graduation weekend

this last weekend was packed, to say the least. thursday i got my longboard in the mail. its a 46" sector nine bomber. its perfect. i couldnt be happier with it. then, friday, we drove up to jackson for kinseys graduation. that happened saturday night in an open field on Union campus. the sun was setting over my shoulder and my girl walked across stage as the commentator called her name followed by "magna cum laude" (or however you spell latin for "im really really smart"). seriously, though, she was great. there was a huge party afterwards for this group of girls and all their friends and family. that too was awesome. there was a slide show and awards and supurlatives and kinsey just shined. shes amazing. i gave her her graduation present: a violin. shes been talking for years about how shes always wanted to learn how to play, so i bought the weasles' old one and gave it to her to start. shes excited, but not able to start on it because shes still ironing out the dozen songs she'll be playing on piano at a roommates wedding here in a few weeks. shes very talented, by the way. anyways, we went to her church and ran a few other errands on sunday, and then just took our time coming home. shes home for good now. we're going to start planning this wedding (its seven months from today) and we'll find her a job and we're going to be apartment shopping and working on the registry and planning planning planning. im excited. i think she is too. anyways, heres some picture highlights from the weekend... these are just a few stolen from facebook, as my pictures have not been developed yet (thats right... im still old school. 35mm oh yeah!).

the graduate!

starting summer

here i am four days into my summer break. i finished up in the graphic design dept at chatt state last week and spent the weekend enjoying free time and the weather and friends. we kicked it off with a pier jump. good start to the summer. its funny - every summer, despite it being something i look forward to all spring semester, seems to sneak up on me. i guess its more the summer vibe - the weather, feeling of freedom, and time to kill with your friends always just blows me away. its surprising - like summer should be. anyways, the point of this post is to announce that i am indeed finished with classes, mikey mike moved in with me, kinsey is graduating in less than two weeks, and i will finally be in the same city with that girl during the summer! that alone is enough to make my summer. speaking of making my summer, its about time to kick the summer off with the traditional reading of East of Eden (three years running). 

in other news, we (some pettits and i) had a wonderful longboarding excursion yesterday evening. we found some choice hills in some ritzy neighborhoods over on the north shore. i bombed a suicidal hill. it was the stupidest thing i have ever done and i would have honestly gone down in flames and broken every bone in my body if me and weasel didnt think quick and he gunned my truck down the hill, passed me, i grabbed on, and he slowed down. he hit 40 trying to pass me. it was retarded. anyways, many pictures were taken and ill be sure to post those asap. also, if you're friends of my old roommates Brian Oakes and Patrick Hall, check out their Europe trip blog. they left today for London, Dublin, Paris, Berlin, and Prague (just to name a few). 

now that its summer and im back to having legit adventures ill be posting more often... 

stay tuned.

engaged

March 26nd i asked Kinsey Nicole Bolinger to marry me. she said yes. it was a huge milestone in an already established relationship - we have been dating for close to 4 1/2 years now. i dont really feel cheezy enough to post all the details of the actual asking, but heres a little bit:
after a really fun and memorable date, i took her up on Lookout Mtn to a spot which overlooks Lookout Valley where we used to go watch the city lights when we were early dating. its the site of our first kiss, over four years ago. We watched the sunset and talked for a while and it was very normal and casual. then i got her to her feet (she still had no idea) and got down on one knee (its starts hitting her now) and i go into this speech... well, it wasnt really a speech. nevermind. anyways, i ask her (and she instantly gets acid reflux) and she says yes and i put the ring on her finger and we're happy. we go back to her parents place to show them and she walks through the door and a group of her best friends are there and i have a lot of friends there and our families were there and just a whole gathering of people important and dear to us. it was wonderful. these are some pictures from the party.







we're very happy. December 20th is what we're planning on for the date. Place: Covenant Pres here in Chattanooga. savethedates will be sent out early summer to those lucky few. haha. no really, if you're one of the 3.5 people who reads this blog, you're getting one.

im getting married. get pumped up.

