The pain of a thousand suns.

Which is extreme exaggeration but is just about how I feel about the pain in my arm. I know I pushed myself too hard during arm-wrestling last Saturday so the pain I feel now, reintroduced by my basketball and work activities today, should come as no surprise. It is an unusually rare occurrence for me, though, so I guess that's why I'm complaining about it. It stinkin' hurts!

Anyway... I look forward to sleeping it off... if that is, indeed, what happens anyway. Ha. Whew!

Still making progress.

I mostly worked on photo edits today and despite the many thousands of hours I have no doubt spent doing this sort of activity over the years I still feel like I am improving my skills in noticeable ways. Some of it comes in the specifically related form of improved photo look and feel, and some of it simply comes in the ability to actually do the editing consistently and continuously. Work is, after all, a learned skill as well. I'm just glad I am able to apply it better to the things that I enjoy doing. Ha.

Catching up with the good people.

I guess one of the perks of getting older is the opportunity to occasionally reconnect with a friend you haven't seen in a long time. In a way, that is probably not technically an actual perk, but it is a basic element of the nature of life. People come and go all the time but the good ones never really leave you... they just take little trips into their own lives from time to time. It's a good thing. Something I am glad I have been able to experience lately!

Unexpected kindnesses.

I really enjoy serving my friends in just about any way possible. I am, therefore, highly appreciative when I am offered reciprocative service in return. Basically, I am super blessed with great friends!

I also really like that when I get to serve others I am usually being productive in the process as well. This is a nice little bonus that I think I usually sort of overlook. Today really turned into a very productive day just because of the service I was lucky enough to enjoy. Cool! I'm not a lazy bum after all!(well, at least some of the time. ha.)

A semi-new beginning.

Which is, I suppose, the way every Sunday should feel to some degree. I have another week of general nothingness ahead of me but I know I can make it productive and good. I already have quite a few plans on the table but there is plenty of room for more. Should be fun.

Home runs are lots of funs.

Played in a softball tournament today and was basically on fire. Fun fire, I guess. And I hope to do that again sometime. End of story.

Where am I headed when there's nobody left?

I will soon enter a time of my life where all of my closest friends have moved away to a different state. It is a good thing for all of them(and likely a good thing for me) but I am a little trepidatious about what I will do... or not do... when this happens. Perhaps I should make plans about it in order to avoid any unnecessary challenges.

Days gone by.

Sometimes a break is nice. Sometimes it is dangerous. Sometimes a break is full of surprises, though most of the time is it quite predictable. Sometimes it is so far away even though it is all around you... or maybe that's just a different kind of break. Meh. Either way, I won't really complain about my current break. Just gotta make the best of it.

Taxi to a distant place close to home.

I just finished watching the movie Taxi Driver for the first time and I thought it would be worth the time to share a few of my thoughts. Plus, it has been a while since I have done any movie reviews and I think it is a good exercise in criticism at the very least.

My first impressions of the movie are that I found it to be very real feeling and candid in its approach. I enjoyed the musical backbone of the whole thing, which never seemed out of place or overbearing, and helped encourage the proper tone at all the right times. I can't recall seeing Robert De Niro in a younger role, nor can I recall seeing him with such a consistently focused demeanor in any other films I have seen him in... which is saying a lot, actually... he is almost always very focused and present in his roles, generally speaking. I don't really know how to describe this, however, other than his conviction and believability in his role.

The cinematography was quite excellent, as well, and I found myself enjoying the creativity and clarity of the images with regularity throughout the entire movie. It further encouraged me to be more purposeful and creative with my own photographic endeavors, whether in cinema or otherwise.

I was quite impressed with the storyline as well. It was never boring or inconsistent. It was also pleasantly unpredictable. I don't even mind being able to predict a decent amount of where a story might be heading but the unpredictability is just a refreshing sort of thing from time to time.

All in all, as far as classic cinema is concerned or otherwise, I will give this movie a solid $20 tip... out of a possible $23(if I'm carrying all my spare change.) It was somewhat dark, on the harsher side of things, but beyond that a very excellent piece of cinematic artwork. I would highly recommend it to any who don't mind a medium-paced, thought-provoking, slice-of-life movie.

No sleep = no safety.

It is somewhat of a mental-specific thing but there are certain physical dangers as well... especially on the road. Ha. But, due to the break in between terms, I get to sleep in for days tomorrow morning... and it will be glorious!

Kicked face or punched feet?

I am pretty wiped out from the strenuous labors of finals week and it is difficult for me to tell which way it went for me. Ha. I already know I will be highly lacking in sleep tonight so I guess I should just run away to bed as soon as possible. Ya, that seems pretty legit.

A moment to stop... and even reflect a little.

The fast pace of life(something which we invariably subject ourselves to, more than it actually being mandated upon us) can often be overwhelming merely for its tendency to reach beyond our ability to grasp it. So many projects, people, and appointments to keep track of. It really takes a good deal of consistency and practice to make any real sense of it all with any proficiency.

