Couldn’t Resist

Here we are with Marcus and his work
Here we are with Marcus and his work
Marcus with Red Storm #5
Marcus with Red Storm #5

Last weekend, we went to Jacksonville, FL, at the invitation of Park West Gallery, an art dealer from whom we’ve bought pieces from on cruises. They put us up at the Jacksonville Hyatt Riverfront for two nights and wined and dined us…all just to attend two art auctions.

The featured guest artist was Marcus Glenn. From the Park West web site:

Marcus is known for his use of vibrant colors, his expressive use of exotic papers and fabrics, and his ability to create a masterful textured collage effect. His figures are animated and mannerist in approach, often stretching and twisting into impossible but highly expressive positions. He also has created a unique form of combining painting with sculpture to create a bas-relief effect. He has called this approach ‘Flat Life’ and has been developing the approach for more than a decade.

He’s a very personable guy, great artist, and we couldn’t resist buying one of his pieces. Isn’t it cool? You can click on the images to make them larger.

Comcast is Gone

The 1.8 year old TiVo HD finally started to look like it was recording, but actually dropping programs around the 1 minute to 11 minute recorded mark. I wasn’t sure whether it was the hard disk in the TiVo, the external hard disk, or Comcast signals. Not wanting to spend a bunch of money to find out, we switched from Comcast to Dish. Since the DVR service with Dish is less than the TiVo service, and the actual Dish service is cheaper than Comcast, we’ll be saving the big bucks.

I also switched our high-speed Internet service from Comcast to CenturyLink. It’s no longer required that  you subscribe to local phone service in order to get DSL. Good deal. The DSL will be about the same as cable after the discounted price expires after a year.

So far things are working superbly and we’re learning the new system.

I’m officially retiring the static page titled “Comcast Saga” effective immediately.

Awesome

I finished reading The Shack a few days ago. I’m still reeling from its reading. I’m not even sure how to review it.

From the jacket:

Mackenzie Allen Philips’s youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later, in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for the weekend.

Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack’s world forever.

I think it has changed my world, too. I’ve always wondered and imagined what the encounter with God will be like. 1Yes, I believe we will all encounter God eventually I pray that mine will be as wondrous and transformative as Mack’s. In fact, I suspect that Mack’s encounter, as he describes it, is only remotely as wondrous as an actual encounter will be.

When you read this book, you will ask yourself, “Is this really true? Is it factual?” I don’t know if it’s factual 2You’ll understand when you finish the book, but I believe it’s true. It left me craving to be with God on a minute-to-minute basis. I want to be more gracious with those around me. And I yearn for the time when God will reveal himself to me more fully.

I agree with Wynonna Judd when she says, “Reading THE SHACK…has blown the door wide open to my soul.”

Footnotes

Footnotes
1 Yes, I believe we will all encounter God eventually
2 You’ll understand when you finish the book

Finished My Third

Kindle Rocks
Kindle Rocks

I just finished my third Kindle book. The Kindle is everything I thought it would be and more. I don’t miss having the actual book in my hand and I love being able to grab the same thing all the time to read during the day.

I still read actual books. At night before lights-out, I read and actual book. And devotional type books, at least so far, are actual books.

Love my kindle.