i’m sitting in the denver airport… they have free wireless… only it won’t let me on the network. AT&T apparently hates my macintosh. i even tried calling their “care team” 800 number. the dude was clueless… apparently they don’t “care” about mac-users. oh well, i suppose free wireless that doesn’t work is still, in theory at least, better than charging me for it like detroit tries to do. brand new airport… and they can’t spare some wifi? i mean seriously… do they have to charge you for everything? they already rape you on food prices once they have you trapped waiting for your (delayed) flight… the least they could do is let you check your email without charging you for it. $7 for 24 hours of wifi… OR i could just hate detroit. i’ll go with door #2. whatever the case… i’m just typing this now to post later.

i’m tired… but rested. tired only in the sense that i could use a little bit of sleep because we were up late last night after josh and amanda BENEDICT’s wedding reception and then up early to get to the airport. (by the way… the denver security checkpoint system is horrible… a lesson in inefficiency.) but i am rested. this vacation has been as close to perfect as anything i’m involved with could be. i’m really excited to get back to SC and work. to change a few things. i’ve had much time to think, clearly and objectively… and filter through some wise counsel from expected (and unexpected) places during the week. things i’ve decided:

1.) time to start saving for a new vehicle. i love the trooper and all… but i can’t drive anywhere outside of anderson without thinking it will break down/overheat/blow up. time to really start saving. (being in colorado for almost a week… land of vehicles for folks like me, definitely put it in my head.)

2.) time to finally join the gym again. i’m tired of being self conscious about my body. it’s a waste of time and energy…

3.) organize, organize, organize at work. granted, organization is my weakness… everybody who knows me has to know that… if they pay attention. so it’s also time to ask for help and stop being so stubbornly prideful about doing everything myself.

4.) i have a to-do list… now i need a stop-doing list. there are things that are draining my energy and taking my attention and focus away from what i do best… i need to ditch those things… quickly.

not bad for a week of thinking and relaxing. i’ll take it.

…Josh Boston.

“Right justify is the new outer glow neon layers. Pass it on.” Design satire makes me smile quite big.

oh yeah… new york city polaroids… now that’s my kind of photography.

So there’s this monsoon outside right now. And i’m supposedly helping out with a Scavenger Hunt for one of our Home Groups tonight in Clemson. Anybody got some spare galoshes?

Post soaking… I believe we’ll be seeing The Village. (please… don’t… suck.)

It’s official… I absolutely cannot stop listening to this Gorillaz album Laika Come Home. Imagine british-reggae-lo-fi-dub-electronic. Or something. Whatever the case, nothing can stop my head bob in the office today.

Mcd is apparently frightened… Salina is apparently amused by both of us… and I am, as always, there with my trusty camera to attempt to capture it all. Note the large glass of Coca-Cola Classic, sans ice, in front of me. Yes, ma’am. Our trip to Atlanta last weekend was filled with insights (see some previous posting), laughter, good music, picture-taking, more laughter, good food, relaxation, and, just for some variety, some more laughter. Ah… vacation. Soak it in while you can, people.

Last night, Mcd and I headed to Clemson for a bit of Mellow Mushroom Pizza action… so tasty… and he managed to snap the most adorable picture of the most adorable little girl peaking in the window at us. An absolute moment of beauty. And then… my stomach rebelled against me for eating pizza. It seems I no longer have the stomach of steel that got me through college. If that’s worst of my issues, we’ll be ok.

I’m going to hum a little something for you, ok? Duh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nah duh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nah BATMAN!

Um… text messaging from IM? What the? Does this work?

Oh dang… public thank you’s. I blush… and… Ryan Sims is the man.

OK… here we go. This Andy Stanley sermon, Mick Jagger Was Right (can you see where this going?) put into words a lot of the things i’ve been thinking about lately. If you’re a local, circle of friends type, i’ll give you a copy of the CD… no need to listen online.

Entitlement. I… despise… entitlement. Maybe more than anything else. The thought process that basically says:

“I am due _________” or “I deserve ___________.”

I hate it. However, like any decently intelligent human, I also realize that I have the tendency (often) to be completely hypocritical in this regard. I feel entitled to things… typically not material things for the most part, that’s never really been a struggle for me, but more so for less tangible things. For certain reactions… for not getting certain reactions, for people to stop thinking a certain away and begin to think another way (namely… the way i’m thinking.) So… in short… I don’t get what I want. And so the result is that I end up feeling like something is wrong with everyone else and not me. Or, even worse, something is wrong with God and not me. As if God is not a good, wise, and loving Father who gives His children good, wise, and freaking awesome gifts. How arrogant. My capacity for arrogance is ridiculously vast unfortunately.

Some portion of every struggle/argument/drama/issue in my life is directly linked to me not being able to simply admit that i’m not getting what I want. And the reason that drama sticks around is that I never seem to have the intelligence (or faith? that’s even worse) to ask God instead of creating even more drama by feeling entitled to something i’m not getting.

I guess it wouldn’t be such an issue if it was only me… but we’re all like that. We all wake up everyday trying to squeeze satisfaction and significance and love and acceptance from each other. (And we can never be fully and finally satisfied in anything but Christ.) So all this drama ensues because nobody is getting their expectations met… nevermind that most of us never verbalize our expectations. In fact, I doubt most of us can verbalize them because we don’t even know what the heck we want. I wake up… restless and unsatisfied… and if one of you asks me what the problem is, I probably couldn’t even tell you in some lucid statement. How ridiculous are we?

In all this… I just plain don’t trust God enough to be the good, perfect, and loving Father that He has proven Himself to be time and time again during the short 25 years i’ve been on this planet. (By the way, sidenote: since most of us sleep approximately 1/3 of our lives… do you know what that means? It means i’ve only been awake for about 17 years. In reality… i’m 17. Seven-freaking-teen. No wonder i’m so messed up.) So… big lessons learned. I’m not getting what I want… that might diffuse most of the internal drama and struggle in my life. I want to own that phrase and live it. Especially as we learn to live together in some semblance of community.

Who knew it was random-one-link-at-time-post-day? The line-up for this year’s Rock Boat is tasty. Hmm… maybe I could cut the Orlando vacation I was planning for that week a little short? (Speaking of Florida… Cam? A stop in Pensacola might be in order…)

By the way… one word… Pomeroy. They’re rocking the boat this year. Too… dang… catchy.

It gets funnier the more you watch it.

I’m a nerd, so the content alone of this site is interesting… but dang… the tallest buildings in the world get some sweet Flash treatment. Just plain pretty.

This is AWESOME.

How is everyone doing with Public Goatee Humiliation? Are we having fun yet?

News you can’t use:

I got two shirts in today from Crownfarmer. The Score and Hope. They rock you like Stryper. I dig new t-shirts.

It is about 78° in my office today. Whatde? Stifling.

Mcd and I met a very cool lady who works for Six Steps Records when we were in Atlanta this past weekend. It’s a small world… we know so many people who know each other. It’s almost comical.

I want a new tattoo. I want a new vehicle.

You know what my problem is? I’m not getting what I want. (More on that later, via an explanation of Andy Stanley’s fantastically between my eyes message at Buckhead Church on Sunday.)

After checking the thermostat, it is actually 79° in my office. Grrr.

Last night was definitely a “you win some, you lose some” evening. Dinner with the ‘rents, always enjoyable. I got to give Dad his spiffy new hammer… a lovely little father/son bonding experience. I also got to see Brown jumping around our kitchen floor on all fours trying to kill a massive cockroach. I only wish i could have those seven seconds of comedy on film, so that I could loop them over and over again and laugh and laugh. All those things were in the “you win some” category.

Unfortunately, you lose some, too. I sat through Identity and Cronos last night… two of the worst films i’ve ever seen, both prompting me to yell “you’ve got to be kidding me” as the credits rolled. I’ll never get those three hours of my life back. They’ve just klilled me… just a little. And what’s worse is that I paid them to do it. Note to movie watchers… please avoid outside-the-funny-genre John Cusack movies and incoherent-spanish-pseudo-vampire movies.

Well… since everyone seems a bit demanding, we’ll cut to the chase without further chatting it up and with absolutely no hoopla… YourCreativityDollarsAtWork presents Your Project. For you non-computer-saavy folks (which is… probably none of you, but just in case) it’s a pdf… it should start downloading when you click on it.

You have approximately four days to complete the project… 1, 2, 3, go.

So, Daniel Box is my hero today for his letter to the Harris Teeter Complaint Department. (For those of you not “in the know,” Harris Teeter is a southern-esque grocery store chain.)

Vacation weekend was great. I’ll update you at some point this week with details and stories. For now, you should check out the Industrial Design Excellence Awards winners for this year. Everything from vehicle concepts to packaging to breast pumps and bicycle seats. After all… all things should be well-designed, don’t you agree? Great stuff… I especially like the Kohler trough sink, which might find its way into my eventual dream kitchen. Yes… I’m a nerd, and I have embraced the nerdness.

I talked with Jeremy (Pixelgrazer) for a bit this morning… he’s working on The Daylights album packaging… and oh my, kids… they’re just absolutely going to blow up soon. Just be prepared. Be warned. Be ready.

You heard it here first.

For all those in close proximity to Greenville, i’m playing downtown tonight at Carpenter’s Cellar at 8:00pm. No opener, maybe a few new songs? Fun times. Mcd and i are leaving from Greenville after the gig to head to Atlanta for some vacation time. I haven’t had a Sunday off in a long time, so it will be a nice break. It will also be great to see some of the Florida State crew… who have somehow managed to all migrate to Atlanta. I promise lots of pictures are in your near future.