Jason Clay's Digital Brain

That's saying something.

2008-04-16T16:10:00.002-04:00

"We know that the safest place in the world to work is where the Lord wants you to work."

These words were uttered by missionary Barry Mosier after he and his family survived a plane crash in the Congo. Read about it at CNN here.

Jason Dog Sits His Favorite Pups!

2008-04-05T21:55:00.002-04:00

This is Winston. Isn't he cute?

Springing

2008-04-04T17:47:00.004-04:00

The birds are chirping, the sun is shining, and the temperature is rising. Must be spring. I took some pictures of a beautiful apple tree in blossom. Be sure to check them out here.

So long old friend

2008-03-18T21:35:00.003-04:00

Aurthur C. Clark is dead at the age of 90.

See the CNN story here.

Dungeness, New Designs, and Narthex Painting

2008-03-05T21:43:00.002-05:00

So, there's all kinds of stuff I have done over the last few months... most of which I wish I had written about, but have long since forgotten. I looked back through my photos and found some interesting things, so that's how I'll approach this. Photos help me to remember things. :-)

First, I'm going to go back to October to revisit my trip to Cumberland Island. The guys in my family took my grandfather there to celebrate his 79th birthday while the ladies stayed at home and enjoyed doing whatever it was they did.

There's all sorts of amazing things to see on Cumberland because it is 98% natural. There are only a few homes there, a handful of unpaved roads, and a few other assorted structures, but by and large it is a rather natural island. Wild animals roam the place and you are 100% guaranteed to run into one if you wander the island for a few hours. That's a WILD horse in the photo to the left, not your usual friendly Mr. Ed.

One of my favorite features is Dungeness, a mansion in ruins that was once occupied by the Carnegie family. I made one of my time-lapse videos of the place, which you can check out here. It's not the best one I've ever done, but it may give you a glimpse of it.

Here you can see me, my uncle, my brother, my grandfather, and my cousin standing in front of Dungeness.

I just wrapped a couple of design jobs for Central Presbyterian Church in downtown Atlanta. The church just celebrated its 150th anniversary and had hired me to produce a few items for them. The first piece I did was a banner. They had several produced, six or seven I think, and put them up all around the church. The church is in a rather busy area across from the capital building, so many, many eyes saw the banners. I took some time one Saturday afternoon back in the fall to take some pictures. I think they have since been taken down.

The second piece I did for them was a batch of greeting cards based on cut paper banners designed and produced by Ellen Phillips, an artist and member of Central Pres. Her banners are amazing! The first banner is a cityscape design (which was also used on the aforementioned banner). The second had a tree theme. And the third one was an active design with birds in flight. I took the preliminary sketches she had for these banners and converted them into a format suitable for printing. I laid out these designs on four different greeting cards. One card for each banner, plus one with all three on the front (pictured at left).

The third and final piece I did for them was very exciting to me. I remembered a technique called laser cutting from one of my previous places of employment. I had never done the technique myself, but was familiar with it. Basically a laser machine cuts a design into paper. By using a laser, instead of a traditional bladed die, you can achieve much more intricate designs. I realized that this process would be a great way to have a miniaturized version of Ellen's banners. At first I thought we would use this technique for the greeting cards, but that proved to be cost prohibitive. Instead the Central Pres. folks decided to get a small run of them to use as gifts for those involved in making their 150th anniversary celebration a reality. I scaled the three-up design to a larger format (18"x10"), tweaked the artwork for the laser cutting process, and then sent it off to the laser-cutting vendor. The resulting artwork, I have to say, was pretty cool. I hear that they eventually framed it on a maroon (one of the church's colors) matte board, which I was able to simulate with a maroon wall (see the photo to the left). All of the maroon areas inside the edges of the paper are actually holes cut out by a laser.

The narthex painting project I have been working on at my own church has finally been completed. I think it took around six months to finally finish. We had a great crew of church members working on it the whole time. I don't have any pictures of the finished piece, but the picture to the left shows it very close to completion. There are three stripes, representing the trinity, that run the entire length of the hallway. The wall is divided into sections, one for each season of the Christian year, each colored according to its appropriate liturgical color (By the way... the liturgical colors for Christmas aren't green and red. They are gold and white). Important days in the Christian year are denoted by some sort of icon. At some point I'll post more detailed pictures. Perhaps I'll even dedicate a whole journal entry to this project. After all that work I think it deserves it.

