Fishy

Meet Verdugo.



He's a black moor goldfish. He lives in a vase with a sprig of bamboo. A bit timid around people, but he apparently is into poop culture (we bonded over this). He's vegetarian, but is open to eating meat. His current aspiration is to become a karoke singer.

He's is his namesake.

Verdugo was formerly part of a duo of goldfish, collectively known as "Nick and Nora", named after The Thin Man. Unfortunately, his counterpart (we'll assume Nora, as the gender of the fish is questionable) mysteriously died after a few days.

Posted Without Comment

Bat Cave Baptist Church.

[via The Internet Monk]

Jon Troast - Live!

It’s our privilege to host folk musician, Jon Troast, for an evening of acoustic music and warm drinks.

Date: December 11, 2007
Time: 7pm Location: The Lambros House (map)
Admission: $7

Important details:

_Invite your friends!
_We’ll be giving away CD’s to the first 10 people who show up.
_The event will be in the Lambros’ backyard, so bring warm clothes!
_Snacks + warm drinks will be served.
_Visit jontroast.com for a taste of the evening’s fare.
_Contact Luz for more info – cafecalvinista@gmail.com

Treated Book

A piece from Tom Phillips' ongoing piece The Humument, a treated Victorian novel. Currently showing at the London Artists Book Fair. I've been wanting to do something with my linoleum tree stamp. I think Mr. Phillips had me fully inspired....

[via We Made This]

Gratitude

The excited voices of family reunited.
Walking fast to keep warm.
The smell of elk stew.
Bare aspen trees.
Walking through snowy fields with the dogs.
Arctic underwear.
Breckenridge beer.
Snowflakes on my eyelashes.
Practical gifts, like tweezers, inside Christmas poppers/crackers.
"Hey, wanna twade?"
Giving grandma a manicure.
Holding her hard-worked hands in mine.
Amelia's eggnog sweet potatoes (+spiced eggnog!!)
Being with people who love what they do.
Experiencing community.
Beating Geno at "Oh, Heck!" by a contested point.
Wailin' Jennys while making dinner.
Aunt Hope unabashedly singing made up words to songs.
Debating over turkey preparation.
The basting timer's ding.
Frosted grass.
Sunflare photos.
Cats snuggling in bed.
Hot coffee and homemade pumpkin scones.
Seeing the stars through wispy clouds.
Watching your breath linger in the air.
Rocky Mountains.
Trees. Trees. Trees.
Warm fires in wood stoves.

For these I am grateful.

"Butter It's Not"

Another great list of knock-offs.

I'm wearing my dancing shoes today. (Sans Swiss alps.)

I don't need extra "protein"

While searching images for a burrito photo for our Burrito's In The Park outreach, this came up in my search results.

The Pursuit

The conference is over! Life returns to...normal? At any rate, the weekend went really well (some photos by the fantastic Todd can be seen here). We had so much wonderful help make it possible. Men were encouraged to be better, stronger, courageous, more godly men. It was exciting to be a part of it all!

Here's a little tidbit not related to anything important to the conference... I designed some special nametags for Andrea and myself. We kept them handy...just in case. :)

23 Trees

Last year, I decided that I needed to embrace my love of trees and try to produce 23 tree-related projects for my 23rd year. I'm two weeks away from my birthday and I'm only up to 10, so I'm scrambling a bit. I'll be posting frequently over these next few weeks (mostly after the conference), but until then I wanted to show you all a Zugster bag flap I designed for my friend, Dave.

There are more images here. Dave says there's now a year waiting list, so I think I might just go ahead and send in my order now (25th birthday present, shall we say?). Zugster master, Adam Alpern, crafts some beautiful bags, and I want in on the fun, too.

Edit: The response here has made my day.

100th Post: Autumn Experience Photos

What a lovely way to celebrate my 100th post: sharing photos from my Project: Autumn Experience!

Ahhh! Talking burrito!

