Lumpy

You know what the problem with being creative is?  It takes massive amounts and chunks of time out of your day!  It is a solitary endeavor also.  Now honestly, I am not a very solitary person....ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you....I can and will talk your head off!  Ask my wife and her response will resonate with frustration at my apparent lack of concern about her problems and opinions( at times if I may add), but truly I live to solve her problems and love it when she opens up to me (which is not enough), but then I go into advice or problem solving mode and take over the conversation!  I'm working on that......remember that last post....progress not perfection?

Take this blog.....I only write when I am waiting in front of the kid's schools or late at night after everyone is asleep.  My office is in the middle of our living room (wouldn't those pics be great)!  The evenings are not very quiet around the house as you can imagine, or maybe sympatize?  My previous office was re-purposed into her crap....I mean craft...sorry about the typo....can't delete.....spell check non-functional....haha!  Actually she is a creative also with scrap booking and competitive bargain shopping (an adrenaline junky when it comes to the latter)....

So the solitary issue....I survive on about 4 hrs of sleep per night because I create better at night....is that odd?  I know many of the famous artists were night owls, addicts, alcoholics, lunatics, and oddballs.  I made it past the alcohol but I never fancied myself as an oddball......perhaps it is time for some self reflection and assessment!  I have been working a lot lately with the more artistic side of Photoshop, and I am finding myself getting more immersed than  ever in the creative possibilities of this medium.  It is endless I tell you!

And I know, I know, I sound like a kid who just got a new horn for his bicycle, you know that kid who drives you crazy speeding past your house honking that horn while you are inside trying to get in some quiet creative time....makes you want to rip off that horn throw it to the ground and stomp on it.....but then everyone would see you and compare you to Lumpy......from "Leave it to Beaver"........

Sooooo.......check out some of my work @http://jkirkwood.smug mug.com and let me know what you think!  And if you like what you see, most all are available for wall adornment.  If you like my style, just remember, I work for pennies at this time compared to my contemporaries, so you better hire me QUICK.......before I BLOW UP!   Or starve to death and abandon the whole idea!  HAHA!

This has been a public service announcement, in case of an emergency, it will be followed by.......well actually it wouldn't be here......

Thanks for your time!

j.rizzo

A Clean Street

I shared my testimony yesterday evening.  We have a group of people we (my family and I) meet with every other saturday.  We are all members of HOCC, it is a group of Christian people whom I have been associated with for around 10 years or so.  The core of the group are couples whom I have come to regard over the years as some of the most valued friends and FAMILY that I have.  We are a group of ethnically, socio, and economically diverse worshipers who strive to hold each other to a biblical standard of living......I know the view many people have of the church these days....some see Christianity as an extremely hipocritical faith.  They see many people "Playing Church" on Sundays and then on Monday morning they resume their "normal" behavior.....Believe me I was once of that same mindset, but until you have come to know a group of people honestly TRYING to live as the Bible suggests, you are missing out on quite an adventure!  None of us are perfect, but we practice "progress not perfection". 

So I shared my testimony with a somewhat smaller group than normal.....could have been the advertisement of my sharing that lowered the attendance....Ha Ha!  No seriously, I could not have asked for a more understanding, compassionate, responsive, and intuitive group than those who were there.  Afterward they prayed over me and for me and my family and endeavors, and shared tears and laughter with me.

  I have, and always will, try to live my life as an open book.  I have stumbled, fallen, tripped, heck I've smashed my face on the concrete at times over the years!  But as my story testifies, I serve a God of grace, who has allowed me to endure all of my self inflicted foolishness in order to serve Him better.  I am extremely grateful for the program of AA, where I learned to put Him at the forefront of my existence.  He has instilled in me a passion for life, rewarded me with the best wife and kids in the world, allowed me to pursue the talent he gave me, and placed in my life people who also truly love Him and hold me to that same standard!

In AA, when you work the 12 steps, it is said that the purpose of it all is for you "to clean your side of the street" and let God take care of the rest......God its your turn....not that I am rushing you.....;)