Falling Off the Face of the Earth

2008-02-17T16:40:00.002-05:00

Yes, I admit it. I have fallen off the face of the Earth. I am floating through space and enjoying the view of the stars and other planets. The solar wind is nice this time of year, don't you think?

In actuality my mind has been on many other things in recent months and I just haven't had the time or inclination to update my website. Though, I did fit a graphic redesign in a few weeks ago. Did you notice?

To Gillian and Aaron: Thank you for checking in with me here and there. I am sorry I haven't responded in a more direct way. I promise I will pick up the phone soon to say hi.

Will write again soon.

Wildlife and Soup Kitchens

2007-11-23T20:11:00.000-05:00

Today began like no other day in my life.

I started house sitting two days ago at a remote north Atlanta home that is situated on the banks of the Chattahoochee River. I've been taking care of 'Joe', a friendly, yet instinctual canine. We've wandered the rather large property together several times for some exercise, played fetch with a large stick in an expansive field (though I'm usually fetching the stick from Joe's mouth as he doesn't quite get the concept), and napping in the house.

Joe startled me awake this morning with some rather ferocious barking. I bumbled sleepy-eyed toward him and when I looked out the window I saw a canine-shaped specter drifting across the backyard. Joe kept barking at the top of his lungs, and clearly the creature heard him, because its large ears perked up and its head turned to look at the two of us as it continued to cruise across the yard.

Before leaving, Joe's owner warned me that the remote property had wild visitors from time to time, and among the most recent sightings were coyotes. The owner told me I would usually only hear them and that they would either howl or sound like dogs fighting. Of course it's a bad idea to let Joe out when they are around because his territorial instincts would kick in, he'd chase them down, and then find himself completely outmatched.

So, here I am at five o'clock in the morning with Joe barking his head off, staring out the back window with a coyote staring right back at me. The coyote trotted off to the left and disappeared into the woods. Joe was on high alert for the rest of the morning.

My encounters with wildlife had just begun, though. After I fed Joe and took him on an observed walk, I walked out to my car for an appointment. I had just cranked my car and headed up the driveway, when a LARGE buck crossed in front of me. I just stopped and stared.

My 'appointment' was with a soup kitchen where I have been volunteering lately. Since my friend Ashley asked me to go with her a little over a month ago, I have been (almost) every Thursday to the Open Door Community on Ponce de Leon Avenue near downtown Atlanta. Today was a Thanksgiving meal, which was quite a bit more elaborate than usual. For starters, there were at least three times the usual amount of volunteers. As you can imagine there were quite a bit more people to be served than normal too, so the place was packed to the gills with people. I think the final number served was 316. The food was also much better. I don't know where it came from... probably a local church, but it was all the traditional Thanksgiving food. Turkey, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, green beans, dressing and gravy, and much more.

As usual, after all of the homeless people were served, the volunteers cleaned up, and then shared the leftovers together. Our meal is always preceded by a time of prayer, scripture reading and reflection. Today we learned that one of the regulars was found dead this morning outside a homeless shelter. No cause was given, but we prayed for him, his family, and the all other homeless people who live like he did.

I came 'home' to find Joe giddy and excited to see me. We immediately went on one of our long walks and as we were strolled along the Chattahoochee, I saw a beautiful crane. We came back to the house, where we chilled out and watched some TV (some show about how to survive in the Sahara desert, where the host gutted a camel and used it for shelter [yuck!]), when I heard very soft howling through the living room windows. It seems the coyotes are still around.

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Links of Interest

Two Dollar Trick
Drumline Meets Revenge of the Nerds
Save the Paper Towel Forests
The Elevator of Conformity. How would YOU react?

Please help!!! Creative interview questions needed.

2007-11-21T17:23:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow I am getting together with my family for a Thanksgiving meal, and I am planning to interview my family members for a kind of video time capsule. The interview will be taped and then stored away for viewing on a later date.

