yay!

i got a call for an interview on monday at martin!

about yesterday, then i go off on a rant, and then get all spiritual and philosophical (enjoy!)

the career fair was… interesting. and for a fair, they sure seemed to be lacking in cotton candy, nachos, and popcorn. the general consensus was…

“nice to meet you, please go online to our website and apply.”

what’s up with that? sure, a few people accepted resumes, but even they still wanted you to apply online before they could call you for a real interview. i took 40 resumes w/ me and only was able to give out 5 of them. i dunno, just seemed like a big waste of time. i could have not had to put on a tie and sat at my laptop and applied all day.

i re-submitted my resume plus a cover letter, a list of my published work, and a letter of recommendation to martin retail group yesterday as well. this is the job i really want. it’s in graphic design and i feel qualified enough and i know that if i could just land an interview, i could sell myself to them. also, a good friend of mine works there and it would be awesome to work alongside him (hey, hall, do you even read this blawg?).

i’ve just got to get out of the restaurant business… at least, at the store level. to anyone who’s worked in restaurants, especially at the management level, God bless you. it’s a tough business. to anyone who has not worked in food, give us a break sometimes okay? there are a lot of things i will be glad to be rid of once i’m done w/ restaurants for good… and unfortunately, the best and worst thing about the food business are the customers. some guests are awesome and friendly. some people, i could just as easily deck. when working with all the ice cream and “treats” that we deal with, each item has it’s own level of preparation. some more than others and people don’t get that. at mcdonald’s, if you order a shake, they pull a lever and it comes out all shake-y from the machine. at a dq, we have to pour the milk, add the topping (yeah, real fruit and stuff!), pull the ice cream, put a collar on the cup, and blend it up. this takes longer than you expect when you’re standing at the counter or sitting in the drive-thru lane… after all, you think, “it’s just a milkshake.” well, baby, our milkshakes bring all the boys to the yard, damn right, it’s better than yours… and it just takes time. and shakes are one of the easier and quicker-to-make products so just imagine what happens when you order 2 shakes, 3 blizzards, a couple dipped cones, and 4 banana splits for your kid’s little league team… just be patient and show a little understanding that we are literally hand-crafting this stuff.

and while i’m ranting…

why would you pour out your soda in my drive-thru lane? you’ll just come back tomorrow and complain about ants climbing around the drive-thru window. i don’t show up in your driveway with a 2-liter coke or a bag of sugar for your flower beds.

you know how hard it is to get your 16 or 17-year-old to clean their room while you provide food, shelter, protection, and love? imagine how hard it is for me to get them to clean bathrooms for $6 or $7 bucks an hour.

i also hate coming home smelling like a restaurant. i’m glad my cats love me, but i suspect it’s not for the reasons i prefer.

and guess who gets called in on a friday night when i’m out on a date with my wife because some kid called in? and i’m sure that these sudden friday night illnesses are TOTALLY legit…

yeesh… i could go on. heck, i could write a book… “the most negative guide to being a restaurant operator ever!” -by chris fason.

thpbbt!

a friend sent me an encouraging e-mail and listed Jeremiah 29:11, which says:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

wow! that’s good stuff and quoted for truth. also, my father-in-law received the following forward from our pastor…

And it came to pass, that as soon as he had made an end of offering the
burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that
he might salute him.
1 Samuel 13:10

Samuel had told Saul to wait seven days before engaging in battle
against the Philistines. When seven days had come and almost gone and
Samuel hadn’t shown up, Saul said, “My troops are leaving. I’ve got to
do something.” So he assumed the role of priest and offered a sacrifice
himself rather than waiting for Samuel so that he could engage in
battle.

No sooner had Saul finished offering the sacrifice than Samuel showed
up. This is so often the way of God. So often the Lord waits until the
last moment to step in. Why? It’s not to tease us, but to test us. He
takes us right down to the wire, not to taunt us, but to train us in
order that we might have endurance (James 1:3). You see, the race we run
as believers isn’t a sprint. It’s a marathon. And God knows how
desperately we need endurance. The only way to get endurance is to go
through testing that will force us to wait on Him in order that we might
not panic, not run off the track, not throw in the towel. C. H. Spurgeon
said the snails made it safely to the ark because they had endurance.
You might be a snail. I might be a slug. We might move very, very slowly
- but we will make it to the Ark if we simply endure.

“Time is running out!” we cry. “We’ve got to do something!”

