My Middle Name is Gerous

Moving Right Along

2011-04-14T18:32:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody! So I haven't posted anything here in many a month, and I made a promise that there would be a new location for the rantings and ravings of a crazed future-missionary. So I'm telling you guys that most of my current thoughts will be posted on our new site: http://www.thedandiarnolds.com/blog

I have everything from this here blog put up on my own website, but realized that that site currently represents a potential business, and I should probably refrain from too much ranting and raving whilst trying to appear somewhat-professional. So I may use this one too, from time to time, but it won't be much but updates on current projects. http://www.daynarnold.com/blog

I hope to see comments once again when I start posting more often. Please check out both websites, and consider joining our team to send us to Thailand next year.

I shall miss this blogger site, but on to bigger and better things. Thanks for reading.

Dayn

New Blog-Site Coming Soon

2010-10-08T09:48:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody!

I'm finally in a position to start developing my personal website that I've had for a long time, but haven't really done anything with. The site will be mostly dedicated to my multimedia work, as a location to send prospective clients interested in my skills, and for those who are curious where all my time goes. I'm almost more excited to have a new place for my blog to call home. Blogger has been good to me for the past few years, but it's time to move on to bigger and better things. I'll update you all as to the new blog's whereabouts when the time is right. Peace be with you.

Flamers in Portland

2010-10-08T09:36:00.000-07:00

Fire-dancer from Dayn Arnold on Vimeo.

There's something beautiful about the danger and fluidity of dancing with fire. Though it's not without an occasional facial-scorching.

My New Chiropractic Niche

2010-09-09T12:24:00.000-07:00

Body In Balance [Web Version] from Dayn Arnold on Vimeo.

Just finalized this project with Dr. Scott, the fella in the video. Working on finalizing the video for City Chiropractic, and will post it when it's ready to be made public. As a chiro patient, I can fully recommend both clinics. Enjoy!

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She is the Best Thing

2010-09-01T10:34:00.000-07:00

You Are the Best Thing from Dayn Arnold on Vimeo.

I got married August 22, 2010 and wanted to surprise my wife with our song. She had no idea I was sneaking around arranging a group of friends to play the song, and was totally shocked when we all assembled and started playing it. We never were able to practice the song as a full band, and even had to replace our drummer at the 11th hour as our original drummer's (and groomsman) wife had a baby that same weekend. Our new drummer hadn't heard the song until the morning of the wedding, and wasn't able to practice because it would ruin the surprise. Nothing too difficult, but that can feel a bit hectic. Actually, it was awesome to have Justin playing drums because he's Mandi's twin brother, and I'm pretty sure they have some sort of psychic connection that made the little song even better.

And yes, she is the best thing to ever happen to me.

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The Beginning is Near

2010-08-18T07:58:00.000-07:00

So Mandi and I get married in four days. We've had some seriously stressful moments over the last few weeks, but overall, right this moment, there's almost nothing but excitement. Her family is all here now, and we're ramping up for the big day by managing a multitude of tiny details. Mandi has done a phenomenal job putting our vision into action, and I couldn't be more excited. I'm marrying an incredible woman.

I'll leave you all as a single man with a clip I recently took on a trip to Crater Lake, Oregon. We went there with both sets of parents and had a lovely day. Our wedding day will be far more beautiful. See you all on the other side.

Timelapse - Crater Lake from Dayn Arnold on Vimeo.

Still Alive

2010-06-29T19:22:00.000-07:00

I was on a roll for a week or two, no? Granted, that was a couple months ago, and since then I've completely abandoned this here bliggity-blog. What do you do?

This has been one of the busiest times I can remember. Ever. I'm quite accustomed to having significantly more free time. Well, maybe I think I'm accustomed to that. The last time I had broad plains of free time was probably a couple years ago at least. I just like to think it's something I can have in my everyday workaday life. Truth is, I'm in complete denial about my ability to take time for myself. It's something I have to approach with a much greater degree of seriousness. I could go on and on about the mundane minutiae of my life, or how it's completely changed in the last months leading up to our wedding. I mostly want everybody to know I'm still alive, mostly, and that I'm aching for a time when we're not using all of our resources 100% of the time. I really will try not to completely abandon this thing for another two months, but I make no guarantees.

Peace be with you.

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Clip of the Day 08

2010-04-28T08:37:00.000-07:00

ClipOfDay08 from Dayn Arnold on Vimeo.

The drama unfolds as I explain why we are stuck out in the middle of nowhere, part of a drama-filled day. By the way, thanks to Andrew for asking me if he could drink the last of the water that a passing motorist gave us. It was very polite considering our being stranded. Also, my EX1 is a little heavy to be holding at arm's-length for any period of time. I don't recommend it for self-portraits unless you have a tripod.

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Clip of the Day 07

2010-04-27T10:47:00.001-07:00

ClipOfDay07 from Dayn Arnold on Vimeo.

A group of us were waiting on some friends to fix flat tire on one of our group's scooters. We stopped at this road-side shop, and waited alongside the family who ran the shop. A truck pulled up with several adults and a few children in the bed of the pickup. Despite the 95+ degree heat, these women were wearing full covering. It could be that they were covered for religious beliefs, but my suspicion is that they're trying not to get that working-class dark skin. It's amazing how many people in Thailand cover up and use whitening creams to keep from getting dark. The grass is always greener, I suppose.

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Clip of the Day 06

2010-04-26T10:06:00.000-07:00

ClipOfDay06 from Dayn Arnold on Vimeo.

A bunch of monks in training at a monastery not far from where I was staying. So great to see a bunch of boys just being boys.

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Clip of the Day 05

2010-04-24T07:28:00.000-07:00

ClipOfDay05 from Dayn Arnold on Vimeo.

There are a handful of tall buildings in ChaAm, and the one from which I shot this timelapse may be the tallest. At dusk a group of us strolled past the sleeping guard, entered the hotel from the beach, took an elevator as high as we could, and another couple flights of stairs until we were on the roof of the building's highest section. It was incredibly windy and in order to get a good timelapse, I had to hold my tripod down to it wouldn't vibrate so much. My favorite part of the shot is the guys with flashlights wandering around down by the water.

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Clip of the Day 04

2010-04-23T07:10:00.000-07:00

ClipOfDay04 from Dayn Arnold on Vimeo.

Thai man cleans out his fishing nets.

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Clip of the Day 03

2010-04-22T08:50:00.000-07:00

ClipOfDay03 from Dayn Arnold on Vimeo.

A young boy plays in the surf on the beach in ChaAm.

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Clip of the Day 02

2010-04-21T08:46:00.000-07:00

Again, I'm posting unedited clips every day for the next while so that my footage doesn't just sit on my harddrive not doing anything.

ClipOfDay02 from Dayn Arnold on Vimeo.

We heard music in the distance and accidentally stumbled upon this acrobatic act apparently being done for the young monks in training. Still not sure why they were doing it.

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Clip of the Day 01

2010-04-20T13:40:00.001-07:00

So right now I'm very busy with a lot of things, and my footage from Thailand will just sit fallow on its harddrive for nobody to see. So I've decided to upload one clip per day for the next while. There will be no editing or correction. Just an entire clip from the 550+ clips I took over the last couple weeks in Thailand, mistakes and all. Stay tuned.

ClipOfDay01 from Dayn Arnold on Vimeo.

Young boy playing on the beach in ChaAm, Thailand.

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How Dayn, Who Thought He Was Prepared, Got More Than He Bargained For

2010-04-15T18:57:00.001-07:00

So I took a while yesterday morning to make this great water shield for my camera. It actually worked perfectly with only one little scare right at the beginning. This happened in 1/8 of a second, and I didn't have enough time to see it, let alone react to it. Immediately took care of it, and no damage done, thank the Lord.

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Jason Eats Another Strange Food

2010-04-14T17:21:00.000-07:00

Jason Eats Another Strange Food from Dayn Arnold on Vimeo.

This time Jason's eating an entire chicken's foot. It's not bad tasting, but the thought of eating the entire foot, bones and all, was a bit much for me. Didn't finish mine.

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Girls

2010-04-13T21:07:00.000-07:00

There's something unsettling about children performing. To some degree, in America we encourage children to be performers. Kids these days grow up watching American Idol or America's Got Talent, the get the idea that entertainment is the pinnacle of society. While growing up in that kind of environment isn't exactly the healthiest thing for a child, it seems fairly normal. Maybe I don't understand the culture here well enough, but watching child performers in Chiang Mai feels different. Feels a little sad and wrong.

At the Sunday Night Walking Street market, you can find anything Thai. If you want a t-shirt that says "Chiang Mai" on it, that's the place to go. If you want to buy a giant bug under glass, you're in luck. If you want to eat fried grasshoppers, the market is where you need to be. There is also entertainment to be had as far as the eye can see. Singing and dancing seem to be the performance-styles of choice. From large stage productions with ear-piercing music to the groups of blind men singing and playing instruments, there is a near-overwhelming amount of entertainment to be had. However, amidst the cacophony of sound, the performers that made the biggest impact on me were the two little girls performing in the center of the walkway. I'm certain these girls have been performing at the market for a while, as they seemed very polished from their spotless tribal garb to their mastery of their craft. So poised, so collected, and so much older in demeanor than their years on earth would belie. Jason and I parked ourselves in front of the girl playing some sort of hammer dulcimer, I with my large video camera and enormous tripod, and Jason with his huge camera and giant lens. We created quite a spectacle, causing people who wouldn't otherwise have noticed this girl to stop and listen. With that much attention, she had to try very hard not to smirk, but kept right on playing throughout. I can only assume the woman sitting nearby was her mother, the one dictating when she could take a break. While the show was enjoyable, it made me think about what we were doing, filming and photographing a little girl for show. Granted, we plan to use our footage for noble purposes, but it made me think a lot about the exploitation of little girls like this, pushed to perform in one way or another when they should be just kids.

Behind the girl playing the hammer dulcimer, another girl, possibly a relative of the first girl, was dancing for passers by. She really was quite graceful, showing incredibly poise and maturity. She had a CD player behind her and was dancing to the music dressed to the nines in tribal garb like they wear in nearby Hmong villages. Fringe and tassels flew as she spun and moved to the music. She was very good. A little too good, perhaps. Some of her dance moves bordered on the provocative, perhaps moves she had learned watching western television. And while I have no evidence that she was involved in an abusive family environment, it certainly made me think about the implications in my own culture of dancing for money. I mentioned to Jason that filming this little girl was a little creepy, a bit unsettling. As we drew crowds, it helped these girls make more money than they would have, and we both donated generously to each of the girls as we had parked ourselves in front of each of them for much longer than we felt we could have for free. We talked about the fact that we have the opportunity to help others in the world fall in love with the Thai people, and to bring Jesus to a lost and hurting nation. But that kind of help is potentially far off, not nearly as immediate as throwing Thai Baht into her bowl. We want to support people, not necessarily their activities. It was a difficult moment knowing we were getting powerful footage, but that we were in essence supporting something we didn't entirely agree with. All in all it was a sobering moment, the kind of moment I suspect Jason and I will have many of in the coming years. We want to help others help these girls on a longer-term basis than we can in the moment, and we have to believe God will be faithful in people's hearts to move.

(All of these pictures are from the video footage I took that night. It's powerful stuff when there's motion, but internet being what it is here, this'll have to do.)

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The Monklets

2010-04-09T23:51:00.000-07:00

Afternoon in Cha-am is a sticky affair. I know there are a million other places in the world that are hotter and/or more humid, but right now it feels very warm here. Very warm. Maybe when I'm old I'll obsess over weather, but for now I'll move on. There are far more interesting things to think about than the warm weather.

A couple days ago, a few of us here in Cha-am headed out on scooters in search of story. We took a short ride back to the monastery we had visited a couple days previously, and the area was nearly empty, with the distant sounds of little monklets in school emanating from a nearby building. We began wandering the grounds, slowly and respectfully moving around buildings and statues rich with carvings and color. I wandered out of the filtered light of tree-cover to shoot a twenty-foot-tall statue of Buddah covering his eyes and ears, and quickly began sweating out every ounce of water I had ingested in the previous twelve hours. From a distance I heard the powerful strains of Eastern music played by a Thai brass band. I sought out the source of the music, finding the drummers and brass players under a covered area, bare-footed sitting next to a table heavy with typically gaudy Buddhist symbols and icons. These men were practicing for a later performance, but seemed to be playing as if there were no tomorrow, with all the gusto and and brassy harshness you would expect from a group five times its size. It was powerful.

We had spent the better part of an hour shooting and musing around the grounds of the monastery, and were slowly heading back to our scooters when our monk friend from our previous visit to the grounds approached us, a giant yellow umbrella protecting him from the harsh Thai sun. He was all smiles at the sight of Jason, and the two of them instantly began sharing Jason's camera, taking turns being photograph-er and photograph-ed. As Jason was engaged with our monk friend, some of the little monk kids began spilling out of their nearby building, on break for lunch. I started shooting the kids a little from a distance, unsure whether it was completely acceptable for me to shoot either monks or children, and especially unsure when they were sort of both. The kids didn't seem to mind, and I approached a couple of them, turning my camera's screen toward them so they could see what and who I was shooting. One of the nearby adults began gesturing to me, and I quickly realized he was encouraging me to interact with the kids. I jumped at the opportunity, and approached a dozen or so of the young monks, most around the age of ten. They were such boys! I guess I had never thought much about the humanity of monk-hood, about the fact that these holy men are really just men. These boys were shoving each other, smiling and laughing, teasing and joking with each other and the camera. I got a real glimpse past the orange robes and shaved heads, into the individual personalities and characters of the kids. I thought about the monk Jason had befriended, how he was very much fascinated by photography, and began piecing together a fictional story for how his life may have resulted in him being a monk. Maybe he had always been interested in photography. Maybe he had always enjoyed the capturing of images, telling stories. Maybe his family, in an effort to receive blessing, had given him over to becoming a holy man as a young boy, like the boys surrounding me. Maybe all he wanted was to be a photographer, but had no choice as a man of the cloth. A lot of maybes, but greater than that, in my heart I began to understand the humanity of the Thai people.

Cultural separation can create divides in my ability to see people as people, but I've come one step closer to understanding and loving my Thai brothers and sisters. And all through a group of orange-clad head-shaved children.

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A Few Days in Cha-am

2010-04-06T02:38:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I have to pinch myself about where I am right this minute. I'm sitting in an internet cafe in a coastal Thai town called Cha-am. Almost everything is different that it would be back home. Even logging into Blogger, I have to remember where the log-in link is on the page because the normal Blogger text has been replaced with Thai script. It's probably ninety to ninety-five degrees and quite humid outside with just enough breeze to make sitting in the shade tolerable. I smell local street food mixing with the salty sea air and fumes from the cars, trucks, busses, and scooters lazily motoring by. Nobody is in a hurry. The light turns slowly golden-yellow, making even the nastiest of sights

beautiful. It's pretty great.

The last few days have been some of the most satisfying I've ever had with regard to shooting video. Last Sunday, future teammate Jason, a new acquaintance Joel, and I went out on a photo field trip, slowly walking down the beach, shooting anything that caught our eyes. After a while we came upon a small fishing community. The men were cleaning out their nets, pulling out the tiny remnants of crustaceans and fish they had caught throughout the day. Jason took the initiative and clambered out onto the bamboo structure and though he didn't know the language, he was able to get permission to shoot candid photos of the men and women working. I piggybacked on his initiative and got some incredible footage of the weathered hands and faces of the men sitting around cleaning their nets. So real. So unpretentious. As we moved on, we heard rhythms in the distance. We discovered the music was coming from a Buddhist monastery full of children studying to by monks. There was a group performing for them. They had a dragon like you would see at a Chinese New Year celebration, and they made a human tower in the span of a minute. As we were covertly shooting, one of the monks, perhaps in his late twenties, early thirties, approached us. I thought for sure he was going to ask us to leave, or that we had committed some sort of faux pas, but it turned out he was really interested in Jason's camera equipment. Jason let the monk use his camera, and our new friend proceeded to give Jason incredible flexibility to pose or shoot photos this monk. It was amazing how quickly something like photography was able to strike up a conversation, begin a relationship in a way I had never imagined. It was amazing.

The next day, in the evening, Jason, Joel and I went with our new friends Andrew and Jim on a dusky scooter drive along the coastal road our hotel is on. We dismounted our scooters, and

went on foot down the beach a ways to one of the tallest hotels in town, around 37 stories to the top of the roof. After walking right by the sleeping security guard, we made our way to the top of the building to catch the tail end of dusk, wind whipping us like crazy. From the top you

can see the whole town, for miles in every direction. You couldn't help but pray for the people

living there. Powerful stuff to see man's creation and God's creation overshadowing it in

the sea and mountains and night sky. On the way back, I climbed on the back of Jason's scooter and shot video as we zoomed down Cha-am's major streets. I took some of the most satisfyingly cool video I've ever taken, gripping Jason with my knees so I could have both hands free to shoot. Brilliant.

Today Jason, Joel and I went on a lit

tle trip on a couple scooters to see what can be seen. We ended up back at the same monastery as the other day, but had a much greater degree of comfortability going in. Our monk friend from the other day met up with us again, and I was practically invited to take video of the young monks in training. At least some of the kids were around ten years old, and were definitely boys, shoving and messing with each other. Never before have I assigned such a high degree of reality, of humanity to the Buddhist holy men. They've always seemed so austere, so distant, but these boys were boys. My heart began swelling with joy for these young monks, and yet gripped with sorrow at the way their time and lives are so far from knowing Christ. But if a simple visit with a camera can begin fostering a true relationship, there is hope abundant!

I have begun to learn to love the Thai people. They are beautiful and warm (at least outside of the big cities) and full of possibility. I can hardly wait to share more with you all, and want so badly for you all to love them as I am learning to do.

(All the photos here are screenshots from the video I took.)

Back in Thailand with Time to Kill

2010-04-02T17:38:00.000-07:00

My computer’s clock tells me it’s 4:10pm, but my body can tell it’s lying. Jumping fourteen hours into the future is not easily accomplished without some sort of physical punishment. I’m slowly beginning to realize that I don’t love travel, like I’ve previously claimed. I love being new places, but generally don’t enjoy the journey if it’s primarily flying airlines that somehow seem to miraculously cram more people into a plane at the expense of the tall man’s leg-room. I swear, those planes are getting more and more like those circus cars that somehow house a hundred clowns in a space that should fit four. Though I oft lament my consistent inability to sleep in sardine-cramped quarters, it’s certainly worth the discomfort to get where I’m going. Like so many things in life, the more you suffer through it, the greater the reward. Also, I’m feeling very dramatic this morning, so I hope you’re feeling comfortable with hyperbole.

