I love a good rainy weekend.
The rain started to set in here Friday evening and by Saturday afternoon was steady enough to nap by. The best part was it held off long enough for me to photograph the local triathlon. Saturday had to be one of my best shooting days ever. I had two stages to shoot, the run and kayak stage. The run stage went off without a hitch and with just a little practice I settled into a groove. The kayak stage went a little better this year than last since this year I was able to use a path down the side of the hill and down over some rocks to get a better angle on the river and the kayakers. I didn't have to rush any of my shots and everything went about as smoothly as it could.
Bethany and I spent the rest of the afternoon running around Roanoke. We didn't really accomplish anything, except for having a good dinner and spending a good hour in Books-A-Million just wandering around. Having a Kindle has completely changed the way that I'm going to shop for books. There are a few books out there that I actually want to own a hard copy of. But for the most part, I'm really starting to see where the Kindle comes in as a money and space saver. The books are usually cheaper and much easier to store. I took down a couple of names of books in the store that I figured I'd download later. I think I'll just start shopping at a library from now on and take my Kindle with me to download as I go.
One thing the Kindle doesn't have is comic books. I'm talking about newspaper strips like Garfield and Dilbert. I'll continue to buy those collections as they come out. In fact, I think I'm going to spend most of the summer chasing down all the Garfield collections that I can. There are 50 books out there and I don't have enough of them.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Friday, May 14, 2010
Philosophic Meanders
Death is such an unexpected and unwanted thing. Even when you can see it coming, death always arrives too soon.
Bethany's grandpa passed away Thursday evening after a long battle with Lou Gehrig's Disease. Though it was apparent the end to his suffering was drawing near, he passed suddenly, unexpectedly and with some measure of peace and dignity.
Bethany and I both come from families of deep Christian faith. My family tends more toward the old school than her's, but the core beliefs are the same. The Bible tells us to weep at a birth and to rejoice at a funeral. Jesus' life was an example of love and belief and his death was the promise that we would all be together again when this world is no longer because we are more than just these shells of flesh and bone.
Patrick and I have often argued (in a friendly way) over differing beliefs, particularly the basis of faith. My understanding of faith is the simple belief in things unseen and unproven. If you ask me to prove to you the existence of God I'll point to a bird and defy you to tell me that it's here because of the random chance that gave birth to natural selection. You can't prove me wrong and I can't prove myself right, though I believe that I am.
That's faith.
Yet, if we're patient, sometimes we're handed proof of our faith. If we'll only listen and look at what's going around us and consider all those things we've been taught, we'll find proof of our faith. I certainly have.
I firmly believe we all have a soul. I firmly believe that accepting Jesus Christ as a savior is the path to Heaven and a peaceful afterlife. And I firmly believe that I witnessed proof of that in Henry's death. When I saw him this evening, laid out in his casket at the funeral home, it was the first time I'd ever seen someone who just wasn't there.
Everything that made Henry who he was had left that body. The permanent, impish half smile that he always wore was gone. The light that danced with easy friendship was gone from his eyes. Henry just wasn't there. And it was then that I remembered the pastor's prayer from the previous night, how he was thankful for the sacrifice of Christ that would allow us to find eternal peace and happiness after this life and I realized that moments like these are what bring us closer to God and that this was just more proof of beliefs I've held since I was old enough to think for myself.
This is far from the first time I've seen God keep His word to His children, only the most recent. I have faith that it won't be the last.
Bethany's grandpa passed away Thursday evening after a long battle with Lou Gehrig's Disease. Though it was apparent the end to his suffering was drawing near, he passed suddenly, unexpectedly and with some measure of peace and dignity.
Bethany and I both come from families of deep Christian faith. My family tends more toward the old school than her's, but the core beliefs are the same. The Bible tells us to weep at a birth and to rejoice at a funeral. Jesus' life was an example of love and belief and his death was the promise that we would all be together again when this world is no longer because we are more than just these shells of flesh and bone.
