Hosh's Life

Philadelphia

2011-07-05T20:52:00.001-04:00

Leaving very soon.
On a mission trip we go.
Philly once again.

The Plight of the Spacebar

2010-10-15T07:45:00.002-04:00

Below is an email I sent out to our staff:

The Plight of the Spacebar

Humanitarian efforts are popping up all over the place. Today, I would like to talk to you about the plight of the spacebar. Every day millions of spacebars are misused, mistyped and misunderstood. For years we were taught to slap that bar twice at the end of a sentence. No longer can I sit idly by and not speak up for the battered spacebar. Stand up and fight back! I came across a rebel website which speaks into this plight:

On a typewriter, every character is monospaced; meaning, they each take up the same amount of space—the letter “i” takes up as much space as the letter “m” For this reason, people who learned to type on a typewriter were taught to put two spaces after a period making it easier to see where one sentence ends and the next begins. But…

On a computer the characters are proportional; meaning, they take up a proportional amount of space. The letter “i” is narrower than an “m,” for example, and putting extra space between sentences doesn’t do anything to improve readability. Therefore, you no longer need extra space to separate sentences and only need to hit the space bar once.

Of course, this one space rule applies to spacing after colons, semi-colons, question marks, exclamation points, or any other punctuation you can think of.

Just think of the children! All of those spaces running around causing design departments across the globe trouble. Join the revolution and help stop double spacing the end of sentences!

Brought to you in part by DUDS (Department of Unnecessary Double Spaces) and Marcom.

Excerpt from: Fat Rabbit Creative

~Hosh~

The Mighty Manistee

2010-06-26T22:24:00.050-04:00

Home. Resting. Relaxing. Recovering.

Reflections after a 3 day journey into the Manistee National Forest:

A buddy of mine and I just got back from up north a ways by the Hodenpyl Dam area. We kayaked the Big Manistee and then Backpacked down the North Country Trail and then back up the Manistee River Trail. We made some good memories and some mistakes to learn from.

Day 1: Kayaking the Big Manistee

I borrowed a couple of Vision sit-on-top kayaks from another buddy of mine to paddle down the B.M. and I crammed them on top of my little Chevy Metro. Needless to say they barely fit. After some worry, a 3.5 hour car ride and GPS from the Droid we were there. She (Droid GPS lady) took us right to the Hodenpyl Dam. Many jokes were made in reference to the dam...the bathrooms, the road, etc., etc. After scoping out the put-in and talking to the president of the Manistee River Trail Club or whatnot, we saddled up and got them in the water. Instantly my buddy remarked that there was a hole in his kayak and he was getting wet. I guess I forgot to tell him that these were made that way, to get wet.

After a while of floating I decided to try to fish a little from the kayak. Harder than it seems, I found out. As you are floating it is hard to cast downstream and reel with any kind of fish-alluring ability as you are needing to paddle to keep away from downed trees, the shore, the current, etc., etc. After my 3rd cast I snagged a tree about 5 inches under the water. Great! 2 minutes into it and I had already lost my brand new lure! After getting wet and fighting with the tree and the current I got it back.

We caught up with the President and the First lady once again as their children were jumping off a rope swing. We stopped as well and my friend had to jump off too. After the first lady told me, "Let me tell you something you don't know…" we left. The First Lady was obviously not that well versed in public relations. My buddy dumped a few times and once lost his paddle and boat. Luckily the canoers that we had leapfrogged a few times snagged the paddle and my buddy swam to retrieve the boat. Exciting stuff. 4 or 5 hours later we floated under Red Bridge and off we were again to the Hodenpyl Dam.

Day 1.5: Beginning the North Country Trail

We suited up and about 4:45p we were off. The NCT was basically a walk in the woods. Literally that is about all you see. Not much scenery and a lot of Maple trees and ferns.

For some reason I decided not to go with my trusty red backpacking shoes but with my hiking black shoes. You all know where this is going. Yeah, hot spots and very sore feet. My buddy as well decided to try his Vibram 5 Fingers for Backpacking. Needless to say we were both very sore after we got into camp around 7:30p.

After slipping into flip flops I proceeded to make the first of a couple of gourmet meals. White Bean Chili over Couscous! Man was it good! Way better than any dehydrated meal. Yes that's right I took real veggies and all for this bad boy. We ate a ton and had left overs! A few Smores were had and then off to bed. Well at least for my buddy. I had to hang the pots and some more food except I dropped my pot kit and it rolled off into the darkness. It sounded like someone playing a snare drum while sipping moonshine. All I could do was stare with my headlamp and hope that there was not a cliff. After a big crash my buddy and I hiked down and found all the scattered pieces. A good end to what could of been a bad ending to the day.

Day 2: NCT–MRT

We woke up to the sun coming through the trees. I had seen a recipe online that said you could cook eggs and bacon from a paper bag. Well, either we did not have a big enough fire to produce the coals we needed or those people were smokin' crack. So we dumped it into a fryin' pan and ate very well that morning. After the main coarse we still needed a little bit more flavor. I wanted some coffee and my buddy wanted some oatmeal to have with the fresh blue berries we found. The problem: no more water and no where to get any more. Or so we had been told. We did notice however that there was a lot of moss around and my buddy knelt down on some last night and his knee was soaking wet. So yes, we squeezed and collected at least a quart of water and bowled it up. I made some coffee with mine and he strained his through a coffee filter and made some oatmeal. The best water we had ever had from moss! Thanks Bear Grylls!

After the joy of that accomplishment we set out for the MRT. We passed a few more backpackers but not many people on the NCT. We mad it to Red Bridge and sat down and had lunch. We made pizza rolls from tortillas, tomato paste, spices, pepperoni and some hard Parmesan cheese. Man those are good! After exploding yet another blister we pushed on.

The beginning of the MRT was pretty uneventful besides the retelling our epic saga from the previous winter's backpacking trip to the MRT. We reached the bluff were we knew we wanted to stay and we couldn't believe our eyes that it overlooked the very spot where my buddy had lost his boat and his paddle! Too funny. We also found a rope swing that we had spotted floated down the day earlier. So off we went to have some fun in the water. After 2 swings and the surging pain in my blisters from the water I moved to the role of camera man as my friend proceeded to do back flips and twists off the rope. Awesome time. Then we headed up to make dinner. Pad Thai with Chicken and Veggies was on the menu tonight. It was awesome as well but no left overs this time. We scarfed it all! A few more Smores and off to bed.

Day 3: Back to the Hodenpyl Dam

Wanting to make good time back to the car so we ate light and only had 4 packets of oatmeal, packed up camp and started the scramble back. Both his bruised foot and my blisters were feeling pretty good this morning. We made some good time and passed a lot of people on the trail. Being Saturday there were a crazy amount of people on the river as well. We reminisced about the float a couple days earlier and checked out some other camp spots.

After seeing a couple making out on the bridge (come to find out they just got engaged) we finally made it to the car bout 12:15p. We figure it probably took up 13.5 hours total to do the 20+ mile loop. Not too shabby with 5 blisters and one bruiser foot!

After bathing in the river we hoped in the car and drove home. A good trip overall. Many memories and lots of fun was had.

~Hosh~

2009-01-21T21:45:00.002-05:00

Wow. Haven't been on here much lately.

Follow my twitter instead.

~Hosh~

My eyes hurt

2008-04-30T17:37:00.001-04:00

Why is it that when you stare at a computer for a long time your eyes hurt? It's not like starring at the sun. Or is it? The screens are emitting light and so does the sun. Your eyes hurt starring at the sun and they do as well starring at the computer. So therefore they must be the same.

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Griff's bday

2008-04-21T19:10:00.001-04:00

He had a good 5th birthday!

We took him and a friend to Craig's Cruisers.
Here is the tally:
Bumber cars:
    Griff: 29 hits
    Eli: 27
Slick Track:
    Josh & Eli: 1st place
    K8 & Griff: 2nd place
Frog Jumper:
    Kate & Griff: Tie
Kiddie Carts:
    Griff: hit the rails 9 times
    Eli: 0
Video Games played:
    27
Pizza Consumed:
    9 slices
Soft Serve Consumed:
    1 cup
Cherry Pizza Dessert Consumed:
    2 Slices
Fun had:
Priceless!