I have five hours to kill while I wait for a few more Pioneers people to arrive at the airport so we can vanpool to the coast. I’m tired out from sleeping about four hours in the last 36, which seems to be step one in my usual adjustment to a drastically-new timezone. Step one: sleep less than two hours during sixteen to seventeen hours of flying. Step one can also include any sleep I may get in the airport waiting for my next connection, hence my total of four hours of sleep. Step two: crash. When I get where I’m going, I lay down for an indeterminate number of hours for some of the hardest sleep I get in any given year. When I visited my sister Daylan in Kenya, we drove home from the airport, I laid down in her bed and was immediately out into a rock-like dreamless sleep for the next eight hours. Today I don’t want to sleep THAT much because I’ll continue sleeping from mid-day to pre-dusk morning for the duration of my trip, and that would be a big waste of time, now wouldn’t it? I’m pretty good at adjusting when I fly West. Coming back home seems to take longer to adjust.

I’m really not sure why I’m telling you guys this, aside from the fact that I have time to kill and haven’t written something truly wordy in months, if not more than a year. I suppose writing this is better than continuing to wander the part of the airport outside the gates where there really is nothing to do. In case you didn’t already know, I’m a bit of an idiot. I come all the way to Thailand, and decided to camp out in a Starbucks, which is a bit more of a lateral step than a step up from aimless wandering. Writing really is one of my true releases, where I can get my thoughts, as scattered as they may be, out onto the page. I don’t much care whether anyone reads it. Kind of a public diary, I suppose. A place where the multitude of fragments of ideas in my mind find a place to get together and figure out how they all fit together. Or don’t fit together. Like how strange it seems that I’m listening to Allison Krauss and Union Station play for all to hear in Thailand of all places.

I tend to get down on American culture for the way it idolizes beauty and consumerism. The more places I visit, the more I realize America is far from alone in that idolization. I’m struck again at the enormous ads in the Tokyo and Bangkok airports, touting beauty products that cost and make a fortune worldwide by plastering larger than life women and men who have been airbrushed into oblivion (anyone remember that Arrested Development where Gob had to check albino on his mother’s fake drivers license because he “airbrushed her into oblivion?”) to make all of us want what they have. I know this is hardly a new area of discussion, but I was struck by it early this morning. There’s something about those European ads that instantly make me feel inferior. Pretty amazing that print media can draw out such a strong reaction.

It’s hard not to judge people in the Bangkok airport. Especially since I know a little about the shady things that can go on between Westerners and Thai women. Every time I see a white guy walking hand in hand with a young human stick-figure of a Thai woman, I instantly jump to a conclusion. I think that sort of judgmental attitude is a result of working on a short documentary with my good buddy Fritz. He shot a bunch of footage in Cambodia, and we put together a doc about a teenaged girl who was tricked into sex-slavery. The story has a happy ending as she is ultimately rescued from that world and given a new chance at life through a handful of amazing Godly people. Editing and composing the music for that project was an amazing and eye-opening experience. Non-profit Transitions Global uses it in their materials. I can show you the film sometime if you’re interested.

I had a realization at about 2:00 this morning. The video gear I brought with me on this trip is worth a lot of money. A lot. I think the quality you get from good gear is easily worth its cost, but sometimes it makes you wonder. I expect in the next couple days to be shouldering my spendy cam out in public and have someone ask for money. I’ll probably say I don’t have any money or just ignore them. And even if I don’t have the money and I’m not lying, I’m still carrying around a piece of equipment that could be worth more than a years salary for any number of locals here. It’s a bizarre and uncomfortable dichotomy that so often the people telling the stories could be eliminating the very stories they’re telling just by investing in those people. I suppose that would probably be a short-lived solution to a much greater problem, one that could certainly benefit from a bit of exposure. But still, it makes you think.

This is my first trip in the last year and a half that I’ve taken without Mandi by my side. The one benefit I get from this (lack of) arrangement is that I have more time to take my time with footage because I don’t have to think about how I’m wasting her time by stopping every ten seconds to shoot. Ultimately, however, I already miss her a lot. I don’t have anybody to be grumpy (or occasionally deliriously giddy) around from lack of sleep. I don’t have a hand to hold out in public. I don’t have that voice of reason with me at all times, the one that snaps me out of a funk or makes me laugh really hard. In part, I have too much time to cogitate on such things while I wait for the other members of my vanpool, and when things pick up a bit the pangs of longing will subside to a dull ache. But right now, while I have time to just BE for the first time in a long long while, my only wish is that she were here with me. Next time she will be. That will be a good day.

So thanks for sharing in my ramblings. I’ve not had verbal (not verbal, though, as it’s written) diarrhea in a good long while. Perhaps free time is Dayn’s perfect verbal stool softener. Gross. I’m so sorry for that last statement, though apparently not sorry enough to delete it. Next time I probably won’t have so much to say, though who really knows?

Daynold out.

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New Letter Coming Soon!!!

2010-02-06T12:02:00.000-08:00

Hey everybody! I have a new letter coming out soon! If you haven't gotten one of my letters before, you might not get this new one. Email me your physical address ASAP to get your letter! daynarnold[at]gmail[dot]com

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Additional Blessings...

2010-01-13T12:24:00.000-08:00

If you're looking for truly momentous news, see the next post. If you're looking for just plain awesome news, keep on reading.

I've posted before that I have some back problems, occasionally debilitating back problems. A couple years ago when I had insurance (man I miss those days) I started working with an osteopath, and I was told I have a short leg and that difference in length has been messing with my back for years. So I started wearing a lift in my right shoe to compensate for that short leg. The hope was that the lift would eliminate the periodic episodes I would have wherein I couldn't walk as my back freaked out.

Well, I had my two most serious episodes (to the left is a pic of me standing up as straight as I can in my last episode. Please forgive the horrible MySpace-esque pic in the mirror. It was the only way I could get the picture where I was.) within the last year, and I decided the lift wasn't doing me any good so I stopped wearing it.

Now I've been working with my buddy Dr. Tim to correct the problem for good, and even though he was giving me a phenomenal deal on the adjustments, I don't have any wiggle room in my budget for this kind of treatment. A couple weeks ago Tim presented me with an 8 month corrective care plan which should bring my spine back to where it is supposed to be for a normal 29-year-old. The plan involves three times a week of therapy and adjustments, x-rays, special weights, and pretty much everything else I will need for 8 months of care. I could split the cost into monthly payments (which was still incredibly affordable, but would mean I would need to have a decent amount of extra work monthly, especially as Mandi and I are going to be saving up for our wedding), or pay the whole thing at once (with substantial savings, but still a decent chunk of change.) I knew I couldn't afford the all-at-once plan, so I had pretty much decided to pay monthly for the care and figure it out as I went.

My dad likes to be in the loop on these sorts of things, so I called him to let him know what was going on. We both agreed that I can't afford not to do this, especially if I'm going to head into the field and can't afford to be grounded for weeks at a time by a bum back. So he decided then and there to pay for the whole thing at once without a thought of repayment aside from continuing to follow where the Lord is leading me. Wow. I feel incredibly blessed and am astounded that Dad would do that for me. Please pray that he and Mom will be blessed richly for such an act of selflessness.

I just got back from another adjustment and feel blessed all around because of it. God is just so good, is he not?!

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The Biggest News [UPDATED VIDEO LINKS]

2010-01-12T09:43:00.000-08:00

Hello, my quasi-abandoned readers. As is my custom, accept my apologies for neglecting my post. Things have been a little crazy around here.

So, it's been coming for a long while now, with hints and whispers of its arrival, but now it's official: Mandi and I are engaged. To be married. To each other. It seems like so many things have been hinging on our getting engaged, it's a bit of a relief to have crossed over into this whole new world, a dazzling place I never knew. But now from way up here, it's crystal clear, that now I'm in a whole new world with her.

So now begins the fun of putting together a whole wedding event with very little budget. Huzzah! Actually, I am quite confident it will be the event of the summer. Or at least the day.

Now we get to start talking in concrete terms about our future together overseas, which is nice. It's been a lot of tiptoeing around the idea of going out into the world together, but not being engaged invited a lot of questions we weren't prepared to answer with confidence. We need to get Mandi to Orlando for Pioneers' Candidate Orientation Program (COP) at some point so she can learn the ins and outs of Pioneers, and we can finally work together to raise support. When she is able to do that, it would be great for me to go along and work with the communications people there for a week. Right now the plan is to be ready to head overseas in early fall of 2011, which seems like an eternity from now, but it will be wiser to be married here for a year before changing everything else in our lives.

Right now we're going to need a lot of prayer as we try to juggle work, church, pre-marital counseling (we haven't started that yet), working through a Perspectives course (we had a huge blessing the other day when we found out with some extra work we could both go despite having no extra income! Thanks Kevin and CJ and The Well!!!), moving forward with Pioneers, and all sorts of other things. Wow. Thanks for your prayers.

Just for me, I just had an interview with Portland Public Schools (again) to join the Ed Assistant sub pool, something I'm not super excited about, but I need the money. I may also have opportunity to do more videography in the near future, which would be even better. Please pray for opportunity to do more videography. Thanks.

If you're wondering about the engagement story, please see the video below. Celebrate this momentous news with us! Thanks.

(If you have trouble watching the video below, click here for a YouTube HD version. If you still have trouble watching the video, click here for a YouTube SD version. If you still have trouble watching the video, do your very best to imagine what the story could be like and let us know what you come up with.)

Dayn and Mandi's Engagement Story from Dayn Arnold on Vimeo.

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Making up for lost time...

2009-12-21T13:33:00.000-08:00

Hey everybody.

I have a friend who described the environmental qualities necessary for blog-writing thusly: "I must have vast wastelands of time." I couldn't agree more. I haven't updated this blog in more than a month in great part due to my lack of real free time. Sure I have plenty of time when I'm not obligated to work on anything in particular, but I often end up feeling guilty for not working on something more pressing, so I completely waste my time with something mindless like watching TV or something. These are the times I miss having a normal nine to five where I have a concrete time I'm off and can do whatever the heck I want after getting off. Ah, sometimes I miss mindless work.

So let me give a quick recap of the month.

On November 20, Mandi and celebrated dating for a year, woot! It's been a good year for both of us, and breaks records on both sides for duration of relationship. And will continue to do so (still unofficially). *wink*

November 24, I went with a group to go see one of my favorite musical groups, The Swell Season. The two singers in the band were the main characters in the film Once, one of my very favorite movies of all time. (I recommend it with reservation, as it has a LOT of foul language. They're Irish, it's going to happen.) The venue is general admission, so we got there an hour and a half before the doors opened so we could get a good spot in the standing-only ballroom. We waited for HOURS for the show to start, and my body was tired from standing still for so long, but we were right up in front! I got to see one of my songwriting heroes as close to the stage as is possible. Click here for some of my youtube clips of the show.

I went to Bend for Thanksgiving with the folks, brother Drew and his wife Ashleigh, and sister Daylan. Had a great and relaxing time away from everything.

December 5 Mandi threw me a surprise birthday party at one of my favorite places in Portland, Backstage Pub. It's a poolhall built into what used to be the backstage part of an old theater. Huge 80 foot ceilings, with a couple more private rooms. I wasn't suspicious of any surprise party at all, and Mandi suggested heading down to Backstage to kill a little time before we headed to birthday dinner. I was completely clueless. She mentions to me, "We should check out what's going on in the upstairs rooms," and I see the "reserved" sign and tell her we shouldn't go up, so as not to bother the people up there. She insisted we check it out anyway, so against my better judgement I went up there with her only to discover it was reserved for me with 15 or so good friends there. It was pretty fantastic.

December 13 Mandi and I were driving somewhere when I felt something funny in my back, usually a precursor to the back going completely out. So I was careful not to do anything to aggravate it any further, doing what I usually do to avoid a really bad episode. Even though I think I made all the right decisions, treating everything with care, it seized up, and I was stuck walking bent 30 degrees to the left. I made an appointment to see my old osteopath even though I don't have any insurance. I figured with an adjustment or two I could at least get back on my feet. Well, a friend of mine suggested a different, more affordable option, one that may give me a discount as I'm in ministry. So I went the next day only to find out I don't qualify for their discount, despite being a poor uninsured person in ministry. So, in great frustration (no fault at all of the friend who recommended that particular clinic, by the way) I decided if I was going to pay full-price for an adjustment, I may as well go to my regular doctor. I called his office to find out the next available appointment was for December 27, which wasn't going to fly. So Mandi and I started calling several other chiropractic connections to no avail, and I was getting SO flustered because I didn't know when I would be able to walk normally again. We left messages at several offices as it was approaching closing time for most clinics. I laid down at Mandi's house in a state of helplessness when I hear Mandi talking on the phone. We have a couple new friends, Tim and Lauren, awesome people, and Tim happens to be a chiropractor. Lauren called Mandi and said Tim could hurry over to the office that same night, or open up the office especially for me in the morning and get things set straight. Wow! So we met them the next morning and Tim did some tests and cracked me back into place. Then he came over to my house that same night and did it again. Who makes house calls!? I've gone in to his clinic four times in the last week, and am walking upright and even sitting with little or no pain. I don't have insurance, but he's made it incredibly affordable for me to visit this many times. Starting this Wednesday we're going to start figuring out exactly what's causing the recurring problem and see if we can't eliminate it with some intentional treatment. Please pray we're able to figure out why this keeps happening. And pray a big old blessing over Tim and Lauren while you're at it.

We had our church's Advent service last night, the 20th, and it was by far the very best Christmas service I've ever attended. I got to help plan it, but it certainly wasn't what made it good. There was just so much genuineness! I love my church full of real people! Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Plus I finally got to play Sufjan Steven's "Holy, Holy, Holy" with Beth Johnson, my worship music right-hand woman and fellow future-missionary. We were supposed to play it last year, but a snowstorm forced the cancellation of the service. Anyway, the evening was a beautiful redirection of the season.

Well folks, that's the news from Lake Woebegon where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.

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It Comes in Waves

2009-11-16T09:57:00.000-08:00

Seems like busyness comes in waves. This last week I completed a wedding video, put together all the necessaries for Thursday practice and worship on Sunday, drove 300 miles (60 miles in the snow, and required to chain up... 75 minutes in each direction going 30mph) to pick up some gear for a banquet I was helping with, ran A/V for the banquet, and tomorrow I get to return the gear. Good grief. However, today is a great day because I really have almost nothing to do for the first time in a while. Which is one reason I'm updating this here weblog. A few quick points to make. Leading worship at The Well (it's the name of my church, for those of you not in the know) has been incredible in its intensity and the fact that every week is incredibly humbling. I am painfully and constantly aware of my own inadequacy in a way I had not previously experienced until the last couple months. Something almost always goes awry before we lead on Sundays, but it is SO GOOD when we actually lead. It's frustrating to the part of me who just wants things to go smoothly, just to run a practice according to some plan I have. But the fact that HE is faithful in the face of our annoyances means in my mind he gets all the credit to which He is entitled. Namely, all the credit. After Jacob, soon to be Israel, wrestled with God, God touched his hip socket and he walked with a limp as a reminder of his ordeal. I think the fact that practices so rarely go as planned may be one of many limps I have in my own life. Not that I shouldn't strive for excellence in all things, but need to constantly be reminded to hold everything with an open palm. He always has a better plan, which most of the time seems to be different than my plan. Time to learn to be a better pray-er, methinks. The banquet I worked with was for Lahash International, the guys who are letting me stay in their house in exchange for working with them. Over the last four months or so, the Lahash staff and volunteers have been spending huge amounts of time organizing and getting everything into place for their first banquet. There were around 250 people gathered together last Saturday to hear how God has been using Lahash over the last six or seven years. I'm not a big fan of events, but this one went beautifully, and I was inspired again for the work God has for me. I know I won't be able to leave permanently overseas for a couple years, maybe a bit less, but I was excited again to serve in the way He has prepared for me. The evening featured four videos, and with each one I was more and more ready to grab my camera gear and head into the world. Certainly there are some things I need to wrap up, some relationships to build, skills to develop, but I'm excited to get started, if only from here in Portland.

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Downing-Nasmythe Reception Highlights

2009-11-04T17:03:00.000-08:00

I shot a wedding a week and a half ago and am in the process of editing it. Here is a sample. Enjoy.

Downing-Nasmythe Reception Highlights from Dayn Arnold on Vimeo.

This is a shortened version of Tim and Tara's wedding reception. Just about to begin work on the dancing and some additional highlights from the reception.

Hikes and Such

2009-11-02T13:27:00.000-08:00

I was on a hike with Mandi and my sister Daylan, and Daylan and I were reminiscing about Kenya. Daylan taught at an international school in Nairobi, and her first Christmas there I went over for a few weeks. It was my first trip overseas, and pivotal in the development of desires to serve overseas. Anyway, we were talking about some of our funny memories, especially the awesome safari which turned into a huge mud pit everywhere we turned. I was reminded again how much I crave doing something for Him and having adventures on top of it all. I don't want to be impatient about the whole process, but I think there may be something like righteous impatience, something that makes us look to the future instead of growing lethargic in our current situation. We do need to be satisfied in every place He has us, but He has SO MUCH for us if we give Him the controls. I want that badly.

This last Sunday I was reminded yet again that I'm not in control. Our morning worship rehearsal was really rough, mostly due to sound system issues. It ended up being a huge waste of time messing with it, and it was a bit of a frustrating mess. For those of you who don't perform music, if your sound on stage sounds crappy, it can easily remove any confidence you have in what the audience is hearing. I've been in a similar position many times, but it's never very enjoyable. Before the service began, a few of us got together and prayed over the equipment, over the instruments, over the team, over those worshipping. By the end, there was nothing but peace and joy in my heart, and it turned out to be an extraordinary time of worship. I think God likes to let things fall to pieces to show us who's really in charge. Someday maybe I'll let Him be in charge from the beginning. I can only hope to grow to that point in my life...

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I'm Going to Shoot You

2009-10-27T14:44:00.000-07:00

Shot video at a wedding last week because of a recommendation from my friend Fritz who was doing the photography. He sometimes sets up a sort of photo booth, where people at the wedding can have their picture taken doing whatever they feel like. I got a free one. Surly? Yes. Serious? Maybe a little.

A conundrum of sorts

2009-10-26T11:27:00.000-07:00

Nearly two and a half years ago I completed my first (and only) feature-length documentary, "Bible Camp." It was almost entirely a solo project, and took up the better part of two years (and almost all my savings) of my life from conception to realization. The video was received well by the few who viewed it, but created a rift in my own heart: one part of myself wanted credit and to at least break even financially, and the other part just wanted the camp's story to be told and help bring new light to a great ministry. The latter has happened to a very small degree, and the former never happened. It's been something I've needed to move past for the last few years, but have never quite made it. I never recovered financially from the project, and every blue moon I let that get the best of me, much to my chagrin. It's not that I want it looming over me, but it comes up so infrequently that I rarely have to deal with it at all.

On top of those issues, the camp has changed in the years since I filmed it, though (debatably) perhaps not for the better. The current leadership has changed things so much that my family has almost entirely pulled out of the camp. It's a bit of a sore spot for many of us who have been involved for decades. Even a source of hurt and anger for some who have a vested interest in seeing the kids of the Koyukon learn of the grace and love of our Savior, even amid the despair and death of the village.

This morning I got an email from the current leadership saying they plan to make a documentary about village ministry, and would like access to the camp historical footage I shot. I have no idea what to do. I don't agree with where the camp is heading right now, but don't want to let my hang-ups get in the way of things. I'm so very confused as to what I should do.

