I am finally ready for a change.
For the past 5 years, I have systematically eliminated all healthy activities such as exercising and eating right, all in an attempt to live a life that I thought that I had to live. A life devoted to work. A life devoted to taking care of everyone else's needs. A life devoted to doing what I thought everyone wanted me to do. But you know what? That kind of life totally sucks! I'm ready for a change.
Change #1: I joined Weight Watchers.
I never thought that I would join a diet program, but you know what, I never realized how much I was eating until I read about proper portion sizes on Weight Watchers website. Now I can track how much I am eating, the amount of exercise I am doing, my weight, and even download healthy recipes. Last night I made Pan-Seared Chicken with Garlic Sauce and only came out to be 10 of my 40 points for the day. That was pretty cool, and it was really good. My goal is 165 lbs., which is very far away from my current weight of 286, but I am encouraged with the fact that I have done it before, and I will do it again. I am doing it because I want to be healthy, active and be able to wear a lot of the clothes that I have in my closet that don't fit anymore. I want to be able to feel good when I run or hike. I just want to feel better, and I am ready.
Change #2: I am learning more about the guitar.
I have played guitar for 12 years. I started to play when I was a sophomore in high school, learning all of Metallica's catalog. While I have a certain adeptness to playing guitar, I have reached a point where I need to learn more, grow more, and branch out into other genres other than rock or metal. I would love to learn more about jazz, classical, country and overall guitar playing that would fit in any genre. I bought a Modern Guitar Method book that Berklee uses at their school, it even comes with a DVD, so I am really excited about learning more guitar theory and growing in my ability to play.
Well, there are two changes, and I will post more later on, but for now, I have some things to do for work.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Thursday, May 17, 2007
The Creative Thing To Do
So, being a creative individual, I occasionally get the urge to grab my notebook, a pen, a list of things to do, and head to the nearest Starbucks. After all, what's cooler and more inspirational then working on your next big project at a coffee shop?
I pull into my parking spot, grab all my stuff, go in and order a mocha and a donut, sit down and get started. I read some notes, starting writing a couple of lines, then stop. This sucks!! Where's the glitz, where's the glam? Just a bunch of blank pages and zero ideas. Perhaps if I had an Apple laptop and I worked on stuff with that in a coffee shop, then I would be cool. Some days I really hate the stigma and label attached to creative people.
Oh well, on to actually getting some work done.
I pull into my parking spot, grab all my stuff, go in and order a mocha and a donut, sit down and get started. I read some notes, starting writing a couple of lines, then stop. This sucks!! Where's the glitz, where's the glam? Just a bunch of blank pages and zero ideas. Perhaps if I had an Apple laptop and I worked on stuff with that in a coffee shop, then I would be cool. Some days I really hate the stigma and label attached to creative people.
Oh well, on to actually getting some work done.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Seattle / Rent
Last Wednesday, Kristina, my step-sister Katie, and myself drove to Seattle to see the musical Rent. This was my first trip back to Seattle after leaving quickly in the form of an exodus over seven years, and it's interesting to not only think about what seven years has done to me, but to think about what life was like before I left.
We left Vancouver very early because Seattle is notorious for traffic, but oddly enough there was no traffic and we arrived in Seattle 2 and a half hours early. This gave us a great opportunity to enjoy downtown Seattle. We walked down to Pike Street Market and for the first time in my life I saw in person the fish market where they throw the fish. Talk about cool! I don't know what the thrill is, but for some reason seeing giant fish fly through the air is oddly fascinating. After that, we enjoyed the many shops in Pike Street Market, and the millions of Starbucks in downtown (one on every city block)!
Now, traveling to the Paramount Theater to see Rent was interesting, because while living in Seattle I saw several rock bands there, Megadeth and Joe Satriani, so the memories of the Paramount continue on because of this trip. Moving on to Rent, this was our first time seeing the musical, as we we had only seen and heard Rent through the movie and the movie's soundtrack. We were totally blown away by how much more there was in the musical that didn't make the movie, and it further amazed us that one man, Jonathan Larson, was able to write all of the music and lyrics. AMAZING!
I thoroughly enjoyed Rent. The visual imagery, the music, the passion of every one on stage, and the musical's ability to inspire people to live for today is addicting, and it left me wanting more. After having some time to reflect upon the experience, here are several of my thoughts.
