Lost

It's very difficult to watch someone struggle, knowing you should do something, yet do nothing because you are at a lose as to what to do. So you just sit back and watch......waiting to see how far away rock bottom really is. You try and guess, assuming it's close, but it just doesn't seem to come. It just gets worse. And I still don't know what to do, except regret not doing anything.

I am absolutely and entirely at this point in my life. I am watching someone plummet, and I have no idea how to stop it. Someone I know (no name mentioned because anyone who reads this blog most likely knows this person, too) is headed for rock bottom. She is in college, with a room mate who is a terrible influence, and giving in to pretty much every temptation you stereotypically face in college. Partying, drinking, possibly drugs, possibly sex.... and I don't know what to do. I saw it coming, it began in high school, and I tried to do something this summer....but to no avail. I guess I could have tried harder, but I just don't know what to do.

I have never seen the thrill in alcohol. I do not understand why people feel it is necessarry to drink so much that you lose control of what you are doing, just for kicks. So many things are at risk when you drink. Let's make a list...
1. Accidents while drunk due to bad decisions. These range from...probably shouldnt have stood on that chair, to probably shouldn't have tried to drive home. This is itself can be deadly, both to you and others. And just because you think you are sober enough....probably means that you aren't. I don't care if you think you're a heavyweight. Alcohol effects decision making.
2. Addiction. It's easier than you think to become a drunk. Even easier to look like a drunk to other people. It's not a good look, or a good attitude towards you. All you're good for is alcohol and what you will do when you consume it. That can range so those accidents listed above...to freaking rape. You lose control when you are drunk. You can be taken advantage of when you lose control. It happens.... a lot.
3. IT'S ILLEGAL if you are under 21. and this person is COMPLETELY under 21. jail, permanent record, license taken away. it pretty much sucks.


I don;t know what to do for her. I feel like rock bottom is going to hurt, and I don't want any of those things i talked about to happen, but if it continues I would put money on something happening. injury, alcohol poisoning, drunk driving, rape, arrests.... and i dont know how she can pass classes when she parties as much as i have heard. not to mention dressing up like a whore for halloween. not doing a good job for the whole image here. she looked like she was heading out the the strip club for work. i was disgusted. i hoped she would hit rock bottom sooner, which means heading back up sooner. but no. its bad, really bad. and i have no idea what to do about it. and i know others feel the same way. i get messages from another friend all the time asking about it. im worried sick.

so please guys, anyone who actually reads this. just pray for me. and pray for the others who have to deal with this. pray for the people who are experiencing this. cause it sucks. and i have no idea what to do. and i really dont want to see her hit the bottom.

Foe-toe-graphs

here are more pictures from the senior picture shoot i did a while back. observe, enjoy, comment!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2083004&l=c1dde&id=71006128

-Late-

Yup, that's right. I'm awake. Why you ask? Well Elaine couldn't sleep, so she called. But it's ok, cause I have told her to. Downside is that I lost signal on my phone. She had gotten quiet, and calmed down, so I was thinking she was asleep. So I asked....quietly. Got nothing. Picked the phone up (it was on speaker) and whispered again. Nothing. But this time it was that nothing noise when you don't have signal. So my dilemma is that I think she finally dozed off, but I am not sure. So now I'm blogging...how does that make sense?? Nonetheless, I just prayed for her, and I hope you will, too. Thanks.

But anyway, I'm still working in photography, while doing a million other things. I think people are getting use to me always having my camera. I was taking a few pictures at a family hot dog roast the other day. Came out with one of the campfire I really liked.

Also, I'm starting to work on my website. I hope I can still remember some stuff from that class I took. Will post updates here. Also, I went ahead and made an email address for my photography related stuff. davidarthurphotography@gmail.com I got tired of the horrible format that ivytech had, so make to gmail it is. I really started to like it after Harding switched over. But it's 7 AM, I was going to wake up at 9:30. I should crash now. Adios.

New Stuff

So if you haven't noticed (if anyone actually looks at this) I changed the format and name of my blog. I really like the new name. It came from my psychology class. We were talking about the mechanics of the brain, synapses specifically, when Lee looked at me with big, excited eyes and said, "Oh Synapse!" I thought it was great. Turned out the definition in our notes of synapse was pretty cool. So it got put up as my blog name. Format change was just for the heck of it.

So I've been really bust lately. Probably should find something more productive to do than blog, but I don't feel like it. Ive been working at the store, doing stuff with church, school, and a couple weeks ago I took some senior pictures.
If you are wondering, he was born in Italy when his parents were missionaries. Now his dad preaches at my grandparents church. Came out with several I really like. This is one of them. When his basketball team gets their new jerseys we are gonna do some more. Plus I have a flash now, and will soon be able to get it off the camera (hopefully soon)

But It's been an enjoyable busy. Just a bit crazy. Only thing I'm not likin is the store job. I want to take more pictures, especially of seniors, but I work from 2-10, right when they are out of school. But I'll figure it out.