~Hosh~

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Hey Kids

2008-04-16T22:42:00.001-04:00

I have been working like a dog lately and have not had a chance to update this silly thing. So here is the update: i am busy working on a project for a piano-man from Europe. It has been a blast thus far and we have come up with some great ideas. It has been pure excitement to see how God has worked through all the stress and things have fallen into place lately. of course this in not the only thing that I have been working on. I jsut finished up a poster for an Art camp here in Holland, working on a shirt for them, working on some charts for a corporation, and making various business cards for family members. And now the small group wants a t-shirt for our annual summer camping trip! Too much but it keeps me out of trouble!!

later,
~Hosh~

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4runner

2008-04-04T17:22:00.001-04:00

Well, we bought a '97 4runner and seems to be all we can think about right now. I found a couple of web sites that talk about how to get more power out of the bad boy. One option is by suppling the engine with more air by opening up the the air intake. One method is to buy some after market parts. Another was to cut a hole in the air box which houses the air filter. Both looked interesting. The after market parts claimed to add about 7 horses to the engine and there was no guess at what the "home" version did. Although the guy said he could feel it more in the low end and seemed to have more torque.

I like both options and am thinking maybe a combination. There is one part that you bolt in between the air intake and the manifold. It claims to create a vortex of such that helps aspirate the engine. There is another after market part that replace the air intake tube that claims to open up the flow. Basically the factory one has some reducers on it that don't let as much air through. The "home made" version has you cut a 4.25 hole in the air box and install a marine screw cap so you can put it back on if you need to. This lets a ton more air available to the engine.

Well, not sure if I will do any of these but it is amazing that people think this stuff up!

~Hosh~

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Hey look at me I am blogging....

2008-04-03T21:10:00.001-04:00

Ok, so it's been a while but I am trying to get back into the rabbit of blogging. I think it is good for all 3 of you...uhh well 2 of you to know what I am constantly thinking. So here it goes...uhh, well...let's see...well, today I was on my way...OK FINE! I am just sitting here on a commercial break from The Office. R U Happy?

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I am at coffee

2008-03-14T07:06:00.001-04:00

We are trying to study the bible and we just reserved our camp site for september.

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I am 30 now

2008-03-08T13:57:00.001-05:00

I can't believe it but I am 30 years old now. What's a guy to do?

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Wow,

2008-03-07T11:53:00.001-05:00

I just downloaded Flock and it looks really cool. Check it out here.

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Day 3

2008-02-15T20:00:00.001-05:00

Funny pictures

2008-02-14T17:00:00.000-05:00

Thought you might get a kick out of these.~Hosh~

A few more

2008-02-14T16:48:00.003-05:00

~Hosh~

Day 2 picture

2008-02-14T16:36:00.002-05:00

The image below is actually day one so here is what I look like today.
~Hosh~

Sick

2008-02-14T16:26:00.002-05:00

Well, day 2 at home being sick. I have thought of many things that I could be doing instead of sitting here watching TV. But being sick means that you relax and hopefully the rest will cure you. Yeah right. Hssn't happened yet.

Seems as though ever since we had kids I have gotten sick more times than in all the previous years of life! I want to build a tank to put the kids in that would zap any virus, germ, booger or dirt clod from them when they come home. You know like the de-pressurization tanks they have on the secret underwater stations. You have to get in them before you come in or your lungs explode? I think one of the jaws films had one.

Well here prayin' that the pink-eye and the cold goes away soon!

~Hosh~

I am waiting for an email

2008-01-02T18:53:00.000-05:00

Just thought I would let you know.
~Hosh~

Heroes

2007-09-25T20:55:00.000-04:00

Ok so did you catch it last night?
Wow what a show! I don't think Lost will ever be able to catch up to Heroes now.
I mean come on January? What the heck?

Heroes is the new Lost!
~Hosh~

So I updated this thing

2007-09-25T20:41:00.000-04:00

Woohoo!
~Hosh~

Lost Hereos on an island

2007-02-08T21:05:00.000-05:00

What does the elements of the title of this post all have in common?

They are all shows that I love and started this week.

Hereos was great this week. If you are not into it you are definitely missing out. You have got to start watching it. I was never really into comic book but I love this show.

Speaking of good shows, Lost premiered this season with a pretty good one. I said last season that I was getting fed up with it but again I am back watching despite the long wait. This season they have promised no repeats, which is really cool. I still hate all the commercials. I think they have one every 5 minutes. Makes for a lot of bathroom breaks though!

Another fav is Survivor and I just got done watch the season premier of Survivor Fuji. They really pulled a fast one on those folks this time. Everyone was dropped off on one island and then told to build this awesome shelter complete with a bathroom, kitchen and fire. Then after 2 days they were spilt up into 2 teams and the winner of the challenge got to go back to that island. The losers had to go to an island with nothing on it! Yikes!

It might sound like I watch a lot of TV but basically just these 3 shows. 3 hours a week is not bad. Now if I could just get off this computer more often!!

Later
~Hosh~

Copy Cat

2007-01-29T16:48:00.000-05:00

Every Friday I get together with a group of guys for coffee. We often talk about nothing. Basically just hangin' out and havin' fun. The other morning we got talking about the Copy Cat commercial from Staples or where-ever. You know the one that has the guy who is going to save his company a lot of money because he found a cat that could paint his copies instead of getting a copy machine? This copy cat discussion and the recent trip toGrainger Community Church got me thinking about some things.

For a long time I have thought that the church can be a copy cat at times. This view all started when I was in high school. You would see it all over. Some Christian company would make the "Lord's Gym" shirts or the "Bud dog" shirts ripping of Budweiser. You can see it all over. It seems as though there are no original Christian thoughts. Always just playing off of what the world is doing.

This has always been a pet peeve of mine. I could never figure out why the church and it's cohorts could not do something original. Now being in a position where I design and am in control of the promotions and advertising of a church I have been faced with this internal struggle again.

One one side, to capitalize on the things going on in the world sounds like a great strategy. What better way to show God's glory than through using something not of Him to influence someone to Him? Do you know a better way? Tell me.

The other side of it is that I want to be original and use the talents that God gave me. To tell you the truth I have struggles with this for many years. Seems as though everyone is doing it! I mean the holy Grail of churches is doing it so why shouldn't I?

I am not totally settled on this issueyet. My heart is still up in the air on this one. I feel almost as a sense of duty to stick to my guns and not fall into this "trap." On the other hand I do feel like it is a good strategy to share the good news
with those that are far from it.

Where do you guys weigh in? Let me know.

Tryin' to figure things out,
~Hosh~

For those that read...

2007-01-27T17:43:00.000-05:00

this thing make sure to check out my satellite site: Hosh's Haikus.

~Hosh~

More car repairs...

2007-01-26T22:01:00.000-05:00

Seems like the car god is not too fond of us lately (Good thing we do not really believe that).
So I get in the Metro this morning and start the car and it sounded like someone just removed the exhaust system! I look out in front of the car and saw a far amount of smoke. Well due to all the crappy weather out here they use a lot od salt to make sure we do not go carining into each other. The bad part is that the salt does not mix well with metal and water!

So for the rest of the day I drove around feeling embarised. I got home and took a look and the front flang was no longer welded to the catalytic converter! After making a small cheater bar and breaking through the rust I got the whole thing off. Luckily I found a place here in Holland, beside the dealer, that could get me the part. The God part of this story is that the part will be here at 8am tomorrow! So my little roller skate does not have to be off the road to long. Woohoo!

Thanks Lord for knowing all things and looking out for us. Most of all for teaching us stuff in moments that we do not like to be in.