My plan is to write down questions on a bunch of different scraps of paper, put them in a "hat", and draw 5 or six for each person interviewed.

The trouble is I am having difficulty coming up with creative questions to ask (mainly because I procrastinated on coming up with the questions until tonight). I could really use your help in making up questions.

What are things that would be meaningful for you to ask your family members? If you could ask a deceased family member or friend a question, what would it be? In regards to family history, what would you ask your older relatives? Think outside the box. Off-the-wall questions are welcome. Please submit your question by posting a comment below.

Thanks for your help.

The Highland Games

2007-10-29T22:36:00.000-04:00

Last weekend I went with a group of friends to The Highland Games at Stone Mountain Park. It's an annual Scottish festival with lots kilts, bagpipes, and beer.

Some year I am actually going to watch the games. I know there's all kinds of competition, but somehow I never get around to seeing it. I did see one caber toss from a distance this year. That's pretty much where a guy tries to flip a telephone pole (okay, I exaggerate a little) end over end.

I had my first (and probably last) experience eating haggis. It wasn't as bad as the hype, but it still wasn't fantastic. I can do without it.

By the end of the festival, we all decided we would save up for a kilt (well, at $1,000 a pop, maybe not) and go back again next year. Next time I really, REALLY will watch the games. I promise.

Check out some photos here.

Star Trek Role Reversal

2007-10-24T22:21:00.000-04:00

Recently there has been a good bit of buzz in the sci-fi world about a new Star Trek movie set during the era of the original series. Clearly the original actors can't play the roles at this point, so the characters have been recast. That's right! As sacreligious as it may sound, someone other than William Shatner will play Captain Kirk. And our pointy-eared friend Spock? Well, let's just say Leonard Nimoy can finally rest easy about not being Spock.

A good part of the buzz has revolved around which up and coming actors will play these famous roles. Over the last few months the parts have been doled out to some familiar faces. I have to admit the choices seem pretty good. I am most interested in the casting of Zachary Quinto (of Heroes fame) as Spock.

This afternoon I got to thinking about how strange it is to see these old, familiar roles filled by different actors. Then I wondered what it would be like if the tables were turned. What would it be like if the Star Trek actors took on the roles of the up and coming actors? Here's the result:

Here's William Shatner starring opposite Lindsay Lohan in Just My Luck (in lieu of Chris Pine, our new Captain Kirk). Yeah, that looks awkward to me too.

Watch out! Sinister power-stealing Sylar is now being played by Leonard Nimoy. This is going to be a major upgrade from the Vulcan nerve pinch.

Next up, DeForest Kelley as Eomer from The Lord of the Rings movies. He graciously stepped in to fill Karl Urban's armor. (He's our new McCoy!)

Fan favorite Scotty is slated to be played by English actor Simon Pegg, who was recently in Shaun of the Dean and Hot Fuzz. So naturally James Doohan has been cast as top cop, Nicholas Angel.

What would the bridge of the Enterprise do without our favorite Asian helmsman, Hikaru Sulu? Never fear; the role will be filled by John Cho from Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle. I have to say that Kumar's "come hither" stare at Harold makes much more sense now!

Give me an "A"! Give me a "T"! Give me an "L"!

2007-10-24T00:18:00.000-04:00

Lately I've been spending a lot of time at Stone Mountain Park. Specifically on the mountain itself as I have been climbing it nearly every day (except this week because I am house sitting... something I am coming to realize is the bane of my fitness).

I've noticed all sorts of things from the U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey marker that is firmly cemented in place at the peak (which I ritualistically tap with my toe every time I get to the top) to the 20-foot, faded yellow letters that spell "ATLANTA" in front of the building at the summit. Though I have no proof, I assume it was put there in the early days of aviation to guide pilots to the Atlanta airport. Indeed there is also the number "19" and an arrow that points just south of the city, which is where the airport is. I think this is incredibly interesting.

Sadly, this label is deteriorating rapidly and there is likely no record of it ever being there. So, I guess this is my attempt at preserving this information for generations to come. Check out the images to the left. One image shows how I imagine the label must look from the air. I found the image of Stone Mountain on Google Maps and then superimposed the letters on top. The letters themselves are not visible in the aerial photography. Another image shows how the last "A" in Atlanta appears if you are standing at the top of the mountain (it's animated with an outline to help you see it).