Now, all I need is about four boxes of aluminum foil.

I wonder if Ricky will participate...

Itinerary

Places to Go
Remember that travel guide I was shortlisted for? I got in! You can see my itty-bitty photo of Stumptown Coffee here.

People to Meet
My Moo Cards are here! The colors came significantly duller, but the weight and size make them fantastic. I'm so glad to finally have some business cards, especially ones that feature my photography.

Things to Try
Mom brought back a chorreador de café from Costa Rica. It makes a decent cup of coffee. It's not as robust a French Press (which, still remains as the best coffee maker), but it has a coolness factor to it.

New Things to See
I'm off to Maryland for the weekend for Project: Autumn Experience. Photos of new colors and a detailed description of what autumn smells likes to come soon.

Roadside

Two weeks until The Pursuit!

Creeper

Taken at the Farm Grill.

Preparation

Folding chairs in the lobby.

Could be worse...if they could fly, too.

Invasion of the killer monkeys.

[via: Ricky, who states, "It's like the pidgeons in DC...only monkeys."]

Musical Notice

With all the crazy busyness going on around here, it's important to find something to keep my creative spirits up. My remedy: the musical genius that is Beirut. I'm not a huge music video fan, but I've been really enjoying their low-fi performances.

The Mullet of Authority

A found mullet wig at the church transforms my film + lit major brother, Paz, into a faith healer.
Church discipline is pending.


"Can I get a GUH-LORY!?!"


"Can you fEEEEl it?"


"The WUUUHRD of GOOHD says..."


He's filled with something... Not sure what, but something.

Comfort in words

Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

–this has been on my mind all morning as i prepare for a crazy week.

Ratatouille?

...I think not.
(Note: not for the faint-stomached.)

[via: Coudal]

"May I have another lump of coal, Mr. Scrooge?"

I think the pastors are trying to help us gain solidarity with those suffering in Antarctica.

Creative Process

This is where it happens.

Budding Starlet

This morning, I discovered that my photo of my Field Notes got on Coudal's blog feed. They're one of my favorite firms and I'm just starstruck that I got noticed.

Also, I received an e-mail stating that my Stumptown Coffee photo has been shortlisted for a travel guide, Schmap.

Two dreams come true in one day!

For Eden

E, I think of you and leg warmers often these days. (My office is particularly frigid!)

---

I got these in the mail yesterday and am terribly excited about them. Two pages have been filled already. You can get your own here.

---
Day 3: 23:45. Making great time!

Day 2: 34:46

Wow! What a difference a gel seat (thanks, Mike!) and air in your tires can make! 5:30am club is still really rough. My ability to walk and speak normally is impaired (as evidenced by several walls ran into and some kind of garbled groan response to roommate's cheerful "Good morning!"), but I hope this will be resolved over the next few weeks.

Day One: 42:17

Today, I began riding my bike to work. I've joined the 5am club (although I usually show up half an hour late), which means I'm going to join the 9pm club, too. The weather is really nice in the morning. Just cool enough to wear a light jacket, but not nippy. I'm trying to keep track of my time, which I think will. Tim Keller made for a great biking buddy. I think this is going to be harder than expected, but I did have a preemptive eulogy for unwanted curves this morning, so I've got to follow through.

Although, I must admit that running through the sprinklers this morning made it all better.

--

The Return Trip

Well, I made it. And am ready to do it again...after adding some bling. Apparently, my voluptuous toosh isn't as cushy as I thought and need to buy a new seat or make some adjustments to my current one. The guys here rock...even though Kale, my salesman, suggested padded shorts.

Beautiful Day

It's a beautiful day
Sky falls, you feel like
It's a beautiful day
Don't let it get away

– "Beautiful Day" by U2

Dilemma

With a half-day of autumn on Sunday, I am faced with a fashion conundrum:

scarf or leggings?

Pretend Autumn

It's going to be 81 degrees tomorrow.

