Portfolio Site
Well, I finally did it. I’ve been wanting to put up a portfolio site for a while to highlight some of the things I’ve done. And now it’s done. It took a while to figure out how I wanted it, but I really really like the outcome. I’m a little shocked that it actually looks similar to the mental picture of it I had in my head. That rarely happens.
Without further ado, I introduce you to Ryan Benjamin Films (dot com):
The URL is www.ryanbenjaminfilms.com, which took a while to decide on. I wanted it to sound nice and not be too hard to spell (which my last name can sometimes be). I’m definitely pleased with the final product.
Yesterday morning: trapped the mosquito between the window and screen.
This morning: the mosquito lying dead between the window and screen.
Ryan: 1 Mosquito: 0
A new adventure
As I sit next to my open bedroom window, listening to the rain fall outside, it’s hard to fully believe that I live here now. I’m sitting with my cup of jasmine tea and a burning candle–my tiny escape from the busy-ness that is life in a big city. I’m definitely not in the thick of the hustle and bustle, as I live in a (mostly) quiet neighborhood in the suburbs, but I can still feel the drive to accomplish and hurry all around me. I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’s nice to have these quiet moments to just be still, especially when I don’t usually set aside enough time for it on a regular basis.
I’ve had a lot of time recently to be still and think about life. Being unemployed has probably helped with that. [As a side note: there are many upsides to being unemployed. I can sleep in whenever I want, go sit at Starbucks for hours on end, and do pretty much whatever I want, whenever I want. However, the downside is that this all gets old pretty quickly without purpose, and it is definitely not sustainable, financially speaking.] But back to thinking about life…
I’m in a strange/interesting/wonderful phase of life now. A lot of big things have changed for me and I have never felt more freedom to do what I want to do or to be who I want to be. There’s both an aura of uncertainty and a measure of excitement surrounding this new-found freedom. It’s a wonderful place to be in life. Boundless opportunities. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?
Now, let’s start by finding a job…
I finished this video quite a while ago, but am just now getting around to posting it. I’ve really enjoyed being able to do some wedding videos lately, and the Bodens’wedding was no exception.
First Wedding Video
My friends, Jen & Chris, agreed to let me do their wedding video last month. I had never done anything exactly like this, so it was definitely a learning experience. But also loads of fun. Here’s the result:
We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late. Procrastination is still the thief of time. Life often leaves us standing bare, naked, and dejected with a lost opportunity. The tide in the affairs of men does not remain at flood — it ebbs. We may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is adamant to every plea and rushes on. Over the bleached bones and jumbled residues of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words, ‘Too late.’ – MLK jr.
(source)
If you want your skin turned blue, I’m your man.
I’ve been going through some Photoshop tutorials lately, trying to brush up on my image editing skills. I watched one the other day that went through the process of changing facial structure and skin color so that the end result was the subject of the photograph looking like a Na’vi, the blue aliens from the movie Avatar.
Of course I had to try it.
My sister, Maddy, was the lucky subject. Here are the before and after pictures:
For not spending a whole lot of time on it, and it being the first thing that I’ve ever really manipulated in Photoshop, I’m pretty pleased. I definitely should have flattened the nose some more. Oh well. It looks ridiculous, I know. But then again, most blue-skinned people do.
Love it…
I really, really like this. If I owned my own place, I would like to think that it would look (style-wise) something like this. The light blues and pale greens are perfect. I don’t usually like stenciled walls, but I actually like the trees in this room. The combination of the trees and the rug make a nice “outdoor” indoor space, which is fun.
Do you think about what you say?
You know those moments when you see or hear something and, all of a sudden, something that you’ve never thought of before–the name of something or a common phrase–makes so much sense? That happened to me a couple nights ago while watching Myth Busters in a hotel room with my dad and brothers.
I forget now why they used the term, but they mentioned the “mother lode” and it was also written out on the screen. I guess I had never seen it written before because my first thought was “They misspelled load!” Even after my father assured me that they had not misspelled anything, I still had to look it up.
Sure enough. They had used the word, lode, meaning “an ore deposit,” and not load. Load kind of made sense to me, but now it REALLY makes sense. It takes me back to the time I realized Alzheimer’s Disease wasn’t, in fact, Old Timer’s Disease.
I’m just glad I’m not the only one who makes mistakes in this area. Other phrases I’ve heard used incorrectly lately:
- For all intensive purposes, instead of For all intents and purposes. (This is one of my favorites.) 
- I could care less, instead of I couldn’t care less.
- Inventing the word reoccur, when we already have recur.
- Spitting image, instead of spit and image. (This is another favorite!)
What common words or phrases have you botched?
Music Monday
Domestic Scene by The Radio Dept.
A day for quotes…
Two quotes I read recently that I like:
“I believe in getting into hot water; it keeps you clean.” –G. K. Chesterton
“If you don’t make up your mind, your unmade mind will unmake you.” –E. Stanley Jones
What are some of your favorite quotes???
My co-workers make me laugh sometimes
Case in point: Today, Joanne was wearing a mustache.
Grief
Death is something I don’t understand.
When I found out, I only wanted to get back to my friends and cry with them. As I was driving, the tears began to flow. I was sad. I was angry. How could God let this happen? Especially to this family?!? It just doesn’t make sense. And it probably never will. There wasn’t much to say or do except be together and cry. We were all in shock. I think we’re still in shock. And we’re definitely still grieving, and probably will for a long time.
I want so badly to stay angry. But the anger melts into a deep sadness, which only hurts more. It just doesn’t make sense. But I’m choosing to hang on to hope, to the promise that, one day, things will be right again. I guess that’s all we can do. Cry together and continue to hope for that day when this world is made whole, the day we’ll all be dancing together with our Father.
We’ll miss you Kylee. But we know you’re dancing with your maker now.
EDIT::My friend, Abigail, posted a great video of Kylee dancing.
Farm Day at ECHO
ECHO (Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization) is a farm here in Fort Myers whose mission is “to equip people with resources and skills to reduce hunger and improve the lives of the poor.” They do a lot of really incredible stuff. Click HERE to view their website. Today was their annual Farm Day and several of us from NMSI went out there for the day to see all of the demonstrations and booths that they had set up. It’s kind of like an open house where they get to show what all they do.
Upon arrival, you get a map of the farm….and I was surprised to see one of my best friends on the cover! It was Dan (with Seth, the son of some other friends of mine)! Dan and his wife, Mary, are missionaries with NMSI in Zimbabwe (remember, I was just visiting them) and he first got connected to NMSI through an internship he did at ECHO. What a small world it is sometimes.
