A vision of the future…

Thoughts?  Too much?  Not enough?  Probable?  Improbable?

Killer design, either way (produced by Oh, Hello….and, yes, Microsoft).

Some Thoughts, Vol. 1

This is the more awake edition of “Sleep-blogging.”  We’ll see if it’s any more coherent.

-It looks like next year’s Atlanta Braves will likely include Jake Peavy (awesome) and not include Yunel Escobar (what?).  Why can’t the Braves be made of money?  Either way, I’m already anxious for the 2009 season to start, even if we won’t yet be contenders.  But I’ll feel decent about our chances as long as no one predicts us to win the World Series.  

-Many people attribute the Republican’s discouraging defeat on Tuesday to their inability to win over moderates (or, in many cases, their ability to chase them away).  Tony Perkins, a leading conservative leader, however, has a different strategy: blame the whole mess on the moderates.  Perkins accused moderates in the ranks of leading the party astray, and feels it wrong to cater to their concerns.  Apparently, it’s never too early to start losing in 2012…

But seriously, I hope no one listens to this guy.  

-I really hope that the studios come to their senses and start slashing the prices of Blu-Ray movies.  The Blu-Ray player manufacturers are coming to their senses (good players can easily be found for south of $200 now), but I really don’t want to pay $30 for a WALL-E Blu-Ray disc this month.  I would, but I don’t want to.  Upscale DVD players do an admirable job, but there really is no comparison.  It’s a tough climate for visually-driven movie buffs. 

-Also, a word to Activision, or however makes Guitar Hero: sell drum kits separately.  There’s no reason I should have to pay $190 in order to get a $40 peripheral.  I want to live out my Drum Hero dreams.  

-The Furman Fighting Football Paladins are two wins away from a playoff berth, yet no one outside of Greenville seems to be aware of that; the media and messageboards have already given the spots away to App State, Elon, and Wofford.  It’s probably best that way.  And it’s definitely also best that we have an off-week this week.  I anticipate that both the Georgia Southern and Wofford contests will be barn-burners.  

-Still no Adobe CS4 Trial.  Adobe is giving me little reason to believe that the suite actually exists.  You know, other than floods of reviews and hands-on-impressions.  But those can be faked. 

-Apparently Pixar is working on two live-action films: John Carter of Mars and 1906.  That’s right, Pixar.  The films are being directed by Andrew Stanton and Brad Bird, respectively.  I give those guys (and all of Pixar) a mandate to try whatever they want, so more power to them.

Sleep-blogging

I should be in bed.  I have a killer migraine and took Tylenol PM over an hour ago.  Anyways, there’s been a lot going on lately.  

The new Concoxions website is finally up.  After weeks of being convinced that I was in no form or fashion suited to do web design, it just sort of materialized.  It was exhausting…after a few days of working with even the most primitive HTML and CSS coding, I’m beat.  I couldn’t really go all out here, and you can’t expect to dig up gold your first time out.  So I’m really thinking of this as a merely a 1.0, with 2.0 coming with a big update after Chillipepper.  Chillipepper is the only branch of the website that also got a facelift, and the others need to follow soon.  Joy?

I’m not convinced that I should be a designer.  At least, in my current life situation, I’m just not growing that much artistically, and I’m struggling mightily to be perfectly honest.  I enjoy the practice of design and am fascinated by the communication possibilities, and I really would miss it if I gave it up.  My attitude just isn’t following through right now.  

Segue: I’m applying to seminary for next school year.  That’s a part of my life that I have given up and do miss.  The art of theological conversation was planted deep within my soul over the last four years, and it hasn’t been fed.  My dissatisfaction with this has led me to consider over the past few weeks that some part of me is supposed to continue this conversation on a serious level.  Therefore, rapid-fire style, I’ve arranged to apply to McAfee School of Theology (a branch of Mercer University) for next school year.  Tiffany had already applied to McAfee, as seminary has been in her plans for close to two years now.  So we may be that married couple.  Like the Nelsons.  She’ll probably end up doing something pastoral and communally-edifying, and I’ll question for years whether or not I’m supposed to bite the bullet and try for a Ph.D. so I can be the sandal-wearing ministerial-yet-challenging professor/chaplain I’ve always dreamt of being.  That would be great.  Or God could end up leading me into something completely different.

Like design.

I’m ready for this election to be over.  I’ve gone from being annoyed to downright terrified at the state of public discourse in this nation.  As much as both candidates speak about reaching across aisles, I doubt there’s been a moment in my lifetime in which this country has been more polarized.  And I’ve been falling into that trap, too.  There’s been a lot of anger and hate thrown around, and you start taking it personally, even though there is absolutely no reason to.  I have a pretty firm grasp on who I’m voting for and have probably spent to much time researching the issues important to me (in order: tax structure, economy, infrastructure, health care…all of which are completely linked).  The candidate not receiving my vote is a man I used to have a lot of respect for, and I probably will learn to respect him again once this circus is over, whether he is president or not.  This election has turned both of these honorable men into something regrettable, and hopefully they and their respective parties will see that one day.  

I’m not holding my breath for the parties.

Adobe CS4 is shipping but Adobe REFUSES to put up the trials along with it.  I check their site probably 5 times a day hoping I can get my hands on some integrated design goodness.  If my artistic side is struggling, maybe my nerdy side can provide the proper motivation.

If anyone has read Rob Bell’s Jesus Wants to Save Christians, let me know what you think.  And then let me borrow it.  Please?

The new MacBooks look slick.  The Pro’s video card makes me a little envious, and the plain-old MacBook has vastly improved innards over the previous generation…but what’s with the shaft of Firewire?  That is borderline unforgivable right now; Firewire is still very much needed.  I think we need to wait a couple more years before we “move on.”  So my reliable year-old MB Pro suits me fine, terrible battery and all.

Tylenol PM kicking in.  Stream of consciousness fading.  Goodnight.