This is a list I just made about why Last Train Home by the Lost Prophets is the best song/video ever.
1. Photography brings them together.
2. This video makes me feel like I did when I was in 9th grade.
3. I could listen to this song unironically every day for the rest of my life.
4. Dreadlocks-headphone-chill-skate-guy is featured. I love that guy.
5. The "beat up car, but we don't care because we have friends" ethos is strong in this one.
6. For some reason they play a show on a truck bed.
7. Gratuitous use of BMX*.
8. A train is only featured once in this video, which is way more subtle then you'd expect.
9. Seriously, this song just rules.
10. Keyboardsinger.
11. Surburban industrial low-class wasteland.
BONUS: There are some students sitting right by me, not even knowing how hard I'm rocking out right now. They can't even imagine.
I'm going to go home and look up some art I made during 8-9th grade now. Expect a lot of Photoshopped self portraits.
*Any use counts and gratuitous.
10/10/10
They Keep Doing It!
You know Gap itself hasn't actually changed. Just the logo. I know that it's a bummer that it looks like the American Apparel logo, and I'm super proud of all those eagle eyed font jerks for being able to recognize helvetica out in the wild*, but seriously: It's not that bad.
In fact, I'm not really annoyed with these companies rebranding their image. I do it about once a year**. What does annoy me is this. It's the irate, even palpable rage that surfaces when whatever name + another name design firm fails to please the armchair design experts our internet seems to be brimming with.
So on that note of hostility I bring to your attention, another bad redesign. It seems that MySpace in all it's blood filled coughing, 2004 wet dreaming, mascot Tom abandoning, being owned by a evil media company hell bent on spewing black sludgly nonsense into our gulf of information/celebrity gossip, wisdom. . . has deemed it right to fit the site with a new logo.
A (dreaded) redesign.
Get it? Because, it's like, a space where the "Space" would normally go.
Ouch man. Here's a TechCrunch article about it.
*Well, no I'm not. They made an entire movie about it, and you'll earn no points from me for having seen it.
**I don't have a professional graphic designer AND about once a year I change what kind of photography I want to do. (These days it's the kind where I get paid.)
In fact, I'm not really annoyed with these companies rebranding their image. I do it about once a year**. What does annoy me is this. It's the irate, even palpable rage that surfaces when whatever name + another name design firm fails to please the armchair design experts our internet seems to be brimming with.
So on that note of hostility I bring to your attention, another bad redesign. It seems that MySpace in all it's blood filled coughing, 2004 wet dreaming, mascot Tom abandoning, being owned by a evil media company hell bent on spewing black sludgly nonsense into our gulf of information/celebrity gossip, wisdom. . . has deemed it right to fit the site with a new logo.
A (dreaded) redesign.
Get it? Because, it's like, a space where the "Space" would normally go.
Ouch man. Here's a TechCrunch article about it.
*Well, no I'm not. They made an entire movie about it, and you'll earn no points from me for having seen it.
**I don't have a professional graphic designer AND about once a year I change what kind of photography I want to do. (These days it's the kind where I get paid.)
10/9/10
I Mean Damn
Isn't that a great boot?
I mean, damn.
The Timberland "Earthkeeper" Boot is even environmentally friendly. Which is great, because I love both the environment and friends.
I mean, damn.
The Timberland "Earthkeeper" Boot is even environmentally friendly. Which is great, because I love both the environment and friends.
F Stop Watch
This is a watch that does not have the sequence of numbers that one is normally used to.
Awesome, isn't it? It's called the F Stop Watch.
For those of you who are not versed in photography, this watch features only common apertures as numbers on the face.
If you're into that kind of thing, it's hilarious.
Awesome, isn't it? It's called the F Stop Watch.
For those of you who are not versed in photography, this watch features only common apertures as numbers on the face.
If you're into that kind of thing, it's hilarious.
10/5/10
Playboi
Because I'm starting to feel someone who posts too much on Facebook, I'm going to start posting more links on this* blog.
This is an article about spending habits on Playboy.com. If you're not into naked(ish) chicks on the internet I recommend browsing with your images off.
