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9
Mar

0

Wanna go for a ride?

By Kevin | Filed in LJ

My reflection, dirty mirror // There’s no connection to myself
I’m your lover, I’m your zero // I’m the face in your dreams of glass
So save your prayers // For when we’re really gonna need ‘em
Throw out your cares and fly
Wanna go for a ride?

- Zero, Smashing Pumpkins

Today I got out for an uncharacteristic ride on an unusually nice day. It seems like forever since I’ve been out (ok, I was out for a short around the neighborhood last weekend) and it was nice to enjoy a preview of Spring. Now I want to clean up the bike, do some basic maintenance like change the oil and air filter and go for a really long trip.  I hear the Blue Ridge Mountains calling me.  In any case, I was enjoying it so much, I decided to share a little of it with you. Read the remainder of this entry »

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1
Mar

4

Dydd Gwyl Dewi Sant

By Kevin | Filed in LJ

Almighty God, you called your servant David to be a faithful and wise steward of your mysteries for the people of Wales: Mercifully grant that, following his purity of life and zeal for the Gospel of Christ, we may with him receive our heavenly reward; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

I almost didn’t notice St. David’s Day come along today, but usually I do.  I’ve got a huge 4′x6′ Welsh flag hanging in my garage. Perhaps a lesser known fact about me, my surname is Welsh in origin. Names aside, my heritage is very much that of a British Isles mutt as is my wife’s. In fact, we even share a couple of ancestors in the range of 13 and 15 generations back if I recall correctly.

My thoughts lately have been with my wife, and doctor’s visits, and lab work, and specialists, and hospitals. It leaves little else for the brain. Simple, day-to-day things like trying to have patience with our son become Herculean tasks. I’m immensely grateful to have a job where my work is flexible. So long as I don’t have somewhere specific to be, I can generally keep juggling my customers’ needs on my own schedule. Having a phone with great e-mail and web capabilities means I can maintain due diligence from my pocket, no matter my location.

I’ve lately been feeling this uncontrollable urge to plan for big ideas and ambitious undertakings. I’ve attended a few professional workshops and done a bunch of photo shoots but I’ve been thinking I might like to go to school for photography as well. As much as I enjoy shooting glamour and beauty, and have gotten good at it, lately I’ve been very interested in sports photography and possibly even photojournalism. I’m not going to be quitting my day job at all, but augmenting that with some extra cash wouldn’t hurt. Having some tangible credential in the art will also make it more likely that I’ll ever get a press pass to shoot an event, if I ever get that far.

Likewise, I’ve been encouraging my wife to go back to school to get a graduate degree in a potential career field she likes. I’m just feeling the need to grab life by the horns. Perhaps because I want something good to anticipate, perhaps because I want to feel in control. In any case, it’s where I am right now.

For the moment, I think I’ll concentrate on today. I’m a little late in telling you all to wear a leek or a daffodil, but there’s always food to be had for St. David’s Day. I’d make cawl if we weren’t avoiding meat for Lent. Perhaps a good leek and potato soup for dinner is in order.

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26
Feb

0

Somewhat absent

By Kevin | Filed in LJ

The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom then shall I be afraid? – Psalm 27:1

I had intended to post a meditation for each day in Lent, and I’ve fallen short lately. This has been a particularly bad week for my family, and I’ve not had the mental space to write much. My thoughts have been on God a great deal, I just haven’t expressed them.

Hopefully we’ll all get back to normal in time.

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21
Feb

0

Nice try

By Kevin | Filed in LJ

Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” – Luke 4:5-7

It doesn’t matter what you win, the ends don’t justify the means.

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20
Feb

0

Simple Gifts

By Kevin | Filed in LJ

These meditations have all been extemporaneous, and I had a proper entry all formulated in my head. Until my son handed me my iPhone.

Read the remainder of this entry »

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19
Feb

1

Mercy, not sacrifice.

By Kevin | Filed in LJ

The appointed reading for today in the 2010 Lenten meditations booklet didn’t really do it for me. It was something about “what have you done for me lately?”, and I’m just not that whiny and demanding in my relationship with God.

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18
Feb

2

Darkness

By Kevin | Filed in LJ

Today’s meditation focuses on Martin Luther’s 1546 hymn “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”, and is brought to us courtesy of my trusty 2010 Lenten meditations booklet. That last sentence is curious in that it describes us talking about a piece that was written 464 years ago. (Don’t be impressed with my math; I woke up super early to play racquetball at 0630 this morning, and now I’m sore and tired. I’m still not recovered from all the snow shoveling. As such, I used the calculator on my iPhone to get that number.) I feel certain that little, if anything, that I do will serve to be remembered even a hundred years from now.

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17
Feb

7

Let’s be clear

By Kevin | Filed in LJ

Over the last day or so, I’ve seen mentions by various friends on-line that might cast scorn upon this notion of fasting. Mentions that the ends of the fasting are to benefit earthly concerns alone.  The warning is absolutely correct. Read the remainder of this entry »

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17
Feb

0

Ash Wednesday

By Kevin | Filed in LJ

I’ve never really cared for Ash Wednesday. How can a proud creature like Man embrace, “from dust you came, and to dust you shall return”? I don’t really remember what observances we had in our church growing up – so many of my memories are affected by the elementary school I attended. As I mentioned before, my parents sent me to a Roman Catholic parochial school – even though we weren’t Catholic. Read the remainder of this entry »

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16
Feb

1

Mardi Gras

By Kevin | Filed in LJ

The day prior to Ash Wednesday is probably most commonly known as Mardi Gras – French for “Fat Tuesday”.  This is traditionally the day when rich foodstuffs were prepared in order to use them up before the more restrictive period of Lent. Of course, surrounding this is also the notion of a carnival, especially in New Orleans and Rio de Janeiro.  For my part, I’m more likely to call it Shrove Tuesday.

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