Constructive discontent

There are many things that resound in my brain years after they've been spoken. I love when people speak into your life and it results in a new complete clarity about something that you have never noticed before.

One of my crazy professors from college was once railing on our generation for being pissed off and spending so much time whining that we never take action. It is time for "constructive discontent".

It's time to take action.

Running

Lindsey (my fabulous coworker) and I have decided to start an Urban running team. It consists of me and lindsey and sweet track suits, complete with headbands and tube socks, with our nicknames on the back.
We're taking suggestions for team names.

Get excited!

The Reason for God

I am currently reading The Reason for God by Tim Keller. I picked it up after a couple recommendations and mostly because he's a Christian on the NY Times best seller list, and that rarely happens. He takes a logical and philosophical approach and addresses the top 7 atheistic arguments against God and dissects and respectfully dispels them.



The arguments he addresses are:
There can't be just one God
How can a good God allow suffering
Belief in absolute truth is the enemy of Freedom
The church is responsible for so much injustice
How can a loving God send people to Hell
Science has disproved Christianity
You can't take the Bible literally

He then spends the second half of the book giving reasons for Christianity.

It's a good read if you want to catch up on some apologetics, or if you want to wrestle with your disbelief.

Birthday

Today I am 23.
I think it's going to be a good year.

More Flannel

My coworkers threw me a super sweet lumberjack party complete with ants on a log, lumberjack earl grey cupcakes (combining two of my all time favorite things), cornbread, beef jerkey, root beer, beans, a cheese log, and an AMAZING log cake from Alex.

Here are me and my coworkers clad in plaid.


And my cake!

Soundtrack

The Eddie Vedder music from Into the Wild has been the soundtrack to my life for the past week. It makes me want to do something epic.

New Designs!

New photo albums up on Urban.com and in the stores. There are larger ones for $16 and smaller for $10. A small fee to own some really sweet designs.

Lumberjack Mania

Everyday the crafting site etsy has a theme of designers. Today's was LUMBERJACKS!!! Buffalo plaid and all.

Then I saw this Axe Necklace. The description asks the reader if they are "Paul Bunyan's Girlfriend." To which I wish I could respond, "Heck Yes".


I love it.

It would be perfect for my lumberjack birthday party. Below is a copy of the invite.
Front, Back and Envelope.

Sometimes

Sometimes I think I'll move to mexico and become a pro wrestler.

Mmmm Breakfast

Most of the people that I work with are foodies to some extent, which makes it super interesting to swap recipes and discuss different tastes. Check out this recipe Alex found the other day while searching for blueberry muffins.

Paula Dean wants us all to have a heart attack. And yes those are donuts.

Image from the Food Network.

New Bag

I have a new bag up on Etsy. It's made from an African Wax Print that my friend Anne brought back for me from Togo in Africa.

My new favorite blog

Asking the all important question "What do White People Like".

Things like expensive sandwich's made by people who are famous for their bread, and rice paper thin t-shirts.

Via VSL

A portion of my book shelf

(and yes they're stacked like that)

Thinking out Loud

Todays Art and Politics
I've been thinking a lot about the value of art in our society and questioning whether or not it matters or changes anything. There is a lot of tension between the conservative view that art is spiraling into oblivion because of it's disregard for formal principles, and then the radical postmodern view that everything is objective and the value of the art is only what you take away from it.

This is the most expensive piece ever sold by a living artist. It's a platinum cast skull encrusted with $20 million dollars worth of diamonds embedded into it. It sold for a hundred million dollars, and is interestingly titled "For the Love of God". Made by Damien Hirst. It seems like it was more about multiplying money than anything else, and if that was his objective he most certainly succeeded.

Is its monetary value any reflection of it's importance as a piece of art?

I find that most of the artwork that appeals to my friends is generally free, is really unskilled drawing wise, but communicates a point that we can relate to. It feels more honest, less pretentious and makes you think or laugh.

This is a photo of the artwork of the infamous Banksy. His book was the top seller for Urban for a ridiculously long time, showing how well received he is by my peers.
It's graffiti at it's finest.

I think this unrefined style is also why Barack appeals to so many of us. He hasn't been corrupted by the formalities of the system, he's honest about his shortcomings, and he believes that he has something of substance to contribute.

I just thought that was an interesting correlation and insight into my generations thought process.

Talented Friends

Haircuts are fun until you have to shell out big bucks to a huge salon to get beautified. So silly! I trust my friend Meghan with my hair though. She took a couple classes in highschool which qualifies her in my book to chop off my hair. I showed her a photo and let her have at it. It looks AMAZING!