CItgo Banner

Here is a rather crummy look at my first major graphic design work. I designed a rather simple banner for Citgo Lubricants. Avcom is doing a show for them on Monday. The crew left yesterday. They were supposed to go by plane but their flight got cancelled so they rented a car to Dallas and were getting on a plane there. Enjoy.

Yummy Icing

Well, if you don't know Northeast Oklahoma is under a ice storm warning and will continue to be until Sunday at 6pm. That means we are having sleet and freezing rain continually. We have already had what the weathermen are calling the "first storm" and just now the start of the "second storm." A little later on this post I will explain the difference between sleet and freezing rain. But today I woke up and edited then I ate lunch with my Dad at Tulsa Lock & Key. About 2:40 the sleet started again and darted out of the shop in an effort to make it to Owasso before it got really bad. I made it! So here are some photos so far. The temp is currently 26 and not expect to get any warmer until Wednesday. The forcasted low on Monday night is 1.

Now the difference between sleet and freezing rain. Sleet is frozen ice pellets. Rain way up in the atmosphere freezes (just like hail) and when it comes down into our air it continues frozen. It is not snow because it starts as rain, rather than starting frozen. But freezing rain happens when that rain way up in the atmosphere does not freeze but then comes down into our air still not frozen. The only time it freezes is when it hits the ground. Freezing rain is the worst of all of these because it sticks to things. Power lines and trees stand no chance when dealing with freezing rain. Luckly we in Tulsa have had more sleet (which is actually better than snow because it provides friction when trying to walk or drive) than we have freezing rain. In places like Talequahm Vinita, and Muskogee there has been much freezing rain and lots of trees are down and lots of people are without power.
The forcast is for more sleet and even might change into snow in the "third storm" on sunday. If it snows on top of the inch or more of ice we already have. Things will get much worse.

The Great Blue Challenge

Is the shirt blue or purple?

My best friend in life, Kyle, is color blind. He has been for as long as I can remember. We used to sit on the swings in first grade and I would make him tell me colors of things he saw. I have always been able to see color just fine. My sophomore year of college I did a presentation on Colorblindness. Many more males are color blind than females are. So let me get to the point. Let me make the story short. I got a shirt for Christmas from my girlfriend, Natalie. It same from Steve and Barrys, a really low priced clothing store. I have several articles of clothing from them. The clothes are nice. I don't understand why the clothes are so cheap but I digress.

I think the shirt is purple. Really really like, faint purple but more purple than blue. Natalie thinks that the shirt is blue. Beth, my boss at work, also says the shirt is blue. So... I am putting it to the digital challenge. I took photos of the shirt this morning. And have put them in Adobe Photoshop. I am going to sample the photos in many different spots in an effort to really tell. Problem is... my camera doesn't reproduce color perfectly. So below are my findings, wrong or not.





































My conclusion: Well I don't really know. It turned out a lot of purple in the natural sunlight. But then again lots of blue in the incandescent. Who's write?

It's been a fun debate and my experiment drew no certain conclusions. But oh well, debate is fun.

Add your comments now.. blue or purple.

My Mom: Bus Drivin'

If you don't know my mom has been driving a school for a while. She is in her second or third semester. So today I saw her while she was driving the bus and I took a few pictures. Her location cannot be disclosed because it could cause kids to become unsafe if I told you. She started driving a bus in an effort to pay off her car loan quicker. She only drives in the morning. On a good day she loves it... on a cold day she hates it. Enough said.

A Semester of Anticipation

Well, School is in session tomorrow. I don't have class tomorrow though but I think I have to go to chapel. It's my last semester of college, last 4 months of school, period. Wow. How crazy is that? I only have 12 hours of class but only three classes that meet in a classroom. I have a independent study class in black and white photography and I have American Government that is correspondence.

Those classes only meet on tuesday and thursday so I plan on working at Avcom Productions Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Except that I have to go to one chapel a week being a part time student. That is kind of my plan in a nutshell.

