benjancewicz

March 5, 2009

God is Good, He fixes our car

Yes, the blog is still broken. I’m still working on it. So none of you are going to get this by email. My apologies! I may just make the jump to Feedburner…

Anyways; on Monday we had a huge snowstorm. Being the Young Savage that I am, I drove to work. Two lanes of the four on I-95 were completely whited, and the two that remained were very narrow black strips. No salt, no plows.

The Subaru did famously; deftly picking it’s way through foot-high ruts and rounding corners like a champ. At one point, I was driving in the right hand lane and a Saturn passes me while we go around a wide curve. Suddenly, the Saturn looses traction, slips out of it’s lane, spins across all four lanes, narrowly misses the guardrail on the opposite side, guns his engine, zips across all four lanes of traffic AGAIN, and comes to a skidding stop in front of me. I slammed on my brakes (thank God for ABS) and came to a stop about a foot away from him.
He guy wipes his window, waves, does a K turn, and drives off.

The rest of the ride was uneventful. Then I get off on my exit, and I hit the curb.
I didn’t see it coming; the edge of the offramp was hidden by pounds of fluffy white snow, and I smacked my right front wheel into the 6 inch high concrete edge.

I kept going, and arrived at work, but noticed a slight wobble in the steering.
Having owned a Passat and a Saturn that were plagued with alignment, ball joint and rim problems, I knew this was not good.

I drove home. The wobble was worse. I couldn’t go above 50mph without it shaking all over the road.

The next day, we pile into the car to drive me to work. And the car won’t shift into Drive. Even after warming the thing up for close to half an hour, the Subaru only will go in reverse. Finally, after adding transmission fluid and straining on the shifter; I popped it into Drive. Gears 3, 2 & 1 were still locked up.
And the wobble got worse. At 35-40mph, the steering wheel shook violently. And in addition to all that, I could feel the transmissions thumping ever so slightly.

I called work and told them I was going to take the day off.

Tamika and I remembered that at church last Sunday, someone had pointed out that one of the guys, Tom Walker, was a mechanic. Just out of the blue. Just, “Hey, that’s Tom. He’s a mechanic”. So I pulled open the church directory Trish Barrett had given me and called him.

He was in the hospital, his wife had just come out of surgery. He said his “garage” was on wheels, and that he could come by on Thursday morning.

Tamika and I prayed for the car, and for Tom’s wife.

On Wednesday, I had to get to work, so we drove the car. The wobble was still there, but less. The problem with shifting was gone.

By Wednesday night, the wobble was completely gone. And the car was still shifting normally. We decided to still have Tom check it, just in case.

This morning, Tom came by. And the car is absolutely fine. When I hit the curb, snow and ice got lodged in the wheel, and threw off the balance. Also, the bottom of the car was coated with ice, including the transmission. So, when the weather got warmer, all our problems just melted away.

Praise God.

February 16, 2009

Eleven

100/100

It was as if they beckoned me, those windows.
We were in the far end of Union Station, across from where the rest of the staff from the National Fatherhood Initiative’s Golden Dads crew sat in the Thunder Grill. They wanted to sit and chat, and I was restless.

And the windows, they called to me.

There was something about the design, the pattern of the glass. It reminded me of the Frank Lloyd Wright wing at the Philadelphia Art Museum. I would spend hours at a time there, just sitting and looking at everything.

And that’s what I did here. Oddly enough, some sort of art exhibition was being shown on the floor. It was empty. Not a single person in the hustle of catching their train or towing a family out into the Capital that was interested in admiring a few paintings.
I lay down on the marbled floors of the chamber and aimed my lens at the ceiling.

February 15, 2009

Electric Cacophony

100/100

I gazed down through the portal in the desk. The menagerie of wires twisted below, the soft fans humming to themselves, breathing, sighing.
I made this.
It was my job, of course. To expertly arrange wires in organized systems, feed them through their portals, name them, number them, record them, plug them in.
I know what each wires does and where it goes. What information that passes through it’s coils and how quickly it thinks.
Most people would look at it and see cacophony. But I see the system. I look under the desk and see how it works instantly. I understand.

Kind of like people. I understand how they work, why people fall in love, why they break up. It’s natural for me. Look me in the eyes and I can feel if you’re truthful or not.

But most people don’t take the time. To them, it’s cacophony.

January 29, 2009

25 Things

I rarely get asked to do these, and then got 3 of them 4 of them 5 of them in about 2 weeks on Facebook. I seriously doubt I have 25 readers, but I thought I would post this here. If you read this, you’ve been tagged, and I want to hear your responses (seriously, I’m not kidding).

Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. So that’s what I did. If you do it, post it on your blog, and send me the link so I can read it.

