Monday, October 13, 2003 10:15 AM
Trav emailed a nice video montage of Haven's party. Some good scenes of Abigail herein. If I didn't know better, I'd think he did it on a Mac! This was an official Difficult Weekend with Kate who is being contrary for the sake of being contrary. The others just add messiness to the house which drives Amy nuts.

Tuesday, October 7, 2003 5:56 PM
Today is Tuesday. I didn't write on Monday. I don't have that much to write. I'm behind in returning emails, behind at work, and behind in general. But I have lost a total of like ten or eleven pounds in the last week. But y'know, I think I should start expressing my weight in kilograms. There's a thought. We bought a Seca scale on Saturday at a garage sale. It was the one thing we hoped to find. And it is a fairly nice scale, but it needs a new coat o paint.

Anyone else gearing up for LoTR III?

Saturday, October 4, 2003 11:27 AM
Today is Saturday. I came up to Toolbox (with Kate, my youngest daughter) to upload some new art for my church's website that I work on. The church is hosting a 40 Days of Purpose campaign -- it's where a whole church goes through the Rick Warren book Purpose Driven Life. Should be interested.

Friday, October 3, 2003 6:39 PM
Arrrrgh. What a week. I'm going to a get-together now; wonder if I'll know anyone? But with this diet I have no idea what I'll be able to have for dinner. Maybe I can forage ahead of time. I made contact with an old friend this afternoon via email. He writes graphic novels (née comic books) for a living I think... Curious to find out if that sustains him or if he does other stuff as well.

I finished packaging design for David Kauffman today. Time to go finish my timesheet and skeedaddle.

Friday, October 3, 2003 2:48 PM
it's friday. i've survived five days of almost no carbs and almost no sugars. bonk.

Friday, October 3, 2003 1:14 PM
Does anyone remember this song?

Today is Friday,
Today is Friday,
Friday fish, Thursday soup, Wednesday roast beef, Tuesday string beans, Monday wash day.
All my loving brothers I wish the same to you.

Thursday, October 2, 2003 5:33 PM
Wow. My friend Barry is playing piano for Wynton Marsalis this weekend here in San Antonio. It's for a workshop... There's a possibility Marsalis might come listen to Barry's group play their jazz set later that same night at Dolores Del Rio. Today I created a silhouette for a gobo; designed my first DVD package design ever (i've probably done 100+ cd covers, but this id the first DVD i remember), and the aforementioned Barry and myself went over the bassline composition I hired him to create for a Flash animation I'm working on. I'm on day four of my diet, and I know I've lost weight. I just don't own a scale, so I'll never know exactly how much I lost. I play guitar up at Wayside this weekend.

Wednesday, October 1, 2003 9:42 AM
A friend will help you move. A really good friend will help you move a body.

Monday, September 29, 2003 10:43 AM
This is so weird. Take note, world! I'm starting a fad diet this morning!
My new acquaintance from Dublin -- a bookstore owner named Louis Hemmings -- emailed a few of us a poem this morning. I liked its simplicity and honesty:

Reunion

Your old Quaker walls in Waterford kept me from much harm,
you mentored me in music, your library was my haven.
Your “spartan lunches” inspired an appetite for justice,
your almost-Friendly Society soaked me in sabbath silence.

I was happy to play the beat-up practice pianos,
I was happy to wander end-of-term deserted hallways,
I was happy to go with girls down to the long grasses,
I was happy to join in midnight pillow fights.

Why do so few return for re-union?
who has died? committed suicide? divorced? or worse?
who had epiphanies there? who found any peace?
who feels sadness for lost memories?
who is addicted? imprisoned?
who is apolitical? missionary minded?
have many happily married?
do many privately cry?
do many mourn lost love?
Why do so few rejoice in reunion?

Thursday, September 25, 2003 9:45 AM
Well, this is better for sure. I saw that little icon this morning, and boom, here I am. Of course, I have nothing to say, since all I did this morning was arrive and make myself a latte in the toolbox kichen. Last night when I was sitting on the floor painting, another (finished) canvas (in fact this one ) fell from an easel and its corner came crashing onto my hand. It was a freefall of almost 4 feet, and I hadn't experienced that much pain since I broke both arms on the same day in October, 2001. The painting's fine. My hand was still swollen after I submerged it in ice water for what seemed like an eternity, but it's feeling a lot better this morning. Typing hurts. Get a life, Paul: typing hurts?! Try plowing fields or loading boulders all day.