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Like Being Punched in the Gut With Joy

2009-10-07T09:53:00.000-07:00

Every so often I'll be sitting in a coffee shop, or driving in my car, or sitting outside and just get an overwhelming sense of just how blessed I am. It's so easy for me to become dissatisfied with anything and everything, so easy to put on my woe-is-me complex and glower in a pool of my own wretchedness. Sometimes I catch myself quickly with an oft-heard quip laced with sarcasm, American life is hard! Other times I don't catch it for an hour, or a day, or a week, growing increasingly sorry for myself. Were I to create a chart with self-pity over time on the x-axis, and stupidity on the y-axis, it would certainly grow exponentially upward for all eternity were it not for the additional variable of Jesus. I know with absolute certainty that without Him, I would be a perfect example of depravity, and my graph would permanently spike upwards. At times I am a vessel of self-pity, a tankard of inexplicable sorrow and loss until I am hit with that seemingly-random experience of true blessing. It's like being punched in the gut with joy. My life is amazing, and I always need to remember that. I get to play music for a living and increasingly abandon myself in worship of Him. I get to pursue my love of media and technology in relation to story-telling. I live in a city full of opportunity, full of the things I love (aside from sunshine in winter). I have family nearby, the cutest nephew in the world, parents who encourage and love me, and siblings I love dearly. And I have an amazing woman by my side who encourages and challenges me. Life is good, guys. Don't let me tell you otherwise.

Last Saturday our church held its first "Global Summit," a day of listening to speakers talk about various aspects of missions. My friend Kevin Nichols spearheaded the event, and brought in some really great and knowledgeable speakers to cover a variety of topics. It was an encouraging day, full of information and passion. I had the opportunity to lead a couple worship sets as well, which was pretty great. I feel privileged to have a creative missionary journey in the future, something that is mission-oriented, but geared toward my set of giftings and passions. Gosh He's creative in the way He orchestrates everything.

This last Sunday was pretty amazing too. I got to co-lead worship with my friend Michal. She is an incredible jazz singer, and has a great heart for worship. The set and band were awesome, a truly blessed time. On top of a great worship time, we got the privilege of having mission organization OM founder George Verwer speak. He is a dynamic, charismatic presence, simultaneously encouraging and challenging without making people feel unnecessarily guilty (something all too common among missionary speakers.) He's also hilarious, which I greatly appreciate, as certain speakers have a hard time keeping my attention. Check back here in the next couple days for a link to the sermon on The Well's website. I'll put the link up, but as it hasn't yet been posted (that's my job) it won't be up for a day or two. It's definitely worth listening to.

I have just begun talks with my future area leader for mainland Southeast Asia about how I can get started with CommNet projects within the next 6 months to a year. The gears are turning even while I'm here in Portland. Please pray with me that opportunities will arise to get a practical start to my work with Pioneers. I'm pretty excited to begin thinking along these lines.

I think that's about it for this post. I really need to update this thing more often, as many of you know. That is all.

Cheers.

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South Sister Video Album

2009-09-22T13:28:00.000-07:00

South Sister Video Album from Dayn Arnold on Vimeo.

Like a photo album but with video clips!

This footage is from our trip up Oregon's third highest peak, 10,358 ft. South Sister. You gain approximately 5,000 feet over 6 miles, though the middle couple miles are pretty flat, so it's more like gaining 5,000 feet over 4 miles. Steep and exhausting. I brought the camera as an experiment, to see how much more of a pain the extra 7 pounds would be. With the camera, a little extra gear, and 4 liters of water, it was a pretty heavy pack for a day hike. My legs burned for 5 days after the hike. Major video discovery: it's hard to think about getting footage of moving up the trail because of exhaustion and irritation. Something to work on, for sure, as this video has almost no footage of us actually moving.

Enjoy.

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Scattered smattering of stories

2009-09-21T11:31:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what it is, but I think I missed the memo that the rules for public display of affection have been seriously altered, if not eliminated. It has been my understanding (hope) that facial caresses and scalp massages may be better suited for any place other than the table directly in front of mine. It's just a bit awkward, that's all. And completely irrelevant to the rest of this blog.

I realize it's been far too long since I last made a posting. I was reading my friend Jessi's blog today, and I concur with her sentiment that writing so often comes out of a complete lack of anything else to do. I enjoy it immensely, but can feel guilty if I have a half-dozen other things I should be doing instead. Plus, I'm so stinking wordy when I write, these things can take an hour or two to complete. I may not often talk your ear off in person, but put me in front of a keyboard and I'll write your eyes off. Figuratively, of course.

Five days ago, Mandi and I got back from our week-long trip to Michigan. We went to support her brother Taylor as he got married. The wedding went smoothly, and though I was not needed to help set anything up, I managed to stay busy, finishing two projects, and trying to arrange worship schedules and sets for the week I would be back. I got to experience several more rounds of Stonehouse-family grillings, wherein I am often asked questions of huge generalities, such as "What is your family like?" or "What do you do?" I think two major things are accomplished through these Q&A sessions: Mandi's extended family gets Gladiator-esque opportunity to give me the executive thumbs up or down, and I get to practice my social skills. I've been told that I'm passing these tests with flying colors, which is certainly a bonus. It was great to spend more time with Mandi's immediate family, I enjoy them thoroughly. We took a couple trips to Lake Michigan, and while I was in awe of the giant land-locked sea, I missed the power and majesty of my beloved Oregon coast. I know the water's freezing, but going in the water is not why I love the coast.

We returned from Michigan, and went straight back to regular life, hitting the ground running. We got in Wednesday night around 11:00, and I had a church staff meeting the next morning at 6am. Then worked on church stuff, went on a short hike with photog friend Fritz, finished putting the worship set together, met with two other people, had worship practice and went to Kennedy School for food, pipes, and a little more work. Friday evening Mandi and I headed to the coast near Tillamook to meet up with my parents for a little coastal camping. Daylan joined us the next morning, and we all went on a five-mile hike to an incredible viewpoint jutting out into the ocean. If there's something I really love, it's old-growth forests, seeing trees that are hundreds of years old thriving in a harsh environment. My dad and I both love nurse logs, the fallen trees that become the foundation for other trees and various other plant life. Occasionally a seed will plant itself in the stump of a fallen tree, grow to full-size around the stump, and the stump will rot out from beneath the new tree leaving a full-grown tree with a root structure that begins three or four feet above the ground. It's a beautiful picture of death providing nourishment for new life, like a certain savior whose death gave us life. (I want to get a tattoo of a nurse log and a sapling on my arm or leg as a constant (and perhaps more missionally-friendly than a cross in a closed country) reminder of this ultimate gift. The hike was stunning with cliff-side vistas of the ocean and beautiful old trees filtering the sunlight, harboring the perfect temperature for our entire hike. At the end of the trail, we were delayed for quite a while because some idiot decided it would be a good idea to climb over the side of the cliff to get closer to the water for some fishing. He got stuck, so when we got there, they were about to rappel down the cliff's edge to rescue the guy. My dad and I sort of helped pull the rope to get the guy and his rescuer up to the top, but mostly we just coiled the rope as the guys in front of us did the real work. (A pulley system with 5 to 1 ratio made our jobs pretty much worthless.) It was a bit more adventure than we were expecting, but fun to be around these volunteer firefighters saving a helpless idiot. They were a pretty cool bunch. Actually, made me wish I had the funding to make a short documentary about their lives in a small coastal village and the shenanigans they get to solve.

Today is the first day in a while I haven't had much pressing work, and wanted to spend a while writing on my nearly abandoned blog. I need to write more often, if only to get a bit more focus and stop only writing about how my week was. I'm shooting for more focus next time. Until then...

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Don't worry, I'll write a real blog in the near future

2009-09-02T07:38:00.000-07:00

We climbed 10,350ft South Sister 4 days ago. My legs are still paying for it.

Sisters Timelapse from Dayn Arnold on Vimeo.

Lugged my EX1 up to the top of Oregon's 10,350ft South Sister. The mountains in the shot are Middle and North Sister. One frame per second, 24fps. Didn't have a tripod, so had to find suitable rockface to set it on. Right on the edge of the cliff, as it ended up. A little nerve-wracking, but nothing happened.

God had some interesting things up His enormous sleeves.

2009-08-10T09:43:00.000-07:00

So I have some rather exciting news to tell everyone. Those of you on Facebook knew there was something coming up. If you're on Facebook, and you're not part of my Facebook Prayer group, click here and join.

So there was a reason my support raising has been slow. God had some interesting things up His enormous sleeves.

So God has been working on my heart in the last couple months. As I knew I was going to move back to Portland, I was looking forward to going back to my home church, The Well. I just love that church, and had been missing participating on the worship team. Actually, I had been looking forward to beginning to lead worship on Sundays, a return to a time in my life when leading worship had been one of my favorite things to do. Upon my return to Portland, I got involved in the worship team immediately, already enjoying myself immensely. A couple weeks into being back, I had a conversation with Travis, The Well's worship pastor. He has been working toward planting a church for the last year and a half, through Northwest Church Planters. They really put him and his wife Erin through the ringer to determine if they really should plant a church. They have been recommended to plant a church, and will begin that process in September. So I was talking to Travis about his upcoming shift into church planting mode, and how he would be reducing himself to 1/4 time at The Well. He wanted to know if I would be interested in coming alongside him for this year, and then take over altogether the following year.

I have some baggage when it comes to working at a church. In fact, I wrote about it in the posting below. So while I thought it might be fun to try regular worship leading again, I definitely needed to think and pray about it.

Mandi and I have been trying to pursue what it is that God would have us do with regard to our relationship and moving overseas. We had been trying to figure out what would get us to the field the fastest, though perhaps these courses of action weren't the wisest. The new proposal of leading worship at The Well would mean a delay in getting out to the field (something neither of us really wanted) but would give us time to make wise decisions and wise courses of action for the next steps in our lives. Leading at The Well would also give us a chance to become an integral part of the church, further solidify ourselves in our community and give us even greater support when we did leave for Thailand.

So I told Travis I wasn't willing to commit to anything at that time, but that I would certainly think and pray about it. After a week or two of thought and prayer, I was coming around to the idea. I arranged to meet Travis for lunch to further discuss all of this. When Mandi heard I was meeting Travis for lunch, she put two and two together (with astonishing speed, actually), and asked if they were going to offer me the worship leader position. I told her about the things Travis and I had discussed, and she got this huge grin on her face. While it would mean a delay in our getting to the field, it would provide certain elements to our future together that could be really fruitful. Mandi's excitement only further solidified what it was that God was doing in my heart. I met with Travis and told him I was very interested in the idea, and that Mandi had figured it out and was excited as well.

So Travis brought our discussions before the church elders, and in a short time I had arranged to meet with elder and missions pastor CJ. We talked for an hour about the ins and outs of my heart for worship ministry, and how this development could affect my future work with Pioneers. One thing I appreciated the most about our discussion was CJ's comment that he wanted to make sure that he was not responsible for keeping us from the mission field by pressuring me into this new role. After explaining the situation, that it would provide opportunity for growth and wisdom, he was fine with my take on things. We definitely talked about the way that it seemed God was orchestrating everything in His perfection, that His influence in the timing of my return to Portland and their desperation for a leader was not coincidental. CJ told me I would hear a more definitive word from the elders with the next couple weeks.

A week and a half later, I met with two more elders, Jeremiah and Eric, and they officially offered me the position. We had a great conversation, and I got even more excited that I would get to work with these guys on a regular basis. So, the official word is this: I will take over much of the worship responsibilities over the next year as Travis transitions out, and then take over entirely the following year. The game begins in September.

One more positive note, the compensation I will be receiving from my work at the church will more than make up for my meager financial needs each month, something I had been stressing about. I moved to Portland on faith, something I don't often do. I didn't have solid work lined up, something that makes me worry. But He had an awesome plan in the works, and I'm so glad He gave me the strength and patience to wait for His plan to play out. This is one of the few times in my life where I have nothing I can take credit for. So often, God will do something amazing, and I end up taking at least a little bit of credit for it. But this situation, I can't even entertain the idea that I had anything to do with it. He's just so good!

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How I Lost the Church

2009-08-10T08:28:00.000-07:00

Back in 2000, I became a staff member at a church for the first time. I was to be in charge of a group of high-schoolers, the worship team for our church's youth group. I had been asked to help out in that area by one of the youth leaders I knew from my own high-school youth group experience. Things were a little rough at the beginning, but in a short time we were becoming a close-knit group, and a pretty good band of worshippers. At that time, I was meeting regularly with the youth leader, and with the church's worship pastor, both men I respected and enjoyed. The first year working in that environment was positive and encouraging, and the reaction from the general youth group populace was increasingly favorable. Some of these kids were having their first true worship experience on Wednesdays at youth group. God was doing some pretty great things in and through our group.

The next year was beginning, and the situation changed a bit. The church decided to hire an additional worship pastor, and required me to meet with him weekly as some sort of required discipleship. My impression of this guy was that he was the most fake person I had ever worked with, just one of those churchy über-positive guys that just don't exist outside of a church environment. In my 20-year-old wisdom, I decided I didn't like this guy at all. I had no respect for him, and therefore would, in some sort of a passive-aggressive temper-tantrum, make our meetings as difficult as possible. (Thanks God for wisdom and age, no?) I was unresponsive and generally dour as we met weekly and interacted as a part of our work week. There was not a single part of me that liked this guy, and not a single part of me willing to be even remotely civil to him. Today I'm willing to fess up to the fact that I was a royal pain in the backside to this guy. My problem was that I just could not believe he was being real with me. Everything in my brain told me he was just another church guy, just another one of those phony Christians. There was also some serious depression lurking around the corner of my life, which was just beginning to consume me for the next few years.

Early in 2002, after having been around this guy for eight or nine months, I was called into a surprise meeting with him. He basically laid it out that I had been inordinately difficult, and that even trying to work with me was a ludicrous affair. Then he dropped a bomb on me. His words were: "You bring death into the room." That phrase was permanently seared into my brain, words I will never forget. Hyperbole? I certainly hope so. True? At least partially.

I think the problem I now have with that meeting was that there was little or no attempt to understand my side of the issue. I was certainly being a baby about certain issues, but there were some underlying issues, even some early signs of depression, that were never addressed. One step back from the situation would have provided a few clues that I wasn't doing so well in life, and that perhaps an attempt at understanding rather than condemning would have been prudent.

After that fateful meeting, things really didn't improve, aside from trying desperately to pretend everything was okay, that everything was on the mend. Of course the issues were still there because nothing was dealt with. Condemnation was doled out, but there was no attempt at understanding, and certainly no compassion. So I continued working with the youth group worship team for the next few months. Playing and practicing with them was still the highlight of my week, despite the interpersonal difficulties lining the periphery of working at the church. In the spring I was asked to come to a meeting with all the head-honchos at the church. To their credit, they really are a bunch of Christ-loving guys, and I still highly respect them in many ways. They brought me into their meeting room to tell me that the money they had been paying me was needed elsewhere, and that they would be terminating my pay. Any idiot can see that they were trying to passively scoot me aside. Unfortunately I was not just any idiot. Honestly I didn't get what they were trying to do, and volunteered to continue working with the kids for free. Working with the kids was the most enjoyable thing I could possibly think of, and I enjoyed it immensely week to week. The kids in the youth group loved it, the kids in the worship team loved it, and I loved it even more than they did.

So I didn't get the hint, and kept working at the church for free. Another couple months went by, and there was another meeting with the same group of pastors from the church. I can still see the room, sterile white, blinds letting filtered light fall on the large conference table in the center of the room. They brought me into the room, and told me what they probably should have told me the first time: they needed someone else. The way they worded it, there was the impression that they really just wanted anyone else. I was informed that I would still be welcome to participate on the Sunday worship team, but that my relationship with the youth group worship team was over. There was no explanation as to why it was over, just that it was over. They let me know who would be taking my place: a guy with a great heart but who was totally unqualified for the job, which was a bit of a slap in the face. So I had to break the news to my worship team kids, and never showed up at youth group again. As I had not been given adequate explanation as to the full reason for my termination, I couldn't even fully explain to my kids why things ended like they did. At that point I disappeared from that church, and buried myself in layer upon layer of depression, eventually culminating in the darkest years of my life.

I don't write about this to just be dark and hopeless. This was a painful and pivotal moment that brought both understanding and wariness of The Church in subsequent years. But God, in His Grace, has brought me full circle, and has restored me to a state I had never before known. His body, The Church, can be a beautiful thing. Like the blind man who got Jesus' spit-balls in his eyes, my vision has been restored, and my hope renewed. He is good, even when it takes a downward spiral into the pit to understand it.

14020

Graceful Loser

2009-07-29T19:24:00.000-07:00

I've now been living in my room for close to two weeks, for those of you waiting for an update and not getting one. It is a burnt orange color with gray and white. I should have included a picture for those of you not connected to me on Facebook, but I'm currently hiding from my great new room as the weather pushes 105 degrees, and my room gets even hotter than that with the sun streaming through the windows. So right now I'm sitting at my sister and brother-in-law's house, directly in front of their air conditioner, enjoying the sensation of cool comfort.

I've been working on a wedding video for friends Sam and Amanda who got married in Michigan, June 13. I think I'm more pleased with their video than I have been with any of my other wedding videos. I'll include a couple clips down below for your viewing enjoyment/critique. I'm finally able to slow down a bit and work on getting my website running with portfolio material. I need work badly, and have very little to work with these days. Some days are brimming with optimism, and other days are laced with pessimism, a sinking feeling that things just won't work. Overall, however, I really need to continue to understand that He's got it all in His control, and that my job is simply to be diligent with what he's given me. I also think I'm learning how to be a graceful loser. There have been times in my life when my handful of talents have afforded me a much greater level of success than I probably should have gotten. For instance, in highschool I could get away with practicing music very little, and still get top placements in bands and orchestras. It was an unrealistic way to learn about success and failure, and I think the last decade has been about learning how to be a graceful loser, as I've done quite a bit of losing. Let's hope I don't lose the lessons learned, no?

So yeah, please pray for jobs, people needing videography in the NorthWest. The leads I've had have fallen through, which is a bit discouraging, but there are other brides and grooms in the sea, so to speak. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. Enjoy the video clips.

Cheers.

Sam and Amanda Just Married from Dayn Arnold on Vimeo.

This is a clip from Sam and Amanda's wedding in June of 2009. It's been a pleasure to work on this for them. Blessings all around.

Get Up Offa That Thing from Dayn Arnold on Vimeo.

It may have taken a short time for everybody to warm up to the dancing after the reception, but once they warmed up, it was a real party. Kudos to all the friends and fam of Sam and Amanda for cutting rugs with such fervor.

Sam is a Golf Pro from Dayn Arnold on Vimeo.

Day before the wedding, the boys went out for a round of golf. Sam is the man.

13872

Two weeks away from the blog

2009-07-06T17:01:00.000-07:00

A hearty hello to everyone!

Missed another week. But with good reason.