~Hosh~

Holy Grail of churches

2007-01-25T20:01:00.000-05:00

We took a field trip today to Grainger Community Church (www.gccwired.com) and it was pretty cool. We got to take a tour of there facilities and had an opportunity to ask there senior management some questions. There place was really sweet!

We started with there children's area and it made me want to be a kid again. Every area was specifically geared for that age group. The totlders room was padded (might be good to look into that for Griff), there 4-5 year olds room was all camo and had a huge metal tubbing airplane in it, they had a room that they had to buy the rights to use 3,2,1 Pengiuns (I had my picture taken with Kevin) and the most fun of all they have slides that the children get dropped off at!! They slide right into there respective rooms. What kid would not want to come to church just for that.

A year or so we revamped our children's area and don't get me wrong, it is sweet but nothing in comparision to what Grainger had. Griff and Beany would love all the stuff there.

We got to see there main auditorium and it was really tech savy. Made me drool a little. After I found a napkin to wipe up the mess I walked back stage. This was really cool-We really need a back stage. Makes it hard to do anything different with our stage because of the way it is set up.

Anyways lots of good things to think about. One in particular I will discuss in a later post. Right now my hands are getting tire typing so I think I will quit. I have to work back into this you know.

Later,
~Hosh~

Seattle...

2007-01-23T19:51:00.000-05:00

is still on my mind. Maybe Arizona?

I was talking with a with a student last Sunday and he was looking into maybe moving to Alaska. He said guys out the make big money doing regular jobs. I said, "Yeah because they had to put up with such cold temperatures!" Well, it's not much colder than Michigan when you really think about it!," he replied.

"You have a point, my friend. You have a point."

~Hosh~

Older?

2007-01-22T20:37:00.001-05:00

So, lately I have realized that I am getting older. My kids will be 4 and 2, my son can already beat me up, I am getting more clumsy and I am realizing more about myself than ever before. I want to write more, I want to relax more, my joints are creaking and hurting, and Kate and I go and read magazines at Barnes and Noble for fun!
I just talked to a friend from college. He and his wife are moving to Seattle and he will be the web master at a University there. It looks like he will also have a chance to teach a class or two. I found myself thinking that it would be fun to pack up shop and move somewhere and start all over. Although we are well established here with friends, a church, jobs ect...
I feel that I am kind of feeling feed-up. You know the kind of feeling that just makes you feel a little uneasy. You wonder if you are in the right spot for the time of your life. You think about past opportunities that you might of had.
Even though all of this has been going through my mind I am comforted knowing that God is in charge. It also helps that I have a great Wife and kids who support me. The kids don't know it yet but they do support me in a way. The way that makes my nose bleed, my eyes water and makes me happy when I come home and see them.

~Hosh~

On the trail in the Adirondacks

2006-08-19T17:29:00.000-04:00

Day One:
We, being Jeff Day and I, left around 10pm on Sunday Night. About a week ago. We drove straight through MI and then through Canada and then on through NY to get to the Adirondacks. I drove the little Metro to Canada and then Jeff took over and got us through Canadia. Canadia was great. We had no problems entering and slept through just about the whole thing. We stopped for gas and it cost us a fortune. It was like 1.15 per liter! That is like $3.50 a gallon or something. It seemed to go by so fast maybe because we were doing 100 kph!( that's like 60 mph)

Day Two:
Well, we made it through the Backwoods of upper NY state with a little help from Googlemaps and directions from a local NY Postal Worker. We arived at Cloud Splitters Outfitters at around 12 noon. We picked up the bear canisters and then we were on our way about another hour to the Upper Works trailhead. We stopped at a big stone fixture which was a part of the ruins there of the old mining opperations at U.W. We checked that out for a while and then off to hiking. We geared up and started the trek to Duck Hole. (A college group toook off a little before us and we overheard that they were on the trail to Duck Hole)The trail was muddy and what a trail it was. It was not like any trails I have been on. Very rocky and we were under the canopy of trees for the whole hike. It was a little muggy with bugs buzzing in our ears but we were determined to give it our all. The closer that we got the more fatigued we felt. I think the car ride and the plane trip Jeff took really caught up with us that day. By the time we got there we figured we might want to relook at our hiking plan for the trip. (We did eventually pass the college group and the caught up with us when we stopped to purify some water. We did however beat them to D.H.) We cooked some Freeze Dried dinner, which was actually really good and then set up our tent. We hung around for a while until sunset and then I grabbed my towel and took a nice refreshing bath in the cold lake runoff. Invigorating!

Day Three:
We got up, made some breakfast and scrapped the crust from our eyes. The air was awesome. The smeel of pine and fresh water was inspiring. We were feeling pretty good that day. A lot better than the day before. I thin the car ride and the jet lag hd worn off. We decided to try to stay with the itinerary but also play it by ear. We took off and hiked back the way we came tword the trail head. Once we got the oth trailhead turn off we jutted left making our way to Indian Pass. We stopped for lunch by a little lake and found a spot on a nice fallen log. After downing a couple of Cliff bar and Power bars we were off and had no clue what pain was ahead. Holy Cowen! I have never hiked anything like that. This trail was no trail like anyhting I have ever hiked. You really had to pay attention to were those trail markers were. Most of the trail was over and through bolders, cliffs and even some stationary ladders you had to go up. Mind you–all with a pack on! Once at the top there was a cool view of Wall Face mountain. A big cliff of sorts. The way down to Rocky falls was no picknic either. The trail, if you call it that, followed a river bed and was really tough on the knees. The Rocky Falls Lean-to was the holy grail of lean-tos. It was awesome. It was off the main trail and across a river. It overlooked the river and was great. Once there we made another dinner, spagetti I think and rested. We set up our tent and relaxed. We read the bible a little and had a little discussion about the devo that Jeff brought. After dark I took another shower. Man those feel great. We slept.

Day Four:
Got up and took our time. After screwin' around for a while and takin' some photos we packed it up and took off. We did not have very far to go on this day. We were going to hike over to the Adirondack loj (that is how they spell lodge) checked out the loj a little bit and gawked at all the people that didn't smell. After lunch on the lake, powerbars and dried blueberries, we restocked a little bit and called our people. For me I called Kate and it was awesome to hear her voice. She was shocked that I called. Jeff called home and after talking to the ranger for a little bit we took off to find a place to camp. We passed Marcy Dam and kept going to the begining of Avalanche Pass. We found a cool place to camp and set up for a couple of days. After setting up we read the good book for a while by the stream, purified some water and made dinner. Once the sun went down Jeff and I played some cards in he tent and then went to bed.

Day Five:
We got up early and got our day packs together. We crammed our feet back into our stank boots and off we went. We were going to tackle the tallest mountain in the Adirondacks! Turns out it is more like a hill in comparison to the tallest mountains in the US. It is something like 5800 feet. Don't let that fool you, it still was quite the hike. Seemed like straight up at times. There were yellow marks that someone had spray painted on the rocks to make sure you were climbing the right rocks! We got closer to the top and the wind really started whipping. They had warned us of rain but there were only a few clouds in the sky. The view was spectacular. We were the first ones up there until a ranger showed up. About that time we took off back down the trail and passed a few day hikers on the way to the top. After killing our knees once more we sat down at camp. Jeff and I went down to the river and cooled off some. The water was way too cold to go all the way in. After kickin' it there for a while I made my way back up to the tent and snuggled in for a nap. A ranger showed up at one point to let us know that rain was on the way. After thanking him I dosed back off to sleep. Dreaming of a hot bath and steak dinner I awoke to a rain drop on my face. I quickly got the rain fly on the tent as Jeff came up from the river. We did not know what we were in store for. We played cards again in the tent only to hear the pitter-patter turn into a downpour. Water started seeping into the bottom of the tent and we found out that the rainfly was not compleatly waterproof! I borrowed Jeff's rain coat and out I went. I was out there for probably a half an hour digging a trench around the tent to divert the water. To tell you the truth it was kind of fun. down to the river I went to get all the mud off and then back into the somewhat dry tent. I fell asleep quickly. I awoke to a blue sky and just enough time to make dinner and take a walk. We checked out the broken bridge and found an awesome hidden Lean-to. We will definately have to stay there sometime. Finaly-Sleep

