Archive for ::: | Life | :::
Art Imitates Life :: My Try At Series
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Just want to throw this out there…having a baby changes your whole life! No news flash, there, but I can’t help but be inspired by the events of the past week. I’ve always tried to use this site to share portions of my life, and from what I can observe thus far, my newborn baby has taken up residence in almost every portion I have to offer.
Where does that leave us, then?
My only conclusion is to begin a series of posts that will chronicle the events in the life of the Payne family, the good and the bad, and the lessons I learn from them. I can already tell you this child has spurred my mind and awareness to keenly see and understand God working around us in ways that I never had before. I can tell you that I have quite a few posts in the chute inspired from only 7 days with this beautiful child. And I can tell you that there will be lots of content and lots of story and lots of connection.
What can I say? For now, this is my framework…
Hope you’ll come along for the journey!
The Best Valentine’s Gift Ever :: Your Life Laid Down
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Here we are, two days before the most convoluted of all holidays: Valentine’s Day. Shrouded in mystery and uncertainty, this day has become a bit of an aggravation to me over the years. It has been fully embraced by our consumer-driven economy and has become a driving force for sales in most commercial places of business. No one really knows where it came from, but we all know (especially we men) exactly where it’s headed…and it always takes us with it.
I’m not immune to it, either. Not getting something for my wife on this day seems callous, yet bowing down to the goofiness of this money trap is almost more than I can stand. I am among the lucky few who has a wife that honestly doesn’t want the egregiously overpriced flowers on Valentine’s Day, and for that I am so very thankful! But we still play along with cards and a small gift or two. Like I said before, I feel like a jerk if I don’t do something!
So today, I was in Hallmark browsing their card collection in hopes of finding either something really nice and mushy or something absolutely hilarious. I found something in between and settled on it. It was a good card that lacked a certain characteristic I found troubling in probably 85% of the other cards available.
Apology. Read More→
My Reaction to Avatar :: Are You a Culture Traitor?
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Along with the vast majority of our culture, I can now count myself as one who has seen arguably the highest grossing movie of all time: Avatar. And it did not disappoint. Between the outlandish visual effects, seamless 3-D experience and stunning action sequences, I can easily say this is one of the most entertaining movies I’ve ever watched and hands-down the best movie theater experience I’ve ever had. This is a well-made, mind-blowing, special effects extravaganza with a good story and good dialogue. I can’t say great story or dialoge simply because they were good, not great. The entire package, though, is well worth the ticket price and the drive that may become necessary if you don’t have a proper, 3-D enabled theater near you.
All that being said, there are hundreds and thousands of critical, political and religious reviews about this movie floating around web, and I don’t plan to add to the noise. I read many of these reviews before seeing the movie and walked in fully expecting to have some pretty strong reactions to the film. And that didn’t disappoint, either. I had to fight back the blogger in me and simply sit back and enjoy the film for what it is: entertainment. And after all the tension, adventure and emotional reaction subsided, I found myself walking out of the theater with one word in mind. Read More→
