Posts filed under 'family'
Where do you stand on Ninjas vs. Pirates? Isaiah knows ninjas have the upper hand, and has already started practicing. He was running around outside in his pajamas, picked up a stick, and I snapped these shots with my iPhone. I had to make a comic - he looked like a little ninja master:
Have a look at the standalone shots: these were cut out of the iPhone photos, then passed through a watercolor filter to give them a gravelly dark comic feel.
PS - If you have a better idea for use of these images in a comic let me know - this is a barebones version just to get the idea out.
June 12th, 2008
Isaiah is very proud of having his own laptop. (I picked up an OLPC for him off a fellow Googler who was done playing with it). Tonight he sat in my lap while I helped him open it up. He turned it on, and smiled when it chimed. He then picked it up and walked over to the black rocker, put it down, and sat by himself pinging away on the keyboard.
Photos, photos, photos. Isaiah is loving getting wet in the sprinklers and the pool (as well as the Long Island Sound). As happy parents we take occasional bursts of photos, so enjoy these documenting his laptop and recent sprinkler / pool fun.
June 6th, 2008
Check out this collage of Isaiah. It contains all Isaiah photos we have taken to date (about 1,000). It’s generated using the Shape Collage software I recently stumbled upon. This goes into my suite of cool photo tools (which also includes Rasterbator for hugified posters). Click through to see the full size image (5MB) which is a lot of fun. A detail of the 2nd “a” is shown below.
May 31st, 2008
Have you drawn yourself as a teen? This is an internet meme I couldn’t pass up, though I’m a bit late to the party. (I read about this originally on the Flight Comics blog). I felt I needed to do three versions: the 15-17 year old Abe, the 18 year old Abe, and me today. If you’re honest with yourself, this is actually a lot of fun. Crazy to think how much our world can change. At the core, not much has though; still focused on kindness, honesty, and giving back more than I’ve been given.
May 25th, 2008
One year ago we welcomed Isaiah into the world. Crazy. Francesca and I have been parents for a year. What a wonderful year! Isaiah is walking, climbing, talking (a little), inquisitive, sensitive, overall a joy. Franny and I have grown together as partners, parents, friends. Sometimes stressful, always wonderful.
One year ago we didn’t know when he’d arrive. I remember wanting to know what our child would be like. Whether we were having a boy or girl. Now we know - I couldn’t have imagined it this wonderful. Isaiah is Isaiah, I can’t imagine another child that he would have been. Franny and I are truly rediscovering the world through his eyes.
I’ll leave you with another Isaiah quote - I find it fitting for a first birthday, because Isaiah’s arrival has helped me to slow down in life, to enjoy the here and now and stress less about the future.
Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die — Isaiah 22:13
April 20th, 2008
I am shamelessly promoting Shirley Bell - these are my two recent favorites - an elegant praying mantis (also on picasa), and a unique and beautiful dragonfly christmas tree (also on picasa). If you aren’t a Shirley Bell Designs fan yet, you should be 
April 17th, 2008
I am rediscovering the world. Through Isaiah’s eyes. Do you remember the smell of grass, the feel of digging in dirt, the wiggle of an earthworm? Do you remember playing despite cold? When was the last time you were happily uncomfortable? Climbed in a tree? I am rediscovering the world through Isaiah’s eyes. What a joy.
April 6th, 2008
I was raised Quaker. Quakers sit in silent worship, communing directly with God. We believe that if you listen God will speak, and help guide you in life. I love the philosopy, open-mindedness, and quiet of the Quakers. Moreso, I love the lack of priests - it’s just you and God. I attended Quaker Meeting until I was 18, but have only recently started re-attending with Franny (raised Catholic) and Isaiah.
I have never been “lead” by the Lord. Not quite true, but hear me out.
Reading Quaker literature, you read of the church founders having incredible spiritual moments where God spoke loudly to them. I’ve never quite believed this; certainly I have never had such an experience myself. I’ve lived my entire life bringing hard decisions to the Lord in quiet prayer, waiting for his advice and direction. And I’ve never heard any. So I’ve made the decisions that seemed right at the time, and life has been good to me. (Who knows, maybe my “feeling right” about a decision is how God speaks to me, if so it’s unprovable :-)).
I have been “warned” by the Lord. My extended family is Catholic, and I joined the Catholic church as an adult. The priest who confirmed me used to state that sins cannot be enumerated, they are personal, between an individual and the Lord. Sin, he said, was anything that caused a rift in your relationship with the Lord. I agree - it is my experience that when I have “sinned” (cigarettes, drugs, meanness) I have felt it injured my relationship with God. And there was always a voice, sometimes quiet, sometimes very loud, telling me where I was going wrong. That I should not be going down a given path. That if I continued, I would be unhappy and disconnected from God.
God, or conscience? So that’s it - God has never spoken to me. A little voice has told me what I shouldn’t be doing. God? Or my conscience? I frankly don’t know or care. I believe in the Lord, even if he never speaks to me. Even if there is only this one life, and then nothing but dirt and worms. My faith doesn’t require a rebirth, it doesn’t require miracles. It just is. I am just thankful for this life, for the path I have been able to follow, for all the random events of life leaving me alive, married, with a beautiful son, wonderful family, and caring friends.
April 6th, 2008
Franny and I just discovered Comic Life, which came bundled on our new MacBooks. For those not in the know, it is a brilliant application that makes it easy to compile photos and more into comic strips, complete with word bubbles, etc. For those of us who love documenting memories but hate typical scrapbooks… this is a god-send. It is also fun for all kinds of neat little projects. We created a fun little adventure comic starring our nieces and nephews - some teasers are included below. Click on them for the full comic at phanfare.
Update: switching over to Flickr, until then photos unavailable 
April 17th, 2007
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