August

August is a wonderful month, but is also an odd month. A summer month, but one that hints at a fast-approaching autumn. For me, it's a transition month; it marks the end of summer, and it's around this time that I realize that the year is two thirds gone. Seriously, where does the time go?

For this boy, summer has been a true journey. Lots of things have happened... I bought new camera equipment, smashed my thumb (literally), couldn't work for two months, de-junked my stuff (still ongoing), and am reorganizing my bedroom. On top of all of that, I'm preparing to tackle my last two semesters of college and get my degree in graphic design. I feel good.

Another development. There's this girl I've known for four years, and we've been talking. And when I say "talking" here, I mean we've literally been talking or texting every waking moment for the past three months. We've grown unbelievably close, and it's getting more and more obvious to us (and everyone who knows us fairly well) that something special may be developing here. The only thing that's sad about this situation is the fact that we live almost 500 miles apart; however, she has agreed to a date, and I have promised to visit. I can't wait to see what shenanigans come of this; perhaps I'll be sharing more about her in future posts. Time will tell. But, I must mention the ironic and humorous fact that this is the first time I've talked about my interest in this girl publicly, and August is National Romance Awareness Month. Whatever.

I visited my school the other day to make some arrangements for this coming semester. While I was there, I got to see some close friends who are already on campus for band camp. Having hardly seen anyone for these last seven post-Disney months, I have been more than a bit lonely and bored with my routine of home life and work. I'm too much of a social being to be cooped up like I have been, and seeing some familiar faces was a breath of fresh air.

As school fast approaches, I'm starting to get excited for the last chapters of this year... a return to academia, some added independence, the drama of an unfolding romance, and some much-needed reconnecting with college friends. But for now, here am I. It is August: my month of transition.

More blogs to follow; stay tuned.


**change**

- Knolster

I Lived

Ever feel like the shuffle feature in iTunes is some sort of a musical god that can somehow predict your mood swings and empathize with your feelings? Time and time again, I absent-mindedly flip my iPod to "shuffle all songs" and drown myself in whatever it comes up with. And I've noticed a phenomenon; within three songs, usually a song plays that somehow resonates with how I feel that very moment.

This happens to me quite frequently, and today was no exception. Lately I've been thinking a lot about life decisions. Well, this morning I popped my headphones on before rolling out of bed (on "shuffle"), and the second song that played was off of OneRepublic's new album, Native. Perhaps you've heard it before... it's called "I Lived".

The chorus is as follows...

"I did it all. I owned every second that this world could give.
I saw so many places, the things that I did.
Yeah with every broken bone, I swear I lived..."

This song resonates with so many feels within my soul. It causes emotions to rise; it provokes thought; and it reawakens a yearning within me to experience life at its fullest. Disney was a huge experience for me; I can't remember a moment when I wasn't experiencing something new or discovering new things. Every day was an adventure.

Upon moving back to the Midwest, life has gone stagnant (or so it would seem). Yes, I still have moments of joy with my family, and I will always cherish these times. But as a whole, life has slowed down a bit in contrast to my fast-paced, schedule-packing life in Florida. But here is my thoughts in a nutshell: Fast or slow, never fail to cherish each moment in life.

Don't get so caught up in the "big picture" that you fail to live for today. It is wise to live for a better tomorrow, of course; but do not forget to experience the world around you right now, no matter where you are. Life is way too short to take it slow; as soon as moments arrive,  they are gone. Map out some dreams you wish to achieve and work towards them. But today, in this moment, do wonderful things. Create. Dance. Live. Once you get to where you want to be a month, a year, or ten years down the road, you will look back on your life; and you'll be glad that you lived each moment and appreciated the time you were blessed with. Reach out to others and don't fail to seize the moments you have before they pass and are lost forever. And "with every broken bone", don't be discouraged. You will be stronger for the hard times.

Go places. Do things. Cherish people around you.

But whatever you do, make sure you live life to the fullest.


**fin**

- Knolster

Friends With A Black Guy

This is the real life story of how my friend Travis became an Internet sensation overnight. You may have seen his picture before.

Photo copyright José Taco Cruz, JTCPhotography

I attended a tiny Christian liberal arts university in Illinois - you may have heard of it. Located in Bourbonnais, right between Bradey and Kankakee (or, as I like to call it, Kankabourboley), Olivet Nazarene University is where I spent much of my early college career. It's a pretty campus, but one quickly realizes that between the spattering of college-sponsored Student Life events, non-academic life pretty much ends inside the ONU bubble. Not much happens, and there's no real fun to be had in the humdrum suburbs surrounding the school.

