"Which sports car are you?"

Are you an Italian exotic or an American muscle car? A classic roadster or a high-tech racer? This test will show you your true inner vehicle...

"You're a Mazda RX-8. You're sporty, yet practical, and you have a style of your own. You like to have fun, and you like to bring friends along for the ride, but when it comes time for everyday chores, you're willing to do your part."

-Jon
posted by Jon at 11:17 PM  I   I  0 comments

"Quote of the Day"

"Don't use words too big for the subject. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite."
- C.S. Lewis

-Jon
posted by Jon at 5:40 PM  I   I  0 comments

"Sunday"

Today something very unexpected happened during church. A 92 year-old man collapsed in the front pew and had to be carried out on a stretcher. The activity took place for at least fifteen minutes during communion, and on Mission Sunday when the already large old church was slightly more packed than usual. Needless-to-say, I felt for the elderly man. Not only was his health the cause of his fall, but he was also the object of everyone's attention for the rest of the service. Not a position I'd want to be in.

But, the good news is, when the paramedics took him out, he was contious and moving, so here's hoping he recovers. Quite the activity for a Sunday morning though.

-Jon
posted by Jon at 12:16 PM  I   I  0 comments

"Self-Portrait Day"

Did you ever realize how you probably keep visiting the same old web sites, seeing the same old faces? Self-Portrait Day will help you discover new and exciting individuals.

Basically, it's a launching pad. Almost every portrait is clickable and each one should lead you someplace new. There are 6 new faces featured every day.

Today, I am one of them.

-Jon
posted by Jon at 11:27 AM  I   I  0 comments

"Proof of God"

"Starving woman curses God, dies in her sleep"

Famine is horrible. I feel for those in Kenya who are enduring it, but, umm... yeah, cursing God really isn't the best way to deal with the situation.

-Jon
posted by Jon at 9:37 PM  I   I  0 comments

"Liquid Sculpture"

Now this is just cool:

Martin Waugh combines art and science to capture nature's infinite beauty. His free-flowing photography evokes images from rolling, rhythmic oceans to drops of water falling upon a lake, taking one on a spiritual journey bounded only by imagination.

-Jon
posted by Jon at 10:53 PM  I   I  0 comments

"Marla Olmstead"

Marla Olmstead is an abstract painter. She attracted international attention when The New York Times displayed her first major exhibition. Her work has been featured on The Today Show, CBS Sunday Morning, BBC World News and in Time Magazine. She enjoys reading, cooking, and gymnastics, but she is at her best before the canvas.

Marla Olmstead is 5 years old.


UPDATE:

Out of curiousity, I decided to dig a little deeper into the story behind this brilliant child prodigy, and I found the following CBS News article. While interesting, it does bring up the valid question... Is Marla for real, or is she merely a clever hoax created by her amature artist parents? I don't know. That's a pretty mean thing to do to a 5 year-old. What do you think?

"New Questions About Child Prodigy"

-Jon
posted by Jon at 5:22 PM  I   I  0 comments

"Definition of the Day"

Creativity:
"The experience of thinking, reacting, and working in an imaginative and idiosyncratic way which is characterized by a high degree of innovation and originality, divergent thinking, and risk taking."

That about sums it up. Without it, I'd be a vegetable. :)

-Jon
posted by Jon at 7:52 PM  I   I  0 comments

"Snowy Friday"

Well, guess what, it's finally snowing outside! Yep. Big fluffy flakes. And, it's about time too. We haven't had any snow around here since early to mid December. So, officially, I guess this makes it the first snowfall of 2006! Oooh.... pretty! :)

-Jon
posted by Jon at 5:07 PM  I   I  0 comments

"Deconstructing Ships"

Truely amazing: End of the Line

Where do ships go to die? Thirty years ago, Europe's shipyards took apart most of the world's supertankers. But rising costs eventually sent much of the ship-breaking industry to Bangladesh. In just two months, teams of workers will reduce a 240,000-ton tanker to scrap metal using crowbars, hammers, and their bare hands.

-Jon
posted by Jon at 6:36 PM  I   I  0 comments

"The Day in Review"

Typical Monday. Business as usual. Slight touch of "Artist's Block".

-Jon
posted by Jon at 11:53 PM  I   I  0 comments

"The Honda Civic Choir"

Now here's an interesting television commercial (from the UK). The sound effects of a new Honda Civic automobile... produced vocally. Very creative.

