I was watching the CBS Sunday Morning show, my Sunday morning guilty pleasure, and they had a story on about the history of the Jack O’ Lantern. I found it really interesting as I had never heard the story before. So here it is, enjoy! The Story of Stingy Jack As the story goes, Stingy…
Category
Thoughts
Where Do We Get Our Strength?
I have been enjoying the wonderful reflections of my friend Rev. Frank Showers. I met Frank when he came to speak at our community Valley Mosaic. He is a spiritual adviser and Lutheran Minister and currently resides in Chicago Illinois with his son. Here is one of Frank’s latest email reflections. Feel free to contact…
The Real Issue: A Thought by Milton Glaser
“The real issue is not talent as an independent element, but talent in relationship to will, desire, and persistence. Talent without these things vanishes and even modest talent with those characteristics grows.” -Milton Glaser
Without Aesthetic
“Without aesthetic, design is either the humdrum repetition of familiar clichés or a wild scramble for novelty. Without the aesthetic, the computer is but a mindless speed machine, producing effects without substance. Form without relevant content, or content without meaningful form.” -Paul Rand
A Story About A Hermit
Throughout the month of October I have been attending a wonderful lecture series organized by Holy Cross Orthodox Church here in Williamsport. I’ve never really been exposed to the Orthodox expression of faith before but have always been an admirer of it’s long rich tradition. Interestingly, I just finished reading Scott McKnight’s blog post on …
Does your chocolate taste like the tears of workers?
Not to make anyone feel guilty, but if you were to buy one kind of fair trade item it should be chocolate. No other industry uses more slave labor than the chocolate industry. You can read a bit about it here. Order your slave-free chocolate here. Thanks to Ariah Fine for reminding me.
Higher Education: Who Needs It?
My friend Michael and I were talking a bit about education the other night. He posted some thoughts on a book he read by Robert Adams that asks if art can indeed be taught in a college/academic setting. As far as teaching art goes, I tended to agree with this quote from Adams: “Can Photography…
Get Busy Livin’ or Get Busy Dyin’
I led a discussion at Valley Mosaic tonight. We had some great meaingful discussion I thought. I talked about John 5:1-8, where Jesus encounters a crippled man on his way to Jeruselem at the pool of Bethesda. This is such a great story with many layers. I’ve been really interested in the Gospel of John…
Are We All Institutionalized?
Sometimes our pain and suffering can become comfortable to us. Sometimes, if we’ve suffered for a long time, we can’t imagine what it would be like to not suffer. We secretly hold on to our pain, it becomes part of our identity, part of who we are. But somewhere, deep down, we seem to intrinsically…
It’s Obvious Why Rio Won the Olympic Bid…
they had a better logo. On second thought, I don’t know I can’t make up my mind. From the Rio bid site: “The Sugar Loaf in the shape of a heart represents the Brazilians’ indisputable passion and vibration for sports. The exclamation point replacing the numeral 1 in the writing ‘Rio 20!6’ symbolizes Brazil’s heightened…