I also want to do some video again. I miss it, and I was just watching some documentary style stuff. I really like that style video and photography. So i think I might add a project on to add to my insanity. I don't yet know what on, but I'm gonna try and do something that I can add in to me schedule. Like something I already experience. Combine some stuff, I dunno. I just asked Lee if i could borrow his video camera, so I will probably add video and photography together to get it done. I'm excited. Especially since i just decided on this about a minute ago. Better start brainstorming.

Afterthought....I sold my jeep! So if anyone is selling a car (preferably 4-door, low mileage, good gas mileage, and i love 5-speed) let me know!! lol shameless plug.

Saturday In the Park

So I got a new CD this weekend when I was in Evansville with Elaine. I don't remember the last time I bought a CD, but I have been wanting to listen to Chicago for a while now. So when I saw this one, I got it. Find it here.



I have listened to it a million times since I got it. I love it. It's got a lot of fun songs and they have a really cool sound.

When I was a kid dad used to play a lot of these songs in the old red truck. I loved that thing. It was a 1987 Ford Ranger. It was a manual, often times no muffler, and you had to rapidly beat on the horn to get the radio to work. We had to get dad to bang on the horn so we could drive down the road and listen to "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" (track 2 on the cd)]
So it brings back the memories. We kept that truck for years. I drove it for a little while afer i got my license. Then when the snow came Dad wouldn't let me drive it and over winter something happened and it didnt run so well. I wanted to fix it, but they traded it for some labor on the stupid yellow car. I'm obviously still dissapointed. But in the meantime I'll just enjoy the CD, while driving my jeep, while looking for a new car.

Movies | Humor | Groom

So I have a bunch of randomness today. Tuesday after class I went to walmart with Rachel and Lee. I had no reason to go, just wanted to go. So as we were walking through the clearance isle I see a rack of dvds. And I bought 2 of them. Total price after tax..... $.21!
That's right, a whopping 21 cents! I didn't know I could buy anything at walmart for 21 cents, let alone TWO dvd's. By the way, has anyone ever heard of these?
Moving on to next thing....Ben just told me a funny story. He said he woke up this morning and his arm was laying above his head, similar to how my arm is in the picture below. He doesn't know how long it was up there, but long enough to be totally asleep. So totally asleep that it was absolutely as numb as it could be. So he rolled his head over and saw a blank space where his arm goes, and since he also couldn't feel it thought, "AAAHHH WHERE'S MY ARM!!" He ended up quickly using his other arm to find his numb one and bang it against the wall until it had feeling again. I laughed at him for this, he's ridiculous.
And last but far from least... most of you know I am engaged, which means that one day in the near future I will be a groom. I like the word groom. I don't know why, but it just sounds like a cool word. But now I know when I will be......announcing! The Wedding of David Arthur and Elaine Holsapple is officially set for August 14, 2010. Location: unkown Time: TBA
but still I KNOW WHEN I'M GETTIN MARRIED!!!




yay.

old times

So the other day I wrote about 9/11. Thinking about that got me thinking about me as an 8th grade. I just had to laugh. Whether you think I'm a dork now or not...I KNOW I was in the 8th grade. But when I was in the 8th grade, I never would have thought i would be where I am today. Sitting at home during my third year of college.

But no really, there are plenty of other things I hadn't even thought of in 8th grade that i have been through. At that time, college was just an afterthought. I knew I wanted to go, but where and what for were just things to decide later. Now I've had two years at Harding studying communications and now I'm at Ivy Tech for business to do photography. That's something else I hadn't given so much as a blink, and now I produce better and better images everyday. Girls were a mess in the 8th grade. Now I'm engaged to the girl that my little brother was dating when I was in the 8th grade. Weird. In fact as I typed that, she was on the phone complaining that I mentioned that little fact. (lol ha ha elaine, i still love you). In the 8th grade I was starting to get involved in Youth Group stuff at church, and now I'm about to be in charge of one. High School, graduation, Honduras, driving, relationships, moving to college, moving home, getting engaged, jobs, fun jobs, bad jobs, making money, spending money, countless weeks of camp.... It's been a busy 7 years!

But my point is.....God is amazing. He has blessed me enough to enable me to experience all of that. Nothing would have been possible if God hadn't been behind it. He has given me all the experiences to be the person I am now, and I regret none of it. I've done good things and bad things, but I wouldn't change a thing. And I thank God everyday for all of it. Now as I go on, I just hope that he will continue to bless me in my failing attempt to imitate his Son. Knowing that if I keep that effort as my focus, He will provide for me whatever I need. Thanks, God. Love you.

Remember 9/11

So today is September 11th. Well actually it will be the 12th by the time I get this posted, but whatever. But on the anniversary of the tragedy in NY, everyone always talks about where they were and what they were doing when it happened, so I will start with that.

