Author: Joel

Work/Rest

November 9, 2013

Remember that there is a natural rhythm to life. You must work and you must rest. Too much of either of those is not a good thing. If you are constantly working and not resting, you will run yourself into the ground. And if you rest too much, you will actually make yourself more tired. Instead, it is wise to heed the adage: “work hard, play hard.” When you are working, you should give yourself to it fully, not constantly wishing for rest while you do it. And when you are resting, you ...  Keep reading

Mutual Benefit

November 2, 2013

This is what has been rolling through my ears the last couple days:

Check em out on Bandcamp. They have a bunch of name-your-price albums!

I Am Valuable, I Am Nothing

October 30, 2013

The paradox of being human is that you are nothing and very valuable all at the same time. It’s a little hard to understand, but if you look around, you will see that you are a very small part of a very big universe careening through time – just one very small speck in a very large nebula of actions and reactions. It’s easy to think that what you do doesn’t really matter. It’s true, it doesn’t; and yet, you are also very important. You have probably also had ...  Keep reading

Sketching

September 28, 2013

I heard a friend say once that “works of art are never finished, only abandoned.” My art teacher in high school taught me to develop a composition moving around and across the entire image at once, sketching in parts of the whole a little at a time, rather than  finishing one part in detail and then moving onto another (which may be our tendency). Life is kind of like that, too. You don’t ever really finish it. It’s just that one day you die. You might not have everything ...  Keep reading

Real Strength

September 18, 2013
Real strength is not defined by your ability to conquer any and every thing that might stand in your way. To overpower and dominate is often weakness. Real strength is knowing your own fragility (for you can be snuffed out at any moment). And it is realizing that though they kill your body, they cannot kill your soul.

Chet Atkins

September 11, 2013

Tried out old Chet on the turntable this evening. The kids liked it and danced. I wish you could see the diamond-patterned corduroys he is wearing on the album cover.