iamHarlan

Just for the sake of updating....

2009-08-10T09:26:00.002-05:00

I actually do all of my "blogging" over at harlan.theparadigmexchange.com.

For those of you not in the know, The Paradigm Exchange is an outlet for amateur writers to share their paradigms on faith, community, and culture. While it is centered upon Christian faith, the hope is that readers grow in wisdom by experiencing the paradigms of others.

Go check out:
www.theparadigmexchange.com
&
harlan.theparadigmexchange.com

H.

2008-10-30T21:14:00.001-05:00

Wow. I'm really not good at this.

Summer School

2008-07-10T16:57:00.002-05:00

I'm in full swing with summer school....and to be honest....it's a beating. I'm taking nine hours....which is nine hours more than I've ever taken in summer school. But I'm ready to be done with this program...and summer school is what it takes.

Nevertheless, I won't be able to put much up on the blog the next few weeks. I've had to make a weekly calendar for myself...just to be able to organize my time. I might pop in with a couple of short ones...but probably not much....

Hope you're having a good one....we'll be working on TPE shortly!

Harlan

Back for good...

2008-07-01T22:27:00.001-05:00

Well, we're back from California. Now I get to get back to that all familiar catching up with my life again.

I'll put some pictures up soon....

Right. That's what I said last time.

H.

Today it begins...

2008-06-19T08:58:00.004-05:00

This morning, we head out to Lubbock for Curtis and Cassie's wedding. I have to admit, I'm pretty excited about it. We have a pretty jam packed weekend, full of parties, pictures, and presents. (I didn't intend for those all to start with the letter p - but fun times anyway.) We have a bachelor party tonight, and another tomorrow...as well as some frisbee golf and swimming. Should be good times.

Yvette and I, beginning on Sunday, head out for California. We are taking a road trip to SoCal to see the sights and go to Disneyland. I know you're thinking, didn't they just go on vacation? And the answer is, yes, we did. However, due to my school schedule and such, we probably aren't going to get another one for a while, so we decided to do them back to back. It's kinda cool, because we went east coast for the first one, and now we're headed west coast. Highlights will include: San Diego, beaches, a Padres game, beaches, a Dodgers game, beaches, Disneyland, Disneyland, and beaches. Need I say more?

The only bad thing is that we have to leave our dog again for another week. (They need a smiley face thing that has its bottom lip out...I would use that one about now.)

Harlan

Nike Next Level

2008-06-07T15:51:00.001-05:00

I frikkin love this video right now...

TPE

2008-06-04T14:34:00.002-05:00

So I finally got The Paradigm Exchange up and running. It's been a long time coming, and has taken many, many hours to get going, but it's up. Granted, it is just a skeleton right now...just a few articles and a simple design. However, over the next few months and toward the end of the year, I hope to have it fully functional and streamlined.

It's an exciting thing...born of dreams, frustrations, longing, and....deep in there somewhere...hope. Hope that we'll change something. I'm not exactly sure what that is, but I'm ready for it...I think.

I look at the world differently. I know, everyone says that about themselves, but I believe that I truly do. Sure, I have my insecurities and hang-ups...wrought by fallacies in myself and my own misconceptions about the world. But out of all of that...somewhere...I found a different kind of belief, a different kind of hope, a different kind of faith. It probably doesn't look like many other people's version of the world. But it's mine.

There is wisdom that I have discovered amidst my ignorance. And I'd like to share it with you. That's what The Paradigm Exchange is all about; a bunch of people who have found wisdom, sometimes in unlikely places, and would like to share it. Does this mean we have all the answers? No, far from it. It means we found a path...hopefully the right one...that can lead us to the truth.

Please check it out...read the about page...and help us out.

The Paradigm Exchange

H.

Back from NYC

2008-05-25T18:42:00.000-05:00

I'm back from vacation in NYC...and I'm trying to get ahold of my life again. It's funny how off track you can get when you leave for even just a week. It was a great week, but I'm glad to be home.

I will post some pictures, stories, thoughts, etc....pretty soon. But for now, back to the reorganizing.....

H.

And......

2008-05-12T19:34:00.002-05:00

I freakin' rocked this semester's classes.

Research Methods = A
Methods in Counseling = A
Culture, Minority, Gender = A

That's right baby. Now to get ready for Summer school.

H.

