a GOOD versus BEST post

Okay, here's something to fill in the void between the real posts:
I finally decided to check my Facebook account after a long hiatus, and this is what greeted me:
















...and this is only a part of the list after I went through and hit the ignore option for several invitations to groups and events, most of which whose appeal I barely understood ("'___' wants to invite you to rate how alike you are! Click Here!" How tempting.).

I barely have time to blog, let alone take time to explore the possibilities lurking behind a hotness request (which, I'm sorry to admit, was pretty much the only one I was even remotely interested in checking out. I can be really shallow sometimes.)

In conclusion, I really have no other point here than to marvel at the amount of time a person could potentially waste on Facebook.

So here's your PSA for the evening:
You only get today once, and you'll probably be dead in less than 60 years, so why not do something lasting with it?* (Isn't that a happy thought?)

*The hint: In other words, accepting that werewolf invitation may not be the best use of your time.

I did it!

The cord is cut!

After months of procrastination, I have finally broken myself of my almost crack-like addiction to myspace.

It wasn't even like I was logged in all that much; it was just that my myspace page was one more website with my personal information that I needed to check and keep updated, and trust me, all that time adds up. Tonight I decided that enough was enough.

So there.

Considering all of the many areas in which I need to experience some personal growth, it's nice to feel some satisfaction about something even as small as this.

Watch out, facebook. You're next.

Guess who turns 23 today?

...I am surely one of the all time most blessed men of all time

El Processo Returns!

Here is another edition of before and after pictures of last Wednesday's shoots and the weekend results. Enjoy!

The Before (sans volunteers and Troy...we forgot to take pictures as we were filming):

The After:



Let me just say that Ian Achong is an editing maniac who can color correct like no other.

Props!

At the airport...

Yes, it's true, I've actually been allowed to venture into the outside
world!
Today we (meaning my beloved, my Mom #2, and I) are headin' to
Tennessee for an Ecoquest conference! Yippee!
I love traveling.

Until next time, here's a picture of my now-techno-savvy baby checking
the Boston scores on her new iPhone.
Peace!

Snapshots

Let it be said that my small group flippin' rocks.

I thought I would just jot down some thoughts and let the pictures tell the rest.

Every week about 12 of us get together and share meals, jokes, stories and the like before we split into two co-ed groups to do the deep discussions.


We started with chips and soda, but then things started escalating when the girls got competitive and started cooking things. Not to be outdone by a stereotype, the men called in reinforcements with chicken parm and homemade cookies. You asked for it, ladies.

We usually end up going longer than the prescribed hour that you'd expect a small group to.

If there's an iPhone around, we all huddle around a screen and laugh at YouTube videos.

Sometimes the discussions go well into the night.

Nearly every week someone says something that is so funny, our sides ache for a good half hour after the event.


Matt is a very focused guy when it's his turn at Taboo.

Taboo is probably the funniest game that I have ever played.

The girls are sore winners.

Many of us come from completely opposite backgrounds, but somehow it all fits together. I'm going to put the blame solely on God for that one.

If you're not in a small group, what the heck are you waiting for?

El Processo

Happy Monday, guys.

I thought it'd be neat to give you a peek into the production process here at FRC.
This is what we started with last week:






The inventory?
Two folding tables, a white table cloth, a light kit, two cameras, a preview monitor, an SM-81 condenser mic to capture the sound of falling dominos, and a ton of plastic dominos. Add two video guys, a few volunteers, and lots of patience.

Two days later, this is what we ended with:



-m

Where did Mauricio go?

Sorry for the lack of posting, guys. I've been sick for the past two days. What started as a minor headache on Saturday turned into a full-out hack-fest late Monday night. I've since traded in the cough for a fever and soreness in my eyes.

I suppose the good news is that this forces me to actually sit still , which I normally have a great deal of trouble doing; if it weren't for the achey-dizziness that accompanies walking, I'd probably be at work sharing my germs with poor Ian and Brian.

Anyway, just wanted to let you know what's up. We'll be back to our regularly scheduled program hopefully by tomorrow.

Beautiful

This is what the sky looked like when I got out of the 5 PM service this evening:

























Man, South Florida rocks.

I love ambient alternative!

I picked up The Album Leaf's 2004 release In a Safe Place from the iTunes store after discovering that track six was the soundtrack for Rob Bell's NOOMA video Lump (which, I think is Kyle Johnson and I's favorite video of the series so far).

I have since discovered a love for ambient alternative chill music that I never knew I had (thank you Rob Bell!). This is music for reading, or driving home when you've got stuff on your mind, or if your Garden State soundtrack is missing and you need more music to chill to.

Anyway, there's my shameless commercial plug for the day. Go buy yourself some NOOMA videos and that Album leaf CD and call me in the morning.

