Keep This Going

Hey dudes. So I just hung my first Minneapolis photo show at this gallery & spa in uptown called Artifex. http://www.artifexmanuumspa.com/

This kid Nathan Jorgenson who goes to the Art Institute and I are sharing the space!

I have been super stressed about getting everything done and hung and time but I’m finally done. Haha.

There is an opening tonight from 7-10 p.m. with free wine & cheese.

Anyways just thought I’d let you guys know and hopefully if you make it up to Minneapolis/are in Minneapolis, let me know and we can go check it out.

I’m raising money for the local American Heart Association Walk. It would be rad if you guys could donate.

My donation page – http://heartwalk.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=319330&lis=0&kntae319330=CDCA3E8DEBB142A7830C709A2DE09F69&supId=284827669

Much love.

::b

Snows melting, I’m back to two wheels and I my ipods been filled with some new tunes. Particularly this. The other day I heard some designers from down the street of our coffee shop mention “copywriting is dead.” Although this isn’t really copywriting I love the conceptual imagery through words in this video. Thought you’d enjoy it Bryan. Break out the violin Caleb. Let’s all get back on our bikes with this in the headphones

Hey guys, my team at work just launched this promotion/microsite for country music star Clay Walker – I was the copywriter. Check it out, sign up and maybe one of you will win. That would rule.

“…now he saw the familiar wide river beside the path differently. He saw all of the light and color and history it contained and carried in its slow – moving water; and he knew that there was an Elsewhere from which it came, and an Elsewhere to which it was going” (Lois Lowry – The Giver)

As I type this he sleeps in my arms… going on two days and still the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Healthy mom and boy. Best day of my life. Cecka was amazing… able to give birth naturally and is recovering well. I’m changed… I’m a dad

This was my favorite commercial by far

and made me think of these amazing videos

and one more for good measure

The first half of this school year I’ve been subbing.  Anywhere from pre-school to seniors in high school.  I taught anything from seventh grade girls chorus, boys with behavior disorders, level three special education, pe, ESL, French, home economics, and yes, I even taught band lessons to students who thought I had taught band before, when in fact I had never touched a flute or a trombone.

I worked hard and stayed professional and a month ago Friday a principal from a prestigious elementary in West Des Moines called me.  He said a teacher had resigned that day and that tomorrow I could interview to be the long term sub in that very third grade class.  You must know that this does not happen often at all.  I had subbed a lot at this elementary, knew the staff, and even some of the students.  Up until this point, I wasn’t sure if BreeAnn and I were going to be able to afford even a decent photographer for our wedding, and things were getting pretty tight.  Of course I would interview!  I studied hard and got my crap together.  And in less than 24 hours I was going to interview for a position that could potentially change my course of life, or at least change the course of the next five months.

I decided to wear my interview suit my parents had purchased for me in college.  The suit I wore when I got the job in Arizona.  The principal is ultra professional, so I knew he would appreciate it.  Upon coming in to the interview I looked around the room and saw two other teachers, a vice-principal, and a reading specialist.  They asked me to share a bit about myself.  After telling them I was from Cedar Falls and went to Iowa they said I would be hired.  I laughed a bit and looked around.  It turns out the principal was from Cedar Falls, went to Peet Junior High, and went to Iowa too.  Of course after saying that, they hammered me with questions for about an hour.  They asked me to leave the room and five minutes later they told me that they would not be interviewing the other teachers they had called and were moving forward with me.

So here is what I found out.  I would start Monday with a class that didn’t even know that their teacher had quit only one day before.  They hadn’t even said good-bye.  They have had no structure all year.  No consequences.  They ran the class.

Fast forward.  After three days of teaching, I wasn’t sure I was going to make it.  They are only third graders right?  But at the end of each day I felt like I had been beaten up.  My stomach literally hurt.  I wasn’t hungry.  Where had that feeling of joy and relief of getting a job gone?

That Thursday, and every day since then, I’ve been laying down the smack.  Some to my success and some to my failure.  It’s getting better, but a month into it, there is still room for tons of improvement.  I eat lunch with the kids every Wednesday, call/email parents, go to meetings, and have my own name card.  Overall, I’m glad to be back on a staff doing my thing.  And I know if I can turn this class around I will have a job in the fall.

These last seven or so months have been pretty up and down.  But 90% up.  The only major down has been financially.  And just when I wasn’t sure if I was going to afford anything, God steps in and got me a job.  Now, whether I have it or not in the fall, I’m not sure.  But at least I’ll be able to afford a wedding for now.

-David

This post is dedicated to the memory of Alex Dow

South African hip hop type music thing…

Alright. I was sent this video by like 3 different people in the last week. It is without a doubt one of the weirdest/most interesting things ever. Haha. From the weird girl to the DJ (who has Progeria which is basically a real life Benjamin Button disease causing premature aging) to the main dude who is basically a mix between Napoleon Dynamite, Alex from Everything is Illuminated (aka Eugene Hutz), Jemaine from Flight of the Conchords and some new Sacha Baron Cohen character, this is something you should see.

Weird? Funny? Interesting? Amazing? I can’t stop watching. What do you think?

Starbucks is not a thing of the past but their adapting to a new trend. Known in the coffee industry as the second wave of coffee shops, stores such as Starbucks, Peets Coffee, Caribou and yes – Cup of Joes or slowly becoming the “McDonalds” or “Dunkin Donuts” of good coffee. Led by speciality coffee buyers and roaster Stumptown in Portland, Intelligentsia in Chicago and Counter Culture in Raleigh – these coffee connoisseurs are trendsetters that are changing coffee culture and are part of what is know more commonly known as “the third wave.” South Minneapolis acquired two local shops of this nature this past fall with my personal favorite selling Intelligentsia’s black cat espresso at a place called The Angry Catfish.

Most of these places are run by people our age, fed up with the standardization of food and beverage and with a believe that the concept of coffee and it’s potential for farmers, taste, flavor, growth, culture, etc. hasn’t even begun to be tamped (no pun intended). We’re talking no 20 ounce caramel latte macchiatos with whip cream, no burned coffee brewed every four hours and no wondering where, when and how your coffee beans were grown and purchased.

Honestly, I’ve been sucked into a new world and unsure if I want to look back. I’m including some videos from Intelligentsia’s new store in Venice so you get the idea. They’ve changed the way coffee stores are laid out. Espresso machines are in various places throughout the store on individual hydraulic lifts that swivel so customers stand next to a barista while they explain where their coffee came from and how it came to be or talk about whether or not Brett Favre will come back… not on the other side of the counter. All drinks are by the cup. This is an art, something to approach with care and ease… it’s about the style, the feel, the music, the look

Caleb… get that portafilter tattoo and get to Intelligentsia and Stumptown’s NYC locale. Let’s open a shop. Bryan, get some designs going