Austin City Life

I had pretty much settled on going to Gateway Church but hadn't actually been to "big church" in a while, I had just been doing the internet campus. Linda told me I needed to actually go to church. So I did. Sermon was good. Music is fine. I looked around and didn't recognize anyone and other than the greeters no one greeted me. I felt sortof swallowed up. Decided if I am going to go there I need to get plugged in quickly. I also know they are more seeker friendly and the Sunday morning service reflects that.

I had heard a little about ACL (Austin City Life) but honestly didn't pay much attention to it. Figured it was too small and hipster for me but attended it anyway one Sunday a month or so ago. Walked in, looked around, and thought "yep, hipsters." But the people were quite nice and many came up and talked with me. EVEN mom's with kids hanging on there legs. So, I've been checking it out for about a month.

I like:

• they are friendly/welcoming
• about 100-140 people on Sundays
• sermons are geared towards Christ followers
• good/great music worship
• atleast one pastor (of the two) has advanced theological degrees
• they are doing stuff in the community
• lots of families and kids
• they have a paid staff of atleast 7

I am hesitant on:

• they are a newer church (4 years old)
• they have already mentioned they need more money
• they have already mentioned they need more people to serve on Sundays
• the oldest person looks maybe early 40's
• they are a tad more liberal than me (I am mostly ok with this)
• no building (i am mostly ok with this)
• need to see what they are doing social justice-wise

In general I feel like I need a place to rest for a little bit before jumping in to leading/serving/etc. Not sure this church will be the place for that but maybe. Guess I should talk with the pastor/leadership. I do miss the comfortableness of knowing everyone at LO. I did also check out Grace Covenant. I would probably be fine there too. Would need to get plugged in and wear fancier clothes. So, we'll see what happens with ACL.

Perry's Steakhouse

I know I started my "steak tour" years ago by now, I am still slowly plugging along on it. With it being Restaurant Week this week I *had* to go to a steak place and Perry's had been highly recommended to me. I had been waiting over a year to eat there so I think I set my hopes WAY too high (I do that often - one day I'll learn). I went with Thomas and Linda (sans kids) so that was super awesome in itself. I could have just eaten at Denny's and probably been happy. But back to Perry's. I liked the space - good soft lighting, roomy but cozy, tables not booths and I am a booth person but maybe booths are kind of cheap feeling. It was nice. We started off with salads. Mine was a caesar and it seemed like it was sitting for a while or was the bottom of the bowl. Way too much dressing and the lettuce was very wilted. I ate some of it anyway but I wasn't impressed. Thomas had a wedge salad (aka a chunk of iceburg lettuce) that looked pretty crisp and had a nice presentation. I didn't ask to try it as it had blue cheese on it and I can't do moldy cheese. Allergies. Linda had a spinach salad but she ate it so fast I didn't get to see it really. Oh, and they served bread. Sourdough I think. That was good. Very good. The entree was steak. (surprise!) hummm... it was ok. Just ok. The actual steak was very good. Good flavor to the meat. Good portion size for me (7.5oz). BUT it had BBQ sauce on it and was sitting in some kind of corn relish. I think I've learned I am a steak purest (or atleast purer). I really prefer the steak to talk and not the toppings. I like a nice pink center (medium-rare plus), seasoned and a tad charred, slight crisp on the outside. The BBQ sauce really bothered me. I scraped it off and ate the steak and enjoyed it but felt disappointed. Had I been by myself I may have cried. ok, probably not. it was still a nice steak afterall. After the steak was dessert. Yay! It was a trio of desserts. One dessert is good. Three is even better. Crème brûlée, turtle cheesecake, and a chocolate truffle. The crème brûlée was awesome - I ate small bites until it was gone. The cheesecake also very good. The truffle - tasted too much like coffee and was bitter so I didn't finish it. So, overall I was a little disappointed in the steak and salad as I had been told Perry's had the best steaks and the online reviews of the place had been stellar too. It was a fun evening out though and I am glad I got to share it with good friends.