Patrick and I have often argued (in a friendly way) over differing beliefs, particularly the basis of faith. My understanding of faith is the simple belief in things unseen and unproven. If you ask me to prove to you the existence of God I'll point to a bird and defy you to tell me that it's here because of the random chance that gave birth to natural selection. You can't prove me wrong and I can't prove myself right, though I believe that I am.
That's faith.
Yet, if we're patient, sometimes we're handed proof of our faith. If we'll only listen and look at what's going around us and consider all those things we've been taught, we'll find proof of our faith. I certainly have.
I firmly believe we all have a soul. I firmly believe that accepting Jesus Christ as a savior is the path to Heaven and a peaceful afterlife. And I firmly believe that I witnessed proof of that in Henry's death. When I saw him this evening, laid out in his casket at the funeral home, it was the first time I'd ever seen someone who just wasn't there.
Everything that made Henry who he was had left that body. The permanent, impish half smile that he always wore was gone. The light that danced with easy friendship was gone from his eyes. Henry just wasn't there. And it was then that I remembered the pastor's prayer from the previous night, how he was thankful for the sacrifice of Christ that would allow us to find eternal peace and happiness after this life and I realized that moments like these are what bring us closer to God and that this was just more proof of beliefs I've held since I was old enough to think for myself.
This is far from the first time I've seen God keep His word to His children, only the most recent. I have faith that it won't be the last.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Big Whiskey
At the recommendation of my cousin (and I dearly hate to admit she was right so she should be ecstatic that I'm publishing it on the world wide web. Consider it a belated birthday present cuz) I've looked into the musical stylings of Dave Matthews.
Wow.
For sheer musicianship alone the man should win a Grammy each year. I dare you to find another artist out there with that kind of talent and song writing ability. I'm a huge fan of Edwin McCain but even I'll admit the dude would be hard pressed to beat Dave Matthews.
I have three albums now, two of which are acoustic duet concerts with Tim Reynolds, who may be one of the best guitarists out there. Tonight I picked up Big Whiskey & The GrooGrux King with my birthday money from Grandma and Grandpa. I have enough left over from that, coupled with what I have left over from my family, to get Common Margins: Improvisations for Piano & Guitar by Tim Reynolds. The potential of that album is amazing.
So between the Edwin concert a couple weeks ago, hearing Bethany's chorale concert Sunday and my newfound enjoyment of Dave Matthews, I'm more determined than ever to make something of myself as a musician. Granted, I'm not looking to make it big. I'm looking to learn the guitar and make it an extension of my writing and creativity. There is a vast untapped world of potential out there in music. I'm determined to make a dent in it.
Maybe Bethany will give me voice lessons...
Wow.
For sheer musicianship alone the man should win a Grammy each year. I dare you to find another artist out there with that kind of talent and song writing ability. I'm a huge fan of Edwin McCain but even I'll admit the dude would be hard pressed to beat Dave Matthews.
I have three albums now, two of which are acoustic duet concerts with Tim Reynolds, who may be one of the best guitarists out there. Tonight I picked up Big Whiskey & The GrooGrux King with my birthday money from Grandma and Grandpa. I have enough left over from that, coupled with what I have left over from my family, to get Common Margins: Improvisations for Piano & Guitar by Tim Reynolds. The potential of that album is amazing.
So between the Edwin concert a couple weeks ago, hearing Bethany's chorale concert Sunday and my newfound enjoyment of Dave Matthews, I'm more determined than ever to make something of myself as a musician. Granted, I'm not looking to make it big. I'm looking to learn the guitar and make it an extension of my writing and creativity. There is a vast untapped world of potential out there in music. I'm determined to make a dent in it.
Maybe Bethany will give me voice lessons...
Monday, May 10, 2010
Life Gets In The Way
Sometimes life just gets in the way.
