Author: Shay

A little bit, a little bit more.

Categories
News Personal

Generation Me

The Global Enterprise
I have to remind myself constantly that the world doesn’t revolve around me…though I sure like to think it does. But only by God’s grace can I slay the dragon in my heart that the Bible calls pride.

There’s a good piece from Newsweek that I think we all should read called “Generation Me” which basically discusses the fact that we’re just all about ourselves these days. Here’s a snippet of a key sentence and a link from the article (the whole article is only 6 paragraphs — quick, easy read):

“…as Jean Twenge and W. Keith Campbell point out in their excellent book “The Narcissism Epidemic,” released last week, we’ve built up the confidence of our kids, but in that process, we’ve created a generation of hot-house flowers puffed with a disproportionate sense of self-worth (the definition of narcissism) and without the resiliency skills they need when Mommy and Daddy can’t fix something.”

Read the full article from Newsweek here.

In a related story, a mom got upset this week when Disneyland wouldn’t allow MTV to film her daughters $150,000 quinceañera. Here’s a quote from the daughter:

“Who is Disney to say, ‘No,’ because we’re paying them,” Kreuger said. “I really want Disney to see the stress they caused. All my life I wanted to have a big quince, and MTV has the big shows and all the drama, and I wanted that too.

I sent in, like, two videos — I was trying really hard, and they liked me,” Krueger continued. “It gets me so mad that they’re not going to do this MTV thing.”

It’s a true story, but if seeing is believing then click here.

Categories
News Personal Photography Video

Making the Library Cool Again

I mentioned over a year ago about how the Library of Congress (LOC) was putting some of their photo collection online via Flickr and that it was probably one of the coolest things the U.S. government had done in a while. Well I went exploring some more today and found that they haven’t stopped with Flickr. As of today, I found official LOC operated sites on Flickr, Twitter, and YouTube — not to mention their ridiculously cool blog. Below are some screen shots and links of a few notable items I found from our friends in Washington. Funny thing — I always thought librarians were supposed to be mean and “shhhh” you all the time, but it seems like the LOC is doing quite the opposite:

The Library of Congress Blog
Libary of Congress Official Blog
The Library of Congress blog is updated quite regularly with news about current collections at the LOC as well as fun tidbits and insights about history. One post I came across was a link to a 55 minute Stevie Wonder concert that was held at the Library back in February. The full concert footage is available exclusively at their blog. That’s just one reason to make sure to add their blog to your RSS feed reader.

The LOC on Flickr
Library of Congress Flickr
This was the LOC’s first major break-in to social media and it’s definitely been a good one. Starting with some 3,000 images they have now doubled that figure in about a year and the photos just keep getting better and better. Their photo sets make it easy to browse different parts of the collection and one of my favorites is the set “1930s-40s in Color” which has some great shots of the riveters, state fairs, and I even saw a blimp in there. Go see the world of the past at the LOC’s Flickr page.

The LOC on YouTube
Library of Congress YouTube
If Flickr is where the LOC hosts their still frames, then YouTube is now their place for moving pictures. Easily one of the greatest things about the LOC’s new YouTube page is the 42 videos they have of The Edison Company’s early films. Some of the videos are a little strange, but the fact that we now have digital footage of video taken in the 1880’s kind of blows my mind.

The LOC on Twitter
Libarary of Congress Twitter
Don’t have time to read a blog? Don’t feel like viewing photos or watching videos? Well, you can get your bite-size version of the Library of Congress now at their official Twitter page. Though many of their updates are just relinks to their blog, they do however seem to have a real human behind the keyboard because this girl was looking for some “foreign policies” from the Clinton era and the LOC was happy to oblige her with the answer.

Categories
Photography

Photos From The White House



P031909PS-0533, originally uploaded by The Official White House Photostream.

This one is for my photography friends.

I spent some time today browsing The Official White House Photostream on Flickr and I must say, there’s some legit stuff in there. The white house photographer for most (maybe all) the images is a guy by the name of Pete Souza and his work is simply fantastic.

If you get a chance be sure and check out all the photos The White House is posting on Flickr and when you’re ready for more awesomness, take a glance at Pete Souza’s portfolio site — the “Wrigley Field” images are fabulous.

Categories
Personal Photography

Easter Sunday

I know it’s been over a week, but I had a few photos from Easter I thought I’d share.

Here’s us in our Easter outfits. Bethany thought it would be fun if I wore a suit, so I Twittered about it and went for it!
Easter Outfits

Adam (our brother) on the other hand was having struggles with is Easter attire
Struggs

We went over to a friend’s house and enjoyed a meal together. This is Mike cutting the bestest Easter turkey. I’m not sure if turkey is a traditional Easter food, but it was enjoyable!
Mike Cutting the Turkey

Just another shot of the turkey… for good measure.
Mmmmm Turkey!

Turkey + Golf on TV = Snooze Fest for the Fellas
Snooze Fest

While the guys slept I enjoyed a Coke… nothing special here, but I was only guy not sleeping so I had to do something.
A Free Coke

Finally (and I try and save the best for last), a shot of the wives cleaning up! They’re so nice…
The Girls Chatting and Cleaning Up

Categories
Hear, See, and Do

Hear, See, and Do – #8

HEAR: Three Qualities God is Looking For in His Servants
A few weeks back we had a missionary to Uganda as a guest preacher at our church while our pastor was gone. He preached a phenomenal sermon on the “three qualities God is looking for in His servants” out of Isaiah 66, and you would do well to give it a listen. I guarantee it will convict your heart and you will appreciate this pastor’s passion for God’s word and God’s people. Click this link to begin listening or to download the mp3 file (right-click and select “Save As…” to download the file to your computer).


SEE: John Mayer Singing Without a Guitar in His Hands


John Mayer enters the video at about a minute in, so go ahead and fast forward.

DO: Read Last Week’s Cover Story From Newsweek
Last weeks cover story titled “The End of Christian America” which seeks to reveal the latest findings that the number of claiming Christians had dropped some 10% in the past 15 years. Thankfully, they interviewed who I believe to be one of the best-thinking, conservative theologians, Dr. Albert Mohler. Here’s a quick snippet from the article:

“The moral teachings of Christianity have exerted an incalculable influence on Western civilization,” Mohler says. “As those moral teachings fade into cultural memory, a secularized morality takes their place. Once Christianity is abandoned by a significant portion of the population, the moral landscape necessarily changes. For the better part of the 20th century, the nations of Western Europe led the way in the abandonment of Christian commitments. Christian moral reflexes and moral principles gave way to the loosening grip of a Christian memory. Now even that Christian memory is absent from the lives of millions.”

Click here to read the entire article: “The End of Christian America.”

To see all the past “Hear, See, and Do” posts click here.