Do we? I can give you all kinds of advice and recommendations, but it’s
only when God steps in that there will be a real solution. The sage was
right when he said that the brave man is not braver than any other, but
simply braver for ten minutes longer. Who is the brave man? Who is the
mature brother, the wise sister, the deep Christian among us? It’s not
one who is necessarily super-spiritual. It’s simply one who has learned
to wait and not panic.

Has God promised to show up? Has God promised you that He is going to
work all things for good? Has God promised you that He will take the
cares you cast on Him? Has God promised you that He will give a peace
deep within? Has God promised that the desires deep within your heart
will come to pass? If He has, wait for Him. Don’t panic, dear people. Be
brave. Saul thought he waited seven days - but seven days hadn’t
completely passed. He didn’t wait the full course.

“Lord, make me a man of God,” we pray. “Produce in me depth of character
and wisdom.”

“Okay,” God says. “I’m going to take you through some experiences in
which you will have the choice either to panic and try to solve the
problem by sacrificing this or looking to them - or to trust Me.”

as difficult as it is to be patient and wait on God, it’s where i’m at right now.

:waits:

job huntin’

i’m going to a career fair tomorrow. i hope they have funnel cakes! …and i hope i’m tall enough to ride the jobs. i’ve printed up a stack of resumes and look forward to at least getting my face out there and meeting with recruiters. i really don’t know what to expect but i hope it goes well and scores me some leads on jobs. pray for me!

things have been okay even if pretty uneventful. i’ve thrown dozens of resumes and applications out there and haven’t been called for even one interview. it’s kind of frustrating but i’m trying to remain positive. we’ll see what tomorrow brings.

unemployed

a few short hours ago, i finally made it back from the beautiful and wondrous land of north carolina; where the trees are tall, the rocks are big, and the water is frickin’ cold, man! we had a great time doing some light boulder climbing (or better, hopping) around waterfalls and streams and just hanging out and relaxing.

the trip was slightly tainted thursday night when i found out that by the end of the day today (sunday), i would be without a job. i mean, i saw it coming… over the past 6 weeks our company has been fighting through a hostile takeover by the “silent” partner and his hired assassin. it really sucks. for the past 8-plus years that i’ve been w/ this company, we’ve worked very hard and put in very long hours and put in an enormous amount of sweat equity to build a successful business. we’re a mere 2 years away from paying off a lot of debt in equipment leases where we would be making a pretty good profit… and poof! it’s all taken away from us.

i’m really frustrated over the whole thing, and even more, i’m going to wake up in the morning and not know what to do next. i do have a plan for tomorrow, but i don’t know where my next paycheck will come from. i will be payed for this most recent payroll and have a check coming on thursday, but then what? an awesome thing happened when we got back in town and opened our mailbox… we received a check from our mortgage company for overpayment on our escrow. and here’s the really cool thing: the check amount is roughly the gross amount of one week’s work! now, tell me God doesn’t intercede for His children. that check is like a validation that we will be carried through this. i can’t make it on my own. i am weak and without direction when i look to my own devices…

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

i use this quote from 2nd Corinthians because i feel it’s appropriate considering the circumstances… in the summer of 2007, our family / our company dedicated our business to God and hinged everything on 1 Corinthians 10:31 which states “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” and i feel that since that time, we have been under many difficulties and attacked and persecuted by satan for being so bold. and only by accepting our own human weaknesses, can we be redeemed by the power of Christ.

it’s friday…

free HERO HAPPY HOUR!!!

The first issue of Hero Happy Hour is now available for free via download at WOWIO.

Imagine pulling up a stool to the bar and sipping a frosty pint of your favorite beverage as you listen in on the conversations of the “regulars” that frequent the neighborhood tavern. But, this establishment is unlike any other bar. The Hideout Bar & Grill caters to the super heroes of First City, and provides more than just a place to wash away the troubles of serving and protecting society as crime-fighting crusaders. For these regular heroes it is “a place where everyone knows your name” — secret identity or not.

“I actually wish I would have thought of it.” — Brian Michael Bendis.

“With a concept that’s as ingenious as a two-for-one happy hour and laughs that hit faster than a shot of Wild Turkey to your dome, HHH won’t leave you skunky.” — Wizard Magazine.