I have big plans. Admittedly, they rarely work. I seem to do better at life when I'm just flying by the seat of my pants from one moment to the next. Unfortunately, the world doesn't work that way all the time. Be nice if it did.
I had hopes of getting back to the regularly scheduled blog, but last week just completely blew that idea. My birthday was Tuesday and of course that would have taken up all day on a good day. But instead of spending the day in total celebration of the National Day of Josh, I spent a good chunk of it chasing down a radiator for Bethany's car.
Only to have that radiator to arrive Wednesday for us to discover, a half an hour before the store closes, that the radiator doesn't fit the car. In fact, just to make it more interesting, they no longer make the original radiator that came out of that car. Instead, for some unknown reason, they make a different style of radiator with different mounts for the fan shroud, which means you either have to modify the shroud to fit or spend $150 for a piece of plastic.
You can guess what we did.
Friday was ridiculously busy, as I spent the morning helping out at Magic in the Mountains, the afternoon running errands and cleaning and the evening installing the radiator. At 10:30, Phil and I ran out of light and four letter words, so we called it off until Saturday afternoon, when we finally finished the job. After that I spent the rest of the day with Patrick and Amber. Sunday morning I traveled to West Virginia to visit Mom and stopped at Lewisburg on the way home to attend Bethany's chorale concert and dinner before making it home about 7 p.m. last night.
So this week I've decided to have goals instead of plans. Two of those goals revolve around my guitar. I have the goal of learning to play Dave Matthews' You and Me Together and writing my own song (or at least making a good deal of progress on it). There are pictures to be taken and other chores to be done among all of this, so we'll see how it goes.
And did I mention I now own a Kindle? My in-laws all pitched in and purchased me one for my birthday. Now, I'm a person that appreciates the heft of a good book and the individuality of having an actual printed novel in my hands. But I'm also a person that really likes shiny gadgets with buttons and the Kindle is pretty sweet. It's going to change how I read and buy books from now on.
So...back to the week. Hope to see you here tomorrow.
I have big plans. Admittedly, they rarely work. I seem to do better at life when I'm just flying by the seat of my pants from one moment to the next. Unfortunately, the world doesn't work that way all the time. Be nice if it did.
I had hopes of getting back to the regularly scheduled blog, but last week just completely blew that idea. My birthday was Tuesday and of course that would have taken up all day on a good day. But instead of spending the day in total celebration of the National Day of Josh, I spent a good chunk of it chasing down a radiator for Bethany's car.
Only to have that radiator to arrive Wednesday for us to discover, a half an hour before the store closes, that the radiator doesn't fit the car. In fact, just to make it more interesting, they no longer make the original radiator that came out of that car. Instead, for some unknown reason, they make a different style of radiator with different mounts for the fan shroud, which means you either have to modify the shroud to fit or spend $150 for a piece of plastic.
You can guess what we did.
Friday was ridiculously busy, as I spent the morning helping out at Magic in the Mountains, the afternoon running errands and cleaning and the evening installing the radiator. At 10:30, Phil and I ran out of light and four letter words, so we called it off until Saturday afternoon, when we finally finished the job. After that I spent the rest of the day with Patrick and Amber. Sunday morning I traveled to West Virginia to visit Mom and stopped at Lewisburg on the way home to attend Bethany's chorale concert and dinner before making it home about 7 p.m. last night.
So this week I've decided to have goals instead of plans. Two of those goals revolve around my guitar. I have the goal of learning to play Dave Matthews' You and Me Together and writing my own song (or at least making a good deal of progress on it). There are pictures to be taken and other chores to be done among all of this, so we'll see how it goes.
And did I mention I now own a Kindle? My in-laws all pitched in and purchased me one for my birthday. Now, I'm a person that appreciates the heft of a good book and the individuality of having an actual printed novel in my hands. But I'm also a person that really likes shiny gadgets with buttons and the Kindle is pretty sweet. It's going to change how I read and buy books from now on.
So...back to the week. Hope to see you here tomorrow.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)