Deja Vu?

With production well under way for Mission Maker, besides designing the entire publication, we occasionally do a few of the ads as well. The above is a "Round 2" proof for Economy Travel. Before starting work on the ad, I had a phone conversation with our contact at Economy Travel (Bill) and he had wanted his ad "to stand out". Which of course everybody does but in talking with him further, I got the impression I could be a little more bold in my design than I normally could.

I found a series of pictures with countries overlapping a boys face. Very cool and very bold. I knew it would stand out. So I purchased the image from a stock photography site (istockphoto.com) and added the Bible verse and the text that was given me. Now the downside to using royalty free stock photography, is that any one else can use it. So if you want to be original and not worry about seeing that same picture somewhere else, royalty free stock photos is not the way to go. The big upside to RFSP is it is considerably cheaper.

Anyway, I submitted the proof to Bill for his approval. He liked the layout and had a few text changes. Excellent! Thinks are moving along. The only thing I'm waiting for is a high resolution logo.

To keep our sales director Arika in the loop, I let her know the process is almost complete. She comes over to my cube to take a look at the ad and says "Oh! I've seen this before."

HUH!?!

She tells me to go to Bethany College of Missions home page (whom we are on the campus of) and guess what image I see.


NOOOO!!!

Turns out Bethany had been in the process of redeveloping their website (again) and it had just gone live this weekend. Little did I know they were using a picture from the same series of photos that I had just chosen.

Thankfully Bethany's Mission Maker ad is not using that picture so we are safe. And since it is stock photography (open for anyone to use) and Economy Travel isn't basing their entire look off of that picture, we are ok.

But it still sucks the wind out of you after designing something and see almost the same photo being used so close to home. Oh well. Such is the life of a designer.

(On a side note, for those of you who submit text for ads, do you notice how much better an ad looks with minimal copy? The website is so clean compared to the ad I did with all the copy on it. Good job Bethany!)

—b

Fantasy Football

With the blessing of Brevin to our family, Erin and I have stayed in more than usual. During Brevin's nap times, we have each taken to finding relatively quite activities to have fun. Erin has almost completed her Eeyore endeavor finishing up Eeyore and only having the butterfly's left to finish. (To see what I'm talking about, click here.)

I on the other hand have been having fun nerding out on fantasy football draft rankings. I'm sure most, if not all, of you are at least somewhat familiar with fantasy football. But in case there is a person who hasn't heard of it, it's basically a football team of real NFL players drafted by you. Depending on how well your NFL player does in each weeks game, you get the corresponding points. If your player does poorly, he can loose you points. By the end of the regular season, which ever fantasy team has the most points wins.

I have signed up for two different leagues this year. The one tonight is with a bunch of guys from church and the other is with J-Bone and his friends/roommates. I've never done very well on these in the past but it has always been fun.

In somewhat related news, this will the fifth year of our family's own Pigskin Pick'em league, the Spuddogs. The previous winners have been Kevin, Leif, Bruce, and Leif again. Hopefully I can win one sometime soon. I almost had it the second year but blew it on the last day and I had a three game cushion! KHAAAN!!! (But we never speak of how hard I took the loss.) ;)

—b

Brevin Update:
He has discovered the rotating animals that hang above his swing and also loves to stare at the bill of a baseball cap. He is so enthralled just staring at both.

Mission Maker Season

For those of you who have been reading this from the beginning, you knew this was coming. Mission Maker 2008.

For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, here is a relatively brief description:

Mission Maker Magazine is an annual publication which we (STEM Int'l) create. In fact the only aspect we don't have complete control of is what the ads look like. (Unfortunately cause we can get some horrible looking ads.) Anyway, the magazines purpose statement is "to glorify God by helping to equip the global mission community for Great Commission teamwork." Basically it's a magazine geared to those who are interested in Missions and supplies articles, books, and organizations to help further God's Great Commission.

This is the fourth year of it's existence and God has blessed me by using me to create it's initial design. Not a small undertaking. Over the years it has gotten much better since the addition of Dena (bigD) STEM's other designer. With both of us working on it's design, God has truly blessed our creativity.

So what's the purpose of me telling you all this?

Well, in the past whenever it has come into Mission Maker season, I work on nothing but the mag, which includes this blog. But this year will be different. We have been able to start MUCH earlier this year and I won't be nearly as bogged down as I have been in the past. That's not to say that I won't work every day nearly all day on the magazine, but I most likely won't have to take it home and work. THANK YOU LORD!

