guitar sketches

Here’s a new discipline I’m trying to start.  I really want to record music and write songs but I often don’t know where to start.  This is very similar to the frustrations I had in college trying to start an architecture project.  I think the vastness and complexity of the final product paralyzes me at the beginning.  Well, taking a lesson from my design classes, I decided to start sketching little pieces of music.  Hopefully this will get me primed for FAWM.  Simple rules: sketches must be less than a minute and include no more than 8 tracks.

My first three can be played in the box.net widget to the right.

Addicting Game #319

Here it is. After 5 minutes my top score floats around 1700m. 2436m. 2860 Yep.

Good luck.

Camera Phone Stories

I haven’t posted in a while so I thought it would be fun to put up some of the photo’s I’ve shot over the last six months or so on my camera phone.  I don’t think any need explaining.  I’ll consider it a visual tweet.  My hope is for the comment section to include your creative captions….go.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Brian.  Well a couple hours ago at least.  To show my appreciation for my amazing brother-in-law I’m breaking my unintentional blog fast.  Here’s to a great guy with a great beard and a great family.  You’re pushing 30 my friend.  Just tonight I told some people I was 28, and that was a lie.  I’m actually 27.  It wasn’t intentional, but maybe because it was your birthday I subconsciously willed myself older so that we could be closer, even if it was just in my mind.

Tonight I gave the first Big Friday (that’s what I call it, there isn’t a formal name for it) talk.  At least three times during it I was tempted to take a break and have the whole group of InterVarsity students there sing you happy birthday.  That’s how engaging the talk was…well, hopefully not.  But I chickened out.  Although, considering the time difference, it may not have been that pleasant of a shout out.  My guess is you were in bed.  Hopefully.

On with the tribute:

I think you’re a great friend.  You’re open and honest and have a servant’s attitude.  Tonight my talk was about the attributes of love as listed in 1 Corinthians 13.  You are definitely patient.  You are certainly kind.  You don’t boast.  You don’t seek your own.  I know you sacrifice on a regular basis.  In the good way, not the weird cultish way.

I think you’re a great father.  Henry is going to be an awesome guy.  Whenever I see a Christian book on how to be a man, I shudder inside just a little bit because they are almost always misogynistic either subtly or blatantly.  I pretty much refuse to read them.  I prefer to just look at my friends and often I see something that I can’t quite explain, but I think, that’s what a man should be like.  You are like that.  I think Henry isn’t going to have any trouble growing up into an awesome man because he’ll have a great example.

You’re a generous husband.  You put your family’s needs before your own and I know that’s not always easy.  You’ve been an amazing support and encourager to your wife.  You’ve persevered, and you will continue to.  You’re real about the fact that caring about other people isn’t always that easy, and acknowledging that is both humble and wise.

You’re a yogi.  Not just for reals but in many physical active type things.  I respect your mad racquetball skills and your ability to bust out the twisting triangle pose.  Also your Sports Center aptitude.

You’re an artist.  That may sound a little weird, but you see the world and it’s beauty in a way that only some do.  You also see the crap, but your fascination with the beauty is truly artistic.  I eagerly await your creative expressions.

You enjoy a good beer.

You’re a gypsy of sorts.  Sure you’ve physically moved around, but I also mean that you’re somebody who I think will always be between.  I think you can come to love a place, but because you know other places are also wondrous, you won’t ever be done exploring the next thing.  I think that’s how all people who understand that this place we are isn’t the final version.

There it is, just a few reasons I’m happy to have a brother.  Now I’m going to change the date on this so it looks like I actually got it done on your real birthday.  Eh, forget it.  Everybody, it was yesterday.  I missed it by two hours here, four hours there.  Hope it was great.

