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| Ok, Xanga peeps. I've been growing increasingly uncomfortable with xanga recently. Ever since I realized the majority of xanga users in the Dallas area are 15 yr. old girls - something in me feels wrong every time I post. I'm also annoyed by the birage of emails I've recieved from friends who can't post comments because 1. they're too freakin' lazy to sign up for a xanga i.d., or 2. they can't see the stupid little code in order to sign up for an i.d.
So - from now on I'll be posting on wordpress. It looks as though this will also allow me to eventually have 100% control over the look and feel of my blog. I'll keep my xanga i.d. so I can still read your xanga posts - but it's time for me to move out.
peace.
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| F i r s t s:
First best friend: Matt with the stinky blanky across the street.
First screen name: donoman ... I think.
First funeral: Man - I have no idea. Maybe Great Grandpa Felner?
First pet: A goldfish named, Goldie.
First big trip: To England from America when we moved there in 1989.
L a s t s:
Last car ride: To work this morning
Last good cry: The morning/afternoon after we found out we may have miscarried, which was the day before we found out we did.
Last movie seen: The Greatest Game Ever Played. - MUCH better than I anticipated.
Last beverage: Does water count? Otherwise it was egg nog two nights ago.
Last food consumed: A ham & cheese omlet last night
Last crush: Kristin Donovan
Last phone call: received: my mom made: Paper Art
Last time showered: this morning
Last shoes worn: Black & Brown Keens
Last item bought: Barilla Green & Black Olive spaghetti sauce. I'm not a fan of olives. Kristin LOVES them.
R e l a t i o n s h i p s:
Who are your very best friends? Kristin, Pete, Derek
Do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend? Why do you ask?
F a s h i o n S t u f f:
Where is your favorite place to shop? The Apple Store
Any tattoos or piercings? I kind of still have a piercing in each ear. I haven't worn earrings in years though.
S p e c i f i c s:
Do you do drugs? If we're counting the holy spirit.
What kind of shampoo do you use? Whatever Kristin's using. I think we're Suave folks right now.
What are you most scared of? Being eaten alive by sharks or hyenas. I'm serious. I'm pretty afraid of fish in general. I'm also afraid of not being able to support my family.
What are you listening to right now? God.
Where do you want to get married? I don't.
What would you change about yourself? I'd lengthen my attention span and my legs - in proportion to each other.
F a v o r i t e s:
Color: yes
Food: Giordano's Chicago style pizza (damn, I'm hungry now) and chocolate (double damn!).
Boys' names: Clive, Julian, Ben
Girls' names: Jaimes, Selah, Davy
Subjects in school: copy writing, fiction writing, poetry writing, logic
Animals: mini penguins (preferrably freezer-friendly size)
Sports: soccer
Perfume: Heaven by GAP and Tommy Girl
Cologne: Fahrenheit and CK be.
H a v e Y o u E v e r:
Made yourself throw up? never never never. i hate and loathe and fear throwing up.
Skinny dipped? I think maybe ... I probably have, but I can't remember.
Fallen for your best friend? no
Been rejected? yes
Rejected someone? yes
Used someone? yes
Done something you regret? of course
C u r r e n t:
Clothes: Keen shoes, kahki-colored socks, brown pants, brown belt, white shirt, brown sport coat (I'm shooting a wedding right after work).
Music: nothing. I enjoy quiet in the morning.
Make-up: none
Annoyance: I'm pretty hungry.
Smell: **smells hand** my hand smells like Fahrenheit aftershave.
Favorite Artist (painter, sculptor, etc): Michael Klung - I love his colors.
Desktop picture: Rachel's red leaf picture that everyone loves.
DVD in player: A wedding photo slideshow I made for a client. Previously: Freaks & Geeks
L a s t P e r s o n:
Hugged: Kristin
You IMed: Pete (does video iChat count?)
A r e Y o u:
Open Minded: Too much in areas I shouldn't be and not enough in areas I should.
Arrogant: less so than in recent years.
Interesting: in spurts
Moody: when I'm tired.
Hardworking: also in spurts.
Organized: Too much in areas I shouldn't be and not enough in areas I should.
Healthy: Yes, with the exception of my triglyceride levels - too much chocolate (triple damn!)
Bored: occasionally... usually at work.
Responsible: more so than in recent years.
Obsessed: with advertisments.
Sad: no, not really - not like in Wes Anderson films. But I do get sad sometimes - usually over finances.
Disappointed: easily. I tend to really get my hopes up about things. I am let down very easily.
Hyper: Right before I fall asleep.
Trusting: yes
Talkative: again ... in spurts.
Legal: F*ck the police! NOoooo, I'm just kidding. But seriously, I'm not ... oh wait. I don't think I understood the question. Ok, YES. I am of legal age.
W h i c h I s B e t t e r:
Coke or Pepsi: coke.
Flowers or Candy? candy flowers.
Tall or Short: I don't understand
Thick or Thin: somebody please explain
Long or Short: these questions make no sense to me.
R a n d o m:
in the morning i am: usually late
all i need is: Jesus Christ (and I'm not joking).
what do you notice about a person first: their shoes (thanks to Just For Feet).
last person you danced with: Kristin, in her parent's kitchen
worst question to ask to a crying person: Would you please be quiet for like TWO SECONDS!?
who makes you laugh the most: Derek.
who makes you smile? Kristin and Jaimes.
