Open-MindDead.

I love people telling me I'm closed-minded. Thankfully it hasn't happened too recently.

Because here's the thing - I believe that there is something more than just this life. I believe that there is a life beyond what we are experiencing now. That this is the first step in an eternal existence for us. That there is a spiritual life that runs concurrently yet at the same time consecutively. As well as what is going on now, there is a behind the scenes spiritual walk that is in the everlasting, which carries on after we leave this earthly life. I believe that the God who has created all of this is so vast I cannot comprehend it. That as soon as I put a face to the One who created me, I limit Him to a being who is no more defined as the person next to me. That He is truly without limits and that that means He has no boundaries. Nothing to stop or contain or dictate what He can and cannot do. I accept that His judgement is out of my control. I accept that His decisions are beyond my capabilities to even understand, let alone make. I know that the Bible throws up more questions than it throws up answers, yet I keep pawing through it to hopefully delve deeper into what it holds. I know that I'll never fully understand what it contains, yet that doesn't stop me from searching. I know that only God has a full understanding of everything. I know that the most learned scholar in any field has only a glimpse of insight into what they study and research compared to the full understanding that God holds over everything. I know that the Bible is a living text. That reading it will change me. That every time I read it, there is the possibility - no - the expectation that something new will come to light. That something new will be learned. That my life and the way I live can, will and should change on a daily basis all because of the words that I read and re-read. I realise that there is an unchanging plan for my life, yet to get there I need to change constantly - that God knows where I will end up, what I will end up doing and where I will be and my life revolves around getting in line with that. That the unchanging requires change to fulfill. I see the stars and I know that they are there for us to simply enjoy. I see the power and the majesty of these bodies in space yet I know that there is power and majesty still to be found beyond them. That they are not all that. That as magnificent as they are - each and every one; still One more magnificent than they is waiting to be seen in full. I know that the closest we will get here on earth to the Living God is but a glimpse compared to what we will experience upon death. I know that when I wake in Heaven I will fully understand that death has no sting - that I will look back at my death and realise it was like walking through a door to my home. This I realise and know yet strive to understand while I am still here on earth and while I have still not seen it with my own eyes. I know that this God of holiness will one day welcome a wretch like me into His house and that I will dwell in His presence for the rest of time. I accept that I can't put a face to God, that I can't put a shape to God. That in my wildest imaginations, God far exceeds what I can conjure up. That the only limit to His power is the faith I have. I know that there is more to life than what we can see, taste, touch, measure, watch or hear. I know that God promised us things before the earth was even made - no matter how we think it was made. That spiritually, we walk alongside those who paved the way for us to do so. That we are walking side-by-side with Elijah, with Moses, with Stephen, with Paul. With. Jesus. That through Jesus we live forever. That through that same Jesus the world was formed. That the One who made us would take on flesh and bone in order to reach down and effect our lives. That the limitless, the shapeless, the eternal would walk the earth for a short time in order to create a bridge between the physical and the spiritual. That the same power that destroyed nations fights for our very souls. Every day. That the incomparable, the flawless, the perfect, the ever-present, ever-loving, ever-powerful, everlasting would lay down His life for every one of us so that we can spend time with Him that, right now, we can't even fathom. That He did this so that we can live a life outside and above our own and that He did this so that we can live forever.

And, what, you believe that all there is is the here and now? That we are limited to what we can see, hear, touch, measure and observe?

And I'm closed-minded?

Please.

Pizza Doe.

Hey, friend.

My wife and I made it to America ok. It was a nice little 95 hour trip.

Things I'll chat about now: The trip, visas, Google, Brontide, the unrelenting heat, a first.

The Trip.

Getting here was an experience. We were staying at my folks' place for a week before flying out which was nice. After packing up our house for a few weeks and getting everything sorted out there, it was nice to be able to relax a bit.

We set off on the journey back to America on Saturday morning. The 16th. We got to the train station for our 1055 train to London. I was already a little stressed by the car ride to the station - I obviously didn't know there was another 94 hours to go. When we were actually traveling, I was fine - it was in the down time between trains and the underground that I started to freak out about the traveling we had left.

We stayed the first night in a little hotel in London before going to the airport to meet my brother for a bit and then to check in for the flight. After a lovely aside that I'll talk about in a bit, we were finally on our way.

When we got to Iceland - our half way point - we were told that our flight on to New York was overbooked. So instead of going on to NY and spending the night there, they offered us a free dinner that night, a free hotel for that night, a free breakfast for the morning, a free trip to the Blue Lagoon and a free lunch at the Blue Lagoon. And a free ticket to travel anywhere with Iceland Express. Terrible, right? There were some people who complained, but they're everywhere. My wifey and I loved it! Iceland is amazing. We had a great little break on our way over and a nice time to relax.

Heading NY way the day after, our flight had to do figure of eights in the air a few times before we landed because of the bad weather on the runway. A great experience for nervous air passengers...

New York was a really good experience and we got to go to Times Square for a couple of hours before heading over to Milwaukee and then on to Kansas City, where we met up with some good friends and stayed with them for a few days.

The trip was incredible and I wouldn't have done anything different - aside from maybe stressing less!

Visas.

Visas are ridiculous. As I was checking in in London, my boarding pass to Iceland was granted and printed but the pass from there to New York was denied. This was because I hadn't filled in a form online. This form was the I-94W and it put me in a catch 22 situation. The most catchiest, twenty-twoiest situation I've ever found myself in. First of all, this is a new way of doing things - introduced in April. Now, instead of it being a free three month visa that I fill in on the plane on the way over, I have to pay to fill it in. With it, I can't extend my stay in America (I wasn't planning on it, but I'm staying with my wife and her family, so I wanted that option) and without it, I wouldn't be allowed into America. Good stuff.