Bos Update C:

Pictures as promised to follow…

We’ve been studying Nehemiah as our main text for our team.  Each week we look at a new chapter while trying to keep the continuity of the narrative intact.  God has really blessed us with the story of Nehemiah and so far it’s been a blue-print for our experience here (pardon the extreme summaries).  The first chapter is all about Nehemiah learning of the state of Jerusalem and responding through prayer and a broken heart.  Chapter two is his plan and bold ask to the King to allow him to go rebuild and then close inspection of the walls upon his arrival.  The third chapter brings opposition from the powers around Judah.  The fourth chapter sees conflict and oppression from within the Jewish community.  Nehemiah is an amazing leader and prayer warrior.  Each week as we’ve read on in the story of Nehemiah we see ways that God is using the text to speak to us hear.  For many on the team it was a huge risk to come on this trip.  Many parent’s aren’t too excited to sent their kids to Bosnia. “Isn’t there war there?” (For one student in particular, Charlene, we’ve had to continue to go before the authorities to ask permission to allow her to come with us.  Just today Nicole went with her to the Croatian embassy and pleaded over and over for them to allow her to submit for a visa so she can debrief with us.  Many times they said “no” or that we don’t have exactly what they want, but eventually they come around.  It’s looking good, not there yet, but looking good.) There is plenty of opposition to God’s “rebuilding” in Bosnia.  We face our own conflict within our community.  We are thankful for the model of Nehemiah who is often before God in specific prayer.

As I write this I am in the 9th floor (girl’s) apartment because once again we are locked out of the 15th floor (men’s) apartment.  After the open-mic night the team put on Tina and I arrived to find all the men outside the apartment door saying the lock wouldn’t turn.  After a couple hours of exhausting what little brain power we had, we gave up and slumber partied at the Bauer’s apartment and here.  The next day the locksmith came.  The company name: Hudini (although both guys that came had shirts on that spelled it differently.)  He was able to get in and temporarily fix the door, but said the problem would happen again if a part inside wasn’t replaced.  We decided to wait for the landlord to make the decision (and hopefully pay).  But, here we are on Tuesday now and we’re locked out again.  I think the landlord is in town now, so maybe this will all get worked out.  Fun side note: This time we’re locked out around 10am instead of midnight.  That means our cook has to use the 9th floor apartment.  Turns out we didn’t have all the pans and bowls that she needed, but with the help of some of the EUS staff we’ve got that under control.  Next step: plates….anybody?

I have been proud of the way our students are engaging and initiating with Bosnians.  I continue to wrestle with the tension between leading by example and stepping to the side to allow the students to work.  I think that pastoring and leading may not be the exact same thing, although there is plenty of overlap.

That’s all you get for now, enjoy the pictures.  Hopefully we’ll be able to update from Croatia.  Ciao.

You’ll see the night view from our room, Senad giving a little history lesson about the city, Nicole leading one of the English conversation groups, and our wonderful friend: Espresso.

Bos Update #2

There are six of us who wake up to run this morning; a mile and a half up the river then cross the ancient Latin bridge where World War 1 began with the assasination of Franz Ferdinand by a Bosnian Serb college student. Carlos and I walk about as much as we run the three miles. After letting our cook and her son in the apartment to start lunch we head over to EUS (ay-ōs) for our second Bosnian lesson of the week. This time Albin is our teacher. He is a quiet but witty Bosnian who attends seminary in Croatia. Hajmo na kafu (Lets go for coffee). On the way back we detour around the foot bridge that was open on the way over. Our round trip walk gets pushed to over two miles making us late for lunch. Deron’s adopted motto comes to mind: “T.I.B.” This Is Bosnia.

“Dobar dan,” we recite as we greet Dinka and the wonderful chicken and potatoes she has created for all 15 of us. Well, actually only 14. Tina left with Deron and Rob Dixon before Bosnian lessons to visit the other team in Zenica and then to Banja Luka, a possile future project city in the Republik of Srbska.

Enisa, the head EUS staff shows up as we are finishing lunch to update us on the status of our housing. We’ve been enjoying our apartments which we’re previously held by a Campus Crusade team. Unfortunately there is a policeman who isn’t fond of EUS and is causing problems. It has something to do with the landlords, both of which live in neighboring countries, and now have to present the original lease to the authorities in the next 24 hours. The details are not clear to us but there is the possibility that we will have to move out and find new housing. We pray that doesn’t happen, but T.I.B.

Now some of us are our having coffee with Bosnians we have met. One student is out with Nicole and an EUS staff looking for some sinus medication. Others of us are resting before we head back to EUS for the English Conversation Club at six with coffee and conversations to follow.

Just a typical Srijeda (sree-yā-dah Wednesday) for us. Each day has its slight variations, but you get the gist of it.

Pictures coming soon.