On 9/11/01 I was in the 8th grade taking those wonderfully standardized tests....the ISTEP. I don't remember whose room I was in, but I know they didn't tell us anything about them. After we got done I went to gym and to lunch hearing nothing out of the ordinary.

Then after lunch it was time for english, a class I never really liked. Mostly because of good ole Mr. Atkinson. Not my favorite teacher, but he had enough good judgement to fill us in on what had been going on. And help to explain the significance of the event. But when I walked in, he didn't say anything. We just sat down and started watching what was on the TV. At first I thought it was something he was going to use for class. I knew that there had been an attack on the World Trade Center in NY a few years ago, but this looked a bit bigger.

Once I realized that this was not new footage, but in fact live, I was a little more concerned. Maybe not quite concerned, but more confused. What exactly had happened, and why? I will never forget seeing someone jumping out a window from the building....falling down past all the floors....then have the camera cut away before they had come to the ground. I think by then the towers had both fallen, but there was still plenty of footage to be shown. It was disturbing, and confusing. What would cause anyone to do this? Who did this? And how in the world?

Alot of those questions have been answered, but still not all of them. And I'm just some dude from Greene County, Indiana. I feel bad for all the people who were closely hit by this tragedy. I cannot relate to how you feel, but I am praying for you, praying that God is there to comfort you. Because I know he will be there when you need him.

Directions

So a few weeks ago I updated my facebook status to something along the lines of, "David is looking for direction for the semester" or something like that. But it was weird. Since I'm not at Harding things are kinda weird. Like, I had a lot going on. I was doing a lot that really seemed to be helping me in my future. Most of it was tv and photo stuff. But now I had not so much stuff. So I felt stuck, and didn't know what to do. So I posted that facebook status and prayed about it. No biggie. But now, like 2 weeks later, I found me some direction. Hand written, on a napkin, in God's chicken scratch.

I was talking to Rachel Fields about Southland, and mentioned working with them. Then I get a phone call from Bud, the minister there, I went to a meeting today, and I am now working with Southland's youth group. The pay is not much, but it's something. It looks like I have some direction now. I'm still working at the circle k (blech) but I got my raise, so working both jobs should even it all out and hopefully I can save some for that big party thing I'm having soon. I think it's called a wedding ( :) ) but I'm excited, they're excited, and God is awesome.

Long story short. I have a Youth Group I am working with. Pray for me?!?!?!

Politics: America's Modern Day Battlefield

So I've written about 3 blogs on politics...but they all get trashed before they get posted. But my friend Rachel Dardner is at the democratic national convention, and i thought that was pretty cool. so here I'm actually going to get a blog posted. Some of the old blogs on politics i wrote were kinda long, but it's already 3 in the morning and I start classes tomorrow. Ridiculous, I know, but I'm blogging anyway. Bed time after.

Overall, I really hate politics. I think the political system today severely hurts our country. Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that we can have politics, and they we elect our officials. I do think it is in our best interest to put the people in power that we want in power. I just think the system of how we do that is flawed. Is my blog going to change that? I'm gonna go with no, but it makes me feel better anyway.

Politics has divided our country. We are currently split into Democrats, Republicans, and a few crazies. We are too often labeling ourselves and each other into political realms. And the grudges held between the parties drives them further apart. And it's all about how MY party is right and the OTHER party is full of idiotic fools. There's no give and all take in the whole system. In a relationship between two people, you have to try and see both sides and reach a compromise to find the best solution for both people. Yet the Democrats don't want to do that, and Republicans don't want to hear of it either. It's my way or the highway, and that has never ended well.

Doesn't it say in our pledge that we are "one nation, under God"? I'm not even going into the "under God" part, because that could be a whole other blog. But that first part says "ONE nation" that a nation divided by political parties. ONE nation. one, singular, individual nation. We all want what is best for the nation, or at least we should. We need to stop being one sided and try to see everyone's point of view. Instead of lumping each other together and holding grudges. If we can just work together as a single nation, we can accomplish so much more. Instead of having 2 energy plans, 2 plans for war, 2 economic plans... why can't Democrats and Republicans alike work as one body, as one nation to try and solve the problems we have. Instead of pushing each other away and causing more problems and more conflicts. We have enough conflicts outside of our country, we don't need to continue with more inside. "One nation, under God. With Liberty and Justice for ALL"


on a side note...my prediction for the next president....Barack Obama. Does that mean I'm voting for him? No. But that doesn't mean I'm voting for McCain. I really have no idea at this point. Not wildly impressed with either one, yet.

the long and winding road

well it seems that i am about to start a new part of life. school. wait, what? ive been in school for years, whats new? one week from tuesday i am starting at a new school. i know, sad day right? im not going back to harding. its gotten real expensive, and i wasnt going to finish in four years. and i want to be done asap. so this fall im going to tiny little ivy tech community college here at home. im living at home again, going to school here. its got its up and downs, but either way, im here.

