right on top of you.

Just like surfing, I see these waves coming at me made by the hand of God as he draws those fingers through the water... I can either let them by and miss the ride; either because they look too big and intimidating, or because I'm not paying attention and watching until the waves right in front of me.

It's funny how well surfing fits as an analogy here. When surfing with Kirk, we'll often be talking, and then notice that people around us (or perhaps even one of us ourselves) will suddenly change position on our board and start paddling. It's infectious, and you can see it easily, even from shore. Like a school of fish, one begins to move in a direction, and suddenly everyone is doing it to hopefull catch the wave.

Well, I see all the people around me paddling for the wave. it's invigoration, because I can feel it happening, and for once in my life, I can actually see that God has something big going on, and I'm not kidding/fooling myself, because clearly ther others around me are feeling it too!

What's He up to? I don't have that answer, but I really wanna be a part of it. it's time to start paddling to position myself properly and get some momentum going.

Don't get me wrong - I know that God is always doing something... but I don't believe God always works in grand gestures.

Now, however, I get the impression that what He's doing is grand... it's huge! And I can see it and feel it... and I'm reinforced with the knowledge that so do the people around me.

There's some waves coming. Wanna ride?

Thursday, March 26, 2009

MotM - Brandon Heath

Yes yes, I know some of you complain about these music posts... just know that it is shedding some light on one of my huge passions. Music. So it IS in fact worthy to be called a blog post. Plus, there are others of you who like it.

With that said, I've stumbled across Brandon Heath (not to be confused with Heath Brandon, a different artist). He's very, very talented.

Check him out in the playlist on the right.

Enjoy!

FYI: he kinda is along the same vein as Bebo Norman

An update on the Corolla

It seems that my Alarm was outta-wack. My alarm (as most do) has a kill switch on the engine. Thus, if someone tries to break in and steal it... even if they have no fear of the noise it makes... they have no chance of getting the car started.

Anywhoodle... apparently, even though I kept turning on/off the alarm thinking it might be it, I was actually turning the alarm off. However, it wouldn't release the kill-switch.

Anyway, the dealership took my car to the alarm company, and they're either gonna fix the alarm, if possible, or replace it.