(Firefox = Tools / Options / Content / uncheck "Load images automatically")
Anyway, I think I'm going to change my pricing structure a bit to better take advantage of these findings. So there.
*This blog sort of only exists so I can own things related to my name.
This is an article about spending habits on Playboy.com. If you're not into naked(ish) chicks on the internet I recommend browsing with your images off.
(Firefox = Tools / Options / Content / uncheck "Load images automatically")
Anyway, I think I'm going to change my pricing structure a bit to better take advantage of these findings. So there.
*This blog sort of only exists so I can own things related to my name.
10/1/10
iloveyou1
This is a list of commonly used passwords.
Check out the MySpace ones. You can really tell the demographic.
Check out the MySpace ones. You can really tell the demographic.
8/30/10
RadioLab
Editing a full wedding can take up to 8 hours, so I'm always on the lookout for stuff to occupy the parts of my brain not being used to edit. RadioLab tends to fit that description pretty well. It's informative, smart and for whatever reason I usually know a little about what they're talking about-so it's not too hard to follow if I'm not paying my full attention.
I downloaded the episode titled In Silence thinking I was going to get another bout of science learning from Jad, Robert and WNYC.
This episode came out early April, right before Easter and Passover. To commemorate the time, Robert Krulwich recorded a sermon. In the sermon Robert talks about obedience to God and what it must have been like for those tasked with being prophets. He talks about what silence means and touches on mans relationship with God.
It's a beautiful talk-I've listened to his sermon three times since downloading it last week. As there is with much religious discourse, a firm answer isn't presented. Some things are just inexplicable. Sometimes we're just left to wonder.
I guess one has to be able to take comfort in the process, rather then the result.
I downloaded the episode titled In Silence thinking I was going to get another bout of science learning from Jad, Robert and WNYC.
This episode came out early April, right before Easter and Passover. To commemorate the time, Robert Krulwich recorded a sermon. In the sermon Robert talks about obedience to God and what it must have been like for those tasked with being prophets. He talks about what silence means and touches on mans relationship with God.
It's a beautiful talk-I've listened to his sermon three times since downloading it last week. As there is with much religious discourse, a firm answer isn't presented. Some things are just inexplicable. Sometimes we're just left to wonder.
I guess one has to be able to take comfort in the process, rather then the result.
8/20/10
FeMissionaries*
I love girls who go on missions. No lie.
Of course broad statements are almost always false (or at least have an arguable counter-point) but seems that girls who go on missions are across the board pretty with it.
Typically a girl goes out for the right reasons (not because the parents said they'd buy you a Jeep if you stuck it out,) they're willing to put up with the less than desirable things a mission has to offer and they have their life figured out enough to think putting everything on hold for a 1 1/2 years is a good idea.
Even girls who consider going on missions I tend to like more. Since there generally isn't the social pressure for girls to go out into "the field" just the fact that a girl considered it reflects well on them.
Don't get me wrong-there's girls out there who waste everyone's time, no doubt. But in my experience XX-RM's are all sorts of smart, level headed and mature.
So in conclusion: I back chick missionaries, 100%.
*If this post surprises you, then your are being too damn judgmental.
Of course broad statements are almost always false (or at least have an arguable counter-point) but seems that girls who go on missions are across the board pretty with it.
Typically a girl goes out for the right reasons (not because the parents said they'd buy you a Jeep if you stuck it out,) they're willing to put up with the less than desirable things a mission has to offer and they have their life figured out enough to think putting everything on hold for a 1 1/2 years is a good idea.
Even girls who consider going on missions I tend to like more. Since there generally isn't the social pressure for girls to go out into "the field" just the fact that a girl considered it reflects well on them.
Don't get me wrong-there's girls out there who waste everyone's time, no doubt. But in my experience XX-RM's are all sorts of smart, level headed and mature.
So in conclusion: I back chick missionaries, 100%.
*If this post surprises you, then your are being too damn judgmental.
7/26/10
Colorado, Part 1
The Christensen side of my family had a reunion last week. My mom was too sick to go, so my dad and I made the trek alone.
Most of my cousins are married with children, so facilities that can hold our 4 generation, 90+ member family are in the minority.
