WOW

Wow.

I haven't posted since July.

Crazy

Des

Sent from my iPod Touch

The App Store is Up

With iTunes 7.7 released today - the app store is up.

roots

Here's something I've been working on lately. I like it a lot.

It's still being tweaked . . . but I do have it set as my wallpaper right now.

Des

another green

Here's another version of the "Green" wallpaper I've been playing with.

Firefox 3 Download Day

The guys behind Firefox are looking to set a new world record for the most downloaded piece of software in a single day . . . that is Firefox and that is today.

So, help 'em out and get yourself a much better browser overall than FF2 was . . . at http://www.getfirefox.com.

Why am I so into wallpapery goodness lately???

I've been enjoying my newfound love of photoshop . . . ah, digital composting . . . I mean compositing.

Des

WP

Another wallpaper today.

Des

Photos from Camp

One of the things that I love about my job is that I still get the opportunity to go to Camp Walter Johnson from time to time and take part in various programs that are going on there. I got to do that today - with the sole purpose of taking photos of kids arriving at camp.

I'm not going to post the photos here, but you can see them at this link.

There are some decent shots in there. All of these were shot with a Nikon D40 with either a 18-55mm lens or a 55-200mm lens.

Let me know what you think.

Des

Shots of Brody

another go green

I didn't like how the text looked on the other one.

Here's another one.

Des

Girl Effect

Thanks, Sarah, for showing me this video today.

http://www.girleffect.org

goGreen

I'm feeling graphically inclined the past few days.

And environmental.

This is at 1900x1200 if you need a new wallpaper.

Des

Images

So, it's really cool that as I've been checking out some of the profiles around mychurch.org/salvationarmy I've seen some people using an image that I put together several months ago for their youth ministry. I was just messin' around, but I'm glad that someone has been able to use it and benefit from it.

Here's that image.

http://desmerizing.blogspot.com/2007/03/sally-ann-and-her-strange-friends.html

I was messing around today and came up with this:



If you like it, let me know. I have it at a higher res if anyone needs a better copy of it. It would be good for desktops or backgrounds for powerpoint/mediashout stuff too.

Peace,

Des

The Gods Must Be Crazy

This is crazy! I didn't realize that there were about 100 tribes of "uncontacted" people still in the world. Here are the first few paragraphs from the CNN story. Read it all at: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/05/30/brazil.tribes/index.html

Researchers have produced aerial photos of jungle dwellers who they say are among the few remaining peoples on Earth who have had no contact with the outside world.

Indians are photographed during an overflight in May 2008, as they react to the overflight at their camp.

Taken from a small airplane, the photos show men outside thatched communal huts, necks craned upward, pointing bows toward the air in a remote corner of the Amazonian rainforest.

That's amazing to me.

Grace,

Des

This is an error as well . . .

I've been having some funny errors. Here's another one just like the other one.

Des

That's an Error???

So, you know that I love my Macs.

But even they have their interesting errors.

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

Really???

And that's bad??

Des

Kaki King - Playing With Pink Noise (Live)

Heard Kaki (like Khaki) on NPR last night.

Dang.

Des

The Meter is Running (A Spotlight on Fox News)

The best line is from Mr. O'Reilly . . . "Bush is doing justwhat Jesus would have done."

Yes . . . I'm aware that I just published a post on taking things out of context . . . and I understand that these are a bunch of snippets of things taken out of context. I wouldn't use this as a source of political information.

It's still quite funny.

context

found this today.

I hate when things are taken out of context.

follow me on twitter

What is twitter you ask?

Think of it like the Facebook "status" message on some crazy, expensive mind-altering substances.

I guess it's a little geeky . . . but you have 140 characters to express whatever sentiment you may choose to. Some of mine are on the right of this page . . . . you can twitter about something your doing, thinking, or involving any other random activity.

But it's at least interesting so far . . . I've only been doing it for a few days.

Follow me.

Des

Eureka

About 7 months ago I was in Atlanta for some meetings.  Of course, being a technophile . . . I travel packing a considerable amount of gadgets: my weapons of choice, if you will.  Of course, I also love when I come across amazing deals on technology too . . . like the time that I found a Linksys Travel router online for $12.

Here's what it looks like.

Naturally, my need to be connected drove me to bring this router of mine to Atlanta with me just in case I couldn't hit a wireless internet access point.  If there was a port in the wall, I can make my own wireless.

