That's right. I need your help once again on the color scheme for EVER GREENCARE business cards. Here are two mock-ups of different colors. I just want to know which one has the most high contrast value from one side to the next. Some might say it's an obvious choice but I need opinions. Comment away!

I started this piece months ago and could never finish it.

To be honest, it's not exactly up to my standards of completion but I needed the closure of getting it the heck out of the "unfinished" folder on my hard drive.

I bought my tickets. I'm ready to have my face melted.

I present to you quite possibly Australia's greatest contribution to the western world: Hillsong United.

It's seldom that God gives one church a voice so influential that an entire generation would stop and listen. Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia has been given such a mantle. In all they do, their vision is obvious and passionate.

A stellar example of leadership and integrity -- the entire world could glean from such a model.

Their team of young musicians travel the globe creating an environment where incredible music meets the heart-gripping presence of God; lives are indelibly changed.

And also, they have cool hair.

Old photography piece I worked on from years back. It's always fun coming across old work and realizing either (A) how far you've come or (B) wow, I suck now. Enjoy :)

No particular reason for this post. Just adding color to the world.

There's a guy named Brandon Mendelson out of Glen Falls, NY who is an influential activist against cancer.

I ran into him on twitter recently and asked him a few questions concerning his launch and driving purpose for the campaign.

He actually answered my question via his YouTube video blog entitled, "The Brandon Show." Check him out.

I was thawing out some ground sirloin for tasty consumption when something caught my eye.

As I'm reading the instructions, I notice this strange line on the label:

"Ready for use in fast weekend meals."


What kind of prejudice do these meat people have with regular week day meals? I'm pretty sure I've had my share of tacos, sloppy joes and spaghetti with meat sauce during the week.

But here's what's even weirder -- why did I subconsciously pull this thing out on a Friday (beginning of the weekend)? Maybe these magic meat makers know something far more mystical than my mind can muster.

I promise you that alliteration was completely unintentional.

I know I already let the cat out of the bag on twitter but I just wanted to tell the full story.

Today Keith, our drummer, and I visited a local middle school to have lunch with our friend, Dylan. Dylan attends our church with his family and is passionate about music just like us. He's even come to our practices and dubbed our new band name as "Metallic Blood."

Needless to say, he's a fan of rock.

It was such a rewarding experience to sneak up behind him and see his surprise. All of a sudden, his "cool" status skyrocketed through the roof. Kids were waving to him just to simply say "Hi."

Later he told us he barely knew them. Oh middle school politics. Love it.

I'm just so reminded that life is about people. It's about loving like God loves. It's about serving like Christ served. It's about sharing community and making it public that we were never meant to journey alone.

So a friend of mine is starting a lawncare business serving the Greater Tampa Area and he's still in the process of deciding on a name/logo.

Here is my contribution to the pile. For his sake, please leave a suggestion/critique. Thanks.

Sometimes, God has to make some pretty controversial moves to get our attention.

Why is it that in struggle we affirm his existence more than ever. In hardship, we cry out for a savior. In turmoil, we're needy.

Yet...

In happiness, we're oblivious. In prosperity, we're forgetful. In abundance, we're ungrateful.

It's a hard trend to break. But for God's sake, a must. It's a pretty hurtful thing to cling to a friend only when you need something -- and in the same breath, ignore their desire to connect.

I'm making a concerted effort this week to act in the opposite of what comes natural to me. Because let's face it, our humanity is naturally selfish, innately egocentric.

Translation: we're flawed and need God's grace daily.

I never do this but I just had some quick thoughts concerning a current affair that's been blown out of proportion in the media.

Miss California vs. Perez Hilton.

For those that don't know, Perez Hilton is the self-acclaimed "Gossip Queen" of the universe. He's an internet personality who makes his living slandering celebrity names and exposing vulnerability. I'm not bashing him, I simply describing his public persona.

Then there's Miss California who was a candidate in the Miss USA pageant which took place a few nights ago.

The big deal? Perez, being one of the judges, asked Miss Cali her opinion on gay marriage.

She expressed her ideals of a heterosexual marriage concept. And he tore her up on his gossip website.

The moral of this dumb argument: if you're not gonna like the answer, then don't ask.

I'm a "streak" guy. I love streaks. Not streak-ing, but streaks. Winning streaks: most consecutive free-throws, most reps during a work out session, etc.

As I was thinking about this obsession of mine, I was reminded of a classic Mad-TV sketch from years ago that couldn't convey my point better:

I went to the Gun Show today - and my biceps were no where to be seen.

That's right. A real gun show with real people, real mullets, real odors, and real nice lookin' sets of tooth.

Wow, Tampa. I thought you were better than that. Nonetheless, I went to support my dad who has recently taken a fascination with guns.

It was like a Republican convention only no good looking women whatsoever....wait, same thing.

I literally got asked, "Hey man, you need a machine gun?" I mean, is there ever a day when I NEED a machine gun?