Enter my friend Travis. Travis is a great guy who majored in communications, got his degree, and is currently engaged to a wonderful young lady. He loves good fun and is always down for trying new things. He was also featured in The Olivetian - our school newsletter.

Oh, and he's black. But that's not really important, is it?

It was spring of 2012. Life was ONU peachy. Classes were going well, spring break was over, and midterms were all a thought of the past. Now it was all about having as much fun as we could before finals loomed on the horizon.

However, it was one evening in particular that the rumblings of shenanigans could be felt. I got word through a mutual friend that Travis was planning something, and it was going to be awesome. He had gotten the bright idea of setting up a table in the hub of our campus and putting up signs that said "Meet A Black Guy." He planned to pass out flyers and free food, utilizing as many "black" stereotypes as he appropriately could to ease racist tensions in my predominately white school. The idea gained speed among our friend group, and a few fateful Facebook messages later, it was decided. He had procured an appropriate table, I was printing the signs, and we were going shopping for food.

Before I knew it, we were heading to Kroger at midnight with Travis and a couple others. The discussion was filled with excitement.

The scene in the car was pretty comical, to say the least. Being black, Travis was the obvious mastermind present - that is, until he opened his mouth. "So guys. What do black people like?"

We all looked at each other.

"We've gotta get fried chicken!!" Travis pointed out.

We all agreed unanimously.

"What would be better, purple Kool-Aid or purple soda?"

Debate on that was a bit more involved, as we tossed stereotypes back and forth, arguing what black people liked better, Kool-Aid or soda. Ultimately though, we decided that canned purple soda and Dixie cups would be the easiest solution for handing "drank" out in small quantities.

And then the kicker. "WATERMELON!!!" We had to get a watermelon. Or two; even better!

Oh, and donuts and IBC root beer. Impulse buys - it was 2am at this point, and we were hungry.

Probably the most racist shopping trip ever

We got the stuff; everybody pitched in some cash. Cups, plates, fried chicken, purple soda, watermelons. The whole enchilada. The third-shift checkout lady was probably trying not to burst out laughing as Travis paid dutifully for his items. But she was able to keep a stern face, much to our amusement.

I laughed harder that night than I had in a long time. As soon as I got back to my dormitory, I got to work on his signs for the table.

Free Fried Chicken!
Free Purple Drank! (We had to put "drank" on there. It was too awesome.)
Free Hugs!
Free Pictures!
Free Signatures!
Free Watermelon!
Free Handshakes!

Heck, I still have the Word documents. I'll never delete them.

April 20, 2012. We got rolling that morning about 10am. Travis was cooking the fried chicken up, another friend was slicing up watermelon. I had a morning test, but I hustled the signs over right after. When I got there, we put the signs up, laid out the food, popped the sodas open and poured out the purple drank. Then we stepped back to survey the final effect.

Travis had done it. There was smooth jazz music playing, the table looked great, and he was standing behind everything, beaming like it was his holiday. It was amazing. People looked. Every student that walked past looked. FACULTY looked. People going in and out of the doors behind us loved what they saw. Some laughed as they went on their way; even more stopped to meet Travis and see what he was doing.

"Hello! I'm a black guy Nice to meet you."
"What are you doing?"
"Oh, just letting people know we're here."

 

But everyone - everyone - smiled. College kids stopped for pictures and free food. Grounds workers cruised up to grab a quick chicken wing. I popped a soda myself.

Several of our friends came to chill with the now most popular black guy on campus. His moment was wonderful.

Frank and Travis

Kitty, Travis, and Monica

Lynne and Travis

Our friend José snapped a photo with his DSLR and uploaded it to Flickr - unaware that it would soon become famous. It had over 80,000 views by the end of the day. Apparently his photo had made it onto Reddit; and the rest is mematic history.  Eventually, his picture would be seen on FunnyJunk, 4chan, Tumblr, and Formspring.

By 1pm the buzz had died down a bit, but spirits were still soaring. There were high fives all around; and to this day, it's one of the best memories I have.

TL;DR - Black people are awesome.

Easter

Today marks the end of the first Lenten journey I have made. In a previous blog post, I told how I would give up Facebook and soda for Lent.