Day six:
We decided to try and hike all the way out on this day. Our original plan was to hike most of the way down and then on day seven hike the rest and then drive home. We decided against this because Jeff was a little under the weather and I was all in favor of seeing my awesome family again. So off we went. We hiked Avalanche pass and it was spectacular weather and the views were majestic. Got to see a really cool lake and hiked some trechurous landscapes. Way too cool for the last day. Made me not want to leave. I took a ton of pictures. I felt like I needed to catch up a little, I guess. By this time we were really tired. We ate a lunch of cliff bars again sitting on another dam. It was good to sit down as it was on all parts of the trip. After passing the guys smoking while hiking I had to use the little boys room one last time before getting out of there. After that it seemed like the hike out went forever. There was a lot of mud on the way out. A lot. So much that it over took Jeff at one point! After finally getting to the trailhead we decided to go take a couple of showers in the woods. That felt good. We did not want to stink all the way home! The car ride home was pretty uneventfull. Back through the backwoods of NY and then through Canada with a stop at Niagra so Jeff could say he saw it and then back through MI to our little homw in Holland. We arrived around 2 in the morning and by that time bed felt really good.

Overall:
We had a nawesome time exploring God's creation and bonding again after six years. We are already talking about next summer!

Peace,
~Hosh~

Not enough time

2006-08-19T17:23:00.000-04:00

Ok so it has been a while hasn't it?

There are many things that keep me from this thing. One was that I haven't had my computer for a while. It was in the shop. Apple replaced the screen, the logic board and the battery. Basically I have a new computer.

Another thing that keeps me from writting is my job/s. They take up a lot of my time and what is left over is used up by my lovely family. Sabine is now walking and is 1yr old and Griff is as much trouble as always and he is 3 now.

I have tried the myspace thing for a while but I don't really like it. There is too much sexual crap there. I use it just to keep up with friend from college. So yeah, that took a little time away from this as well.

I hope to start writting a little here and again.

~Hosh~

Brass Jesus

2006-04-17T21:22:00.000-04:00

You may also, if you choose, to use the new url for this blog.

www.brassjesus.com

The story behind this is such:
At the church where I work, we have a statue of Jesus holding some neting and a big fish. It is made out of...you guessed it, Brass. We like to poke fun a little. Don't get me wrong, we love it. It is bueatifully crafted and was a gift when we built our new Worship Center. It sits right outside our main entrance by our little pond. Well not really even a pond, more like a pool. It is pretty sweet. Anyways, I don't know why it is so funny but we always refer to it. I think because there are probably not too many Brass Jesuses around. We always say WWBJD (What Would Brass Jesus Do). It is kind of a whole dig on the WWJD bracelets that seemed to be more of a marketing thing than a way to promote Jesus. Anyways, that is it.

~Hosh~

!!NEW IMAGES!!

2006-04-17T21:21:00.000-04:00

Check out the new images on Flickr.

They are of Easter weekend. The kiddos are so sweet!

~Hosh~

Crawling and Peeing

2006-04-12T19:16:00.000-04:00

My little girl is crawling.

My little boy is using the potty.

Hello mobility, good bye diapers!
~Hosh~

The difference between the two

2006-03-22T13:58:00.000-05:00

Sabine: Quiet
Griffin: Loud

Sabine: Can't even crawl yet
Griffin: Can ride a skateboard

Sabine: Picky
Griffin: Could care less

Sabine: Lover
Griffin: Loves being on his own

Sabine: Like to be held
Griffin: Hates to be held

Sabine: Gets angry with a dirty diaper
Griffin: Can sit in it all day

Sabine: Dependent
Griffin: Independent

Both are adorable!

~Hosh~

OK today was better

2006-03-07T22:15:00.000-05:00

Yeah so no throwing up or anything. Aren't you proud?
Work is a little overwhelming right now. I can't belief how much work I have to do in the next couple of months. It is unbelievable.

Work bought me a laptop and that makes the situation a little better. I am not, however, super impressed with the speed of the thing. Part of the problem is communicating with our Communications Server is a little slow over our wireless. I am still working on some better work flow ideas. The computer that I was on before this MacBook Pro was getting really slow. Now i use them both to get the stuff done.

Anyways, Enough of the technical jargon. Life is good, I am not sick!
~Hosh~

Unreal!

2006-03-06T18:06:00.000-05:00

It has been a long time since I have had a chance to write on this blog. Basically the fam has been sick for the last 2 months!

We are still a little sick now but I hope that we are coming out of it. We have had everything from Pink eye to some wire virus that luckily only past from Kate to me. Kate was throwing up Friday night and I continued it Saturday night. It was so bad that I made my first trip ever to the ER and had my first IV. Woohoo! Well the fun is coming to an end. Seems as though we are both feeling better and we have not passed it on to Griff or Sabine. Thank you Lord!

Now that we seem to be on the up and up I hope to start video blogging. Stay tuned in the near future to experience Hosh in Techincolor!

Later,
~Hosh~

Griff's first paining!

2006-02-01T22:48:00.000-05:00

~Hosh~

Give thanks

2006-01-23T22:57:00.000-05:00

I would like to give thanks to all of those that contributed to the Holiday Sockfest for myself. I think that I must have gotten about 10-12 pairs of good socks this holiday season.
My feet would like to offer their warmest wishes.
~Hosh~

Are you Lost

2006-01-07T21:17:00.000-05:00

Have you been sucked in by this show? I sure have. I have not missed an episode yet. I can not wait for this week. It has been reruns for so long, it seems. I am so wrapped up in this that I no longer want an iPod for my music, I want one so I can watch the whole first season on the go!

There was an article in Sentinel today that was talking about how much of the show is not a part of the television series. How their advertising tells part of the story, their web presence tells another part and on and on it goes. You may refer to this as the marketing machine but it is so much more than that. I think it was one of the big wigs at ABC that said we need not let the advertising tail wag the content dog or something like that. In other words don't create advertising just for the sake of advertising. That is a great thing to take away for those of us involved with advertising. There is so much more in telling a story. People love stories. Just look at the following this show has. Countless blogs, web sites, fan clubs: You name it and there is one for Lost.

The writters and think tanks behind this show are number one in my book! After suspecting and listening to their official podcast the other day, I know now, for a fact that they have been playing off their audience. It looks as though they keep up on blogs, fan clubs, etc. to see where people interests are. They said that they have the big stuff written out for the next season but the show is very organic. It could look one way in a draft and then a week later before it airs they switch it all around. Absolutely amazing!

Absolutely Lost,
~Hosh~

The system was down...

2006-01-06T19:39:00.000-05:00

but now, a new post:

I am back and the system is backed-up!
I have uploaded some images of the kiddos.
Check it out by clicking on the Flickr link down a little and to the right.

Later peeps,
~Hosh~

Add this to the list too

2005-11-16T23:10:00.000-05:00

Go here to see what camping/backpacking stuff I need

~Hosh~

Christmas list

2005-11-14T22:44:00.000-05:00

In case you were wondering what I want for Christmas:

Ladder

New black shoestrings for my shinny black shoes (the really skinny kind)

New VHS tapes (to tape my favorite shows)

Really nice hiking shocks (I love the one pair I have)

An iPod (too expensive I know)

Cash is always good

A trip to Chicago

White 8.5 by 11 paper (I am out and have been for a long time. I am using blue card stock at the moment)

Cool old brown blazer that is still in good shape

Cool old blue blazer that is still in good shape

Sweet hat like Joel Boyles has (It looks urban/russian or chekoslovakian)

A Tattoo

A second Tattoo

A new battery for all of my watches that are in the junk drawer

Hope that helps,
~Hosh~

Hey people I need your help

2005-11-13T15:37:00.000-05:00

Ok so here is the deal:

I have been wanting for an iPod for a long, long time and I started this thing a while ago but still need 3 more people to actually complete an offer. Take a look here to sign up.

