kylegilbert

We have entered into a very interesting time in the history of the world.  Not only do we have to be discerning about what we hear and read, but now we also have to be skeptical about what we see.  The world has changed, and seeing is definitely not believing.

Just to illustrate, take a look at these images that I automatically generated on the internet.  I didn’t retouch the images at all.

Very cool, but crazy.

Of all the things I get to do as a website and graphic designer, one of my favorite tasks is working on logo design and branding.  I love working with companies to figure out how to represent their business in a small scalable image.

I recently completed a logo design for a translations business called TIN.  The graphic below shows the three major stages of the logo.  It started as a round speech bubble with the text on the inside.  After chewing on that for a while and thinking through how it would work on a website, on letterhead, and on business cards,  I decided to make it more sleek, remove the text from the inside (partly because of legibility in small applications – as you see here), and point the inside speech bubble in the opposite direction (like a back and forth conversation).  In the third round of design, I closed off the crescent shape and reversed the direction each of the bubbles was pointing (to help with eye flow when used in the top left of a website).

I think it turned out very nice.

This weekend at Faith Promise we closed out the service and the You 2.0 series with this great time of worship and testimony to the grace and goodness of God.  I’ve gotten to know several of these people over the past few weeks, and I cried my eyes out as I watched.

I have about 40 blogs that I follow through RSS feeds.  Of those, my favorite photo blog is called “Stuck in Customs.”  The guy features amazing photography from all over the world.  Very inspiring stuff!

I am responsible for this, not my daughter.  But she did think it was funny.

As I’ve been working on my personal growth plan over the past few weeks, I realized tonight that I’ve done a lousy job on one my biggest goals for last year.   Tonight, I’m committing to make rest my number one goal for 2009.

“WASTE not life,” wrote Benjamin Franklin, patron saint of American entrepreneurs. “In the grave will be sleeping enough.”  Centuries later, the attitude toward sleep in America — and in American business, in particular — has scarcely changed. Corporate culture reveres the e-mail message sent at 3 a.m., the executive who rushes directly into a meeting from a red-eye flight. Bumper stickers offer an updated version of Franklin’s dictum: “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.”

“There is a cultural bias against sleep that sees it as akin to shutting down, or even to death….” [New York Times]

I want to learn how to get beyond my own desire to accomplish and achieve.  I want to move past my ability to get things done and make money in the evenings doing freelance work.  I’m praying that God would make me counter cultural and teach me how to rest.

Today the office was closed because of snow & ice, and Keri got us all outside for an early morning walk.

Time for round two with my daughter.  This time we’re going to build a snow man.

Getting a haircut the other day reminded me of something that happened back in college.  It was during the summer, and I had my customary buzz cut going on.  I love having my hair buzzed.  It felt so nice in the shower, worked well with having the top down on my Jeep Wrangler (my car at the time), and I could do the haircut myself in just a few minutes.

Well, one day I was giving myself a haircut, when all of a sudden I felt a couple of things happen.  First, I felt the guard on the trimmers slip.  Second, I felt the metal sliding across the top of my head as the trimmers dug into my hair.  I stopped instantaneously, but the damage had already been done.  There, on the very top of my head was a 2″ x 2″ spot where the hair was gone.

That was a Saturday, and for a couple of days, I made the most of it.   Sunday morning, I had one of my little brothers write the word “HAIR” with a pen in the bald spot.  I went to church that way.

Sunday night, I went ahead and finished the job – shaving my head bald.

Those who have been reading this blog for a while know that I hate getting haircuts.  But yesterday, my wife and I agreed that I had put things off for long enough.  It was time to find a place in Knoxville.

What I didn’t mention in my last post about haircuts is that my wife has been encouraging me for a couple of years to upgrade my experience to a real hair salon.   It’s hard for me to admit this, but yesterday, I gave in to my wife’s suggestions.

Everything was new and different from the beginning, starting with needing to make an appointment.  I’m used to sitting around in a room full of other people who, from the looks on their faces, clearly feel the same way I do about haircuts.  Fortunately, they had an immediate opening available, so after I called, I headed right over.

The differences didn’t stop there.  After I arrived and met my stylist, I received a “consultation”, a head massage (it felt good, but I’m still ambiguous about this), and a shampoo (again, not sure what I think about somebody shampooing my head).  So there I was, already twenty minutes into my haircut, and no one had brandished any scissors.  Crazy!

Well, my stylist did eventually cut my hair, and I must say that it was certainly one of the best haircuts I’ve ever gotten.  I’m used to either:  1) coming home to finish it myself, or 2) going back to ask them to finish the job.  Seriously.

And the fun didn’t stop there, either.  They washed my hair again, dried it, and styled it.

Despite my initial anxiety, there were really only two bad things about the experience:  1) It cost about twice what I’m used to paying (guess I’ll have to go less frequently) and 2) my hair still smells a little like some herbal panda bear thing.

Keri and I met in High School, about 15 years ago.  We were both Juniors in High School, and I was a bus boy at Abuelo’s Mexican Restaraunt in Lubbock, TX.  A mutual friend decided that we needed to meet each other, so the two of them came to eat one night while I was working.  (Can’t you picture me walking around with my black bus tub and white wash rag?)  We dated for several months, but it wasn’t until the middle of college that we both realized we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together.  As soon as I graduated, we were married.

That was January 9, 1999.  Today, Keri and I have been married for ten years.

I really can’t believe how fortunate I am to have such a wonderful spouse! She is my best friend, my encourager, and a wonderful mother to our kids.  God has taught me so much about love, kindness, support, and patience through the example of my wife.

Keri is my dearest treasure, and I am so grateful for these ten years we’ve had together.