Update: The Man Week

2008-05-12T19:19:00.002-05:00

Ok....I felt the need to update my man week post....due to the fact that I have accomplished a couple of goals today.

First, I was able to change my oil. I am pretty proud of myself simply because I have never done it before. I know, you're thinking it's easy...and it is. But I've never done it...and I feel as though I have accomplished some right of passage as a man. However, I have not driven much since I did it. So pray that I haven't forgotten some important step and that I don't go down in a blaze of glory.

The second thing I accomplished today is.....and I know you're going to be so proud....I am now in the world rankings on FIFA 08. I am ranked 9545. I know that sounds high...but it is actually incredibly difficult to even get ranked. They only rank the top 10,000. The thing that's actually funny about this, is that I really haven't played many video games up until this one. I'm really not (seriously) a big video game guy. But I have been, truthfully, hopelessly addicted to FIFA, and apparently, I am not the only one who is so. However, my wife is not as impressed with my accomplishment. She said she guesses it was a fine accomplishment....comparatively speaking. To that...I say....anyone can change their oil. How many people do you know that are in the world FIFA rankings? Seriously.

Much love...leaving for NYC on Wednesday. I'll take some pictures and post them on here when I get back.

H.

PS. I had no idea that I had comments disabled. So now they're on. Leave me some feedback folks.

The Man Week

2008-05-09T09:54:00.002-05:00

I've had a rough week of being a man. You know, the stereotypical type of man who does the big duties around the house and on the cars. Usually I don't particularly worry about stuff like that. I am perfectly content taking my car to get the oil changed, or calling a plumber, etc.

But this week I decided to be different. So here's what I did, and where it went wrong.

Duty: Change the oil in my truck.
Commentary: Never done this before, at least not by myself. I thought, how hard could it be? Pretty hard, if you don't know where the drain bolt is. And no diagrams on the internet for help. I drive a freakin' Tahoe....not one of these!
Result: No oil change. But I'm going to try again soon.

Duty: Change headlight on Saab.
Commentary: Harder than you think. After a trip to Pep Boys, I discovered I had bought the wrong light. A return trip proved useful.
Result: A rare instance where "man-hands" would've proved detrimental. My hands were able to reach through tiny tiny space to retrieve and change the light. If it were on the passenger side, forgeddaboutit.

Duty: Flush the hot water heater.
Commentary: It's always nice when something relatively small turns into the disaster of the century. Long story.
Result: Being soaked without taking a shower, no hot water, pilot light out, leaky drain valve, 3 trips to Home Depot, and a $175 plumber.

After all is said and done...I didn't really get a lot accomplished this week, with the exception being a lot of experience.

I'm ready for my NYC vacation.

H.

The Moleskine

2008-05-01T18:36:00.002-05:00

My lifelong pursuit of journaling resembles my pursuit of blogging in many ways. If you were to collect all of the journals that I have written in over the past three or so years, you could probably combine them into perhaps three or four completed journals. I keep buying them...and I venture headlong into writing in them. But somewhere along the line, the process becomes stale, and before I even realize it, I have bought another journal to replace the stagnant one.

It didn't used to be this way. During high school and college, I would fill spiral notebooks with pages and pages of writings. Not all of it was coherent, but at least they were complete.

But similar to my recent dive back into consistent blogging, I have decided to pick up my journaling again.

So I bought I moleskine. In order to keep it going, I have decided not to limit it to any particular subject. I will write notes for my book, bible study notes, song notes, travel diaries, notes for The Paradigm Exchange, and so on.

So wish me luck.

And is it pronounced Moleskine, or Moleskine? You be the judge.

H.

Post-Class Papers

2008-04-30T19:42:00.003-05:00

There's something about having assignments that aren't due until after the last day of class that's just.....wrong.

Truly, you get all excited about the thought of the last day of class. Your entire semester is leading up to this point. "All" of the assignments are in, you have your final, or last lecture, or whatever, and you move on. You take a nice little break and get ready for the next semester.

I had my last class on Monday night....yet, here I am on Wednesday, writing a paper for class. And, to make matters worse, after this paper, I have another paper due next week.

It's just....wrong.

A-List Tradition

2008-04-25T09:34:00.002-05:00

Looking forward to a little weekend with the boys. We have this tradition, which kind of happened accidentally, where we take an upcoming groom to Dublin, TX. I know you're thinking, why Dublin? Well, I'm not really sure actually. Like I said, it's sort of an accidental tradition. We took one person just for the fun of it....then, when the next groom came, we were like "hey, we did this for so and so, we should take you too." Then, without warning, it became a tradition.