Thanks friends,
~hosh~

Smiles

2005-11-08T20:39:00.000-05:00

Smiles, originally uploaded by hosh.

Absolutely adorable!

What more can I say?

~Hosh~

Guru

2005-11-02T08:00:00.000-05:00

Guru, originally uploaded by hosh.

Here is a little somin' somin' I made for a client. Just thought you all might like to see him.

~Hosh~

Chi-townians

2005-10-30T17:06:00.000-05:00

On Saturday the Birkey's, minus Jen, came out to our neck of the woods. That is just what it must have seemed like to these fast paced Chi-townians. To make sure they experienced the best of these here back woods we took them to Crane's Orchard for some eats and a good ol' fashioned Hay Maze.

We had a blast. Suzi and the kids were great. It is weird to think that I had not met those four cousins before Saturday! Weird, I know.

Later,
~Hosh~

Bathroom Remodel

2005-10-23T18:55:00.000-04:00

Check out all the photos of our bathroom remodel. Just click on the Flickr box to the right! For the most part it is going good. Lots of work though. Yesterday when we were moving the toilet I had the thought "Should I have really started this?" I think that in all big projects there is a time either right before the middle or right at the middle when everyone asks themselves that.
Too late now!

Later,
~Hosh~

Check, Check on the mic

2005-10-16T14:15:00.000-04:00

Are you checking out Hosh's Haikus?

~Hosh~

Moving the Haikus

2005-10-08T23:07:00.000-04:00

I love writing the Haikus so much that I created a special Haiku blog.

Please visit it often.

With that being said, I will still blog on here but "hoshshaikus" will be updated most frequently.

See you on the blogs,
~Hosh~

Amazing Race Date Night

2005-10-08T21:29:00.000-04:00

Tonight was date night
Thought it was at six thirty
Missed it by an hour!

~Hosh~

Lunch

2005-10-06T19:26:00.000-04:00

Food was really good
Service was so lackluster
South Side Inn is out!

~Hosh~

Perfectionism

2005-10-06T18:30:00.000-04:00

The perfect haiku
It is really Beautiful
It speaks to the soul.

~Hosh~

The long and the short of it

2005-10-05T17:30:00.000-04:00

Some days are longer
Some days seem to fly right by
Then again, some don't

~Hosh~

Morning

2005-10-05T07:30:00.000-04:00

Good morning people
Bang, Bang goes Griff this morning
I need a long nap!

~Hosh~

Frustrated

2005-10-04T22:10:00.000-04:00

Whah... whah..whah.....whah..whah
Goes poor Sabiney weany
Dad is frustrated

~Hosh~

Back it up

2005-10-04T20:30:00.000-04:00

Backing up files now
I do not want to lose them
Have lost stuff before!

~Hosh~

Beany

2005-10-03T21:07:00.000-04:00

My baby is small
She eats, sleeps and poops a lot
Sabine rocks the house!

~Hosh~

Speed

2005-10-03T20:45:00.000-04:00

Today went so fast.
Not enough time for the stuff.
Prison Break is on...

~Hosh~

Lost

2005-10-03T19:30:00.000-04:00

What the heck was that?
Is that Jin under the raft?
I think it's a shark!

~Hosh~

Haikus

2005-10-03T18:38:00.000-04:00

Haiku is one of the most important form of traditional japanese poetry. Haiku is, today, a 17-syllable verse form consisting of three metrical units of 5, 7, and 5 syllables.

From now on, or for at least a little while, I will be blogging in haiku.
~Hosh~

Ok so it has been a while

2005-09-16T16:58:00.000-04:00

I am so sorry to all my adoring fans out there. Will you ever forgive me? I am on the straight and narrow now.

Let me bring you up to speed:

Went to XcomIII (houseboats on the water–very fun)
Got a new position at the church (new title=Communications/Creative Director)
Got really busy
Learned way too much in 2 weeks before old communications team took off
Built 15 foot dominoes
Went to California in the middle of busyness
Went to my sister's wedding overlooking the beach
Danced all night
Stress Out about others painting huge dominoes while in Cali
Ate at Wahoo's
Went to Disneyland
Ate at In & Out finally
Flew back home with the 2 kiddos
Went back to the busyness
Kate started baking bagels at 2 in the morning
Stopped biking to work
Started going in to work as soon as Kate gets home
Moved into new office
Finally got everything off the table in the new office
Took the Myers Briggs
Griffin tried to climb out of the second floor window
Finished "The Barbarian Way" by Erwin McManus
Started "Seismic Shifts" by Kevin Harney
Ended the week and looking forward to the weekend
Monday I am going to eat a Fred Burger (It has peanut butter on it)

Phew, I am tired,
~Hosh~

Griffin

2005-08-09T07:14:00.000-04:00

So, the other day Griff was hungry. For lunch I gave him a piece of bread a hotdog and 6-8 dried plums. He loved it.
OK note to self: Dried plums are the same thing as PRUNES!
Opps! He pooped twice in the matter of five minutes! Then in the morning when Kate went in to get him, let's just say it was not pretty.

Dried Plums=Prunes. Who would of thunk it?

~Hosh~

Gas is a 1.95 at Meijer today!

2005-08-07T19:40:00.000-04:00

Wow.

Did not see that coming!

Today

2005-07-27T22:04:00.000-04:00

What up blogger people!

Well today I had an extremely long meeting. Went from 9am to 2:30pm! Wow. It was a creative meeting though so it wasn't bad.

Also today was gorgeous. (You know, thank God for spell check. I had no idea how to spell gorgeous and it tells me that it was spelled wrong and I right click on it and tells me how to spell it, in fact it corrects it for me. Can you imagine if we had spell check for everything. Let's say you hurt someone's feelings. All of the sudden you see a red outline around them and you clap twice and a menu comes up of options to fix their hurt feelings. How sweet would that be. Or maybe you are driving down the road and to make a left right in front of someone and they slam into you. Time stops and appears a red outline around both vehicles. You clap twice and hit undo on the menu. Something to think about.)

Ok where was I?...Oh yeah, the weather was awesome today. It was in the 70s with a breeze and puffy "Simpson" clouds filled the sky. Peeking in between was a deep blue canvas of sky. Amazing!! God is awesome.

Right now I am listening to Gwen Stefani. I found out today that Holly and I both have a secret high school crush on her. Opps! I guess it is not so secrete now. Sorry Holly.

~Hosh~

Peanut Butter & Jelly & French Fires

2005-07-21T17:49:00.000-04:00

That is what I had for lunch today.

See the problem is sometimes I forget to pack a lunch for work. So I don't eat all day and then I come home and eat too much for Dinner. That was the case for the 5 tacos. But today I brought a peanut butter & jelly sandwich and then my good friend Lauren surprised me with some french fries from Micky D's.

Woohoo, a good combo
~Hosh~

I ate too much! No one should ever eat 5 Tacos!

2005-07-20T22:23:00.000-04:00

That is all I am saying.
~Hosh~

PKD

2005-07-19T22:10:00.000-04:00

So I am now the director of Camunikashuns for Central Wesleyan Church!

So far I have been given the title PKD. It stands for Punk Kid Director.

For the most part the transition has not been too tough yet. They have given me a Porsche to drive, bought us a new house and I get to fire people! Just kidding - none of that has happened, although when I hire someone I will be able to fire them! Anyways, all is good and I feel very privileged to have this position. I am excited for all the new possibilities.

Today was the first time I got to say "Hold all my calls. I will be in a meeting!"
~Hosh~

It's funny

2005-07-17T21:43:00.000-04:00

When you look back at the people that you have encountered in your life.

I was fishing through some stuff and came across an old tape that I had gotten from a friend that was in a band. Her and her brother had a band called Antenna Force. I popped it in on the way to church and it got me thinking. I wonder where they are now. I looked them up this afternoon and found out that they changed their name to Paul & Lara and then to Friends of Desire and now they are called Layton. Actually they have just released their new album called "Grand Design". Swing by their web site www.layton.cc

Later,
~Hosh~

Day 2, 3, 4...

