Everybody is getting in on the fun

I just watched Family Guy on Hulu (maybe not super proud of it) but here they have Stewie in Nazi Germany with the uniform and all.

Whoops, there's something on his lapel

...

The Treehouse Sessions

Today I had the privilege to hang with three wonderful sisters of mine and go take pictures of them. They really were a bunch of pals and wanted to try some neat stuff and let me try some neat stuff. It was really exciting to just try stuff and see how it would turn out. I did a similar activity with these girls last year, and I'd say this year's product is about 2 times better. The autumn weather was perfect for this and the colors were superb in my opinion. So, these are some early teaser-ish images. I'll roll out the rest sometime soon I hope, but I wanted to get these out now. Let me know what you think!

The Girls

I call this one Peek-a-Boo

Bekah in the leavesAnd this is Sarah Blue Eyes. It has already gotten some serious love on flickr.

Flickr Stats

Wow, I love watching my flickr images and seeing how many views they get, etc.

Today, my image of the new bell tower on campus had 274 views yesterday, which was ridiculous compared to any amount of views I had in the past on any image. In one day, it got more looks than any 5 of my other pictures combined. The content sure helps pass this one along. Keep pressing me on towards lots of views on this classic U of I prank.

The Dark Night of the Soul

In my circles, this phrase, the "dark night of the soul," refers to a time when we are stuck, feeling lonely in the middle of the night, or in a time when our soul feels covered in darkness. It had been used to describe loneliness. How limited the English language is though, that we would only see this interpretation.

The phrase actually emerges from St. John of the Cross, and it is a poem that he wrote in the 16th century. While listening to a podcast today, it was brought to my attention that this writing is more about John's time at night with God and how powerful and good an experience it was. Perhaps this thought process needs to be looked at more. Jesus often withdrew to lonely places while it was still dark, and I think there is a seriously amazing connection that can be made with God through the quite and still of the night. It also can be the time when the best conversations are had, and in many ways, I think it ends up being a double edged sword time. Yes, night is a time in which scary and evil things happen, but it is also a time for potentially fantastically forming times with Our Father and each other.

So, in this light, I really do look forward to more dark nights of my soul.

Ironic much?

Presumtuous President Obama needs to get his messages clear. You can't go and tell kids to stop playing video games and then advertise for your campaign in them. I mean, I suppose it is a brilliant advertising strategy and he's taking advantage of every opportunity through his campaign. I mean, what better way to get kids to vote than to tell them to in a game, and then to tell them to stop playing the games to go do so. Maybe he could get a kill-switch implemented to make sure those kids who saw his advertisements while pwning n00bs go out and vote on election day.

Impressed by MacBook

OK,

I suppose I should weigh in on the new MacBook (because I'm a tool I own the previous version). I'm impressed by this video, as they take the time to talk about manufacturing processes. As a Mechanical Engineering student, and a guy who does enjoy manufacturing, I'd say that this is a really neat process to look at. The first half of the video or so talks about that. This also is one of the reasons you pay more for a Mac. That sort of process requires a lot of capital to create. Regardless, I would applaud this company for taking the two eye perspective to design. They have always cared about aesthetics as of late, but I'd say they have finally expressed their love for engineering, which is a big deal in my book. They've shown they are a company more out to meet many people's desires and needs.

I guess this comes a long way from my posts joking about Apple, and I still will joke about them, because they are a company, and I can do that, but...this is impressive.

And to you Mr. Jobs...show us more 'how it's made.' I'd love to see it.

Gradumication

So, I got a letter today from the University informing me of my ability to graduate in December and that if I wanted to walk in the ceremony, I needed to sign up soon. Anyway, that is just one more thing making this whole graduating thing quite the reality. OH, and why does it cost an arm and a leg to rent a gown? I could buy a blue sheet for a lot cheaper...

Other News

Watched the presidential debate. I feel pretty confident that with either man in the White House, that I will still wake up the next day and hope that God is working in my life. I can't speak completely as to who was better in the debate though...I guess I'm more of a political outsider (LOL), because I thought it was close, but polls suggest Obama easily won. How do you win a debate? It shouldn't be based upon eloquence, but issues...right?....right??

In the Summers Home Fellowship (my church small group) we are reading a Psalm a day for the next 14 days. The first Psalm was read today. I'll try to at least comment on them so I have some practice thinking about them and writing about them over the course of these two weeks.

An open letter to the Illini

Benn on the Return, originally uploaded by | Orthogonal Photography |.

Dear Illini,

I'll make this brief. You make me hurt with confusion. I'd prefer if you guys picked a style of program you'd like to be. Do you want to be bad or do you want to be good? You have the potential to be either, and I'd love to see you go the good way, but if you want to go the bad way, could you please let me know, so I don't have to think about plans for bowl games in December or January, watch you play and embarrass me, or brag about how good you'll be to my friends. I don't care how many records you set as a team, I'd just like to see a lot of wins or losses. Congrats Juice on throwing for a bajillion yards the last two weeks, but you only won one game. I know how hard it is to win, trust me, I come from Clinton High School, but please play up to your potential. And coaches, don't call stupid plays on the goal line. Finish what you started as a team.

Anyway, I love you guys, but it is a tough love today. Please make up your mind. I'd love to continue to support you into the Bowl Season, but you have to uphold your end of the agreement. That means don't win big at a tough place to play and then lose to conference doormats at home. Please win both of these games. You have a chance to stay in this thing. Just beat those dang Hoosiers.

OK, are we good now? I look forward to your response on Saturday night.

-Alan

Growing a Pear

The other day, while in Home Fellowship, someone said that a character in the Bible needed to "grow a pear." I was very intrigued by this idea. It seemed like the imagery was very interesting and was perhaps even a modern usage of terminology to describe Scripture.

The way I understand "Growing a Pear" is that a person must be patient and faithful to a task, no matter how little or big. This means from the time that one plants a tree all the way to nourishing it to picking that pear. All that work for the satisfaction of growing one pear, or maybe even a pair of pears. You do all that work and achieve a fantastic goal, but you get even more than you expected, as a tree will bear many pears. This seems to be a fantastic phrasing and I was encouraged by it. I will continue to work towards the day when I "grow a pear."
Other News

Today, if you pick up Buzz Magazine, you will find the cover story to be about painters. The article is accompanied by my photos, despite the fact that is says they are by Isaac Bloom. They are definitely mine, and you can find the article with the pictures online as well.

Totally Off the Cuff

In the midst of this 'financial crisis,' does anybody see the potential analogy between Barack Obama and FDR...

On a more thought out mindsent, I am somewhat excited about this crisis. It means that we must start to question our faith in our government and economy. These two things will never be able to fully satiate our thirsts. They sure help us, but they are within this world, and will ultimately let us down. I hope the imagery and truth from this situation with our economy opens a lot of eyes to the truth about our condition as humanity...

LHC Rap

Fall Retreat Pictures

Hey all. Fall Retreat pictures are up on Flickr now. All 200 of them. Feel free to peruse at your leisure. (Just click the pic)