It worked flawlessly as usual.

Unfortunately, it was a few days later when I gave in to the harsh realization that I had left this prized piece of networking technology in the big crapple (sorry, I know it's not that bad - I'm just not a fan).

Reality is a cruel, cruel mistress.

Especially when she's wrong.

Tonight, while looking for something else incidentally (I lose stuff) . . . buried in a box in our closet I came across the long lost router - sitting there so lonely and ready to "packet" all in (networking joke). It's like being reunited with a long lost friend . . . that's about 5 inches tall and has the ability to transmit and receive radio frequencies.

Oh happy day.

Des

Christians are Nuisances Too

If you know me, it's no secret that I find several of my neighbors to be nuisances . . . completely because of noise and the inconsideration they show to Kristy and I. They play loud music late at night - and there must have been a sale on sub-woofers because evidently EVERYBODY in our stinkin' building has one. I've started a nuisance log where I keep track of when the music is too loud. I started it on Tuesday . . . I've got entries for every day so far.

As usually happens, Kristy went to bed, I was up finishing some web stuff for a client and at about 10:30 PM I feel the boom of what is usually my favorite kind of notes through the wall (i.e. bass notes . . . just in case you weren't sure). As I usually do I put my ear up to our various walls to try to figure out where this sound is emanating from. Unsuccessful, I remembered that I can often figure it out by going outside . . . now that the weather is warming up . . . and sitting on the balcony. It definitely worked a few nights ago when the party upstairs was in full swing.

And it worked again tonight.

Only instead of what is usually vulgar end hip hop, toinght it was Kirk Franklin and his merry band of gospel elves.

Let me tell you something . . . nothing about that was screaming the name Jesus . . . and I can't imagine that any of my other neighbors were appreciating it too much either. Now, in the past week we've had to call the police and submit a few complaints to the office.

And sister, let me tell you, I have no trouble reporting that you're stompin' all over my peace and quiet . . . which by company policy I should add starts at 9:00 pm. I'm actually recording as I'm typing . . . maybe I'll post it so you can all hear it . . . that may be a fun project in fact: posting the sounds that I hear at night if for no other reason than to document them.

Great . . . now she's singing.

In all seriousness, it's keeping me up because I'm wanting to document start and stop times for all this stuff. We're paying good money for this place and to be CONSTANTLY disturbed like this is horrible. We are never guaranteed our peace and quiet and I'm just about as sick of it as I can get.

So, Christians can definitely be nuisances too . . . she's certainly not doing anything to show me the love of Jesus tonight let me tell you . . . and the thoughts that I'm having about what I should say to her . . . they're probably not from Jesus either.

And you'll be happy to know that as of right now (11:50 pm) the music has been turned off and it SEEMS as though peace has been restored once again.

I may see if Kristy is still asleep.

Grace,

Des

Bad Things Happen

I had put the video portion of this together for youth councils . . . but then never finished the audio and subsequently never actually showed it.

I think I'll probably make it available from WebandFlowDesign.com for download in a few different formats.

I'm sure someone would find it useful.

What do you think?

Grace,

Des

Professional Cable Wrapping

As I have been wrapping a lot of cables lately, I've been reminded about one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to audio cables, etc.

There IS a right way to wrap a cable.

Please don't crank it around your elbow for the love of all that is good and decent in this world!!!

Enjoy this wonderful demo.

Des

heaven v. hell

It's been a while since I've waxed philosophically here. Mostly I haven't been thinking philosophically much - not sure why.

Let's just say that I'm emerging from a long, dry spell.

I've been thinking about heaven and hell.

It's something that I've written about before and something that I've definitely continued to think about. I guess it all started with the Brian McLaren and his writings - Generous Orthodoxy and the "A New Kind of Christian" series in particular. Then there's Rob Bell too.

At Watershed lately, they've been talking about the questions that some of the peeps there have had. It was part of the "Quandary" series. So it's been back in my mind.

We've got this dichotomous view of heaven and hell. Black and White. Or, we'd like to think it's black and white. We also have this view that heaven and hell is a "something to come later" concern. All this combines and results in a group of people that try to convince people that they're wrong and need to "turn or burn."

Here's what I've been thinking.

