Huh. Remember this??

It's back in postcard form!



(the story)

Happy Thanksgiving!

We do miss you guys. I hope all is well with everyone.

Old Stuff

I put a bunch of old pictures from high school and college on facebook. I find it comforting to know they're in one place. I always worry about losing photos (particularly those already printed from film). Anywho...

Happy Days

Finally...

Arrested Development Movie 'A Go'


Also, if you care about me at all, go see Mates of State at the Exit/In on Nov 17. Please.

More RAC

I don't know how many of you are familiar with the Remix Artist Collective (RAC), but they give away so much music it's not even funny. They remix all sorts of stuff and have good taste when it comes to remixing songs. Just head over to their blog and check out all the free songs. They literally just give their work away. I love it.

The Remix Company

From Moore Town

I added a couple shots from bonnaroo on Flickr.

Anybody...

...that doesn't go see Girl Talk in November is a stupid idiot.

The Basement
10/13-The Walkmen w/ the Little Ones & The Privates $14

Cannery Ballroom
10/1-Clutch w/ the Sword $21
10/15-Donavon Frankenreiter $19
10/20-The Faint $21
11/06-Girl Talk w/ Death Set $17
11/12-Five Finger Death Punch $14
11/15-Umphrey's McGee $22
11/18-Broken Social Scene $23
11/21-Ghostland Observatory $18

Exit In
09/24-The Fratellis $17
10/10-The Toadies $17
10/12-Silver Jews w/ Monotonix $16
10/16-Heartless Bastards w/ Dead Confederate $17
10/17-Justin Townes Earle w/ Chris Scruggs & Caitlin Rose $12
10/18-Matt Nathanson $17
10/19-Grace Potter & the Nocturnals w/ The Wood Brothers $17
10/21-Hotel Café Tour feat. Ingrid Michaelson, Meiko, Priscilla Ahn, Erin McCarley, Brooke Fraser, & Katie Herzig $17
10/26-Alejandro Escovedo $22
10/31-Legendary Shack Shakers $17
11/20-The King Khan & the BBQ Show $12

Limelight
10/24-Monster Boo $22

The Mercy Lounge
09/23-Eli "Paperboy" Reed $10
09/24-Dandy Warhols w/ Darker My Love & the Upside Downs $20
09/25-Dubconscious $12
09/26-The Expendables $14
10/01-Southern Culture on the Skids $17
10/03-Rival Tour feat. Chuck Ragan, Ben Nichols (Lucero) & Tim Barry $12
10/18-Robert Pollard's Boston Spaceships w/ The High Strung $17
10/21-Cold War Kids $17
10/22-Man Man $12
10/23-Ben Kweller w/ Whitely $22
10/24-The Features CD Release Show $12
10/25-Outformation $12
10/28-Locksley $12
10/30-Deerhoof w/ Experimental Dentist School & Flying $14
11/07-MURS $12
11/11-Spinto Band $12
11/12-Amanda Palmer $17
11/21-Calexico w/ Bowerbirds $17
12/03-Rev. Horton Heat $22


And will someone send me some music??

Cold War Kids
Metallica
TV on the Radio
Kings of Leon
etc...

Any of these worthwhile?

And I KNOW there are new movies coming out like crazy. Ghost Town? Has anyone seen that? If you see a movie and you liked it, send it to me! (metacritic list) It doesn't have to be anything fancy or many discs. Just throw a disc in an envelope and send it to Comfort Castle. That's it. It can be 5 AVI files on a DVD. It doesn't matter. Oh man look at this torrent: All Disney. Somebody with a rockin internet connection get on that. Please? :)

Also, I was listening to the commentary on the Simpsons movie and, Cara Donahue, you sound exactly like Yeardley Smith (the voice of Lisa). I swear I thought I was listening to you do commentary.

That's all. It's hot as nuts here today.


UPDATE!: I got a bittorrent to work. Actually, the one I found is called Transmission and it works really well. I like it a lot more than Bittorrent. And our internet here at the marina is pretty good. So if you dont want to mail a disc, you could upload something to MegaUpload.com or 4Shared.com and just send the link to me. Todd did that before and it worked well (our internet just sucked at the time). Anywho, that's all. I was just getting really tired of not being able to get anything. So I'm a bit better off now. Sorry about the begging.

My First 5sec Film

This is made up of a 140, 30sec shots. I even got some lightning!

