rocky mountain high

well for one full week, practically, i am hitting the open road and flying the friendly skies....
it started last friday with a road warriors reunion tour to Lubbock, the greatest place on earth.
My dear friend Courtney and and i felt the wind in out hair and the blacktop under our tires once again after all too long of a hiatus. I mean there was that one trip to Dallas a few weeks back, but it wasn't in total true road warrior fashion.
Lubbock was fun. we met our cousins and their friend there. they were taking a little road trip of their own from LA,CA to Texas.
smart boys.

we swam and frequented the sonic and went to a drive in movie. also we did a photo shoot at an incredible abandoned building.

i spent yesterday catching up on work for this week because i leave today for Denver.
my job is pretty plush. i get to go on a three day, two night trip to Denver, CO for a meeting. and to cinch the deal, they threw in a river rafting trip as a 'team bonding' experience. i am so pumped.
let me tell you why.
the fellow support staff members aren't exactly who you see shopping at REI, if you catch my drift. They aren't the type you'd see in the outdoors... there's some exceptions. but the group as a whole is exactly who you'd think would be behind a computer all day and getting excited over new formulas to streamline their spreadsheet reporting process...
don't get me wrong, i mean i love a good formula. but these people really get after the corperate reporting.
and they do this at the expense of experiencing things like nature, or fresh air, or excercise.
so when it ws announced on a call that we'd be rafting together - you can imagine the confusion to follow. they were all asking about the boat tipping over and the water getting on them and so on. then someone sent out a web site that had recommended packing lists for rafting trips.
bear in mind, we will be taking a three hour (tops) raft ride down the river. the packing lists that were sent out were more for like multiple days worth and in the winter time.
so then the issue with wool socks came about.
every single conference call for the past several weeks has had some mention of wool socks. and where will the florida team ever find wool socks? and what about nylon water repellent pants that zip off to be shorts that you can turn the excess material into a cantine if needed? where will we find those?
anyhoo, what i'm saying is they are all panicing about wool socks and getting themselves so psyched out about this that it will be miserable for them. poor souls. meanwhile, though, it will be hilarious for me and the few others to watch them cinch up their life jackets to the tightest degree and look wild eyed at the gently flowing water as if it had threatened their life with words.

i'm going to try and take pictures, but i make no garuntees.

then the day after i get back from there i will be takign another weekend trip to dallas. hopefully i will get to shoot a wedding with some friends and gain some valuable knowlege and practice before i shoot a few on my own this summer.


so that's the happenings round here so far.
my family is awesome.
my job is the same.
my life is good.

3 things you must check out before you move on...

this:
http://www.emilykharrison.com

is my web site re-done. it's still in progress but it's getting there. mad props to mark reese for building it.

this:
http://www.edithpiafmovie.com/

is a movie i don't think is opening everywhere, but it is in Austin as of this Friday and it looks great. i will be going to it. yes. yes i will.

this:
http://www.myspace.com/katedmonson

is a local austin artist whom i must go see, and soon. she is playing in the elephant room which is a really cool cozy little jazz place here, on the 29th. but i won't be in town. hopefully her gigs don't end there.

so that is all for now.

greeeeaaaaat. mmm k?

you know how when you get an 8-5 type of job it is only natural that you will watch office space.
i mean, you have to. if you are going to find any comedy in the life style to follow.

but the parallels are uncanny...

i noticed a while back that 'the bull' has a red stapler. no big deal. plenty of people have them. they're very common.

we constantly have trouble with our fax machine.

i honestly have watched pedestrians pass me on my commute.

i have multiple bosses and haven't met all of them.

here's where it closes in...

it was filmed in my city

the office building that they film for the outside of their office is actually the office building of the company i work for.

about three stop lights down the street from my office is the alligator grill in which the interior shots of chotchskies was filmed. that's the retaurant they always go to.

one of the character's addresses on his personal file is on the street that i my office is on.

the list cntinues.

what i am saying is my life is like a movie. a lot of times it's that movie in particular.

have a good day.

old things new

So these chairs will soon be completely redone. they were rescued from the side of I 35. rain soaked and shivvering. we removed their rotted vinyl cushions to reveal the vast amount of potential their frames possess. at the moment the search is on for the perfect upholstery. my infinitely creative mother suggested going to thrift stores to seek out old drapes or bedspreads or fabrics that are as dated as the peices which they will adorn. fantastic idea.
what else would you consider re-upholstering with?

I think everyone finds some satisfaction in restoring old things. my mom is especially great at it. she has been blessed with a visionary mindset that can see the potential in even the roughest of outlines. doesn't it just make your heart happy to see something brought back to life and its value not lost. i think we identify with it more than we do something that is shiny and new. because we are in need of restoration. because we know - whether or not it has been put into words for us - that there is something lacking in this world and that everything under this sun is a chasing after the wind. but when we are rescued and restored to our original intent. the original intent being that we were intended to be one in fellowship with our Creator. once we are brought back to that point - we suddenly have value and are able to see the value in this life. knowing that it is not for this earth that we toil and it will not end here with this dust. but instead we have an eternal mindset.
Restoration is a beautiful thing.
i like that God is constantly giving us little illustrations of the bigger picture, you just have to look for it. so now every time i see a re-upholstered chair, or a wood floor being repaired and refinished, or a vintage table cloth made into a skirt, or the dust wiped from an old set of dishes... i will be able to take a moment to thank God that I have been restored. and by doing this. by recognizing every instance as a smaller version of what He is doing on an eternal scale, and giving thanks in that moment, i will be able to live my life in gratitude. and living a life in gratitude leaves little room for me to think about myself and my own problems...