logo

in class a few weeks ago we got the assignment to make our own personal logo. i went through a few drafts and finally settled on kind of an old school crest design. i went through a few dozen more drafts, and finally settled on this:


the significance of the steer on the left is quite evident. the wings, however, are there for kind of a humorous touch. the elephant is not me declaring political affiliations, but rather just a nice shape to counter the winged steer. and no, i dont like crimson tide. i guess i could stretch it to elephants being my favorite animals when i was a kid (at least, im told so. apparently i was obsessed with "Dumbo"). also, my dad was in Africa at the time, so it was sort of on my mind. all the type is custom done, and all of it was reproduced in Adobe Illustrator. Extra points to whoever can translate the text in the ribbon.

well, im finally home after a long day and stonewall has been cooped up here for 12 hours. its time to play.
more later...

STONEWALL

so on december 21st, i went over to the Bolinger family abode and discovered that the three dogs i was to sit had multiplied to seven. Briley, that golden harlot of a canine, had puppies. they were real cute, and hours after their entrance into this world, i had singled out mine - the only boy in the litter. i named him Stonewall. he moved in with me last night here in the tree house on hurricane ridge. he lives in my bathroom and right now we're working on potty training. he's getting there... slowly. heres Stonewall at a week old (his eyes still had not opened) and one taken this afternoon.he is mine, and i love him.

here comes the twister

on tuesday night, Union University campus was ravaged by a tornado. about 80% of their residential buildings are beyond repair. Kinsey and Taylor Brooke Bolinger are ok, but their stuff is still MIA... if there is anything left in their rooms then they cant get to it. the national guard and FEMA has the campus on lockdown. there is a website, http://uuemergency.blogspot.com/ that has updates on the situation. its pretty serious. the girls are most likely going to have to start over again from scratch. everything they had was in those rooms. Thank God they are alive, though. if you would like to help the students at UU, then there is a post on th previously mentioned website that explains how. if you would like to give to the Bolingers directly, contact me and i can set that up. This is my family. they are in a time of serious need. if nothing else, you can send them a note or a letter tell them that you are keeping them in your prayers.

i strike back like the empire

FAXMACHINEANTHEMS IS BACK ONLINE! this last month has been... well... epic. epic challenges, changes, and lessons. cheezy? i think so. poignant? you bet.
since my last post i have become an entirely different man. i lopped off all the locks, for one. that was a tough change. it was time for them to go, though. i've calculated that, since my last post, i have read (i think) 8 or so books. the one im on right now is called "What is the What" by David Eggers. fascinating. riveting. humorous. heartbreaking. since my last post i have also applied for about 14 different jobs, and i am still left unemployed. i started my second semester at chatt state too. im taking 18 hours this semester, down from my original plan of 21. i dropped one. something else has changed: i am now a slave to my schedule book. after 20 years of being scatterbrained and taken off guard by homework assignments and scrambling at the last minute to get things done, i took the safer path of just writing everything down. it works, believe it or not. every night before i go to sleep i make a to do list for the next day. i wake up a few hours before my first class or commitment, have a shower, have devotions, get my day planned, and have some breakfast. its amazing. strangely enough, its difficult for me to sleep past 9. i tried. its harder than it used to be. for the last month and a half i have had the pleasure of spending large quantities of time with miss kinsey bolinger and my second family. thats been a real treat. i hadn't been able to spend much time with her since about a year ago, due to distance and scheduling, so ive been making the most of the opportunity. she's leaving to go back to Onion University (Jackson TN) in a few days. she will be sorely missed.
anyways, i miss all my CovCol friends, as usual. im becoming increasingly busy, as usual. im continuing in ceramics as well. ill be trying to do production pottery this semester. i weaseled my way into additional shelf space in the studio. haha. i like winning.
well, im glad to be back, and ill be posting again soon. i missed doing this. i just needed to take a break for a while. im now hungry and i still need to get some sketches finished before i can eat, so im done with this post. here a little pickey pick for those who have not yet seen the new 'doo. (the kids today would refer to it as a pseudo-frohawk. i approve.)



FROHAWK KICK!!