I Won't Lie...

...There are a lot of beautiful beaches here.

I Made the Cover!!

Hey everybody! My shot of Union Station made the cover of the Capture Music City contest! How awesome is that??

Thank you so much for all your votes and compliments and congrats. They just mean so much to me. And I couldn't be more excited and honored to have my shot on the cover.

(Sadly enough, I won't even get to SEE the book for two years so someone will have to take a picture of it and send it to me!)

(Mom and Dad, there's at least one copy being sent to you. Don't lose it!)

My Speck SeeThru Case

I don't know if I ever showed you guys how I keep my Mac looking not so pretty. I bought a Speck Hard Case before I left. But before I attached it I spray painted it camo-brown. So now it has a very unassuming look about it. (And it seems protective too.) I think it's worked out well.

Fi Wi Ous

More over on the Peace Corps blog.

Last Chance

Hey Everyone

The Capture Music City contest is about to end so if you have a chance and still haven't voted on any of my shots, I'd really appreciate your votes.

Go Here and Vote!

Thanks a lot.

Josh & Jesse Central

Okay everyone. I've spent a little time playing around with Wordpress and feel comfortable enough to make the change. SO... starting now Jess and I will both be posting mainly to our Wordpress blog:

Jamaica Me Better

I'll still put things here from time to time, but I think we're going to try and keep all our Jamaica doings in one place. So, please feel free to join us there.

Our neighbor, Gabrielle...


Nezzi owns a store at the end of our driveway...

Quickly

We're an hour away from anything: internet, grocery store, hardware store, etc. You name it and we don't have it. BUT, I believe we're in the most beautiful part of Jamaica. Here are a few shots. I've been writing, but I'll post those later. Suffice to say, you won't see us on the internet much. However we just found a Marina in town that has wi-fi that it's going to give us for free so that rocks.

We'll be back in Kingston next week for the week and then back here for 2 weeks (and then back to Kingston for a week and back here for good).

Anywho, later. (These are all in our front yard, except for the waterfall. That's down the road and my first project is to build steps to it.)

(that's junior. he's the 4yr old we live with. what a pill.) (jess is making a funny face. i'm not sure.)

(that's our "dad," Donovan)

(those are the Blue Mountains)



It's so dark out where we are. The stars shine like I haven't seen in a long time. This is a 5min & 15min shot I took outside the house while we hung up laundry.




Also, we need movies! We live with a four year old and all he watches is Dora the Explorer, so we need something else for him (meaning something that WE like to watch too) (I'm thinking Pixar stuff and whatnot). AVI files on a DVD (that's what their player reads). Send them freely. Blockbusters/Action and kids stuff. That and music. I'll put the address up later.

We Are Here

View Larger Map

So this is where Jess and I will be for a while (I have the actual address but not on me). We're in the mountains. More specifically I believe we're in a valley. Needless to say, we're going to be rural. Big time. I think we're excited about it. It will be cooler up there, but I'm anticipating not having internet for... well, I can't imagine there's internet up there. Not sure about there. So go ahead and expect to not see us online for two weeks. We'll be up there for the next two weeks and then we come back here to our current dorms. I'm nervous and super excited.

The bottom line is that there's no reason to doubt this any more than we've doubted anything else. God's got it under control. So maybe we won't have internet, things could be worse. We've got electricity and water (possibly running?). I'm no more excited or nervous than I would be if they told me I was going to the beach. (Well, maybe a touch more :) )

So anyway, you might not see us on here much for a couple weeks. But we'll be back... for a week. Our phones should work though. You can dial it just like a long distance number (i.e. there's no country code).

Josh: 1 (876) 368-6685
Jesse: 1 (876) 368-6579

Inside the Actor's Studio: Hellboy

Billy sent me this the other day. Hilarious...

How a Jellyfish Sting Feels

We went to the beach today. It was fun. The sand was nice and we threw a lot of frisbee.

However, during my stay in the water, I was struck by a sting. I was standing in the water and all of the sudden I felt an intense shock to my ankle. I believe this sting to have been delivered via jellyfish. Now, I don't want to understate how this sting felt, so I'm going to lay it out like it was. Two words best describe it:

holy shit.

