I celebrated another year of life yesterday with my wife, and I must say… it’s great to be married. Food tastes better, the company is prettier, and the experience is much more memorable. We headed over to Shabu Fondue for a wonderful birthday dinner surprise. I was fairly excited about this because I had not had ‘real’ fondue before in a restaurant setting. The atmosphere was great and the restaurant was themed pretty well; distinctly Asian-decor (think lots of red and black). The food was fantastic, albeit a little on the pricey side (especially since you’re the one cooking half of your meal…). All-in-all a great experience, and one I would recommend in moderation (your wallet will thank me).

We are also picking up the keys to our finished condo today! After nearly a year of waiting, the place is finally built and ready for the newlyweds to move-in. I must say, with this being my first piece of non-rental property, I’m quite excited. Celeste and I are both keenly aware of the fact that this, along with many other things, is a blessing from the Lord. We are so very thankful to our God for giving us this opportunity and pray that we are able to honor Him through the use of our home and lives together.

During the course of the next two weeks, I’ll be traveling a lot. Next Tuesday we will be heading over to Orlando Florida for the Photoshop World Conference with our friends Vinny and Elizabeth from Xaris Studio. Upon returning, I’ll be preparing for another trip with my Creative Services team at Food for the Hungry. We are having our annual vision planning trip which will help us brainstorm new ways to be productive and innovative with our branding and marketing during the course of this next year.

It’s a busy time in our lives, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.

The OQO Model 2 computer is pretty amazing- it looks more like a smart phone to me than a computer. With a base price tag of $1299 (and the ability to buy a refurbished model through the outlet store for $999), these little ‘laptops’ are competition more for the cell phone market than anything else.

When you you realize that a 16gb iPhone is $500.00, it really puts things in perspective. Would you rather be limited to a smart phone-style iPhone (come now, lets admit it- for as cool a phone as this is, its NOT a computer) OR, for roughly double the price, have access to a fully-functioning computer? If I was in the market for one of these things (which I’m not currently), I’d save my dollars for the latter option. The base specs aren’t too shabby either: 1.2 Ghz processor, 40GB Harddrive, 512 MB of RAM, full WiFi and bluetooth capabilties, preloaded with XP home OS. Not only that, but the docking station is sweet- elegant aesthetics in the design department, and extremely functional.

The reason I would contest that something like this can compete with the smart phone market, is the ability to use VOIP in conjunction with this full-on computer interface. By utilizing a data plan through a variety of available cell companies, users could not only use this device to wirelessly access the internet, but also to use services like Skype anywhere they have cell service. This was something I had talked about a few years back in my blog. I was really excited at the prospect and potential of these ‘mini-laptops’ and their ability to incorporate the use of VOIP on the fly.

A service like Skype essentially cuts out the middle-man in VOIP communications… that is, of course, AFTER you’ve already purchased a data plan from the aforementioned middle-man… oh well, there’s still room to grow. Still, this is very, very cool.

I’m officially a camera geek. I’ve spent some (too much) time at Home Depot and Ace Hardware of late looking for parts to use in constructing my new HV-20 ‘rig’. For those of you uninitiated into the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) world of guerilla filmmaking (ex- for those of you are not geeks), a ‘rig’ is simply a type of camera setup that has been configured by its user to accomplish multiple goals in cinematography at one time. For example- I’m trying to create my rig in a manner that would allow me to have multiple mics, a video light, an additional camera lens, a video monitor, and some zoom controls all housed in one solid piece. I haven’t gotten too far yet, but I do have the skeleton of the rig basically completed (see photo). It’s not spectacular by any stretch of the imagination, but I’m slowly working on adding more functionality and form to it. The end result should hopefully look like something someone would use to shoot a movie with… not like a botched ab-roller… errrr… like it does now…

As a Christian, I am well aware of the origin of art- my maker, my creator- He is where art had its beginning. Looking throughout creation, be it in the faces of my coworkers or at the top of a mountain overlooking the vastness of this world, God has truly crafted a work of art in his creation. What an excellent reminder and encouragement to Christian artists to pursue excellence! So often we are encouraged to imitate Christ in the way we speak and lead our lives. As artists, our course of action should be no different; we ought to imitate Christ through our art.

I find it disappointing that good art is considered ’secular’ within the school system today. Why is it that, as Christians, we feel like we must sacrifice our values and morality on the altar in an effort to be known or to create what others would consider ‘truly great art’? Today, everyone feels as if they must push the envelope. Cinematographers are constantly looking for that next scandalous subject that will have the media abuzz. Just take a look at the Sundance Film Festival. Whilst seeking to create pieces more ‘esoteric’ in nature, some film makers trade well-written stories for drab, meaningless plots that make a stir by being crass or unsettling. Don’t misinterpret what I’m saying here: there are MANY excellent films that come out of that festival, I am not contesting that. However, for an event that supposedly houses the independent film making elite, it sure is a sad statement in general about the values and focal points of mankind.

As Christians we do not have to sacrifice our faith in God in order to create pieces of art! During high school I was fortunate to have Heidi and Erin as friends. These twin girls were a constant reminder to me of what the sole-purpose of art is: to glorify God. That is to say, our creativity, by very nature, is an expression that can be used to bring honor and praise to the supreme Artist. Heidi was recently featured in an article over at ASU’s online news hub for her show at the Step Gallery, Chrysalis: The Contemporary Significance of the Classic Still Life (which I unfortunately missed due to the craziness of current events with moving and the like- so sorry Heidi!). What a wonderful statement she has made through giving her gift of painting to her heavenly Father! I’ve known Heidi for a long time. Heidi’s work is never static, dull, somber or cheesy- it is always alive, joyful, and progressive. Her work is the mark of an artist on fire for Christ.

Being a Christian artist does not mean that you cannot push the boundaries of your creativity, it does not mean that you are forced to endlessly fabricate ‘Jesus pictures’- that is a common misconception. God’s beauty is in His creation, it is in all that He has created. A flower, a daring rescue, the somber reality of war, a baby, a family in poverty, persecution, a joyful entry, a man weeping, an artistic rendition of feeling, a composite of materials… these are all art subjects that can be used to bring glory to the supreme Artist. Why? Because He made everything! The distinction between a Christian’s art and a non-Christian’s lies solely in the artist’s viewpoint of sin. A Christian artist understands that sin is a perversion of art, not something that should characterize art.

To my artistic brothers and sisters in Christ- may we embrace the gift that God has given us and relentlessly pursue Him through it’s use. May all our actions and art be for His renown. May we invest ourselves in mimicking His artistry throughout all creation.

As a graphic designer, I really appreciate a good marketing campaign when I see one. Epinions.com has a really great one going on right now- write 10 reviews and get $10. Why is this so great from a marketing standpoint? Namely- users, as well as Epinions benefits from this.

This campaign does three things for Epinions from my point of view: 1) increases traffic to their website, 2) provides incentive for users to get invested and integrated, 3) costs them VERY little to boost traffic and user interaction. The rules stipulate that a max of 30,000 reviews can be received to qualify for this promotion. Hmmmm… let’s see, 30,000 divided by 10 equals 3000. Yep- a promotion that, at the most, costs Epinions (a company valued at $30.5 million in 2003) only $3000 to generate massive user interaction and interactivity. Not only that, but it is more than likely that Epinions will receive excess entries over and above the 30,000 qualifying ones.

I’m a dork I know, but I couldn’t help but admire a well-thought out promotion like this that saves money and maximizes business productivity. My goodness, did I just give free advertising for a promotion? What a dork…