selectively colorized slackline
I spent an unreasonable amount of time manipulating this image, and felt it necessary to share.
on bookshelves…
Of all the items commonly found in living rooms, bedrooms, and offices, very few draw me towards themselves the way bookshelves do.
I love bookshelves.
If someone is giving me the grand tour of their place, I often get stuck the moment I reach a bookshelf, and miss out on a large portion of the remaining tour. But it doesn’t stop there. It doesn’t have to be a bookshelf I’ve never seen before. I can spend lots of time looking at bookshelves I’ve already studied countless times before. The one that most readily comes to mind is Aaron Hendrick’s office bookshelf (pre and post The Duty Reorganization). Every time I went into that office — the office of a man I love and with whom I love spending time — I’d stare at his wall-sized bookshelf while we talked. Sometimes I’d just stare at it and we wouldn’t talk at all.
I love bookshelves.
I think that bookshelves say a lot about the person who put them together. Not only can you see what books/ type of books that person likes to read likes to make people think they like to read, you can also see how that person chooses to organize said books. I think that part is my favorite of all.
In college and in Dallas 1.0, I always organized my bookshelf categorically. Books I adored on top, decent to pretty good Christian books below, lame Christian books below that, and school related books at the bottom. My current bookshelf (pictured above) features less than 30 books arranged alphabetically first by author, then by title. The organizational options are endless.
I love bookshelves so much that I felt my Loft incomplete without one, so I put one in above my newly installed desk. The Loft is now complete, so too is this post.
If you also find yourself unreasonably attracted to bookshelves or any other household item, feel free to share your affinity with the masses. This is a safe place.
Songwriting Club: Phone Book Song
Today is the inaugural Songwriting Club song unveiling. As you may recall, the theme this time around was phone books. As promised, I’m putting myself at the mercy of the masses by sharing my lyrics with you. And though I’d love to say that “I wrote it in like fifteen minutes… and… I wasn’t planning on unveiling it, but…” — I can’t. I spent significantly longer than 15 minutes on it, and it is finished, ready to be read and critiqued by any and all who choose to oblige. And with that said, the introductory paragraph concludes and you’re faced with the meat of the post.
The Least of Books
Available Biannually
On your front door’s mat for free
Only within days to be
Disposed of carelessly
The least of books am I
Not found in bookstores
Or libraries for
The least of books am I
Useful but obsolete
Current but outdated
My life story soon complete
My pages soon deflated
The least of books am I
Not found in bookstores
Or libraries for
The least of books am I
“Unnecessary” some would say
And others “non-essential”
But I would argue them away
With booster chair potential
The least of books am I
Not found in bookstores
Or libraries for
The least of books am I
There you have it: The first of what I hope to be a long list of songs written for the Songwriting Club.
Some (none) have inquired as to whether or not a recording of this piece will ever be shared online, and the answer to that is almost certainly no. I’m not so sure these songs are going to be recorded. Though, there is a small chance they will be, and if that’s the case, I miiiiiiight let you hear it.
bare feet on barefoot grass
… yet another reason to come out and enjoy Summer Salsa.
Addison & Spectrum
Among the intersections in the Dallas area that I’ve enjoyed unfair amounts of fun over the past few years, few are able to compete with the Bermuda-grass-filled area between Addison Circle and Spectrum Drive in Addison!, Texas.
Eleven months ago I blogged about the wonders of July Jazz, a weekly set of free summer concerts in a suburb just northwest of Dallas. I learned of these beautiful community gatherings last year mid-way through the summer, and I submit that my entire view of Dallas was changed from that point on. The goings on on summer weekends in Addison Circle defy many of Dallas’ negative stereotypes… but I’m getting ahead of myself.
This year I entered another Dallas summer more prepared than summers prior. A quick visit to Addison!’s 2008 Special Events Calendar informed me that I didn’t have to wait until July for music in the park. Friday evenings in June boast an excellent event called Summer Salsa that rival July Jazz in awesomeness. The rules are the same (bring your own blankets, food, and drinks, and the setting and music are provided), but the sounds are have a Latino flavor.
Hundreds of people, ages 2 to 82, show up to these concerts each weekend. I’m proud to be one of them. The feel of these gatherings is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in Dallas. When friends from out of town have come to visit, they often say that the gaterings between Addison and Spectrum make them forget that they are actually in Dallas.