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Links of Interest

10 Bizarre Ancient Artifacts
Windows Vista Explained
The 10 Most Sublimely Scary Scenes in Cinema
Apollo 11 moon panorama

Opera at the new Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre

2007-10-23T23:53:00.000-04:00

My mom recently got tickets for the opera Turendot and asked me to join her. I am not normally a fan of opera, but one of my favorite pieces of music is a movement from this opera. It's called Nessen Dorma, and was famously sung by Luciano Pavarotti. I gladly accepted.

We stopped off first at Top Spice, one of my favorite Thai restaurants. The mango chicken was just as good as I remembered it!

Then we were off to the opera. Cobb county's new performing arts center (or as they spell it, "centre") is the new home of the Atlanta opera, and is a fantastic building. My mother later shared with me that one of our old church members was the architect and wanted to know what we thought. Well, simply put, it was fantastic. I was greatly impressed by the use of some type of stone that was back lit. It reminded me of the alabaster from Egypt that vendors would shine a light through to show that it was genuine. Very beautiful.

The show itself was much like I expected an opera to be. There really isn't much action on the stage. It's more just a bunch of folks singing, which just doesn't hold my attention. (Hey I'm from the internet generation. Having a short attention span is pretty much an epidemic at this point.) However, the fantastic costumes, sets, and lighting did catch my attention. They were fantastic! What really saved me in this opera were the projected translations. Thanks goodness for the translations, or I would have been lost. Then came the precious Nessen Dorma, the wonderful Tenor solo I was looking forward to. It was great, but it seemed so short compared to the rest of the opera. It was over before I really had begun to enjoy it.

All in all it was a good night. As we left I got my mom to take this jokey picture of me holding a "light saber". It is really just one of the lamps on the sidewalk in front of the center.

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Links of Interest

Internet People - An animated compilation of wacky stuff from the internet.
Wilhelm Scream Compilation - Hollywood's most famous stock-audio scream and all its uses.
Lunation - One photo of the moon every day during the lunar month - notice the "wobble" called libration. Source
25 Reasons You Might Be A Hardcore Graphic/Web Designer - This is so true it's not funny.

Nana & Dindaddy's 60th Wedding Annivarsary

2007-10-23T23:21:00.001-04:00

A few weeks ago I joined my grandparents and a few other family members on a trip to Augusta for a trip down memory lane. My grandparents were celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary and my mom thought it would be great to revisit a few of those years. My grandparents live in August in the late forties and into the fifties before moving to the Atlanta area because of a job transfer.

We visited their old, small house, their church, my grandfather's Tri-State Tractor office (which is now a church), the home of my mom's childhood piano teacher, and one of their favorite restaurant destinations; Luigi's. It seems Luigi's had changed quite a bit over the years. While the food was good, apparently it used to be GREAT! I heard them remark so many times about how much times had changed. They remarked on how Augusta used to be a pretty good place for opportunity, but is now a rather depressed area.

I did find out that my grandmother was a rather feisty young lady in those days. She explained how my grandfather's coworker kept telling her that one of the office secretaries was putting the moves on my grandfather. She became jealous and even walked a few miles to confront her in person about it. Fortunately the secretary wasn't there because my grandmother said she was going to berate her so bad my grandfather might have lost his job. As it turns out, the secretary was not flirting with my grandfather. She was messing around with my grandfather's coworker though... the one who was getting my grandmother all riled up in the first place. Turns out he was trying to get some of the guilt/pressure off of himself.

We also visited the grave sites of two of my uncles. One of them, Michael, died in infancy in the 50's, and the other, Joe, passed away in 1995 in a car accident.

Sadly we were unable to locate Michael's marker and were afraid it was lost. However, this is a "perpetual care" cemetery (something I had never heard of) and these sorts of things are not supposed to happen in a perpetual care cemetery. My grandfather, my uncle Ronnie and I went to the office and asked the undertaker about it. He sifted through a file and found the original sales slip for the marker, confirming that it was supposed to me there.

