So I have now done my 'workout' 4 nights in a row. Things are looking good for completing the 6 nights this week and I think I will be able to keep it up. I'm a bit worried about the weather getting cold before too long. I think I will have to buy some long sleeve shirts and maybe some tights or something before too long.
I'm very excited. It is so easy to just tell my wife I will be back in 30 mins and run out the door. before I would to have to load the kids into the car, drive 15 min to the gym, spend an hour or more working out, load the kids back in the car and then drive 15 min back home.
I have been running with a playlist comprised of some really good christian hardcore music. Underoath, Showbread, Anberlin to name a few. I will have to post it before too long. I think I will be making a rap playlist also before too long. I think I will put some 'grits' on there and I have recently found out about a band called 'manafest' that sounds pretty good too. Maybe throw on some P.O.D. and some others. who knows.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Let it Begin!! Let it Begin!!
So, Today Oct. 19th 2009 officially marks the begining of my running efforts. In an attempt to save money I cancelled my gym membership and bought a pair of Nike+iPod running shoes. For those of you that aren't familiar with this system, you buy a pair of shoes that have a special cavity built for a sensor. This sensor transmits data to a receiver that is plugged into your iPod and it tells you how long you've been running (both time and distane), how many calories you've burned and can even tell you how many strides you've taken, I think. You can then synch all this with your free Nike + account, where you can also set goals, challenge friends and set up a 'coaching' program to help you get started running, train for events or improve your times and distances.
All in all it is a pretty cool system. I was spending about 60$ a month on the gym between my membership dues and what I paid to drop the kids off at the gyms baby sitting center 3 days a week. I paid 60$ for my shoes and 30$ for the iPod setup. So figuring that you need to replace your running shoes every 300-400 miles, it will be a while before I need to fork out any cash again. Yipee!!!
If you are on Nike+ my user i.d. is spooner04. feel free to add me. :)
All in all it is a pretty cool system. I was spending about 60$ a month on the gym between my membership dues and what I paid to drop the kids off at the gyms baby sitting center 3 days a week. I paid 60$ for my shoes and 30$ for the iPod setup. So figuring that you need to replace your running shoes every 300-400 miles, it will be a while before I need to fork out any cash again. Yipee!!!
If you are on Nike+ my user i.d. is spooner04. feel free to add me. :)
Sunday, August 30, 2009
We've got it good, even on the bad days.
Well,
I"ve been unemployed now for about 8 months. This has definitely been one of the more difficult times in my life. I have a feeling its only going to get worse, before it gets better. Lately I've really been thinking about all of the things I used to be really passionate about. Wondering where they went, why they slipped away.
This started happening recently, when I pulled my trombone out of the garage to try to sell for some extra $$. I hadn't touched an instrument in ten years or so. I used to love playing music more than anything. I loved listening to it. Loved being around it. I played several different instruments. My favorite was the bass guitar, but I also played some piano, guitar, drums and was even known to rock the spoons on occasion.
I think I lost my passion for playing music because I realized that it is very difficult to be successful in music. I saw the path I was on leading to being a Jr. High band director, and that's not where I wanted to go. In general the people in the music department and I did not get along. Marching Band, Orchestra, and Symphony are surprisingly structured. Full of group leaders, section leaders, first chairs, top players, etc. It seemed to me, that the people in those positions had quite a large ego for future band directors, and that really rubbed me the wrong way. I"m sure that many of them are currently employed. I, currently, am not.
As I started out in the profession of Architecture my wife became a Christian, I rededicated my life to Jesus, and we started attending church. It wasn't long before I realized the worthlessness of what I was working on. Not only Architecturally, but eternally. The majority of the most incredible buildings in the world have very little to offer the to kingdom of God. Although they are incredible to look at, they are a testament to man, and have been that way in large part since the beginning of recorded history. Ref. the tower of Babel. : ) Getting laid off and watching the bottom fall out of the architecture market helped speed my withdraw from that field, to say the least.
For a while I was really giving alot of thought to adapting some ideas from school, about highly customizable and portable buildings. Trying to take those and develop them in a way that would allow for a sort of "Habitat for Humanity" for areas in need. Mostly third world countries, but also disaster areas. When I started to think about what these people really needed, It didn't seem to me that my "well designed school portable" was something that would really minister to those people. And I didn't really feel like that was an area that I was meant for.
