Guilt and work

Late night again.
Days are long at work. We’re very understaffed, and more people are leaving. I’m getting more and more jobs, most of them doing new things, or actually doing design work.
Sometimes, though, I’m getting work that is way out of my league. A lot of web coding projects, with really heavy coding. With two of or major coders gone, it’s really tough work. I don’t mind doing it, but I’m not trained in coding. I’m sure I’d be able to pick it up pretty quick if could get some classes on it, but with the recession already pinching the company at it’s every nerve, it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.
At home, I’ve been exhausted. I’m just trying to keep up with the work. Sometimes I go into autopilot, because I can’t focus.

I had band practice today with The Black Marks. Songs are solidifying nicely. We’re doing a recording session on December 5th, so hopefully that turns out well.
Came home; Tamika helped me with some Zerflin stuff. Not as productive as I could be. Not quite sure how to switch it on, so I can burn through my projects and get them done.
Everywhere I look, I see money bleeding away. Our leaky toilet. Out uninsulated back porch. A light left on. The late fee on a bill we couldn’t pay.
I feel like it’s hard to get out, but I don’t know where to start.
The next Zerflin project? House repairs? Working hard at the day job to get promoted somehow, or at least a raise?

It’s tough.
In all this, I need to find more time to spend with God.
Not easy when I acually feel guilty when I’m not doing something profitable.
Trish Barrett and Tamika have both been reminding me that to not take a day of rest is disobediance, and not putting your faith in God that he will work it out.
Why is that so difficult?
It’s because I keep asking myself, since God’s miracles are so great, how am I ever supposed to meet him halfway? At what point am I doing “my part”?

I’m not sure.

Bourbon and the Wiskichan

Just got done with a meeting with Bourbon Coffee. Things are getting better, I think. We drove down to DC from Baltimore, not a very easy task. The trip takes an hour in good traffic, two-and-a-half in bad. Today was a two-and-a-half day. It’s been slate an rainy here, with alternating cold and warm fronts fighting in a never ending coastal queue.

Went to vist Dean at the Baltimore Motorcycle Salvage this morning. It looks as though the wisikichan, my motorcycle, is pretty much done. Tom Walker, a mechanic from church is optimistic, but echoed my dad’s suggestion of getting a new motorcycle so I can start saving on gas. So that’s the plan; I’m going to save up Zerflin profits and let it be the first company vehicle.

Dean had a couple bikes there, and said I should save up about $1,000 to get a decent one. It’s gonna be tough, but it will save us a lot on gas in the long run.

Gotta run, Arion’s getting antsy!

billjancewicz.zerflin.com is up

Bill Jancewicz's Website

My dad’s site is up and live!

If you’re unfamiliar with his work, my dad, Bill Jancewicz, is a translator who works for the Naskapi Development Corporation as well as Wycliffe Bible Translators. Among other things, he helped create the Naskapi Lexicon (dictionary), the BJCree font, and just finished the New Testament in the Naskapi language.

He my mom Norma Jean have just returned to Schefferville & Kawawachikamach to begin work on translating the Old Testament into Naskapi.

Subscribe to his blog!

Visit his site!

Support him in his work (his Bible translation work is entirely supported by donations)!

Wake Up

Lyric ideas for a song. Thoughts?

Wake up
This epoch is yours
As long as you are alive
Undermine the cooling embers
Span your limbs, crane your neck
And rise.

High Speed Robot Hand catches cellphone in midair

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KxjVlaLBmk&feature=player_embedded

I gotta say, this is REALLY cool, but a little bit unnerving too… Robots can officially dribble faster and better than any human can. And to see it catch that cellphone… pretty amazing.

District 9

district9-poster

Went to the movies with my friend Chris Smith and his fianceé Sarah this morning. Tamika and I haven’t been out on a date in ages, so it was nice to get out. We hired a babysitter and caught the matinee.

The movie was very well done. The storyline was incredible, with actors that made the documentary style very believable.
We all walked out.
The reason? It was disgusting.
The aliens were cool looking, but followed the same tired old alien character style that has been the norm for the past 10 years. Every since the Aliens series, extra terrestrials have been typically modeled after insects… Except slimy.

Alien herself?

alien_from_the_movie

Black, slimy, exoskeleton with sharp angular protrusions.

Starship Troopers:

star1

Yellow Black, slimy, exoskeleton with sharp angular protrusions.

Star trek’s ice monster:

star-trek-ice-monster1

Red, slimy, exoskeleton with sharp angular protrusions.

And now District 9? C’mon, be inventive!

district_9_prawn_commander

Not only that, but they all seem to have the same language too, growls & clicks through a telephone voice distorted.

But back to the disgusting part. Once he movie got going, every scene. EVERY scene had some kind of swelling, oozing, snotty, slimy bodily discharge. It was like watching a miscoloured Discovery Health with an actual plot.

Which is a shame, because like I said, the plot is really good.

Now, I understand the market… There is a large audience of young men who thrive on slimy disgusting things on screen. The more gory, the better they like it.
This same audience typically buys first-person shooter games with the same level of gore.

But at some point, perhaps we might just take a step back. With movies like these, we not different from Romans watching bears maul Christians at the colloseum and then lighting them as torches along their highways, or Mayans watching the winners of a ball game decapitate their opponents on field.
Sure, we’re separated by a silver screen. But with movies like this becoming so commonplace… How long will it last?

Up late

Stayed up until 4 last night… Was trying to get some artwork uploaded to a printer. Turns out my file wasn’t flattened. Once flattened, it went up in 30 minutes….zzzzzzzzz

Bourbon, Club Reality, & Harry Potter

Sitting waiting for Tamika’s show with The 83 South Project (her band).
Today was a bit hectic, I was dog tired from last night, and Arion & Nya never sleep in. 🙂
Tamika’s Mom came down for the weekend, and so Tamika went to pick her up from the Greyhound.
Her mom made us breakfast and we headed down to DC.
Bourbon Coffee was having a family and friends get together, and invited us down. It was good to see everything together, and though there are still things to be done, the shop looks good. My friend Setti Solomon, who is handling the project management for Bourbon, Saleem Khaja (who handles legal matters and budget) and I got to talk and work out the next phases. They’re now opening up a shop in Boston too, and I’m really hoping I’ll be able to have Zerflin work on that too. There have been some mix ups on design approval that we’ve been ironing out, but I really enjoy working with them.

Setti had on a very pretty black dress, which inspired Tamika to try and find something at Macy’s for her show tonight.

Traffic was pretty bad on the way home (when is it not in DC) which made us pretty late for her show. Tamika’s mom made us spaghetti to go, and we rushed off.

Club Reality is a small, unassuming place, and it’s only about 10 minutes from our house. From the outside, it looks pretty run down, but I was impressed with how nice and spacious it was on the inside.
Our friend Twi Jackson has now joined the band, and I have to say, this was one of their best shows. Twi sang “what you would do for love” and blew it away. Tamika sang Marvin Gaye’s “I want you” and blew it away. She’s been working hard on her stage presence, and she really entertained the crowd.

Afterwards, we went out to see Harry Potter. Good movie. Tamika knows the storyline better than I, but I enjoyed myself.

2am? Time for an early bedtime…