Aside from some internal rupture or breakage, this was the most intense pain I've ever felt. For about 5min, it absolutely burned like hell. Like something was continually stabbing me with needles. Thankfully it got better after 5 or 10min. And it's okay now. But seriously. It was the most intense non-lethal pain I've ever felt. Unbelievable.

(HINT: It's the red mark that looks like a Wu-Tang symbol.)

My Day in the Jamaican Environment

I wake up and get in the shower. The shower isn’t hot or luke warm. It’s cold. It’s very similar to a garden hose coming out of the wall. I’ve grown accustomed to it, but it still takes my breath away some mornings. It’s really an exercise in controlling your breathing; like running or something, if you let it get away from you you’ll struggle through it. (It helps if you try and think about your day and not the cold water.) I get out and dry off (although I don’t stay dry for long). Then I get dressed and head out to breakfast. Breakfast generally consists of some combination of rice and peas (beans), some sort of saltfish, toast, maybe a fruit, some cornbeef medley, and callaloo (some sort of spinach-type greenery). The food is obviously different than what I’m used to but it’s actually pretty good. I mean, rice and beans and fish? And fruit? Yes please. So I feel like we’re eating well.

(This is our dorm. Kind of looks like shipping crates.)

After breakfast we either go to a training seminar, language class, or a health sector class (because Jess and I are in Environmental Health Sanitation). So from 9 to 12 (with a 15min break in there somewhere) we sit in a class and learn as much as possible. Then we eat some lunch. This is either a patty (essentially a better version of a hot pocket) or a peanut butter & guava jelly sandwich (from supplies we purchased). After then it’s back to class for 4-5 hrs and then dinner (which is remarkably similar to breakfast). For some reason, the sun goes down here around 6:30. 6:30! We’re at sea level. How can that be?? Anyway, it’s totally dark by 7:30. I didn’t expect this.

The real kick in the pants with this whole thing is that it’s all outdoors. Imagine getting ready for a church-like situation and then going to 8hrs of class, but the whole thing is carried out in open-air buildings in the middle of summer. It’s tough. It’s tough physically and mentally. I wear khakis, a button-up shirt, and leather shoes from 7am to 7pm. Then I take another cold shower before I go to bed. I can’t wait any later than 7:30 to shower because the water in our building shuts off around 8pm and stays off till 5:30am. Not to sure about why that is. Then, every other night we get the fan in our room. The oscillating fan makes a HUGE difference. It makes noise and it keeps the warm air moving. It’s awesome. Unfortunately, tonight is not our night for the fan. We share it with Dave and Molly (the married couple from Denver) (they’re good roommates).

(This was our sweet hotel room at the Westin in Maimi.)

On top of all this, we have a TON to read and learn. Like, ridiculous amounts of info to absorb. Virtually everyone in Jamaica speaks English fairly well, however, they also speak Jamaican Creole (commonly referred to as Patwa). At first the language seems like broken English; like the person who documented it had no idea how to write English but only speak parts of it. However, as you learn more and more about it it starts to take on serious complexities and can be as confusing as English at times. The language is starting to grow on me (unfortunately, I generally feel like a doofus speaking it because I don't understand it and end up just talking in a Jamaican accent). These days are very busy and rather exhausting. But they make me super excited to get out into our community.

(Flying from Maimi to Kingston I got the window seat!)

It should also be said they we’re sharing this time with an amazing group of trainees. Everyone is so motivated and determined to do their best. They’re intelligent and fun and all together make up quite a resume of travel and experience. I’m honored to be a part of group 79.

The Day I Couldn’t Photograph

Saturday we finally went into Kingston. For the last week, all we’ve talked about is how dangerous Jamaica is and how careful you have to be and what to do if something awful happens. Not that none of this is warranted, mind you. Last year Jamaica had the 2nd highest murder rate in the world. However, the majority of this is due to drug and gang violence. So in a sense, it is a very dangerous place, but in another, it’s not so bad if you’re careful.

So after days and days of scaring the crap out of us, we get to go downtown. I was nervous. Really nervous. I didn’t bring wallet or bag or even a camera; just some cash and my cell phone. The funny thing was, as we got closer to downtown, I started feeling more at ease. (We’ve been living at a school and the only people we’ve seen so far have essentially been us (and the Jamaican staff). ) When we finally got out of the taxi and started walking around I just felt this huge sense of relief. “Wait a sec, not everyone on the street here seems to have a gun pointed at me. How bizarre!” In fact, most people didn’t seem to care at all that I was there on the sidewalk. It was lovely. Now I know lots of people DID notice us, but the majority did not care one bit.