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|  Raise your hand if you've ever blown up a glass pan in your kitchen.
We had an early Thanksgiving dinner for Jim & April. They're leaving for California today - Jimmy got a job with REI. I'd been cooking all day - roasted pork tenderloin rubbed with olive oil & sea salt, sage butter roasted apples, herb & garlic mashed potatoes - it was all looking awesome and smelling even better. I was right on schedule too. All there was left to do was make the cider gravy from the pork juices. The recipe's instructions called to remove the pork from the pan, put the pan over high heat on the range, add the cider and flour, and mix it together with with meat juices/fat. I removed the pork loin (thank God). Wooden spoon in hand, I proceeded to pour ice-cold hard cider into a 350 degree GLASS pan sitting on a very hot stove top - full of meat juices, grease, and an increasing volume of apple cider. It's a miracle Jaimes wasn't in the kitchen with me because she had been all afternoon.
  The pan exploded, throwing thick glass chards, hot grease, and me across the kitchen. Somehow, I made it out withut a scratch. I wish I could say the same for the sage butter apples. I also wish I had a picture for you. Sadly, I nearly went into shock - during which time Kristin's family arrived. The most pathetic part is that I've done this once before. While hosting a Saturday brunch for residents in the clubhouse at our apartment community in Austin I set a hot glass plate of bacon - fresh out of the microwave - onto a cold slate counter top. Exploding glass, explicit explatives and judging glares ensued.
Today, however, is a new day - with new mercies and graces, such as:
All three volumes of Sufjan Stevens' Christmas album
&
Some hilarious footage of Canadian car thieves getting caught, provided by carbait.com. My favorite is "If My Mom Calls."
I was directed to both sites by Kevin. We should all thank him profusely for giving us more and more reasons to never get anything done.
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| I wake up this morning. My feet are cold. I take a long, steamy shower and wake Kristin up. We read Morning & Evening. I talk - Kristin snuggles and listens. We read Psalm 64. It is hard to really feel David's complaint. "Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, from the throng of evildoers ..." Coppell is pretty comfortable. We don't feel threatened by the wicked. But, maybe we're in danger of becoming wicked. Sitting together on the futon in our blue livingroom, I hunch over. Close my eyes. Furrow my brow. "Lord, keep us from becoming those who set snares for the innocent. May our cause be for the orphan in the widow. Etc., etc., etc."
We wake Jaimes up. That's right - she sleeps later than us.  It's cold today. We're happy because we miss the cold. I put Jaimes in a big coat she's never worn. Kristin grabs a blanket for her. I grab my pipe. "Gonna smoke the pipe today, huh?" she asks. "Yup" I say. She smiles. I grab my camera. Kristin asks why. "For the blog," I say. I scrape frost from the windsheild. It's a good day. My daughter babbles in the back seat while my wife drives me to work. 
I spend some time on the patio at the office, smoking my pipe. I love the feeling of the warm wood in my cold hand. I pass twenty minutes trying to take a picture of my shadow smoking. No dice. Well, I'll get to work.
Somewhere between 9am and 11am, I managed to completely lose control of my thought life. You know?
Now I'm pretty low. Normally, this kind of thing would ruin my day. Somehow - though humiliated, I'm still happy. I'm still confident in Christ. The contrast between my early-morning and my latter-morning is ugly. The first spent in the sweet company of my wife, daughter, and Lord. The second spent alone - as a whore. But the color of this repentance ties it all together. The gospel -something outside of me - has entered my life today and sanctified what I set out to soil. I layed a snare for myself today, but the Lord shot his arrow at me and I was wounded suddenly. He ruined me. Then he exalted me.
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| Chances are, you SUCK at writing. You probably don't know it either, but you do suck - trust me. It's ok. It's not your fault. You were taught to write suckily. You were taught to write "500 words or less," when you should've just written less. I didn't learn this about myself until my junior year of college. It's unfortunate I took my most important class on the back-end of my academic career. College would've been much easier. High school would've been a breeze. And junior high? Oh - there'd have been chicks, man. Poetry and chicks instead of tether ball and Reid Swensen.
I don't return to The Copy Workshop often enough. I've been thumbing through it again over the past few days. It's hilarious. It's insightful. Bruce Bendinger (the author) is very savvy. At face value, it's a text book for advertisers. Ultimately, however, it's a must-read for anyone who can type, scribble, or dictate.
If you've seen A River Runs Through It, you may remember this scene: Rev Maclean sits in his study ... studying, apparently. In traipses his son, Norman. The boy shows his father a sheet of paper. Rev. glances at it. "Shorter," he says. Norman mopes off to his room to edit. This exchange reoccurs two or three times before Rev. even looks at the essay. Finally he reads it. He gives Norman a glance of approval. Fly fishing ensues. Movie over. Somehow Brad Pitt makes fly fishing hot. Does that make me metrosexual?
Either way, this book will convince you less is always more. It's packed with fun exercises, insightful quotes, and witty ads. But you don't have to take my word for it. Cue LeVar Burton.
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