A week and a bit ago I moved all my stuff to Portland, into my new digs. I spent the last week getting supplies (we seemed incredibly, and often frustratingly, unsuccessful getting what I wanted for a good price within certain time constraints), painting the walls, scraping, sanding, scraping, sanding, scraping, and sanding the abused wood floor in my room. The floor had something like 4 layers of paint (who in the heck paints over a beautiful wood floor!?!!!) which made for some real difficulties sanding/scraping. But, I'm proud to say that today I put the last coat of sealer on the floor, and in only one week I can move in! (Slight sarcasm, as I am pretty antsy to get moved in and start living somewhat normally. But beggars can't be choosers and I'm certainly grateful for the way God worked out this living situation. It's funny how we all can look God's gift horses in the mouth, so to speak.

So right now I'm sitting at Albina Press in N Portland, which may become my regular coffee shop as it's only 0.4 miles from my house, and has wonderful coffee. I'm glad to be able to take a step back and figure out where God has me right now. I know I haven't taken any steps backward in my life's journey, but often it seems like I'm taking a lot of steps to the side. I'm sure it's all for preparation for something else, and I'm looking forward to what that might be.

Please pray for patience as I wait another week to move in. Extra special thanks to Fritz and Shannon for putting up with me for a week, and now another week.

The Rose-colored Glass is Half Full

2009-06-26T21:09:00.000-07:00

Moving is always a bit of an emotional time for me. Often it's hard to know what to feel about leaving a place, no matter what the overall experience was like. It's as if a pair of rose-colored glasses were forced on my face, and I had no choice but to look at that location in purely positive terms. This is especially bizarre in light of my penchant for pessimism. An inexplicable rise of some sort of "good old days" syndrome.

Part of the emotional experience of moving comes from going through all my stuff as I decide what to keep, and what to throw out. I wouldn't call myself a packrat, but I think most people would be surprised how sentimental I can get over certain things. A few days ago I started looking through some plastic containers, trying my best to be ruthless as I tried to balance that scale of sentimentality and practicality. I discovered I had a drawer full of photos I have taken over the last 12 years or so. There were pictures in there from a mission trip I took in the summer of 1997. There were pictures of my highschool classmates (my highschool reunion is this weekend, and I can't think of a single reason to pay money to relive that era. It wasn't a bad time, but as I only really knew a handful of people, I could find any reason to go) and pictures of the worship team I led at Grace Community from 2000 to 2002. There were pictures of our family dog Wrecks, and pictures of the kids I worked with in the '02-'03 school year at Rabbit Creek. There were pictures of people I haven't seen in years, some I hadn't thought about since the pictures were taken, and some very dear to my heart. So I went through hundreds and hundreds of pictures, weeding out the significant ones, tossing the crappy ones. I won't miss the pictures I threw away, but I was certainly given the opportunity to relive the last dozen years of my life. Bizarre.

I have a handful of little trinkets that sit on my desk wherever I go, which I rarely notice unless I'm moving. There are my small Buzz Lightyear and Woody bendy figurines that I got in a Christmas stocking the year Toy Story came out. Toy Story is still one of my favorite movies. I have a Lego AT-ST Walker and little Lego Chewbacca my good friend Gary gave all his groomsmen when he got married. I also have a Star Wars Airspeeder from Episode II (don't worry, I didn't actually remember what these vehicles were called. I looked them up. Actually, maybe researching their names is indeed grounds for concern. I'm a nerd. It's what I do, okay?) that was given to me by Rachel Heath, I believe. Actually, when I was a kid Legos were too expensive, so the most of the Legos I got were the little sets you'd get at McDonalds, all primary and secondary colors, and you could build anything rectangular. Even today Legos seem like a luxury, especially Star Wars Legos, so the combination of two of my childhood loves is the perfect trinkety kind of thing to keep around. It's funny that I don't really think about the significance these little things have until I put them away. Life's like that sometimes, I guess.

So my time here in Bend has been great times and really difficult at other times. I got to better know a handful of people at my dad's church, and be near my dear friends the Sheldons. I got to enjoy a lot of sunshine (I think I'm addicted to Vitamin D), and the beauty that Central Oregon has to offer. However, being away from Mandi, and my Portland family and friends most of the time has been hard. Really hard. It was a bit of tease that right about the time I really felt like I had true community somewhere, I felt I needed to move back in with Mommy and Daddy. I missed my church, missed playing on the worship team there, missed the diversity of Portland, as compared to Bend. I had a hard time appreciating my job in Bend, especially since the whole goal of moving back home was to save some money so I could get out onto the mission field sooner. However, despite the consistent frustrations living in Bend, I'm glad I did. Were there any "good old days?" Probably not. But God had things he needed to teach me, and people to learn to love. So, I think the rose colored glasses have been removed, but a bit of a rosy hue remains. It's been a difficult year, but all the goodness contained therein was worth the difficulty. It's kinda like God actually knows what He's doing. :-)

I'm excited to be going, despite my moments of melancholy over the last week or so. Seriously, just look at the way God has provided for my housing! How can this move not have God's name written all over it?! So while I'm leaving the peace of living with my folks, there are new and exciting things just over the Cascades. I'm excited to share it with you guys.

Cheers.

13489

Back to Portland

2009-06-21T22:08:00.000-07:00

So here's the news some of you have been sort of waiting for! I'm moving back to Portland in a week! Ta da! My friends Dan and Erin head up an organization called Lahash, whose objective is "to partner with East Africans in advocacy and care for the vulnerable, in response to Christ's love. Recently one of their local church partners, Berean Bible Church, gave them the use of a large house on BBC's property. So the Lahash folks have been working on restoring the dilapidated house to use as office space, as well as housing for travelers coming through Portland working with Lahash. (Dan or Erin, please feel free to correct me if I'm inaccurate in any way.) Lahash and BBC both have need for some media support, so Dan proposed a trade: I get housing in exchange for 8 hours a week of media work. HUGE BLESSING! I've been stressing a bit about coming back to Portland to pursue videography because there is no guarantee of work, and living accommodations can be expensive. This arrangement with Lahash is pretty much an incredible miracle God has done in my life. Special thanks are due to Mandi who is my connection with Lahash, and extra special thanks to Dan and Erin for thinking of me. Wow. He's just so stinkin' good sometimes!

My apologies for missing a blog update this last week. I was in Michigan for a week, and then my brother Drew got married, so it's been a busy couple of weeks. My friends Sam and Amanda got married in Jackson, Michigan, and they paid my way there to capture the whole event on video. It was awesome to get to play a part in their wedding, and even better that they were so generous to get me out there. The wedding was beautiful, probably one of the most sincere ceremonies I've ever experienced. I got a little misty twice that day, which is pretty serious for me. Though the ceremony itself was incredibly thoughtful, the days leading up to the wedding were some of the most fun days I've had in a while. Hanging out with Mandi, Jeff Budke, and my new friends Matt and Raeanne, made me laugh until my face hurt. Oh my gosh it was fun. From Sam and Amanda's wedding, Mandi and I drove over to West Michigan to surprise her parents for their 30th anniversary. Mandi's brother Justin helped us into a giant wrapped box, and when her parents arrived, they opened the huge present. It was pretty great to watch Mrs. Stonehouse literally jump into the air as she screamed with surprise. All the Stonehouse kids pitched in and rented a house on a lake for a few days, and a good time was had by all.

We came back from Michigan, and went straight into wedding stuff for Drew and Ashleigh. It's a bit strange watching your little brother get married, especially when he's nearly 7 years your junior. It was the first time I've ever sat in the front row at a wedding, which is pretty sweet. The wedding went well, and when they did a money dance to raise some cash for the newlyweds, I gave Drew $10 so I could dance with him. I think it was funnier to me than it was to him. But hey, I paid him, so he had to like it. I hung around Portland for another couple days, moved a little stuff into my new digs, and now I'm back in Bend for the week to get my things ready to move. It's going to be a really busy week, I think. Please pray for my sanity as I try to get all my ducks in a row, and pray that the move will go smoothly. Also pray that I won't lose sight of where it is God is taking me, as the present has a tendency to drown out the future. Thanks to you all.

13333

2009-06-08T15:35:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody.

As you can see, I got the new video camera, and am enjoying the results. Keep praying I can get a lot of work so I can get it paid off. Please. Pretty please with a cherry (not maraschino) on top. Thanks.

So on Wednesday I'm heading out of town to shoot a friend's wedding. In order to do that, I had to get video done for the wedding I shot on May 30. After several entire days and a few half days, I got it finished. I don't mind how much work it is, but there are moments where I definitely need a break. Today was a nice break. I'm excited to get into the swing of doing video all the time, to establish good work patterns and such. It's going to be pretty great to spend my working hours doing what I often end up doing in my spare time (which is why I haven't read an entire book in ages, much to my chagrin.) Please pray for safety on my trip, and that I can enjoy the sometimes stressful work of wedding videography.

My little brother Drew and his wonderful fiancee Ashleigh get married in a week and a half. Please pray all goes well for that. I'll be doing some passive videography for that one (passive, as in I'm setting up a couple cameras on tripods so I can sit like a normal wedding-goer and enjoy the event.) I wanted to be able to experience the wedding, rather than just watch it through my viewfinder. I'll shoot anyone's wedding, except immediate family. I want to be there.

Anyway, those are the bland details of my life for the past week or so. Thanks so much for the support, and I look forward to continue sharing my life and footage with y'all. Here's a clip from this last wedding. Enjoy.

Fischer Wedding Reception from Dayn Arnold on Vimeo.

This is the first part of Chris and Carrie's reception highlights. It was an enjoyable group of people, for sure.

13060

Last Thursday

2009-06-05T10:29:00.001-07:00

Here's the whole thing from Last Thursday. Enjoy.

Last Thursday from Dayn Arnold on Vimeo.

Ah Portland. Alberta Street on the last Thursday of the month is a feast for all the senses. Music, art, food, and characters all around.

12940

Fire Dancing

2009-06-04T21:21:00.001-07:00

Went to Last Thursday last Thursday on Alberta Street. Incredibly Portlandy. More clips to come later. Enjoy.

Fire Dancers from Dayn Arnold on Vimeo.

2009-06-03T20:43:00.000-07:00

It's been an interesting week. I have tallied the week's score for your information. It reads as follows:

Early last week my new video camera arrived. Awesome. (Score: Good things - 1, Bad things - 0) It uses special memory cards, so I had to install special drivers on my computer to read the cards. My computer slowed down, and eventually stopped booting altogether. (Good things - 1, Bad things - 1) So while I had everything backed up on another drive (an obsession I picked up a couple years back after nearly losing 3 months of work from one project) I couldn't use the computer. I had a wedding coming up that weekend and really needed to use it to offload footage as I took it with the camera. Computer problems began Tuesday night. Wednesday I took my new camera out for a spin, and it performed beautifully as I took in some nature shots from a ways out of town. (Good things - 2, Bad things - 1) Did a little time-lapse, some slow-motion. So great. Because I was already headed to Portland the next day, I arranged to meet the Apple people in Portland (I refuse to call them the Genius Bar, though that's their official title, because it's beyond pretentious.) Went to the Apple store, was given a quick fix, and I was back out the door, waiting to try the fix later. Well, the fix didn't work, (Good things - 2, Bad things - 2) so I had to make another appointment on Friday, the day before I needed it for shooting a wedding. Went in the next day, and they had to take my computer in for two days to fix it. (Good things - 2, Bad things - 3) That evening I went to play guitar at a party, for which I was being paid more than fairly for 2 hours of playing. By the end of the night, I had played 3.5 hours and was paid more than twice the original agreed amount. Also gave out some business cards to the woman who hired me because she wanted to recommend that service to her friends who also throw small events. (I didn't tell her I had never done this sort of thing before and that I was just making it up as I went along. Good things - 3, Bad things - 3) Next day didn't have the computer, which is a bummer because I needed to upload my footage onto a computer throughout the night. So I used the computer of my friend whom I hired to shoot with me. We got to the wedding and had just finished shooting the most important part, the ceremony, and discovered that one of the most important files from my friend's camera didn't transfer properly, and we ended up losing the shot. (A predicament which we know how to avoid in the future. Good things - 3, Bad things - 4) We were able to get some additional footage from the church's video camera, thanks to my obligatorily new best friend Jake. The rest of the evening went pretty well, and was an enjoyable event (Good things - 4, Bad things - 4), though with the two of us, I heard at least one comment about feeling like there were paparazzi skulking about. Also my friend Fritz, the photographer who got me both of the weekend's gigs (thanks Fritz!) let me use his fisheye lens, which gives a really unique effect when held in front of my camera.

The day after the wedding was a nice relaxed day, biked a bit in the heat, hung out with friends and fam, and it was really great. (Good things - 5, Bad things - 4) Also got to meet with CJ from my church, which was great. The next day I went and saw "UP" the new Pixar movie, in 3D, which was pretty stinking cool. ((Good things - 6, Bad things - 4) Then I had to head back to Bend, and on the way my car overheated. Actually, I forgot to mention it did the same thing on the way TO Portland, so I'm afraid the score is off by two. (Good things - 6, Bad things - 6) It was frustrating, but I made it home in one piece. I spent the evening reloading all my files onto my computer, and reinstalling the entire Adobe Creative Suite, which alone takes a couple hours. The next morning I had the computer working just fine, and decided to reinstall that camera card driver, which promptly sent my computer into a stalling and crashing trajectory. (Good things - 6, Bad things - 7) I managed to uninstall that driver and after a bit of research, found an updated driver that wouldn't do that to my poor computer. (Good things - 7, Bad things - 7) So now I could actually use my camera with my computer, and was all ready to take my loads of files from the wedding and get editing. Well, I discovered that the import process we used on my friend's computer put the files into a format unreadable by my computer. (Good things - 7, Bad things - 8) So 1.5 hours of research and $80 later I could actually read the files I needed to use and made some real headway with the footage. (Good things - 8, Bad things - 8) And from that point on, the editing has gone on relatively smoothly.

Today I worked a bit more on the wedding footage, and worked a bit for my boss here in Bend. He told me to bring my older video camera along to see if a friend of his would want to buy it from me, which would be a huge blessing, and money I can put toward the new camera. So tomorrow I'll be picking up a check for my old camera, thank you Jesus! (Good things - 9, Bad things - 8) So the last week has been just a shade above neutral. Actually, one more thing I forgot (forget editing what I write, I don't feel like updating every score just for a bit of continuity). I think I have a place to stay in Portland, possibly for free. More on that later. So it looks like the score is officially Good things - 10, Bad things - 8. So all turned out well, but what a crazy week. I think I need a nap.

12851

Craziness...

2009-05-21T08:46:00.001-07:00

Does anyone else think "craziness" look strange because of the "i" where the "y" should be? Also, does anyone else want me to continue using "quotation marks" willy-nilly "throughout" the "rest of" this blog"?" If so, "you" need to read "this other blog."

This last weekend I went to Portland, had a great time with nice sunny and warm weather, including a picnic with all of my siblings and their spouse or soon-to-be-spouse. (Drew's getting married in less than a month to a lovely girl named Ashleigh.) I got to hang out with quite a few of my really good friends, and received serious affirmation that I should be moving back to Portland as soon as I can. Which brings me to my next point.

On Sunday in Portland I got a chance to meet with my friend Laki, a fellow videographer to whom I'm connected through Mandi. Laki and his brother are getting serious about their videography, investing in all sorts of amazing equipment, and getting ready to make their mark on the Portland filmmaking scene. The thing with people in filmmaking is that so many of them have enormous egos, an intensely pretentious lot. Those kind of people can be hard to work with, the kind of people I don't really want to work with. Laki feels the same way, and so it's looking like I'm going to join forces with him and his brother, at least some of the time. I just ordered that nice new camera I have been praying about (thanks in part to a generous loan from Pioneers) and will also be offering my services as a solo videographer. Here's where you come in.

I need work anywhere in the Northwest (unless willing to pay airfare, in which case the sky's the limit.) If you know anyone getting married within the next few months, and I can be there, please recommend my services to them. I'm not often a shameless (or shameful, for that matter) self-promoter, but I really need to secure as much work as I can handle over the next few months. Don't worry, my blog won't become a festering wound of self-advertising, but right now I kind of have to be. My email and phone number are fair-game to anyone, and I'm working on getting a simple website up, I'll let you know when that's online. Thanks for your help with this. I'm taking a bit of a step in faith with all this, but I'm excited at the potential.

So yeah, right now pray for work to come in, and pray I'll keep my eyes on Christ and the great things He has in store for me. Thanks everybody.

Cheers.

12684

Work is Good, Prayer is Better

2009-05-10T19:42:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody!

So I haven't written in a week and a half or so, and for that I make a very weak apology. Very weak.

I've been very busy the last couple weeks with PAYING work, something that doesn't happen all that often. I'm learning about specific prayer, and praying for work has proven God faithful. Which brings me to my next couple of points. I've been thinking and praying more about moving back to Portland, and ask you all to pray with me. My desire is to get hooked up with videographers and photographers in Portland, see if I can work on multiple wedding videos this summer. Please help me pray about making the right connections. I have two weddings lined up already, and if you know anyone near Portland or Bend who's getting married this summer and needs a videographer, please let me know. I'm also praying about procuring some new videography equipment, the most significant of which is a new video camera which will be perfect for my future work with Pioneers. (In case you're curious to know which camera I'm hoping for, it's Sony's PMW-EX1) It's a spendy piece of gear, but will give me a great tool for telling stories in a transparent way. Recently I invested in a software package that is freeing me up to be creative in media, another huge blessing. Check out my little experiment using the new software. http://www.vimeo.com/4578426

This past week I was offered a chance to speak to a group of people from my dad's church. I didn't intend to talk for an hour straight, but there were many questions and I was feeling talkative. It was a really great time, perhaps a foreshadowing of what Mandi and I hope to do later this summer, a kind of house-party tour. I put together a bit of my footage from Thailand to show as well. I know the people there now have a really good idea of how they can pray for me, and it was a time of refreshing as my thoughts came out my mouth and helped me to more fully understand what it is that God is calling me to do. It was great. Special thanks to Bob and Colleen for being such gracious and generous supporters, even inviting me to their house to talk to a Bible study group.

Thanks to all of you who continue to join me in prayer. It's a huge blessing and a great source of humility. Goodness knows I need a generous helping of humility now and again.

11802

I love working with kids

2009-04-28T21:25:00.000-07:00

So on Monday I got to work in a class of special kids. One little gem of a girl (4 years old, I think) is on the Autism Spectrum, not engaging socially with others in the same way as a lot of other kids. Somehow we made a little connection, as we were about to leave the gym after the class had finished running around like mad. She filed into line just like everyone else, an accomplishment on its own, looked back at me with a half-turn and gave me a cool thumb-up. So cute, especially because her Autism can make that sort of social engaging difficult or impossible.

Then she topped herself by turning again and giving me a huge face-scrunching wink. Awesome.

10264

Dut, Dut, Doose

2009-04-24T19:08:00.000-07:00

Got to work as an assistant in a preschool speech-therapy class today. Guess what game we played...