WOWIO (http://www. wowio. com) is a great service that provides free pdf downloads of numerous books of various subjects including an ever-growing library of comic book and graphic novel titles. If all goes well you can expect more Hero Happy Hour titles to become available free via WOWIO. Now head on over and download Hero Happy Hour 01 at http://www. wowio. com/users/product. asp?BookId=3801.

omegacon in retrospect

wow, okay…

omegacon 2008 is officially over and i’ll be the first to say that i think i came in with my eyes too wide open and got in over my head quickly. and to boot, i missed a huge saturday due to some personal issues. thankfully, several people stepped up in a big way. i want to thank shawn hunt for leading the way as well as stephanie jacobs, brittany ledbetter, and a fellow i only know as bobby. you guys are frickin’ awesome. also, an exhibiting artist by the name of veronica jones jumped in with tons of helpful advice and helped get us organized and running on day one. artists mark helwig and jael also had several helpful suggestions for next year.

i’m not going to belabor all the gory details of how things went wrong or didn’t come together but i am uber thankful that some semblance of order was finally achieved and i am very hopeful for next year. i think we can really put together a fantastic art track from everything we’ve learned this year.

i hope we didn’t scare anyone off and that our artist guests will forgive our shortcomings and birthing pains, seeing as how this is only the con’s first year. however, i think we’ll be able to iron out the bumps and throw down for a phenomenal show next year, a bit less weary and a few less blood stains.

HERO HAPPY HOUR did well and i got some on-site commission work, especially towards the end of the day today. not too shabby.

 

holy crap! omegacon starts tomorrow!

wow, okay… i happen to be the art director for the birmingham, al based OmegaCon sci-fi / fantasy convention and i can’t believe we’re less than 24 hours away from opening the doors to the public for this event. i really hope everyone pulls together to make this a very successful con. we don’t really have tons of time for on-site set-up, but we do have a dedicated group of organizers and volunteers that i think will create something very huge.

in addition to being the AD, i’m also exhibiting at the show. due to an unfortunate mix-up somewhere along the line w/ our print-on-demand service, i may not have the books i’d planned on bringing to the show. i really want to show off our cool new omnibus and super-special flashback. however, i’ve been able to dig up some treasures… i actually found about 2 dozen copies of SHHH issue #2!! #2 is SUPER rare and these will be the very last of the 1st printing (and it’s very doubtful that this issue — or any issue — will go to a 2nd printing). i’ve still got a nice stack of 1st run #1’s that will be a virtual steal at this show as well as issues #3 - #5. there’s also a very limited supply of the original trade paperback that collects issues #1 - #4 and the original “Super Special” anthology with the works of steve niles and ben templesmith, tom beland, scott morse, dave crossland, todd nauck, and many more… i also will have a few copies of “The Fall and Rise of Kingfish” on hand, but not many… oh, and art! i will be doing sketches and commissions, natch.

so, come to the show. birmingham. sheraton. friday, saturday, and sunday. rawk!

example #472 that the world is against Christianity

hoo-boy, talk about narcissistic… this guy experiments w/ mind-altering drugs and since he doesn’t believe in God and the story of moses, the effects he’s experienced MUST be what moses experienced. this is the problem: God is incomprehensible. to try and put God in earthly understanding is impossible.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55: 8-9

Moses was high on drugs: Israeli researcher

Tue Mar 4, 7:02 AM ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) - High on Mount Sinai, Moses was on psychedelic drugs when he heard God deliver the Ten Commandments, an Israeli researcher claimed in a study published this week.

Such mind-altering substances formed an integral part of the religious rites of Israelites in biblical times, Benny Shanon, a professor of cognitive psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem wrote in the Time and Mind journal of philosophy.

“As far Moses on Mount Sinai is concerned, it was either a supernatural cosmic event, which I don’t believe, or a legend, which I don’t believe either, or finally, and this is very probable, an event that joined Moses and the people of Israel under the effect of narcotics,” Shanon told Israeli public radio on Tuesday.

Moses was probably also on drugs when he saw the “burning bush,” suggested Shanon, who said he himself has dabbled with such substances.

“The Bible says people see sounds, and that is a clasic [sic] phenomenon,” he said citing the example of religious ceremonies in the Amazon in which drugs are used that induce people to “see music.”

He mentioned his own experience when he used ayahuasca, a powerful psychotropic plant, during a religious ceremony in Brazil’s Amazon forest in 1991. “I experienced visions that had spiritual-religious connotations,” Shanon said.

He said the psychedelic effects of ayahuasca were comparable to those produced by concoctions based on bark of the acacia tree, that is frequently mentioned in the Bible.

for fun…

just playing around and made a web banner for my pastor’s blog. i don’t know if he’ll use it or not, but i figured i’d post it up here just for giggles: