Category: Personal

I like November. It’s just an interesting month to me. Really, I like the first day of November. It’s like the only month that I almost always remember the first day of. I think I even had a blog about it last year. November is always the month we are all trying to get through. Cause we all know that if we make it to the third week of November we’ll find a few days off of work and school and then BAM!, one month later, Christmas. As well, November marks the end of carving pumpkins, Halloween costumes and generally the colors orange and black. The only carving you’ll be seeing is the mom’s across the country that are getting ready to make pumpkin pie, mmmm… pumpkin pie. Then they’ll be some mom’s who will actually roast the pumpkin seeds and throw salt all over them, mmmm.. pumpkin seeds. And for you Starbucks lovers, the first week of November marks the beginning of ALL the Christmas stuff. As a previous Starbucks employee for 4 years, I saw many store Christmas turnovers. Everyone will go and see what kind of special gifts Starbucks will have this year. They’ll even have Christmas music to please your Christmas spirit for 2 whole months. Yeah yeah, go ahead, get your Egg Nog Latte, oh and don’t forget your pumpkin scone! And don’t be suprised if you are asked if you would like to buy and Espresso Machine ($399) or a pound of coffee while you’re there.

November, what a month! I’m sure it gets sad sometimes because people forget about it. I mean, they remember Thanksgiving, but they are probably all too busy shopping and trying to finish out the year right at work, that it just because becomes the month that gets us to December, almost like a bridge from October. Don’t forget November this year. Enjoy it. Relax a bit. December will come, and then we’ll really be in for it. Alright, now go take on the new month!

Well.. if you need to read about my most recent adventure, then goto shayandbethany.com. But for now.. here’s some backgrounds for your computer:

Click the picture to download your favorite one in a BIG size!

Lots O’ Pumpkins

The Sunflower

Lots O’ Small Pumpkins

I realized today that I stopped writing. I used to write about anything and everything. Maybe I forgot what shaycam.com was for. When I started shaycam I just wanted a place to share my thoughts on anything and everything. Now, so many times I fear that I have nothing good to say, nothing worthy of someone’s time. I think to myself, “well.. I don’t want to post today, no one will have time to read that pointless banter..” Yet, that’s not the point. Maybe it’s actually that shaycam is more for me than it is for others. It’s not a pride thing, it’s just sometimes I need to type and think out loud. And whether someone joins my thoughts by reading it, then that’s cool. Actually, it’s a lot like Doogie Howser. At the end of every show we would see Doogie (a teenage doctor), typing away at his computer. Typing about his day, typing about his previous experience. They were his thoughts, and just because we were able to sneak into his room and see what he was typing was cool. It was cool with him, and it was cool with us. That’s what I wanted shaycam to be. I would always tell my mom that I wanted a computer like Doogie Howser. Well, I’ve got one, and I need to continue my quest to be like Doogie (which is a great name for a human being, might I add). Just had to get that off my chest. I look forward to many “open-minded” thoughts on shaycam.com.

As well as writing whatever, whenever, I used to draw things on paper because I didn’t know how to. I really felt that if I tried hard enough I would one day start drawing incredible portraits of people with sweet shading and features. Unfortunately, that’s not how it works, at least for me. My friend Zach could always draw. It was frustrating growing up around someone that would “sketch” something I probably wouldn’t be able to draw in my lifetime. That’s probably why I got into photography. I figure, let God do the drawing/designing and I’ll take photos of it. Many people have very successful businesses in photography doing just that. I guess we’re always steal God’s ideas anyway, it’s not like we came up with a tree, or even sky.

All that to say I wish I could do things I really can’t do. I wish I could write like many famous authors, I wish I could draw like many famous artists. But this is all I’ve got right now. I’ve got a few words on a webpage I made and some photos of stuff that God made. It’s who I am. That’s the best I can do right now. So be it.

OK, I woke up this morning to find some guys outside of my apartment trimming back the palm trees. I just though this was a hilarious opportunity for me to capture a candid shot of this guy. Now remember, I’m on the 3rd floor.. haha. Good times. Ok, that’s all for now.

For the past couple of days I have been listening to the Resolved Conference 2005 sermons on my way to work. As a person that hears a couple sermons a week from some great men, I really believe that these sermons (at the conference) are some of the best I have heard in my lifetime. I really have been learning from these great preachers of God’s Word. With that in my mind, let me move forward.