This is joyous news, indeed.

---
p.s. in a few weeks, i venture to the lovely state of maryland to experience my first real autumn. even if it doesn't look like this, i'm ready to hunt down colors never seen before.

"Doris, there's a 30-foot bunny outside."

130 2' bunnies.

1 30' bunny.

Lots of Play-Dough.

Sony Bravia.

Behind the scenes.

Zia's Splendid Adventure

We're prototyping some ideas for the men's conference. Today, my sweet, dinged-up, Canadian Honda, Zia, took a spin inside the church. Many compliments go to Wayne for his fine driving skills. (Click on the pictures or go here for the details.)

In the words of Jon Payne, "It's a once in a lifetime member privilege."

Spurgeon

A study for a potential t-shirt. The middle one is the current final product.

Bicycle! Bicycle! Bicycle!

It started out as an inspiration. An inspiration from No Impact Man, specifically. He's this dude living in New York who decided to practice what he preached and is currently undergoing a project, attempting to have as little environmental impact as possible. While I wish I could wholeheartedly join him in this endeavor, as even simple things like buying local organic and recycling cancel themselves out due to driving distances, I decided it was time to live my redemptive worldview and do something. The most logical starting point was to start biking to work. Of course, this meant I needed to buy a bicycle. After some Craig's List adventuring, I came across my dream bike: a 70's candy apple red Schwinn Breeze with a basket and bell! It's so beautiful and I can't wait to start riding it around!

Sketchy

I love what I do. For me, sometimes the environment is just as important as the process. My whiteboard is often a source of inspiration. Lots of space to write up silly things, like this:

Inspired by Eduard von Grutzner's Monks.

Initial sketches for a proposal with the theme, "Good to Better".
In order:
Slingshot to Rifle
Goldfish to Shark (this one's particularly pathetic)
USA to Canada
Dirt road to Paved road
Tricycle to Vespa

Needless to say, I think the better version would only work for my own fancy.
The pastoral staff has a particularly different taste than mine.

Autumn

Once you're where you think you want to be you're not there anymore.
– Tony Gwynn, San Diego Padres (as seen in The Brothers K by David James Duncan)


Le Grande Muveran, as seen from Farel House

The weather has become unexpectedly cooler, soothing my bitter summer soul. Someone commented the other day about how long life seems here sometimes because we don't have distinct visible seasons. While the temperature is dropping, our visual autumn doesn't happen until January–which really begins to mess with your seasonal clock after awhile. A few friends have now invited me to go see a true fall out east, which I am seriously entertaining. But an escape to idealism will not cure my own deep-seated discontent. I will try to celebrate the season in my own Arizona way, and not be pining for places elsewhere. I am here. And it is good. Theoretical seasons and all.

Unexpected

Unexpected sunrise.

Despite my intentions of sleeping in, i was greeted by a sunrise drive instead.

It was humbling.

My grumblings about early morning were loud. The gentle invasion of God's mercy and kindness was louder.

I feel the same way about the new Photoshop logo as I do KFC bowls.

In other words, "makes me want to throw up in my mouth".

[via Veer]

Yo-Ho! Yo-Ho! A Pirate's Life For Me!

Today is Talk Like a Pirate Day.

Arrr!

Update:

My pirate name is:

Iron Bess Flint

A pirate's life isn't easy; it takes a tough person. That's okay with you, though, since you a tough person. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

Another Update:

The flag flying over my cubicle.

The detail of my collaged flag for my ship, the Ligature of Wrath.

Today's crewe includes: Captain Keelhauler, Black Morty Rackham, Ale-Guzzling Ivan, Ale-Guzzling Vanessa, Vicious Ned the Ripper, and Mr. Peg-Leg Jack.

Colorado Photos

Some of the photos are better seen up close. You can see larger versions within the set and read about some of the stories accompanying the pictures here.

Home. Again.