but anyway, im studying business marketing at ivy tech. its just for an associates degree, finishing in two years, while only a few of my classes actually transfer, but it's still finish in two years. so it works for me. i'm going to study business while i work on photography otherwise, as i want to eventually be a full-time photog. i've got two senior's who want me to take their pictures already. but thats mostly cause im cheap.

but what about the last two years at harding? what about all those classes that i dont need now? well they're done and paid for. well not paid for, but they're done. but i learned alot while i was at harding, and i had a lot of fun. i learned a lot in the classroom, and outside the classroom. and i will miss it. i made a lot of friends, and a lot of people who taught me a lot. students and faculty both. you all are very important to me, and i will miss you. my two years at harding were not and never will be considered a waste. i will miss you guys, all the guys in my hall, all the people over in the reynolds, everybody. but life goes on, and god sends us in directions we never expected, so lets go with it, and accomplish what gods wants us to accomplish.

adios!!

i am off to camp in an hour!! i will be there all week!

with this short blog i ask that everyone who reads it prays for us. pray for our safety, our sanity, and our souls. both the staff and the campers. adios!

david

The Ants

So, I got to spend a few days at camp last week. I usually stay that whole week, but I had that crazy work thing to do. I mean seriously, who does that? But anyway, I went down there with Elaine on thursday, then went back on Friday and stayed until Saturday morning and took Ben home. Camp is a really cool place, and I love it very much. It's a very important place for me. It was at camp where I have made some of my closest friends. I know a ridiculous amount of people through being at camp. But most importantly it's a place where I've always grown in my faith. It's not often you get to spend a whole week where you feel like the only reason you are there is to have fun and worship God. And I get to do that every time I go to Spring Mill Bible Camp. Even just spending a couple days there last week, I got that. I had a blast hanging out with people I only get to see at camp, and we had an awesome devo and singing in the basement on Friday night. I got to see 2 baptisms, I just love it. And of course being there I had a mini-epiphany of my own. (sweet. mini-epiphany. big word. I love using big words)

When I first got to camp on Friday, I went out to the ball field to watch the end of the annual campers vs staff kickball game. I wasn't the only one just watching, so it was fun to catch up with some people in the cheering section. Then someone off to the side, sitting on the ground, blurts out, "Aren't ants amazing. So small, in their own little world?" It was random, but caught my attention.

So I thought about that, and I agree. Ants are amazing. They are so small, yet so strong for their size. And they work together better than humans do. They all have their own jobs, with each one essential for the colony to survive. Living in their own tiny world on the ball field at camp. And just imagine how many other groups of little ants there are. Just at camp alone, I'm sure there are hundreds of groups of ants. All working in their colony to support each other. That truly is amazing.

These ants had just like dumbfounded me, but it was more because I had seen the power of God in that little that colony of ants. God created each one of those ants, and know each one of them. There are more ants probably within a hundred yards of me than I have hairs on my head....and God knows how many to the exact number of EACH OH THOSE THINGS! Both how many ants are around, and how many hairs are on my head.

Now that you have been amazed by ants, imagine all the other things he made. Trees, Mammals, Grass, Rocks, Bugs, Reptiles, the mosquito that just bite me, the air i breath, the water i drink, the clothes on my back, the hairs on my head, the nails on my fingers, my fingers. the computer i an typing on, the light that allows me to see the keys, the keys, the color of the keys the wavelengths that go to my eyes, the retinas in my eyes that recognize the wavelengths, the rods and cones that convert it to an image in my brain...the brain itself. I could go on forever. God created all of that, and how it all works together. And what have we done? What have we created that can even nearly compare? Computers? Cars? The power to harness electricity? Sure those are great, but guess where all that came from? All the tools we needed to do that, the physics that make it all work? I know where it came from...God. And anyone who disagrees with me in the fact that God is Amazing, needs to open their eyes. well, actually no they don't cause he made those eyelids, too.



on a side note - my reflector i got on ebay came in today! sweet!

Biker Granny

hey look everyone, my grandma is the coolest. she lives in the other side of Bloomington than we do, so every Sunday for church my aunt and uncle pick her up. well uncle rick has a Harley, and sometimes he will ride it to church and let one of the kids pick up Memaw. and every time he does that, they will joke about picking Memaw up on the Harley. it usually pretty funny. but a couple weeks ago while we were at the church's yearly picnic at the park it finally happened. my 80 some odd year old grandma got on the back f a Harley and rode around. best part is, she had a blast. lol enjoy



more are here. (hotlinked this time for jeff montgomery, lol)

so i finnaly got to go see rachel this summer, at her house. and it just so happens that the day i went out there, her little niece marrissa was there too. she is 8 years old and loves to ham it up. we went out to eat at rachel's aunt debbie's resaraunt in kurtz, indiana. we ate, and then we walked around town taking pictures and stopping to talk to francis. then we went to the playground a took pictures here. all these were taken with my d70 and my new 50mm prime.