Heartsy

Although it is sad for the company, it's good for my budget that Heartsy.me is going out of business. For those that didn't know it was a thing like Groupon but for Etsy.com. You could buy vouchers for 50%-70% off to use at peoples online stores. Which was nice for the consumer as I bought quite a few presents for people (and me) of handmade items that I normally wouldn't be able to afford. But I also bought stuff on a whim that I totally wouldn't use but thought it was cool at the moment (like organic natural makeup - not sure what I was thinking on that one). I also have a BUNCH of different soaps and natural crayons. Well, atleast those are useful - but I just made 20 lbs of soap a few weeks ago so...

Anyway. It was nice for the consumer but I really think it did a dis-service to the artisans by cheapening their product. I never went back to any of the shops I bought from and paid full price. And 2 of the shops I bought vouchers at two different times they were offering them because I really liked the product. But I still doubt I'd pay full price. As an artist I want to support other artists but I totally don't do that as much as I feel I should. I guess it all comes back on how much you value something and how much it is worth to you.

What Pinterest Didn't Tell Me

I noticed a while back that quite a few people were posting and commenting on a recipe for shower cleaner that was suppose to be awesome at cleaning soap scum from showers. Was just vinegar and dawn dish liquid so I made some up and tried it out. Sprayed it all over the tub, let it sit for 30 minutes or so, and then went to wipe it down/rinse. The one thing Pinterest didn't mention is that stuff is SUPER slippery and when I went to put my hand on the edge of the tub I totally slipped and hit my upper arm on the side of the tub leaving a crazy bruise. I kept looking down at my arm the rest of the day to make sure my arm was still there as it really hurt. I will say my tub is really shiny and clean but my arm is still in crazy pain. No, it's not broken. I can still move my fingers. So, the shower cleaner works great but be careful with it.

My pitiful arm (it's actually more purple than red)

Kony 2012

KONY 2012 from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.

In case you haven't seen it this is the new Invisible Children's video to bring awareness about Joseph Kony (the leader of the LRA) and a goal to capture him this year so he can be tried for his crimes. The video has had 14 MILLION views in the last 3 days. Crazy. It's worth a watch and consider if/how to get involved.

When researching a little I found this blog that criticizes what Invisible Children is doing and the Kony 2012 campaign and off of that blog there are links to many other articles about Invisible Children. There does seem to be a lot of negative press.

Invisible Children came back with this response.

So, just a few of my thoughts. Invisible Children has been around for a handful of years now. They are started as a grassroots thing on campuses.  My belief is they are not trying to scam the world or anything. I do think they are doing great things in bringing awareness about what is going on with Kony, the LRA, and Child Soldiers. They do a great job with creating videos that inform and unite people for a good cause. I do think their methods may be a little manipulating but when you believe in something you may sound manipulating I guess. When looking at their financial statements they do have a little higher "administrative costs" then other organizations and the founders are taking home about 90K each in salary's. Maybe I am living in my own little poor world but 90K seems high to me to be paying someone in a non-profit business. I do think Kony needs to be stopped. I am glad Pres. Obama sent 100 US military leaders to go help strategize. I think it's awesome this has been brought to the worlds and leaders attention. Overall I support Invisible Children's mission even if I also believe some of the criticism is warranted.

A girl's response to the Kony 2012 video.

80)~

I am ready for SXSW! Just kidding. :0) Needed a bunch of vodka for an upcoming project. Does look sortof funny on my kitchen table. It's 3.5liters - so almost a gallon.

Glass

Fired up the kiln last night. Clear-capped a piece I did last weekend. I fired it upside down but still ended up with tiny little bubbles all through it. I think the bubbles are pretty fun but I guess technically they are a "flaw." Do you think they would bother you?

 I started another piece with brighter sort of retro colors. Kind of fun. The green ended up brighter than I was expecting but I am cool with it. 

 I also did some dichroic glass pieces and I think they will turn out cool in their final stage but right now they don't look all that special so I am not posting it for now.

Hair

Got my hair cut Wednesday night and as some coworkers have been hassling me about straightening my hair, I emailed Kelly (my hair dude - he's totally awesome btw) and asked if he could style it straight after the hair cut. So, he did. Took a while. So, was fun to have it silky smooth for a day but I really prefer it curly so I was happy to wash it this morning and be back to normal. It's fine straight but I felt a little like a cartoon with drawn-on straight hair. Was also interesting as to who noticed it and commented. So, here's a quick picture as a visual for those that didn't see it. :0)