7500

Mandi Eats a Grasshopper

2009-04-22T13:08:00.000-07:00

There are markets everywhere in Chiang Mai. Cheap produce, cookware, clothing, you name it, you can get it within a 10 or 15 minute walk.

This video was at the Sunday Walking Street Market, a large-scale weekly market that blocks off drivers from several streets, making for (what felt like) miles upon miles of Thai goodies. I'm not a huge market person, as I'm very much a goal-oriented shopper. I have to know what I want, get in and get out. Markets don't cater well to someone such as myself. But I can enjoy them for a short time. Or tolerate them for a slightly longer time.

And don't worry, I ate a grasshopper right after Mandi, but I neglected to tape myself doing so. If you don't believe me, ask Mandi or Jason. And they're right, it's not bad at all, aside from some strange textures, though I wouldn't go so far as to say it's similar to chicken. Chicken doesn't have tiny legs that can get stuck in your teeth. Unless you have an enormous mouth.

6440

Sweet Juicy Clarification

2009-04-21T09:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had a wonderful video conference with the PI communications people in Orlando. It's been a long time since we all have spoken, a bit too long, actually. Having been in Chiang Mai recently, a lot of questions and thoughts have been lingering on the tip of my brain, and I wanted to get them out before they disappeared into the recesses of my brain.

Actually, yesterday was just a great day overall. I went to bed early and got up at 5:00, (Hopefully it won't be happening again anytime soon. Thanks jet-lag!!!) spent a long while thinking about the questions I had, and then went on a 40 minute walk in the crisp Central Oregon air, smelling faintly of juniper. I've discovered recently that I do some of my best thinking while walking, so I spent a while praying, truly grateful to my creator for his answers to prayer. So when I got back home, I was ready for our conversation, despite it being at 7am Pacific time.

It was wonderful having the time to really process through my thoughts and questions, though it meant Matt and Caryn would get a bit of an earful of substantial questions. They were able to give me significant clarification on some issues, and not as much on others, though they weren't even aware these were things to ponder before I asked them. It was a great conversation, and I was totally energized afterward. Not all of my questions were answered, but the turbid waters of my poor little brain experienced a small stream of clarity, sweet juicy clarity.

This morning I got an email explaining my stint in Orlando before heading to the field. It will be a time to "get a taste of what happens from the mobilization end of things, and also get a greater idea of the intended audiences for the pieces [I'll] be creating." I'm excited at the prospect of spending time in Orlando with purpose, and this is such a great reason for staying in there for a bit. Feeling a couple steps closer to the field, I had begun to feel like time in Orlando was going to be a bit of a waste of time, one more thing to keep me from the field, but now I'm excited about the prospect. Thank God for the wisdom of others. So now I'll be in Orlando for as little as 2 months with purpose and direction. Woo hoo! And now you're all caught up and the various goings on of the last hour.

Cheers.

6033

New Pics Online!!!

2009-04-20T22:05:00.001-07:00

Hey, I posted a bunch of photos of our trip to Thailand on Facebook. Check them out right here!

5885

What I Need and What I Want

2009-04-19T19:29:00.000-07:00

I've been reviewing the video footage I captured in Thailand. My poor little camera (my better camera was too big to take on this trip) has seen better days. It began crapping out a little, the tiny flip-out screen beginning to flicker and sputter every now and again. The footage I got with this stalwart soldier of a camera is adequate, but I've certainly reached the end of its usefulness. Perhaps this was this little camera's last hurrah.

Working within the limitations of my equipment is something I'm fairly accustomed to. I'm used to taking sub-standard equipment and either making do, or pushing it to it's limits of use. Using my little camera has given me reason to reflect on whether my dissatisfaction in my equipment is justifiable: am I ungrateful for what I have, or do I really desire to do the very best I can? I long for the chance to work with equipment that does what I want it to do, that allows me to be limited more by my own creativity and less by my gear. I've begun to pray that God would allow me to have a couple pieces of equipment, including a particular video camera which would be perfect for the kind of work I will be doing. This camera costs thousands of dollars, but I'm beginning to understand trusting God in prayer. Please pray with me that He will allow me to have the proper tools for this work. I want badly to give my very best, and while I don't know how I can get this equipment, I know He can do it. Pray with me. Thanks.

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Impressions Part 1

2009-04-16T18:21:00.001-07:00

I shall return to Chiang Mai.

I’m starting this blog around 11:45 pm in Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport, arguably the least comfortable and least inviting airport in the world. We are wrapping up our two and a half week trip to Chiang Mai, Thailand, desperately trying to reset our internal clocks back 14 hours by staying up far beyond the point of exhaustion. Well, I’m staying up as late as I can. Mandi is currently trying to sleep on the cold and hard airport floor, which seems to be inviting the stares of every Thai person walking by. I don’t know if we’re being culturally insensitive or just some sort of farang freak show on display for everyone to gawk at. Either way, I’m just tired enough to be less understanding and more irritable about the one-sided staring contest. Great time to write and reflect on our trip, no?

Mandi and I, on our plane ride from Chiang Mai to Bangkok, were talking a bit about our return to the states, and the slight dread of the inevitable repeated question, “How was your trip?” Every major trip involves about a week of that same question, slowly driving you mad, or at least motivating you less and less to give trip details, and motivating you more and more to hone in on that elusive under-one-minute synopsis. So I’m going to provide my take on our trip here in digital form so that we have a place to refer people to if they desire further information.

The phrase “I shall return” seems to encapsulate my feelings about this trip. I began the trip with the goal of impartiality, to observe and weigh my options without getting too caught up in the experience. That mode of operation didn’t last long. Once we really got into the trip, experiencing life in Chiang Mai, meeting loads of Pioneers personnel, I was hooked and sold very quickly. Coming in, I really didn’t know what, or rather who, to expect. I had “met” a handful of the people working in Chiang Mai via email or Skype, but had no concrete reference as to who these people were and what they were really like. I can get along with a wide spectrum of personalities, but I truly enjoy a much narrower slice of that same spectrum. It’s like my personality can coexist with a full rainbow of colors, but really does well with emerald green, or chartreuse, or mauve. Much to my surprise, I found that many of the people working in the SE Asia area are remarkably close to that emerald green, chartreuse, or mauve I was really hoping for, a huge blessing and relief, to be sure.

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Impressions Part 2

2009-04-16T18:13:00.000-07:00

There were three distinct parts to our trip, so distinct that it felt a bit like we had taken three separate trips. Our first trip was with our friends the Sheahans, who were extraordinarily generous with their time, and kind in helping us secure some fabulous and inexpensive housing for the first few days. We were shown around several markets in town, given pointers on how to navigate the city, and were exposed to a variety of ethnic foods (and to the concept of ridiculously-cheap eating out.) We got lost for the first time, took our first songthaw and tuk-tuk rides, and began our crash course in Thai culture. Our second trip was out at Pioneers’ SE Asia retreat. There we got a chance to meet the area and team leaders before most of the others arrived, got a chance to meet handfuls of really great people originally from the US and Australia and all over Asia, and told our stories over and over (a bit of foreshadowing of telling about this trip over and over up our return...?) We spent a lot of time in the sun, chatting with new friends, and played the coolest game of Ultimate Frisbee ever with the youth and their incredible retreat leaders. (Ever played Ultimate at night in the dark with a light-up frisbee and 2,000 glow-sticks marking the field and the two teams as a thunderstorm approached? If you ever get the chance, take it!) We were able to make some real connections with real people, and it was awesome. Our third trip was back in town, a whirlwind tour of CommNet’s (the team I’ll be joining as soon as I can) future beginnings and teammates. We celebrated Easter with the regional leader here and felt very much like a part of the family. We participated in Songkran, a three-day Thai celebration centered around the world’s largest waterfight. (I’ve never experienced anything like it. People stand on the side of the road near the center of town, or drive in vehicles around the center of town, and spray, splash and douse every human being in sight for three whole days. And everybody loves it. Not a sour face to be seen, despite perhaps having been sprayed right in the face while riding a motor scooter. It’s crazy.) I ate my first calamari (in a fantastic curry) and my first grasshopper (deep-fried, everything tastes the same, though the texture of eating a good-sized bug was a little unnerving.) I also got to drive for the first time on the left side of the road, shifting with my left hand (Thanks Kelly!) My future CommNet teammate, Jason, is an intense, insightful, and passionate photographer (and an INTP like me, for those of you who know Meyers-Briggs) with whom I am very excited to work. He’s the man, for sure, and I very much look forward to working with him. And now we’re heading back home, despite not really wanting to. Three trips, all great in their own way.

I took plenty of video footage on this trip, but it’s going to take a bit to compile it and make something interesting and useful out of it. I’ll post it here when it’s ready, but it’ll probably be a couple weeks.

I think to a small degree this trip feels like a bit of a tease, a glimpse at what could be, but won’t happen for a while. But I’m going to see it as a taste of things to come, a shadow of things to come. I can’t say I’m looking forward to going back to life as usual, a job I’m not always satisfied with, but now there is the tiniest glimpse at what God has for me, and that will have to be enough. Please pray with me for the thing I’ve been praying for for so long: patience. I just can’t seem to understand the years of waiting, culminating to more waiting, soon followed by still more waiting. I’m sure my lack of patience is in part due to my inability to fully relinquish my life into His hands. I know that He is good and everything happens for a reason, a good and perfect plan, and I need to learn to put trust in that. He certainly answered my prayers for this trip: safety, revelation, and good health. And where He is faithful in the small things in life, he’s unbelievably faithful in the big things in life. I pray I can give it all to Him. If anyone can change my impatient heart, surely the creator of the universe can do wonders. Thanks for your prayers, and keep ‘em coming. Blessings to you all.

I shall return to Chiang Mai.

It's a video update!!!

2009-04-06T06:40:00.000-07:00

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First day out and about

2009-03-31T17:36:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone in internet land!

Our second day here in Chiang Mai was a bit more eventful than the day before. (Wouldn't take much excitement to beat a day of napping and eating, I suppose.) Our friends the Sheahans treated us to lunch (never would have thought to put pork and mint leaves together, but it was quite tasty) and then took us out to a large market area in the heart of the city. While Mandi and Anne headed deep into the bowels of the market (okay, so that's not really accurate, but I have a daily quota of semi-gross words to meet, and "bowel" always seems borderline-crude) Dave and I went and met Andy, a man who's been doing media in Chiang Mai for a couple years. Andy is certainly a great contact to have here, and it was great for Dave to arrange this meeting.

We met up with the ladies at the market, where I WAS HIT BY AN SUV!!!

Okay, I don't often take the chance to play with a bit of sensationalism. The fact is that on a crowded market street, as an SUV tried to get by me from behind, its mirror nicked my elbow. It was surprising, but not painful in the least. And now I'm done exaggerating. Well, we'll see.

Mandi and Anne

Fruit and the feet of a monk.

People and things.

Getting coffee in the market.

The markets were not quite what I was expecting. Last time I was in a market like that was in Nairobi with Daylan, and the sales people could be pretty aggressive. The people here weren't aggressive in the slightest, at least not the ones we saw. We did a bit more perusing and then Anne, Mandi, and I headed to an eatery close to where we're staying. Anne explained how to get back to our lodging, marked it on the map we had, and we promptly got lost (to no fault of Anne's), despite being within easy walking distance.

Certain signs seemed to look familiar, but most places are written in the Thai script, and as much as I wish I could read the stuff, it all looks like a bunch of unintelligible squiggles. Being lost can have its charms, the whole adventure of it all, but after about a half hour I was pretty irritated that I couldn't find this place. It seemed so easy early on, and the fact that I couldn't find something easy to find annoyed me greatly. (I'm not fun at all when I'm irritated. Mandi can back me up on that.) So eventually we got in contact with Dave via the cellphone they loaned us (thank God for that!) and he asked for a landmark. I told him we were by the temple near the place we're staying. I knew it was a stupid answer because there are a bajillion temples in Chiang Mai. He asked me if there were any locals around, and told me to hand the phone to someone. The nearest person to me was guy with motorbike grease on his hands, and in English I asked him to talk on the phone, despite him not knowing any English at all. It was really awkward for me, and really confusing for him. Anyway, he talked to Dave a bit, explained where we were, and handed the phone back with a smile. I don't even know how to say thank you. That's gotta change. Anyway, within five minutes of getting directions from Dave, we made it back. The nice part is that we won't be getting lost, at least not in the same place, like that again. That was our adventure for the day. The rest of the evening is too boring to mention. That is all. Cheers.

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Chiang Mai, safe and sound

2009-03-29T23:05:00.000-07:00

Still extraordinarily tired, but thought I'd let y'all know we made it safe and sound. Our friends have provided a wonderful place to stay and we're ready to commence resting and getting our internal clocks 14 hours ahead of where they normally are. We shall see how that goes. Ta for now.

Bangkok, nearly there...

2009-03-29T22:36:00.000-07:00

Tokyo, not quite there...

2009-03-29T22:33:00.000-07:00

Despite being a 12+ hour flight, the journey from Portland to Tokyo wasn’t all that bad. It was the first time I have been on a flight that served two full meals, the second one being breakfast despite the fact that it was not morning in either Portland or Japan, so I’m still a little fuzzy on that one.

Being on a flight with a significant number of Japanese people brought a whole new mindset for me. Being nearly 6’5”, I just don’t think about boarding a plane and getting my bag in the overhead compartment. As we were boarding I didn’t really notice anyone else getting their belongings properly stowed, but mid-flight I couldn’t help but notice what would be a bit of an issue for a smaller people. I watched as a man got up out of his seat and proceeded to climb onto the arm of his seat and blindly dig through a bag he couldn’t properly see in the overhead compartment. I wonder if this is just normal fare for smaller people groups, or whether planes designed with smaller people in mind have more readily accessible storage. A silly thing to occupy my thoughts, but many of you know I often think long and hard about things of little or no real importance.

I was thinking on the plane how long flights are a bit like some sort of odd, dysfunctional surrogate family. People can’t choose their family members, and on a plane you can’t choose your flight-mates. You’re all in it together and you all are experiencing the same basic things: turbulence, bad food, good food, foul odors (some experience more of these than others, depending on whether they had the chicken or beef), cranky flight attendants. And yet, there are still individual experiences to be had: the older man who feels obligated to tell his entire life story in order to explain why he has two carry-ons, the choir of colicky babies, the reading light right next to you still illuminated as its user fell asleep. It’s a bit of a microcosm of life, a mobile eco-dome of sorts. Strange, if you think about it.

So far I’m doing well staying up in a potentially fruitless attempt to quickly reset my internal clock. My computer clock says it’s 1:35am, but local time is most definitely 16 hours ahead of that. Once we arrive in Bangkok, I’m sure we’ll be ready to just conk out. Just have to stay up another nine hours, which isn’t too much of a problem for someone my size. Hard to curl up into a ball and just sleep the flights away. Hopefully I won’t give Mandi too many stories to tell about how grumpy I can get when I’m sleep-deprived. We shall see...

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Coming Up Quickly

2009-03-23T08:45:00.001-07:00

Thailand is coming up quickly. We will be leaving this Saturday, early afternoon, flying to Tokyo, a short layover, and moving on to Bangkok. We have an 8 hour layover, overnight, in Bangkok, and are debating whether we'll just try to grab some sleep in the airport that night, or whether we'll be able to get a ride into the city and check things out. The next morning we'll take the puddle-jumper to Chiang Mai, and we'll be picked up at the airport by my family friends the Sheahans. It's going to be a long 35 hours from start to finish, but I'm going to see if I can't hold off sleeping Friday night and catch some sleep during the night of our destination's time-zone. It might make me pretty crabby, so we'll see.

I'm bringing along my computer, still camera, and my small and crappy video camera, and I'm really hoping for a good internet connection at least a couple times during the trip. Hopefully I can keep up my weekly updates, possibly with photos and video if I can work it out. We'll see. It's all very exciting, and I'm glad you guys will get some vicarious living through Mandi and me. Keep praying for us, for safety and that the trip will be productive and enjoyable. Thanks.

Been thinking about what I'm going to do when we get back from our trip. I really feel I need to move back to Portland sometime in the next couple months or so because Mandi, my great friends, and my amazing home church are all there. The thing I've been worried about is whether I can find work there. I was talking with my current boss here in Bend, and we're going to have a conversation, when I return, about helping him operate/sell a particular product we've recently begun selling. If you want details, you can get a hold of me, but the gist of this thing is that it is basically a live-video production set-up in a box, rather than an entire production van to do the same thing. Anyway, his company has recently become Oregon's representative for this product, and there's a chance I could continue to work for this company, but I could live in Portland. Nothing's for sure in all this, but if you guys could keep praying about this opportunity, that things would work out in a way that only God can orchestrate, that would be great.

I'm looking forward to leaving my next post from a yet to be disclosed location in Chiang Mai.

Cheers.

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A Bit Disconnected

2009-03-21T13:49:00.000-07:00

So I've been feeling pretty disconnected lately. Perhaps my quasi-restriction to the house (back injury) has gotten me a bit down, despite the daily marked improvement. Maybe it's just one of those periods of time wherein I just feel kind of blah, like some sort of living purgatory. I am increasingly having difficulty being content where I am now. I am at a church with a lot of great people, but I'm the only single person my age there. Hanging out with married people is complicated, as they have other people to be responsible for, and I don't. Nothing against married people, but it's kind of a lonely place. I miss my home church in Portland and all my friends there. I don't have regular work hours and don't get paid very well. And I don't like complaining, but I suppose right now I just want to make my feelings known, to know that a couple people out there will pray for me. Just hard to be satisfied where I'm at.

And yes, I know my trip to Thailand in a week will be incredible, so I have that to look forward to. Just have to try to pick myself up out of this stew of dissatisfaction.

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The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat

2009-03-21T13:28:00.001-07:00

So I have another book recommendation, actually from the same author as my last book recommendation. This book was first published in 1985, and is a fascinating collection of stories collected and written by neurologist Oliver Sacks. The stories are well written, showing a real sense of compassion for people whose brains cause them to act oddly, often bizarrely. I'm only halfway through the book at this point, but am finding it absolutely fascinating. I was completely unaware that the abilities to understand the words coming out of someone's mouth and the to understand tonal inflection and body-language are located in totally different places in the brain. So if one hemisphere of your brain is injured you may find yourself able to understand expression but not understand a word anyone says, giving you the gist of what most people are saying, but without absolute certainty. The man whose story is the title of the book can only see details, and cannot construct complete pictures using the details. So a picture of the White House wouldn't be identified as such, rather it would be a pictures of trees, grass, a fence, windows, columns, blue sky, clouds, and would likely not be identified as the White House. Anyway, the whole thing is fascinating to me, and I highly recommend the book. It has been reminding me of the incredible brain that God gave us, so detailed and sensitive. What an astounding creation, the human brain. Check it out. I dare you. Plus you might learn some good words like "proprioception." How cool is that word?!

Back to Normal?

2009-03-16T14:01:00.000-07:00

I know, these back puns are getting out of hand. I'll try to back off.

