Book Tag - GO!

...new meaning to the term "throw the book at them"...

Erin tagged me with this one, so here goes ...


Total number of books owned:
- a little over 100 (just the ones I have at my apartment, that doesn't include children's books and other things I have stored at my mom's house)


Last book bought: The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde, and The Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide by Douglas Adams


Last book read: it was either Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire or The Alchemyst by Michael Scott

Five Books that Mean a Lot to You:
(I'll even go so far as to WHY they mean a lot to me)
1. For One More Day by Mitch Album / First book Erin gave me. It was a present on our first christmas together.
2. The Alchemyst by Michael Scott / A book given to me by a very good friend for my birthday this past summer.
3. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis / The first books I remember reading for fun.
4. The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren / This book helped me build a stronger and more personal relationship with my Lord and Savior.
5. The Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling / Because it's always fun to take an amazing journey with characters you love, and even more fun to take that journey with friends and discuss the books with them when you're finished.

I tag -- Stephanie and Patrick

Illustrator "Fun"

... and by fun, i mean work that is mildly amusing.

This is our third assignment for my Electronic Publishing class. The first two were nothing big, just teaching us to use Adobe Illustrator. This one has us using Illustrator for something potentially useful. We were supposed to either draw something free hand or "trace" an jpg image we already had. I chose to trace a pirate devil duck that Erin's sister, Abby, gave me for christmas last year.

Here's the original.


Here's the one I made.

redesign preview!

you saw it here first...

Hey gang, I've been working on a new design for my portfolio website. Check out a couple of these preview shots I decided to post in order to tease you a bit. :)


[view of the header]

[view of the nav bar]

[view of the quick gallery]

Hot off the presses...

get your updates here.

Well, I'm finally back from the summer, but I'm not quite settled, yet. I guess that's what you get when you come back a day late starting for classes, no apartment, and no car. (All will be explained later)

Some good news - upon returning to EKU this semester, I was suprised to find that a few of my projects from the past two semesters classes have won awards at IGAEA's Gutenberg Awards. The contest is open to colleges and universities across the nation.

First off, a calendar project that my class did last semester won honorable mention in the print division. I'll try to post a few photos of the calendar later.

Next, a t-shirt I designed and printed in the fall won First Place in the screen printing category.

Lastly, a web design project from last semester won Best In Show for the web publishing category! (go see it)

So as far as that goes, I'm pretty excited!

(more updates later)

The coolest people...

txt msg fools.

Setup:
I'm at the theatre while the designer and director write light cues for West Side Story. I'm bored. I have to be here in case I'm needed, but I don't have any real work to do until the end of the night when I strike gear.

Payoff:
A couple of the ladies in the cast and I started txt msging back and forth. It got really fun with one of the girls sending me "secret admirer" messages since I didn't have her number. The was all kinds of fun being sent in digital form. It was definitely the most number of txt msgs I've ever sent and/or received in one day. I think the tally came up to over 60 msgs total... sent and received. The awesome thing was, they were doing it to keep me entertained while I was bored at work!

Here's to Meg, Anabel, and Nicole! Some of the coolest gals I know! Thanks ladies!! You made my night!!

it's been a while...

i'm getting bad at this.

First off - Happy 07/07/07!!! Today is the day the seventh Harry Potter book should've been released.

Anyhoo... life's going pretty well here at Jenny Wiley. We've got three of the four shows up and running and the fourth (West Side Story) starts technical rehearsals on Monday.

I've been a bit miserable this past week due to a fairly nasty sunburn I acquired on a day off while out on a pontoon. Luckily, I've had a really great person to apply aloe to my back.

As of this writing, I've finally met all the actors, and had some good conversations with more than a few. There are still a few allusive that I'm trying to open up to me, but the majority of the company is great fun! In fact, all of the residents of Cabin B are pretty much addicted to the Discovery Channel. Dirty Jobs, Deadliest Catch, Mythbusters, and Man vs. Wild is pretty much on the TV anytime we're home.

The shows are going great so far and High School Musical is a lot better than I anticipated. I avoided watching the movie and listening to any music prior to the summer in order to not get burned out on it. This group of actors is probably the most talented (overall) that I've seen at Jenny Wiley. There really aren't any weak-links in the chain. The production crew is amazing as well. They've put in so many long hours in order to get the past couple shows up... and they've done so without complaint. They're here to do their job.

In other news - I was fortunate enough to get to talk with Erin a couple times this past month, which was a real blessing! It was fun talking with her again. Nice and normal.

Anyway - a few final words before I head out.

"Enjoy the journey or the destination will pass you by."

One Down

two and a half to go...

I decided I needed to write a quick update so as not to go a whole month without posting.

The past four weeks have been pretty good. The production crew is all really talented and mostly fun to be around. The acting company has all arrived and started rehearsals for High School Musical. I've only met a few of the gang, but those I've met seem to be pretty cool.

