I just love these boys.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
Deadly Confession
I have a strange obsession with death. And I think about it quite frequently. Now before you go call the suicide hot line for me, that's not what I mean. I don't really think about myself dying, just other people. Ha! I'm pretty sure this slight obsession with death comes from the fact that it is a fear of mine but also something I'm a little intrigued by.
I kind of fear losing someone close to me. I've never experienced it before so it's really just fear of the unknown. I don't want to lose someone, but at the same time it seems inevitable. As my cold-hearted perinatologist* once said to me, "Everyone has to die some time." {She wasn't really cold-hearted, just brutally honest.}
But when she said that, it got me thinking...and basically she is absolutely right. Death, as I like to think of it, is a part of life. It's like life's greatest adventure. I know that sounds very cliche. But that is way I like to think about it. I've never really been afraid of dying, probably because I'm still young. Really, when was the last time I've been that close anyway? Except for all those times driving on the freeway in LA. I'd like to think that if I didn't wake up tomorrow morning. It would be like, "Oh well, I kicked the bucket. Only thing I've ever been early for." Probably not for the ones left behind though.
My mom is a nurse so she's dealt with death before. She would sometimes say that if we really believe in life after death, we are really only being sad for ourselves when someone dies. In her eyes, it is sad to loose someone but because they've taken the next step we should celebrate. It sounds true in theory but in practice I think it would be much harder and more complex than that.
So what got me thinking about death this time? I came across this article HERE. Read it. I found it to be very insightful and really beautiful. I particularly like that it is from someone who does not profess any religious beliefs about death. Yet it made me think of death as a sacred experience. I mean, the way she describes her last moments with her dad, is there not something ineffable about that?
One of the things I truly believe in my religion is that we existed in a spiritual form before birth. I guess it points to our bodies as shell, meant to house our spirits, that it is your spirit that keeps living after your shell expires and it does so because it is eternal and divine in nature. Things I can't explain, but that resonate with me for some reason. So I loved when Claire, from the article above, said after her experiences with loss:
Sometimes I think about people who are close to death. Last week at church I saw this couple who must be about 90. I mean, they're OLD. And in the pew before them was a little boy, not more than 1, a baby really. He was standing on the pew facing the older couple. And I wondered, what is it like to be so near the end of your life and see someone so near the beginning? Hopefully, I'll get to find out. And hopefully this will be me playing Just Dance II on the Wii.
*PS "perinatologist" is code for high-risk pregnancy doc.
I kind of fear losing someone close to me. I've never experienced it before so it's really just fear of the unknown. I don't want to lose someone, but at the same time it seems inevitable. As my cold-hearted perinatologist* once said to me, "Everyone has to die some time." {She wasn't really cold-hearted, just brutally honest.}
But when she said that, it got me thinking...and basically she is absolutely right. Death, as I like to think of it, is a part of life. It's like life's greatest adventure. I know that sounds very cliche. But that is way I like to think about it. I've never really been afraid of dying, probably because I'm still young. Really, when was the last time I've been that close anyway? Except for all those times driving on the freeway in LA. I'd like to think that if I didn't wake up tomorrow morning. It would be like, "Oh well, I kicked the bucket. Only thing I've ever been early for." Probably not for the ones left behind though.
My mom is a nurse so she's dealt with death before. She would sometimes say that if we really believe in life after death, we are really only being sad for ourselves when someone dies. In her eyes, it is sad to loose someone but because they've taken the next step we should celebrate. It sounds true in theory but in practice I think it would be much harder and more complex than that.
So what got me thinking about death this time? I came across this article HERE. Read it. I found it to be very insightful and really beautiful. I particularly like that it is from someone who does not profess any religious beliefs about death. Yet it made me think of death as a sacred experience. I mean, the way she describes her last moments with her dad, is there not something ineffable about that?
One of the things I truly believe in my religion is that we existed in a spiritual form before birth. I guess it points to our bodies as shell, meant to house our spirits, that it is your spirit that keeps living after your shell expires and it does so because it is eternal and divine in nature. Things I can't explain, but that resonate with me for some reason. So I loved when Claire, from the article above, said after her experiences with loss:
"I know that now I believe we are all part of one another. That's it's not that we will meet again, but that we have already met before."