-Jon
posted by Jon at 7:06 PM  I   I  0 comments

"What goes around..."

I'm evil. And apparently contagious -- or at least I was. Scott (my roomate) now has the very same cold I had last weekend. It's his turn to be sniffling and sneezing around the apartment... and on his days off from work too no less. I really feel for him, but I guess the only thing I can do now is offer him a hot cup of tea. It sucks being sick.

Poor guy.

-Jon
posted by Jon at 6:11 PM  I   I  0 comments

"Quote of the Day"

"It is never too late to be what we might have been."
- George Eliot

-Jon
posted by Jon at 8:31 PM  I   I  0 comments

"Nominated Again"

This weblog is up for voting in this week's MKE Blog of the Week -- featuring some of Wisconsin's most interesting bloggers. Feel free to take a moment and check out the nominees. :)

Have a blessed day all, and thanks for reading!

Your happily blogging friend,
-Jon
posted by Jon at 1:26 PM  I   I  0 comments

"A Day of Dust and Paint"

Dust doesn't taste very good. Especially dust that's been sitting in an old basement for years. Mix that with the slightly sweet smell of new wall paint, and, well, it makes for an interesting experience to say the least.

Today I lent a hand to my landlord as he cleaned out the basement of one of the old houses he manages near downtown Milwaukee. It had lots of old wood, fifty year-old rolls of scrap linoleum, and a few odds and ends to be removed. Stuff that had been there for years. It was certainly hefty work, but also good for the 'ole heart. Plus, I also helped him rip a mumber of ugly green tiles off the wall in the kitchen, presumably so he could remodel that at some point in the near future too.

I'm no construction worker, not even a carpenter, and my talents certainly don't lay within this kind of work on a regular basis, but it is nice to have a landlord who has work in exchange for a few credits off my monthly rent. It also affords me an opportunity to get out and do a little heart-pumping work which doesn't always happen in my actor/artist job description. I love what I do on the creative end of things, but I also appreciate my landlord's kindness and his efforts to make things a little easier for me. He's a good guy. And as long as the work he has for me doesn't get too repetetive (and some recycling guy doesn't smash any more fingers!), I'm more than happy to spend a day here and there among dust and paint.

Life is all about lending a hand, helping someone else in need, and interacting favorably with those you meet along the way. Sometimes it involves dust and paint, sometimes it may be far less strenuous, but if you pursue everything with a cheerful heart, a friendly smile, and an eagerness to expand your knowlege, life suddenly becomes an adventure. And I'd take an adventure to the monotony of a rigorously scheduled life anyday!

Have a blessed Thursday all, find your adventure, and until next time,

Your happily blogging friend,
-Jon
posted by Jon at 9:41 PM  I   I  0 comments

"A Good Day"

Well, I guess I spoke too soon. The sun has disappeared again, but at least it was out and shone as brilliant as ever for about three hours (...breaking our seventeen day sunless streak!). That certainly brightened my day quite a bit! I also have the good news of noting that my cold is now a thing of the past. No more coughing and stuffy head. Very nice (and far less distracting too)! And as far as my work today is concerned, it moved along quite steadily, with the end now in sight for a few of these projects... and more waiting to be commenced.

So, all-in-all, it's been a good Tuesday. One definitely worth being thankful for! :)

Have a wonderful evening all, sleep well, and until the morrow,

Your happily blogging friend,
-Jon
posted by Jon at 7:21 PM  I   I  0 comments

"Warmed by the light of the sun."

Hey, hey! We now have sunshine, and lots of it! After setting a record of seventeen consecutive days of day-long cloudiness, the sun has finally made an appearance here in Milwaukee. And it's about time too, I was really starting to miss it. So, in celebration, I'm going to go take a walk. :)

I'll see you all later today. Until then, God Bless!

Your happily blogging friend,
-Jon
posted by Jon at 12:03 PM  I   I  0 comments

"Monday in Review"

Well, not much to say about today. Visited the Milwaukee County Courthouse. Worked. Endured less of a cold. Perhaps tomorrow will be more interesting.

I'm off to bed. Have a blessed Tuesday all!

Your happily blogging friend,
-Jon
posted by Jon at 10:07 PM  I   I  0 comments

"Have a little faith."

"Faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we cannot see."
- Hebrews 11:1 (The Bible)

You know, this just seems like an appropriate quote for today....

