Friday, July 31, 2009

He held up his fingers

We were in the drive thru at In n Out the other night having a grand ole time waiting to order. When I looked up to see the guy ordering in front of us suddenly hold up a two (with his fingers)! First he held his hand up toward the speaker, then toward the menu, I guess he thought there was a camera there reading the amount of food he wanted. It was quite funny and my mom and I had a great laugh.
He held up a two....classic!

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Redesigned and it feels so good...

Yesterday while I was starting the new blog, I discovered some options I could use to customize this blog. I didn't do anything big, but I did change the template and I'm really enjoying it!

There are tons of things I can do to this page...I can change the fonts, colors, backgrounds whatever I want. I've just gotten started on this task and don't want to change it too much (cause I'm really digging it) but I'm going to have fun with it.

What do you think about it? Until Next Time...

Monday, July 27, 2009

What I've decided....

Hi there,

Well, since I have bought my 35 mm, I haven't really been out there trying to use it like I should, so I've decided to step up my game and just take it with me and snap away. The pictures may not be good and most may end up being a waste, but it'll be a learning experience that I can look back on and say that I did!

I have decided to start a 2nd blog that will be completely devoted to my photography experiences. I will share these experiences in words and pictures. So go on over there to see the progress I'm making (I will share the good, the bad and the UGLY). I will point out my favorites and tell you the inspirations behind the pictures I've take. I can say that there won't be a daily update (since I'm dealing with film, not digital) on this blog, but I hope for weeklies.

The name of the blog is My Journey in Photography and you can find it at: http://mrslay26photos.blogspot.com/ or go to my full profile and at the bottom you can find the link!

Alright, so head on over and take a look at my stuff. Feel free to tell me what you think about them. But don't be mean!


Sunday, July 26, 2009

Back to Work, got to sleep

I've spent the last two days at Amber's house in the Air Conditioning. And I'm back home in the heat. I sleep well last night, except that at about 1 am the dogs decided to start barking at air! After that, I woke up every 3 hours (my 6:30 wake up call was to let the dogs out to pee). I was out of bed by 9 am both yesterday and today, so even though I wasn't in the heat, I also didn't get to sleep in in the A/C.

Since I have to go to work tomorrow and face the world, I need to go to bed and try to sleep through this heat!

Hope you all are fairing well in this summer heat!

Until Next Time

Friday, July 24, 2009

You spit mighty swords because you think they will work to your advantage.
You cause the problems then blame them on others
You think the you are superior and try your best to bring everyone else down.

There is a burning in your soul, that your loneliness ignites
I cannot and will not be a party to your terror.
We see things differently because I don't trust you words

The hate you spread is damaging
You twist you voice so that you are believed
The truth is ultimate and to be striven for

Games are played and I don't care if I lose
Because I refused to play a game you've created to your advantage
You win and feel fulfilled, but no one congratulates the victor

I am sad for you
You are lost, so, in the grips of pity
Unable to find the light out

Maybe one day we will see eye to eye
Maybe one day you will forgive yourself
Maybe one day you will stop blaming others for your faults

You have scars but do not own them
You are exactly what you accuse others of being
And when they throw your words back at you you run and cry that they are mean.

I don't like you now that I know you
Before you were a friend, but now you are nothing to me
With every step we take closer to the end I feel less and less emotion in your regard!

Goodbye from my life
You are no longer welcome
I will see you in the shades of distance memories that I shall push to the back corners of my mind.

The Bible

I was looking at pictures on the Internet today and came across the bible verse Phil 4:3...well, in trying to look up that verse to read it. I found a website where I could read the whole bible if I wanted to. So,after I read Phil 4:13 I decided to look through the books and stop anywhere that I thought would be an interesting read in the short amount of time I had.

I came across lamentations and thought' "I wonder who wrote this and could it possibly be real laments?"...well of course it is, but my brain was just not moving fast enough. I still don't know who wrote it, but I opened it up and started to read from the first verse.

As I read, I started to think about Psalms, Proverbs and Song of Songs (Solomon, depending on the type of bible you have), how they are great works of poetry...David, of course, being one of the greatest poets of all wrote with abandon and never held anything back wrote the Psalms. You can go through his life story in the Psalms....his ups, downs, joys, pain, anger and happiness it's all there laid out for us. I don't think it's only there for us to read, but I think it's also there as an example. As humans there are things we just can't understand about God. We get impatient, we're worrisome and we just don't know how to handle ourselves sometimes. We get angry at each other, but also at God. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but if you are honest it's true.

If David, the man after God's own heart, has showed us anything, it's that the flawed can do their best to be "cured" and that with God's forgiveness and faith we can thrive. There are times when he is HIGHLY upset with God, but then he turns it around because he realizes that it's not really God's problem, it's his. God hasn't changed and the Psalms can remind us that even when we "overreact" to a situation He is still there waiting for us and all we have to do is reach out our hands in worship and praise him. We will always forgive us, but what David shows us is that we have to put ourselves aside.

Sorry I totally started ranting and got taken off topic, but I'm coming back!

Jesus said that he was sent here to be our example. He came down so that he could experience the daily pressures of our lives in all their forms. In his weakest state he allowed Satan to tempt him in all manners of sin, but he never caved. But Jesus isn't our only example. The bible is littered with them, for men, women and children. And untimely (I've finally understood what I'm about to say), the bible itself is our example and guide. Whatever we may be feeling, we can find a representative of it in the bible. If you read deeply, Lamentations is about Israel being rejected by God and given into the hands of it's enemies...it's God's people crying out to him...shoot, just crying out but it can also be laments for us in our darkest most depressed moments of life! Song of Songs is about two lovers...which again if you look deeply is about God's love for the church and vice versa, but if you are just reading it for fun...it's about the perfect love between two people and isn't that what we are all looking for? The new testament is about God's promise fulfilled and how we are supposed to handle the responsibility Christ left to us.