2005-07-17T15:00:00.000-04:00

Ok so I have been tired of blogging.

See, here is the deal. I have been so busy these past weeks that I have been exhausted and have not wanted to do much of anything but sleep. This blog has been the last thing on my mind. It is amazing how much guilt comes with putting this thing off! I would of never thought that I would feel guilty of not blogging? Weird huh?

Anyways, a few things have happened since the last time I wrote from Philly. Let's see: Uh, oh yeah. I almost got sued, went to NYC for a day, went to Dale Hollow Lake on a House boat with 60 students and got a promotion to Director of Communications.

Like I said – a busy couple of weeks.

On another note, I am just kickin' it today in my basement because it is so blastin' hot. It has to be about 10 degrees cooler in my basement than it is in the main level of our house. If there is anyone out there that is feeling generous to contribute to the Cowen Air Conditioning Fund (CACF for short) let us know.

Sweatin' to the oldies,
~Hosh~

Day 1 from Philly

2005-06-27T19:02:00.000-04:00

Wow what a drive. Not the best part of the trip by far. I love going to Philly but hate the drive there.

Woke up the next morning and went to church. We helped out with all the kidoes and heard about a lady in service that after being in a wheel-chair for 11 years got up out of her wheel-chair and walked on to the stage to give her testemony. Amazing miracle still happen.

We love the food that dear Mary makes and always eat well here.

Sunday night we headed down to the art museum where Rocky ran up the stairs. It was a good time playin' in the fountain and throwin' the frisbee around.

Woohoo Philly!
~Hosh~

Macintosh has worked us out of a job

2005-06-13T19:14:00.000-04:00

Designers everywhere love the Mac. There is no doubt that a lot of designer use the fantastic piece of equipment. We love how easy it is to use, the fact that there are great little programs integrated in and how it is all wrapped up in a stylish case.

Let’s take a look at hose great little programs, shall we?. They are all part of iLife. New Macs come with it standard. There is iPhoto to keep track of all your photos. It has the ability to get rid of red eye, crop the photo or even resize it for an email. What about iMovie? Now almost anyone that gets their hands on a Mac can now edit movies and make their own. You can import clips, arrange clips and even transition between clips. After you have created your movie you can now burn it to DVD with iDVD. You can even have custom menus! They have also added GarageBand to the arsenal. Now you can make your own music.

All of this is great until you really start to think about it. It occurred to me today that Mac, the one who has brought design out of the dark ages, might have worked the designers out of a job. Obviously we will always need designers but has the workload lessened due to prosumers creating their own materials? Now that we can get rid of the red eye ourselves we no longer need to take photos to a lab to get them fixed. We also no longer need a video guy to shoot video and edit it. We no longer really need the formal training that it used to take to know what you are doing.

We can see the effects of this around us if we take the time to look. There is bad art out there all over the place. Since there is no longer the formal training behind some of the work the quality suffers and often society suffers.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love my Mac and do not foresee a change, but this is definitely something that us designers need to keep in mind.

~Hosh~

Please Welcome...

2005-05-31T21:29:00.000-04:00

Sabine Amelia Cowen

Please note: These are in order of events.

More to come later.

~Hosh~

Seattle images

2005-05-27T22:31:00.000-04:00

The Space Needle all blown out

Street Level looking down on the water.

A couple of cool night shots of downtown Seattle

Denise, Jen & Sean at the Sushi Bar

Cool shot of all the schedules

Mom & Dad at the tp of the Space Needle

I love these old triangle buildings

The had some great art out on the streets

And in the airport

On the monorail

Our Hotel

Nothing better than a church on top of a Benihana's

On the monorail

At a Mariner's game

This market is the hub of downtown

They also called this the Mother-in-law fish

The original Starbucks.

You can see why they changed their logo

Seattle's Best Coffee shop. The best coffee I have ever had!!!!!!!

~Hosh~

Pain

2005-05-27T21:29:00.000-04:00

You know how you hear about these people with a high tolerance to pain? Well, I do not consider myself to be one of those people. My wife is one of those people. Some of you might remember when she sliced into her finger cutting up some melon. Yeah she hardly even yelped. All of this leads me to my latest experience of pain.

So yesterday night I decided to spray around our house for ants. I got out the equipment, mixed up some kill-em solution and sprayed the area around my house without incident. After I was through I put everything away in the garage where it need to go. I cleaned a couple thing up in the garage and was on my way out of the garage when I shut the garage door and my finger got stuck in-between two of the panels in the door. The first thing that I noticed was that I was being held back by something as I was trying to walk forward. The pain didn't hit till a moment or two later. I tried to pull my finger free and it would not come free. By now the pain is excruciating. I finally threw my body backwards to yank my finger out. I held my tongue till I got in the house. As I came in I called to Kate and she thought I broke it but I could still move it. I had that finger in ice water for about two hours. I needed to go to bed and I knew I couldn't leave it in ice water for ever. I am not sure which the pain was coming from; the cold wearing off or the nerves sending pain signals to my brain. Whichever it was it hurt like H E double hockey sticks. I started to keep my hand above my head so that the blood would not rush to it. I got in bed and it felt as though someone was sticking needles under my nail trying to pry it off. All I could think of were those little monsters in that anti-fungle cream ad on TV!I am not really sure how I got to sleep except the drugs.

Today it is better but still sore. I am almost positive I bruised the bone. I was telling Kate that it was a good thing that the garage doors are not sharp because that would of cut the end of my finger right off.

Here is a picture of my nail.

And here is a picture of the dent my finger left in my garage door!

Painfully yours,
~Hosh~

Western Vs. Eastern

2005-05-27T14:17:00.000-04:00

I am not sure how many of you know anything about this but, would love to start a discussion about the differences between these two ways of thought.

Lately I have been dwelling on this idea. I am not sure what lead me to this other than maybe some thoughts by Ray Vanderlaan, talking to Kinger in the past, personally liking the end result more than the process and probably many others.

Basically, as far as I understand it the main difference between the two is that Eastern though & culture put the emphasis on the process/journey and not the end result. Western though has a goal in mind and works toward that goal. There are steps involved that focus on the goal. Eastern though is more concerned in growing through the process/journey.

I am definitely a Western thinker but I am exploring what it means to be an Eastern thinker. I like the though of enjoying the process. Right now I hate it. No matter what it is I want it here and now. I have always been attracted to the more laid back, go with the flow attitude and it really seems as though the Eastern mindset is that way.

Please join me in this dialog by commenting your thoughts on Western Vs. Eastern though.

~Hosh~

Seattle Day One and Two

2005-05-20T02:15:00.000-04:00

Yesterday and Today have been terific! If you haven't guessed I am under the wet weather of Seattle. After some weird flights and about 3 miles of walking some concorses, I made it to this beautiful and artistic town. I love all the art and the openess to creativity here. The weather is really strange and moves in and out faster than any other area I have been. It is quite possible to see rain, sunshine & sleet all in a 10 minute period. I have been keeping a journal of my discoveries and findings that I will have to share with you at a later time. I feel like a kid in a candy store in this town. Unfortunatly, my beautiful 9 months along bride could not come with me on this venture. I have told her that we have to save up to come out here together and take in all there is to see and do. If you would like to make a donation to the K8 & Josh Take in the Creativity of Seattle Fund, please comment on this blog and we will send a self address, stamped envelope to you.

Not checking the time,
~Hosh~

Holland Trafic?

2005-05-13T21:23:00.000-04:00

//Warning//
The opinions express in this blog may or may not be taken seriously.
//END Warning//

OK, so when all the turists come to town the town starts complaining about all the traffic. People are really put out at the fact that they are 10th in line at a stop light rather than 3rd. Quit complaining!

I am from California where it took me almost a hour to go 20 miles at 6 in the morning. Here if it takes over 20 minutes to go that distance people are outright disgusted. Grow up and if you don't like it MOVE! There are too many who have lived here all their lives and complain about every little thing but will not move. Well either sit down and shut up or move and be unpleasant somewhere else.

