On the couch

Ok so i’m too lazy to actually walk 10 feet to my laptop that is actually just sitting in the kitchen, to blog right now.

I had a little more to say than just my 140 word micro-blogs on twitter.

I’ve been really busy recently with work and life. Loveless has been rolling along slowly. We have 2 trade shows we are going to be in at the end of the year, one here in Orlando, Surf Expo, and one in San Diego, ASR Trade Show. After those 2 show we are going to see what kind of viability we have with LVLA and where will go from there.

But for now I’m gonna keep pumping out the designs and keep enjoying life with Casey and Olive and preparing for our future daughter/sister and remembering that life is easy, except when it’s tough. Hold on to love.

peace.

HIF Posters

Just finished some posters for hearitfirst.com.  They are for GMA week coming up her shortly.  Check them out and let me know what you think.

Where i am at now

I said i would blog, and thats just what i am going to do

There has been a lot going on in my life recently, Olive is getting older and i am not too happy about that, i am really busy with work and my own clothing line, and i have made a pretty big life change recently that i am pretty happy about.

Recently i have decided to become a vegan.  Yes i know, it catches a bad rap most of the time because most people are a little weird that do this.  But then again, i am really weird, so this is just right up my alley.  I did the vegetarian thing for a while, and the problem with that was that it was so lenient that i slowly started eating everything but beef.  Which would not make me a vegetarian, but a everything-but-beef-atarian.  There is one main reason that i am doing this and it is for heath reasons, and i am being very general about that because there is another underlining reason i am doing this and i just dont want to blog about it.  I would be happy to talk to anyone about it if they really cared.  Just know, i am not doing this for myself.

So, funny story about starting out as a vegan.  Day 1, we are heading out to Disney, Casey wanted to grab breakfast on the way through a drive through, we go to chic-fil-a, I order a 4 count chicken biscuit, it was not till the 4 chicken biscuits where starting me in the face, shimmering with buttery fried goodness, that i realized i was doing the vegan thing.  Casey sat and watched to see what i was going to do, as i slowly closed the lid and handed them back to her.  I was amazed, she was amazed, and i ate the tots.

Recently i have been having to drive Olive to sleep more because its hard for Casey to walk her to sleep because of being pregnant or something like that.  So i obviously don’t listen to My Chem whilst trying to get her to sleep, so the next best thing right now is Sara Groves (mainly cause the cd is already in the player).  She is never my first choice for music, just not my style.  But she has a song that fits my life right now. I call it track 12, the song is titled “Loving A Person.” Heres a quick excerpt …

Loving a person just the way they are, it’s no small thing
It takes some time to see things through
Sometimes things change, sometimes we’re waiting
We need grace either way

I feel like in this song i am the “person” that needs the love and grace.  Its not that i am still trying to find myself, its just getting comfortable with who i have become.  When i hear this song i think of it as Casey singing it about me.  I have gone through a lot of changes from black nail polish, to veganism, and she has shown nothing but grace through this whole process of my life.

At the end of the song she sings this lyric

Loving me just the way I am, its no small thing. It takes some time to see things through

Thats where i am at now

Back from the dead

I know its been a little while, and if you have read any of my blogs before this. you know I usually have a time where i dont blog for months, but then get the sudden urge to blog again.  So i am back. I have recently had some things that are on my mind and i thought to myself, “i should blog about it.”

ill be around

peace

Lord, Save us from Your Followers PART 1

I am reading this book called Lord, Save Us From Your Followers by Dan Merchant.  Now i know what some of you are thinking, “Danny, reading?  Yeah right !”  It sad, but true.  And i say part one because i am only 9 chapters into it.  I bought the book last night and i could not put it down.  What is so great about this book for me right now is that it is so relevant to me in our current situation, being in the midst of a presidential election.

I have had so many feeling brought up in this election that this book is helping me deal with, and reassuring me that my feelings on abortion and gay rights, and the government giving back to the poor, is totally valid.  Proven by bible facts, and great leaders in the Christian community. 

I really would like to post as much of what i read last night in this book, but i would rather you read it for yourself.  There is an amazing interview with Tony Campolo, and an even more amazing one with Michael Reagan. 

What i will point out right now in my PART 1 blog, is 3 points last night that made my view on the poor, gays and abortions valid.  

