Category: Personal

I kind of wish this was my field.

Not that I really want the job of taking care of it all and making sure it stays straight and nice, but I want its beauty. It’s kind of like I want it outside my bedroom window. You know what I mean. Like waking up and seeing the ocean, that’s sort of what this is like. Maybe it’s just me.

So pardon me.. I’ve been gone for a while. Maybe too long. I’ve learned some stuff though, you gotta give me that. You think it’ll ever stop, you know, the whole learning thing. It’s not like we get up everyday thinking, “.. I wish I could learn something new and exciting..”No, we just get up, do what we know is normal (ie. shower, get dressed, go to work, see some stuff, get pajamas on, go to bed). But I must say, I’ve been learning some amazing things. Whether it be life, business, art, etc. my life is a learning process.

For instance, I learned that you can be the “middle man” in business and make money. I learned that gas is really expensive these days. I learned that sleeping 10 hours for two days is probably not healthy. I’ve learned that there are some things we just can’t do. I don’t know, they might seem dumb to you, but I learned them.

I guess I’m rambling. Right now I can hear the sirens outside. Probably and ambulance or police car on their way to help someone. I mean, those guys never stop. It’s not like they close for the holidays or their hours are 9-5. Nope, it doesn’t work like that. We have to remember that people still get hurt, sick, punched, kicked, driven in to even after we go to bed. On the subject, I saw a car the other day that had flipped off the edge of the freeway, that was intense. My fianced was telling me she saw a semi truck run right into the side of car and it literally made the car look like an accordian against the curb.

Well.. off to bed. I hope you don’t get sick. I fear I might get sick soon. My schedule is going to change in about a week, and I’m a little nervous about change sometimes. Especially when it involves 18 units, minimum sleep, and just reading things that I wouldn’t normally desire to read (.. if you didn’t get that, I’m talking about college. Ok. I’m spent.

That’s just what I’m drinking right now. It’s one of my favorite drinks. I usually am not the sweet coffee drinker, but today is a different day. Not because something crazy is going on, but because it’s just another day. I woke up this morning before my alarm went off. And it wasn’t just like 10 minutes before, it was an hour before. I didn’t really understand why. But I just got up anyways.

After taking a shower and getting ready for the day, I opened my Bible to Psalm 111 and 112. I heard these verses preached a two weeks ago at church by a guest speaker. I have been impacted by them and that sermon since then. The whole point of Psalm 111 is that the Lord is worthy to praised, and the reasons why. And then Psalm 112 talks about how we know the Lord need to fear God. I just read through these passages a few times and began to just pray. The past couple of weeks I found myself starting to become almost distant from reading my Bible and praying, and that is usually the beginning of trouble. Once I finished praying I picked up the only Puritan book I have called, “The Godly Man’s Picture.” It is truly a great book and I would suggest it to any Believer looking to understand their stance before God and what looks like. That was just my morning.. now I’m at work drinking my mocha and waiting for clock to get close to 10:00am so I can go to work.

Work isn’t my favorite place, I’ll be honest. Enough said. Well, I must get ready to spend the next 6 hours counting money and give my Starbucks store a bath (cleaning). It seems today that my blog will be done before my mocha, but I guess that’s ok, I have a few sips left.

“You remember pagers?! Oh man… I can’t believe that.. what was the point of that?..”
“.. You remember when you actually had to go to the store to buy stuff.. oh man.. I just buy all my groceries, music, clothes online.. so sweet..”
“You remember when cell phones were the size of a public phone booth.. that’s hilarious..”
“… You remember radio…? ANSWER: “.. no.. what the heck is radio..?..”
“.. oh man.. what about dial up internet?…”.. “.. no, never heard of it..”

Right now I’m sitting in Hollywood. Yeah, that’s in California. Have you heard of it? It’s like 100 degrees outside, but I am here with my fiance because she’s getting her hair cut. We get our hair cut in Hollywood, what can we say. I love this place. It’s called “Rudy’s Barber Shop.” haha, the name probably throws you off, it’s not what you think. check out www.rudysbarbershop.com to get a small taste. I found this place when I was in Seattle a few years back I haven’t really had my hair cut anywhere else since. Anyways.. Bethany is going short on the hair right now. We’re totally stoked about it. It’s one of those joint experiences that I’m sure we’ll have more and more as we approach marriage and after marriage.