This years fam-straviganza was at a YMCA in Estes, Colorado. Because Estes is surrounded by mountains, it was easier to get there via Wyoming.
Wyoming isn't that bad, it's just, you know, hellishly boring.
I dealt with sky country by reading You Just Don't Understand by Deborah Tannen, sleeping and taking pictures out the window.
Anyway, here is what getting to Colorado looks like.
My dad made a joke about this being a windmill farm, and how they were growing windmills.
I did not laugh.
Stayed a night at a Motel 6.
We stopped to look at this big crane, called a dragline excavator. The cab was probably three times the height of that truck on the right.
Made it.
Most of my cousins are married with children, so facilities that can hold our 4 generation, 90+ member family are in the minority.
This years fam-straviganza was at a YMCA in Estes, Colorado. Because Estes is surrounded by mountains, it was easier to get there via Wyoming.
Wyoming isn't that bad, it's just, you know, hellishly boring.
I dealt with sky country by reading You Just Don't Understand by Deborah Tannen, sleeping and taking pictures out the window.
Anyway, here is what getting to Colorado looks like.
My dad made a joke about this being a windmill farm, and how they were growing windmills.
I did not laugh.
Stayed a night at a Motel 6.
We stopped to look at this big crane, called a dragline excavator. The cab was probably three times the height of that truck on the right.
Made it.
7/4/10
6/30/10
Ok, I Can Do This
It's 5:59 AM.
I'm going to go lie in bed until I fall asleep. Then I will wake up at 12:00.
And find a job.
Ok, I can do this.
I'm going to go lie in bed until I fall asleep. Then I will wake up at 12:00.
And find a job.
Ok, I can do this.
5/3/10
4/15/10
4/13/10
A somewhat productive blog post
I had a somewhat productive night last night.
As a photographer I am constantly struggling with the question "should I bring a camera?" For the first few months of owning my first DSLR it was an enthusiastic "Yes!" I figured if anything interesting happened I'd be prepared or if I got bored I could at least whip out the cam and take a few shots.
But after a while keeping even a light DSLR gets annoying, and as a person who doesn't like to be annoyed I started not taking my camera on outings.
Recently I have found myself giving into my nearly unquenchable thirst for more light-tight boxes*. Lucky for me my addiction is easily appeased by a steady stream of $4 thrift store cameras.
Even though these film cameras are 1/4 of the size of my current DSLR, they still prove to make an uncomfortably large bulge in my pants whenever I pack one for a traipse around the town. (But I'm still happy to see you.)
So the same age old question again arises, and until now I have been none more able to answer it then when I was crying, squealing mess, gasping for air and covered in birthing fluids**.
Enter my (self declared) ingenious solution. I spent about 2 hours last night rigging up a way to keep a small film camera under my seat.
Rasta colors tell you I'm a free spirit.
With a re-appropriated old Volcom backpack buckle and a belt I've had lying around I sewed some straps onto the bars underneath my bike saddle.
The adjustable buckle is on the right side so I can reach it with my right hand. This makes it so I don't have to stop when I want to take it out/put it back in. The black strap underneath is elastic so it gives tension for the camera.
It's not perfect though. Those straps are actually sewn on to the saddles architecture, so if I ever buy a new saddle the straps are not easily transferable.
Anyway, while I had my sewing kit out I figured I'd sew on a patch I've had kicking around for a few years. It's the logo for the photographer Ed McCullouh.
(Click the image to get your own patch.)
I've sent Ed a few emails asking him some questions and he's always been cool about helping me out, so I'm more then happy to rep the guy.
Ed.
I'm getting pretty stoked on this shirt. I feel like a cool-guy bike messenger/mechanic when I wear it. Like I'm taking on the world, with style and grace!
Puck knows a styleOG when she sees one.
ONE OF the ways that I'm taking on this both styleless and graceless world is to (where I can) ride my bike instead of driving. The weather is starting to allow for day-lit excursions and it's great because I get to illustrate how eco-legit I am (remember, I REUSED some stuff to make a camera holder) to those square, square gas enslaved motorists.