We spent the next 2hrs walking and bussing around Kingston. We stopped for some Jamaican patties (which are kind of like hot pockets with fresher ingredients). Then we went through this giant market that would’ve looked incredible from a plane, I think. It was made up of huge dilapidated warehouse structures and little shacks with tarps covering every walkway. They had fruit, clothes, pirated DVDs, etc. You name it; they had it. It was quite a sight. Thousands and thousands of people filled the streets and shops. Just going every-which-way. You just made a path and went for it and somehow it all worked. There were cops is riot gear at every intersection. It was like something out of a movie. We finally got out of the market and took a bus and taxi home. It was fun.

All in all, the day really put some fears to rest. Again, I know this place isn’t the safest, but not every Jamaican is out to get us. In fact, they’re an extremely warm group of people. They’re very outgoing and very anxious to help you. Very cool.

Keeping Up with Me/Us

Hey guys

Okay, so Jess and I both have our own blogs, but we also have a Peace Corps blog. I'm afraid if I don't make a disclaimer I may lose 3 or 4 of my 15 readers and I just can't afford that. SO... Let's do this...

I'm going to start posting most of my Peace Corps related things over on our "Welcome to Jamerica" blog. However, most everything right now is related to our Peace Corps service so for a little bit I'm probably going to be posting more on the Jamerica blog than on this one. I'm going to give that a whirl and see how it goes. I might change back.

BUT I don't want to lose any readers by my lack of posting here, so if you would (and haven't already), just add this/both blogs RSS feeds to whatever reader you have. Then you don't have to check back and get disappointed everytime there's no new posts (and you'll instantly know when I post to either).

The RSS feed is the little "wi-fi" looking button up in the address bar (or you can find it in the column to the left). If you can't find it, just ask someone younger than you where it is and what the crap I'm talking about.

Okay... Thanks a lot. Posts and pictures to come. I promise.


UPDATE: Wordpress's picture-posting-thing has frustrated me for the last two days so I'm not going to bother with it. It's taking me too long to try and switch over and I'm wasting what little time I have on the internet trying to learn. So yeah, I'm gonna stay here for now. I'd still add our RSS feeds, but here's where you find me. The Worpress blog is still going to run at full speed but Jess will be handling the majority of it as she has thus far. Thanks.

We're Here

...And I'm more than slightly overwhelmed. we got up at 4 this morning and headed out to the airport. Honestly, it's like going to college again and I'm the noob. (I HATE being the noob!)

But seriously, it's very pretty here. We don't have AC, hot water, or running water from 8pm to 5am, but we have wi-fi outside our dorm. So I'm sitting out in the grass checking my email. Go figure.

And I haven't stopped sweating yet. I hope my body adjusts. Otherwise, I'm in for a long 2yrs.

Happy 4th.

We’re Off

I’m writing this from the airport so it probably will be posted later. We just sat down to wait for our flight. I haven’t sat down with no intention of doing anything in a good week or two. It’s lovely.

This week has been rough. So rough, in fact, cursing seems appropriate in it’s description… but I’ll save that for a later date. Essentially, I made a sizeable mistake working that last week and thinking one week would be enough to sort out all our stuff and pack in a leisurely fashion. We’ve been burning the candle at every end possible trying get our crap together, over to our parents, over to storage, out to sell, out to give away and into our suitcases. And if you know anything about us Hunters, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to hear that we were up till 4:30am last night packing/arranging. Last minute: It’s what we do. (In fairness to Jess, she’s still sort of stuck in her “trying to pack early” Taylor ways.) And then back up at 8:30am. It’s been a lot like that all week. We’re exhausted… and relieved to know we’re just going to Florida today (we need the decompression time).


Saturday started off the worst, I think. I was already tired and grumpy and the first thing I have to do when I woke up was get in the car and take Dudley (our first born… cat) to his new home. It tore me up. I was basically getting dressed and brushing my teeth and crying all at the same time. That was when the first realization that we’re leaving everyone kicked in and it sucked. I know Dudley will be great where he is, but it killed me to drop him off. It was a bit easier leaving Maeby since we just left her in my room at my parent’s house. (she’ll be moving to Scott’s sometime this week).