For the three hours while the band is playing (and the hour or two thereafter), gone are the worries of the 9 to 5 rat race that so defines this city. People of every racial background show up and enjoy one another, along with the afore mentioned food and drink. Africans, Americans (North, South, Latin), Asians, Indians, and others all join together harmoniously, forming a beautiful snapshot of what our society could be.
And people dance. Not bump and grind, pop lock and drop, ghetto fantastic dancing either. Salsa dancing! By the time the sun goes down, if you aren’t dancing, you are in the minority. Many of these dancers aren’t exactly good either, which shows that they don’t care what others around them may be thinking. This is not common from what I’ve seen of Dallas.
While these and other activities are simultaneously taking place in Esplanade Park, my friends and I sit just East of Spectrum Drive, where the crowds are slightly less dense, and enjoy all that these summer nights have to offer. The view isn’t the best, but in the way of people watching its hard to beat.
So thank you, dear Addison!, for providing your residents and those who reside nearby with such an enjoyable event. I dare say I haven’t enjoyed summer nights this much since my childhood. It is events like these that keep me from making fun of you for having an exclamation point permanently attached to your city’s name.
front yard
The back yard isn’t the only yard in these parts with treasures. The front yard boasts a few of it’s own.
Songwriting Club
Not long after I started playing guitar a decade ago, a desire was birthed in me to not only become able at guitar playing, but also to write original songs to ably play on that guitar. I’ve only successfully (used very loosely) written one song in those ten years, and I did so because I was issued a challenge by Matt Graham to write a Christmas song (an edict inspired by Sufjan Stevens). That song went on to be played in both of the only two shows the Christmas Unit of Family Singers ever played. Not since those wintry nights of intense musical fusion have any D.O. originals been heard.
Not long after I moved back to Dallas and into the room that once belonged only to Scott, I learned that he too had an unfulfilled desire to write songs. He’d thrown some lyrics together here and there in the past, but nothing that ever really amounted to a 2 and half minute coherent musical thought.
Then, a few weeks ago, as if by divine providence, I came across a little gem on the Rabbit Room by one of my favorite living songwriters, Andrew Peterson. He wrote about a group of which he’s a part called The Weaklings, which encourages (yea, even requires) it’s members to write a song on a set topic in a given amount of time, in an effort to increase their already well-developed skill. Their group is inspired by a group called the Inklings, whose members included such folks as J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis.
So, inspired by these and other great talents, Scott and I decided to force ourselves to write a new song each week. We immediately decided that a song a week was a bit too ambitious, and lowered the bar to a song every two weeks. We told a select few of our friends about the idea, and they verbally committed to the group. So with that, the Songwriting Club was formed.
And Songwriting Club’s first topic: Phone books.
Now that Songwriting Club has a topic, we also have a dead line. June 23rd will find us gathering around with our guitars and unveiling songs to one another. And if you’re lucky, you might get to hear (or at least read) the fruits of my labor on that day as well, though I make no promises.
If anyone feels inspired to join this non-elite group from far off, registration is currently open. Come ready with your phone book song on the 23rd.
(Creativity has the potential to inspire creativity, it seems)
things I love: Internet edition
As I was doing my daily Internet routine today I knew that a blog update was in order, but I wasn’t exactly sure what to write about. Then it hit me. Right there at the top of my web browser. I looked up there and saw so many things that I love about web browsing that I just had to share it with the masses.
I’ll hit the main points of things pictured above from top to bottom, left to right, in bulleted format. Take these bullets as recommendations for your own personal time on the World Wide Web.
Before I get to the bullets though, you need to know that this particular browser is called Firefox. It is, in my opinion, the best broswer available, and it’s free. If you are still using Internet Explorer, please, please, please, do yourself a favor and download Firefox. (I happen to know that over 40% of you guys are using IE… even worse, half of those are using IE6… unacceptable). Other worthy browsers are Opera and Safari, but like I said, Firefox takes the cake. Make it your default web browser. You won’t be disappointed. Ok, may the dorkiest post odfm’s ever seen continue here with the bulleted list! You might even want to embrace the dorkiness by clicking the screen shot above for a better view.