One kid was looking to buy a samurai sword and after deciding to keep browsing, bowed and gracefully handed the thing back with honor - good thing he's got honor because I know one thing he'll never get.

Today was jam-packed.

And yet I still have so much to do. To-do list's run my existence.

Tonight was a night of creation. Band practice was awesome. Brainstormed with some of the guys afterward. I love creativity. I love surrounding myself with people who think new thoughts continually. What a novel idea.

Habit to live by: Identify a form of expression that you love (art, music, writing, etc.) and create once within that environment every day.

If you're not creating, you're just in the way.




...those last two lines rhymed and totally ruined my profundity.

My life was changed today at Panera Bread.

My brother, Rei, and I are sitting in a booth directly next to customer traffic. Rei begins telling me of this creepy zombie dream he had last night when a red-haired lady walks up right next to our table and just stands there obviously eave's dropping.

Annoyed, Rei weaves her into his dream by mentioning loudly that there was, "...this ugly RED-HAIRED lady that started eating all the zombies..."

I lost it.

Then this large man walks up behind her and follows suit - you could see him leaning in to hear our conversation. Boom, you're in the story too pal.

Rei: "Then this HUGE guy came out of no where and punched the RED-HEAD in the face." He heard us.

So now we're both dying of laughter when immediately to our left we witness this middle-aged woman SMASH her face into one of the hanging lights at Panera. The collision made a noise that convinced me whole-heartedly that her head was made of fine brass.

Exactly 30 seconds later another old woman drops like 15 quarters and bends over RIGHT in my face; I accidentally laughed audibly into her butt -- awkward.

And that is my Panera Meltdown; I literally almost threw up from laughing so hard.

I'm on a quest for the organic.

What makes an environment, an experience or even a person feel organic, natural? I think any form of evangelism, whether church related or not, is successful when people experience a natural and even subconscious relation with your message.

No over-thought - it just makes sense.

Not forced or awkward - it just feels right.

Bottom line: as a Christ follower, I am trying to re-tell his story in a way that makes people think, "Man, I liked that."

...Was driving to the mall food court to get work done and sitting directly beside one of those stupid "claw" vending machines.

You know, the ones where you insert 2 quarters and this dumb hand-like metal thing drops down to grab stuff but you never win? Yeah, those.

I know you're wondering why I don't just get up and leave? Because my Macbook is plugged into the only God-forsaken electrical socket in this mall - conveniently located near the vortex of hell machine.

I have heard 5 year old kids use language that I don't even use. One little girl uttered, "I hate you!!!"

Another little spanish-speaking boy yelled, "Tu eres el Diablo!"

Here's the winner:

(actual transcript)
Demon child: Mom, please just 2 more quarters?
Mom: No this is a rip off, let's go.
Demon child: Why do you suck!?

I'm seriously going to unplug it.

I have a stress problem. It's so unnecessary too. But nonetheless it's there and it's doing me no good.

My stress isn't just tied to work or family - this thing is everywhere.

For instance, this past week my little Brother was visiting for Spring Break. He is a sucker for quality time. And being that he's in high school, quality time ends up turning into video games.

So we're playing Halo for the Xbox, blowing each others heads off and all of a sudden my shoulders tense up and I feel like I'm having a stroke.

And it hits me - I take myself way too seriously.

Here I am taking it personal every time I die in a VIDEO GAME, c'mon. I am shortening my life span with every inner burst of anger and stress and all because I can't stand to lose.

Reading this over, I am seeing the bigger picture of how my perfectionism and serious outlook is a detriment to my productivity and more importantly, my health. Am I suggesting I quit my job, join the Circus and start a new life wowing unsuspecting crowds as the hairiest man alive? Not entirely.

But I am coming to a conclusion that I need peace. I need God to deal with the complicated stuff. And the only thing I need to worry about is worrying less.

This Friday has felt like a Saturday.

I like that because now I have a Saturday that will also hopefully feel like a Saturday.

But I hate it when Sundays feel Mondays. That's rough.

What's even worse is when Tuesday and Wednesday feel like Thursday, because then you know your Thursday is going to drag like RuPaul on a Monday. Make sense?

Ultimately, my favorite day is definitely Wednesday because it's the farthest from either end of the week. The beginning of the week always sucks for obvious reasons.

And weekends are great, don't get me wrong, but sometimes my perfectionism stresses me out on Sunday's at the Connection Point.

So the day that Sunday's feel like Wednesdays, I will have arrived.

If I could be a wizard just for a day and if I could use my magic wizard stick to transform any inanimate object into a living human being and then if I could challenge that human being to a fight and then kill them gruesomely in battle...that God-forsaken object would be the Brother HL-4040CN network printer sitting directly behind me in the office.

This lousy excuse for a printer has been crumpling and wasting my precious glossy paper all day. If I see that dumb red "rear jam" screen one more time, I will relieve myself in its tray.