In the mean time, would you please pray for the production of the mag as well as my health. (I can't seem to shake this horrible bug.) Thanks guys!

—b

PS. For those of you who have been asking, here is a link to some more Brevin pictures.

This is How I Feel

This picture is a good representation of how I feel. YUK.

I was home yesterday wearing one of those dust masks when I wasn't sleeping or around Brevin. Being sick with a son sure does put a different spin on being sick. You can't just shut the door and sleep the day away. Brevin still needs care and I'm afraid I'm gonna get him and Erin sick too. Sorry guys!

The picture is just one of the "leaked" pictures of the latest Batman movie "The Dark Knight". At first I was extremely leery of Heath Ledger playing Batman's arch rival The Joker, but after seeing this picture along with some of the others, I'm looking forward to seeing the next Batman.

—b

Can You Place the 50 States?

I found this game humbling. Click here to begin playing. Beware, you have to be RIGHT ON with your placement in order to get it correct. I was close several times and even way off on a few. Oh well. I would be a good patsy for "Jay Walking".

My Stats:
• 40 perfect out of 51 turns
• Score: 78.43
• Average Error: 29 miles
• Time: 404 seconds

How did you do?

—b

Zephaniah 1:12

Tuesday, August 14th, 2007/Zephaniah

GOD'S MESSAGE FOR ME TODAY
"It will come about at that time That I will search Jerusalem with lamps, And I will punish the men Who are stagnant in spirit, Who say in their hearts, 'The LORD will not do good or evil!'" —Zephaniah 1:12

HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO MY LIFE?
Just because someone doesn't believe in God, doesn't mean they won't be punished. Or if they have an incorrect view of Him or could care less about Him, God will hold them accountable for their actions or lack their of. In verse five of the same chapter, it also refers to "those who bow down and swear to the Lord and yet swear by Milcom [another god]." It continues on in verse six by saying "And those who have turned back from following the Lord, And those who have not sought the Lord or inquired of Him." We mustn't be "stagnant" when it comes to God.

Copyright 2007, City Vision / Dr. John A. Mayer
You can purchase a copy of the CityView Report here.

PROFILES OF IMMIGRANT GROUPS IN THE TWIN CITIES

54. Trinidadian (Trini) — Pop. 425

• Have been coming to the Twin Cities since 1990.
• Religion: Many are Hindu, some Muslim, Christian, and Catholic.


Me at a school in Trinidad

"A New Car!"

Ok, so we didn't go on to The Price is Right and hear that famous phrase, but we did get a new/used car. A 2002 Buick LeSabre Custom.

A big thanks goes to Erin's parents, Kevin and De. Their Christ following mechanic purchased the car in an auction in Milwaukee. The former owners were an elderly couple which kept excellent records care of the vehicle. It has 66,000+ miles and we have been told by more than one person that the Buick's have an excellent reputation and if we take care of her, she'll surpass the 200,000 mile mark.

It's funny how our priorities have changed. At first, we had our preferences as to what the car would (or would not) look like. And to be honest, a Buick was on our "not" list. But after listening to people who actually knew a thing or three about vehicles, this car was a bargain. So despite driving what some (J-Bone & Naener) consider to be an elderly transport, we are both happy owners of the latest addition to our family.

Here are a couple of pics:



Did you notice the pillow on the drivers seat? Yes, that's for my dear wife whom will probably always struggle with finding a vehicle that fits her tiny stature properly.

We (and when I say "we" I mean "me") have named the car. Josie. As in Josie Geller from the movie Never Been Kissed. There's a scene in the movie where Josie offers her car to her brother. Her car was a LeSebre.

One last thing...
I realize I have a tainted reputation with some of the veteran readers of this blog when it comes to pronouncing a new vehicle ever since my infamous PHRED incident. So I want to make it clear that THIS REALLY IS OUR NEW CAR. :)

—b



It has been a while since I've posted a prayer request. But yesterday I spoke with my brother Leif and he has been laid off to due downsizing. He has a wife and an 11 month year old daughter. Would you please pray that his job interviews would bare fruit and if/when he gets a job offer, he would be given wisdom as to his answer. Also would you please pray God would use his temporary unemployment for God's glory (however that might be). Thanks.

Brevin: Weeks 1–3

Since I am still trying to get on a consistent schedule both with my daily Bible study and blogging, I thought I'd make this post easy by sharing a link that leads to pictures of Brevin's first three weeks with us. I can't believe he is already 3 weeks old!

Brevin's first three weeks.

Have a great weekend!