This past week was load-in, setup, and tech week for Forever Plaid. I had a few long nights of work, with most nights getting to bed around 2 or 3am. I ended up having to pull one all-nighter in order to get lightboxes ready to be installed the next day. Luckily the past couple days have been a little less stressful and easy-going in lighting world. We opened up Forever Plaid to a great audience.

This coming week, we tech and open up the kids show, The Princess and the Pea. It might be another high-stress week as there are times when the crew needs to be in two places at once.

A few of the actors from last year have returned, including one of my favorite people from last season, Katie Mitchell. We've had a couple of really awesome conversations since she's gotten here, and it's the first time this summer that JWT has felt like the home it has the past 6 seasons I've worked here.

All in all, everything is going fine. I miss my friends who are strewn about the globe very much, and think about everyone often.

Stephanie & Chris - I'm very excited about seeing you at the end of the summer!
Dustin & Katie - I hope you guys are having a blast in France!
Erin - I hope you're having a great summer and that things continue to go well for you! JWT is not quite the same without you here.

The story so far...

kicking butt and taking names.

Well, I've been in Prestonsburg for a little over a week so far. We've gotten a lot accomplished, and start to hang lights tomorrow. That's my favorite part of the season, because that's when I can see physical proof of my accomplishments.

As usual, only the production crew is here right now. It seems like we have a good bunch of folks again, this year. With the exception of one particular year, and a couple of exceptions over the past couple years... most of the people have been really great to work with.

As for myself - well, I'm doing just fine. Sometimes it's tough to go back to someplace that you had such a wonderful time in and think that you might actually have a good time there again. I have good days and bad days... but don't we all? Anyway, that's enough rambling from me. Feel free to keep in touch. I can usually check my email once (possibly twice) in a day, but the posts will come fairly sporadically. So you should all be sort of used to that. ;)

Take care, and God Bless.

bittersweet

hitting the road.

This time of year is always kind of weird for me. It is always a time of transition. Most of the time, I have usually been ready for it. This time... well, I'm not so sure. So much is different this year.

In about an hour or so, I'll make the two hour drive to Prestonsburg, where I'll spend my summer living and working as the Master Electrician at Jenny Wiley Theatre. Most years I look forward to this place. It is like a family, and it gets bigger and changes every summer. This year, I'm not sure how I feel about it. I am definitely ready to be working again, and making money. I guess my worry is that I had such an amazing summer last year, that nothing else could possibly compare, and that I'll be disappointed or depressed. I'm also worried that in this possible funk, I'll miss out on a lot of fun and merriment, and will just kind of dread being there.

I guess this also comes from a slightly uncertain future, as when I return from the summer, I am moving into a new apartment... which I will have to find in the due course of the 15 weeks I'm gone. I will also need to find a job in order to sustain said apartment and the ability to buy food.

So, I guess this is a call for help. What kind of help? I don't really know. If you have my number, feel free to call and chat some this summer. If you have my email address, drop me a line. If you frequent my blog, go ahead and comment. And if you're totally awesome, come on out to Prestonsburg later this summer, hang out, and check out a show.

Thanks. God bless. And stay well.

To Do

getting things done for May 12.

Here's the stuff I have left to do before I leave on May 12.

UPDATED: Friday, May 11 @ 12:49pm
Item 1: "Picasso at the Lapin Agile" Costume Design
Item 2: Video project for Web Animation
Item 3: Calendar project for Graphic Communications
Item 4: Graphic Comm exam
Item 5: Astronomy exam
Item 6: Web Animation exam/presentation
Item 7: Literature exam
Item 8: Costume Design presentation
Item 9: Pack for JWT
Item 10: Move out

what i learned in class

fun with iMovieHD and Garageband.

This was the final project due for my TEC355 Web Animation class. Cheesy and fun. Like me. Enjoy!

Work Abroad

I prefer plan "A".

The past month or so, I've been evolving a plan in my head about what to do after graduation... especially now that I can finally see an end to my undergrad years. I haven't told too many people this plan, nor is it anything set in stone, but it is definitely something I need and want to do.

Plan A
Starting now, I have one year and a week before I graduate. I plan on working this summer and working while taking classes this next school year. Hopefully, I'll be able to save some money, pack up a bunch of crap, and live and work in London (England) for 6 months. I've learned of a program called BUNAC that helps college students or recent graduates find work abroad for up to 6 months. It would be an amazing opportunity. Not only would I be working in another country, but I would get to spend some good quality time with Stephanie and Chris. I would also be able to really enjoy the culture... something I wasn't able to do the last time I visited.

Plan B
Should various factors prove inconvenient, I will still save up money, and go visit for a couple weeks. I just won't be making any money during my visit.

Plan C
I whore myself out to afford a plane ticket to London and become a street performer.

So, y'know... I should have fun no matter which way the wind blows. :)

weekend

When it is worthwhile.

Thursday
The IM guys came in this weekend for another event at First Baptist, which is always fortunate for me, because that means I get to hang out with some of the coolest bunch of guys I know. Thursday evening, Ben and I hung out at my local haunt, Live Wire, and had some good conversation about life, love, and relationships. It is one of the two most recent conversations I've had that have made me feel a little bit better about things. If Erin W. is reading this, I'm sorry if I've acted like a douche, and thanks for your caring and patience.

Friday
I had an eye doctor appointment in Lexington in the afternoon. I finally am wearing contacts again after running out of them over two months ago! It feels good to wake up in the morning and be able to see. I'm pretty excited because my prescription didn't change hardly at all. (whoo hoo) Hung out with Ben and Topher a while that afternoon. That evening hung out at Live Wire some more and caught part of the Jazz Crawl that took place in downtown Richmond. I've never in my life seen so many people crammed into that small coffee shop! Back at the ranch, some friends were in town, and we played a card game called, "Oh Hell". Good times, good friends.

Saturday
Slept in. Went to St. Awesome's at 3:00 to volunteer as Video Switcher. For those of you not "in-the-know" the video switcher is the guy that sits in front of a lot of buttons and a wall of TV monitors and "switches" from Camera 1 - to Camera 2 - to a DVD playback - to Camera 3 - back to Camera 1... etc. Of course this is all done via input from the Video Director. It was fun. It was also my last weekend volunteering before my summer gig at Jenny Wiley. Another thing that made it fun was that it was something different, and it was challenging. I love working outside my normal comfort box and learning new things. That evening, my friend William had a housewarming party at his BRAND SPANKIN' NEW HOUSE! Not only is his house awesome, but we all had a lot of fun, and I met some really cool new people, too.

Sunday
The morning came way too early, as it usually does when I volunteer on the weekends. At St. Awesome's at 8:15am to continue my Video Switcher role. After the last service, Matt, Casey, Patch, Tim, and I grabbed some quick lunch from Backyard Burger, and headed back to the church. Back at the church I helped lead a Lighting Seminar with Matt for the rest of the guys. It was fun, but I'm so horrible at that kind of thing. I teach much like I learn, by doing rather than being told how. After the seminar, I went back home and crashed hard. Slept for a few hours, then did homework, and went to bed.

Revue. Rewind. Replay.

The Short Version.

Let's go back all the way to last Tuesday...

Tuesday | April 17
Normal LONG day. Went with some friends to a free stand-up comic that was on campus after my last class of the day. He had high points and low points, but overall, I laughed a lot.

Wednesday | April 18
That night I went to see All The Great Books, Abridged presented by EKU's Theatre Department. The three guys cast in this show had great chemistry and awesome timing. It was a fun night.

Thursday | April 19
I had my first "The Dame" experience. Went with Logan, Lucy, and Chris to see Unknown Hinson. Google him, or check him out on YouTube. He's an interesting character, and a lot of fun to watch.

Friday | April 20
After some quick laundry, I drove to Louisville to hang out with a couple of friends and go to Thunder Over Louisville. Marshall and I played a LOT of Guitar Hero II (on Xbox360) that night.

Saturday | April 21
Headed down to the river at around 10:00am to get a good spot. And get a good spot, we did. At 3:00pm the festivities got going with an air show that was awesome... and loud! When it got dark, the real thunder began... the largest pyrotechnic display in North America! It was amazing! (I'll post photos later) After the festivities were over, we went over to another friends house and played more Guitar Hero II... this time on a HUGE screen TV. We rocked until about 2:30am.

Sunday | April 22
Slept in. Took naps. Had lunch. Drove home. Picked up General Tso's chicken from Tsing Tao on the way home. When I got home, met the girl that's going to be dog- and house-sitting for Dustin and Katie while they're having fun in Paris. That's right, France.

That's all. Now scram.

Tragedy again

Sometimes life gives you lemons.

There's no making sense of situations sometimes. Much like the awful scene that took place yesterday at Virginia Tech. I was talking about it with my mom on the phone, and she was talking about how frustrating the reporters were handling the press conferences. They were desperately searching for a "fall guy", and asking the same questions over and over, to which the person had no information about.

In a time when we should be sorrowful and prayerful, I'm thankful. A couple of my cousins graduated from Virginia Tech, and just thinking about the fact that if this happened a couple years ago, they could've been victims in this tragedy makes me feel a little sick to my stomach.

If you do nothing else today, please, take a moment of silence at some point and pray for the families affected by this event at Virginia Tech.

weekend

I haven't done one of these in a while, let's see if I'm rusty or not...

Thursday
Woke up to some troubling news about a fire in the Paddy Wagon. The Wagon was a cool Irish Pub downtown. By far my favorite watering hole in Richmond. The truly scary part for me was that my favorite place to hang out was only a couple doors down from the pub. Luckily it was only closed for the day (due to that section of Main Street being blocked off), and it reopened on Friday. To console myself, I grabbed General Tso's chicken from Tsing Tao.

Friday
I spent most of the day finishing up my costume design project for class. We had to design costumes (and changes) for two of the main female characters in Fallen Angels. When I get all my projects back, I'll scan them in or take a photo of them so you can see what I've been up to in that class.

Went to class and my teacher was very impressed with the progress that I've made since the beginning of class. He was very complimentary. This project had to be painted in watercolor. I'm terrible at painting, but we've been practicing in class, and his comment made me feel much better about my work.

While sitting at home, I got a call from Ben. He and his wife were in town! A pleasant and unexpected surprise. We went to dinner at Casa Fiesta and caught up a little bit. They were in town for a funeral of a friends mother. :( So a good thing under not-so-good circumstances. Later that night I went to another local watering hole with my friends Casey and Michelle. One of Casey's friends was playing at the place that night and so we went and listened for a while.

Saturday
I originally had other plans for this weekend, but they were sort of changed, so I was able to enjoy relaxing at home for a little bit, watch TV, and straighten up the room some (not serious cleaning, just a little). Later that night, I met Ben, Rebekah, Chris and his friend at Miyako's for sushi! We actually sat in the sushi bar section since Rebekah finally realized she likes sushi. :) After dinner, Ben, Rebekah, and I hung out at Rebekah's parents house. We chatted, watched some stand-up, watched a little National Treasure, and Ben and I played a little bit of Lux.

Sunday
Woke up and went to church at St. Awesome's. They started out the service with a Mute Math video. Pretty sweet. Went home and lounged around for a while. Dustin, Katie and I hit Qdoba for dinner, and then I went into solitude to relax, watch TV, and read my homework for class the next day.

Tragedy

too close for comfort

maxx7736: I have some really bad news...
skipthehero: what?!
maxx7736: The Paddy Wagon was on fire this morning.
skipthehero: OH NO!
maxx7736: They had a lot of downtown blocked off to fight it.
skipthehero: ohmygosh
maxx7736: It reached the bar next door to it, but last I heard that was it. So on the brightside livewire should be okay.
skipthehero: that's good.
maxx7736: It looked pretty bad though, at least from what I could see.
skipthehero: that stinks... do you know if anyone was in either of the places?
maxx7736: The report said that they believe everyone made it out safe.
skipthehero: good

My List

What dreams may come?

Inspiration abounds after I saw this on Erin's livejournal. One dream for each year of life. That's 28 for me. Here they are in no particular order.

1. Graduate College
2. Have my own place of residence
3. Have a decent paying job that I enjoy
4. Get married
5. Go on a cruise
6. Visit Stephanie and Chris in London
7. Travel to Ireland
8. Make my friends and family proud
9. Watch all the classic movies
10. Act on stage again
11. Be a better man (person)
12. Be a better Christian
13. Learn a second language (French or German)
14. Tour with a show at least once
15. Tour with a concert group at least once
15. Visit my father's grave
16. Be a Big Brother (for Big Brothers and Big Sisters)
17. Learn to play the guitar better
18. Learn to love more
19. Teach my (someday) children about life, love, and laughter
20. That everyone I know will know and understand how much I care for them
21. Have a beer with my son on his 21st birthday
22. Play Mark in RENT
23. Play Seymore in Little Shop of Horrors
24. Spend more time with my family
25. Travel around the world with good friends (and/or significant other)
26. Learn to dance (and lead)
27. Own a boat
28. Make others happy (and laugh)


There's my list. Now it's your turn.

Happy Easter

The REAL good news.

I setup and ran lights this weekend for the Easter services at St. Awesome's. The energy in a room of over 1000 people singing in praise of their creator is just simply put, incredible.

Normally to setup for a weekend, we meet about 1:00pm on Saturday. Since this weekend was a bigger event, and there were a lot of things that were being added and incorporated, there were about six of us that showed up on Thursday and Friday evening to get jump start on the setup. It was probably one of my favorite stage setup's we've done at church. Here's a couple photos I took this weekend. Click on them to see a larger image.

My Savior loves
My Savior lives
My Savior's always there for me

My God He was
My God He is
My God is always gonna be

Good News

About time something went right.

Yesterday I applied for a job on campus (that would start in the Fall Semester) at ResNet as their Publication Designer.

Today, as I sat down in my last class of the day, I got a phone call from them. I have an interview with them on Monday! I'm very excited. It would be awesome to have a job to come back to after the summer when I return to classes in the fall.