Today I found out that I have to start saving my money more than I have been. This semester I foresee no major expenses but I had plans on buying a new apple computer before I graduate in a effort to retain educational discount opportunities. Now today Apple, Inc. announced that they are making a cell phone called the iPhone. I have been following the rumors of what Apple would release today for quite a while. There have been many rumors of all kinds. People guessing anything they would imagine. (Picture of some of the concept phones).

But I believe today Apple moved up in its rank in the business world today. The iPhone will be an iPod/Cell Phone/Internet Machine all in one. It is very innovative and quite frankly I want one. I told many of my friends that if Apple came out with a true video iPod I would buy one, this is much more than that, and I won't hesitate to buy the first generation. They are going to be really expensive though. Good thing that it didn't come out today because I probably would not have been able to afford it, nor would a lot of people. But it doesn't start shipping until June therefore everyone and their kid can save up and buy one. I can't even imagine the Play-Station 3 type frenzy that will happen. So that is yet another thing to save my money for.

But then I also have to come up with money to get to Maryland on May 17 for my friends Mike and Jenni's wedding. I figure that if I am going to be two hours of New York I might as well go there since I have never been. So... I have to save major money for that. Needless to say my semester will be tight. I make good enough money at Avcom and if I use my Dave Ramsey instinct I will have the money for all of that by then end of February.

All and all I think this semester will be the best yet and will have more memories than I can imagine.

By the way Apple announced several other things today. Check them out at apple.com or use this link to see Steve Jobs talk about them.

Houston New Years

A 'little' description of my houston trip.
It started Thursday, Dec 28. I left directly from Avcom at 12:05 to start my 8 hour drive. Well I guess I got lunch and a drink first. During my drive I listened to a few books on tape. Jack Welch - Winning and John Maxwell - 25 Ways to Win with People. I arrived in Houston at 7:45 but at my destination at 8:20.

Natalie's family was just finishing up the wedding rehearsal for one of Natalie's sisters, Chrissy. Natalie and I opened our Christmas gift to each other almost immediately. She got me a new purple (blue) shirt, a DVD of Wargames, the movie, new wool socks, and a subscription to Popular Science. I got her a pair or two of earrings, a jewelry box, and a watch. Yes, she likes all of them.

Friday went Ice Skating with the wedding party. Lots of fun and few facebooks pics if you can find them.

Saturday was completely wedding. ALL DAY! I videotaped and just helped out a little. Otherwise I stood around and talked sometimes.

Sunday we went to church in the morning. Hung out at her house all afternoon. Then we ate dinner at Pei Wei, went to see Rocky, and then went and hung out with some of her friends for New Years. That party was fun. We played/watched sharades and had a little worship time until 12:05. Then we went and shot off firecrackers.

Monday we went to Fry's Electronics and looked around. Then we ate at Cheesecake Factory. Her and I shared a Chicken Stuff Tortilla with corn cakes. We also split a Banana Cream slice of cheesecake. Umm, umm, good. That night we watched Wargames because Natalie had never seen it. One of the only three movies Natalie has never seen.

Tuesday we met Julie, a friend from ORU MMI, at an outdoor mall to eat lunch at Red Robin. Then the three of us went to IKEA and browsed the large selection of household items. MILLIONS of items. Tuesday night, Natalie, Kimmie, their Mom and I played Rummikub. Then her dad and sister joined in for a game or two of Apple's to Apple's. Overall a fun time.

Wednesday morning at 8:57 am I started the journey home. Stopped in Dallas for lunch at Chipotle, bathroom break, and gas. Then I drove up to the house in Owasso at 5:27 pm.
As of now I have no certain date that I will be able to see Natalie again, except for May 5 at Graduation. But I am sure we will work something out.

Yet Another Blog

Welp, I guess someday I will make a decision on a final blog location. For now you have come to the right place. If anything changes I will let you know.

This blog will be just that. Of my random thoughts, constant learning, fun times, and maybe a deep spiritual question or two. So bookmark this. RSS it. Or just keep clicking that link in facebook. But make sure you check back often, because I won't update often.

Later.