sorry the formatting is crazy. but im too lazy to fix it. see more here
http://www.nikoncafe.com/vforums/showthread.php?t=177456
or here
http://family.webshots.com/album/563116965aNbmlS

so i got my birthday present from elaine on tuesday, even though my birthday isnt until thursday. o crap, its wednesday night and i didnt renew my license. it's now in need of renewal. but anyway, elaine got me a lens i wanted. its the nikon 50mm 1.8 prime. i love it already. its's real sharp, gives me great depth of field, and it was cheap (for a lens that is). so here is a picture of my brother i took today. i like it. anyone want some portaits?


o ya, and here's one i took in the mirror of elaine's car after i got it. it went on the camera before we left the store and i dont think its come off since.

pulled apart by the powers that be

life is unpredictable. very very unpredictable. especially mine here lately. nothing really seems to go as planned. all my plans for the summer never happened...and now instead of a job related to anything i want to so in my career, i am selling gasoline and cigarettes at a gas station. it's a job, but not what i planned, or even expected. nothing just seems to go like i thought it would. there are alot if things in my life that arent going to go as planned. not that it is all bad. there are a lot of good things coming up in my future, but its going to be hard to change some things. i am going to be missing out on a lot of things i really loved and i was really looking forward to. there are benefits to both sides, now its just a matter of deciding which way im suppose to go. i know god is leading me, its just hard to decide which one he wants me to do as opposed to what i want to do. earlier i felt like writing a whole lot. but now i dont, im just kinda in a weird place right now. there are going to be some changes in my life soon, and im just trying to figure out how to deal with them


anyway, i took a whole bunch of pictures today, im at brians and i left my usb cable at home. so they will be posted later. and there are many typing and spelling mistakes in this, but i dont care right now.

slacking on the posting

Well it's been a while since I’ve posted anything. And in listed form here are my lame excuses
1. Time
2. I have to use the crappy pc for the internet right now. I don’t like it
3. Because I have to use this computer, I cannot use my laptop...which I like to type on and hate using this crappy keyboard. Its killing me right now.
4. I usually post things when I stay up all night, and I haven’t done that since I was in Searcy

anyway, here’s stuff I’m going to post about. I had another post mostly written and even typed, but never finished it. One day maybe.

Well I finally got a job. I was hoping to get one related to what I do...like TV or photog or something. I was pretty excited when the greene county daily world told me they would have me take some pictures, but I’m kinda irritated at them right now. I've got 6 pictures published and still haven’t gotten paid. They probably won’t get too many more pictures from me, even after I get paid. But I do have a job now. I'm working with Elaine’s dad at the circle k/shell in Ellettsville. So basically I sell gas and cigarettes to the odd characters you find over in Ellettsville. It’s interesting. A couple people came in today absolutely baked. But hey, it pays.

Ben is in Honduras right now, I’m jealous. He's there with all these cool people, and doing all this cool stuff, and helping out all these cool people. And oh the photographic opportunities. I've been to Tegucigalpa 3 times, and I sooo want to go back. B4 I left school I was talking to a friend from Central America, and she was telling me about another mission in Tegucigalpa that she was helping with, and all it did was make me want to go more. I hate when people tell me I need to stay and make money. I already have more than they do, why can’t I just go help them? I don’t know, but here I sit. Getting frustrated at this keyboard. I’m buying a wireless router next week so I can use my mac. But anyway, check out the blogs from people in duras with been. http://shutterbugf5.blogspot.com/ and http://torchmission.blogspot.com/

anyway, life has been interesting lately. Its good to be home, but it's weird. I don’t know where life is heading right now. Well I do, but I just don’t know how to get there. I don’t know if I’m gonna be at Harding in the fall. I’m looking at other stuff. I’ve sorta made a decision, but I’m still not positive. I dunno. I really love the people I’ve met in Searcy, and I’ve had and still have tons of opportunities there, but there are other things that deter from that. I’ll probably go into more detail later. Once I can stop using this stupid keyboard.

o ya, and I got a new lens...yay! It’s nothing real fancy, at least for anyone who knows much about photography. It’s a Nikon lens, 70-300 f4-5.6 it’s nice and long, which I needed. And it was only 95 bucks from some dude in Pennsylvania. I dunno how to spell Pennsylvania.

And before I give up writing anything of substance because I’m tired, who all reads this? I got that little map thing and see that there’s some that do, I just dunno who? Just in the past few days when I post nothing I see people have looked at it from Searcy, here in southern Indiana, Los Angeles, and like Fort Lauderdale or something. Who are you people? I don’t know too many people from la. Or any that I can think of. o well.