1. I may not always show it, but Tamika is the best thing to have ever happen to me. She is amazing.

2. I want Zerflin to grow big enough to take care of my family, and other families too. As big as it will go.

3. I am frustrated it that it’s impossible to live on one income right now.

4. When I was little, I was proud to be American. When I left the village, I realized how much hurt Americans have caused. I’m regaining some of that feeling from childhood…

5. I’ve never been off this continent and I want to go so badly.

6. I am afraid of being in a place where I’m not experiencing culture shock.

7. I never feel as peaceful as I do when I am in the forest.

8. Macaroni is the best food man ever created. Cheese and hot dogs go well with it.

9. Caribou meat is the best food God ever created. Cooked in a stew all day long is the best way to have it.

10. I desperately miss being around my friends.

11. Growing up, all I read was Science Fiction from the 50’s and 60’s, usually about aliens or robots who were outsiders from society. Something felt familiar about their culture shock. Now I read a lot of history and novels by and about ethnic minorities.

12. I am disappointed that my degree really means nothing to my profession. I am disappointed that getting my masters won’t help me in my career. I am disappointed that getting a masters costs more than I can afford anyway. I am disappointed, because I love school.

13. I am shy. Any extroverted tendencies you see in me are all acting, lies, and wishful thinking.

14. Today, Robert Miles, George Winston, Chopin and Sugar Ray are my musical heroes.

15. Every artist of every genre has at least one good song that I’ll enjoy. But stuff with a good harmony and funky beat are my favourites.

16. I really worry that I’m spread out too thin. Sometimes I think that I might be better off if I JUST focused on being an Illustrator, Designer, Photographer, Writer or Musician.

17. I have a novel in the works.

18. I hate sitting at a desk all day. I wish there was a job where I worked in the forest for one week and worked designing the next.

19. If I offended you, made you angry, frustrated you, or if you felt like I snubbed you, and I find out about it, I am instantly hurt and try and make amends.

20. I have no tolerance for those who pick on the defenseless. I have spent most of my life defending them.

21. I do my best to follow these three: The 10 Commandments, The Knights Code of Chivalry, and The Seven Virtues of Bushidō.

22. I love it when people own my art; so I try to make it as inexpensive as possible. It doesn’t seem to help.

23. I was in fist-fights and tussles almost every day in highschool, and had very very few friends until I moved to the United States.

24. I speak 4 languages, and bits and pieces of 3 more. I want to learn more.

25. It’s not easy, but I love being a father.

Your turn!

January 21, 2009

Our Wedding Video

Richardson Video Productions, good friends of Tamika’s family, did our wedding videography, and did a supurb job.

We noticed they put this up the other day on their site, and since many of you were not able to attend, we thought you might enjoy it.

If you need a videographer, definitely check them out.

If you want to see more photos of our family (with some videos sprinkled in) check these out.

January 8, 2009

Arion is here

1/6/9 11:30pm
Time has become a blur. We came in at 12:30am this morning when one of the membranes broke. The water was broken by the midwife at about noon.

They’re slowly decreasing the epidural. She had stayed off of it until about 8pm (about 15 hours!), when the pain became too much to bear. I’m so proud of her.

We both slept for a while after they gave her the epidural, and now I’m wide awake.
Arion is certainly taking his time, but we’re content not to rush him. His heart rate has been steady, a pulsing whoomp whoomp whoomp through the speakers of the monitoring machine.

Outside, a huge storm has raged for almost 24 hours… Rain pelting the window in whooshing gusts.
We’re all praying for you, little man.

1/7/9 6:45pm
Tamika and Arion are asleep, finally.

Shortly after I got done writing, Margaret, the midwife, called me over to help hold Tamika.
I have been extremely impressed with their practice. They have included me in every way possible during the pregnancy. There’s nothing worse than feeling completely helpless while the person whom you love the most in the world goes through the worst pain of her life.

Margaret purposefully used me in every way she could, moving Tamika around, calming her down, and helping keep things organized & plugged in.

I help hold Tamika and counted as she pushed. It was pretty rough. Arion wasn’t turning correctly. But finally, after a whole hour, his head appeared. The cord was wrapped around his neck!

Thankfully, Margaret had warned Tamika that she might tell her to stop pushing at certain points, and she did so now.
With a quick move, Margaret deftly unwrapped the cord, and in the same motion, easily slipped him out.
All this with him upside down, and without any tearing (which means no painful recovery for Tamika, which we had to go through with Nya).
And, all this after 24 hours of very very patient care.
Margaret never left us. She stayed the whole time, and never pushed Tamika in a direction that wasn’t helpful.
At 12:30am, January 7th, at 7lbs. 6oz., 20 inches long, Arion Joseph Iyutin Jancewicz was born.

He is bright eyed, like his sister, and incredibly calm and composed. He fusses only when he’s hungry, and is just relaxed the rest of the time.
I am so proud of Tamika. I am so happy with my family.