1. Arizona mountains. (Seen in previous post)

2. San Diego beach. (Coming soon)

3. Colorado mountains. (Coming soon, too)

My traveling bug has been assuaged for a bit and it's good to be back home, where there are flat roads. Photos will be up, as soon as I've got my land-legs back.

Much in love with mountain air,
L

P.S. Got to see this rad dude over the weekend. Go buy his CD or book him a concert. I mean it.

King Day – Our Flagstaff/Sedona trip

Have a lovely Labor Day weekend! Stay tuned for pictures from our upcoming San Diego trip...

Vacationing like a king!

Hello! I've just returned from Flagstaff, day 4 of vacation. I've got tons of pictures and quotables to share, but not tonight.

Missed Connection

Saw you on Gilbert Rd.
Your classic car caught my eye in my side mirror.
You were looking for something.
Coffee, Booger Boy?

Nostalgia

Francine Rivers, I Am Not

To break up the insane amount of work I'm doing at home, Mandy and I sat out on the balcony tonight. Blue Moon in hand, she read aloud a story I wrote when I was 15. It was supposed to be a Civil War love story that paralleled the story of Joseph. (I thought this was better reading than from the notebook marked, "Starfleet Academy Cadet Luz") Tears of deep laughter descended upon reading my excellent penmanship and brilliant constructed sentences like,

"And why do you want to go [with me into town]?" "To protect you from prospecting women looking for a handsome war hero."

"It's bumpier than sliding your hide on a cobblestone street!"

A tiny bell clinked as they entered. Mixed smells greeted them. Peppermint, spices, butterscotch, rum, and feed filled their nostrils.

Needless to say, I am quite confident that my calling is not to be a historical fiction novelist.
------
Portland Memories

I came across a collage I did during camp a few years ago from our day trip to Portland. I'm perpetually smitten with the northwest. Coffee. Mountains. Rain. Powell's Books. It has it all.

----
Fearless

Since I was young, I've kept a journal fairly regularly. I love looking back, remembering, seeing where I've been, how I've changed, and so on. Especially on a yearly basis. For example, last year, I was cutting boxes (something I am terribly grateful not to be doing again!). After reading stories on the balcony, I flipped through my journal from last year and came across some thoughts about someone I was interested in at the time. I don't think he ever knew. A line jumped out from my sobering processing of my heart and emotions, evidencing the Holy Spirit guarding my heart by bringing to mind what was True. "The powers of speculation push only faster into the depths of unrequited love...and threaten to destroy what little communion is there." I look back on that time with a slight sense of pain. It's taken months to move past a habit of allowing weak hope to be built on intuition, then crashing with fierce disappointment. The Lord has brought me to a place where I seek to love fearlessly and truthfully, not timidly, based on my own speculations. And with faith, knowing that I am called foremost to love my community genuinely. Someday I will be unexpectedly surprised by someone seen or yet to be known.

And on that note, I leave you with one of my favorite poems

Perfect love banishes fear (1 John 4:18, NEB)

The risk of love
is that of being unreturned.

For if I love too deep,
too hard, too long
and you love little
or you love
me not at all
then is my treasure given,
gone,
flown away lonely.

But if you give me back
passion for passion,
return my burning,
add your own
dark fire to flame my heart
then is love perfect
hot, round, augmented,
whole, endless, infinite,
and it is fear
that flies.

(--Polishing the Petoskey Stone: Selected Poems , Luci Shaw)

Designer Love

This popped up on my RSS feed today and has to be one of the best proposals ever.

(I feel like I ought to add a disclaimer for my gentleman friends who now hate poor Erich, noting that it's really the thought that counts. The art of proposal coincides with the depth of knowing your beloved. I, for one, would be completely thrilled at the discovery of a ring in the bottom of my coffee cup.)

Already, Not Yet

Photo-A-Day: Catch-Up

August 18

Tango Shoes.

August 19

New Members Sunday.

