Author: andrew

A Story Without Dialogue

He asked her again, and this time she couldn’t say no. It was that look in his eyes. A hoping, longing look that she’d seen there as long as she could remember. So they bought it. It came with smoky glass, shiny leather seats, and a little hat for each of them.

They weren’t well-off by anyone’s reckoning. Most months they lived hand-to-mouth, and once in a while he would bring a bonus home from his low-level sales job. It was one of these bonuses that prompted the question.

When she said yes, the next thing she didn’t say was, “What are people going to think?” She already knew the answer, anyway. Her father was furious. She could have predicted his every word, but she didn’t dare repeat them to James. This was his dream, and the only thing he’d ever wanted for himself in their 10 years of marriage. It didn’t matter to her that it didn’t make any sense. She’d never seen him so happy.

They would take turns driving. That’s where the little hats came in. The one driving would wear the hat, and the other one would sit in the back. Sometimes they would both sit up front, and he’d play with the buttons and dials. She wanted to ask him to stop, but she bit her tongue. She didn’t want to spoil any part of his dream.

But other people weren’t so kind. Everywhere they’d drive, people would stare at them. Family events were always a bit tense after they bought it, even if all the kids in the extended family thought it was really cool. They were still blind to the economic realities of owning such a thing.

He took care of it as well as his abilities allowed. He didn’t know a thing about repairing engines, and his detailing skills were far from professional. But he was faithful to wash it every Saturday morning in its permanent spot on the left side of the driveway. He even built a crude carport for it, since it wouldn’t fit in the garage. He also carefully fashioned directional covers for the sprinklers on that side of the lawn. “Would want to water-spot the gold and maroon paint job,” he thought.

Someone want to continue the story?

New Windows on the World

Hello, Shinnfans. I’m here today to share with you a fascinating new window to the world that I’ve been enjoying. It comes in the form of a British Accent emanating from my iPod earphones.

BBC Radio News-pod is a collection of highlighted stories from across BBC radio. It’s a half-hour program I receive daily. Things I’ve found fascinating so far:

  • The international flavor of the news coverage. Clearly, the Brits are far ahead of us Yanks in the whole ‘paying-attention-to-the-rest-of-the-world’ area.
  • The British accents.
  • The differing relationship between media and government on their side of the pond and our side of the pond. I’d just like to say that having worked in media relations for the U.S. Government, I had it really easy. British reporters not only ask the hard questions, but they can sometimes be actually combative. I haven’t heard any interviews turn to fisticuffs, but that’s probably because interviewees are very used to aggressive reporting.
  • The British accents.
  • Things Britons care about. Britain is far behind the U.S. in legislating child protection from convicted pedophiles, for instance. That’s been made clear by a rash of stories about horrible offenses and an immature state of the national debate over what to do about them.
  • Have I mentioned the British accents yet?

In all, it’s been a fascinating experience. I have a much-expanded view of several issues, including the U.S. Immigration Debates. More on that in future blog posts. Until then, here are some blog posts that are on the horizon from me:

  • In Which I Equivocate (a reaction to extended exposure to The DaVinci Code)
  • Immigration: Not Just a U.S. Problem (what I’ve been learning about the effects of migration around the world)
  • National, Personal Duty (tentative, an exploration of current-day applications of principles from Abraham Lincoln)
  • Mexifornia (a book report, even though I’ve just started the book)

Please let me know in the comments below if any of these sound interesting to you. If I get enough reaction on them, I’ll know how to priortize them. Until then, I remain,

Truly Yours,

Andrew

Gallery show tomorrow night

You’re all invited to a gallery show at 7 p.m. tomorrow night at the Shinn Photo studio (1651 10th Street in Reedley, CA).  I’ll be unveiling a new series of prints, exploring biblical text and quotes against scenes from nature.  A portion of the proceeds of any prints that sell tomorrow evening will go to MCC for world relief.

Andrew’s Notebook

A few months ago, I got an electric toothbrush. It has changed my life. For some reason, that phrase, “It has changed my life,” seems to imply a large change. It hasn’t been a large change. It’s been a small one. But my life is changed nonetheless.

Lisa got a library card the other day. She checked out some great music CDs from the library, including albums by Reba McIntyre and Avalon, and the Music Man soundtrack. With all the recent kerfuffle by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) and others are causing with digital rights management and strict licensing of music use, you’d think they’d crack down on public libraries, who freely loan copies of music discs. Anyway, the Music Man soundtrack is great. As I listen to the songs outside of the context of the movie, I have come to greatly appreciate the cleverness of the songwriting. On the train, as the salesmen are singing about Professor Harold Hill, one guy says, “And when the man dances, certainly boys, What else? The piper pays him! Yes, when the man dances, certainly boys, What else? The piper pays him!”

How is face lotion like Homeland Security? They are both preventative, and carry the unique burden of being measured by the absence of something. With both in place, the situation looks normal. It’s when you start to consistently neglect them that the picture gets less appealing.

