Art In Its Many Forms

Thom Browne (second from left, seated on car) is probably the most important American designer around right now and definitely my favorite. His clothes are great, in my opinion, even if the style is a bit difficult. His suits are a modern twist on very traditional suits. Sort of an exaggeration of old 1960's Brooks Brothers/JFK style. They typically fit really tight and everything seems a little bit too short. I think they're great. If anyone has some spare change, they could buy me one of his suits. If you don't have that much, you could just get me one of his shirts.

Other art I'm currently thinking about includes Bright Eyes. He is fantastic. I think I've listened to 4 straight records of his. I like it a lot minus all the Bush Presidency criticism, but whatever. It's not like I'm Bush's biggest fan, so it doesn't really bother me.

In Architecture, I really like the new Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. The building is quite a modern creation for a city like Boston, whose modern architecture is about as exciting as NC State's. Check out the cantilever-like section over the top to create an amphitheater underneath. Coolest quality, the overhanging section is not supported by any columns. Check it out at this NY Times report.

That's all I've got today. I went to a meeting about some job offer for the summer, but it was bull crap. You could make a bunch of money selling stuff people don't need by convincing them that they can't do without it. The room was full of fakes and suck-ups which annoyed the crap out of me. I can't do a job that I don't care about. To do a good job I need to believe in the product, or at least the company, to really enjoy my job. Besides, I wouldn't be able to work and live with a bunch of greedy and apathetic kids anyway. So the job search is still on.

Encourage each other by building each other up. Be passionate. Invest your time, don't just use it. Enjoy the cold weather. Drink coffee. Read books. Do something fun. Don't think too hard.

Some Quotes

You say that it is difficult to put this advice into practice. Who denies it? Plato has a fitting saying: “Those things which are beautiful are also difficult.” Nothing is harder than for a man to conquer himself, but there is no greater reward or blessing.

~Desiderius Erasmus, The Handbook of the Militant Christian (1503)


When there is no truth that deserves assent from everybody, the only arbiter in our competing desires is power. Where truth doesn’t define what’s right, might makes right. And where might makes right, weak people pay with their lives. When the universal claim of truth disappears, what you get is not peaceful pluralism or loving relationships; what you get is concentration camps and gulags.

~John Piper


Our culture — both in the media via programmes such as Sex and the City and in everyday interactions — relentlessly puts forth the idea that lust is a way station on the road to love. It isn’t.

~Dawn Eden

Read the whole article by Ms. Eden at Casual Sex is a Con. It is a super article about culture's views on sex and love and how it doesn't seem to work out.


I'm officially going to Chicago for spring break to serve the homeless and orphans in the inner city. I'm really excited to be able to travel and do some good work for the break instead of spending all my time and money on myself. Funny, though, that by focusing on others I will bring joy to myself. Long live Hedonism!

"[Hold] fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that [you] will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict. For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers... who must be silenced."
~Titus 1:9-10

Planning

Planning life is overrated. I'm done with it. My life is unplanned mostly at this point. I like civil engineering, but I have no idea what I want to do with it. This is the first time that I haven't known what exact job with what exact company I want. It's fantastic. Why did I need to plan all that out anyway? God gets me where he wants me regardless of my plans. Now I'm planning days, not years. I focus on each day. I get my work done, and I figure out things that I can do to have some fun. I'm tired of thinking about what every single thing that I do means in the long run. I can't live like that, and I don't think I'm called to live like that. "The life I now live in the flesh I live through faith in the Son of God" (Gal. 2:20). I don't think I show much faith in Christ by trying to plan the rest of my life when I'm 20 years old. Life isn't a chess game; don't live like it. Every time I act, it does not need to go through a rigorous analysis. I can live a little, right? I mean, that's why Christ died. Now, I'm not saying don't have plans, but hold on to them loosely in the palm of you hand. Seek out joy. Just live your life. It's not a game, no one wins, and I'm not rewarded for my strategy. Only one thing matters and that is Christ. He's going to take care of me anyway.

Friends (or lack thereof)

This is a topic that has been on my mind for sometime. Although over Christmas it was largely forgotten, it returned to my attention almost immediately upon my arrival back in Raleigh. My life seems largely void of really meaningful relationships. I will explain what I mean in the paragraphs that follow but first disclaimer of sorts. This post is not meant to offend any of my real friends at State (because they do exist, just not in large quantities) or to offend any of my friends and readers at other schools (it is my friendships with you that I greatly miss). If you are offended, then feel free to talk to me about it. This post will be largely reflection not complaint, even though it may sound like complaint from time to time.

In high school, and when I lived in Greensboro in general, I was always surrounded my friends (and lots of them). I cannot remember all of the nights when I had to try to figure out who I was going to hang out with because several groups of people had called. Now there are nights when I wish anyone would call, just so that I could get out of my dorm room. This actually may be a blessing because being the social creature that I am, I would likely ignore the work i needed to do in order to hang out with friends. As it is, I get most of my work done in a timely manner. The lack of phone calls is not really the main thing that concerns me at thins point. I will explain.

My day-to-day life is largely void of any meaningful conversations. The things I talk about are rarely deeper than the menu at the dining hall or the recent NC State athletic loss in whichever sport. For those of you who know me really well, you know that I live for deep conversations. I love discussion, debate, and general use of intellect in conversation. Where is the discussion of relationships, God, politics, the church, worship, purity, or any number of difficult topics I discussed regularly in the past. I used to talk about lots of these things with Madeline when we were dating, but when she left she took my good conversations with her. I do have some good friends, do not take this the wrong way. Will, Bert, Big Lew, StewBean are all great friends. I love those guys, but my number of friends is way down from high school and even last school year. It's discouraging to realize that I can count my really good friends on one hand, but that's where I am currently.