One of the things that us style-filled eco-photographers do to let you know that we're eco-photographers (filled with style), is to roll one pant leg up. It's practical (keeps my pants out of my bike) and seductive (shows of ones muscly, toned calve(s)). It also shows off my newly shaved leg(s)***.
I gave into the curiosity last week and took the silky smooth plunge.
Let me tell you something about having baby soft legs. I do not like it.
Sheepishly owning now shaved legs is a really odd experience for me. I have learned a few things:
Of course the the most important lesson I've learned is actually in the form of a question: Why do other men chose to do this?
I do not understand why a man would willfully decided to shave his legs. Listen, if you're a girl and you think your legs look better shorn then I support that sexy decision****, but if you're male and your leg hair isn't like, repugnant, then why would you go through the hassle? Smooth legs culturally bring femininity to mind, and while I don't want to propagate any harmful gender stereotypes by buying into a hairy/smooth male/female dichotomy, it seems to me that it's good to embrace your genders natural features*****.
Be it hair filled or not.
*There aren't really any cool slang terms for cameras. Skateboarders are lucky, they have cool names for everything. For example: Skateboard = Stuntwood, and you know a nickname is top notch when it also works as a porn star name.
**Ah high school!
***Because of initial time constraints for a few days only my right leg was shaved. I was hoping at some point I'd be able to tell someone it was so my leg hair didn't get caught in my bike's crank-side gears. Alas, no such opportunity arose.
****LET IT BE KNOWN THAT I SUPPORT ALL SEXY DECISIONS.
*****Full disclosure: I'm circumcised.
As a photographer I am constantly struggling with the question "should I bring a camera?" For the first few months of owning my first DSLR it was an enthusiastic "Yes!" I figured if anything interesting happened I'd be prepared or if I got bored I could at least whip out the cam and take a few shots.
But after a while keeping even a light DSLR gets annoying, and as a person who doesn't like to be annoyed I started not taking my camera on outings.
Recently I have found myself giving into my nearly unquenchable thirst for more light-tight boxes*. Lucky for me my addiction is easily appeased by a steady stream of $4 thrift store cameras.
Even though these film cameras are 1/4 of the size of my current DSLR, they still prove to make an uncomfortably large bulge in my pants whenever I pack one for a traipse around the town. (But I'm still happy to see you.)
So the same age old question again arises, and until now I have been none more able to answer it then when I was crying, squealing mess, gasping for air and covered in birthing fluids**.
Enter my (self declared) ingenious solution. I spent about 2 hours last night rigging up a way to keep a small film camera under my seat.
Rasta colors tell you I'm a free spirit.
With a re-appropriated old Volcom backpack buckle and a belt I've had lying around I sewed some straps onto the bars underneath my bike saddle.
The adjustable buckle is on the right side so I can reach it with my right hand. This makes it so I don't have to stop when I want to take it out/put it back in. The black strap underneath is elastic so it gives tension for the camera.
It's not perfect though. Those straps are actually sewn on to the saddles architecture, so if I ever buy a new saddle the straps are not easily transferable.
Anyway, while I had my sewing kit out I figured I'd sew on a patch I've had kicking around for a few years. It's the logo for the photographer Ed McCullouh.
(Click the image to get your own patch.)
I've sent Ed a few emails asking him some questions and he's always been cool about helping me out, so I'm more then happy to rep the guy.
Ed.
I'm getting pretty stoked on this shirt. I feel like a cool-guy bike messenger/mechanic when I wear it. Like I'm taking on the world, with style and grace!
Puck knows a styleOG when she sees one.
ONE OF the ways that I'm taking on this both styleless and graceless world is to (where I can) ride my bike instead of driving. The weather is starting to allow for day-lit excursions and it's great because I get to illustrate how eco-legit I am (remember, I REUSED some stuff to make a camera holder) to those square, square gas enslaved motorists.
One of the things that us style-filled eco-photographers do to let you know that we're eco-photographers (filled with style), is to roll one pant leg up. It's practical (keeps my pants out of my bike) and seductive (shows of ones muscly, toned calve(s)). It also shows off my newly shaved leg(s)***.
I gave into the curiosity last week and took the silky smooth plunge.
Let me tell you something about having baby soft legs. I do not like it.