But I’m going to bed, adios. Pray for me, and ill pray for you

im putting this here because it didnt work on facebook. and i want to show people how ridiculus and unprofesional it is. and why they should have given me a paid internship. blast the need for money!

Hello, I'm a Mac

So I’m pretty sure I can’t write a good blog unless It’s the middle of the night, or I stayed up all night. So here we go because I stayed up all night!
So I was up studying for finals last night, and I came back to my room and sat down at the computer for a minute before I took a shower and I found this video. It’s an old apple ad, and since you know how i love my mac, I had to watch it. And i must say it’s sweet. So before you read any more..scroll to wherever on the page it is and read it.
So now hopefully you saw the video. But if you haven’t I’m gonna list what it says.



“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do. “
And through the whole thing they are showing old video of people ranging from einsten to mlk to frank loyd wright to john lennon to amelia aerhat to kermit the frog and jim henson to a bunch of people i couldn’t recognize real easy. It’s cool.

Ok now bringing everyone together so we all know what happens. The point of it is to say that it’s the people that are different that really make a difference. It’s the people that aren’t of the same mold that most often do those significant things. Sorta like the opposite of Hitler. Then I also think they are trying to say that Apple is thinking different from everyone else, and that means they are moving in a better direction than everyone else. But that has no meaning to this blog, so who cares.

But this whole think different thing I really like. Because in many cases it’s true. It has been the people who are not like everyone else that make a difference. Yet, the mac ad missed a whole genre of people who made a difference and weren’t like everyone else: the people from the one and only BIBLE!! Just off the top of my head Jesus, Moses, all the disciples, countless people. Paul comes to my mind now. But that’s mostly because i just took my Acts of the Apostles final. Paul was not thinking like everyone else. In the last few chapters of Acts, Paul is arrested, put in jail, stands trial 3 different times, gets transfered between jails 3 times, and is nearly killed at least 3 times. All this because he believes in that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died and rose again for the forgiveness of our sins, and he wanted to share that with the world. The people he faced didn’t always believe this and they often caused him trouble. But he was thinking differently, not the same as all the people who were opposing him, putting him in jail, and plotting against his life. He made a difference.

Kinda makes you think. With all the people in the world today...people who don’t believe in the same God as you, who don’t have morals, who don’t agree with you...how are you going to react? Are you going to conform, or are you going to make a difference? I know what I want to do.

Think Different.

I love photographs. I love looking at them just as much as I love capturing them. Seeing a single instant captured in time just entrances me. Especially when the image shows emotion. The fact that just a slit second can tell such a story amazes me, and I love it.
So moving on, this afternoon I went to Conway, Arkansas with 3 other guys in my advanced photography class to do a project. We were given a list of things found in any city, and were told to choose a city and take pictures of the things on a list. They were mostly generic things...a statue, a body of water, the most popular attraction in the city, something showing motion, a night shot, something funny..things like that. We had a list of 30 and we had to find as many as we could. Most of them didn’t take too long, and it came around 6 o’clock or so and we decided to stop and eat. We found this very nice (we were completely under-dressed) italian place and ate there. We were there for 2 hours, so we had plenty of time to figure out how many more pictures we needed and decided all we needed was a picture of an old person. That’s all the paper said, a picture of an old person. Being almost 9, we decided we had better find someone in the restaurant because we weren’t going to find many old people out that late. This would obviously prove to be slightly awkward. “Hello sir or mame. I am doing a photography assignment and would you mind if I interrupt your meal in this fine restaurant to take a random picture of you?” uh...no. But we had to do it, so one of the other guys and I decided to get up and leave (after paying of course) and hope that one of the other guys would take the picture. No Luck.
So after walking outside, trying to decide what we were going to do, because none of us wanted to ask anyone in the italian place, I see this guy. He was standing there, leaning up against a building, smoking a cigarette. The lighting was good, there were cool lights down the street, he was old, it was perfect. So ignoring my partners making fun of each other, I approached the dude. I told him I was doing a project, and asked if I could take his picture. He seemed cool with it until I said he should just stand there, act like i wasn’t there, and continue on smoking his cigarette. For some reason the fact that I told him to just keep on smoking offended him or something. He sort of went into defensive mode. “are you serious?” he said. Quickly confused, I was just like, “uh, ya. It’s just for a school project.” I was getting slightly worried that I angered him. He mumbled something about no, not smoking, I won’t have that. So I told him, oh ok. That’s ok, do you still mind if I take a picture without smoking? He grumbled something and said it was fine, so i quickly took it, showed it to him, thanked him, and left. In the end, I came away with a great image, probably the best one from the whole day.

As I walked away I could only wonder about this guy’s story. What was it about the possibilities cigarette and him smoking it in the picture that he didn’t like? There are so many . He could have been smoking since he was twelve but is needing to stop because the doctor told him. Maybe it’s because he is having marital problems with his wife because of smoking, or his kids. Maybe there’s a smoking law in Conway I don’t know about and he didn’t want any proof he was breaking it. For all I know maybe he was just a pissy old man. All I know is that my camera+him smoking=not a happy dude. But I get all that from just one image, taken in 1/6th of a second....