Some people take the bible literally, while some believe there are grey areas that should be adapted according to the times in which we live. Whatever you're beliefs on the subject the message of the bible and it's intend are clear...it's a guide, a comfort and a great read!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

MySpace, Your Space, Our Space.....Peace Out!

I'm closing my MYSPACE account on August 1 and will be doing the same with my Facebook account short by the end of summer. It's time to cut some the none stuff stuff out of my life and focus on what I want to do....besides, it's kind of a waste.

I'm keeping my blog, because I do enjoy it. So hopefully I'll see you here!


Until Next Time...

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

I work with an ASSHOLE!



You know those people at work who just don't fit in with the rest, they are moody or rude or selfish or lazy or just plain mean...and then there are those who are all of these! Well I work with one of those people...


Before I lay into him, I have to admit that I too can have all of the above attributes with the exception of mean. I do not intentionally try to be mean and/or hurt peoples feelings and if I feel like I have I will go to them and apologize. I'm not saying that I'm perfect, but I have become so frustrated with this person that I just have to voice my opinion on the matter. Now I know that calling someone a name, especially ASSHOLE, is harsh, but there's just no other way to say how I feel!


I have been working here since October and in that time 4 people have been hired and 4 have left (one fired). And I can confidently predict that the newest person, here less than a month, will be leaving as soon as he finds a new job. People leave jobs because of a number of reasons, but the primary reason at my work place is due to one person! No one can stand him, he is lazy...rude...pushy...and mostly mean. He thinks that he is funny but the things that come out of his mouth aren't funny because, most are spit out to hurt someone.


And over all these things he's needy....if he's in the room he HAS to be the center of attention, so much so that he will interrupt a perfectly good conversation (without saying excuse me and most times, for no good reason) just so that everyone in the room has to focus on what he's saying. And if you don't focus on him he will throw a tantrum, completely over react and just start causing problems for everyone in the room.


He does or says things that make you not want to be around him and when you distance yourself, he runs to the boss saying that nobody likes him and everyone is mean to him (no he's not 5 years old! but he sure does act like it). The sad part is that she backs him up so everyone is stuck in his sad little whirlwind and we can't get out of it.


You never know what a day with him is going to be like, is he going to spit craziness at you, is he going to ignore you cause he's mad at you for something (and only God knows what it is) or is he just going to be blah! I was finally honest with him and told him that I don't like the way he talks to people or to me and that most times I just want to punch him in the face. He wanted the truth and I gave it to him.


You see in his mind nothing is his fault! He doesn't think that he's mean or that what he says effects people. He truly believes that we are all out to get him and that no one likes him and everyone is trying to ruin him. Frankly, he puts too much stock in himself to think that we are all sitting around thinking of ways to bring him down, when ultimately he is causing all the damage by himself. Even writing this is giving him too much power, but today I watched (mostly listened cause I was working) to him act stupid because he couldn't do what he wanted. See most of the time he sits on the computer looking up dogs or useless items for his house (even though we aren't supposed to be on the net) and because I was on the computer actually working, he couldn't get on it and "pretend" to work! The longer I was there the more childish he got, until finally he had given the boss too much attitude and she pulled him out of the room to talk to him.

Ultimately he is completely disrespectful of his co-workers and despite all else, if he would respect us, people wouldn't dislike him so much!

Had a Concert, it went pretty well...

Hi All,

As I previously posted I had a concert as part of the Songs for Sudan series at my church to help raise money for our Sudanese project. Well I have to say I think it went pretty well!...Well, at least that's what I keep hearing.

I'm always my harshest critic, so it was completely up to my opinion I would say it was okay. But I've heard from a few people (personally) and I'm pretty sure that my mom interrogated every single person there! And all the reviews are good the whole thing was very received!

I did 8 songs, the names of which i will post below. They were all different genres and I had some cool guys backing me up. Reuben K, Jeff and Charles J. and Anthony M. played with me and I'm so glad they did! I couldn't have pulled it off without them and all their help and support.

The whole crowd seemed to enjoy the show while it was going on, and I was even able to get them up to dance and sing with me.

So all in all a good show. I had fun, the guys had fun and from what I hear everyone there had fun too and isn't that all you want from a concert!

Well Until Next Time....


Oops, here's the set list!

Syrup and Honey by Duffy
Flat on the Floor by Carrie Underwood
Blackbird by Third Day
Indescribable By Chris Tomlin
Sunday Bloody Sunday By U2
Melt My Heart To Stone By Adele
Undignified By David Crowder Band
Nothing Compares to You By Sinead O'Connor

Monday, July 06, 2009

Songs for Sudan

Hey Everyone,

I've mentioned before that my concert is very active in the country of Sudan. Well we've been putting on a series of concerts to raise money towards our efforts and well, it's my turn to step up and use my God given talents to help out with this cause.

I am putting on a concert at Marina Christian Fellowship in Culver City, Ca on July 18, 2009.
The tickets are $15 dollars and they are available online at the follwing links.

www.vocalstylings.com/schedule.htm

www.marinachristian.org/songsforsudan

I hope to see you there!