It’s Brad and Mary Fast’s (Lisa’s parents’) 30th wedding anniversary tomorrow. It’s also my first father’s day as a father (sort of). I don’t have a child to hold or be grateful or ungrateful yet, but I do have a child! He or she is supposed to be about the size of an apple by now. We had a family party at our house for Brad and Mary and sent them off to a bed and breakfast in the area. Congratulations on 30 years of marriage!

Ugly Americans: The True Story of the Ivy League Cowboys Who Raided the Asian Markets for Millions (book report)

I picked up this book in hardback form at the Dollar Store yesterday. Usually the books they have at the Dollar Store are there because they’re no good: no one wants to read them. This book was a notable exception. I’d seen it elsewhere and remembered being intrigued by the tale.

This is not a clean book. It enumerates the rough-and-tumble life of profit-motivated men who have sacrificed living in the hemisphere of their birth in order to chase wealth and excess. But it is a fast read. I started it yesterday evening and finished it, 271 pages later, this evening.

My assessment: First, the book is oversold. It isn’t as intriguing as it hypes itself to be. It’s somehow more real and down-to-earth because of this, enhancing the appeal for me. It’s also been novelized a bit, and the writer’s main information source was the main character. This may have colored his judgement in some ways. The novelization was a good idea, and made it more enjoyable to read. The author also has entire chapters devoted to his actual research for writing the book, which make decent interludes to the story and tell us rather more about the author than is customary. Also, the book has great cover art. Despite the old adage, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” lots of people put lots of work into making great cover art, and there has to be something to that.

The author, Ben Mezrich, has a knack for pleasant description. In the book summary and in the manuscript itself, he describes his subjects as having, “…a warped sense or morality and proportion.” At another point he describes scenery being turned by the speed of a motorcycle into a Monet from the inside of a helmet visor. Good stuff.

This book also re-awakened in me a spirit of adventure that comes with crossing cultures. Mezrich described the hero arriving in Japan for the first time in his professional life. He does a good job of describing the loneliness and confusion that come from being utterly alone in a culture not your own. It made me think of walking alone through the square in Krakow, Poland by dusk-light. Or hitchhiking alone across India for two days. I actually wondered for about a half hour how long it would take me to renew my passport and whether I can afford some time off this August.

I read because it takes me places. By that measure, this book was an absolute success.

New series of prints

I’m starting work on a new series of art prints. This is the first one. I’m not finished with it, but at least this gives you an idea of what I’m working on. Click on the image to see it larger.  Then leave a comment.  Do you like it?  I hope not.  What does it make you think?  What does it make you wonder?  This image make statements on several level, and even pokes a bit of fun at itself.
Ruin's natural canvas

Violence and Trustworthiness

A personal reflection set on violence and danger: I’ve had three people tell me I need to worry about theft at my storefront. One has been the victim of violent crime; the other two haven’t. All three own firearms for personal protection. I offer this eastern parable:

There was once a little boy who had a beautiful set of marbles. His friend, a little girl, had a bag of candy. When the boy had tired of playing with the marbles, he offered to trade the girl all his marbles for all her candy. Just before the trade was to be made, the boy looked over his marbles and selected his two favorites. He slipped them into his pocket, his agreement notwithstanding. Later that night, he lay awake. One thought burned its way through his mind: I wonder if she gave me all of the candy?

I offer this only as a possibility, and I’m open to refutation: Is it possible that it’s not what others are willing to do that drives our fears, but what we ourselves are willing to do? Is this why perfect love drives out all fears?

* I offer these only as thoughts, and I temper them with some modicum of hubris. The other night, I was faced with a drug-addicted friend of the former residents of my house. He wanted to know how many people were living at my house and offered with a smile that he already knew the layout of the inside of my dwelling. I didn’t sleep for several hours that night, worrying about the guy on the bicycle who stopped by that evening. I didn’t sleep until God gave me this verse from Psalm 121: “He who watches over Israel will neither sleep nor slumber.”

A History of Violence

Lisa and I watched this interesting, disturbing movie starring Viggo Mortensen the other evening. It’s the story of a small-town business owner with a dark past. He’s a simple, peaceful man who loves his wife and kids. When he’s robbed and threatened with the gunpoint rape of one of his waitresses, he saves the day and ends up a hesitant hero for his small town. But his fame and acclaim bring parts of his past to light, and the act of violence (see the myth of violent redemption) awakens within him dark parts he thought long dead.

This movie is interesting, not as an exploration of the effects of violence on the victims, but for the exploration of the effects of violence on the perpetrators. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more anti-violence violent movie. It clearly shows that those who aren’t willing to be peaceful will never know peace. It demonstrates with careful, subtle strokes that when someone perpetrates violence, the shalom (peace, wholeness) all around them is broken, both within and without. As a warning, though, it’s definitely an adult movie exploring adult themes. Not kid-friendly.

Is there redemption in the movie? Yes. At the end, in slow, halting steps, a very realistic redemption plays itself out through the hands of a child.