We’re on the plane now. I feel good. I’ve got Girl Talk blasting on the 80gig and all my toys in Timbuk2 messenger bag. I may retract this later, but at the moment, I really feel as prepared for this as possible. There are a million unknowns, but God’s got those, so all I chose to worry about were the little things (computer, camera, bags, shoes, etc.) I wear myself out worrying about those dumb things, but at least I can get somewhere thinking about them. I can’t get anywhere thinking about the big things. Anyway, I really do feel prepared. We basically started planning for this 9mo ago(?) and just gradually made our way through the “to get” list. Then when it came to packing, we basically just went through our big box of supplies and divvied them up.


I’m watching Teen Wolf Too now. If you want a nice slice of the 80s, I recommend you give it a viewing. The plot is simple and straightforward and there are countless montages. And it stars Jason Bateman.

That's the Orlando Airport at left. Okay I really shouldn’t drag blog entries out over more than 24hrs. I appear to lose my “focus.” Anywho… more soon.

3 yrs & 3 days

That's how long I've worked at Civil Site Design Group. And today's my last day. I don't know how often you have a job that you're genuinely going to miss, but such is the case for me. I don't know if the line of work is perfect for me, but I love the people. They're smart, fun, respectful, supportive, and challenging. I'm going to miss them a lot.

This is a quote from My Utmost. I've been saving lines from it over the years. This was the first and one of my all-time favorites. It fills my heart to the brim when I read it.

“Have nothing…” – Never reserve anything.
Pour out the best you have, and always be poor.
Never be diplomatic and careful about the treasures God gives.
This is poverty triumphant.

-Oswald Chambers

This is one of many songs you should listen to: Frightened Rabbit - The Modern Leper (mp3)

The New GIRL TALK Album is Out!

Feed the Animals

Technically, it's a free download! It's just like Radiohead's In Rainbows was; you pay what you want.

- $5 or more gets you the album in MP3 or FLAC + a seamless mix of the whole thing.
- $10 or more gets you that plus the physical CD when it comes out.

I started to buy the CD but I realized I wouldn't get it for 2yrs (cause of the whole "going to Jamaica" thing) so I gave $7.

Get on it! (Listen to it on his Myspace page.)

(Click here for the song listings and breakdown of each.)


UPDATE 1: Just started the first listen through and I'm immediately smiling.

UPDATE 2: Just finished the first listen. What an album. It does not disappoint. This is definitely the most refined album of his to date. As smooth as Night Ripper was Feed the Animals probably blends songs and lyrics even better. It seems to be more of a middle ground between Night Ripper's changing every 5-10sec and Unstoppable's sticking with several riffs for the entire song. As a whole, it feels like it takes its time more than Night Ripper did. He hangs on to tunes a bit longer in Feed the Animals letting you really get the most of the combination but at the same time changing before you even think about getting bored with it. The lyric/song combinations are as seamless as ever.

Once again, no music puts as big a smile on my face as a Girl Talk album. Well done, Gregg.

A Few from Roo '08

(He's wearing Julbo's. What a guy.)



Again, more to come. It's just going to be a slow. Besides the usual busyness, I actually have a paying "client" at the moment.

We're Alive

I think a good time was had by all (even the noobs had fun). So thanks to all my campmates for making it enjoyable (and having patience with my constant photographing) (and for lending us water and tp after we forgot ours).

(More photos to come.)

Remix Artist Collective (RAC)

I apologize to any regular reader for the lack of posting lately. Everything seems to have taken a backseat during these last few weeks before we head out. I've barely even thought about Bonnaroo. My mind is all over the place.

However, I've been on a music kick lately (as you can see in previous posts) and today's is the RAC (Remix Artist Collective). You've probably seen "(RAC mix)" on a lot of remixed songs over the last few years. Well, this is them. It's a couple guys from different parts of the world. I'm not sure how it works, but I really like their stuff. Check out these remixes:

The Shins - Sleeping Lessons (RAC mix) (mp3)

Bloc Party - Song for Clay (RAC mix) (mp3)

Tokyo Police Club - Be Good (RAC mix) (mp3)

Then, just a few weeks ago they did a session of Xtrabeats on WOXY. It was awesome. I'm still listening to it. You've gotta give this a whirl...