Ecclesiastes 5:18-20

Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to drink, and eat and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of live God has given him - for this is his lot. Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and to be happy in his work - this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart.

wasteroo vs coffee monitor

look, i'm no environmentalist or anything. but wasteful is wasteful no matter who you are or what you stand for.

so there's a character in my office. we'll call him rex. don't let the awesome pseudonym fool you. he's not tough and rugged by any stretch of the imagination. he's actually dull and whines a lot.

but at any rate....

rex comes in roughly 30 minutes after i do each day. i used to make coffee every morning, but have not really done that for about 5 or so months. i think it took him a few days to realize i wasn't making his coffee anymore and he was, in fact, drinking the coffee from yesterday... but once he did he conceeded to make his own.

this is where the wasting starts.

there was one time he popped his head in my cube and asked that i order more coffee. 'more?' i thought. 'i just ordered some...'

one time i really needed a pick up and since i hadn't gotten over my mental block of drinking dr. pepper before 8 am yet, i drank some of his coffee. it was sludge. thick motor oil. gag.

this is made by the man who i have watched put up to five little tubs of creamer in one cup and a full pack of sweet n low.

so, for one, he is wasting an extra pack of coffee a day. he uses two packs when they are precicely measured so that you can get a good pot out of one. so we're running out of coffee exactly twice as fast as we should.

secondly, he is wasting creamers. i strongly feel that if you didn't make the coffee so dark, you wouldn't have to compensate with excessive cream.

third of all, he uses a new coffee cup every time he gets a new cup of joe. and they aren't the cheap paper-type either. these are the premium grade velvet touch heavy stock cups.

so inevidably we ran out of those AGAIN. for there only being five people in this office we can tear through some sleeves of disposable coffee cups.

so i decided i wasn't going to buy any more for a while. not that i am individually funding the break room, but i thought, maybe we can use these mugs that are just stacked on the counter. we have dish soap and sponges and a sink right here. it wouldn't be impossible to reuse them. also it may save a dime or two. so i wash up all the mugs by the sink so they are sparkling and ready to go for this morning. when i walk in today, rex says,'did you do dishes?'

'yeah, we're out of the paper coffee cups for a while'

'oh you just have to double up on these,' he says as he pulls a new sleeve of plastic cups from the cabinet.

what? my efforts to inspire him to limit his wastefulness has only spurred him on to new heights of waste.

'my, that's very conservative of you,' i mutter as i get a soda (i have no qualms with the a.m. soda anymore. especially if it's the alternative to his goopy black coffee)

'yeah i guess i could start bringing a mug from home;' he says. and i think, 'what the heck do you think i stood here and washed ALL of these mugs for?'

i can think of another thing he wastes, while we're at it. aftershave. he uses plenty of that. i think it might be a conscious effort to cover up his smoker's coffee breath, but it ain't workin. i can smell both in full force on top of his kickin' cologne. i can always tell if he was the last person that was in the elevator that i get on.

whew

gag

cough

pow pow

swift punches to my nostrils

uh hem.

anyways.

rex,

quit being so over the top on everything but personality.

thanks.

intrigue

it's not that i eavesdrop. i think we covered this in the days of bob. it's just that we're in cube-spces and sound is not majically contained within the top-less boundries.
but anyways.
the bull was in the office. yet again.
it's completely beside the point, but i guess he didn't get the memo after memo that he and his team mates are only supposed to spend three hours a week here.
but i digress

so he's back in the office and bouncing the floor-shaking leg like there'sno tomorrow. even as i write this now, my monitor is bobbing up and down like a dashboard toy.
he's sweet talking his boss on the phone and justifying why he's coming into the office (in reality it's to use the internet, but i'm not one to tattle - and yes i realize the hypocracy in that i am using the internet here too... but the difference lies in that i am supposed to be here all day every day, and truthfully i have finished my work for the time being - i'm not getting defensive, i'm just saying).
and then he manages to throw in a few more self promotions that are unrelated.

'oh... well that's about the time i was finishing my homework. and you don't even want to know how early i got here...'(it was about 15 minutes ago)' yeah i was writing a 600 word paper over a character from the renaissance... we're actually all calvinists without even knowing it... i've read a few things....' oh yeah? you learned enough to stretch it in to 600 whole words? you must be exhausted - not to mention an expert now.


all of these snip-its have left me a little curious. i would not really ever voluntarily enter a conversation about religion or calvanism witht this person. mostly because i know he's full of it and it would be him parroting back whatever cliff notes he found online (at the office) and me getting frustrated by the brick wall we are hitting and no one really benefitting from the expense of words and breath.

but anyways. it did serve to add a slight layer of depth to this massive bulk of a man. SLIGHT layer.

anyways. i don't know why you had to read that. mostly because i am really dry on writing material and i figured it would be dead and gone forever if i didn't write something so there you have it.

nonsense babblings for the sake of not killing my desire to write at all.