August 20

Parallels.

Cereal Celebration

(click to enlarge)

Join us in celebrating our newest Casita member!

Unintended Hiatus

Hello, lovelies. I'm three days behind on photos and a massive video project this next week. Some photos may be on their way, but they'll probably be of the loopy-induced kind. The Luz Café is extending its hours this week. I might poke my head out for a bit to get some sunshine, but expect to see little of me until after Sunday.

Photo-A-Day: August 16

For Anna E. --and all our lemon-thyme tea-drinking afternoons.

Photo-A-Day: August 15

Mandy and I experimented in the kitchen for breakfast. Savory French Toast was our goal...and I am proud to say we succeed with tasty results. While I can only give approximations (I'm all about "intuitive cooking"), we concluded our best concoction involved eggs, a glug of milk, herbs de Provençe, a splash of balsamic vinegar, a squeeze of lemon, and salt and pepper to taste. Topped with mozzarella and sliced tomatoes, we ate our fill.

S is for Screaming and Smashing, not Sharing

My love of showering was ruined today. Anticipating a lovely hot bath, I nearly stepped in until I was greeted by this huge, nasty bugger:

Needless to say, there was much shrieking. Mandy was kind enough to come and smash the cockroach with a shoe, as Liz and I were screaming and convulsing in opposite ends of the room. This is all to say...I'm a little more cautious about where I leave my toothbrush.

"Be Awesome. Repeat."

Liz & Mandy. Migros toilet paper. Professors who affirm your calling. Cereality. Kitschy couches. Bungalows. Wandering empty hallways. Letterpressed paper.

...For these I am grateful today.

Photo-A-Day: August 14

1:30am. Chasing storms.

Photo-A-Day: August 13

I couldn't decide which one I liked better, so I'm posting both!

Bonnie was a willing subject in my light painting experiments.

Welcome, Mandy!

A special welcome to our newest roommate at Casita de la Risita, Mandy! She hails originally from Maryland, but has come to us from working restoration in New Orleans. She loves Dwell, cereal, and G.K. Chesterton. She actually brought a bag full of cool bricks to put in our "backyard" (for which she apparently has a vision). Mandy is an amazing person and I am so excited she's come to join us!

Photo-A-Day: August 12

Parking lot games.

Photo-A-Day: August 11

Trevor & Taylor.

Photo-A-Day: August 10

I decided that this should be the photo of the day, because I just think my brother looks great with his new haircut. (Thanks, Jenna!)

Photo-A-Day: August 9

64th Notes.

It was all Yellow

Paz and I were Simpsonized. Although, I think that my brother came out way geekier and I came out far more glamorous than both of us are. What do y'all look like?

Photo-A-Day: August 8

45th & Division

(I accidentally left my camera at the church, so today's photo is one from my portfolio.) Stumptown Coffee is my most favorite coffee shop in the world. When I visited Portland a few years ago, I made a point to visit as many Stumptown locations as I possibly could (because of a recommendation from Mr. D. Garfield). This place only confirmed my love of the northwest.

Headline of the Day

Giant Lego Man Found in Sea
(Reuters) Staff at a drinks stand in the Netherlands resort of Zandvoort were amazed to find a 2.5-meter (8-foot) Lego man washed up on the beach Tuesday. It was rescued from the water and placed upright on the beach, to the delight of children. Nobody had any idea where the smiling Lego figure had come from, but there was speculation it might have come over from England, while suspicious pundits on the Web site Reddit feared it might be a Trojan horse "full of small Lego people about to attack Holland." However the ungrammatical slogan on the figure's chest, "No real than you are," led via a Google search to www.egoleonard.com, a Dutch Web site which appears to belong to an artist or art collective. Perhaps the mysterious figure is just another work of environmental art.

Photo-A-Day: August 7

Helping Hand.

My firm went grocery shopping for the United Food Bank's "Christmas in July" drive.