Bee-ee-aaa-youtiful

So in between running around during my even packed day, I found an hour to take advantage of my new camera and the macro adapter it came with. I walked around the front lawn and in front of the student center taking pictures for an hour.










Isn't God awesome?! Even down to the innermost parts of the tiniest flower have so much detail. It's possible that no one will ever again see those parts of those exact flowers, yet each one is a little different. Different with an amount of beauty unimaginable. Looking back at the creation, I can see why God took that 7th day to rest. I think He deserved it.

Guess What Came in the Mail Today!!

So as you can see in my last post. I like many forms of graphics, imaging, and photography. And my interest in photography has grown immensely. So after my (almost) 2 years using the schools DSLR's. I FINALLY got one of my own! The d70 i won on ebay last week finally came in today. I got a great deal on it. I got the camera, a bag, a nikon 28-80 lens, a 2gig card, a wide angle/macro lens adapter, an extra battery, a huge book on the camera, and all the accessories it would come with new. so now I am one happy camper! one happy, photographing camper!

but i had to take the picture of me with the camera in photobooth, i only have 1 camera....

I Love What I Do

For those of you that don't know, my major in college is electronic media production. basically that means that if there is any type of media, that is produced electronically, chances are i have had a hand in it at some point. Television, radio, photography, journalism, web-design, graphic arts...etc. Everything i just mentioned I have, am, or will be doing in school. And I love it. I've worked on countless projects in these things, and I enjoy it immensely. And I enjoy it for many reason. I get to be creative, I get to influence, entertain, and inform people. I get to produce something and have something to show for it, and the main focus of this blog, is I get to meet many people and experience many different things.

Along with being a media junkie, I am a people person. I always made fun of my dad when anytime we go anywhere, he would find someone he knows. I've actually stopped making fun of him for that since the day I got back from my first Honduras trip. We spent most of the day together, and ended up keeping track of how many people each of us saw that we knew. He did ended up seeing more, but for most of the day I was ahead. I just love meeting knew people from all over the world. In the room I'm in know (my dorm), in the past 24 hours, there have probably been people here from about 8 different states. That is definetly something I love about college. I get to meet people from all walks of like. And my involvement in electronic media has directly included that. Just yesterday I helped some latin students shoot a video for future students from latin america. I have no idea what they were saying as it was all in spanish, but now I know several of them. Like Flor from El Salvador (I think that's where she said she was from)

I also love experiencing new things, which is also expanded by my involvement in electronic media. In my 3.8 semesters of college I have filmed basketball and football in dozens of gyms and stadiums, including high school, college, semi-pro, exhibition games, conference games, tournament games, even a couple nationally broadcast games. I've helped film religious videos, intro videos, newscasts, commercials. And that is just video. I've photographed all of that, plus news events, theatrical plays, a mock disaster, portraits. I love doing new things.

Basically, this is the career for me, and I'm glad I chose it. In my short time in the industry, I've met hundreds of people, traveled across the country, and done things very few people can say they have done....and this is only the beginning. Look out media world, there's a tall goofy kid coming your way. Well, I guess you can relax for a while. It's past his bedtime.....



Here's a couple pictures I had Russel take while we were at the Arkansas Twisters Arena Football game tonight. We were shooting for the news.

I told you I've met new people! Ok, so i didn't actually talk to her, we were both busy during the game....but I bet you've never gotten your picture taken with a cheerleader at a football game like this!

Yes, we were right there in front of the action. Yes the players were mere feet from me as I filmed them scores touchdowns. No I did not get trampled. Russel on the other hand didn't have such luck. On one play, the quaterback for Tulsa was tackled as he threw the ball. In the process, the QB and the lineman came tumbling down, rolling towards those of us on the sideline. Many of us had the sense to move out of their way. Russel on the other hand, moved only slightly, thus preventing his knees from being shattered, but not quite far enough to avoid the flailing limbs of the active players. That's right, Russel caught a foot to the crotch, and I was filming the whole time. It was hilarious.

Sleeping Habits Gone Wrong

If you've read my last post, you will know that I stayed up all night working on stuff. While I'm glad i got stuff done, it has really messed up my sleep schedule, although it wasn't great to start with, this isn't helping. I went to bed at 9 o'clock, then woke up at about 2:30 and have been up since. By the time i finish typing this, it will be time to crash...hopefully.