Thanks so much to those of you who have been praying for my back to heal. The good news is that each day I can feel it returning to normal. The bad news is that I'm not well enough to do my normal work, as sitting down is only tolerable for a half hour, if that. So here's what happened...

I've been attempting to get back into a non-round shape over the last couple weeks. I think I may have jumped, yet again, onto the fitness with a bit too much exuberance, and overdid things a bit. That left my vulnerable little spine, well, vulnerable to going out with the slightest twisting movement. So when I kicked that soccer ball, in an attempt to save my spine from injury, my quadratus lumborum (see pic above) muscle seized up. When that muscle seized up, it twisted my back along with it from top to bottom. So when I asked my dad to do what we normally do with my back problems, it didn't fix the entire back, and because that muscle was still seized up, it probably made things worse. (Dad felt horrible to have played a part in causing me excruciating pain, though it wasn't his fault, and I asked him to do it.) So when I went to the osteopath, he cracked my twisted back into place and told me that the quardatus lumborum is a tricky muscle, an uncooperative little bugger. Apparently very little can be done to relax that muscle aside from just letting it fix itself. My back is straight now, but that muscle keeps spasming enough to keep me from sitting or standing for a long time. I've spent the majority of my time for the last week on my back, and it's getting very old. Mandi was here this weekend, and I got out of the house a couple times, which was great. Each day things feel better than the day before. I'm just glad to be able to walk almost normally and not have as much pain to try to block out. Things are improving, but please keep praying, especially as I've got a 12 hour flight coming up in less than two weeks, and they frown on people lying in the aisle.

I'm wondering when my heating pad is going to go out, as it's been almost constantly on for days now...

All things painful aside, things are going well. I was able to finish a video while I was flat on my back, making me so thankful for having a laptop, as a desktop and monitor might not be as easy to balance on my lap while lying down. The video is for a group called Transitions Global a non-profit organization whose goal it to save people out of slavery, specifically young girls out of sex-slavery in SE Asia. My friends Seth and Fritz went to Cambodia and Thailand back in December, and Fritz shot a bunch of footage of a girl who has gone through the Transitions program, and is now rehabilitated and living on her own. She has a powerful testimony, and Fritz's footage is beautiful. I edited the video footage into a story and recorded original music for it. The project took longer than expected because I volunteered my time for this, and I have other responsibilities that kept me from getting it done sooner. But it's finally done, and I'm quite pleased with it. It will be debuted for viewing at my church's group, The Well Global, Tuesday evening. Due to the sensitive nature of the footage, it won't be posted online, but if I see you in person I can show it to you, or if you happen to catch a Transitions Global presentation, there's a good chance you'll see it there.

I really can't believe I'm going to be in Thailand in a couple weeks. Crazy. I think most of the details are taken care of. Please continue to pray that things go smoothly and that this time will answer a lot of the questions I have about living and working in Chiang Mai.

And now, I have to get back to lying around playing Super Nintendo, reading, and watching movies. It sounds nice, I know, but I'm itching to get back to normal life. It drives me crazy being stuck on my back much of the time. Soon things will return to normal. At least that's what I'm praying for.

3724

Back on track?

2009-03-09T15:11:00.001-07:00

Hello friends!

So I'm going to skip my usual pre-substance pleasantries and skip straight to a prayer request (with a bit of an explanation.)

For years I've had periodic low-back problems, and about a year and a half ago I got a real diagnosis for the problem. I have a shear in my sacrum. In other words, the very bottom of my spine, up against the inside of my pelvis, is off kilter. After regular doctor visits last year when I had medical insurance, I had been without a major back-related injury for more than a year until today. I was working as a substitute assistant this morning, and the simple action of kicking a soccer ball threw my back out. Must have been teetering on the edge of going out. So I drove over to my dad so he could help me pop my back the way my Osteopath told me I could. We did it without much change, so we tried it again, and I think we may have made it worse. Lying down, the pain is manageable, standing and walking is only tolerable for a short time, quickly resulting in excruciating pain like I've never felt. It's quite amazing, really. Until today I had never fallen down out of pure pain, which can't be very good for the old back. My doctor is back in Portland, and since I'm 150 miles from there, I have made an appointment with a local Osteopath. Unfortunately I am without medical insurance, but I don't really have the option to leave this one unchecked, so I'll pay for it with money I don't really have. I've spent a lot of time praying that God would deliver me from this, and I ask that you pray as well. Please pray not only for deliverance for the time being, but that this problem would go away for ever. May as well pray for major deliverance while we're praying at all, eh?

Thailand is sneaking up quickly. Most of the major details have already been taken care of, and the ones that haven't been taken care of are the ones I'm not aware of. We will get to visit with some of my family friends while we're in the area, and then head out to a retreat center outside of Chiang Mai for a week or so. After the retreat we head back to Chiang Mai for another 5 days or so, where we'll have a chance to explore the area. Assuming my back is cooperating by then...

So yeah, please pray for my back. Let me know how I can pray for you!

Cheers.

The Letter is Out!

2009-03-01T22:29:00.000-08:00

Hey everybody! (can a "Hi Dr. Nick!" from anyone? Please?)

This should be a short one. Finished the letter and it's in the mail. Thanks so much to the few of you who have given me their addresses lately. I'm discovering that I have a large number of people wanting to pray for me, and a relatively small number of people's addresses. Please, please, please get me your address! If you don't receive a letter within the next week or so, I don't have your address and have therefore not sent you a prayer/support letter. I only plan to send out a couple real physical snail-mail letters per year, but if you want one right away, send me your email address and I'll email you a pdf of the letter. (Though who will deny a full-color paper letter in the mail?)

Other than getting the letter out, not much great news as of late. Spent this weekend in Portland, spent time with friends and family, caught my first Blazer game in 17 years, played on the worship team at my wonderful home church, The Well, and a smattering of other activities of varying degrees of interestingness. Please continue to pray for Mandi and me as we get closer to traveling to Thailand. The trip is in less than four weeks now, creeping up quickly. How can I be praying for you all?

(One more reminder, please get me your address!!!)

Almost There

2009-02-22T20:11:00.000-08:00

By the time you read this, my next support letter should be ready for printing. Better extraordinarily late than never...? You be the judge.

This has been one of those weeks that seemed really busy until I looked back on it. Perhaps I did too much thinking about the future and that made things seem busy. Or maybe I just don't have the stamina for work that I once did, especially now that I don't have a regular work schedule. Anyway, it seemed like a busy week, but it probably wasn't.

Mandi and I are looking forward to our trip to Thailand. We are also looking into a fun idea which will help us connect to you in person. We have been throwing around the idea of traveling around the country to places where we know people, and putting on house parties to share our vision for missions with small groups in a warm and familiar setting. I have just begun recording my first album, and by the time we would start these house parties, I would be able to perform a number of the songs as a part of the gathering. Honestly, I love the idea of community and missions, bringing together like-minded people around the idea of the great commission. Realistically, if we were able to act on this idea, it wouldn't happen until August, maybe September. If you like this idea or would be interested in hosting one of these in your home, anywhere in the country, please let me know via comment or the email address toward the top of the screen.

So feel free to wait beside your mailbox for my new letter, unless I don't have your address. Please, if you want a letter, make sure I have your current information. Thanks.

Weekly, schmeekly

2009-02-16T18:56:00.000-08:00

Man, I've already set myself up for failure with this whole regularity in blogging thing... Better slightly late than never, though, I suppose.

So the big news from this week is that I bought tickets to Thailand! This is just for a survey trip, check the place out, meet a bunch of people, see if it all really clicks with me. There is a retreat for all the Pioneers people in the region scheduled for the time I'll be there, so this should be a great time to really connect with a lot of folks. And here is the very best piece of news: Mandi is coming along! I asked her to think about coming along on this trip even though things didn't look monetarily, but God came through in the way of a nice tax return, and within the week I had purchased TWO tickets (at a great price, I might add.) This whole decision had blessing written all over it, and I'm stoked about it. If ever there were a good test of our relationship, flying and lay-overing for 28 hours should get nerves frazzled and let our true colors out. Could be interesting! (Do I smell a reality TV series? If so, we can exaggerate every reaction and emotion to make for better television. Let me know if you have funding for something like that...)

I now have 130 people in my Facebook prayer group, which is awesome. I didn't know how many people would be in to joining another group, but there was a significant response, which is great. So again if you're a Facebooker, click here to join my group.

It's been a busy week, and this week is going to be busy as well. However, I'm still hoping to get a fresh letter sent out for your reading enjoyment. Again, if you think you might have been left off the mailing list, please send me an email at the address at the top of the screen.

This week pray with me that the prayer and financial partners I need will keep coming in. Recessions don't affect God's work because He has infinite resources. Also pray that I remember that He's in charge and not me.

Thanks for praying. Cheers.

Practical Points

2009-02-09T18:54:00.000-08:00

I have this goal to update my blog every Monday morning. So far I'm only about 12 hours late for this week, but next week I'll be on top of it. Hopefully.

Last Thursday I had a great talk with my Pioneers people, asking for advice on a few key items. Probably three or four months ago I reached a point where I had exhausted my list of connections that could help me build my support team. It was around that time that I met Mandi, and surprise of all surprises, I got a little distracted. (And with good reason, methinks.) So I got some suggestions regarding what to do next, which I'm hoping to implement as soon as possible.

First, I need to increase my list of prayer-supporters. Now, unfortunately, I've been horrible with communication, so those people on my email-list haven't been receiving updates at all, so there may be some of you on my list who've never received anything from me, aside from my very first letter back in July. I'm planning to get an update email and letter out within the week, so if you're already in my database, you're good to go. However, I suspect it's going to take a couple weeks to really see who's on the list and who I've forgotten. If you don't hear from me in the next couple weeks, please contact me so I can get you onboard.

For my Facebook-addicted friends, I've started a Facebook group for those interested in walking alongside me in prayer. Within the first three days I have almost 120 members in my group, which is fantastic. If you're interested in joining the group, please click here. I plan to update that page every Monday as well, and while much of the same information will be displayed on the Facebook page and this blog, it is certainly worth checking out. If you don't have a Facebook account you can still check the page, but you will not receive word of updates or be able to participate in discussions. Check it out.

Another new idea is much more participatory for all of you. I'm interested in gathering people together to build community around missions (specifically mine, but others are more than welcome to partner with me in this. In fact, I would encourage it.) I've been thinking it would be great to gather people together for some fun, perhaps a time of free worship, and I could share some Pioneers media with the group, explaining what I will be doing with Pioneers. What I need are people interested in hosting a gathering in their home, and suggestions for ways we can make this an enjoyable experience. This could be a chance to bring people together in a unique and God-honoring way. Think about it.

Also, if you have a connection with a church body who would be willing to hear about my Pioneers work, I could really use the connection. I would love to present at your church, but if I'm not able to be there, I can get you any presentation tools you might need to present on my behalf. Obviously I would love to present in person, but sometimes it just won't work out in an ideal fashion. Let me know if you have a connection.

And as always please be praying that the support I need will come in, and that I will be patient in the meanwhile. Stay in touch by commenting or emailing me at the address in the picture at the top of the page. (Trying to avoid printing the address to avoid those sneaky spammers.) Thanks so much, and God bless!

Back on track!

2009-02-03T10:51:00.000-08:00

Good day to you all!

So I recently had to do some serious thinking and praying about where my life is going right now. From last April until late November I had no doubt whatsoever that I was supposed to raise prayer and financial support in order to go overseas and make videos about what God is doing through Pioneers. There were no distractions, and my vision was singular. Then God decided to have a little fun with me and introduce me to an incredible girl named Mandi. Up until November I didn't have anyone but myself to think about, which has often seemed like an advantage to me. Being single gives you certain freedoms of movement, certain freedoms of lifestyle. However, at the introduction of my significant other, I was forced to add another variable (albeit a very cute and important variable) to my life's equation. So instead of responding to the challenge of new perspective, I kind of dropped off the face of the earth, neither moving forward nor backward toward my goal of working with Pioneers.

A little more than a week ago I realized that this doesn't have to be an either/or process, but God, in His infinite wisdom, is quite capable of orchestrating whatever He thinks is best. I'm convinced He still wants me to pursue work with Pioneers, and in light of that I'd like to announce that I'm back on track! I've definitely neglected those of you who have pledged support, and for that I apologize. I know I've said it before, but I plan to have a new letter out soon with current stats and prayer requests. I also had some magnets printed up with my pretty mug on them so you can put it on your fridge and remember the guy who has so unjustly neglected you all. Believe me, I love all of you with Christ's brotherly love, and look forward to communicating more frequently as I pursue the ideas and people God has placed in my life. And please feel free at any point to give me a verbal or textual slap upside the head if I ever drop off the edge again.

A wonderful girl and a silly video. That is all.

2009-01-06T18:30:00.000-08:00

Hey everybody. Sorry I've been ausente for so long. I've been a little distracted. And by "little," I mean "largely." And by "distracted" I mean "negligent." I don't usually talk about my relationships on my blog, but there's a certain special someone these days. "She's great" is the understatement of the century, but unfortunately you're not going to get me to post a whole lot more than that on here right now. I'm open about my own life's journey, but not as open with relationship stuff on here. Too impersonal. Anyway, it's a good thing. And by "it's" I mean "she's." And by "good thing" I mean "incredible blessing." So I made her a special video while she's away. I'm posting it here for your viewing (albeit quasi-voyeuristic viewing) enjoyment. That is all.

Musicophilia

2008-11-24T21:22:00.000-08:00

So I have a book recommendation for y'all. At your earliest convenience, run down to the nearest book store and buy Musicophilia - Tales of Music and the Brain by Oliver Sacks, author of Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. The author is a neurologist whose fascination with the brain is immediately evident, as is his knack for making clinical studies accessible and enjoyable to read. This book is filled with tales of fascinating disorders, obsessions, and cures all related to music. Seriously folks, this is nearly 400 pages of incredible stories. I find it really interesting that the author, without any religious practice, makes all these incredible points about the wonders of the human brain, when there is so much evidence that this is all the workings of a creative God. If you're interested in the brain and music, this one will be a fascinating read.

On a related note, I've been thinking about the effect music has on my own life, especially when it comes to its ability to alter moods. I know of a lot of people who use music as a reflection of their mood: sad music for sad times, happy music for happy times, indifferent music for indifferent times (okay, maybe not that one... mostly because I'm trying to think of what would be considered indifferent music, and I can't.) I, on the other hand, use music like medication, especially when it comes to my own depression. Music has enough power in my life to change the way I think and react, to the point where if I play sad music for sad times, I think I would feel worse than before. However, I'm not sure I would play sad music all that often when I'm happy, so it's not an exact science. Anyway, I'm curious what you guys think. So I'm going to see if I can't get one of those polls put on the side of my page. We'll see if it works.

Cheers.

Little joys...

2008-11-23T14:31:00.000-08:00

Earlier this year I discovered the joy of smoking a pipe. There are so many activities that at one point in my life had seemed sinful, though there is certainly no Biblical law or decree to support that feeling. For instance, consuming alcohol in moderation is not in itself sinful. Using something like that for the purpose of getting drunk is definitely spoken about in the good book, but even Jesus made water into wine, and wine is what Jesus used to represent his own blood. So, along those lines, smoking a pipe was something that made me uncomfortable simply because it was unknown, untested in my own life. However, when I was invited by some friends at church to go smoke pipes and hang out, I thought I would give it a shot, if only to be social, something I’m not always good at. I really enjoyed it. There was a whole world of complexities, near-artistry in smoking pipes that I had never heard of, nor encountered. It was intriguing, and above all, enjoyable. I hung out with those same people several times afterward, enjoying myself more each time.

Being indoctrinated into this new culture, I began noticing pipe smoking more and more in every day life. Such famous minds as Albert Einstein and the Inklings, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien among them, were avid pipe smokers. Participating in this activity is relaxing and a great way to pass the time with others, usually accompanied by good conversation. It’s also a great catalyst for thought, and a great tool to help me focus on reading scripture. In fact, I’ll sit for a couple of hours reading my Bible with my pipe in hand, something I’ve always had a hard time doing. The pipe I own is a Peterson, their line being that it’s “the thinking man’s pipe,” and as cheesy as sounds, I’ve found it to be true. Sure thinking doesn’t require hot smoke, but I’ve actually found that I do some of my best thinking with it. There’s just something to it, though if hard pressed, I’m not sure I could truly articulate what it is. Perhaps having something to occupy my fidgety brain helps to focus it on more important matters. I know for many people, doodling can help a person focus on a speaker, perhaps on a Sunday morning as the preacher pours himself into his congregation. Focus can be a rare commodity at times, so anything to bring comprehension to an easily distractible mind is a good thing. This is how I feel about smoking my pipe.

I’m not endorsing tobacco, as some people have a history of nicotine addiction or any number of other vices associated with smoking. But I do enjoy it now and again. And now that I’ve been properly condemned by those against smoking of all sorts, I will take a bow and leave in peace with my thinking man’s pipe resting on the table.

Cheers.

The day's flotsam...

2008-11-18T16:51:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of random bits from the day. I found them amusing, so I expect you to as well.

The last couple of days I've been inside way too much, and not just indoors, I've been in my bedroom the better part of the last 48 hours. So in an effort to counteract the atrophied muscles and bedsores, I decided to go on a long bike ride. I hadn't ridden my bike long distance for a month or two, a travesty when the weather has been perfectly conducive to biking. I was probably 3 miles into my 17 mile ride when I saw an incredible sight. As I approached a busy intersection I saw a fellow biker of sorts, though he was of the leather-clad variety. This guy was decked out in leather: jacket, pants, boots, even a leather dew-rag-looking-thing on his sans helmet head. Dark sunglasses and a handlebar mustache completed this biker-stereotype of a man, an awesome sight to behold. But what really completed the whole ensemble, of course, was the bike. Or should I say scooter. Yes, this bad dude was riding a Vespa. I waited until I was sure he couldn't see me before I laughed out loud. It takes guts to ride a gutless bike.

After another 5 miles or so, I had something completely different and funny happen. I got to a point in the ride where I needed to spit. This can be tricky while riding a bike, because if you don't time it right, you're looking at a face full of expectorate, which is just as gross as it sounds. So I was preparing to launch, getting everything in its place, and fired... and at the exact moment the spit was leaving my mouth, I caught a huge disgusting whiff of dead animal, and in reaction lowered my head, spitting all over my leg. And as I rode past the putrid deer carcass, I couldn't help but laugh. Fantastic timing.

One last thing. On the side of this page I have a couple video clips posted, three of which are from my trip to Kenya a couple years ago. I posted these videos for the sole reason of being able to show friends and family where my sister Daylan lived and worked. One thing some of you know, is that Daylan and I tend to make jokes a lot. So in the video we make mention of things like driving on the wrong side of the road, knowing full well that there is no such thing. I hadn't even though that anyone would take our jokes about Americans seriously. People have gotten seriously upset, to the point that they feel obligated to set us straight via comment on the video. I got another comment this afternoon, more angry words directed at someone they've never met, and never will. It's hilarious that our flippant funny comments were taken so seriously. And all from a video I never really meant to be watched more than a dozen times. (It's at over 3000 hits now.) Good stuff. Well, bad stuff, but it's kind of funny.