Sheepishly owning now shaved legs is a really odd experience for me. I have learned a few things:
1. I'm a lot more partial to my leg hair then previously realized. As a highly evolved human male I have very little upper body hair. Make no mistake, I like it this way, but that once possessed leg fur did remind me of my neanderthalesque Republican roots.
2. Shaving your legs is a pain. I know that last sentence isn't going to make it into any major news cycles, but still, I now posses a knowledge for myself that shaving ones legs quickly becomes tedious.
(And before any caps-locked Riot Bloggrrs start revving the male hate engine let me say this: I've never told you to shave your legs. Aim the XY hate ray as some other blogsticles.)
3. That whole "everything feels softer" line is not true. It turns out my leg hair was like unto a multitude of lower extremity(d) whiskers. By cutting it all off I've just deadened my senses. Everything feels smooth if you don't have many nerves.
Of course the the most important lesson I've learned is actually in the form of a question: Why do other men chose to do this?
I do not understand why a man would willfully decided to shave his legs. Listen, if you're a girl and you think your legs look better shorn then I support that sexy decision****, but if you're male and your leg hair isn't like, repugnant, then why would you go through the hassle? Smooth legs culturally bring femininity to mind, and while I don't want to propagate any harmful gender stereotypes by buying into a hairy/smooth male/female dichotomy, it seems to me that it's good to embrace your genders natural features*****.
Be it hair filled or not.
*There aren't really any cool slang terms for cameras. Skateboarders are lucky, they have cool names for everything. For example: Skateboard = Stuntwood, and you know a nickname is top notch when it also works as a porn star name.
**Ah high school!
***Because of initial time constraints for a few days only my right leg was shaved. I was hoping at some point I'd be able to tell someone it was so my leg hair didn't get caught in my bike's crank-side gears. Alas, no such opportunity arose.
****LET IT BE KNOWN THAT I SUPPORT ALL SEXY DECISIONS.
*****Full disclosure: I'm circumcised.
4/1/10
3/29/10
Dumb things I learned in church #2
"The harder you work on your mission, the hotter your wife will be."
Told to me by the Deacons Quorum leader who had the hottest wife of all the leaders.
A friend told me that they tell girls the same thing, only instead of "work hard on your mission" it's "the more you pray".
3/12/10
Running
I ran 12 miles yesterday. I was going to try for 13 but I had to cut it short because around mile 10 the bottoms of my feet started hurting.
I ran from University Mall to a few blocks past center street, then home. It was a good run and my favorite part was the long road between the Mall and Provo. I like just pointing in a direction and just going, no turning or anything.
I listed to NPR the whole way (2 hours). Morning Edition is on an hour loop, so I heard a story about chicken gonads not once but twice.
Here are a few photo I took of my feet after. There's not much to see really. I've got a few blisters on the edge of my toes, but you can't really tell.
The only real difference is that my feet are more veiny then they usually are.
Also, this is a funny picture.
Not funny "Ha-ha" though. Maybe it's just a photography joke.
You know what else is funny (but not funny "Ha-ha")? Natalie is the only person who can read this blog right now. Aren't you glad I added you? For photos of my feet?
I ran from University Mall to a few blocks past center street, then home. It was a good run and my favorite part was the long road between the Mall and Provo. I like just pointing in a direction and just going, no turning or anything.
I listed to NPR the whole way (2 hours). Morning Edition is on an hour loop, so I heard a story about chicken gonads not once but twice.
Here are a few photo I took of my feet after. There's not much to see really. I've got a few blisters on the edge of my toes, but you can't really tell.
The only real difference is that my feet are more veiny then they usually are.
Also, this is a funny picture.
Not funny "Ha-ha" though. Maybe it's just a photography joke.
You know what else is funny (but not funny "Ha-ha")? Natalie is the only person who can read this blog right now. Aren't you glad I added you? For photos of my feet?
2/8/10
2/2/10
Dumb things I learned in church #1
I once had a Teacher's Quorum leader tell me that he liked to:
"pray for adversity, so that I can become stronger."
I remember being mildly uncomfortable with that statement, but I was 14 and it's likely that the lesson was boring anyway. Besides, I had Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 waiting for me at home.