And i must interject a side note here.  I wholly believe right now that God has put this book in front of me and given me the energy last night to read until 2 am, finishing over 75% of the book, for whatever reason that i can not put into words right now.

This is in the order i read things in the book…

A quote from Tony Campolo,

“It’s interesting to note that the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew, which everybody likes to cite when dealing with the poor, “I was hungry, did you feed me?  I was naked did you clothe me?  I was sick, did you care for me?”  ends with these words: “And on that day I judge the nations.”  The nations !  He does not say, “On that day i judge the church.”  Jesus says, “I’m gonna judge the nations.”  Check it out in Scripture.”

A conversation between Dan Merchant (author) and Michael Reagan ( Ronald Reagan’s adopted son)…

DAN: When we where talking before, you mentioned three numbers: twenty-four, forty-three, and fourteen.

MICHAEL: Good memory.

DAN: What is the significance of those numbers?

MICHAEL:  I talk to a lot of pro-life groups, crisis pregnancy groups (being adopted myself) and twenty-four represents the percentage of young girls who get abortions who say they’re Catholic, forty-three represents the percentage of young girls who get  abortions who say they’re Protestant, and fourteen represents the percentage of young girls who say they’re evangelical/born-again Christians.  So my question to these groups is, “Why are you looking to government to pass a law to stop your daughters from getting abortions?”  What are we doing in our own households that is causing our daughters to go out and get these abortions?  ”We have to look inward, and so often we look outward. “We are holier than thou, we don’t make mistakes, we’re Godly, we go to church on Sunday,” so we’ve done nothing wrong; yet our daughters are more fearful of telling us they are pregnant than they are of the abortionists.

(you add those numbers up and its 71% of all abortions)

This is a conversation again between Dan and a gay man named Sister Mary Timothy (a nun)…

DAN:  Today, I’m trying not to make Jesus look bad, not to set the bar too low.  How do you think things would’ve been different, if the church had sponsored the first few AIDS hospices in the early eighties?

SISTER MARY TIMOTHY:  They would’ve been showing Christ’s love, honestly and truly.  It shouldn’t have mattered that people where gay;  it shouldn’t have mattered that people where suffering disfiguring diseases.  They would’ve set their fear aside, they would’ve opened their hearts and done the work that needed to be done.

This book has hit a nerve with me.  It was very close to making me cry last night.  I will be finishing it tonight and finishing my thoughts on it soon.

peace.

A great quote…

“Christ will never be cool. Terrifying, life-changing, shocking, 
and iconoclastic, but never cool. Jesus is not my homeboy. The Gospel will always be “relevant” but never trendy.”

-Jon Forman

I remember where i was

i was in my graphic design class at valencia, when the first one hit someone ran into the room and said there was an attack, we all ran out into the hall to see on the news and then we watch the second one hit.  to describe the feeling would be impossible, but i will never forget it.  so stop asking.

We went on a CRUISE ! ! ! !

So we just got back from a Disney Cruise.  Me and Casey’s 3rd Disney Cruise, Olive’s first!  It was a blast! I have never been so relaxed in my life!  I think it was because we are in a great place in life right now.  I love my job, I love being a dad, and I love Casey more than ever.  So just to be on a vacation with my 2 most favorite people in the world was just amazing.  That said, the Disney boat also had a lot to do with it

If you have never been on a Disney Cruise, you do not know what you are missing.  I have been on another cruise line, Royal Caribbean, and it was great too, and I am sure that their newest boat that is coming out is going to be awesome too, but there is just one thing, its not Disney.  There is that “Disney Difference” that no one can replicate and it is what make me come back time and time again (even if i am paying double than every other cruise line).  

Here are some great shots from our cruise, enjoy ! ( i know a lot are Olive, so sue me! )

Politics

I hate them.  By now i am sure that many people close to me know that i am voting for Obama.  I think it makes a lot of people mad a me, yet they would never say it.  I honestly dont know if anyone else close to me is voting for him.  There are a few reasons i am voting for him…

The War- Obama believes we must be as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless getting in. Immediately upon taking office, Obama will give his Secretary of Defense and military commanders a new mission in Iraq: ending the war. The removal of our troops will be responsible and phased, directed by military commanders on the ground and done in consultation with the Iraqi government. Military experts believe we can safely redeploy combat brigades from Iraq at a pace of 1 to 2 brigades a month that would remove them in 16 months. That would be the summer of 2010 – more than 7 years after the war began.