So, that brings me to my current career position, or lack there of. Unemployed, mildly to moderately depressed. Slightly irritated, though that is not too unusual. : ) Trying to figure out what to do next. For the first time in a long time trying to do something that the Lord would like for me to do. Looking for a way to craft something that can reach people in a way that makes them take a look at who they are, and what they stand for, and why.
I've been seriously considering trying to start doing video production for christian organizations, christian bands and churches. I think I am definitely more of a creative individual, and it seems to me like this is a place where I fit in, and can help things run in the church. I still really have a lot to learn in this area but I think it can work. Its always hard to know what to do though. Always kind of uneasy. I'm hoping to go back to school in January to get my M.F.A. in film, video and digital media. I'm really hoping that it is what the lord has planned, and that my odd sense of humor doesn't get in the way too much.
I don't really care about money too much. Seriously. As long as the bills are getting paid, and we are eating, and I can maybe grab a latte with two brown sugars from starbucks every once in a while, I am happy. I am pretty sure my wife feels the same way. I think that in America we really just have too much. We have so much we don't know what to do with it, so we just toss most of it in the dump. The other day I saw a video about a lady in the middle east somewhere that picks up cow patties and horse crap, sets them out to dry, and then sells them to people to use to heat their homes. So yes, we have a lot. I am thankful for it, every single day.
I"ve been unemployed now for about 8 months. This has definitely been one of the more difficult times in my life. I have a feeling its only going to get worse, before it gets better. Lately I've really been thinking about all of the things I used to be really passionate about. Wondering where they went, why they slipped away.
This started happening recently, when I pulled my trombone out of the garage to try to sell for some extra $$. I hadn't touched an instrument in ten years or so. I used to love playing music more than anything. I loved listening to it. Loved being around it. I played several different instruments. My favorite was the bass guitar, but I also played some piano, guitar, drums and was even known to rock the spoons on occasion.
I think I lost my passion for playing music because I realized that it is very difficult to be successful in music. I saw the path I was on leading to being a Jr. High band director, and that's not where I wanted to go. In general the people in the music department and I did not get along. Marching Band, Orchestra, and Symphony are surprisingly structured. Full of group leaders, section leaders, first chairs, top players, etc. It seemed to me, that the people in those positions had quite a large ego for future band directors, and that really rubbed me the wrong way. I"m sure that many of them are currently employed. I, currently, am not.
As I started out in the profession of Architecture my wife became a Christian, I rededicated my life to Jesus, and we started attending church. It wasn't long before I realized the worthlessness of what I was working on. Not only Architecturally, but eternally. The majority of the most incredible buildings in the world have very little to offer the to kingdom of God. Although they are incredible to look at, they are a testament to man, and have been that way in large part since the beginning of recorded history. Ref. the tower of Babel. : ) Getting laid off and watching the bottom fall out of the architecture market helped speed my withdraw from that field, to say the least.
For a while I was really giving alot of thought to adapting some ideas from school, about highly customizable and portable buildings. Trying to take those and develop them in a way that would allow for a sort of "Habitat for Humanity" for areas in need. Mostly third world countries, but also disaster areas. When I started to think about what these people really needed, It didn't seem to me that my "well designed school portable" was something that would really minister to those people. And I didn't really feel like that was an area that I was meant for.
So, that brings me to my current career position, or lack there of. Unemployed, mildly to moderately depressed. Slightly irritated, though that is not too unusual. : ) Trying to figure out what to do next. For the first time in a long time trying to do something that the Lord would like for me to do. Looking for a way to craft something that can reach people in a way that makes them take a look at who they are, and what they stand for, and why.
I've been seriously considering trying to start doing video production for christian organizations, christian bands and churches. I think I am definitely more of a creative individual, and it seems to me like this is a place where I fit in, and can help things run in the church. I still really have a lot to learn in this area but I think it can work. Its always hard to know what to do though. Always kind of uneasy. I'm hoping to go back to school in January to get my M.F.A. in film, video and digital media. I'm really hoping that it is what the lord has planned, and that my odd sense of humor doesn't get in the way too much.
I don't really care about money too much. Seriously. As long as the bills are getting paid, and we are eating, and I can maybe grab a latte with two brown sugars from starbucks every once in a while, I am happy. I am pretty sure my wife feels the same way. I think that in America we really just have too much. We have so much we don't know what to do with it, so we just toss most of it in the dump. The other day I saw a video about a lady in the middle east somewhere that picks up cow patties and horse crap, sets them out to dry, and then sells them to people to use to heat their homes. So yes, we have a lot. I am thankful for it, every single day.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Not the way I planned on closing out the decade.