We all headed back out to the plot where the marker was supposed to be. The undertaker surveyed the site for a few moments with a rather perplexed look on his face before pulling a ball point pen from his pocked. He stabbed the ground with it repeatedly. After a few stabs we all heard a metallic "clink". He found the marker, which was buried beneath two or three inches of sandy soil.

The undertaker claimed that the marker was originally placed on a cement slab, which over time disintegrated and sank into the ground. I think that's a bit fishy, but my grandfather decided to upgrade to a granite slab anyhow to prevent this type of thing from happening again. None of the other markers that were placed on granite seemed to be sinking, so perhaps there's some truth to his story.

Anyway, it was good to spend time with my grandparents and hear their stories. Some of them I had heard before, but it was great to hear them in context, at the places where they actually happened.

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Links of Interest

California fires from the space shuttle
American Consumption - An artist's visual representation of our wastefulness
God's email inbox
Harvard goes Halo - Reminds me of the R2-D2 prank someone did at MIT in 1999.
Stephen Colbert Announces Run for White House! - I can't wait to see how this turns out!

Ann Coulter... HACKED!

2007-10-16T15:00:00.000-04:00

Bwa hahahahahahaha. How funny. Someone hacked Ann Coulter's website yesterday and posted this article. Priceless! Though it's sad that it isn't true. Click the image for a larger version.

Unexpected connections

2007-09-30T23:13:00.000-04:00

Last week I did something I've never done before. I met somebody in person that I only previously communicated with through the internet.

A guy named Justin contacted me through my website a few weeks ago and told me that he was working as a part of the CUBIT Foundation, which is a non-profit humanitarian organization that works all over the world. He mentioned that he had passed through Egypt and several times and wanted to know more about Garbage City, a place where Egyptians make their living by sorting through garbage. He found my website through a web search and likely found this page.

In Garbage City they literally have garbage piled up in the streets, and often in the first floor of their apartment buildings. I personally saw people sitting on the piles sorting through the refuse. Unfortunately I didn't really have any solid connections to the organization, I was just a visitor myself, so I couldn't really help him.

It turns out that in addition to going to Egypt a good bit, Justin is also from the Atlanta area and was going to be nearby over the next few days. I figured it would be okay if we met up in a public place to chat about our experiences and that way I could learn more about the CUBIT Foundation.

Justin is a really bright young man. While he has worked all over Central and South America, he has made connections with people in Egypt in ways I could only dream of and is really living an amazing life when he is there. He told me that next year he would be spending an extended amount of time living in Giza, which I think is great! What an experience!

Justin, if you read this: keep doing what you are doing. You are definitely going places, seeing things, meeting people and living experiences that few ever do. I can't help but admit that I am a little envious.

Painting the Narthex: Part 2

2007-09-23T23:02:00.000-04:00

Today after church a group of about eight or nine of us started the second phase of the narthex painting project. Previously we had done several base coats of the various colors along the wall, but today we got to add those funky, ribbon-like lines that run the length of the hall.

On Friday I did some test painting on the first section, which represents Advent, and then chalked out the rest of the design so others could help by filling in the lines. It is amazing what a few hours difference makes. In no time this project was finally taking the form that we had originally envisioned. The curving lines add so much activity to what was once a bland, boring hallway.

I think my favorite part of painting today was painting with red paint to represent Pentecost. The red is just incredibly bright and stands out like a beacon, even in the midst of the other vibrant colors. Unfortunately the red paint was thinner than the others so it's going to take several coats for it to look right. My friend Scott commented that the Pentecost column looks like a candy cane, but that will soon change as we will also add orange and yellow to complete the flame appearance.

Mended window

2007-09-21T22:13:00.000-04:00

Got my car window replaced. In the mean time the Honda place gave me a rental car. It was a Ponticac Grand Prix. I had never even driven a Pontiac before. It was pretty nice. That is all.

Kick Cancer's Butt!

2007-09-20T01:40:00.001-04:00

So, Friday night my friend Sara and I went to this benefit that I have been preparing a PowerPoint presentation for. Scratch that. Make it presentationS... plural... with an S on the end. It was a good bit of work. Fortunately work that I (or my company technically) am getting paid for. Of course, that check has to arrive in the mail for me to actually get paid.