Updates, new and old connections

2008-11-16T13:52:00.001-08:00

Hey everybody!

So I have to say that having a computer of my own has been great. I've had a couple opportunities to use it for Keynote (Apple's far-superior Powerpoint-like program) presentations, and has performed beautifully. Today I got the opportunity to present my Pioneers information at my dad's church here in Bend, OR. It's just been one of those things where scheduling didn't work in my favor, and months went by before being able to share with the church body. Feedback said that the presentation went well, which is good because it seemed like it went well from my perspective. (Ever take a test in school and think you did really well only to discover you completely bombed it? I've had enough of those happen to give me a tiny twinge of fear when things seem to have gone well. You just never know. I had a handful of conversations with people about my upcoming Pioneers duties, and gave out 7 or 8 support letters. I need to work on being a bit more aggressive in giving out and requesting information from people. Someday I'll get there.

Last weekend I got the opportunity to lead worship at the Evangelical Free Church's Northwest District Pastors and Wives Conference (I wanted to abbreviate it to EFCNWDPWC, but it never caught on) held in Sunriver, about 25 minutes from Bend. There was a lot of work getting 5 sets of music together, and then the problems involved with half of your band living 3 hours away in Portland. But, despite all the complications, things went relatively smoothly. Actually, this was the first major worship event I've led in a long time, and a good reminder that I do indeed enjoy leading worship. I got the opportunity to share a little about my Pioneers work at that event as well, and hopefully God will work in people's hearts, reminding them that despite the crappy economic times, there are people out there working toward full-time ministry. It's just been great to have a couple weeks in a row where there was at least opportunity to increase support numbers.

And actually, now that I think of it, two weeks before that conference last weekend, I got to give an update to my home church in Portland during the Sunday service. I made a couple of very important connections that Sunday, which is both unexpected and fantastic. As a result of one of the new connections, I may at some point in the future have the opportunity to lead worship at a church in Hong Kong. I'm not going to count on that working out, but the prospect is exciting. The other connection is with a person in a nearly identical life situation, also heading towards missions, a new and valuable friend.

My work has gotten more regular, and I've even had a couple chances to substitute as an Educational Assistant in the district here in Bend. This last time substituting involved a pretty incredible happenstance, something that rarely if ever happens to me. So I got a call just before 7am that there was an opening for a sub in an all-Autistic classroom at a nearby school. So I showed up and was being shown the ropes when in walks a little girl that I could have sworn I knew. However, knowing I'm now in Central Oregon, I know that I hardly know anyone, let alone random child walking through the classroom door. So I kind of blew off that sort of weird deja vu feeling and went on with my business. A couple of minutes later in walks one of the classroom teachers, and I get the same feeling, like I knew who she was, but couldn't figure out for the life of me who she was. I went back to orienting myself to the room, and the little passes by again, staring at me like she knew me, and then she left the room. Then it hit me: I knew this kid from the school I used to work at up in Alaska more than 2 years ago. I even remembered her name, and asked the other assistants if I had the right name. I did, and as it turned out, the teacher was her mother, and I knew her from the afterschool program at my old school, because she would pick up her kid every day from the program. I re-established that connection with the mom (and the girl once school was over for the day) and she let me know that her daughter, even a year after I had left Alaska, had still talked about me and how much she enjoyed me as a staff member. So now I have a top-notch connection with someone in the district, and I can only imagine that I'm at the top of their substitute list, or at least close to the top. Anyway, this was one of the strangest connections I've had in a long time. What are the odds, really?

Hi Everybody!

2008-11-02T09:04:00.000-08:00

Sorry for being so inconsistent with blogs recently. I've been both busy and lazy, a frequently fatal combination.

Just thought I would let everyone know that I was finally able to replace my stolen computer. Unfortunately my computer needs are relatively specific, so I couldn't easily replace it with the amount of money I already had. I want to give a special shout-out to my dad for letting me use his laptop while I was between computers. I'm up and running again, and it's really great.

So those of you on my prayer/support team can expect a special email or letter in the mail soon, and those of you who haven't committed, please do. I have forms all ready to mail and email out. I'm in real need of prayer partners, so if you're interested in that, I'll send you the form and then Pioneers can help me keep track of my team-members.

So thank God for a new computer. You will be seeing more of me on the interweb again.

Sometimes I can't even take the blessings

2008-09-15T20:37:00.000-07:00

So if you don't already know, I'm a bit of a whiner. Usually you have to be a pretty close friend for me to openly whine in your presence, but it's always there, lurking under the surface. I don't know for sure, but it may be one of my spiritual gifts. I'm pretty good at it.

So I've been whining a little about how long it takes to raise support for missions. Did I mention I'm also impatient? And then after I've whined a-plenty for days on end, I get word that support had come in, and a lot of it.

So when sister Daylan and I were headed up to Alaska, we ended up staying a bit with a friend in Seattle. This friend's brother was a good friend of mine in highschool, but contact had waned since graduating nine-and-a-bit years ago, and we really hadn't seen much of each other for the better part of 9 years. We ended up getting to catch up a bit while we visited Seattle, and I had a chance to share my upcoming mission work with Pioneers. He requested some support information, which eventually made its way to his hand. Recently, weeks since I had last seen my friend, I got an email from him, and word was given that he was very happy to support his old friend in an exciting ministry opportunity. I won't give specifics, but he and his wife were far more generous than I could have ever imagined. I was blown away. What a humbling experience to know that a whiner like me can be totally bowled over by God's hand in my life and the lives of those I know.

I'm not used to being blessed like that. I hope I never get used to it.

Cheers.

Cheers and Applause

2008-09-02T22:07:00.000-07:00

So I have to share my great last couple of hours.

So first, I waited all day for a package in the mail to come. Normally the mail comes just before noon. Today, much to my chagrin, it didn't come until after five o'clock. However, when it DID come, along with my package was a notice from Pioneers that let me know there are a few new people wanting to become monthly financial partners. So, unofficially, I have around 15% of my monthly support secured. Amazing.

Then, not half an hour ago, I learned that someone bought one of my photos! I'm a part of an online stock photo agency, www.istockphoto.com, and have been slowly contributing photos over the last nine months. Tonight someone bought one! My very first purchase was made this very evening! Now, profit margins are not terribly high, but the fact remains that someone bought one of my pictures! If any of you are interested in purchasing my photos, or any of the millions of other pictures by the bajillion contributors, see the orange iStockPhoto link on the right side of the page. If you're not already a member of the site, you'll have to sign up, but THEN you'll be able to get a hold of top-quality Dayn Arnold photos. The link on the side of the page will take you directly to my photos, a good place to start.

Anyway, good things all at once. It's a good thing He's more faithful than I am, or we'd all be in trouble. Cheers. And applause.

(There are a (lot) of par(en(the)se)s) in this (one)!!!

2008-08-30T08:51:00.000-07:00

First of all, I feel an update is in order. No, I'm not pregnant. I have had so many of you asking about whether I was, and I figured I owed both of my loyal readers an update. Oh, and also my computer and other things have NOT been found. Well, at least not found by anyone of repute, specifically anyone in law-enforcement or anyone with an over-inflated sense of justice.

So yeah, I was looking forward to saving up for a lot of the software and things I'll need for video/audio editing, software I didn't have because of a recent (if short-lived) switch to a new Apple MacBook Pro. Alas, for some reason still unknown to me, my computer, iPod, an external hard-drive, and my lovely Peterson tobacco pipe were all stolen. Perhaps this is some sort of incarnation of having all your eggs in one basket, though because of the cost of the equipment lost, these eggs may have to be Fabergé eggs in a basket made from the soft bone of baby Pterodactyls, painted with a mixture of gold-leaf and the blood of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius by Captain Gladys Stoutpamphlet and her Intrepid Spaniel Stig Amongst the Giant Pygmies of Beckles. (My most insincere apologies for that last statement, but I think I've made my point.) Irregardless (to be said with a thick Boston accent) I lost a lot of things all at once, and while I must admit some rather unpleasant words were said in the chill of the moment, I have decided to take this all in stride. (Fortunately I have long legs, so I can take a LOT in stride.)

I've had a couple weeks to think about the loss of my valuables, and have come to a series of scattered conclusions. First and five-most, I am much more American than I would like to admit. By that, I mean I love my stuff, and feel entitled to having nice and expensive things. Within the first few hours of losing my Fabergé eggs, I lamented the loss of my iPod because I couldn't have every scrap of music I owned with me at all times. Good grief, Charlie Brown. How ridiculous is that? (You may take the question rhetorically or otherwise. Sometimes Captain Obvious comes to town with humorous results.) As much as I wish I were above this ridiculous commercialism, I'm right in the thick of it, taking it all in. (Greed is so often described in visual terms, green-eyed, black-hearted, but I think it may be best described as a pile of rotting meat drenched in saccharine perfume. Or like air-freshener in the bathroom wherein a large deposit has been made, and in a frantic attempt to hide their business, the depositor has not covered anything up, but has added extra foulness to the already-pungent aroma.) This sense of entitlement is a killer.

I do not claim to have problems of Biblical proportions, but I feel like I have a new understanding of the book of Job. God allows what we would deem an injustice to take place in the interest of testing the individual. God allows the devil to take everything of earthly-meaning from Job, injust by our standards, but he doesn't curse or turn his back on God, despite having done nothing to deserve the pummeling he receives. Then physical aliments, boils and such, and still no back-turning to be found. And all the while, he has this wonderful support structure of friends telling him he must have done something to deserve this, and that he needs to repent so it'll all go away. (Nothing like chastising those we care about when they could use some support.) So I was telling my mother about how I was feeling the tiniest bit like Job, except that I hadn't produced any boils or sores. She quickly reminded me of my physical ailments due to a certain recent cycling-accident, the repercussions from which I'm still daily feeling. So that confirmed my decision to change my name to Job, and replace my fantastically supportive friends with ones who know better than I do, and chastise me at every turn. I'm looking into putting out a bulletin on Craigslist to that effect:"Wanted: friends to lend me goofy theology and kick me when I'm down. Also must have experience with boils." So it feels like I'm being tested, and I'm actually a little excited about it. Not so much excited about the testing, but excited to see how far God has taken me in recent years so that I'm actually a little surprised to see how I'm taking this negative turn of events. I'm becoming more convinced that God tests us not for His benefit, but for ours. Seriously, we're talking about the omniscient, omnipotent king of the universe who not only created us, but KNEW us before we were conceived. He knows where we are, spiritually speaking. I, on the other hand, don't always know where I am, spiritually speaking. (Sometimes physically speaking too, especially in the nonsensical labyrinth that is North Portland.)

If someone were to take my reactions to negative experiences in my life and analyze those reactions, the expected response to losing my dream-computer would be falling into a deep depression, which would not only consistently affect me, but would cast a pall on anyone brave enough to try to be around me. My good friends know exactly what I'm talking about. In a pivotal moment of darkness in my own life, someone told me "You bring death into the room." Now that may not have been a particularly compassionate thing to say (perhaps recommendation to see a counselor or look into drugs for clinical depression would have been more constructive) but it stuck with me, as you might imagine it would. So my life graphed to an average would predict long-lasting depression from this kind of loss, this kind of blow to my own productivity. However, much to my surprise, my depression was a little less than 24 hours, followed by disappointment and bewilderment of a lesser nature for the following days. God tested me, and I got to see the results. It's like one of those "progressive" schools where students grade their own work (Anyone remember the episode of Arrested Development where we got to see Maybe's self-given grades, pictures for grades. Brilliant.) and on the other side of things I've had to give myself a B+ (An A seems a little too generous.)

Now that this blog is reaching brobdingnagian proportions, I should stop and say that things are good. My dad is letting me use his laptop until I can afford a new one, I have several opportnities to potentially make money using my gifts, and the sun is shining. I have some exciting things that really should wait for a new blog, so I'll save them. Thanks so much to the network of people who so diligently prayed for me in this loss, and thanks to the creator who says that nothing he created can bring death into any room. (And extra special thanks to whoever created parenthetical statements, as they let me whisper funny little rabbit-trails without going too far off the beaten path.)

Please pray...

2008-08-16T22:26:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody.

My new computer was stolen out of a vehicle this evening. Please pray that I would get it back. I know God has done much more impossible things, so I know it's possible, though my brain tells me otherwise. Thanks.

Home?

2008-08-15T13:05:00.000-07:00

So right now I'm midway through a week-long trip up to Alaska, and it's a little strange.

Because I did showings of "Bible Camp" in December and March, I've actually been up here more recently, which ends up meaning that I have less news, less to share with people. It's a strange position to be in. I suppose I have new solid information when it comes to what direction my life is taking, but other than that, things are pretty much how they were last March. One of the best parts of visiting my home-state is usually the fact that I have a lot of catching up to do with a lot of people, and this time around this is just not the case. In fact, the difference in this trip extends beyond the realm of just catching up with people.

"Alaska will always be my home," has been a phrase I've used with my non-Alaskan friends. And while it is likely this statement will always have a bit of truth in it, I'm no longer sure how far it goes. I think most of us have a place in our hearts for the "halcyon days of old," but when push comes to shove, rose-colored glasses seem only to come with blinders. So now that I'm back in my favorite state, the blinders are gone and I'm suddenly in a whole different place. Maybe I've grown accustomed to the ridiculous amounts of sunshine afforded by central-Oregon, but the constant overcast skies are as far away from an idyllic Alaskan summer as I can possibly remember. Friends have moved on, things have changed, and while it always seems like things should stay the same while I'm gone, they don't. It's like watching a TV show for years without missing an episode, and then missing nearly all of a season while I start watching a new show. I don't know what's going on half of the time because I've missed a whole set of inside jokes, relationship shifts, and characters growing up. A strange feeling, for sure.

So while it's great to be back where I grew up, it's not quite as I left it. And perhaps it's supposed to be that way.

My Trip to Kenya, Part 3

2008-08-07T14:54:00.000-07:00

In my injury-excused lethargy, I was able to crank out another part of my Kenya videos. So far I've taken a slightly different approach to each part. We'll see what happens with the next part. Cheers.

A Tale of Two Tales

2008-08-05T18:12:00.000-07:00

Sometimes a story is more fun with a little embellishment. I had a bit of an accident on my bike this last Sunday, and I’d like to try a little experiment. I’m going to tell the story of my battered body in two accounts. It’s your job to figure out which is true, and which is not. Also keep in mind that I may never let anyone know which account is which. It just may remain one of the great mysteries of our time.

Account 1

As the afternoon slipped slowly into evening, I was still riding my bike. It had been three days so far, trying to cross Oregon’s formidable Cascade Range, and I was beginning to lose my nerve. It was not like me to lose anything but patience. My steely nervous system was a byproduct of my rugged, often extreme lifestyle, and not subject to the wear and tear of daily life. But after seventy-two straight hours of cycling, anything can happen, even to an amazing man such as myself.

Evening’s cooler air was refreshing, invigorating, but as I began to get my twenty-second wind, another kind of wind began. Real wind. It started as a light breeze, nothing to even think twice about. But as the black clouds began to sneak into my golden-blue evening light, I felt the birth of a gale. This portion of the mountains is known for its extreme changes in amplitude, a fact I was well aware of, and one for which I was prepared. However, despite my extensive training, the gathering wind at my face not only slowed my ascent of each uphill, but virtually halted my plan to coast down the downhill portions of this tumultuously treacherous terrain. I was losing steam fast, and there was no turning back. You see, the road had been blocked off to automobile traffic because of an extreme landslide, which not only necessitated my mode of transportation, but was the real reason I was riding so hard.

In a small village nestled in the folds of the Cascades, little Gertrude Twitter (those who know her call her Trudy) had been waiting for the postal service to deliver her insulin, a delivery made impossible by the recent landslides. I became a one-man postal service, and neither sleet nor snow nor the impending doom of a storm was going to sway me from my noble end: to deliver the goods and save another life.

My ally, good weather, would soon be overpowered by the awesome force of black clouds, wind, and torrential rain-pour. I was only a few miles from Trudy’s village, but my luck had begun to turn sour as layer upon layer of black clouds rolled in like some kind of thing that rolls a lot. I shifted quickly, methodically into my easiest gear, and stood up as I climbed what should have been the last hill of my arduous journey, flexing my impressive quads with each stroke of the pedals. I knew I couldn’t keep it up forever, but I could also see little Trudy’s face in my mind, her eyes screwed up as she fought back the tears as she imagined nobody would becoming with her life-saving medicine. Tears which had formed from the incredible wind in my eyes began to mix with tears from the dust that was being stirred and blown into my eyes which mixed with tears from the sheer mental strain I was under which in turn mixed with tears from the pain in my worn legs which ultimately mixed with tears from knowing Trudy was waiting, waiting, waiting for her knight in shining biker-spandex to come and save her. Also there were tears from the mountain onion farm I was slowly passing. It was harvest time, and the onions were being minced on site.

As I rounded the last bend, I could see Trudy’s village squatting on the mountainside. I made my final push toward the village when I saw something move in the corner of my eye. I whipped my head back just in time to see the herd of elk closing in on my position while the rain began to dump bucket on me. I couldn’t go any faster, and in hopeless agony I watched as hundreds, nay, thousands of soaked elk blasted past me. I knew it was a matter of time before I was trampled to death amid the cacophonous roar of the elk and thunder. This situation dictated my next move, a daring move indeed. I leapt from my bicycle, just as it was destroyed in a sickening crunch, and I landed on top of one of the younger elk, riding it easily into town. Caribou-riding was also part of my training, which turned out to be exactly the same as elk-riding. I steered my wild steed into the village, hopped gracefully to the ground and began shouting, “Trudy! Trudy! I’ve come to save you!”

Trudy’s mother came rushing out of a nearby thatched hut, screaming at her two dogs, and also for me to come quickly. I sprinted into the house, taking care to remove my wet shoes, and spotted Trudy lying quietly in bed, apparently at death’s door. I flung my helmet, knee pads, elbow pads, mouth-guard, shin-guards, and shoulder-pads to the dirt floor of the hut, and pulled out the refrigerated cylinder which held Trudy’s salvation. Tearing open the container, I quickly read the instructions several times, at which time I grabbed the syringe, plunging it into the exact right location. Immediately Trudy looked me in the eyes and said, “My hero!” I told her she needed not thank me, and that I must be on my way. On my way out the door, as I looked back at Trudy’s beaming face, I tripped over one of the dogs, landing on my right side, which injured my foot, thigh, and shoulder all at once. I quickly got up, covering my embarrassed face with my hand, bade them a final farewell, and limped out of town as the storm disappeared and sunset’s rays peaked their last from under the receding storm-clouds.

And that’s how I injured most of my right side.

Account 2

I went mountain-biking on an easy trail fairly close to home with a couple friends. I was following too close to one of the friends, when he made an unexpected move. I tried not to hit him with my bike and hit a tree instead. We were less than a quarter-mile from the parking lot.

And that’s how I injured most of my right side.

