dread update #3: no rubberbands

progress:

took rubberbands out.

hair is more frizzy.

look like a bum.

I got airpuffed at PDX

I knew that having dreads would typecast me. I hate when people typecast. I hate preconceptions. I actually think that is a little of the reason that I have dreads…maybe it is a lot of the reason. I don’t want to fit into the mold of the clean-cut, nicely dressed missionary. Those who know me, know that I am definitely not that! I like being different...doing things differently. Part of it is just being fun and part of it is to challenge the status quo.

Anyways…this morning I totally got typecasted at Portland International Airport. I was going through security and before I got through Big Tall Security Man called me aside to stand in the Air-Puff-A-Rama. So, I stand in this ten foot tall glass machine, the guy tells me to stand still, and then puh-puh-puh-puh-puh…I get blasted with about eight to ten puffs of air! So, I’m like, “What the freak is this thing.” Then Big Tall Security Man tells me I’m finished. I ask Big Tall Security Man, “What was that for?” He replies, “Explosives and Drugs.” Oh drugs…that totally explains it.

So, I’ve been typecasted. I’m sure there is more of that to come.

America - its different here

So, I've been in the States for almost five days now. It is different than Czech. Here are some interesting facts from the first week.

- I can speak English here.

- I can say "hi" to random people on the street.

- I've eaten mexican food three straight days...and it is cooked by Mexicans!

- I don't have to take my shoes off when I go into someone's home.

- I don't have to eat every morsel of food from my plate.

- I drive an automatic transmission.

- I can turn right on red.

- I am transfixed by television. Even the commercials hold my gaze.

- When I go to a store I don't have to think of what I'm going to say before I go in...I can just walk in and say it.

- Oregon is beautiful.

- Starbucks is everywhere...and oh so delightful.

Merry Christmas

Please remember the reason for the season!

These are my gifts to you...enjoy!

songs for when i want to throw myself from a window

yep, i just created that playlist.

it's been one of those nights.

i really can't articulate why (it would take too long). and its basically ministry/logistics related, so you wouldn't feel the impact even if i did explain it.

so, here is what i have on there:

redeemer - nicole c. mullen
just who i am - matt gibson
psalm 143 (revive me) - shane & shane
blessed be your name - passion band
only you - david crowder band
enough - passion band
*it is still a work in progress*

i like worship music. but i don't listen to it all the time. i listen to quite a variety of other things usually. but it seems that when things really hit the fan there is little else that will ground me like worship.

it points me to HIM.

it reminds me of who the CREATOR is.

it reminds me that HE is more than enough.

when all i want to do is complain, worry, disappear...it knocks me to my knees.

my "go to" song is REDEEMER. if i've got time for one. if i have 5 minutes (or 4:56 to be exact) to listen to a song, that's the one.

what do you listen to?

2 Years, 100 Posts

Happy Blogaversary to me,
Happy Blogaversary to me,
Happy Blogaversary, dear naaay-aaate,
Happy Blogaversary to me.

Two years ago today I was sitting in the lobby of a resort on Kauai. I had just finished seminary and was on vacation with my family. I started a blog to chronicle the time leading up to Czech and to share my experiences while in Czech. So much has happened in the last two years.

I've tried to let you in.

I've tried to let you experience life through my eyes (however twisted it may be at times).

I've tried to let you into my heart. To hear why it beats.

I've tried to show you the many faces (and hairstyles) of nate.

I've tried to share my art.

I've tried to share me.

I know that I have been blessed by your comments, emails, and encouragement.

I hope that in some small way I have been a blessing to you.

To another two years (and more...)

*raise glass, look each other in the eye, clink, pound the table, tip it back*

halina

dan

earth and heaven

sunset tonight

sepia madness

i don't usually like sepia. it is kinda depressing. but we went hiking in november and it was a sepia day. here is the outcome.

morning ritual

bible and coffee

top pics from vienna

art and life, life and art

i find myself intentifying a lot more with art lately. i have never been artistic. the only instrument i ever played was the clarinet (only because we had to take one year of music and it was the only instrument we had in the house). i took a few art classes in high school, but mostly because they were chill (and the teacher was cute). but over the last year or two my love of art has grown. i've started playing the guitar on a regular basis. i've found great appreciation for photography. and, i've even thought about picking up a paintbrush (!).



i just returned from vienna. one of the great things about vienna is the multitude of art galleries and museums. yesterday we spent a couple hours at the albertina. they were hosting a picasso exhibit. ever since i saw picasso in dc in '98, i have loved his art. this particular exhibit was from the last decade of his life. probably a little too much anatomy for my taste, but still enjoyable.



while picasso was the draw, i was super impressed by two other artists that we saw. one famous, one not-so-famous. the famous one is andy warhol. we've all seen his pop art pictures, but to see them close up and to see the texture and the layering he used was quite impressive. posters and prints fail to do his work justice.



the other artist is a man by the name of franz gertsch. he is "famous" for his woodcuts. woodcut is where you take a piece of wood and carve your image into the wood. you then roll paint onto the wood, lay canvas or paper over the top of the wood and allow the paint to display your image onto the canvas. its like a big stamp. what makes gertsch's art so amazing is that his pieces are about 30x20 feet. they were massive. the above picture can't truly capture the unbelievable detail that went into making these woodcuts.

but, while standing in the midst of four of these enormous woodcuts and marvelling about how amazing art is, this Chilean boy (maybe 1 year old) caught my attention. his parents were letting him crawl around and we made eye contact. i waved. he gooed. i waved again. he gooed and crawled towards me. i hunched down, waved again. he gooed again and crawled closer. he came right to me. i grabbed him and held him so he was standing. he touched my beard. we "talked". he tried to break my bracelets. his mom came over. told me his name was tomas and that he'd never seen a beard before (apparently they don't have those in chile). we pried the bracelets from his kung-fu grip. we "talked" some more. i gave him back to his mom. we connected.

as i stood amidst all this wonderful art. i came face to face with true art.

us.

life.

babies.

i thought a lot about life and art for the rest of the day. how we are God's masterpiece. we are created in his image. he is beauty and somehow we are that beauty personified.

i thought about tomas. about how life connects. about how for five minutes in vienna a chilean baby and a 28-year old dreaded american connected.

life is art.

tomas is art.

*side note: in an effort to display some of my photography and to make it to 100 posts by my two-year blogiversary, i will be going on a post explosion over the next five days. so, enjoy.

www.

So, I was thinking. How in the heck did the dudes who invented the world wide web have enough foresight to think that it would go world wide.

"Bob, Do you think we could connect people all over europe using computers?"

"I think we could. But what would we call it, Al?"

"Let's call it the european wide web and we'll start all of the pages with eww."

"Sounds like a great idea, Al, but don't you think that it could stretch into asia also."

"Good point, Bob, lets call it eaww, the eurasian wide web...actually, maybe it will stretch to the entire eastern hemisphere. We'll settle with ehww."

"Why stop there, Al? Let's go for the world!! www. sounds great to me."

"Who knows, though, maybe by the time this thing gets kick started people will be living in outer space. What about the osww."

"Come on. Now your really stretching it. Let's just stick with www. and hope for the best."

"OK."

dread update: one week

Before I get to the pics I have a few things to say about dreads.

1. They are spelled dreads, not dreds.
2. They are a lot more work than I thought they would be.
3. There is an instant community that you join once you have dreads. I've already talked to a couple from Poland on the street.
4. I never thought I'd be walking around Cesky Tesin looking for "shampoo without residue" or "good hair wax".

OK, here are the latest pictures.