Now, after having allowed much of that looming responsibility to sort of float away for a bit, I am quite satisfied that I have regained a bit of my sanity back... even if it might only be somewhat temporary. Ha. It takes practice to stop once in a while.

Finals kick in the face.

I still have so much to do and not nearly enough time. Ha. I guess I did ask for it. Now I must be off to sleep... for the next two hours before I go off to work. Ugh.

Sleeping like a rock.

I slept around 11 full hours last night! Holy flip, that was not expected! This leads me to believe I have been exceptionally sleep deprived over the last... uh... several weeks/months? I don't know... it is probably a pretty awful thing on my body and mind, though. It might even be kicking the crap out of my emotional stability too... though, that's really hard to judge since I have been fairly emotionally stable somehow.

Nothing like a good, pleasant day of church, family, and socializing(with the girl included in the mix) to put things all together for a very nice day.

Editing marathon.

It is a part of my chosen area of study and likely a part of my chosen profession. I DO actually enjoy it, however, there are definitely many things about it which push it into the realm of the less-than-pleasing activities list.

Part of that would just be the simple organization of a multitude of clips on the bigger projects. I am not really used to dealing with such large numbers of usable material so it is a somewhat daunting logistics challenge. There are other things as well, but what I am likely stating in this post is that I am not always on my game when it comes to file organization enthusiasm. Meh. I can't really complain about it, either way.

Learning more about my attractions.

I am finally starting to get a grip on myself a little. It has taken a great deal of meditation and pondering to partially understand the way I work as I attempt to engage in the more meaningful relationships with the opposite sex. It makes me kind of wonder if that is really how the whole process is supposed to be and if it is something that is supposed to continue throughout one's whole life. It is kind of a newer concept to me, anyway, that important relationships with others might always include continued learning about one's self... especially in the context of one's commitment to another.

Blind dates are fun.

I haven't gone on too many of them but I am always interested to meet somebody totally new. Plus, the element of surprise is fun as well. I don't really have the most optimistic expectation, considering how picky and dumb I can be about women, but the mere possibility that she and I might be a good match is still fun to think about. I guess I'll know more about this whole endeavor by tomorrow!

Closing in on the end.

Down to the last week or so with the deadline fast approaching. It is a reasonably worry-free version of the finals week, though, as I only have two classes and feel mostly on top of one of the projects. This is a good state of affairs and something I am certainly grateful for. I suppose that is all I feel like writing about tonight. Ha. It's hot in this bedroom.

Creating and crafting.

The process of producing a piece of visual art is certainly a challenging and lengthy one if quality is to be obtained in any decent level of recognition... uh... good art is hard to make! Today showed me how true that is in many different ways... including the physical challenges of it. I think we will turn out a pretty solid project, once it is all said and done, if we are able to be on top of our game, however. The team has really risen above their typical challenges in fairly pronounced fashion.

Lots of stuff to give away.

I have been packing around WAY too much stuff for WAY too long. It has been somewhat cathartic to finally sort through it all to get rid of most of it.(at least more than 50% of it) I still have quite a bit of work to do but I think I'm down to less than 5 hours of work left on it so that's nice.

Struggling past myself.

I am really beginning to think that life is all about learning self-mastery more than just about anything else. Achieving self-mastery truly opens the doors to all other important facets of life, such as family, service, and the pursuit of truth. I am sure I have a bit of a biased perspective since this might seem more directly relevant to my own life trials... but I really do think the human experience shares these sorts of challenges nonetheless, even if the variety of ways in which they manifest are seemingly quite disparate. This is part of "enduring" to the end.

The big shoot.

I think it all went pretty well and I look forward to the edit. Everybody cooperated with excellent enthusiasm!

Preparation for the big shoot.

Tomorrow(today) is the big Media 2 Final shoot. I could have prepared more but I think I got a good amount in regardless. Now I  just need to sleep more.(which really meant I needed to go to bed hours ago. ha)

Making a connection.

It took a few at bats(okay... five or six, technically) before I actually hit the ball anywhere but straight at one of the opposing team members... but that first good hit was a home run so I guess that's pretty good. Ha. I even hit the next shot exactly as I wanted to just over the short stop's head in the gap to get an RBI or two. My fielding wasn't so stellar but I did alright. All in all, a good fun time.

Basketball was an extreme workout since I got paired up with a somewhat hotheaded dribbley guard guy that thought I would be an easy target, I suppose. I know I'm a beardy, old, short, white guy but that doesn't mean I don't love the game... and that I'm a crummy player... so I felt like I had to prove to him otherwise. It was fun. I hope he learned something. Ha. I am sure I sound like a pompous jerk but it really isn't intended to be that way. I am always more interested in helping to break down stereotypes and people's perceptions more than actually proving my game to anyone. Plus, his team won as he scored on me anyway. No big deal.