For the younger audience, I appologize for the use of "Shut Up"
~Hosh~

Dutch Fat Ball

2005-05-13T21:12:00.000-04:00

So I tried my first "Fat Ball" this year at the yearly Holland Tulip Time Festival. I had been told that they were awesome. For the first three years though, I have avoided them dute to their name. Go figure. Well this year Kate and I were brave enough to delve into the realm of "Fat Balls".

I guess if you like a big greasy mess with your choice of filling in the middle, then you will love these things. It made me want to gag. Between those things and "Elephant Ears" I think Holland uses 1/3rd of the worlds grease in the one week of Tulip Time.

On the up side I had a great Polish Sausage tonight. It was on a homemade bun too! Yeah for Tulip Time junk food!
Hosh

Night Time Mishap

2005-05-11T18:00:00.000-04:00

Ok so it is late and I am tired. So I snuggle into bed and then realize that my foot is wet. I strugle to turn on the lights and what do I find but that Jack our beautiful dog, has barfed on the foot of our bed. Wow. Not in a good mood after that!

Great Dog for sale.! FREE to a good home. Coment on this blog if you would like to set up an interview.
Hosh

Craked in the nose

2005-05-10T21:49:00.000-04:00

Griffin gave me a little bit of a bloody nose tonight. He cracked me in the bridge of my nose with his huge noggin!

Don't worry, I am fine.
Oh yeah, so is he.
Hosh

Joel and I figure it out

2005-05-09T15:07:00.000-04:00

If you live in the greater Holland area you know that most of the time our weather sucks. There is one time that without fail the weather clears up and is gorgeous–Tulip Time. After extensive research my scientific research partner Joel and I have figured out why every year, around Tulip Time, Holland has perfect weather.

If you look at the differences between Tulip Time and the rest of the year closely you will see 2 really big things that differ. The first is that during Tulip Time there are hundreds of thousands of tulips. One might think that the Tulips have nothing to do with the weather. That is where you are wrong. Based on our research, the fragrance that the Tulips release during their lifespan enter the atmosphere and helps create an updraft that in turn almost makes a force field around Holland.

The second factor is the tourists. Now, not all the tourists are a factor. We have found that particularly the older women are the biggest factor. The concentration of the perfume worn by the older ladies also creates an updraft into the atmosphere above Holland.

The combination of the fragrance of the hundreds of thousands of tulips and the perfume of hundreds of older ladies create a very large thermal updraft that, in turn creates a bubble around Holland, therefore creating great weather for Tulip Time.

Think about the implications of this. Maybe it is not the weather that drives older folks to Florida, California and Arizona but the older folks drive the weather to those places!

Hosh

Had a good time

2005-05-09T14:22:00.000-04:00

I just got back from a hike. I am hot and sweaty but fell good. I drove down there from work, hiked and made it back in a half an hour. Woohoo.

Great day here. It is 81º here today! Yeah for the sun.
Hosh

Griffster and I

2005-05-08T19:01:00.000-04:00

We just got back from a bike ride down to the new Captian Sundae's. There is one in Holland and they just built one here in Zeeland. Woohoo! I had to change Griff when we got home. He had it all over the place. Does Chocolate ice cream stains come out. (Mom–You might need to look that up in your magic book of stain removal)

Later,
Hosh

Happy Mother's Day

2005-05-08T18:59:00.000-04:00

Hey mom, I hope you liked the flowers we sent and you had a good ol' time down in San Deigo.

We had lunch at K8's folks with the grandparents and had a great time. Although it was hot outside and we ate lunch out there and I was in pants. Things we do for family.

time for bed

2005-05-07T23:06:00.000-04:00

Well, today has past.

I have been catching up on all my RSS feeds that I have been putting off. I now know what is going on in the mac world. If you have any good RSS feeds to share let me know.

I am now going to bed at 11:06

Long day,
Hosh

Winged Migration

2005-05-07T20:12:00.000-04:00

Holy Cowen.

5 stars to this movie! Ok, so yeah it is all about birds and it has maybe 4 people in it. But wow how cool this documentary was. The cinementography was outstanding. They were so close to these birds it was unreal! Pretty cool how they did it too. I am not going to tell you. You will have to rent the DVD.

Later,
Hosh

The rest of the story...

2005-05-06T16:14:00.000-04:00

Ok a couple of days ago I mentioned Crown Financial Ministries and that we are going through their materials. Here is the run down of what we have gone through.

Week 1 - Intro into all the stuff
Verse - "Therefore if ytou have not been faithful in the use of worldly wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you?" Luke 16:11

Week 2 - God's Part/Our Part
Verse - "Everything in the heavens and earth is yours, O Lord and this is your kingdom. We adore you as being in control of everything. Riches and honor come from you alone, and you are the ruler of all mankind; your hand controls power and might, and it is at your discretion that men are made great and given strength" 1 Chronicles 29:11-12

Week 3 - Debt
Verse - "Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant ti the lender" Proverbs 22:7

Week 4 - Counsel
Verse - "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel" Proverbs 12:15

Week 5 - Honesty
Verse - "You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another" Leviticus 19:11

Week 6 - Giving
Verse - "Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive'" Acts 20:35

Week 7 - Work
Verse - "Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men...It is the Lord Christ whom you serve" Colossians 3:23-24

Week 8 - Investing
Verse - "Steady plodding brings prosperity; hasty speculation brins poverty' Proverbs 21:5

That is as far as we have gotten but here are the 2 last weeks

Week 9 - Perspective
Verse - "I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity...I can do all things through Him who strengthens me" Philippians 4:11-13

Week 10 - Eternity
Verse - "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? Mark 8:36

Later,
Hosh

It is raining

2005-05-06T15:54:00.000-04:00

The rain is a fallin' here in Good old Zeeland Michigan. I am not a big fan of the rain but it forces you to be creative and figure out what to do inside.

Seems as though most of the time is spend indoors here in Michigan. I don't mind it but if we stay here too long I think it will start to bother me. Oh well.

Later,
Hosh

Today was a pretty good day...

2005-05-05T21:29:00.000-04:00

Well today started off with a little hike in the woods, as I have done for the past week-I might add. Then a little going away party for the guys at our church that are planting a church. This is like the 4th party we have had for them. Leave already! A little lunch on the OPE with some new perspectives for high school and then I took a nap. Just kidding. I was wondering if you were paying attention. I talked to Joel a while about the possiblitiy of souping up my Mac at work, did a little research, made a few phone calls, talked with my good buddy Hot Burito and called it a day.

Phew, I'm tired.
Hosh

joel is checking out the widgets

2005-05-05T15:37:00.000-04:00

Joel is here. Yeah joel!

Hosh

Seniors!

2005-05-05T12:05:00.001-04:00

Lats night was awesome! I am going to miss all those graduating seniors.

They are my kids!

God has some big plans for them.

God bless you guys,
Hosh

Seniors!

2005-05-05T12:05:00.000-04:00

Lats night was awesome! I am going to miss all those graduating seniors.

They are my kids!

God has some big plans for them.

God bless you guys,
Hosh

Crown

2005-05-05T08:28:00.000-04:00

For a while our small group has been going through Crown Financial Ministries materials. Awesome stuff. For those of you that don't know what it is, it basically tells you what the bible says about money. Very insightfull stuff!

This week is week 8 and it is on investing. The verse this week is Proverbs 21:5 "Steady ploding brings prosperity; hasty speculation brings poverty" (TLB)

Later I will tell you the other weeks and their verses. Maybe you can get something out of this too.

Later,
Hosh

Tonight is Graduation at elevation

2005-05-04T16:42:00.000-04:00

Woohoo. The last one. I can't believe another year down! Whew...

Well hope tonight goes well. This is the class that I came in with. It will be so sad to see them go. A real bummer.

A shout out to all yall that are graduating. Keep it real and come back and visit!

Hosh

Humility

2005-05-03T21:30:00.000-04:00

I think that God is trying to teach me some humility today.