As Lent ends today (happy Easter!), I am pleased to say that I successfully went without soda and Facebook for the entire time period. This is quite an accomplishment for me; as anyone who knows me is aware just how much I use Facebook day to day, and how fond I am of Mountain Dew and Dr. Pepper.

For me, though giving up soda wasn't easy, it paled in comparison to giving up Facebook. Even though it seems trivial, giving up Facebook was quite an endeavor; and several times during Lent I really wanted to break my vow of abstinence from it. But I didn't, and during those times, I thought about just how difficult it must have been for Jesus when He fasted for forty days in the wilderness, with Satan himself whispering sweet nothings in His ear to boot. When I would feel despondent about going without, I'd think about my relationship with God; and you know what? It helped. A lot.

Was it worth it? I say absolutely.

My walk with God has definitely changed for the better since I began my Lenten journey. I've been praying much more often, even for the little things; as a result, I feel like communication with God has been a bit more two-way during this time. And I would like to keep it that way. Definitely, Lent has been helpful to me.

If you've never tried to give something up before, I encourage you to try giving up even something small. It will make you think about your priorities, and it will remind you to live better for Christ. Oh, and you may discover you actually can survive without Facebook. Maybe I'll give up the Internet entirely next year. (Haaaaaaa, no.)


**i like it like that**

- Knolster

Curses To The Organizationally Gifted

I need to clean my room.

BADLY.

It's been nearly three months since I arrived home from Florida... and in hindsight, I would say that time flies more at home than it did at Disney. Ironic, seeing that most people can't get enough of Disney and never seem to have enough time to play there.

But I digress.

The path from my door to my bedroom window is a journey in itself; what started out as using a large box to put stuff in to clear OUT of my room has turned into a massive landfill of assorted things. The box is still there, but no longer visible. This scares me.

I use Snapchat. It's fun to use when I want to send random pics to people. So just for kicks, I Snapchatted a pic of my room to my friend Franny - complete with stuff everywhere, bed buried under clothes, and shelves emptied onto the floor. She responded with a pristine photo of her room - floor completely clear, bed made, and spotlessly organized desk replete with perfectly aligned books.

My motivation at this point is revenge. I have to prove to her that my room can look just as awesome as (if not better than) hers.

But it sucks when your motivation is buried underneath all that stuff. I'm screwed.


**curses to the organizationally gifted**

- Knolster

Ken Rockwell

Today I'd like to share about a guy whose work may not mean much to some, but is invaluable to people like me. As an aspiring photographer paying his way through school, I don't have the resources to waste money or time on a mistaken purchase on photography equipment- whether it be as simple as a memory card or as definitive as a new lens. Every penny counts. (Ask anyone who knows me. If I see a penny on the ground, that sucker's mine!) So naturally, I research before I buy something.

The Internet is chock full of forums, discussions, reviews, and articles about almost anything. This is great, but it can be very time consuming to sift through articles looking for information, especially regarding photography equipment. And it seems that everyone has something to say; some sing praises about an item, while others loudly and forcefully denounce the same product. It can be difficult to know who to trust. Does an anonymous commenter really know what he's talking about when he trashes a product, or is the product actually decent? (Or vice versa!) And where can you find stuff once you've made a decision?

Enter this man.

Ken Rockwell

This guy is amazing. His extensive website and blog cover all major photography equipment and manufacturers anyone could ever want to know about. He has used almost every major camera available, and his reviews cover more than just cameras; he also discusses lenses, filters, flash, shooting techniques, and more. Everything he discusses and reviews is provided with purchase locations and information. And the best part? All of this is free on his website. People spend hundreds of dollars on photography books that don't teach even half of the information that Ken Rockwell shares (and his is all up to date!).

Now enter me. I used his detailed information to make my latest lens purchase, and I am now the proud owner of a Nikkor 50mm F/1.8 D fixed aperture lens.

It's so sexy.

I've been wanting a fixed aperture lens for quite some time now; however, there are many out there, and I wanted to make the best educated purchase I could. Unsure exactly which fixed aperture lens I wanted, I consulted Ken's research. Turns out, the 50mm F/1.8 is one of the best lenses any Nikon photographer could own, which I previously wasn't aware of. My current camera, a Nikon D5100, is not autofocus-compatible with the 50mm F/1.8 D lens. However, I am currently in the process of upgrading to the Nikon D7000, which is autofocus-compatible with this lens. Since the lens works manually on either camera model regardless of the autofocus setup, the lens is perfect for me right now. Long story short, I saved at least $150, and it's the little things like this that make me happy. Life is not won all at once, but rather in small steps along the way.

