the view from here (and there)

this is an interesting article in the economist about a study connecting one's creativity to one's having lived abroad. the research method and and testing used in the study lacks credibility but it does get the conversation going and is something i've had a hunch about for some time. in particular is the ability to see the world in more than one way, to percieve it from varying locations and be immersed in divergent perspectives (obviously, this is something that can be achieved intentionally in most cases without even leaving one's hometown). monocultural contexts often lend themselves to concrete ways of seeing things, resulting in "either/or" and dichotomistic views of the world. but the "third way" is the way of creativity and comes from being able to envision something other than the two options that have always been present. you name it, wether it's the visual arts (paul gauguin, etc), literary arts (ernest hemingway, etc) or leadership (barack obama, etc)- creativity seems to flourish in people that are able to view the world from more than one angle.

kicking

6x6 ($20) image copyright: phil nellis, 2009. SOLD!

spring came with a roar

6x6 ($20) image copyright: phil nellis, 2009. contact me for purchase!

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song of the day. [source]

tocar

6x6 ($20) image copyright: phil nellis, 2009. contact me for purchase!

los lobos

6x6 ($20) image copyright: phil nellis, 2009. contact me for purchase!

Jun 18, 1976

6x6 ($20) image copyright: phil nellis, 2009. contact me for purchase!

I've been trying to do a sketch-a-day these days. This particular image is intertexual with the following perameters: I drew in response to the first song to play after shuffling my music library. The song that came on was "June 18, 1976" by Pedro the Lion- saddest song ever.

rowing

6x6 ($20) image copyright: phil nellis, 2009. SOLD!

bird

6x6 ($20) image copyright: phil nellis, 2009. SOLD!

father's day shoot-out

100 words

mr. longbrake has been doing a really cool project called "100 words" where he gives a friend a one word topic and asks them to reflect upon it in exactly 100 words. this week i wrote one for him on the subject of "father." read it here.

do you know why God made my voice so high? cause he wanted to hear me."

dad, when i was at work my boss drew me a picture of an enchanted tale (tail?) with no animal attached to it!"

sylas, (almost 4 yrs old)

how grad-school made me stupid

i will say it and say it again, that i believe in the power of stories. that narrative is important. that fiction can be more truthful than non fiction. but sadly, i havn't read a novel in years. since i finished grad school a month ago, i've started and cast aside 3 novels. i just can't stick with a good long book any more.
my first thought was that i might blame the last 10 years i've spent in higher education. i've been trained (and become highly skilled) at plowing through texts, at writing book reviews on books i didn't have time to read, at getting to what the author is saying without noting their every word. the act of reading a story requires something different of the reader- to submit to the text and be guided by the intentional sequence of events- quite literally, to undergo it. i have become impatient and somewhat utilitarian with books.
another thought came after reading an interview in the sun magazine with the fella who wrote the provocative atlantic article "is google making us stupid?" last summer. he believes that the "distracted nature of web surfing, is reducing our capacity for deep contemplation and reflection." he realized that after years of "online information gathering, he had trouble reading a book..." hmmm, says i. sounds like me. one of the things he notes in the interview is that online activity exercises the part of the brain that is the realm of decision making- an activity which is mentally exhausting in comparison to the mental energy used in reading a book or in contemplation.
so this is my lament. my brain has been re-wired by grad-school and the world wide web. the process of Re-Re-wiring must begin as soon as this internet connection is no longer available!

need a miracle

by frank stockton. word.

book plug: Dwight Friesen

Dwight Friesen, a professor of mine in grad school and dear friend, is publishing his first book- Thy Kingdom Connected: What the Church Can Learn from Facebook, the Internet, and Other Networks. He's been mulling these thoughts over for some time and finally they are available to others outside his classrooms. Head on over to Amazon and pre-order a copy!

the stages of a meeting

We were certain that our third child would be a girl. So certain that we couldn't even come up with a boys' name until a few days before the birth. When the baby was born there was a flutter of activity because the usuall first breaths didn't occur- instead there was an oxygen tank, hoses, instructions to rub the little limbs, busy latex clad hands, cpr... we were so relieved when the first cry was heard that we forgot to check what the gender was- the lively little face was enough at that point. This beautiful shot was taken a few minutes later, the instant we looked up after realizing that the whole time we had not been holding a baby girl. Thanks Mackenzie for capturing this magical moment between us and Ezra.