Let me tell you how my moring started.
I got up early to go take a little hike. I am trying to get back into shape for a backpacking trip that I am taking in early August. After that I came to work and changed nto my work clothes. After I pulled on my pants I notice 2 ink stains non other than just to the left of my fly. I had two choices: Where the pants with the stain on the crotch of my pants or where the shorts that I often use as a painting rag. No the most pridefull thing going around while people poke fun. Oh well.

Then if that weren't enough, we just got back from dinner with our small group. We had a good time eating all kinds of stuff and playing with the kids. Well I got this suction toy thingy and stuck it to my head. Oh, the kiddos loved it. As I pulled it off, one of my friend sai, "You've got a hicky and it is turning purple!"

Well there you have it. I hope the hickey goes away before tomorrow and I hope that Kate can get the stain out of the crotch of my pants!

Later,
hosh

My First Steely

2005-04-11T21:43:00.000-04:00

Scott Hoffman is a really awesome friend for taking me out on the beautiful Muskegon River and giving me the opportunity to land my first Steely! You rock Scott.

I tell ya, the fly-fishing on the Muskegon River is a whole new subculture to me. They have their rules and it is very territorial. It is a lot like the surfing community in California. Fights, shouting matches, and anger men all over Steelhead that they catch and release. Unbelievable. Thanks to Scott, I now have a totally new look at fly-fishing.

~Hosh~

Subconsious

2005-04-11T21:22:00.000-04:00

Today I had an epiphany.
I was talking to Paul about a work related issue and when we were done I walked away. Now, that in it itself is no big deal. I talk to Paul all the time. I often call him PVD, his nickname. As I was walking away I realized that I had the song, “Walk On” in my head by U2. A great song, yes-—but the weird thing was that I hadn’t heard that song in like a month! I started to ask myself where that came from. I thought back to the month before where I heard it. I realized that the band had played that in church one beautiful Sunday morning and behind them was a video. “Oh yeah”, I exclaimed in my head, “I was in that video.” Matter of fact I had filmed that video with Paul in Chicago.

Wait a minute, are you telling me that the song “Walk On” by U2 is now associated with PVD? Maybe. Could it be that the weird songs that I wake up with in my head (Pet Shop Boys, U2, R.E.M.) are all from my subconscious? Maybe even certain people evoke a song or maybe even a smell? It is weird to think that my brain can do something without me even knowing about it. So the next time you have a song in your head ask yourself “What evoked that?” Who knows it could be that you heard it as you were walking your sister’s twice removed niece’s Great Aunt’s dog!
~Hosh~

New Vocab

2005-04-05T07:30:00.000-04:00

Grunting a lot and saying the following:
321 puuuu = Theme song to 321 Penguins (new)
5692 = He counts in this order (new)
Ama=Momma
Amen
Ball
Bath
Bite
Biths=Binks
Blah blah blah=video
Bob = Bob from Veggie Tales (new)
Book
Boot
Boot = binky (new)
Bot = Boat (new)
Brush = Toothbrush (new)
Butt=button
Bye
Bye Bye
Car
Chews=Cheerios
Chez=Cheese
Chip = Banana Chips (new)
Cold (new)
Coo = Cool (new)
Cup (new)
Curful = Careful (new)
Cuwie = Color (new)
C-ya = See Ya (new)
Da=Dad
Diapy=Diaper
Dip (new)
Don’t Bark (new)
Don't touch
Down
Down strs=Down Stairs
Duck (new)
Elmo
Fall Down (new)
Fish (new)
Flowie = Flower (new)
Fok = Fork (new)
Get Down (new)
Get Down (to our dog, Jack)
Good Jub=Good Job
Gotchu=get you
Ham = Any meat (new)
Hch (in a whisper)=hot
Hi
Hi (new)
Hi Chew=High Chair
Home = Going Anywhere other than were he is at the present time (new)
Hot (new)
I nuv U = I love you (new)
Jatch=Jack
Josch=Josh
Jump (new)
Kepy = Kevin (from 321 Penguins) (new)
Krakarsh=Crackers
Larrie = Larry from Veggie Tales (new)
Light
Lunch (new)
Milp=Milk
Momma=Grandma
Monkey (new)
Nano=banana
Nelcome = Welcome (new)
Nemo
Nigh-Night
Nini
No
No way
Off
Oh Chea = OK (new)
Oh Gosh
Oh Man (new)
Oh no (new)
OK
On
Ouch
Pickle (new)
Pizza (new)
Pls=Please
poop
Poppi=Grandpa
Pops
Pretty (new)
Pts=Pants
Pwethe=Pretzel
Raisins
Shawa=Shower
Shnaks=Snacks
Shoes
Showie = Shower (new)
Slide (new)
So Much (in asking how much we love him)
Socks
Spoon (new)
Sthomp=Stomp
Stuck (new)
Tank chu=Thank you
Thit down=Sit down
Toes (new)
Truck = Every Automobile (new)
Uh Oh
Up
Up & Down (new)
Video (new)
Vigu = Vigel(from 321 Penguins) (new)
Watch (new)
Watch toons (new)
Watchu=Water
Wind = Rewind (new)
Yes (when prompted)

Lovin' it,
~Hosh~

Bowlorama

2005-03-20T08:53:00.000-05:00

So when K8 asked me what I wanted for my birthday I had to think. I didn't really need anything. I mean do we ever really need anything? So I was in the shower, where I get most of my good ideas, and it hit me. The bowlorama.
Last night was it. We (me and some friends) got together at the local, smoke free, bowling ally and bowled our hearts out. Was really fun. I think there were about 20 or so of us. Griff was a little hard to handle. He wanted to run down the bowling lanes. Anyways had a good time. Joan Boyles won the best first game at a 153! Way to go Joan!

Here is the roster of people:
Kate, Griff & Me (Griff was a little bit of a pill but he got a Strike!)
Holly (I was waiting for her to do a trick. ;)
Delsie (What a great dog!)
Tami (Bowling Girl of 2005!)
Jaimie (Those gutters are rough!)
Lauren (Bowling Magazine’s Queen of bowling 2004-2005)
Diane (Can bowl under people better than I have ever seen)
Kurt (Best bowling shirt)
Joan & Joel (Bowling couple of the year and best dressed!)
Andy (The Bowling kid!)
Kathy & Jim (Bowling Scorers of the year!)
Mitch & Whitney (Thanks for the muffin!!!)
Brian, Lori, Ethan & Jaden (Ethan & Jaden are a little better bowlers than their parents!)
Jason, Molly & Molly's sis (Molly was better than J)
Tawes, Cherith & Tova (Tova was entertaining as she made it down more than half the lane before Cherith caught her!)

Thanks, for the memories people!
~Hosh~

yo yo yo

2005-03-19T08:21:00.000-05:00

A shout out to all my peeps:
What up LP? Ice Cream trucks rule!
Nice Hardcore Lama, Mitch (Not so sure about some of your links though?) YOUR LAMA!
Yo Yo Yo, Edna. Thanks for the baby sitting last night. What are these bruises?
A little shout out to mi familia. LOVE YA!
Don't drop the powerbook ANDY!! :(
Abou (Jeff Day)-Miss ya man. We need to go for a hike or something.
Need to get that thing fixed iPunk
Jamaica, on a missions trip? Yeah right, Jeff.
Keep emerging Kinger.
Dave-I love ya man. Thanks for the talks.

If I missed ya I am sorry. Send me a comment so I know that you read this thing.
Love ya all,
~Hosh~

My baby boy

2005-03-16T08:50:00.000-05:00

I tell ya, my kid is awesome!

Tell me this:
Who's kid can pull a small TV on himself and then get up and ask for a video?
Who's child can play with a helium balloon for days without tiring?
Who's boy never gets tired of playing when dad gets home?
Who's kid will say "I luv vu" and blow kisses when you leave?
Who's child loves throwing a rubber ball up and having it hit him on the head?
Mine–that's who

~Hosh~

Some photos for you: