I don't claim to be "super-productive" or anything, but I try to be. I'm organized, task-driven, and strategically wired. Unfortunately, I do get lazy and forgetful sometimes. Especially now, when we have a baby in the house that needs to be taken care of. I'm having to re-learn how to run my life. That's why its best for me to have a few tools that keep me organized and on-task. But not every tool works for me. I've tried several different things to keep my life in order, but most of them have failed. Here's some examples: PDA/Palm - I love gadgets, so I thought this would be the ticket. Calendars, to-dos, address book, even a finance app for me to keep my checkbook on. But it was tough to carry another wallet-sized gadget around in my pocket all the time. Plus, I was never really good about synchronizing it with my computer, so it was never accurate. I also never mastered the special writing code it required for input. I could do it, but I ...More »

I tried to take some "more artistic" shots of Caelyn the other day. Though I didn't get the exact results I was going for, I'm still pretty pleased with the final product. These kinds of photographs are pretty popular these days and I knew I wanted to get some done for Caelyn, but I wanted to give it a try myself instead of paying an arm and a leg for a professional session. After all, half the reason I got my Nikon D50 was to do stuff like this. I don't have any studio lighting or backdrops, so I was forced to improvise. I just bought some cheap black bedsheets from Wal-Mart and draped them over our couch with a pillow underneath. I waited until the afternoon sunlight came through the windows real nice and luckily, Caelyn was taking a good little nap. After a little post-processing, I think these turned out alright. I may end up giving it another try, but I'm happy with these for now. Enjoy! More »

Last week I perused a friend of mine's blog and was deeply interested in a challenging statement he made: "Everytime Culture abuses one of God's gifts, the Church abandons it." So, I'm wondering if this is a totally true statement, meaning that this can be said about literally every gift that is abused by culture. Does the Church (in general) really abandon every gift of God, without exception? My first instinct was to disagree. I think the Church is guilty of abandoning many of God's gifts because of cultural abuse and perversion (sex, alcohol, even masculinity) but I think there has to be a few things out there that are still preserved and openly enjoyed by the Church, despite culture's abuse of it. Do any come to mind right now? Not really, but I'm working on it. So what about gifts that have been abused? I think sex probably goes to the top of the list, but maybe that's just because I'm a guy. Does anybody consider alcohol a "gift of God"? Well I don't know, but I ...More »

Just 17 days ago, Katy and I walked into a hospital and told the lady at the front desk that we were there to have a baby. Just a couple of hours later, I was holding that baby in my arms in the operating room. Compared to the 39 weeks that we endured previously, this felt like a very brief moment in time. Since then, a few people have predictably asked "what it's like to be a father". Currently, I don't really feel like a father at all. I feel more like a guy who just had a baby with his wife. I really haven't had to do anything "fatherly" yet. I mainly just try to take care of Katy and help her out with the baby. Changing diapers, swaddling, and the like are not fatherly-like things to me. They're just things you have to do with babies. So I guess I should try to answer a similar question. "What's it like to have a baby?" I've thought about this for a while now (because I knew ...More »

As if I didn't have enough to do (new baby, working overtime, taking care of the wife, etc.), I've decided to work on a new look for the old blog. It may take a few days, maybe even weeks, but I like the direction I'm headed in so far. Alot of my friends have grown weary of blogging (you know who you are, and stop making excuses), but I'm determined to stick with it. Life is changing big time for me (and it's not just the baby), so I'm inspired to write about it all and become a better journaler. I may still write about design quite a bit, but that's my life, so it deserves some attention. Check back soon and check out the new look and read about what's been going on with me and the fam! More »