The passion of the singers, the musicians and the story is inspiring and addicting. It makes me long to be that passionate about the songs that are in my heart, about the art that I see in my mind, and the life that I am daily living. I can't help but think the question, how would our churches be transformed if we were this passionate about the music, the drama, the arts, the Bible, relationships, living life as if it were our last day?
There was a scene in the musical that wasn't in the movie and it is right before Angel dies. The scene is very visual and suggestive of the sexual lifestyle that the characters were a part of. It shows the main characters beneath a sheet trying to break through, while around them the ensemble cast are grinding one another and Angel slowly rises up from the confusion as it continues. Not expecting this scene, I was a little embarrassed at first because it is highly suggestive, but the more I think about the scene, the more I realize how insightful it is because I think it actually shows the pain that the characters fill inside and how they want to break free from the torment and pain that they are living in. It then goes on to suggest that death (Angel rising) is the only way to truly escape the pain and be released. This scene really sticks in my head, and not because of the sex, but the portrayal of the pain that people truly live with.
What I appreciate most about Rent is that it is a story about people, relationships, and living life each day. Yes, it does have various immoral elements which unfortunately pushes people away from wanting to see this musical, but there is an amazing beauty in this musical that shines a compassionate light on the pain that people are living with and the ways that their lives change as they face the struggles in life instead of running away.
Truth be told, I was blind-sided by this story and this music. I didn't expect any of it to be that good. I expected it to be a celebration of all the things that a Christian is against, but instead I feel the words of Christ come alive within me when I think about how I should respond. With love and compassion.
We left Vancouver very early because Seattle is notorious for traffic, but oddly enough there was no traffic and we arrived in Seattle 2 and a half hours early. This gave us a great opportunity to enjoy downtown Seattle. We walked down to Pike Street Market and for the first time in my life I saw in person the fish market where they throw the fish. Talk about cool! I don't know what the thrill is, but for some reason seeing giant fish fly through the air is oddly fascinating. After that, we enjoyed the many shops in Pike Street Market, and the millions of Starbucks in downtown (one on every city block)!
Now, traveling to the Paramount Theater to see Rent was interesting, because while living in Seattle I saw several rock bands there, Megadeth and Joe Satriani, so the memories of the Paramount continue on because of this trip. Moving on to Rent, this was our first time seeing the musical, as we we had only seen and heard Rent through the movie and the movie's soundtrack. We were totally blown away by how much more there was in the musical that didn't make the movie, and it further amazed us that one man, Jonathan Larson, was able to write all of the music and lyrics. AMAZING!
I thoroughly enjoyed Rent. The visual imagery, the music, the passion of every one on stage, and the musical's ability to inspire people to live for today is addicting, and it left me wanting more. After having some time to reflect upon the experience, here are several of my thoughts.
The passion of the singers, the musicians and the story is inspiring and addicting. It makes me long to be that passionate about the songs that are in my heart, about the art that I see in my mind, and the life that I am daily living. I can't help but think the question, how would our churches be transformed if we were this passionate about the music, the drama, the arts, the Bible, relationships, living life as if it were our last day?
There was a scene in the musical that wasn't in the movie and it is right before Angel dies. The scene is very visual and suggestive of the sexual lifestyle that the characters were a part of. It shows the main characters beneath a sheet trying to break through, while around them the ensemble cast are grinding one another and Angel slowly rises up from the confusion as it continues. Not expecting this scene, I was a little embarrassed at first because it is highly suggestive, but the more I think about the scene, the more I realize how insightful it is because I think it actually shows the pain that the characters fill inside and how they want to break free from the torment and pain that they are living in. It then goes on to suggest that death (Angel rising) is the only way to truly escape the pain and be released. This scene really sticks in my head, and not because of the sex, but the portrayal of the pain that people truly live with.
What I appreciate most about Rent is that it is a story about people, relationships, and living life each day. Yes, it does have various immoral elements which unfortunately pushes people away from wanting to see this musical, but there is an amazing beauty in this musical that shines a compassionate light on the pain that people are living with and the ways that their lives change as they face the struggles in life instead of running away.
Truth be told, I was blind-sided by this story and this music. I didn't expect any of it to be that good. I expected it to be a celebration of all the things that a Christian is against, but instead I feel the words of Christ come alive within me when I think about how I should respond. With love and compassion.
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