First: Heaven and Hell are present realities. They happen in various amounts and through various means every day. There are some big things we can cite - Darfur does far too much to increase the amount of hell that we encounter. At the same time there are countless moments of heaven on various scales that make the kingdom of heaven a little more of a reality. Jesus talked about the Kingdom of heaven being at hand - being present. Our job is to make that a reality.

Secondly: Rather than being a dichotomy, heaven and hell represent endpoints on a scale. I don't want to get to scientific with this - all I mean is that if we think about the kingdom of heaven (that is a reality where things are as God intends them to be) as being one endpoint and the kingdom of hell (that is a reality where thigns are exactly the opposite of what God intends them to be) then the things that happen here place us somewhere on the scale between heaven and hell.

Thirdly: We can AFFECT where we are on that scale. The decisions that we make and the actions that we take culminate in such a way that can move mankind towards one of those endpoints (either heaven or hell). We can choose to bring heaven to earth or to bring hell to earth. In practical terms, when we choose to be kind to our neighbors that are far too loud late into the night (not that I have any experience with that) we bring heaven to earth. When we choose to sit and talk with a homeless man rather than just pass them by or maybe just blindly throwing them a couple of bucks, we bring heaven to earth. In the same way, we can choose to bring hell to earth by choosing to do things that are less than what we know we should be doing.

All that to say I wish we could stop thinking about hell as a place that "sinners are condemned to" and start thinking about how heaven "is a place where people act as though every one is a child of God; where His love for them is greater than our condemnation of them."

It's dangerous to think this way - or at least threatening. People think that you're universalist and that you're throwing out what it says in the scripture. In reality, I feel like it's holding more closely to it. There's no judgment - that's not my role. I'm doing to others as I would like them to do for me. I'm loving my neighbor regardless of who they are. I still think there's a "right" way to live. It's not heretical.

Anyway - just thoughts.

Grace,

Des

wikimedia

I really like getting images from Wikimedia Commons. There are some really interesting photos there.  Lots of old interesting stuff.  I've found some great anatomical drawings there that I used as the basis for some of the Youth Councils stuff.

They have an image of the day that I try to download as often as I can remember it too.

Des

Live from Youth Councils 2008

Giving Google

This is incredible.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23377190/

So - for the homeless people in our communities, it is difficult to get back on your feet because you don't have an address, you don't have a phone number - imagine applying for a job and telling your prospective employer that "I'll just come back in a few days . . . I don't have a phone number for you to contact me."

Google is giving homeless people in San Fran a free phone number for life with free voice mail.

It may not change the world. But it's something.

Grace,

Des

Tony Campolo

Found this today on a friend's blog. It's taken from a television show recorded in Toronto.

Youth Councils Time Lapse

We captured this footage a few years ago at youth councils . . . 2005 maybe. Either way, it's been sitting on my hard drive collecting virtual dust ever since - me not really having any time to do anything with it.

Until now.

I put this together as a little promo for youth councils at work. It lives at http://hisspace2008.blogspot.com. But I figured I'd share it here too.

It's neat to see it again. I'll try to remember to do it again this year too.

Let me know what you think.

Grace,

Des

welcome to chai-na town

a couple posts ago I revealed the one-way first-name basis that I have with some of the employees at my friendly neighborhood starbucks.

Today it got one step better.

It's been a few days since I last patronized starbucks . . . i was due for my drink of choice.

I pulled off and drove up to the drive through intercom . . . the conversation went a little something like this:

(des pulls up to intercom and rolls down the window accustomed to the typical, "Hi, How are you today?" question.)

starbucks: Hey - can we get a grandé non-fat chai latté started for you?

des: (shocked) . . . . why . . . yes . . . .that's it. Thanks.

starbucks: We'll see you at the window.

WHAT??

I mean, I guess it only makes sense that if they know my name then they would remember what drink I have ordered LITERALLY every time that I have been there. It just sort of takes this chai addiction to the next level, don't you think????

It was extra good today by the way.

I like being a regular. I'm starting to feel like I belong.

Des

Andy Wells - I Will Miss You

I've not lived in St. John's since 2002.

However, even then I learned to love Mayor Andy Wells.

Now that he's leaving office to take up a provincial government job it's a sad day. I'm sure that he'll still be in the news because of great comments like this.

St. John's Mayor Andy Wells tendered his resignation Monday evening with anything but tender words for some of his colleagues.

"Look, there's five, I can guarantee you, that I will miss like the bubonic plague," Wells, who said he will leave on March 3, told the council meeting.