Wednesday, September 24, 2003 10:34 PM
What's my deal? Why can't I blog consistently? OK - I'm making an alias of this html on my desktop so I'll see it more often and be FORCED to blog more! check out my friend barry brake at barryland.com

christus victor

Thursday, August 28, 2003 2:07 PM
I stayed up until 2:30 reading an advance copy of Greg Garrett's Cycling. My plan was to read one or two chapters, but I was drawn in. I knew these people, I kept thinking. I knew these places... I strongly recommend the book, as a well-crafted, intriguing piece of Texas fiction. But the book has left me haunted and in a funk all day today. I'm the kind of person who misses the characters when a good book is over. I'd love to read a sequel to the book... The last page of a novel is always a kind of death to me. So I've been stumbling around all day in a melancholyfunkhaze. I'll write a review for Communique

Luckily at lunch today I found out that canvases were on sale 50% off at Herweck's. I bought another huge one, and if I sell one this month, I'll buy some more. Subliminal message: buy my art.

Saturday, August 23, 2003 1:24 AM
several things to post. the first is a recount of my recent trip to Hotel San José in Austin. Also I updated my paintings tonight with three new canvases I just finished. Out of the blue, you run into people from your past. Within the last week, Jay Conder called, Anna Clark came to San Antonio for a visit, Jeff Duncan and Roland Cantu show up at a concert.... And about a month ago i caught up with Matt Slocum and his mom. Makes you feel young again.

You know, if I only post to this blog monthly, you're not gonna get a good idea of who I am. I gotta try this a little harder. But it's 1:30 AM and I need to go sleep. Going to Rob and Jo's lake house in the AM for a staff lake party thing.

Monday, July 21, 2003 6:29 PM
man, it's been a long time since i've written. I've been to D.C. and Lake Erie, celebrated a ten year anniversary with amy, and had some great experiences since I've written last. I've finished reading Ancient Future Faith and the new McLaren as well as "Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down" ... I bought a new canvas. Time to paint. I'll try to catch you up on my life when I have a moment. in the meantime, here's the old stuff:

Friday, April 11, 2003 1:59 PM
sorry, it's been a few days. family. kate bonked pretty hard on the concrete this week. recovering.
so i'm going to a men's retreat this weekend, and leading worship with jeff, trav and rusty. I'm hoping to break some stereotypes for what these folks can expect in worship. this is a very conservative bunch, artistically. i'm bringing in some looped audio soundbeds and video tracks for backgroudn music. we'll see that happens. got percussion, bass, guitar, vox...

my prayer is that the men's hearts would be softened for true worship. that God would break down barriers and keep me from being a hinderance.

got the regional addy results today. tbox did fairly well on art direction, not so much on design.

Wednesday, April 2, 2003 4:02 PM
wrote to craig frazier today, to see if he'd be available to illustrate the sumer issue again. started a new handwritten journal or scrapbook or something today at lunch. we'll see what it becomes. talked to lewis for a half hour last night on painting, process, where he buys his art supplies, and about Kiefer's "emulsion". :)

Tuesday, April 1, 2003 5:49 PM
spoiled surprises are bad. <deflated>

Tuesday, April 1, 2003 1:25 PM

lewis gave me a copy of anselm kiefer's retrospective book today. great work. and you can totally see how kiefer influences smith's work. i had told lewis last week about the way i always feel like i'm fighting against the media (medium), rather than working with it. the brushes and pigments and oils and cleanup are the most frustrating part -- and limiting -- of my art. possibly why i've camped out in the clinical work of pixels for so long. no cleanup, no mess. time to break out the oils again. i believe.

paul

Monday, March 31, 2003 6:11 PM
jeff tells me that our old friend and one-time communiqué biz manager has left microsoft to go work for pura vida coffee. a seattle-based fair-trade coffee company with a missional bent: "Our Commitment to children and families starts at the coffee plantations where we buy our premium beans. We are committed to buying our coffee from farms where coffee is grown organically, under the original shade canopy, and paying a sustainable price for the beans. Buying coffees in this manner helps to raise living standards for coffee farmers while protecting the environment. Pura Vida donates 100% of net profits to programs benefiting at-risk children in coffee growing countries."

pax et coffee,
paully

Monday, March 31, 2003 3:31 PM
lunch was great. sketchbook & sandwich on the riverwalk. the wind was talking today.
came back to emails full of downers. but i read a great essay out there under the sunshine:

Recoving The Body: The Transformational Power of Metaphor by Doug Thorpe. It was from a Mars Hill Review I had left over from 1997.

I'm thinking more about Kairos vs Chronos thanks to Andrew Jones' blog.

soup

Monday, March 31, 2003 11:18 AM
time to start the blog over from scratch. tabula rasa.
i have archived the old. This weekend was an amazing exercise in the emergent conversation.
the wabiSABI conference clashed with my family plans, so I was only able to partake of one nicely chunky session on Saturday mid-morning.

I'll write more as I have time.

christus victor

paul