Here are a couple test shots I took with the new lens. I'm in love. 

So yeah, Ken Rockwell wins major kudos from me, hence this shoutout. He's candid, down-to-earth, and honest. He even replied to a brief thank-you email I wrote him that same day. Very impressive.

Closing thought: think before you buy! And look for good honest voices like Ken Rockwell when researching; it's worth it.


**rule 32**

- Knolster

Lent and Withdrawls

Think of this post as a quick muse/devotional thought.

In my quest for the truth (mainly starting this new year), I've been doing some more digging in the Word and just spending time actually paying attention to God. He's always there, you know... and even though you know He knows your thoughts, sometimes it's just helpful knowing you can talk to Him about crap, ya know?

I love properly used memes. This one's a little off par, but it will do.

Enter February. Now, every year around this time, there's a little (err... not so little) day called Fat Tuesday. Everybody loves Fat Tuesday, because Fat Tuesday is fun to say, makes people giggle, and basically gives the impression that you can/should eat and do whatever you want. Basically, it is the YOLO mindset (I freaking hate that word). What people don't really think so much about is the day which follows. The day after Fat Tuesday is Wednesday. Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent.

Lent is defined by Wikipedia as a Christian observance meant to prepare the believer; it is a form of fasting. While the main denominations that faithfully observe this are Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, and Anglicans, most Christians at least know about the concept of Lent. Mention Lent to almost anyone and they'll look at you and say "Oh, are you Catholic?" No, I'm not Catholic. I just happen to care about my walk with God.

Here is a spattering of the top things people gave up for Lent in 2009. Interesting stuff.

Traditionally, Christians who practice Lent give up something for the forty-day period between Ash Wednesday and Easter to better focus on striving towards holiness in life. Now, in the past, I've given up soda pop (and am currently) for Lent, but never really thought much about it. I would do it mainly for the challenge, if you will... the "thrill of accomplishment" -- and go right back to gorging myself with Mountain Dew as soon as Lent was over, gloating at my abilities in self denial. But soda pop isn't that dear to me. Yes, I shamefully love my Mountain Dew (you can buy it for me here at a ridiculous price), but it's not like I can't live without it.

So this year, I wanted to take things a little more seriously when it came to personal sacrifice for Lent. But what? There's nothing I really do that I can give up... my life is pretty boring, right?

Oh no. HELL NO. Nononononooo...

You might laugh at me. Feel free; I felt pretty pathetic in hindsight. Facebook isn't everything; but hey, it's pretty huge. But then again, you might not hold Facebook at the same esteem that I do. Facebook is a ridiculously integral part of my life, and has been for the past five years. It's my main source of information, and by far my foremost means of staying connected with some of the closest people in my life who pretty much all live as inconveniently far away from me as possible. If I am online, I pop Facebook into its own happy little tab and surf the Internet, peeking up at Facebook's tab every now and then to see if a little (1) appears next to the tab name (meaning I have a notification). Or better yet, hearing that multi-emotional "pling" (depending on the nature of your conversation) that means someone else on Facebook cares enough to chat with you. I love Facebook -- maybe too much. But give it up for forty days? Craziness!
 

Oh, shut up.

Yet here I am. Six days into this suddenly meaningful journey called Lent, and I haven't been on Facebook once. At first I missed my Facebook tab... but now I'm used to it being gone. It feels like it's been a longer time than six days, but in all reality, this is probably one of the longest stretches I've gone without it. I will say it is rather unsettling to be without a security you've felt pretty much every day for five years. Yet, at the same time, it's very freeing. I have more time to do things, and I've been far more productive even when using the Internet. Was Facebook that large of a distraction for me? Apparently so.

So no Facebook or soda. For the first few days, I was very irritable. Think of a room full of girls with PMS (keep in mind, I have five sisters. Nothing shocks me anymore). I was that pissy. But as time has passed, my mood has improved, and I've started thinking more about why I am sacrificing these things. What do I prioritize more-- Facebook or my time spent with God? More times than not, I waste hours on Facebook and don't even think about God. Just six days into Lent, I am thinking more about God and how I am living than I have for the past month.

So be encouraged. I know I am. And hey, only thirty-four days to go for this boy. If Jesus could handle it, and He empowers us to do even greater things, then how can we fail?

I plan to post after Lent on how I feel about everything. It will be interesting to see if/how my perspectives have changed.


**this boy now gets his caffeine from coffee**

- Knolster