The night started off with some unexpected excitement. This story basically starts back in college when my car was broken into while I was parked at a Wal*Mart late at night. The passenger window was replaced by my insurance company, but a few years later the window started to act weird. When rolled down, it would sort of pitch forward and it took quite a bit of work to roll it back up and shimmy it into place. For the last few years it has done this.

I'm usually quick on the draw about telling people not to roll it down. This particular evening I wasn't so quick. I picked up my friend Sara, who had graciously agreed to go with "big hair". More on that later. Anyway, I picked her up and before I even thought about telling her not to roll the window down... she did. And the window pitched forward.

"No big deal," I thought. I'll just shimmy it back into place when we get where we are going. When we arrived, I swung around the car and casually went through the ritual I have done so many times before. I grasped the top edge of the window with my right hand, while I rolled the window up with my left hand. I applied the slightest amount of pressure to the window crank, then "pop", shattered glass sprayed everywhere. The window just disintegrated in front of me. My right hand still held a few chunks and was just stunned for a few seconds. Sara shrieked when the window popped and seemed just as stunned. This was a fantastic show for the two event workers that were on their break and just happened to watch everything.

I laughed it off and thought, "Well, what else can I do but go have a good time?" I did just that.

Kick Cancer's Butt!, the organization that I have been working for, was holding a Texas Hold'em event to raise money for the Georgia Cancer Foundation. The dress code was cowboy sheek (sp?), which, I was told, meant cowboy hat, tux jacket, tux shirt, bow tie, blue jeans, a big belt buckle and boots. With the exception of the belt buckle, that's just what I did.

Of course the ladies were supposed to dress up like cowgirls. Sara humored me and dressed up in a cowgirl hat (tiger striped), rhinestone covered blouse, a tiger striped skirt, and, of course, the big Texas-style hair. She had a lot of fun with it.

Yea, fun.

Nerd Land

2007-09-10T22:56:00.000-04:00

Every year over the Labor Day weekend, nerds from all over the world descend upon Atlanta for the annual Dragon*Con sci-fi and fantasy convention. I try to go every year because it is such a feast for the eyes. So many people use their talents to make amazing costumes that they wear all over the sprawling three-hotel convention.

This is the first time I've gone in three years. The gap exists not because I didn't want to go, but because I was either out of the country, or recuperating from being out of the country. This year I settled for just going to the parade instead of actually paying to get in. You know.... starting a business... limited budget. Priorities have to be kept.

Anyway, I have posted what are some of my best Dragon*Con photos yet. Take a look at them here.

Dark Crystal sequel

2007-09-06T18:04:00.000-04:00

I just learned through an internet forum that a Dark Crystal sequel is going to be made. It will be called "The Power of the Dark Crystal". If you would like to read more about it (though there isn't much to read yet) go here and here. Too bad it doesn't come out until 2009.

New Website Design

2007-08-31T13:10:00.000-04:00

I have spent a few weeks overhauling my website for the first time in nearly two years. Primarily I have been using it as a testbed for trying out different CSS (a type of website code) techniques and learning new applications for website design. Take a look around the site and let me know if you see any glitchy stuff. I've already found some in Internet Explorer and fixed them.

At some point I'm going to go back and edit some content too, because I found some weird things, like pictures that weren't loading correctly. I've also been meaning to go back and edit my journal entries from Egypt because I know there is some factual information that is wrong here and there. So, watch for those changes as time goes by.

The creative malaise is broken, but there is no outlet

2007-08-26T00:12:00.000-04:00

It is late. On Saturday night. I have had A LOT of coffee. When I have lots of coffee, my creative brain won't stop. Usually it means I am up all night uncontrollably developing crazy ideas for artwork. That is EXACTLY what is happening now. Unfortunately I have no outlet. I have no studio space. I have no way to execute my ideas. So the ideas remain locked up. My brain spins and spins. Ideas churning. No outlet. Blah.