This all reminds me of the priceless scene in the movie, Office Space (above). All I need is that "....it feels good to be a Gangsta" song playing in the background while I do my damage.

Ok, I'm done.

I can't help it but I've been swallowed up by daytime TV. My particular vice? Judge Judy.

I would hate to be her son. I would hate to be her husband. I would hate to be her gavel.

Yet I watch her devour her prey one by one.

She's a beast.

I kinda want to box her...but not really.


-- Post From My iPhone

I hate to admit it but my apartment is a mess right now. It's border-line dangerous. So I've drawn up a 5-point list that truly classifies a slob. Hopefully, I will motivate myself to clean it...but probably not.

1. When you wake up, your first step on the ground is...technically not on the ground.

2. Your bathroom smells like a wet dog eating a peach cobbler; You don't own a dog nor do you like peach cobbler.

3. The fridge and pantry are jammed packed with food and 2008 is the popular year among the supply.

4. Due to a late night video game binge, your couch blocks basic living room traffic.

5. There's a bundle of old bananas sitting on your counter resembling an evil hand of claws.

I guess I feel slightly more guilty but still unmotivated. Man, I thought for sure that would work.




Bonus Item: Literally just found a pair of underwear behind the TV. Now it's just funny.

You guessed it. It's time for another sketch of NOTHING RELATED TM

1. Family is in town. My little bro is spending his spring break at my apartment. Should be fun. Free groceries via my mom. Free business advice via my dad. Free hustling lessons via my 11 year-old sister.

2. I just recently jail-broke my iPhone. That means I unlocked it's yummy apple potential to download apps, ringtones, video backgrounds and alternate layouts all for free - as well as other crazy otherwise unavailable features. Part of me feels like the second I post this, Barack Obama will knock on my door and take it away.

3. I've been wearing the same pair of jeans every day for a little over a week.

4. My dad just bought my mom a concealable revolver. Yeah, a gun. I have a new respect for my mom. Not because she's any cooler or whatever, but because I have to...she's got a gun.

5. Seriously, my sister has only been here 3 hours and she's already trying to gamble for money. Did I mention she's 11?

I heard an allegedly true story of a guy and a horrible mishap involving a construction site, a pulley and a barrel full of bricks.

I've taken the liberty to illustrate his misfortune for all of you lovely and devoted followers. We'll call him Brick Man.

(left to right)
Slide 1: Brick man must transport a large barrel of bricks up to the top of a nearly completed building with only a pulley and rope.

Slide 2: Brick man grossly underestimates the barrel's weight and loses control. Forgetting to let go, he is flung up into the air due to the contrasting weight. His body smashes into the barrel on the way up.

Slide 3: At the top of the building, his arm gets caught in the industrial sized pulley and on the way down, the bricks fall out of the bottom of the barrel.

Slide 4: Now empty, the barrel whips back up and they meet again for a second hulk smash.

Slide 5: Weighing more than the empty barrel, Brick man's lifeless body plummets down onto the bed of freshly dropped bricks while the barrel screams back up to the top.

Slide 6: Yep, you guessed it, that mother drops right on poor Brick Man to put a mortal kombat finish to his day.

The moral of this story? Don't go to work. Ever.

I was listening to a pastor and gifted communicator speak on the parallels of life in the garden of Eden and life in the church. He focused his message on a specific principle that contrasted the tree of life vs. the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Super interesting stuff.

What really provoked my thought process was this observation he made about Eve and the serpent.

Conventionally, we hear the tale of the serpent tempting the woman, the woman committing the first ever recorded "sin" and bam - we're all naked and going to hell.

But what he pointed out was that the serpent didn't actually appeal to Eve's sin nature or her desire to do wrong. Technically, she was still perfect - the serpent had nothing to work with in that department and he knew it.

But, what he could do was appeal to Eve's desire to be more like God. And he did. He offered her a chance to recognize good and evil just as God did, to see life through divine eyes. Pretty attractive to the innocent woman, huh?

His final point? Let God be God. Let the tree of life be your source. Don't let the knowledge of good and evil strangle the purity of your faith. Simplify. Tune out all the legalistic, religious nonsense and regain your innocence. We busy ourselves in imitating the "real thing" and inadvertently find ourselves even farther from the original. Choose life.

That's right folks. For a limited time only, you too can sport your very own custom twitter page design for the ridiculously unfair price (for me that is) of $10.

Catch your followers' eyes with a graphic interpretation of your personality, promote a blog or other website or just shamelessly brand your face for the entire world wide web to see.

I accept checks and cash only. Make all checks payable to Gabe Lopez and all cash payable to my wallet.

Confirm your order by leaving a comment at the bottom of this blog. You can even include a blurb about the creative direction you have in mind for your design.

The only stipulation would be that all payments must be made upfront because c'mon, it's 10 bucks ;)

Call in the next 10 minutes and receive...ok, just kidding about that part.