JFlah's Blunders

I've been seriously considering putting some effort into finding freelance jobs. In researching and looking for basic contracts and such I happend upon an article on the AIGA website about copyright. The author, Brad Holland, wrote the article in 2005 but it felt like it could've been written yesterday since the statements he made were so spot on for today. The article was super intersting and I agreed whole-heartedly with it's statements. Here's a snip from the end of it that really brought things home: The principles of building construction are a collective body of wisdom accumulated over the ages. This information is available to everyone, as are building supplies to anyone who can afford them. Yet, the house you build or buy is yours and your heirs. Your debt to the fair use of public information does not obligate you to inhabit your home under a limited government grant, then surrender it back to the public at the end of that term. Let the Copy Left expla...

Passed out last night - always wondered what that would feel like. I never want to do that again. It wasn't much fun. My parents came and picked me up - took me to the "ER". I got my first EKG and now am toting around one of those annoying ECG machines. Thankfully, I only have to wear it for 24 hours. The doctor told me to take it super easy for the next three days. I'm glad that most of the crazy busy stuff at work happened last week. While we were there, I sent a text to my boss that told him I was in the "er". My parents and I laughed about it. It's like the land of Ur but... not. Guess you had to be there, huh? I've got a few bruises but I think things are fine. I'm finally starting to feel like myself again. I still have no idea what happened or what caused that spell and pray that I never have another. It really took it out of me. After it kinda passed and I managed to get back into the bed, I thought how rough that would be on my fam...

You know, for years I’ve prayed that God would increase my faith and help me trust Him more each day. I just realized He’s doing it! When I moved back here from Vidalia and through everything – my heart getting broken for the first time, losing that job I moved back for, breaking my leg, being unemployed, all that struggle to make ends meet while continuing to work as if God was my “boss”… Well, quite often in the last several months I have been noticing more and more how much God’s been taking care of me in “little” ways. Like, I will have absolutely nothing edible in the house and someone will ask me to dinner, pick up the tab for lunch or whatever. And when I thought the clothes I had were about to absolutely fall apart, God sent some nice hand-me-down clothes that have a lot of wear left in them. He’s been encouraging me through it all. No matter how lonely I feel, I know that He is with me no matter what and somehow knowing that helps me endure. And, this last week God granted m...

I’ve been reading a lot and noticing some stuff here lately. You’re probably wondering what kind of “stuff” I’m talking about. Well, I’m writing about how eastern philosophy has infiltrated American society. Hollywood is full of movies that tout that humans are basically good and that if they try hard enough they can do anything they want, even be their own god. It’s the idea that nearly every Disney movie I’ve seen is saturated with and is why those movies bother me. What’ve I been reading that’s stirred me up? It’s a few books by Ray Yungen. The one I’m reading now is called A Time of Departing . And I read Warren Smith’s autobiography, The Light that was Dark in conjunction with the Yungen books. They’re all quick reads – maybe because they’re so interesting. But I’ve been noticing the “New Age” themes in movies and such for years, but now that stuff has a name and I know exactly what it is and where it is coming from. It’s more than a little disturbing when I start considering a...

I don't get to hang around too many designers... well, actually, I don't get to hang around any designers, but for those of you who are designers, have you noticed that when you're stressed and pressed for time that you come up with your best (and worst) work? Last week one of the million bosses around work asked if I'd help layout a 30-something page brochure for the centennial celebration. They didn't have everything together at that time, but I said I would help because I knew that they needed it and I want to keep my design muscles moving. I was already prepping for three weeks in advance because my immediate supervisor was getting ready to leave the country at the end of the week so I knew it was going to be stressful. Well, I got a peek at the basic "this is what I want" stuff on Tuesday, but didn't get any real details till Thursday afternoon. I worked as hard and as fast as I could, attempting to keep up with my regular duties and get that ...

I took a few days off at the beginning of the year, painted my kitchen cabinets and soaked myself in Louis L'Amour books. I listened to some of his books in audio form as I painted, and then I read several of them before going back to work. One that really stuck with me was "Riley's Luck". It was difficult to get settled into the story because of the names. Two characters at the very beginning had three letter names that began with "V". The main character was "Val" and the other character's name was "Van". Yeah - so one letter difference wasn't enough for me, but a few pages in, I got used to it and the story started to flesh out. When I got done reading, I felt like writing again. It's been so long since I wrote anything new. Last year I edited and added to CoR, let a few people read it and give me ideas. It was nice to get some constructive feedback, but after all of that, and all the thinking and planning for that story...

You know, this year I noticed more and more people using "happy holidays" instead of Merry Christmas and that even greeting cards are echoing that. I had a harder time finding a card that reflected what we're celebrating. I mean, without Jesus Christ, what's the point in celebrating "Christmas" at all? Without Christ, none of it makes sense. I don't know why I'm more sensitive to society's exclusion of Him this year than I was last year, but it may be simply that it's more widespread than it was last year and that I care more than I did before. I've just been thinking is all. I've been listening to Alistair Begg of Truth for Life in the mornings for a while now. This week he's been expounding the "Who is Jesus?" idea and I've gotten all excited again. It's like Christmas takes on a new light when you know the truth of why we celebrate it. I mean, without the Christ of Christmas, without his being fully divine a...

You know, Dove Chocolate gives terrible advice. It's nice to open a piece of chocolate and have a sweet little fortune-cookie-esque comment inside the wrapper, but those comments have gotten progressively worse since they started printing those little things. The Dove chocolate is by far my favorite brand, but I am glad I don't live my life according to the principals they promote. Check this one out: "Forget the rules and play by your heart," it says. Sure, it sounds great, but what terrible advice! I mean, if everyone followed their heart no matter the consequences... All I can do is shake my head. What a relativistic quagmire we've fallen into! This kind of stuff is only part of the reason society has so many ills - no one seems able to locate their self control any more. One guy decides that his heart wants something that isn't his (like his buddy's car) and one woman decides that her best friend's husband floats her boat more than her own husb...

Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; may Your good Spirit lead me on level ground. Psalm 143:10 (NIV) So, yeah. I've been looking at that verse for weeks and praying that it'll become written on my heart. There are so many times when I have been struggling with "life" and from the dirt, a flower will spring up that will help remind me that if not for God, (the God of the universe, the God who is and was and will be forever) there would be no good at all in my life: No good health; no good family relations; no love; no comfort; no sweet puppy dog to come home to in the evenings. Were it not for Him, I'd be miserable, hopeless and, well, to be frank, I'd not exist at all - nothing would. It's a comfort to know that He is there - that He is in control even when I don't necessarily want Him to be - that I don't have to fear the future. God knows and provides what's best for me because I love Him - so I don't have to worry and that...