Christmas in the Guadalupes

Some picture of our hiking trip to Guadalupe Mountains National Park on the day after Christmas.

Great Interpretation

So the best interpretation of my card so far has been from my next door neighbor.

(Opening up the flap to reveal the angel)
So this is Satan, who is reading the Scriptures right before the Incarnation with the slow understanding on what is about to occur:
Satan:”No, No, ….”

(Opening the next flap to reveal the multitude)
Satan screaming,”NO, F*** NO!!” (repeatedly)
With the Joe Satriani angels behind him blaring their trumpets in his ears.

I though it was pretty good (and it gave me ideas for next year).

Good News

I hope everybody received their Christmas card alright. I understand that it isn’t as straightforward as most cards people give and as such I would like to hear everyone’s interpretation whether they are funny, critical, or simply simple. I have already got a couple of really hilarious readings of it so far and will post them soon. (if you haven't got it yet, it should be coming shortly, I think I sent it to everyone I know who reads my blog)

Viewing My Life Through a Camera on the Top of a Car

So in Google’s new ploy in which to take over the world, it has developed the “street view” feature on its mapping application. The Basic idea is a fleet of cars with cameras mounted on them takes pictures as they travel, which are then converted into panoramic scenes. It is really a very ambitious undertaking considering the vast amount of land coverage with every few feet containing a whole lot of information.

Google has understandably run into privacy issues from a whole host of people and organizations and even entire towns. The most interesting of these are from people doing things they didn’t want to be seen doing (people entering and exiting adult bookstores, theft attempts, etc.). On the other hand it can be really useful when trying to find directions somewhere and when you can zoom around the streets of Rome, is undeniably cool.


So I went and found all the place I remember living in my life and, with the help of a screen capture program, I reproduce them here (I was very surprised to have found out that Google actually drove through Comstock):


Our first house in Comstock was a trailer that has long since been moved away but there is still the great mulberry tree in the yard where we had an awesome treehouse and the round concrete planter that we used as a sandbox.



This is our second house in Comstock. On a side note: it is weird that the one day they decide to drive through this small west Texas town it was overcast.

Our house outside of Odessa.

My dorm my first year of college.

My first apartment. Good times battling the Mormons with my atheist roomates.

The sad little rent house Roger and I moved into after the apartment.

The apartment complex I moved into with Nathan. Brian spent the night here one night that the airconditioner broke and it was in the upper 90s inside the bedroom.

The apartments Nathan and I moved into with Adam.

My current apartments in which my wife and I have made our first home.

Update on the Storybook House

A little over a month ago I won a competition to build a storybook house at the Dallas Arboretum. I have been busy refining my design and trying to get it to a place in which it can be built. I am almost there. I met with a contractor who is going to help me build it this last Thursday, and the meeting ended up being was a huge encouragement and help. The head contractor was very excited to get to help out with the project and I received a lot of good feedback.

I have also had some friends express interest in helping me build it. I will need the most help on Saturday Jan 31st and Saturday Feb 7th. We will be putting it together out at the Arboretum on those weekeends. If you can't make it don't worry too much; it will be up at the Arboretum from mid March untill Dec. And if you can't wait that long to see it, here are some of the latest renderings from my sketchup model:
It will be located right smack in the middle of a large bamboo grove.

Here are construction steps for building it (I got some lego men to help demonstrate how easy it is going to be):