Case in point, I just watched a rather poignent Quantum Leap episode dealing with the Cuban Missle Crisis. It was a chilling glimpse of a part of our past that now resides only in the history books. Such fear of certain annihilation. Such a strong belief that there was nothing but a gruesome end in sight. What a sad reality. Fear is the opposite of faith. When fear is allowed to take control, faith disappears. Fear has an end. Faith looks beyond it.

Earlier today I read a heated debate over the validity of Creation versus Evolution. Naturally, both sides were adament in their core beliefs, yet neither cared to listen to the other. Either a loving God created the world for man -- the crown of His creation, or man evolved from unintelligent animals and slowly fought to become king of the planet. Sometimes faith can be closeminded. But sometimes it can also be a stone that topples reason.

For much of today, I've also been tossing around a few really creative project ideas that I may choose to pursue later this week. Projects that carry with them varying elements of risk. Part of me is quick to think, 'Jon, there's no promise these ideas will work out. Abandon them. Try something else.' On the other side of the coin, though, I think, 'Well, yeah, but life is based on risk. It's all about trying new things; challenging the mind; making those ideas work. How are ya going to know what works and what doesn't if you just sit there?' Faith can be challenging. But taking the hard route holds far greater rewards in the end.

See, for me, I can't imagine life without faith. My entire existance is built around it. Faith in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Faith in the knowledge that I am here for a reason. Faith that my goals and aspirations in life will work themselves out to the best. Faith that I will wake up to another successful day tomorrow, and know that God-willing, there'll be more days after that. Faith that there are more good people in the world than there are evil. Faith that there are things to believe and put my heart into. Faith that I have the strength to keep going.

But there's a sad side to this story. There are so many in the world who have no concept of faith. For them, life just goes on. They wake up every day to nothing. They go to sleep dreading another day of nothing. Then, someday, they just cease to be. They die. They no longer exist. And, what's worse, they don't care.

Faith is being sure of what you hope for -- whatever that may be. Faith will walk through the desert if it believes there's water on the other side. And even better, faith is being absolutely certain of what you cannot see. That desert is hot, it turns your skin to leather, it saps your strength, and it tries to kill you with every step. Yet, you'd gladly walk through those miles of dry searing sands, heck you'd run if you could, because you believe with all your heart that cool clear water awaits you at the end of your torture.

That's faith. It defies reason. It knocks you down. But it also teaches you to get up again, and walk confidently through the razer-sharp rocks of life.

Have a little faith. Take a moment, and look beyond what you see around you. Dig deeper. Hope for something. And don't ever let the fact that you can't see it stop you. Faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we cannot see.

Have a blessed new week all!

Your happily blogging friend,
-Jon
posted by Jon at 11:49 PM  I   I  0 comments

"I want my voice back!"

I think I have a cold. A mild one, but a cold nonetheless. I'm drinking plenty of fluids (as I normally do), nursing my weak voice, and using up the tissues. I'll probably be back to normal in a matter of days, but, for the time-being, I get to play host to an easily distracted mind. Yay. So much for those highly productive days I planned for. :)

Have a blessed weekend all, and if possible, try to stay well.

Your snifflingly hoarse, yet happily blogging friend,
-Jon
posted by Jon at 5:20 PM  I   I  0 comments

"The sun will come out tomorrow..."

You know, I just realized something. Here in Milwaukee, we haven't had any sunshine for the past two weeks. Seriously. No sun. Lots of clouds, plenty of rain, but no sun. It hasn't even been cold enough to snow, and temperatures here have been a balmy 30-some degrees most days. I tell you, I love this warmer weather, but really, this is not winter. :)

-Jon
posted by Jon at 9:07 PM  I   I  0 comments

"Injury Update"

For those that have asked or are curious, my smashed finger (December 29th) is doing much better, thanks. The swelling has gone down (although not entirely), and the colorful shades of blue are still there. Faded somewhat, but they're still there. It doesn't hurt anymore either (unless I apply pressure to it, obviously), but it sure is pretty! :)

I'm guessing the bruising will be around for a while yet. That usually takes a while to disappear. Considering how bad the injury could have been, though, I'll be happy that I still have my finger intact, and that I can use it normally again. Luck was definitely on my side with that one!

Well, I guess that's all for now. Have a blessed Wednesday, and until next time,

Your happily blogging friend,
-Jon
posted by Jon at 8:07 PM  I   I  0 comments

"Happy New Year!"
posted by Jon at 12:11 AM  I   I  0 comments