Looking back on that moment I think that if Bitter Twenty Year Old Trevor had been in that room, I'd have had a minor fit.
Ahem
Really? You REALLY praying for adversity? When you get on your knees and open your heart to God do you say ". . . and please bless me with lots of really hard trials. I don't know if you've heard, but I want to get stronger, so hit me with your best shot God!"
Do you pray at night to be hit by a bus? To become paraplegic? To become orphaned? To have your wife cheat on you? To have a crisis of faith?
Wait, what? You don't? Because, listen. That's real 'adversity'. That's the stuff that really makes you stronger.
It's also the stuff that ****s you up. But that's the key, real problems, stuff that really hurts does **** you up. If you've never had doubt, had the thought that "maybe I really can't get through this" then you probably haven't been through a real storm.
People think adversity is about holding you're head up high and never losing sight of the goal.
And listen, I know you're about to say "But Trevor that is what it's all about!"
No, it's not.
Holding your head up high is what we strive for. It's the ideal. But it seldom happens.
Do you know why?
Because we aren't perfect.
Anyone who's been through real pain, real anguish will tell you straight that they wouldn't pray for it. And that it's ugly, and miserable. And we raise our heads when we can and when we can't we try to keep going.
What my leader was actually praying for is hardship that looks pretty. Stuff that's manageable. Things like cars breaking down and not being able to buy a big TV and your crappy basketball team not winning. You can make a joke about those 'trials' in testimony meeting, and everyone will laugh and that's fine. But don't confuse that with a real trial.
When I was 12 my mother went in a coma for two years. She almost died.
Those two years will probably be the hardest time in my life, and I'm thankful that they're over. I'm also thankful that I've learned a lot from those two years, but I wouldn't ask to go through them again. And if I could, I'd save myself from them outright.
I wouldn't wish that sort of pain on anyone and I wouldn't go asking for it ether.
The moral is this: you shouldn't go out looking to suffer to get stronger. You should pray for strength to get through the pain.
"pray for adversity, so that I can become stronger."
I remember being mildly uncomfortable with that statement, but I was 14 and it's likely that the lesson was boring anyway. Besides, I had Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 waiting for me at home.
Looking back on that moment I think that if Bitter Twenty Year Old Trevor had been in that room, I'd have had a minor fit.
Ahem
Really? You REALLY praying for adversity? When you get on your knees and open your heart to God do you say ". . . and please bless me with lots of really hard trials. I don't know if you've heard, but I want to get stronger, so hit me with your best shot God!"
Do you pray at night to be hit by a bus? To become paraplegic? To become orphaned? To have your wife cheat on you? To have a crisis of faith?
Wait, what? You don't? Because, listen. That's real 'adversity'. That's the stuff that really makes you stronger.
It's also the stuff that ****s you up. But that's the key, real problems, stuff that really hurts does **** you up. If you've never had doubt, had the thought that "maybe I really can't get through this" then you probably haven't been through a real storm.
People think adversity is about holding you're head up high and never losing sight of the goal.
And listen, I know you're about to say "But Trevor that is what it's all about!"
No, it's not.
Holding your head up high is what we strive for. It's the ideal. But it seldom happens.
Do you know why?
Because we aren't perfect.
Anyone who's been through real pain, real anguish will tell you straight that they wouldn't pray for it. And that it's ugly, and miserable. And we raise our heads when we can and when we can't we try to keep going.
What my leader was actually praying for is hardship that looks pretty. Stuff that's manageable. Things like cars breaking down and not being able to buy a big TV and your crappy basketball team not winning. You can make a joke about those 'trials' in testimony meeting, and everyone will laugh and that's fine. But don't confuse that with a real trial.
When I was 12 my mother went in a coma for two years. She almost died.
Those two years will probably be the hardest time in my life, and I'm thankful that they're over. I'm also thankful that I've learned a lot from those two years, but I wouldn't ask to go through them again. And if I could, I'd save myself from them outright.
I wouldn't wish that sort of pain on anyone and I wouldn't go asking for it ether.
The moral is this: you shouldn't go out looking to suffer to get stronger. You should pray for strength to get through the pain.
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