About his name.
Arion (pronounced like Orion, but with an A) is named both after the constellation and a Greek poet and musician who was captured by pirates and rescued by dolphins.
I’ve always liked Orion, Tamika loves dolphins, and we wanted his name to begin with the letter A after Tamika’s mom Angel. Nya shares my mom’s initial, Norma Jean.
Joseph comes from the Bible story. Almost all the men in my family (me, my father, my great grandfather) have the middle name Joseph, which stems from my great-great grandfather (Jozef Jancewicz).
Iyutin is a Naskapi name, which means Wind. It’s pronounced “E-you-tin”.

I’m off to bed. 🙂

Thanks for all your prayers…

January 2, 2009

Waiting

We’re still not sure of the exact day that Arion will come, but it could happen at any day now. We went in for a precautionary sonogram last week, and everything looks normal.
The technician said Arion looked to be about 7 pounds, but that it was hard to tell.
Tamika went in for another checkup today, and still no news. So we’ll just wait. He’ll come when he’s good and ready.

Tamika’s family came down to visit us, bringing lots of gifts. Mom Pinkney got us a truly massive big screen tv. One of my favourite presents was the one that Tamika got me, though. Apparently, her parents helped her find me a beautiful large-scale all black foldable bicycle.
Earlier this year, during the middle of the high gas prices (4.00 a gallon) I had begun taking the Marc train down to the Muirkirk station and riding an old foldable bike to work. Tamika and I had found twin foldable bikes at a yard sale a while back, but being so old and me being so tall, they weren’t the greatest things to ride. This new bike is beautiful, with high-end parts and a high profile (no more scraping the bottom on curbs).
Tamika also made me a hemp necklace. I had a couple necklaces and bracelets that people had given me over the years that have slowly begun to come apart. Tamika salvaged the beads from them, and made me a beautiful new necklace.
My big gift to her was to make a book out of all the pictures from all the dates we’ve been on (there are a lot of them!). We haven’t been able to print it yet, but I hope we can in the new year when we have more money.

We didn’t do much for new years; it was nice to just chill at home with her. We got take-out Thai, rented a movie from RedBox, and then played the Urbs (a game I got for Tamika) late into the night. It was really nice.

My parents are coming down soon with Nya, we’re really excited to have her back. I hope they can stay a while, I like having them around.

January 1, 2009

Happy New Year

Happy New Year, everyone!

2009 is a special year for Zerflin. In May, it will be 10 years since I did my first design, making Zerflin a decade old.

The advantage to running a small company is that we’re nimble enough to change with the times. The world of a graphic designer is changing at light-speed.

Look for lots of new things this year. We’re secretly planning the launch of several new projects. One thing you’ll see immediately, is us keeping up with our friend Heidi Durrow‘s new years resolution of posting once a day on this journal. I’m putting a twist on it though, by putting either a design or a piece of art up every day. I’m still planning on writing about life in general, my thoughts and my family (speaking of which, Arion is still not here yet), so you may get MORE than a post a day in some cases. If you get overwhelmed, check out The Split. It will help you out.

I’m working out the bugs of the image displaying in the blog posts. If they look at all distorted to you, let me know. I’m working with a few developers to get them fix.

Thank you for reading, for being our clients, and for supporting us! You guys make this worth while.

~Benjamin

December 31, 2008

Word puzzle

Hat tip to my friend Matt Watier for sending me this one (it’s his true story).

techart-porsche-911-turbo-01

So, you’re in traffic, and in front of you is a guy in a white Porsche.

His license plate reads FFFKNT.

What does it mean?

Hint: The guy is probably a geek, and if you can figure this one out, so are you.

December 27, 2008

Catskill Cottage Seed Interview

picture-25

I’ve been interviewed by the Catskill Cottage Seed. This is from their about page:

As our family micro-farms a small patch of Earth tucked away in the southwestern folds of the Catskill Mountains, we express our journey toward the undiscovered Self in word and image. While we have spent the majority of our adult lives in major cities and suburbia, our relocation to this rural community three years ago has had a tremendous impact on our creativity and quality of life.

Their blog is a multi-faceted exploration that is very enlightening to read. I stumbled across their site with my Naskapi Google Alert, and found an article about the Inner Man, or as the Naskapi call him, the Mista-peo. The author, who avidly studies Carl Jung, quoted a portion of Jung & Franz’s Man and His Symbols.
Having very nearly minored in philosophy (with an interest in counterculture movements) in college, I admired Jung’s work, but always took issue with his and other authors lack of depth when it came to the analysis of various tribes, including the Naskapi.

I responded to the post clarifying a few of Jung’s points. I was surprised to get an email from one of the blog’s authors, Richard Reeve. He was quite apologetic, and asked me if I would be willing to expand on my points and be interviewed by him. I found a level of respect rarely found on the internet, and consented to the interview.

You can read the whole interview here. I’d encourage you to check on their site. I’ve subscribed, and I’ve found their observations quite insightful.