Monthly Archives: March 2011

March 28, 2011 · 5:55 pm

Cell phones are the new He-Man

Am I insane for thinking it’s insane to give a fifth grader a cell phone? I realize there might be a few fifth graders out there who have legitimate need of a cell phone. I get that. However, you can’t convince me that the majority of my son’s fifth grade class needs a cell phone.

This comes up because Colton was being made fun of because he didn’t have a cell phone. Back in my day it was He-Man. My mom thought He-Man was scary so I didn’t have any of the toys or watch the cartoon. Then one of my friends wouldn’t come to my house because I didn’t have any He-Man toys. My mom, being awesome, quickly bought me some He-Man toys so that my friend (who I realize now probably wasn’t a great friend) would come play.

But a cell phone?

I’m sorry, I can’t justify buying my 10-year-old a cell phone and a plan. It’s for emergencies, some will say. Sure. But you know what the boys were using their’s for when they made fun of Colton? Playing tag. He had to try to find them and they all coordinated with their cell phones so he couldn’t win. Yeah. Big emergency there.

I don’t know. Maybe I’m just being a cranky old man, but the very idea seems goofy to me. Am I wrong?

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Filed under Family, Personal, Technology

March 27, 2011 · 8:34 pm

A second ring

Becca and I are quickly approaching our 10th wedding anniversary. Knowing that date is coming up we’ve discussed what we’d like as gifts for our anniversary. I surprised Becca by telling her I’d like another ring like my wedding ring.

Anyone who knows me, knows I don’t wear jewelry. My wedding ring it just a simple titanium band and the only jewelry I’ve ever worn. But, I’ve thought about it a lot over the past year and decided that’s what I wanted. My wedding ring serves as a reminder of the vows I took. While that is special, anyone will tell you it’s easy to take vows. It’s easy to say forever means forever. Making that happen, though, well, that’s just plain hard work.

I wanted another ring as a different kind of reminder. I wanted the second ring to remind me that whether my marriage is happy or not is entirely up to me. I can choose to treat my wife the way she deserves. I can choose to continue to date and romance her even after 10 years. I can decide what our relationship looks like. The hard part is not letting circumstances effect how I act. This second ring is a constant reminder that I need to keep watch on the state of my marriage.

That’s why I chose to wear it on the middle finger of my left hand. Every time I hear that metallic clink as it hits my wedding ring, I’ll be reminded of my wife. I’ll be reminded of the good times, the tough times and all the times in between. It reminds me to stay vigilant and watch over this relationship God has entrusted to us.

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Filed under Family, Personal

March 3, 2011 · 2:06 am

Trashing good work

When designing or writing, I’ve often hit that point where the piece I’m working on is good but not great. It’s good enough. The client would be happy, therefore I should be happy.

I’m never happy though. I keep pushing through until it becomes great. Sometimes that involves walking away for a few hours and viewing it with fresh eyes. Sometimes it takes the drastic step of trashing perfectly good work and starting over. It’s like the first run at it was to get the good ideas out of the way and make room for the great ones. It’s scary, going in a different direction when you are basically done with something, but I think that’s what separates good creatives from great creatives.

What are you working on that could be truly great if you just started over?

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Filed under Creativity