RAC woxy.com 60min Mix (mp3)

Tracklisting:
01 - 5,6,7,8’s - The Barracuda
02 - Capsule - Flashback
03 - Boyz Noize - Lava Lava (RAC Edit)
04 - Tepr - Minuit Jacuzzi (datA Remix)
05 - Siruismo - Wow
06 - Riot In Belgium - La Musique
07 - MSTRKRFT - Street Justice
08 - Daft Punk - Around The World
09 - Danger - 14h54
10 - Shinichi Osawa - Star Guitar
11 - Simian Mobile Disco - Hustler
12 - Midnight Juggernaults - Ending of an Era
13 - datA - J’aim pas l’Art
14 - Yelle - Je Veux te Voir
15 - Calvin Harris - Colours
16 - MGMT - Electric Feel (RAC Edit)
17 - Shinichi Osawa - Electro411
18 - N.E.R.D. - Everyone Nose (RAC Edit)
19 - Justice - DVNO
20 - The Who - Baba O Riley (RAC Edit)
21 - Futurecop - Transformers
22 - Kylie Minogue - Heart Beat Rock (RAC Edit)
23 - Radiohead - Planet Telex (RAC Edit)
24 - Cornelius - Fit Song (The Books Remix)
26 - The Teenagers - Starlett Johansson
27 - Chromeo - Waiting 4 U
28 - Coconut Records - Nighttiming (RAC Mix)
29 - The Beatles - You Never Give Me Your Money (RAC Edit)
30 - Hot Chip - Shake A Fist
31 - M.I.A. - Hombre
32 - Danger - 11h30
33 - Vangelis - Love Theme (Blade Runner)

ps. I'm also a sucker for creative ad campaigns. click here for creative ad campaigns.

Photography 101.4

There is a continuation on photography basics over on the Digital Photography School blog. If you don't understand "exposure" or "stops" or just want a better understanding of what elements go into what is referred to as an "exposure" (a picture), jump over there and check it out. That blog has endless tips and how-to articles. I've learned many a thing from it.

The triangle to the left (courtesy of DPS) is the essential "what makes a photograph look like it does" diagram. Each of the 3 components has a direct effect on the other. The whole thing is quite mathematical actually! (I enjoy it.)

Look for Us in Germany!

This is a bit random, but such is life sometimes. I've been meaning to write about this for a while, but things have been... well, I've had to be much more selective with my time lately. Anywho, a few weeks ago this guy from Germany (Andreas) sent me a Flickr mail saying he had a postcard company and was interested in my Christmas card photo of us flying through the air. Not just interested, he wanted to purchase the right to use it on some of his postcards! I still keep the rights to the photo, but this granted him commercial use of the image. Yada yada yada, he said he wanted to pay me 70€, I said "booYAH!," he sent me a form to fill out, and I sent him the photo. Next day, $100 in my Paypal account. Done.

Obviously, this doesn't happen very often. However, this is really the ideal sale: you put your photos out there and someone finds them and says "i would like to buy..." I mean, that's really the best you can hope for. It didn't take any entrepreneurial efforts on my end and since the transaction was digital, I'd already done all the work.

Pretty neat.

(Also, I totally added that text in the photo for this entry. That's a goof. I mean, I didn't goof. It's a goof.)


(ALSO, I got my über Nalgene bottle in yesterday. 48oz of liquid-holding awesomeness. Not to mention loaded with BPA!)

Can't Sleep

This is an HDR blend of 3exp(osures) and a colored gradient on the sky. Jess stands still very well :)



I haven't done much Photoshopping lately. I've taken a lot of pictures (Scott's graduation, our trip to Chattanooga, etc), but I just haven't found the time to play around. I just feel like there are so many other things I should be doing. I wonder if when we get there I'll all of the sudden have time to get back into it. I miss it. I've got a couple shot ideas pertaining to Nashville and I just can't get out to get 'em.

My Current Life Has Become Detrimental to My Health

The above fact has been increasingly obvious to me over the 2 years.

For the past 3 years I've sat at a desk and worked on a computer anywhere from 7 to 14 hrs every weekday. Don't get me wrong, it's nice. It's air-conditioned, I don't have to stand around on my feet, I get paid well, and I basically get to listen to as much music as I want while I work. It's really not a bad gig at. However, I'm heavier and in worse shape than I've ever been in my life... and I can't take it any more. I don't eat horrible foods all the time, but I don't really care what I eat as long as I'm not hungry afterwards. The combination of my complete lack of will power with regard to food and my sitting all day is just killing me. I've tried nutrisystem and it worked. I was only on it seriously for a month and I lost 15lbs. But I was spending every non-working hour keeping track of, planning for, and preparing the next meal. How do you not get burnt-out on that? And as far as excercising goes, I just feel like it's impossible to make up for 9 hrs of sitting every evening. I simply can't make the time to workout in the 4hrs after work every single day.

Basically, I come away from this thinking the only solution left is a change of life.

Jesse put a quote by Thoreau up on her blog yesterday and this really stood out to me...

"I went to the woods... to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms..."

I don't know about you, but that's damn intense to me. That moves me.

Which brings me to my point. In the last couple months I've been so caught up in and stressed out by packing and preparing for our 2 years in Jamaica that I've forgotten why I wanted to go in the first place. I've been so worried about having enough quick-drying clothes and camera stuff and computer stuff and concerned about our safety (the list goes on). But in the last few days I remembered that it wasn't about a job change or moving to a new city or going on a really long camping trip. It was about changing my (our) life for the better. It was about trusting God and taking a huge leap of faith to follow some calling in our hearts. But one of the biggest things for me personally was... it was about getting me the hell out of this downward spiral towards obesity, diabetes, or worse. I feel like I've been watching from the sideline as this sedintary lifestyle drug me down over the past few years and I'm done with it. And if getting my fat ass on a plane to Jamaica is the only way to get me out of it, well, you just tell me what time the plane leaves.

This is an interesting concept to me, changing your entire "place" because you can't find the power to make the small changes yourself. I'm usually not the first to be in favor of this. Seriously. Going to a bible college to keep yourself out of trouble seems silly to me; you can't stay in bible college for the rest of your life just as I can't stay in Jamaica the rest of mine. Eventually, you have to face the "real world." But recently I've started thinking that really it comes down to this: you do whatever it takes. Whatever it takes to make/change your life to the life you want or think you should be living, that's what you do. Maybe that change won't last forever. I mean, we all adapt to our surroundings and eventually find ways around things that "challenge" us, but you've got to start somewhere, right? You have to find a way to break out of whatever spiral you find yourself in.

And that's where I find myself on the brink of now. I'm 4 1/2 weeks from that change. I'm 4 1/2 weeks from getting away from a desk, fast food, and walking NO where. I'm still having trouble focusing on why we started this whole process in the first place, but it's starting to become clear again. And that makes me happy.

Rock Band Weekend at the Nash's

(Jody Southards on drums. Jesse Hunter and HG Woods not pictured.)

A good time was had by all.



Baby Sloths (these are kind of weird)...

Pork and Beans (feat. The Internet)

This is the video for Weezer's new song Pork and Beans. It stars all the internet wonders. Really funny.



Weezer is really impressing me lately.



Also, 5 Awesome Movies Ruined by Last Minute Changes. So I Am Legend actually ended so much better than the theatrical version we saw.



Wow. I mean, that version actually conveys the message of the book. Audiences are so stupid.

The 2008 Bonnaroo Schedule

It's up! Go here.

Mates of State: Re-arrange Us

The new Mates of State album came out yesterday. I've only been through it a couple times, but I'll be honest, these guys just get better and better every time. The album is beautiful and intricate and melodic and just a delight to listen to. It still has all the same qualities you love about their previous music: fun, light-hearted melodies, tight dueling/synchronized vocals, and touching lyrics. Only on this album they've evolved into something much bigger and brighter than previously done. As refined and full as Bring It Back was compared to Team Boo, Re-arrange Us is easily that much more refined with better production than Bring It Back. Generally, I'm against that. Generally, I hate subsequent albums where the artist's raw sound and emotion has been watered down through post production and too many frills. However, somehow Jason and Kori manage to avoid this every time. Like good musicians should, they actually improve over time and it really shows on their albums. And much like The Shins' Wincing the Night Away and Arcade Fire's Neon Bible, Re-arrange Us is an album from great musicians that you expect to be good, but ends up exceeding those expectations like you couldn't have imagined.

This track makes the album for me.

Mates of State [The Re-arranger]


(I got it off Amazon MP3 for $8. How can you beat that? I'm almost positive you can't.)


MoS blog (that they actually blog in) (a lot!)