—b

Testimony

Yesterday afternoon, our pastor Chris called and asked if I'd be willing to share my testimony this Sunday during offering at church. Of course I said yes and am nervously looking forward to sharing what God has done in my life.

Every Wednesday, STEM has an all-staff mandatory meeting where I have been asked to fill in in leading devotions while the team leader (Jim) who usually does it...is well...leading teams. Since I wasn't sure if Jim was in the office today, I asked our editor Dana to confirm his presence, or rather, lack there of. (I obviously didn't ask in such proper terms. It was more like "Hey Dana is Jim here today?") Anyway, since Jim wasn't here, I thought I'd take some time to write out my testimony and let my fellow coworkers be the guinea pigs.

I have given my testimony on how Christ as been at work in my life before but never took the time to write it out. It was tough! What made it difficult was to think back on how I was running my life 'til I got out of the way and let God run it for me. I really made a mess of things.

Sharing the personal details of my past was hard and yet redeeming. Just recounting to fellow sinners how much I had screwed up and how far down I had to go before I would let Christ in and yet looking back on my past 7 years while God has been actively working in my life was night and day. It has been such a positive turn around that it made me really appreciate all God has done in my life.

So here's a challenge to those who also belong to Christ: If someone were to ask you to share how God has been working in your life, do you know how you would answer?

—b

Last but not least:

Micah 7:9–10a

Wednesday, August 8th, 2007/Micah

GOD'S MESSAGE FOR ME TODAY
I will bear the indignation of the LORD Because I have sinned against Him, Until He pleads my case and executes justice for me He will bring me out to the light, And I will see His righteousness. Then my enemy will see, And shame will cover her who said to me, "Where is the LORD your God?" —Micah 7:9–10a

HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO MY LIFE?
A very cool courtroom scene. We are guilty because we have sinned against God. Once we have repented and given our lives to God, He turns from prosecutor to defendant. To which even though we committed the crime against Him, He will take our place and bear the guilty verdict for the sins we committed against Him! Not only will we God's love, mercy, and justness, but those who don't yet know Him will see also.

Copyright 2007, City Vision / Dr. John A. Mayer
You can purchase a copy of the CityView Report here.

PROFILES OF IMMIGRANT GROUPS IN THE TWIN CITIES

53. Syrian — Pop. 500

• Have been coming to the Twin Cities since 1990.
• Religion: Majority are Muslim, few are Catholic, Orthodox, and Christian.


Actor/comedian Jerry Seinfeld

STEM Break-In! UPDATE

Well after a bizarre start to my first full day back in two weeks, nothing major was stolen. Thank you God. A few of the offices were failed targets and they didn't want anything in our "safe".

It was odd they passed up a $2000 projector, a laptop sitting on my desk, and computer equipment just to name a few. It seems the culprits were after some quick cash (which they managed to grab a few bucks) and some stamps.

Oh well, good for us. The sad thing is this is the second time this has happened since I've worked here. Our office isn't the most secure but then again, we really don't have a lot of attractive stuff. (I can't imagine a 10 year old iMac looks all that attractive.)

As for my stuff, the only disturbances are a Spider-Man figure that was posed differently and a missing Burger King kid's meal toy. Again...odd.

Gee, I can't wait to see what surprises happen tomorrow! ;)

—b

STEM Break-In!

Whoa! This morning I expected to get the whole "Welcome back" and "You look tired" but instead I was greeted with "Hey, we were broken into. Is anything of yours missing?". It seems over the weekend, someone(s) broke into STEM looking for cash. Right now the cops are here doing the whole finger printing/CSI thing.

When more details arise, I'll let you know!

—b

PS. Don't worry, all my toys are present and accounted for. The only thing they touched was one of my Spider-Man figures.

First Meetings

Here is a 4:30 video of the first meetings between Brevin and Mom, Arika, J-Bone, Bella, and both grandpa's.

Have a great weekend!

—b

Brevin's Appearance - Video

As promised, here is the first video appearance of Brevin.




Tomorrow we'll continue the series and it will be called "First Meetings". Enjoy your Thursday!

—b

Pre-Brevin Video

Since I am taking 2 weeks off to be with Brevin, this blog has been suffering. Please accept my sincerest apologies as I'm trying to get back into a modified schedule. So having that said, here is the first of a series of videos introducing Brevin!

This first one is 3:45 of Erin's progression to introducing Brevin to the outside world.



I really don't want to turn this blog into a "Brevin only" blog so I will eventually create one just for pictures/videos of him. But in the meantime, I'll use the BEing Designed one as my Brevin outlet.

—b