Sometimes I think about people who are close to death. Last week at church I saw this couple who must be about 90. I mean, they're OLD. And in the pew before them was a little boy, not more than 1, a baby really. He was standing on the pew facing the older couple. And I wondered, what is it like to be so near the end of your life and see someone so near the beginning? Hopefully, I'll get to find out. And hopefully this will be me playing Just Dance II on the Wii.
*PS "perinatologist" is code for high-risk pregnancy doc.
Monday, January 17, 2011
How to Make Comic Books
How to Make Comic Books
by Jadon Whittemore
Step 1: What You Need
What you need is: paper, a stapler, and IMAGINATION
Step 2: Characters
Next you have to come up with characters from the dumb to the smart from the smart to the dumb.
Step 3: Day Dreaming
Next for the story you have to do day dreaming.
Step 4: Writing
Next you have to start your writing.
Step 5: Writing Special Affects
Next you can use writing special affects like BAM! POW! or BOOM!
Step 6: Illistrations
Next you have to make illistrations.
Step 7: Drawing Speciall Efffects
Next you have to make drawing speciall affects like punches, kicks, and even head injuries!
Step 8: Stapler Time
Next you have to staple it all together but before you do it you have to make the...
Step 9: Cover
Next you make a cover make it based on the story.
Well what are you waiting for!!!
by Jadon Whittemore
Step 1: What You Need
What you need is: paper, a stapler, and IMAGINATION
Step 2: Characters
Next you have to come up with characters from the dumb to the smart from the smart to the dumb.
Step 3: Day Dreaming
Next for the story you have to do day dreaming.
Step 4: Writing
Next you have to start your writing.
Step 5: Writing Special Affects
Next you can use writing special affects like BAM! POW! or BOOM!
Step 6: Illistrations
Next you have to make illistrations.
Step 7: Drawing Speciall Efffects
Next you have to make drawing speciall affects like punches, kicks, and even head injuries!
Step 8: Stapler Time
Next you have to staple it all together but before you do it you have to make the...
Step 9: Cover
Next you make a cover make it based on the story.
Well what are you waiting for!!!
Friday, January 7, 2011
Where am I?
Confession: Sometimes I think about the universe. This is coming from someone who thinks that Physics is magic. But on occasion, I wonder: What's really out there? Are we humans really alone in the universe?
A long time ago, my Dad (a former aerospace engineer) sent me an email with the following pictures. He thinks about this type of thing a lot more frequently than I do. I believe the pictures came from an article found HERE
Kind of makes you feel really insignificant doesn't it? I mean, I feel small just walking across campus. When my Dad sent these pictures, he didn't send a message. He had but one line typed in the heading which read: Yet God knows when we lose a hair on our heads. {Which is in reference to these passages found in the Bible}
Of course it could be read skeptically, that after all we know, we can barely place our little planet in the universe, and yet could believe that there is some higher power out there that knows us individually and so intimately. It would be like someone valuing a speck of sand on the beach. It sounds completely preposterous.
And yet sometimes, I get this sense that I matter, that I hold inside of me the potential to do something really great. I don't know what it is, that great thing. Nor am I sure how I'm going to do it or if I'm going to do it. But I know it is there. I know that there is a reason I am here, right now. I have a purpose. And I think that you do too.
A long time ago, my Dad (a former aerospace engineer) sent me an email with the following pictures. He thinks about this type of thing a lot more frequently than I do. I believe the pictures came from an article found HERE
Kind of makes you feel really insignificant doesn't it? I mean, I feel small just walking across campus. When my Dad sent these pictures, he didn't send a message. He had but one line typed in the heading which read: Yet God knows when we lose a hair on our heads. {Which is in reference to these passages found in the Bible}
Of course it could be read skeptically, that after all we know, we can barely place our little planet in the universe, and yet could believe that there is some higher power out there that knows us individually and so intimately. It would be like someone valuing a speck of sand on the beach. It sounds completely preposterous.
And yet sometimes, I get this sense that I matter, that I hold inside of me the potential to do something really great. I don't know what it is, that great thing. Nor am I sure how I'm going to do it or if I'm going to do it. But I know it is there. I know that there is a reason I am here, right now. I have a purpose. And I think that you do too.
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