You can read the whole story at http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2008/02/19/wells-bubonic.html.

Des

chai lattés

so, not so far off the beaten path to my office (probably even close enough to be considered "on the way") is a friendly neighborhood Starbucks. I like it. I've warmed up to this crown-jewel of corporate america.

I have two things to say:

1) Grandé Non-Fat Chai Lattés are the best
2) The barista today greeted me at the window by saying "Hey Desmond"

What does THAT tell you?

Grace,

Des

tree of life

As often is found true, Kristy and I were watching National Geographic tonight and they had a great special on about the amazing-ness of Yosemite and the wonders therein. One of the things that struck us both was about the giant sequoias that grow there.

Firstly, they can be 3000 years old and 300 feet high. That in itself is incredible.

But then they were discussing the way that water travels up inside the tree for nourishment. Three hundred feet is a long way for water to travel . . . especially considering things like gravity and pressure and logic. However, what mr. narrator said was the the sequoia has the most efficient hydraulic system on earth . . . more efficient than anything man has been able to recreate.

So that's amazing.

But there's more.

Every day the average sequoia moves 1 ton of water through it's system . . . 1 ton. That's about 907 litres ( which is 907 liters spelled in American English . . . or 240 gallons).

One tree, one day, one ton.

There was also a piece of granite that fell from one of the mountain faces that was bigger than two football fields (approximately 1.89 Canadian Football League fields - they're 110 yards each) that caused a shockwave when it landed that snapped trees for about a half-a-mile. The air that rushed out from underneath on the leading edge of this shockwave was travelling at 300 mph.

There are a lot more stats in this post than I thought there would be . . . but it's all good.

Grace,

Des

Vance Chiropractic Center

I've recently finished a new site for a client . . . you can read about it at http://blog.webandflowdesign.com/?p=60 or see it live at http://www.vancechirocenter.com.

eyes

I live in a world where pornography is ok - where objectifying people (not just women) is ok if it sells products, makes money, serves some "greater good." I'm not gonna lie - I know that it can reek havoc on your brain, your heart, and your mind.

Too many guys know how powerful it is and how hard it is to leave behind.

So, I've been thinking about these things. Seems like every couple of years or so God really challenges me on some big issues . . . a few years ago it was homosexuality . . . if you look back through the annals of this blog, I'm sure you'll find more than one post on it.

Recently, it's been porn. What it does to your brain, your relationships with others, with God...

I've been forced to think about what it means to look at someone through God's eyes.

I'm convinced it's looking at people through the eyes of children. Not being a parent, of course, I have to get my information from other people - from parents that have kids with eyes.

That happened this week at watershed. We've been in the middle of a series called Stogies and Stilettos for a few weeks and this week was about "inside the feminine mind." It was good stuff. On somewhat of a tangent, Taryn (who was sharing at the time) spoke of how her son had bought her a gaudy $1 hair band from the dollar store. To spare you the details however ugly she thought it looked, Colson (her son) thought it was beautiful. She went on to say that he thought she was tall (she's not tall), she's young (she is . . . but not as young as her son) and all these things that she thought she was not.

I took a mental tangent of my own after that. I want to look at people, no matter who they are, through the eyes of a child - to see that there is value and beauty and greatness in everyone - in fact, that the opposite of those things don't even exist.

I went on to think that there are no sexual complications through the eyes of a child. There is no lust. There is no objectifying. How do we get there? What do we have to do to be restored?

They're pretty powerful thoughts . . . another measure of wisdom from the mind of a child.

God, help me, a guy in objectified society see people as valuable, free, wise, caring humanity. Restore my eyes, my heart, my mind to that of a child.

O, to be a child again.

Grace,

Des

Mac vs. PC

So, the writers at the NYT must really understand the way I think.

Check out this story:

http://www.tuaw.com/2008/02/04/nyt-obama-is-mac-clinton-is-pc/

Except for the fact that they endorsed the PC . . .

Change (to a mac) 2008.

Yes we can.

Des

remember me?