But.. getting back.. You’re probably wondering what all those questions and answer were about in the beginning of this blog. Well.. let me tell you. Rudy’s is actually located inside of a hotel called The Standard. I got here, turned on my computer, and I was online. We live in a new age my friends. I’m not kidding.. have you noticed. I mean, our kids are not going to know what tape players are.. I’m serious.. this isn’t a joke. I mean.. what the heck.. Think about it.. do you kids remember LaserDisc technology. That was seriously stupid, yikes.. what were they thinking. But we have to realize that this was never possible. I have my laptop open in the middle of a barber shop! It’s great.. I love it. I love the internet, it makes me happy. We can communicate in ways people can’t even think about. oh man.. I’m stoked, you’re stoked, we’re all stoked.

Last thing. Emblem graphics ordered new business cards last week. they are hot. no kidding. We got square business cards. I know you’re gonna love em’. Ok.. As the hair gets shorter.. I’ve gotta go.

Ok, I’m not sure how much I have told you kids about my new company. Let me tell you about it.

I have started a graphic design company and I am stoked about it. I’ve been so busy doing that, that I really haven’t had time to sit down and write any blogs. But seriously, it’s freakin’ legit.

So, it’s called Emblem Graphics. I love the name personally, but I am probably a little biased (bias? does it have an “ed” ending?, nevermind). Anyways, we can silk-screen t-shirts, make customized auto-decals, print business cards, 1 inch buttons (bands love those), and etc. It’s seriously so much fun. I have two partners that I have gone into business with and their names are Justin and Sean. Seriously cool guys.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Shay.. c’mon man… we know how not cool you are at updating.. how could you co-run and co-own a business… and better yet.. is it even real…” Well, let me just say it this way. We just finished a 300 t-shirt job for a band, including 1000 buttons, 1000 cards (w/ their picture one it), a banner, and some decals. It was awesome. Secondly, today, we had to turn our taxes to the government. That was intense, but all that to say, we’re for reals.

So, if you need t-shirts made, or some stickers for your car or something like that, or maybe some sweet 1 inch buttons for your promotion…. let me know. I can help you.

More information will be available on www.emblemgraphics.com , ok? sweet.. peace.

C’mon, I know you’ve noticed it.

Everywhere you look, all you see is, “MAKE IT A MEMORABLE 4th OF JULY, BUY A NEW CAR FROM US”. It made me laugh when I saw the LA Times with a one day ad that said, “ONE DAY ONLY! MAKE IT A NEWSWORTHY 4th, ONLY $39 for the FRIDAY, SATURDAY, and SUNDAY TIMES.” What the heck is that all about. The fourth of July isn’t about subscribing to the Los Angeles Times or making sure I get the GM Employee Discount on my new car, which so conveniently ends on July 4th. I don’t know, maybe you haven’t noticed it.

Worked all day today at the bux. Normal day, nothing really crazy about it. It’s kind of weird that I spend almost 40 hours a week at this place (which I am currently sitting at). And apparently I can’t get through a post without making mention of it. Sometimes I’ll be making drinks or whatever and I am kind of thinking, “..some Joe Shmoe investor is sitting in his office somewhere relying on me making money for this company so that his stock goes up..” I don’t know, it’s just a thought.

I’m tired and I need to go to the bank, so I’m out. Hope you have a great weekend. Maybe you should do the right thing and google the “4th of July” and read about the history of our nation, haha. That makes me laugh. peace.

Woah! So.. I’m still here.

I had my 21st birthday the other day (June 15th). It was fun. I went to Disneyland!! OH MAN IT WAS SWEEEET! 50th anniversary!! But don’t worry, I didn’t do any drinking. Maybe you are thinking I should’ve been drinking, but I wasn’t, I was enjoying friends and Disneyland instead of the stereotypical 21st birthday where you head to vegas and party until you die. (no seriously, I just read about a kid who got alchohol poisoning on his 21st b-day, so sad).