All I have is today

Sleepiness...I've been running hard today.
Here's what I was working on:



Pretty cool huh? Fast forward to a few hours later, where I'm sitting in the passenger seat with Steph's hand in mine, watching the highway lights race across the dashboard. I had a good chunk of quiet time during the 45-minute drive back from Steph's aunt's house in Homestead to remind myself of two things:

1) I have much less margin for error when it comes to my decisions than I did a few years ago; bad financial decisions then meant I just had to eat Peanut Butter and Jelly for a week or nab some side gigs for extra cash. No big deal.
Now, I'm saving for a wedding and a place to live now. Mistakes can hurt a lot worse now.

2) 12 daylight hours is not a whole lot of time. If I try to get all the good things done, I will certainly miss out on the best. It happens far too often for my liking, if I can be perfectly honest.

Tomorrow's goal? To make it count.

I have issues

As I was going through our tape archives today, I came across the following DVD that I archived back in July.



It took me a minute to figure out what in the world I meant when I labeled the 7PM as "The Perfect Service."




After it hit me, I came to a sad realization.

I am a dork.

announcement

In less than 24 hours, I will be 25 years old.

That is all.

A.M. Devo

Hey gang,

I thought I would wake up early and join the A.M. devo at Troy's Blog, and to tell the truth, I was mainly going to capture some footage for the recap video this weekend (just being naked here, as we say), and of course, I got drawn in.
We're talking about insecurity this weekend, a topic near and dear to my heart.

Truth be told, the topic of what I think I can and can't do in Christ (as if my opinion was the foremost opinion in this area), and the wrestling match that ensues in my heart, is a recurring theme in my life. For some reason, my particular background and temperament has me wired in such a way that my tendency is to believe the lie that my worth comes from what I do.

Needless to say, I'm really looking forward to this weekend.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us...
-Marianne Williamson

Epilogue

This is me and two of our volunteers from our Sawgrass campus on Sunday after tear down...if I look almost comatose, that's because I am.

I had the sweet privilege of leading worship at our amazing Sawgrass campus on Sunday. If was a blast, but I had to get there super-early. After this (and staying up all night Saturday night to edit the HD feed) I went home and crashed for about 6 hours, which, by the way, was the second best thing to happen to me all day (mad props to the Reverend Gramling for the inspiration!)


This is why you haven't heard from me since Friday night.
We are now back to our regularly scheduled semi-consistent posts.

It is finished!

I just finished the latest weekend video. It's a promo spot for next week's topic, insecurity.

I don't think it'll hurt if I honestly tell you that this one was a pain in the rear to kick out, mainly because of the headache that came from trying to find interviewees who would be both willing and authentic about a topic almost no one wants to talk about on camera.

This is ministry, though, where lack of resources is the mother of innovation, so after some major revisions to the original plan, and by the grace of God, we've got a video, and I am happy. Tired, but happy.

Actually, I'm tired, happy, and very very grateful to my roomate, Aaron, for being willing to take both the crew and soon the rest of Flamingo into a very painful period in his life. It's rare in my experience to find someone who's gifted enough to tell their story in a compelling way with that level of honesty in such short notice.

Success!

Strangeness

Pictured below is the view from my car window as I sit parked in front
of a local GameStop, waiting for my friends to return from their spot
in line, presumably with three copies of Halo 3.

I'm still wondering what I'm doing here...
Well hey, everyone's back. Here we go...

W00t w00t

Quite the day today.
We had ourselves a kickin' beach baptism, the details of which can be found here and here. I'm sure there will be some sort of recap to follow, although I may have to take some aspirin while I'm editing; we had some very active waves, so there's probably going to be quite a bit of movement (Hooray for the smooth cam filter!).

About halfway through then event I whacked myself in the head with my camera when a big wave caught me unawares, which the rest of the team thought was just hilarious (Ha! Mo gave himself a concussion! Brilliant!). Don't worry, though, he camera's fine. If Evan managed to tape it by accident, I'll post it so you too can laugh at my misfortune.

While I'm on the subject, I'd definitely like to give a shout out to the wild n' kooky crew that make up the FRC video team. We're more volunteers than paid people now, (which means we actually have to be nice to them sometimes- ha, just kidding Stacie and Evan) which is really encouraging considering that a mere six months ago there was Brian and myself (with our friends Ian and Carolina occasionally helping us out). Now there are enough of us so we can actually play a pickup game of basketball if we wanted to and school the worship pastors on the court (watch out, Pastor Ricky!)

Anywho, all that to say that I was very proud to be a part of the team I'm in today; life's just more fun when the right people are in it, and I'm working alongside the best! (even when they laugh and call me a whiner when I almost knock myself unconscious at the beach.)

Okay, who else can I give a shout out to while I'm here? Oh, yes....






Arturo De La Mora is a genius!



A genius with an antennae hat that reminds me of something....








....what could it be....



....ah, yes....

The first guest blogger, ever!

Hey gang, I'd like to take a minute to introduce Robert, my guest
blogger for the evening. Be nice to him & visit him at www.robertolopez.blogspot.com

. Hooray!

Wussup yall...we it's about 11:15pm and we are hanging out at denny's.
As you can see I am sporting my home made iPhone I made at the
restaraunt. Hopefully one day I can afford a real one. Well my salad
just got here so I gotta go...PEACE!!!

-Rob