Anyway, after I woke up, I got my computer out and was randomly surfing the internet. It was the normal...check messages at various sites, play some moola games, hang out in a forum or 2, and ofcourse stalking people on facebook. It was that last one that sent me over to youtube, to see a video of Bob Knight. It was an ESPN top-10 countdown of Knight's best quotes. Personally, I am a Bob Knight fan. He does have a good and a bad side, but you have to respect the man. He knows the game of basketball, and knows it the way it should be. His game of basketball is all about discipline, teamwork, effort, and heart. If you are missing one of those things then you won't be playing for Knight. Knight doesn't want a showy player who just wants to look good. He wants a player that will work hard (that is on and off the court) and will follow directions. In the history of Bob Knight's coaching ( a long time) I think there have been a small handful of students not graduate. He stressed the education they were receiving jsut as much as he stressed the game of basketball. You will not find Bob Knight cheating or breaking any rules. Contrary to another former Hoosier coach, Bob Knight will follow regulations by the book. Don't get me wrong, he has a temper and a language that are indescribable, but his motives are in the right place. Reading Steve Alford's book, "My Six Seasons With Coach Knight" and Feinsten's "Season on a Brink" told alot about Bob Knight and his coaching style. Needless to say, I enjoyed those books.

But what does this have to do with anything? It goes back to that youtube video of the top-10 quotes of Bob Knight. I had seen this before, bit i still get a kick out of watching it. (By the way, props to the guy that had to take the time to bleep out the soundbite) The top-2 quotes in the video are defiently my favorite. Number 2 was his opinion on the term "gameface." I cannot even begin to describe this, but it makes me laugh everytime. then the number 1 quote was a statement Knight made in his yearly speech to the students at Indiana University. This speech usually caused Assembly Hall to fill up almost to the same amount as it did for the actual games, and this one in particular was no exception. During his speech, Knight says this, "When my time on earth is gone, and my activities here are past, I want they bury my upside down. So my critics can kiss my..." Well i think you can finish that sentence.

After reading this far, I'm sure you're wondering where I'm going and why on earth this is my favorite Bob Knight quote. The idea, or attitude, that Knight expresses here is something that I tend o agree with. I even try and live my life like this (does this mean i treat Bob Knight as a great philosopher or something?? *shudders*) But in all seriousness, why do we judge what we do by our critics? Do we take what our critics are saying as truth? And if so, how does this make any sense? They are our critics, not our concious. We don't need to be looking at out critics for guidance. If i have a goal in life, I don't care what every other person thinks about it. It's not their goal, it's mine. There are of course other people that influence my decisions, but I don't think that we should 100% use that as a decision maker. I think this is a constant struggle for many Christians. We often let the opinion of others overpower what God wants us to do, when he is the one that knows what is best for us. Bob Knight ignored the critics and coached the game of basketball his own way. As the most winningest coach in NCAA division 1 basketball history, it shows the this method worked out well. So as christians in our daily walks we should not be influenced by the people surrounding the path, but instead by the light leading the way

Psalm 119:105 " Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path."

early morning beginnings

I was gonna start this early this morning when taking a break from working on assignments all night, but i didn't so I'm just gonna act like i did...

So this morning i realized a couple things, and I'm going to start my blog off by sharing them with you. The first one begins last night actually. I started working on the website for class and i just decided to keep working on it all night. So i worked through the night, not always diligently, but i was working. Then at about 6:30 this morning I took off to get my laundry out of the dryer (left it in before curfew) and I realized something. Now this might come as a surprise to some that know me, or you might not even believe me, but I realized that I love being outside in the mornings. I love the comforting isolation, the gentle tranquility, the soothing sound of the birds, and the lack of sound from the street. In the day time around campus there are people everywhere. They're all talking, singing, listening to music, driving their cars around. In the morning none of that is there. It's just you, the birds, God, and nothing else. I always enjoy being out in the early mornings. It's great alone time and allows you to see the beauty of God's creation in a way you can't see in the middle of the afternoon when everyone else is there. Now if only I could experience these times without staying up all night....

The 2nd thing i realized is a bit odd. i realized how little I like clothes. As I was walking to get my laundry (i hate that about clothes. the effort neeed to clean them) I honestly had very little on; a sleeveless t-shirt, sandals, and a pair of athletic shorts. o ya, and my glasses. At first I was a little worried that I was going to freeze on my way to the laundry room, but the cool air was nice, and I was very comfortable. Then I realized the most comfortable I ever am, is laying in my bed in my boxers. But I am most comfortable in small amounts of clothing. Now that I think about it, this whole thing may just be because people don't make clothes that for me. stupid manufacturers.. But anyway, God put this first man on earth with no clothes, and brings every other human into the work like that still. I just get a strange comfort out of it, rather than a bunch of clothes that don't fit right. But don't take this wrong, you're not gonna find me walking around naked anytime, soon. I think I just enjoy being in a space I can call mine, chilling in whatever feels comfortable.

morale of the blog, take time to see the beauty in things. Whether it's the tranquility of an early morning walk or the comfort of clothing (or lack thereof), just don't experience of the same time. and if you thought this was a little weird, gimme a break I didn't sleep last night!