My friend Tyler is a modern genius. We spent a couple of years talking about filmmaking, then we actually got together and started making our own films. I was proud of our work. There were scripts and cameras and equipment, we had a crew of people to help us. It was a fun time.

In the middle of that period of time, Tyler and his brothers went out one weekend and made a simple video, and it ended up trumping any of the more "serious" work we ever did otherwise. This one's for you, Tyler! You're a great friend.

Mac will tell you all that I once embarked on a text-only format for this site. He shook me out of it when he told me that all of my readers had enjoyed my "spartan" phase, but that it was time to bring some life back to the site. I've gone through a few iterations since then, and this current template seems to be the opposite of my black-on-white text phase. Both sides of that spectrum, however, have been based on text. In this case the text is more stylized and bold, whereas the "spartan" template encouraged the reader to find meaning in the actual words, not in the way they were presented.

I love text. Plain text. It is perhaps more difficult to convey a mood with nothing but text, but when it's done correctly, it's... it's beautiful! One of my favorite uses of simple text is found here: Seed Conference. Nothing but text, and see how bold and strong the message is.

Today I was browsing NorthTemple.com, the web site for the design department at the LDS Church, and they linked to this web site: The Girl Effect, which has a brilliant text-based promotional video. Just watch it and pay attention to how your senses respond to the simple text.

I've been working a TON lately. Really burning the candle at both ends. 12, 14, 15 hours a day. Just trying to do my best at work. Anyhow, I've noticed that since I gave up soda I have MORE energy to work as much as I've been working. In the past, these kinds of hours would drain me. Now I feel energized! It just shows that soda is a false hope. It's a quick blast of unfocused energy followed by a long period of lethargy.

Now just wait until I do my vegan experiment starting in about 10 days. I'll post more about that one later.

(I actually wrote this while I was on my way to Vegas on Friday, but never got a chance to post it once I got there. Here it is in its entirety.)

I'm writing this from 35,000 feet up, somewhere between Cincinnati and Las Vegas. I've got my iPod Touch set up to email blog entries to my blog, so I'll write this now and send it when I next find a connection.

So I made a change two weeks ago and haven't gotten around to writing about it until now. I'm on day 14 without carbonation. I've gone through no-soda phases a few times before, but never with any real conviction. I remember when I switched to diet sodas -- that was a worthy step. I meet so many people that tell me they could never move away from "fully leaded" sodas because they don't like the taste of diet sweeteners. I maintain that my personal experience with switching to diet was painful to the taste buds, but that after about four weeks my taste buds grew accustomed to the taste of diet soda. That was five years ago and I really am glad I made the change.

My next problem, however, was that I had simply turned my dependency on sugared sodas into a dependency on their diet siblings. The caffeine issue still held me captive. As time went by, I began to experience odd phases of poor sleep, energy spikes, and lethargy. When I moved to Raleigh and started working later, I made a rule that I wouldn't drink caffeinated beverages at night. That led to improved night-time sleep and a decrease in my overall caffeine intake, which worked for a time. Over the past few months, however, I began to notice that I was consuming more and more caffeinated soda during the day, my body's way of compensating for the sudden decrease in caffeine intake due my nighttime ban. So I was really right back to where I had started: being convinced by my body to take in more and more caffeine.

And that brings me to the real reason that I gave up soda altogether two weeks ago: not only did my body deal with regular cravings for soda, but the emotional dependency had come into play more in recent history. And as a result of that emotional dependency I've increasingly felt like I was losing control over myself in some small manner. At Red Hat we get all sorts of wonderful treats for free at any time: chips, cookies, candy, apples, oranges, oatmeal, soda, juice, bagels, doughnuts, and so forth. All through my day I'm drinking soda. I drink a juice every now and then, but usually it's my trusty Diet Coke. Eating a bagel? Gotta have a Diet Coke with it. Heading to a meeting? Let me swing by the fridge on the way. Getting a sandwich at lunch? I'll have a Diet Coke with that, please. And on it went.

So I quit! I broke the chain. When I got back from my two-week trip, I had one Coke Zero in my fridge (see how I had even started to break my "no caffeine at home" rule?), and while I was drinking it I just decided that enough was enough. I was going shopping that afternoon and wouldn't by amy more soda. And when I was at work I'd switch to water (with the occasional juice), and at lunch and at restaurants I'd do water. That was two weeks ago and I've stuck with it. I'm sure I'll have another soda at some point in the foreseeable future, but first I need to break it out of my system. I need to go to lunch and be fine with water. I need to regain that control that I was slowly allowing to leak out. Once that's done I'll enjoy the occasional Diet Coke, maybe. For now, though, I have to let it go.

I'm going to Las Vegas tomorrow. Leaving after work, arriving at 10 PM. Coming back about 24 hours later. My good old friends Jeremy and Jenny are getting married! I'm way happy!

When I lived downtown I'd take Western to Nazareth, then enter the Centennial Campus through the north entrance. I drove on Nazareth twice a day for a year, basically, unless I had something to do directly after work. A few weeks before I moved from downtown, this monument was put up, and I've been meaning to go snap a photo of it since then. I finally got around to it on Saturday, specifically for my web site, even. I was thinking of something to post about, and the thought hit me: "why not go take a picture of that bicycle?"



The bike marks the location of Nancy Antoine Leidy's death (NewsObserver.com, WRAL). She was struck on April 23rd by a drunk driver who was out celebrating his 21st birthday. How's that for an eye-opener? His life is likely ruined because of his inability to control himself. I hope he's got the courage to change while he's incarcerated. My heart goes out to this woman's family.

A couple years after my mom died, my dad and I talked about painting a 4x4 wooden post pink (her favorite color) and putting it at the location of her death (a two-lane desert highway between California City and Tehachapi). We procrastinated it, however, and after a few more years that stretch of the highway was closed and replaced with the newly re-routed (and now safer) four-lane Highway 58. I don't know if I could even pick out the place where she died anymore, to be honest. I'm sure my dad knows exactly where it is.

Anyhow, I wanted to share that beautiful reminder of how precious life is.

The latest (and I believe third) edition of "Where The Hell Is Matt?" came out while I was on my trip. It's simply beautiful. Matt has turned his little toy project into a social experiment that hits me on a number of different levels, one of them being that he's created a small piece of video proof that WE ARE ALL THE SAME in this world. We just want to dance and sing and work and take care of our families and watch our children grow. We want peace and prosperity and happiness. We want to play and run and jump and dance. And I absolutely commend Mr. Harding for continuing down this path.

I find that many of these telling social statements we see today are unintended. I've told some of you that I appreciate The Amazing Race more for the inintended social statements it makes (eg. Goth couple is sweet and tender with each other while traditional "normal" couple argues all the time) than for the competition. I feel much of that same social appreciation when watching Where The Hell Is Matt?

Tomorrow morning (Friday) I'm heading home. I take a Chinatown bus from here to DC, then I'll see some friends, pick up my car, and head home to NC at night. It's been a great trip. Better than I expected. Very refreshing and purifying on a personal level. Lots of time to just relax and think. I got to see some great friends, meet some new people, see some beautiful sights, go to some great games, sit on lots of park benches and people-watch, stay in some super-cool places and some shady places, and generally just enjoy myself on a daily basis.