Sometimes I forget how altogether life-changing this experience was for me and maybe some of these people too:

Helen
Reality
Micky
John
Vince
Pat
Michael
Christian
Sherry
Alicia
Vincent
Mark
Julienne
Carl
Pat and his wife
Joe
Kendrick
Peggy Hayward
Sgt. Bennett
Belinda & Jamayah
Ronnie & Fontella
Perry
Tony
Moe
EJ Webber
Eric
Willis
03.20.2005
Claude (and Tyrel)
Hatchet (AKA Josh)
Dan (Accepted Christ?)
Kenneth
LaMays (from India - didn't want prayer, but we're covert!!!)
Buck
Tito
Carlos
Justin (Unborn Baby)
William Alvarez (CATS Bus Driver)
David (the encourager)
03.24.2004: Urban Ministries
Susan Bame
Gregory
Warren Wright
Jedelle
Tony Fister
Tyrone
03.27.2005
David (from last week)
Doug (needs place to stay)
Phillip
Rosalyn
Curtis, the guardian Angel
Carlos (pray for our troops)
Seleek
Brandon, Janine, Darren
Don (in communications)
Bel Air (needs to get to New Orleans)
04.03.2005
Archie (Homeless believer with Arthritis)
Eric
Sherriff Steve "Biggie" Small
Derrick
Altrice
Richard
Kevin
Daniel (Kids Christopher, Tiffany, Jessica)
Dorothy (Concern that young daughter is sexually active)
Donelle Moses Brown ("Keepin' it Real")
Jeff (Needed a blanket, sleeping outside)
Rusty
Cora
Butch
04.10.2005
Dionne
Rodney & Banayah
Sgt. "Crazy" Carl - back from Iraq
Sgt. Mike - Carl's friend, having PTSD problems
Haywood
Moriah
La Mays
04.17.2005
Ken
Isaiah & Robert
Katherine
Michael
Olly
Jody
Tony
Nnaji
Glen (SA Shelter Resident)
04.24.2005
Colby & Rachel
Steve
Niema, Marlon, D'Angelo, Merlanda, Kenyelle, Beyoncé
Jack Stratton & Elijah
Archie
Rusty & Rob
Chanté
André
Chester
Samuel
Sgt. Bennet & Willis
3rd Shift
05.01.2005
Rob, the bassist
Mosha & Deborah
Eric & Joyce
Marquis
Anthony McClure
Kenneth
Steve
05.08.2005
Dirk Thune, seeking
Barry & Virginia
Henry, 9/11 cameras
Jamie (Military)
Archie
Brandon, expired transfer?
Tracy & Charles
Brenda
Jeremy
05.30.2005
Archie
Robert
Gabriel
Yusef
Michael
Nicole & Arthur
Basha (their mom)

These are all people that we met at the bus station - it's cool that their names and stories are still out there on the internet - at http://charminultra.blogspot.com. Maybe we'll do something like this again soon.

Good times. Really good times.

Des

web and flow blog

Once again, I've committed to keeping yet another blog up and running when I can't even seem to keep this one fresh . . .

In any case, I've got my blog over at webandflowdesign.com back up and running and finally themed with the rest of my site - it was pretty nasty there for a while.

You can check out some of the things that I'm up to over there at http://blog.webandflowdesign.com.

I've got a post about a new site that I'm working on and will be launching soon.

Grace,

Des

from the inside out - Joel Houston

A thousand times I've failed Still Your mercy remains
And should I stumble again still I'm caught in Your grace
Everlasting Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending Your glory goes beyond all fame

Your will above all else my purpose remains
The art of losing myself in bringing You praise
Everlasting your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending Your glory goes beyond all fame

My heart and my soul I give You control
Consume me from the inside out Lord
let justice and praise Become my embrace
To love You from the inside out

inactive

2006 was my most active blogging year so far.

If I keep making short quick posts . . . I'm sure I can catch up.

Des

happy

I am at least as happy as I have ever been.

Last night, I was getting ready to go to a practice for the watershed band and before I left I told Kristy that I really am happy.

If you know me, you know that's awesome.

Grace and peace.

Des

Foux De Fa Fa by Flight of the Conchords

The more I hear these guys . . . the more I laugh.

je voudrais une croissant . . .

et maintenant le voyage a le supermarché. (and now, the trip to the supermarket).

Too, too funny.

des

mlk

A banner that I created for work at http://www.salvationarmycarolinas.org.

Des

Bono at the NAACP Awards

I like this guy . . . and the things he has to say.

Flight of the Conchords- Business Time

Even funnier, funnier stuff.

Flight of the Conchords

Funny, funny, funny stuff.