go out and steal some kid's candy tonight...

back at the cabin again. the noise of solitude is soothing...

in the beginning
and through Him all things were made
and the word was God

be

40!

it's my baby's birthday today and she's officially joined the 40 club. i love you honey!

restoration

i was up in the mountains again this past weekend painting and i came across a couple of these wall plates around the cabin. at first i was going to just paint right over them again, but as i looked closer at one i noticed a little bit of the finish beneath. i unscrewed it from the wall and discovered that it was a really pretty brass plate. so i decided i'd try and strip the paint completely off it and see what revealed. i love doing little jobs like this. my friend todd has given me a deeper appreciation for it. taking something ordinary, and by just giving it a little attention and care, you can turn it into something beautiful. or maybe i should say return it. these turned out pretty good. it can take a little time and patience, and in the end i don't even think anyone will notice. but that's not really why i did it. the reward was the doing. it makes me want to look harder for these missed opportunities. so often we just pass them by, or paint right over them instead of seeing the real finish hidden beneath the surface.

take just a moment
surround yourself with good things
and pay off beauty

these days...

i was driving to the bay area today in my car listening to a little mix i'd put on my i pod. i don't often get a chance to listen to music in the car anymore because i'm usually on the bike. as i was listening it occurred to me that i'm at an age where most if not all of the most meaningful music in my life has already played. that's not to say i won't still continue to discover and enjoy new music, but i think the intensity of music during a certain time in my life has passed. i used to spot people who were twenty years out of high school still sporting the same look they had as teenagers and imagined they still cycled through all the same 8 tracks as well. now i guess it's happening to me. i used to dread the day i'd finally admit it to myself, but strangely i'm ok. i love music and i want to keep digging on new stuff, but i think it's ok to point to an era and say "that's my time. that was when i was hyper-aware. this is what helped form me. these are my influences." hopefully i won't have to endure some horrible pbs post punk reunion show someday.

something's coming...

go out and make your own message today...

trying hard to blend

he spreads his lies among us
expose the faker

my chest constrained by
tight steel bands will hold tight
or rip me apart

been working and staying up a lot lately. but tonight, i want to sleep like this...

take a good look at everything today and see if you notice anything different. things are not always what they seem.

it's sunday again. unplug to recharge.

memories quilted
as life experiences
are sewn together

24 hours in reno...

i went to reno yesterday for one of my freelance jobs. funny how close it really is to where i live. it only takes a couple hours to get there. and when i first get there it really doesn't seem to be that different on the surface. except for giant clown signs on the street and slot machines in the 7-11. but i realize after a while that i am actually in another state. it is different here. the rules are different. the people are a little different. and people come here from all over to live differently. we created a place where people can indulge. we built a city around desires and made it a tourist destination. in many ways it's a more honest place. a little seedier too. as i walked up to the entrance to my hotel it all looked so blown out. bright lights and the biggest little city. they had built a new facade on the front of the hotel. the old one was just a plain box, but the new one was like a tuscany nightmare complete with cheesy porticos and frescos and neon. but as you looked at it, you could clearly see that it was just an add-on. a face-lift. a distraction. still, we seem to love the distraction. maybe because it looks better close up than the real thing. viva.

i and me are a
contradiction split twins and
mirror opposite

see the rain outside
and put the radio on
tune into inside

small houses 03

location: 325 w154th ave., san leandro, ca
so this was my own "small house" project. back about five years ago when i was out of work, i was looking for something to do and i read this article in my wife's martha stewart magazine about these guys who build fishing sheds in minnesota. they pride themselves in keeping the price on these projects to a minimum by using a lot of found materials and then completing the look to reflect their taste. before i lost my job i came across this pile of lumber next door to where i worked. they were setting up a wine storage facility and had unloaded crates and crates of storage lockers outside. i asked what they planned to do with all the lumber and they said they were going to get a dumpster and toss it all. so, enter me with a work truck. that pile of lumber sat outside my house all winter, but when summer came along i put it to good use. i wanted to build a little house. a space defined by the constraints of budget and resource and skill. and i wanted it to be a space for nothing other than sitting in. like the little hut toshiro mifune bides his time in, in yojimbo. i've done some construction work before, but this was more like an art project. the only tools i used were a skilsaw and cordless drill. i was also inspired by the book wabi-sabi by leonard koren. he studied architecture, but the only thing he ever built was an eclectic tea house. all total i spent around forty bucks on this thing. and now i know when the chips are down, with a little time and patience i can afford shelter.

we wake to sabbath
there are no plans but resting
time for a selah