Things are going well though. Did I tell you I am in a partnership with 2 other guys and we started a company. This is more serious than you think. It’s called Emblem Graphics and we’re legit. We do screen printing, stickers, 1 inch buttons, etc. let me know if you want me to make some shirts or something for whatever you’re doing. We’re no joke. Anyways here’s some pics from disney land I thought you’d like.

I’ve been buying music lately. This is a pretty good month for music. Coldplay, Foo Fighters, Dizmas. Not bad. I can buy one album a week. I’m stoked about it.

oh man!! bummer.. this lady just sat down near me and she is smoking. The wind is blowing and it’s going in my face right now, bummer. I need a protective bubble so that nothing can get in. Maybe my bubble will have like holes so I can breathe, but like they would only breathe out and nothing would get inside of it. I think it would probably be a lime green bubble. Just sounds like fun. ok.. enough about bubbles.

But getting back. The new Foo Fighters comes out on Tuesday. I’m seriously excited about it. 2 disc set, one rockin’ set, one acoustic-rockin’ set. Does it get any better than that. I had a funny thought yesterday about Dave Grohl (the lead singer of Foo). He’s never going to get married? haha.. I just thought it was funny. He’s almost too rockstar to get married, at least right now. I think maybe he got a bad view of marriage because of Courtney Love’s relationship with Kurt Cobain (of Nirvana). I don’t know? What do you kids think?

I’m sitting outside of Starbucks right now. There are a few clouds outside. Winds from the NorthEast at about 5mph. It’s a pretty nice day here in California. What a name for a state, California. I like it.

Bethany, some friends from church, and I went to see Madagascar yesterday, but it was sold out. That was kind of a bummer. It’s kind of chilly outside right now. My mind is kind of lost. I wish I could explain here the amount of time that is existing in between each sentence I am writing. I think I’m kind of distracted at the moment.

I just noticed this guy inside Starbucks who is also on a laptop. I wonder if his experience is so much different than mine at the moment. I mean, I have my Ipod in my head. He’s inside probably just listening to the house music that is playing. He even has a real handkerchief. Like the kind you would wear on your head. It’s purple in color, really doesn’t fit his style. He’s more of a business man. You know what else I was just thinking; he has no clue what I am writing right now. It makes me laugh. I just love my freedom of speech.

Ok, I’m out.

I walked barefoot to my car today. It was probably somewhere around 100 steps to get there from where I am living. It was kind of fun. You see, I left my sandals in my car, so I just figured instead of taking the time to put shoes on, I would just walk barefoot until I got my sandals. It makes sense.

Secondly, I bit my lip twice yesterday. Yeah, and they were both within a minute of each other. I have a theory. When you bite your lip the first time it swells a little bit, then you end up biting it again shortly thereafter because it’s bigger than normal. grr.. it hurt. And then worse yet.. I bit through my tongue today. It was bleeding for about 6 minutes and I finally got it to stop. It still hurts.

Anyways, welcome to June. It’s a good month. I was born in June. Do you know the day?

Tonight I had a rockin’ time with Bethany. It was seriously great. Our pastor gave us the night off from youth ministry so we could go on a date. Oh man. We went down to The Cheesecake Factory had great food! We had these Buffalo Blasts that were amazing! Then we drove down to the 3rd street Promenade in Santa Monica. Oh snap, it was freakin’ tight. We went to the Hear Music Starbucks that is down there. If you haven’t heard of that its basically a music store inside of Starbucks. But you can create your own CD’s in the store, which is what we did. But what we didn’t know is when you create your own CD and have it burned, they print you your own cover and everything. Oh it was rockin’.. We chose 6 songs for ours and entitled it “We Took The 405”. It was rad, they even printed the title on the CD and the cover that comes with it; totally professional. I loved it. We had some Pedro the Lion, Ben Folds, Death Cab For Cutie, etc. Loved every second of it.

I guess that’s all for now. Make sure you check out http://www.theemergingchurch.com, you never know, you might like it.

Just a little side project you might find intersting.

http://www.theemergingchurch.com