Painting the Narthex

2007-08-10T01:22:00.000-04:00

A buddy of mine at church named Scott came up with this great idea to paint the Christian year down the length of the narthex, a long hallway, at my church. I immediately got ideas in my head about what it might look like and eventually opened up Illustrator and laid out my ideas

First the idea went to a committee for approval. I thought it was going to be too wacky and expected resistance, but much to my surprise people seemed to like it. Essentially the narthex is divided into seven sections with eight pillars spaced evenly. The idea was that the spaces in between pillars could be seasons of the Christian year, and the pillars themselves could represent special days with some sort of icon at the top of the pillar. Three curvy stripes, representing the trinity, flow the entire length of the wall. Check out the image to the left.

The Christian year, as represented in this piece goes in this order: Advent, Christmas Day (a pillar), Christmas Season, Epiphany (a pillar), Ordinary Time, Transfiguration Sunday (a pillar), Lent (with two icons in the middle of it, one for Ash Wednesday, the other for Palm Sunday, Good Friday (one side of a pillar painted black, which really isn't obvious in the illustration), Easter Day (a pillar), Easter season, Pentecost (a flaming red pillar), some more Ordinary Time, and Christ the King Sunday (the last pillar).

A few weeks ago we started out by prepping the area to be painted by cleaning off dust and drippy stains. Apparently there was a leak in the roof at one point a nobody bothered to clean up the stains. After that we applied painter's tape to mask of the areas for the base coats. I missed out on the first painting session, in which the first coats were applied, but the members that volunteered did a great job.

Today, Scott and I applied the first coats of green for Ordinary Time. I was thrilled that this was actually becoming a reality. Our church has been in a color rut for about a decade now, so it is exciting to see a color other than white or beige on the walls. And besides, I just love to paint.

Christianity in Iraq

2007-08-08T19:19:00.000-04:00

Something that gets completely glossed over in the news media, amidst the reporting of Shia on Sunni, and Sunni on Shia violence is the fact that thousands of Christians live there too. Unfortunately they get caught in the crossfire and are the subject of violence all the time.

My Iraqi friend that I met in Egypt recently sent me a link to a video that highlights this fact. I will warn you that there is some graphic content in this video, but I think it is important to know how our Christian brothers and sisters are being treated there, so I encourage you to watch it.

Here in the U.S. we largely enjoy religious freedom while these people are constantly persecuted for their religion, which I think should give us a better perspective of the freedom we have.

Atlanta Tour - Civil War Style

2007-08-05T19:11:00.001-04:00

I have never been very good at exploiting the attractions of my own fair city. I am great at traveling elsewhere and taking in the sights. I've just never been good about doing that in Atlanta.

I have always wanted to take a tour of Atlanta's famous Civil War battlefields, so when my dad asked me if I wanted to go on a tour of the Battle of Atlanta, I jumped at the opportunity. The tour was held by a local man in the city of East Atlanta (yeah, who knew there was actually a city called East Atlanta. I just thought that was everything east of I-285). It became a family affair since my Dad, my brother, my mother and I all went, and it turned out this was the 143 anniversary of the battle itself.

We came to find out the "Battle of Atlanta" was actually confined within a small area east of town, near the modern-day intersection of I-20 and Moreland Avenue. The organizer gave us a packet of maps with positions of different army groups juxtaposed with modern days streets and highways. I was amused to find out that modern-day Flat Shoals Road is actually a native American trading path. That street existed in some for or another long before the original European invasion.

Unfortunately the primary map the organizer gave us, while read right-side up, had North at the bottom. This confused me all the way through the tour. I was so confused in fact, that I thought the attacking group was the Yankee army, when in fact it was the Yankees that had dug in and the Rebel army was making a flanking move to take them out. I'll have to go back again next year, and get it all sorted out, finally knowing which way is up.

Another fantastic sight we got to see is Atlanta's historic Cyclorama. The Cyclorama itself has quite a history, but it is its subject matter that makes it so special. It is a LARGE painting in the round depicting a part of the Battle of Atlanta. The audience begins by taking a seat in a darkened theater, and when the lights go up the entire seating area begins to spin clockwise. Your initial view is as if you are standing in the middle of the battlefield facing East, and in fact you can see the small spires of Atlanta on the horizon. A fixed moment of the battle is raging all around you as gray clashes with blue. A narrator points out historically documented events that are depicted in the painting. The seating area completes its 360-degree journey, and you are back where you started.