Under the Obama plan, a residual force will remain in Iraq and in the region to conduct targeted counter-terrorism missions against al Qaeda in Iraq and to protect American diplomatic and civilian personnel. He will not build permanent bases in Iraq, but will continue efforts to train and support the Iraqi security forces as long as Iraqi leaders move toward political reconciliation and away from sectarianism.

Abortion – Even though he is Pro-Choice and i am Pro- Life, i still believe that the process of stopping abortions is stopping underage pregnancies.  Stopping it before it starts and educating people before they make the choice.  Abortions will never stop, the evil in this country wont let it, that is just the truth. 

I read another blog of a friend of mine that brought up the issue of Infanticide and how Obama supports it.  Its obvious that he really did not search hard enough to find the truth and just found another reason to hate Obama.  Here is a quote from his website…

“Senator Obama strongly supports Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to choose. He believes that there is a moral and ethical element to this issue, and he believes that women do not make these decisions casually, but wrestle with them in consultation with their doctors, pastors and family. Senator Obama understands that some will disagree with him and choose not to support him, and he respects those with different opinions. But the recent attacks on Senator Obama that allege he would allow babies born alive to die are outrageous lies. The suggestion that Obama — the proud father of two little girls — and others who opposed these bills supported infanticide is deeply offensive and insulting. There is no room for these kinds of distortions and lies in this campaign. What Senator Obama’s attackers don’t tell you is that existing Illinois law already requires doctors to provide medical care in the very rare case that babies are born alive during abortions. They will not tell you that Obama voted against these laws in Illinois because they were clear attempts to undermine Roe v. Wade. They will not tell you that these laws were also opposed by pro-choice Republicans and the Illinois Medical Society — a leading association of doctors in the state. And they will not tell you that Obama has always maintained that he would have voted for the federal version of this bill, which did not pose such a threat. The bills Senator Obama voted against in Illinois were crafted to undermine Roe v. Wade or pre-existing Illinois state law regulating reproductive healthcare and medical practice, which is why Senator Obama objected to them.”

Immigration – Another quote from Obama…

“We have to finally bring undocumented immigrants out of the shadows. It is time we did that. Now, let’s acknowledge, yes, they broke the law. And they should have to pay a fine, and learn English, and go to the back of the line, behind those who have been waiting patiently. But we also have to put them on a pathway to citizenship.”

Religion – What i think most Christians forget about or do not want to acknowledge is that Barack is a Christian.  Here is a quote from the Chicago times…

In the Audacity of Hope, Obama wrote, “I was finally able to walk down the aisle of Trinity United Church of Christ one day and be baptized.” In 2004, he “attend[ed] the 11 a.m. Sunday service at Trinity in the Brainerd neighborhood every week — or at least as many weeks as he is able. His pastor, Wright, has become a close confidant.” When asked about his decision to be baptized, Obama said “Kneeling beneath that cross on the South Side of Chicago, I felt I heard God’s spirit beckoning me,” he said of his walk down the aisle of the Trinity United Church of Christ. “I submitted myself to his will and dedicated myself to discovering his truth.”

I did not make this post to change peoples mind or tell them who to vote for. These are just my reasons for voting for Obama.  I feel like I am voting for the lesser of 2 evils, and I feel like a vote for McCain is a vote for Bush all over again, and I hate Bush.  I know that a lot of my friends and family will disagree with me, and thats ok, its not the first time.

peace.

You will be missed Mike!

Though i have never met Michael Turner, i am very sad to know i never will.  There are only 2 people that kept me reading comic books, one was Jim Lee and the other was Michael Turner.  His art was inspirational and true to form.  Everything he touched was amazing and made reading comics worth it to me, knowing that i was getting art from an amazing artist.  After getting his start on Witchblade for Top Cow, Turner not only launched his own publishing company, Aspen, but brought his dynamic art style to both Marvel and DC. His work has graced dozens of Marvel comics, most notably on covers to CIVIL WAR.

On Friday June 27th at 10:42 Pacific Daylight Time at the Santa Monica Hospital in California, Mike died at the age of 37 after years of battling chondrosarcoma, a form of cancer that affects bones and cartilage.  What’s so crazy is that i feel like i have lost a close friend.  I thought about it all day today.  Life is too short.  So i leave you with some great images from Michael Turner.  Enjoy.