Now seriously, nobody will ever know the truth. Each story has its own merit grounded in reality. Tough call for most. Regardless, I messed up my right foot, quad and shoulder. The first day I had trouble walking, and now I’ve traded my inability to walk with a gnarly set of bruises and scrapes. But really, which account is true? Which story do you believe? The world may never know, and I’ll certainly never tell.

The Blob

2008-08-02T11:40:00.000-07:00

My friend Fritz (he's a fantastic photographer - fritzphoto.com) invited me to Younglife's Wildhorse Canyon for the day. It's an amazing place, out in the middle of nowhere. There's a pretty amazing story behind its becoming a camp, though I only know second/third-hand info, so it's probably better to get it elsewhere. So we went out and played like a couple of kids. One of the more fun parts of the day was launching Fritz on the blob. I weigh 80 pounds more than him, which has a spectacular effect. Enjoy the video.

Blast the Beauty!

2008-07-30T17:38:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more pics. These were taken on my way back from visiting my friend Fritz at Young Life's Wildhorse Canyon. I was trying really hard to get back home in time to meet some of my Mom's friends, but the stupid landscape wouldn't stop being so gorgeous. Blast all the beauty in central Oregon!

Partnerships et al...

2008-07-28T12:42:00.000-07:00

Hey all.

It's starting to set in that it might take a really long time to raise support for my work with Pioneers. Actually, it's quite likely that it'll take much longer than I currently feel I have patience for. I really don't want to slip into a depression over this, which would not be a surprising way for me to deal with things I don't like. I could really use prayer that I can be satisfied enough with my current situation that I'm content, but not so much that I stop working to get the partnerships I need. While my own introversion really helps with the creative side of what I will eventually be doing, it's a killer when it comes to interpersonal relationships and connections. Oh, and if any of you want to check with your home church about partnering with me, you have my blessing. It's a long road ahead of me, but someday, certainly not in my timing, you all will be hearing tales from across the world of what God's doing.

Cheers.

What the heck, how about one more...

2008-07-24T23:50:00.001-07:00

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I've been working on this stuff for way too long, but I'm enjoying it so.

Feeling Inspired

2008-07-24T20:59:00.001-07:00

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Well, I have to say that the B&W inspiration is coming from this "Digital Photographer Black & White" publication I bought today at Costco. Digital Photographer is on the top of my list right now for periodicals. Insightful and expensive. I highly recommend it. Cheaper at Costco. Anyway, here's two more. Let me know what you think, eh?

It's a giraffe without color!!!

2008-07-24T16:46:00.000-07:00

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So I've been trying to learn Photoshop a little better. Thought I'd share the fruits of my labor. Cheers.

It's a bug!

2008-07-20T23:46:00.000-07:00

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So I'll make a departure from my usual nonsensically wordy blogs and give you a simple one. Look at the bug I saw tonight!

2008-07-15T08:29:00.000-07:00

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So I'm just about to send out prayer letters to anyone and everyone. Thanks for everyone's patience. They shouldn't have taken so long to get out, but it's been a busy few weeks. I haven't yet learned exactly how much financial support I'll have to raise, but word on the street is that it's going to be $2000+ which is a little intimidating, considering my pool of rich friends is quite shallow. However, I know that God is good, and that it'll come in all at the right time. Thanks for your patience. And while you're waiting, you can check out my latest Kenya video below.

God bless.

The latest video I've put on Youtube

2008-07-08T23:20:00.000-07:00

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Part 2 of my trip to Kenya... 1.5 years ago. Meh, better late than never... maybe...

...

Punched Up

2008-07-04T12:45:00.000-07:00

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From the time my sister Daylan first showed me Nickel Creek, I’ve been a fan of Chris Thile. Not only is he a master mandolin player, he’s a master musician. He is the reason I ever considered taking up the mandolin. And he’s one of the handful of musicians who ever lent any credibility to bluegrass music in the ears of this musical snob. And now I can say, with no small measure of glee, that I’ve seen and heard him in person, and I was not disappointed.

Chris Thile has been producing solo albums from before Nickel Creek was in existence, the last of which was entitled “How to Grow a Woman From the Ground.” So take the exact musicians from that album, give them the name Punch Brothers, and you have the group I saw at Portland’s Aladdin Theater last night. First of all, they’re extraordinarily tight as a group. More than once, a group note of unusual syncopation was so well executed that I uncontrollably grinned from ear to ear. It was the closest I’ve been to aural utopia in a long time.

The only album Punch Brothers have under their current guise is entitled Punch. Thematically, the album circles frontman Thile’s troubled marriage and ultimate breakup. While the album has a couple near-radio-friendly tracks on it, the majority of the album consists of a four-movement masterpiece entitled “The Blind Leaving the Blind.” Having grown up playing and listening to non-vocal jazz and classical music, I nearly always prefer instrumental over vocal music. For my taste, this piece is the ultimate combination of instrumental and vocal music, probably 70% instrumental, 30% vocal. The piece is a complex musical journey rich in virtuosic opportunity, an astonishing feat for a 28-year-old mando-player.

Most of Punch Brothers’ album was performed as well as a smattering of songs from “How to Grow a Woman From the Ground,” and a few traditional bluegrass-style pieces. Each instrument was individually miked, and two large-diaphragm mics stood at the front of the stage, used for vocals and solo parts. Because of the microphone setup, the band-members were forced to play like a real ensemble, utilizing real dynamics, and even physical positioning to play as a cohesive unit. Coming from a classical background, I hugely appreciated the fact that the band felt natural, like instrument and vocal levels weren’t being puppeteered by the sound engineer. A very natural and basic sound.

The set was split in two, with the first two parts of “The Blind Leaving the Blind” mixed into the first half’s performance, and second two parts mixed into the second. Due to the depressing nature of the piece as a whole, this split made the piece much more palatable in a live setting. The show was an enjoyable mixture of music from their two albums: Watch ‘at Breakdown, Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground, The Eleventh Reel, Punch Bowl, and The Blind Leaving the Blind. After playing two entire sets, Punch Brothers received an ecstatic standing ovation, followed by an encore of three songs. Following a beautiful Wilco cover, Punch Brothers brought one of Portland’s local fiddlers to the stage for a couple of traditional bluegrass songs.

One of my favorite parts of the show was the fact that they really played like a team. Like a band. It was great to see people playing dynamically with each other without any one person hogging the spotlight. It was true musicality in action. A pleasure to behold.

The entire show was a delight. Not only to hear live what I’ve listened to dozens of times on my own, but to see true musicality in such a young group. I didn’t think it was possible, but I’m now a bigger fan of Chris Thile and Punch Brothers. Well done guys.

Thoughts on growth

2008-06-29T22:55:00.000-07:00

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So I'm in a bit of a dilemma. Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

This summer I'm planning on recording my first album, something I've thought about before, but finally the timing is right. My journey as a song-writer has been relatively slow. I don't often play with other people, something all musicians need. I also have taste in music that far exceeds my ability to play. And to top it all off, my personal journey has retarded my growth as a songwriter.

If you've read my blog for a while, or know me well, you probably know that I've been undergoing some serious life change in recent years, though this hasn't really been apparent to me until the last couple years. As I stand now, I am painfully aware of many of my own limitations, areas in which I need serious work and attention. I'm also at a point where I'm willing to own those things, willing to talk about them, willing to make them known. (For a list of my shortcomings, send me your mailing address and one of my close friends or I will be happy to send you Dayn Arnold's Shortcomings: Volume One for three monthly installments of $29.95 plus shipping and handling.) So due to my own state of denial, most of the songs I have written have been very impersonal, or masked so that the listener would think I was singing about someone else. And sure, a couple of those songs have been decent, but very few of them really meant anything personal to me. As I have progressed in my own life journey, and as I've progressed in my songwriting ability, I've discovered a different side to my writing. A side that's not as pleasant and quasi-utopian as some of my previous work. But a side that is far more real.

So the album I'm working on is tentatively called 9-Years because it is a musical journey through my last 9 years of life. As some of you know, I've had my share of ups and downs in the last 9 years. Bouts of nearly unbearable depression, anxiety, bitterness, anger juxtaposed against those few incredible and irrepressible moments of euphoric clarity, like poking my head above the clouds for a split second before my own self-pity dragged me back down to earth. My musical idea is to take a particular moment in each year, or a year's impression, and use a song to show that point in my own history. Some of those years' defining moments were awesome, and some were scrape-your-face-in-the-dirt-awful. Some were filled with despair, some with incredible revelation. So while much of this music is much better in the fact that it's more personal, some of it seems bleak. However, like all of us, we must take these life-snapshots in the context of the entire story. I'm a little afraid people will take songs out of the context of the entire album, like taking one scene in a movie as its own unit, unrelated to the rest of the story.

Anyway, I've been working on writing some new lyrics, and noticed that some of them are more hopeless than anything I've ever written for public viewing. But in the context of my life, these dark times defined where my life was to go, not where it was to stay. It's the contrasts in life that make the good times good. Without the bad, how would we know what was truly good? Or WHO was good? Think about it.

Extra free Young Dubliners

2008-06-29T22:45:00.000-07:00

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I would like to say that a Sunday afternoon in Bend with a free concert is awesome. A free concert with the Young Dubliners is stinkin' awesome! Traditional Irish music fused with rock. Oh man. So good. Plus, the guy playing whistles and uilleann pipes is the same guy who was the featured soloist on the scores for Braveheart and Titanic. He busted out a little Braveheart at one point, and I thought that my goosebumps might become so intense that my pores would stay that way permanently. Fortunately, with a little coaxing, they subsided to a normal level after a couple minutes. I'm one of the few guys I know who's a sucker for celtic music, so to hear it played so energetically and tightly was awesome. And it was free. Daylan and I even rode our bikes there, so it was extra free. Good stuff.

Update

2008-06-26T11:09:00.000-07:00

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Guten tag meine freunde

My apologies for the previous entry (or next one if you're reading from the top of the page down). Every now and again I feel the need to rant about something silly.

So a couple weeks ago I moved to Bend, Oregon from Portland, a stepping stone of a move before I head out to Orlando, and then to Thailand. The day after I moved the lion's share of my belongings to Bend, I drove to Seattle to pick up sister Daylan and friend Kendra at the SeaTac airport. They had just come in from London/Kenya and driving the distance saved a lot of money for the both of them. That was on a Monday. On Wednesday Daylan and I drove out to a friend's wedding in Heyburn, Idaho, another nine or ten hour drive. We got back Sunday night, and starting Monday I worked on editing the video I had taken at the wedding. The next couple days were spent working on the video stuff and trying not to be overwhelmed by the load of stuff in my parent's garage waiting to be unloaded. Found a great coffee shop here called Thump that serves Stumptown, so I can rest easy knowing my coffee snobbery can be satiated at least every now and again.

At the same coffee shop I accidentally met up with the guy who was going to give me some work, an arrangement that hadn't been solidified, but was close. So we worked it out that I'll be working as a sort of sub-contractor delivering his rental A/V gear and providing my own video production skills on top of it. So basically I'll be sort of self-employed and be able to have super flexible hours, which is great. We'll see if I can make any money with this. So anyway, that's the long and short of it, I think. Waiting for God to provide the support I need to go out with Pioneers. Oh, and support letters are soon on their way. Again, if you wish to receive one, email your mailing addy to me at daynarnold@gmail.com.

Vielen dank und auf wiedersehen

Co-dependency and the dysfunctional couple: a study of frustration in the twenty-something American male

2008-06-10T15:11:00.000-07:00

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So I'm continuing to wonder what ever happened to certain social norms, little courtesies that I don't notice when they're being practiced, but REALLY notice when they're not. And yes, I most certainly do have a specific incidence in mind. Thanks for asking.

So there's a coffee shop I like to frequent due to its power-packed duo of great Stumptown coffee and convenient proximity to my home in Portland. The Bipartisan Cafe is not one of those uber-trendy coffeetoriums wherein all patrons have carefully coiffed bed-head, wear the latest in anti-mainstream garb, listen to "indie" music on their iPhone which is syncing "This American Life" from their black MacBook. (Though I'm now one of those Mac users and just got some snazzy new trendy-looking glasses, so I'm teetering on the fence of hypocrisy. Fortunately I am good at balancing on narrow things like fences... Boy it's been a while since I allowed myself these sorts of rabbit trails. How I've missed them... And the usage of three consecutive periods... Over... And... Over...) So most days after work, I stop by Bipartisan for a cup of coffee with my laptop and decompress for a couple hours by emailing, chatting, and simply wasting time before I head home for dinner. It's an enjoyable and relaxing time that I can either use to accomplish real tasks or just waste time. Well, it's enjoyable UNTIL this one particular couple comes in.

I don't know these people, names or anything, but somehow they often end up sitting in a nearby table. Mind you, I may complain in my blog about certain people, but generally it's pretty tongue-in-cheek. These things don't really bother me for the most part. It's just fun to play the sarcastic curmudgeon. (I've discovered, though, that in certain Christian circles, talking about people like this can all be excused with one little phrase: "Bless his/her/their heart," though I'm not convinced of the true totality of forgiveness afforded by one phrase.) However, these two people actually DO bother me a bit, which will make playing the sarcastic curmudgeon a little more natural. So the man in this couple is probably in his late fifties, early sixties, with a lefty earring, slicked back mostly-gray hair, and a short-cut gray goatee. One of those guys who wears intentionally-faded tee shirts under an unbuttoned button-up shirt. Kind of a greasy, smooth-talking playboy. The female counterpart looks to be in her mid to late thirties, business casual, usually looks like she had just come off of a day at work, something office-related. Not a completely unlikely pair despite what appears to be a significant age discrepancy between them. They LOOK like they'd just come in for come coffee and chit chat.

So on a typical day they're in there, like the other day, they'll come in, order their caffeinated drinks and sit obnoxiously close to my table... and proceed to make-out for a minute or so. Now, I don't know when THAT became socially acceptable, let alone Dayn-acceptable in such close proximity. So they go at it for a while, not Dayn- acceptable, then share within-earshot-sweet-nothings talking with their faces fractions away from each other, undoubtedly staring passionately into each other's eyes. All of this at a convenient distance of three feet, or within throwing-up distance, if you prefer a relative term.

After this time of greeting, they settle into a dialogue about the matters of the day. Yesterday, for example, I got to hear a discussion about how on their last bike ride, her bike seemed to be broken, and he kept leaving her in the dust, making her paranoid that he was going to forget she was biking behind him altogether. This discussion never quite becomes heated, but gets awfully close as she grows more and more frustrated with him and the bike she had been riding. This is certainly the adult conversation I would expect from the grandpa-granddaughter lovers sitting within my shared-bodyheat-zone. So then, when she's expressing any sort of frustration, he leans in and erases her anxiety by initiating another make-out session. Good grief. Tantamount pictures presents, in association with Awkward Proximity Pictures, "Healthy Relations 101." On that same day, the conversation took an ironic turn as the two of them discussed a twenty-something couple they know who were a little too "lovey dovey" in a dinner party kind of setting, which was obviously due to their immaturity, being so young, you know. (I've had this discussion before, but there really should be a type-setting which denotes sarcasm. Come on English language!)

Anyway, this goes on for an hour or so, long enough to negate any sort of relaxation I may have achieved in my after work decompression time. I just don't understand when this all became standard behavior for anyone. Obnoxious and just a little creepy. Nothing like watching two middle-aged co-dependents not communicate, unless they can somehow speak through their saliva. Gross. Bless their hearts.

The latest scoop...

2008-06-08T17:43:00.000-07:00

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So last Friday I had a phone conversation with two members of the Pioneers communication team, and got some clarification for what's coming up for me. So here's the revised plan... well, the only solid plan so far. So once I raise the support I need, prayer and financial, I will be moving to Orlando to begin doing video work state-side. I have some training to do, at least one survey-trip, and there's already some work lined up for me to work on once I get there. There appear to be some timing issues with going straight to Thailand, my ultimate destination, which means I will be in Orlando for a bit before I can make a home overseas. However, I'm very excited things have worked out this way. This will allow me to build relationships with more of the Pioneers people in Orlando, especially the people heading up my team, CommNet. Right now I still don't have a real figure for how much monetary support to raise, but I definitely need at least 100 prayer partners before I can head out. I should have my prayer letter approved this week, which means that any of you can get one if you so desire. If you would like to be a part of the team, send me an email at daynarnold@gmail.com and I'll get you hooked up ASAP. It's coming, and I'm stoked about it. Cheers.

2008-05-24T19:16:00.000-07:00

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So I decided that I was tired of hoarding my film Bible Camp, and have cut it into bite-sized pieces and posted it on youtube. Now everyone and their mom, assuming she's technologically savvy, can watch this thing for free, unless they want a DVD copy, in which case there's a link to it on each video's page. That is all.

All love guard in

2008-05-17T22:33:00.000-07:00

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Has anyone else ever noticed that Olive Garden commercials all look like they're heading for a moderately-funny punchline, but never pan out? I think maybe they have two writers, one funny guy, and one jealous and slightly more powerful guy. The joke guy submits the script, and the jealous guy edits them all with a pair of scissors at the last minute. Maybe?

My Middle Name is Gerous

Moving Right Along

New Blog-Site Coming Soon

Flamers in Portland

My New Chiropractic Niche

She is the Best Thing

The Beginning is Near

Still Alive

Clip of the Day 08

Clip of the Day 07

Clip of the Day 06

Clip of the Day 05

Clip of the Day 04

Clip of the Day 03

Clip of the Day 02

Clip of the Day 01

How Dayn, Who Thought He Was Prepared, Got More Than He Bargained For

Jason Eats Another Strange Food

Girls

The Monklets

A Few Days in Cha-am

Back in Thailand with Time to Kill

New Letter Coming Soon!!!

Additional Blessings...

The Biggest News [UPDATED VIDEO LINKS]

Making up for lost time...

It Comes in Waves

Downing-Nasmythe Reception Highlights

Hikes and Such

I'm Going to Shoot You

A conundrum of sorts

Like Being Punched in the Gut With Joy

South Sister Video Album

Scattered smattering of stories

Don't worry, I'll write a real blog in the near future

God had some interesting things up His enormous sleeves.

How I Lost the Church

Graceful Loser

Two weeks away from the blog

The Rose-colored Glass is Half Full

Back to Portland

Last Thursday

Fire Dancing

Craziness...

Work is Good, Prayer is Better

I love working with kids

Dut, Dut, Doose

Mandi Eats a Grasshopper

Sweet Juicy Clarification

New Pics Online!!!

What I Need and What I Want

Impressions Part 1

Impressions Part 2

More video goodness!!!

It's a video update!!!

First day out and about

Chiang Mai, safe and sound

Bangkok, nearly there...

Tokyo, not quite there...

Coming Up Quickly

A Bit Disconnected

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat

Back to Normal?

Back on track?

The Letter is Out!

Almost There

Weekly, schmeekly

Practical Points

Back on track!

A wonderful girl and a silly video. That is all.

Musicophilia

Little joys...

The day's flotsam...

Updates, new and old connections

Hi Everybody!

Sometimes I can't even take the blessings

Cheers and Applause

(There are a (lot) of par(en(the)se)s) in this (one)!!!

Please pray...

Home?