- The first thing you’ll see that you may not recognize is the red stop sign with the letters “ABP” inside. This is AdBlock Plus, one of hundreds of extensions that you can add to your firefox to make it faster, nicer looking, or just cutomized to your taste. This particular extension literally blocks every ad on the web. If you’ve got pop up ad problems or are just tired of flashy ads embedded in various pages (of which myspace is the worst), get Firefox, and get the AdBlock Plus extension.
- In the bar directly below the ABP stop sign you’ll see a series of favicons. These are my favorites, my most visited sites. These, once set, make Internet life much, much easier and more efficient.
- To the right of the favicons is a light-weight delight called Forecast Fox. It’s weather, configured however you please, complete with a radar, if you like.
- The entire bar below the favicons and Forecast Fox is an extension Thomas introduced me to called the Web Developer Toolbar. If you aren’t into web design, you really don’t need this. If you are (or want to be), get this. Its excellent.
And now for the goodies you can enjoy with or without firefox (but seriously, there’s no reason that you shouldn’t be using firefox).
- Tabbed browsing! I seriously cannot imagine life without tabbed browsing. Actually, I can… its terrible. The computers at work are essentially still in Web 1.0, and I have to open a new window instead of opening new tabs. The benefits to tabbed browsing are countless, but I trust that most of you are already using them, so I won’t go into any detail. I’ll just let you know that (in firefox) you can press Ctrl+T and start typing what you’re looking for, press Enter, and bam. You’re there. It’s nothing short of wonderful.
Of the tabs I have open, we have…
- Gmail. An excellent place to handle all your emailing needs. You can label, archive, and delete emails with great ease. I know everyone thinks that their email set up is the best, but the fact is, if you’re not using Gmail, you’re wrong.
- Google Calendar. Consider this the 21st century version of the Day Runner. An advantage to having Google Calendar versus keeping only a calendar on iCal or Outlook is that you can access it from any computer with Internet access. Also, you can sync your existing iCal or Outlook Calendars with Google Calendar.
- Google Reader. I’ve talked about this a couple times before. If you aren’t already saving time on the web using this rss reader, please, please do. This is even more important than you switching to firefox (though only by a hair).
- Google Docs. This is nice for having documents (again) at your finger tips as long as the computer you are at has Internet access. It’s also super helpful if you are working with other people on a paper or a spreadsheet. It will update documents on your screen as your co-worker updates it on theirs. A lot of people won’t have a ton of need for this feature, but it’s nice nonetheless.
And finally, an honorable mention and a conclusion…
- Google Maps. I cannot believe that other map sites even exist any more. With features like Streetview and Traffic… there is simply no need for any other mapping website. You can even modify the directions it gives you by simply dragging the path.
So there you have it. I hope that you learned something and I honestly don’t expect anyone to have read this whole thing. It got a bit long. If you did make it, please share some of the hidden (or not hidden) treasures that you enjoy about your Internet time.
first burn of the summer
This post is really nothing other than an attempt to further kill my pride by showing a picture of my absolutely terrible sunburn. Not terrible in the sense that it will undoubtedly lead to skin cancer or in the sense that it is unbelievably painful.
No, the picture says it all really. You see Colby’s strawberry colored (and shaped) back next to Matt’s evenly burnt back. And then there’s my leporic flesh on the end. Why is that a shot to the pride you ask? Well…
Its not like I, for the first time this summer, suddenly ended up with pale skin. No, pasty skin has been one of my defining characteristics for each of my 24 years. I usually joke about how white I am, saying that I’m basically see-through and that I can get burned by simply walking to my car in the parking lot. Faithful readers will remember the great lawn mowing burn of ‘05 (and the most wheels-off comment from a stranger odfm has ever seen that followed). I’m no stranger to summers of SPF 50 followed by layers and layers of Aloe Vera gel thereafter. That’s why this burn is so humbling.
See, I put sunscreen on before our 2 hour 15 minute volleyball outing on Sunday. Problem is… I put it on my body after I had just mowed the yard, which made for a very wet canvas for the vanishing white paint. Deep down I knew better, but I went ahead and let it slide. The result: a splotchy, not so easy on the eyes sunburn that, though less painful that Colby’s, is evidence of a rookie mistake from a guy who should be varsity in the sunscreen application arena.
Here’s to a yet another summer in Texas.