I also miss the friendships that I've had with really great girls like Bethany, Liz, Rachel, Noelle, and Demi. Girls who challenged the stereotypes and became quick, intelligent, questioning, and active thinkers. Girls who were not content to be just girls. Girls who became women while most stayed where they were. Girls like these must be here, too. I know a couple but have become increasingly discouraged recently by the absence of such people in my life.

I'm not complaining much, though. I've gotten so I like being by myself. Currently, I am enjoying an nice cup of English Afternoon Tea while I listen to music and write this post. Life isn't so bad, just different. I just really miss sitting in speech or UTT and talking about really difficult subjects. I really miss the Starbucks crew from that summer.

A strange trend in my life is that God gets rid of relationships in my life before I move on. He ended a lot of things at the end of high school so that I wouldn't wonder about what could have happened. Now, since I'm planning on going to England to study next semester (and possibly all year) He seems to be putting me in a comfortable place to leave. If I leave, I will miss people, but there is nothing (and no one) here that will keep me from wanting to go to Europe for an extended period of time.

This post and these thoughts deserve more time than I have given them currently. I have probably 10-15 pages handwritten in my journal about this very subject. It is something that I've been thinking about a lot. Please, feel free to discuss in the comment board, through emails, phone calls, or, if you live in Raleigh, let's hang out and have real conversations. Let's get to know each other on a deep level so that we can both grow.

Ask hard questions, think critically, love the community, do things that are difficult.

Together we run
into what we do not know
trusting our God who made tomorrow
~Cool Hand Luke

Warm Start

I'm back at school and have successfully completed a whopping 3 days of classes. My schedule this semester is much better than last semester, so those of you who are concerned can be assured that I am at least optimistic that classes will be better this semester. I think coming back to school after Christmas break is always interesting because I get to recognize problems that I had last semester and fix them for this one. It doesn't work so well after the summer break because we live in new places and the previous semester is so far removed. However, this January I feel renewed and refreshed. I'm inspired to work hard in my classes and make the most of my time that is not spent on school work.

Enough of my personal life. The rest of this post is going to be scattered thoughts about various topics. I hope to be writing concentrated posts on particular topics, much like my last blog, but we'll see where God leads this. He's got it all planned out anyway.

I received an email sometime ago which was of great encouragement to me. I kindly thank the writer who knows who she is. The email contained a fantastic verse which I cannot remember ever hearing before. It was Hosea 6:1.

Come, let us return to the Lord.
He has torn us to pieces, that he may heal us;
he has injured us, but he will bind up our wounds.

What a great encouragement to everyone who has experienced pain in the last few months, or is currently in its midst. God does not send pain and suffering into our lives so that he may test us or give us a chance to prove our strength. What strength do we have? How will we prevail on our own? On the contrary, God dismantles our little worlds solely that he may reassemble them. He sends pain that we may know the comfort of being healed. As a child, if i never knew the pain of falling down, how would I know the tenderness and compassion shown when my father or mother picked me up and carried me into the house? If I was never sick, I would not know the feeling of lying on the couch while my grandmother stroked my hair as I fell asleep. These are some of the great joys of life. Without pain none of them would have come. In the same way, God brings pain and struggle into our lives so that we may know the joy of being restored and feel the greatness of His love.

I was given 3 books for Christmas this year, all of which I am very excited about. The first is Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream. It is a thought-provoking look at the way we design towns in America (or really a critique of the crappy job we've done). It investigates how the suburbs are killing any sense of community in our cities and towns and what we should do to battle this to restore the vitality of our communities. I highly recommed it for anyone studying architecture, civil engineering, or urban planning as well as for anyone who is disappointed by the lack of meaningful relationships found in the places where they live. It is not a technical book and can be understood by anyone. I think it is very important because it will affect the places you choose to live when you get out of college and who you vote for in your local elections.

I have already finished reading that and moved on to 1776 by David McCullough. I love studying the American Revolution and the men who shaped our country. How great would it be to fight for the cause of freedom in your own land? I particularly love the stories about Samuel Adams and Thomas Paine and others who were the ideological fathers of the Revolution. I'm only about 70 pages into 1776 but I am enjoying it immensely. It is inspiring. Perhaps some of our names will be remembered 250 years from now and be known by everyone in the English speaking world. Maybe some of us will fight for great causes and be at the root of great movements that change the entire world. We are the next Martin Luthers and George Washingtons and Peters and Pauls and Nelson Mandelas. Are we ready for it? Are we preparing for that kind of greatness?

The last book new book I have is How Should We The Live? by Francis Schaeffer. I haven't started it and, therefore, have no comment to make except that it is subtitled "The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture." I am afraid this book is destined to make me more pessimistic than I already am.

This is a fairly long post, but I have had a lot on my mind. My hope is that someone may enjoy it. One thing I really like about Blogger is that everyone can comment, not just registered members so feel free to leave your thoughts and opinions, but remember to love eachother when you do so.

The world is ours if we would only let it be.

Little children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
~1 John 3:18

Here it goes again

I'm starting again. This is going to be the slightly (and I do mean slightly) less middle school-ish home of my thoughts and writing. I really need an outlet for some of my thoughts and this is going to be just that. I'm sure that one or two people in the world may find the future posts at least somewhat interesting.

The site will probably go through numerous look changes before I settle on something I'm happy with, but for now, this is it.

Enjoy the remainder of your Christmas breaks (even if it only lasts for a couple more days).