In his incredible 70 resolutions at the young age of 19, Jonathan Edwards wrote this as an introduction: “Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God’s help, I do humbly entreat him by his grace to enable me to keep these resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ’s sake.” I am amazed as I read that before he starts to list his resolutions at his humility before God. It seems evident that he knows that he cannot keep these commitments without the help of God and him alone. But furthermore, he knew that he needed to be resolved in his heart before God to live a holy and righteous life. I am amazed truly amazed at his courage.

Are we losing this commitment today? If we are in Christ and we know him as our Savior, we would do ourselves a great service by asking our own hearts if we are losing this kind of commitment. Nothing on this earth could be greater than living a holy life before God. Maybe you have fallen away from Christ. Then get up, repent, and be restored to him. Maybe you are struggling through something… STOP! Stop sinning, repent, and be restored to God. Let’s learn from men like Jonathan Edwards that we are “unable to do anything without God’s help…” Let us be reminded today that God can see us even when no one is looking. Who will you be before God? I have to ask myself that question every day. Be committed to Christ, and let no other thing on this earth get in the way of that.
Posted by Shay at 2:22 PM

The wife got a new book this weekend. She’s likes U2 and we needed some more coffee table material. The best part about this photo is that it wasn’t staged. Bethany was seriously reading this book, but I just thought it was hilarious how big it is. Normally you would see some relaxing on the couch with a small book, but not my wife, nope.. she’s got a gynormous book and she’s lovin’ it…. classic.

Anyways, it’s been awhile since I’ve blogged. Let me explain. I actually got a job. What you may not have known is that for most of the summer I have been jobless. I have basically been doing freelance graphic design and just trying to pursue some more work. But about 3 weeks ago I got a phone call from Amp’d Mobile and they wanted to hire me was a web designer. Needless to say I took the job and it’s been a great experience. The only bummer is that I have to commute to the Santa Monica area every day, but the pay is good and the job is good, so I continue to fight the traffic. If you want to check them out just go to http://ampd.com. Right now I’ve just been adjusting to my new schedule and trying to learn and hopefully be an asset to the design team there. They are all great designers and I am privileged to be apart of that team (and I also want you to know it took me about 3 minutes just now to figure out how to spell “privileged”, but nevermind that now).

Someone wanted me to post some of my designs from work, so here you go.. this one’s for the kids.. thanks for reading.

Of course you need to click to enlarge it. I did the big advertisement with all the money. It was my first big project, way fun though.. ok.. see yah!

The Wedding Shoes, originally uploaded by shaycam.

I helped photograph a wedding today. This was my third time and probably one of my better weddings. It’s not really easy to shoot a wedding, so thankfully I’m not the main photographer. I’m not cool enough to do that anyway. And since we’re on the subject, I think being a guy and shooting weddings is a really amazing thing (this is, of course, if you’re the main photographer). You have to know a lot of girl stuff that you wouldn’t normally have to know. Like reminding the couple over and over to kiss and hug and do “cute” things so you can take pictures of it. or.. maybe I’m just not in tune with my feminine side enough to understand these kinds of things… nevermind.

Alright.. enjoy the pic. [see more here]

My Best Score Yet, originally uploaded by shaycam.

This is the original Tetris for Gameboy. 135 lines may not seem like a ton to you, but for a guy who plays this game everyday, that’s a ton. Best part was I watched an episode of “Gilmore Girls” with my wife while doing it. I guess guys can multi-task after all.

My wife called me on the phone tonight as she was leaving our apartment building and told me to go look at the sun. Whenever someone tells you to look at the sun you should probably reconsider. But in this case she wasn’t asking me to go blind, but to actually see the awesome colors of the sky. Apparently there is a fire to the north of us and the wind has carried the smoke over our city. It created these amazing colors which I think this picture doesn’t even capture. It always cool to see the sun. I mean, to be able to stare at it without fear of blindness. Enjoy.

Back by popular demand! Last night at the VMA’s OK Go performed their treadmill performance live. (Thanks to Megan for emailing me about this wonderful experience).

Here’s a few shots of them during the performance:

I love the overhead shots! Ok, if you want to check out this great performance all you have to do is CLICK HERE and watch a quick overdrive intro, commercial and your onward to the video. Just be patient with this one, it’s worth the wait. Simply enjoy the pure genius of this video.

I just love music…