If you had told me ten years ago this is how my life would be at 30 I would think you were nuts. I look back and wish I had more of alot of things, direction probably topping the list. I have always been good at alot of things, and I think that has been a burden over the years. Jack of all trades master of none.
I have always admired the big names of the renaissance, Michelangelo, Leonardo, the rest of the ninja turtles, etc. I thought how incredible it was that they were so good at so many things. Da Vinci even coined one of my favorite phrases of all time. How did they do it? How were they so good at so many things, art, architecture, engineering, philosophy. How did they maintain their passion and drive? I have a hard time staying focused on a project, I usually have 3 or 4 going on at a time. I wish I knew more about how these guys were. I wish I knew more about some of the problems they had as creatives and how they overcame them. I guess its time to go buy some books on amazon and read up.
It's very strange being unemployed. First of all it is hard to get anything done while taking care of two kids and trying to keep a house clean. On top of that I don't know what I should do to get things ready for the next step. I don't even know what the next step is. A five year plan would probably help here.
I found out recently that I don't have to go back to school to get my masters degree to get licensed as an architect. Which is pretty awesome. So is that the path I should pursue? I went through architecture school thinking that I would have a decent degree when I got out. Boy was I wrong. I would guess that 80% of the buildings out there are rubbish, which means a large percentage of the architecture firms out there are producing rubbish. I love good buildings, craftsmanship, the way that light bounces around a space, the way that they detailed windows with corbeled brick in the early 1900's. When Louis Kahn says a brick want to be a brick, I understand what he means. But, where does that fit into the reality of today?
We are a nation of cheap, self indulgent, short sighted, consumers, and I may very well be as guilty as the next guy. But, how do we change that? Just because they call it Value-sized doesn't mean it is more valuable. They are just selling you more crap for ten cents less than what it would cost you normally.
I trip out when our neighbor has six bags of trash out on the curb and we only have one or two (okay, so maybe i'm not as guilty as the next guy). Why does a guy that is L.E.E.D certified not have to know anything about L.E.E.D. We should be ashamed of ourselves really. Our self indulgent ways have led us into our current predicaments. In this time of relative truth, I don't think we will ever completely recover.
I have always admired the big names of the renaissance, Michelangelo, Leonardo, the rest of the ninja turtles, etc. I thought how incredible it was that they were so good at so many things. Da Vinci even coined one of my favorite phrases of all time. How did they do it? How were they so good at so many things, art, architecture, engineering, philosophy. How did they maintain their passion and drive? I have a hard time staying focused on a project, I usually have 3 or 4 going on at a time. I wish I knew more about how these guys were. I wish I knew more about some of the problems they had as creatives and how they overcame them. I guess its time to go buy some books on amazon and read up.
It's very strange being unemployed. First of all it is hard to get anything done while taking care of two kids and trying to keep a house clean. On top of that I don't know what I should do to get things ready for the next step. I don't even know what the next step is. A five year plan would probably help here.
I found out recently that I don't have to go back to school to get my masters degree to get licensed as an architect. Which is pretty awesome. So is that the path I should pursue? I went through architecture school thinking that I would have a decent degree when I got out. Boy was I wrong. I would guess that 80% of the buildings out there are rubbish, which means a large percentage of the architecture firms out there are producing rubbish. I love good buildings, craftsmanship, the way that light bounces around a space, the way that they detailed windows with corbeled brick in the early 1900's. When Louis Kahn says a brick want to be a brick, I understand what he means. But, where does that fit into the reality of today?
We are a nation of cheap, self indulgent, short sighted, consumers, and I may very well be as guilty as the next guy. But, how do we change that? Just because they call it Value-sized doesn't mean it is more valuable. They are just selling you more crap for ten cents less than what it would cost you normally.
I trip out when our neighbor has six bags of trash out on the curb and we only have one or two (okay, so maybe i'm not as guilty as the next guy). Why does a guy that is L.E.E.D certified not have to know anything about L.E.E.D. We should be ashamed of ourselves really. Our self indulgent ways have led us into our current predicaments. In this time of relative truth, I don't think we will ever completely recover.
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