Bosnia Update #1

We’ve made it.  We had a rather blessed uneventful trip into Sarajevo on Wednesday night and have almost adjusted to the time difference.  On Thursday we met up at the EUS (Evangelical Union of Students / Our InterVarsity counter part) office to be sent out two by two to the different university buildings around the city to meet Bosnian students.  That’s right, less than 24 hours after landing we jumped right in.  The amazing benefit of that is like jumping into a cold pool; we get over our fear of the unknown and begin to get used to the culture around us.  There we’re plenty of awkward conversations and many mistakes in communication, but friendships were started.  The goal of our plunge was to set a tone for engagement and our students soaked it up.  A practical goal was to take a survey of the Bosnians to see which activities they would be interested in doing which will inform how we plan the next month.

Small detail: We planned to show up and teach English classes all three weeks, all week long.  Due to a number of factors those plans have been all but tossed.  Welcome to missions.  We are thankful for our hosts and their many prayers that have led them to head in a different direction.  We believe and trust that God is doing a new thing in ministry here and we are excited to be a part of it.  So, what are we doing?  Well, tomorrow all the staff are getting together to look over the surveys that our students took and plan events / classes / seminars for the next three weeks leading up to camp.  We’re still going to be spending the majority of our time having kafa (coffee) with Muslim students and building relationships to share the gospel.  However, instead of the contact point being them coming to English classroom, it’s us going to them either directly like the surveys, or through the Bosnians we’ve met bringing their friends to our events.  We are excited that our students will be developing skills (organizing and planning events, inviting people they’ve never met, crossing cultures, being vulnerable, etc) that will definitely be useful back home on campus.

Many students told stories of how they were nervous at first to just walk up a Bosnian and start talking to them.  There was plenty of failure.  But everyone came back having had at least one great conversation and a definite contact to take to coffee later.

Pray that we will serve the ministry here well and connect many new Bosnian students to the Christian community.

away we go

We leave in under an hour to head to the airport for our flight to Bosnia. In a last minute switch I am taking my computer with us, so I should be able to keep you all updated more regularly, but no promises.

I’m excited about our team, especially the ten going with us to Sarajevo. They are very teachable and have lots of energy. However, they are also less mature than the team we took last year. They’re college students, but they are young college students. This has the potential to be amazing or super problematic. Let’s pray for the former, eh?

If you are interested, I may be able to update more often, albeit in shorter bursts, with my twitter account. You should be able to see the updates here on the top right, but can also follow me “heylovie” on twitter if you’re in to that.

And away…

bears

I love bears.  Here’s a video of a bear we saw while camping in the Sequoia National Forrest.  That static sound is the river behind me.  I prefer to camp in places where there are few people, even if it means there aren’t any “facilities” and I’m bummed I haven’t gone more often.  We stayed in Lodgepole Campground.  Even though it was huge, over 150 campsites, they were mostly spaced out enough to feel like we were in the woods.

Future posts from Bosnia to follow.

this is how I’m white

I love REI.  I like to think that I don’t care about fashion or image like “those” people, but today I went into Dick’s Sports Authority Chalet and tried every which way to justify in my mind paying over $100 for a North Face killer fleece.  Honestly, I want the label.  I could care less about Armani, mostly because it’s way out of my price range and therefore pretentious.  But North Face is just out of my reach, I mean, it’s right there, teasing me, tempting me, telling me how much better of an outdoorsmen I’d be if only my clothes said North Face, or Marmot, which I think is the less pretentious North Face.  North Face is for Yuppies though, I tell myself.  North Face is for those looser, wannabe campers from the city who can only light a fire with a duraflame and a $30 zippo.  It’s for the pretenders, the fancy people who think of camping as a hobby.  For people who don’t crap in the woods. (Finally found where that stupid Pope in the woods joke comes from…thanks uncyclopedia specifically here, some content inappropriate)  But it’s also for the serious people who climb Everest.  And maybe that’s where my heart, well, ego, gets courted.  Somewhere deep down in there I’m the little camper who wants to be taken seriously and thinks that if I have the right branded equipment it’ll convince me of having what I really want, which is actual confidence.  How do you get that?  Anyone?

Hmm.  On a lighter note: a follow up to my last post.  This is also very, very bad.  I’m embarrassed and just plain appalled.  I want to simultaneously make fun of someone and vomit.