So it's Curtis' turn to go to Dublin. It's nice, because we actually have almost all of us in one place at the same time. That's an exciting, and yet really frightening notion (for others, of course).

So that's all for now. I've got to go take a shower...it just wouldn't be right to get an unshowered A-List together.

Hibachi

2008-04-19T22:53:00.003-05:00

You know those experiences....where immediately after you leave, you feel overwhelmingly content in a completely caught off guard sort of way? I had one of those tonight. I can't get over it.

It started with a sort of bad night...computer issues. Just the kind of thing that puts me in a bad mood. So we decided to get out of the house to get some dinner...and nothing cheers us up like some good fried rice. So we headed out to Edohana Hibachi Grill here in the Fort. We settled in to the just "after dinner" crowd, meaning just Yvette and I alone at a table, and began to talk about our future twins. (No we're NOT pregnant! We just plan on having twins. Let's keep that straight.)

Then the hostess sat a family next to us....which is where it became interesting. They introduced themselves, Jim, Lilian and Kezia, and we began to shoot the breeze about work and schools and such. After a ridiculous amount of food, several sake shots taken by Jim and myself, a faulty hibachi grill, trading business cards, Jim randomly picking up our check, and being invited to Monday night family dinners, we headed out the door. I haven't had as interesting an experience as this in quite some time.

Really the most euphoric aspect of the entire evening was the simplest of all things: it was the thought of getting to know someone completely outside of my world, and having a pleasant, thoughtful, joyful conversation with them. There were no agendas, simply enjoying the presence of other people. Truly delightful.

I think Yvette and I are going to take them up on that Monday night dinner offer.

Love.
H.

Sick...

2008-04-17T17:55:00.002-05:00

Blah. I pretty much hate being sick with the passion of a thousand suns.

But here I am....sick. And as I said before, I have been procrastinating lately, and every piece of schoolwork is catching up to me. Perfect timing.

In other news, I only have a month until I leave for New York. I'm pretty excited about it. I've been to Boston, but that's it for the Northeast. I am sure I will post all kinds of pictures when I get back.

Love.

Homework

2008-04-11T14:42:00.002-05:00

As well as taking on too much...I am also an avid procrastinator. I do it every chance that I get. There is nothing that brings me more joy than to have a lot to do and put it all off for later. In fact, it is so lovely outside today, I think it is the perfect opportunity to take some time out of my busy schedule to truly procrastinate. It is a beautiful thing.

Except that I can't today. I have taken all of this stuff that I was supposed to do over several weeks (months even!) and pushed it into one afternoon.

So here goes.

Sometimes I think I take on too much....

2008-04-09T11:02:00.002-05:00

So here I am sitting at my computer on my day off....and I'm thinking, "I have so much to do." Yet, I am still fighting the extreme lack of motivation to do anything productive. I've taken on quite a bit lately, and sometimes I feel as though that striving for productivity ends up causing even less than before.

I had a pretty late night last night, so I am sure this is part of why I am feeling so lazy. Nonetheless, I actually do have a lot to do...and I need to get to it.

I'm going to organize right now....

I bought a bass...

2008-04-08T16:24:00.003-05:00

I bought a new bass, it's a Schecter Stiletto Studio 5 string. I'm pretty excited about it. I have been wanting another bass for quite some time, and I finally convinced the Mrs. to let me get one. It's pretty.

You can see it here.

I didn't really have anything else important to say....but I said I would blog more....so there.

H.

New Blog

2008-04-04T15:51:00.002-05:00

Hello. Hello.

Before diving in to what seems another futile blog attempt, I would first like to add a disclaimer. This blog will be arbitrary and irregular, at best. There it is. I wouldn't want to mislead you, or myself for that matter, to believe I will be treating this like a clean slate into blogging. I've never been particularly good at blogging consistently, and this will be no exception.

I originally started this blog to give excerpts from the book that I am working on, and I still might do that. However, I set it somewhat limiting, where the only posts would be specifically about the book. I decided against this, and so I deleted my first post to try again.

I honestly will not post here all that often. I would love to say that I could post here everyday or week or something....but I won't. I do hope to post here often enough that you (whoever you are) will be able to gain some insight into my world.

Thanks for checking it out....
Harlan