So I filled it in and went back down to check in again, but it didn't clear and at the time, we were going to have to travel to Iceland and hope that it cleared before we got there so that I could get the Iceland - America boarding pass printed. Which is why the overbooked flight and subsequent night in Iceland was such a blessing.

And now I'm here waiting for my I-130 - the visa that we thought would be done and dusted before we flew out.

But we're here. An that's all that matters at the moment.

Google.

I can't access my other email account. I'm not sure why. I created it in America and I use this laptop to access it, but Google in their wisdom have decided to deny me access to the account because it's a 'different location'... I'll be talking to them this afternoon.

Brontide.

As I mentioned in the last post, my little brother and his band have an album out. You can hear their single 'Matador' here: http://soundcloud.com/brontide and you can get more information on them as a whole here: http://www.myspace.com/brontidetheband

Their twitter link is here: http://twitter.com/#!/FUCKINGBRONTIDE

Twitter name aside, they're a great, family friendly sound, so be sure to check them out and buy their things.

Pizza doe.

It's been a while since I've seen roadkill bigger than a dog.

The unrelenting heat.

The heat here is insane. I'm sure I wrote about it last time I was over here. It's been over 100ºF here for nearly three weeks solid. That's about 35ºC. Constantly. Well, it dips to around 25ºC through the night. I like staying up late to pretend I'm home and that it's a normal temperature. It helps sometimes. The pool is great, though. Nice and cool.

The one thing that gets me down is that it's too hot for me to go outside. I was just stood outside the other day and I was sweating as I do when I run back home. It's weird. I'm pretty lethargic because my energy is at a low and because of that I'm not working out as I normally do. And so now I'm down because I haven't worked out and it's hot. But I guess it'll all be better in a few weeks. Then I'll be fishing and running and lifting again. Feeling better.

It's not the worst thing to be complaining about, though. Not a bad problem.

A First.

And finally. I got a First in my Games Design course! I worked my fingers off - sewed until there was no thread left. I drew until my pens ran out and I typed until the keys split in half. It was an intense year - especially the last couple of months when it was all coming together. It was exciting, too. My wifey was my best cheerleader. She supported me through this year more than I could have asked and I am truly grateful. I'm in the process of applying for my Masters Degree, so hopefully there'll be more drawing and writing and creating in the years to come. There will be whether I do the MA or not.

I didn't really get how big a first is until a load of people started enthusiastically congratulating me. I worked as hard as I could and I was really happy with it, but it's what I aimed for. Who wouldn't want to do their best?! I worked hard and prayed hard. As much as I have my wifey to thank, I have so much more thanks for God. He's been our rock through this year - He's been my rock for years, but with my wifey this year, He's been our solid foundation and I can't wait to pursue Him even more with her in the years to come.

Thanks again for reading. I really do appreciate it.

Peace.

My mane aim.

AHA! It's within two months. I'm in no way proud of forgetting my blog and not writing here or anything, but here I am, less than two months after my last post. (I was going to quote the last post and be all smug, but it's below this one and you can read it yourself. That and it's not working for me).

Things to talk about this time round... Ubuntu. Brontide. Drawing and work. Church and life. Wifey wife. And AOB.

Ubuntu.
I'm drinking it now and it's good. Try some. Fair trade cola that doesn't taste like fair trade poop water.

Brontide.
THIS IS COOL.
(First of all, this is a really old picture)... Carry on...
So my brother and a few friends started a little band way back in 2007. The Drummer, William Bowerman, can be found under the 'Notable People' section of the wikipedia page for Collingham, Nottinghamshire. Formerly of 'I Was A Cub Scout', he is their drummer. At the time of writing, he also drums for La Roux.
Guitartist Tim Hancock is the band's guitarist - also from Collingham, but found under the 'See Also' section of the page for Collingham, Nottinghamshire.
Bassist Nathan Fairweather Bases/Basses on the bass guitar. Having exhausted four bass teachers of all they knew back in Southport, he moved to Brighton where he went on to learn more.
So yea, they got together in 2007 and have been chipping away at making their big mark on the scene. The niche for instrumental bands is just that. Niche. It's hard, but these lads have stuck at it and it is paying off. Air time on Radio One, tours of venues and festivals (one in Europe coming up). These are ridiculously talented individuals who put their skills together to continually blow crowds away. They have incredible stage presence. They have passion that is second to none. They have put their all into this band for four years and they are all thoroughly, genuinely uplifting to be around. (And Nathan's freakin' hilarious. Always has been. He got the funny gene).

Anyway. Brief introduction aside, THEY HAVE AN ALBUM OUT NEXT MONTH! I have already set aside the money for several copies (I'm not assuming I'm getting a free one, but if that's the case I still want to support them, so I'm going to buy a few for my friends).

This is going to be nothing but music. Obviously. But I mean if you've seen them at a gig, you'll know what to expect. They're the only band I've ever seen play a full hour of music, non stop. And they do it flawlessly.

So mark your calendars. April. That's when the album's out.



Drawing and work.
Drawing is fun. It always has been and it always will be. The fact that I've been able to make it such a big part of my life is a huge blessing. I come to uni and draw. I go home and I doodle. It's fun and it opens up a world that is fantastic. You can be anything you want to be. It's like LARPing but a little less obviously geeky. Instead of donning and cape and hitting things with foam swords, shouting and wailing and getting genuinely angry at people who aren't playing fair, I simply curl up on a sofa or other comfortable place and draw something. One day, I could be an ant with a gun. The next day I could be the best cricket herder in the whole world (of Kry'kn VI). After that, I might take some time out and chill by the huge oceans of th.. oh wait - a massive dog with a tree for a head is running at me. Good job I'm made of fire today. Ha. I can hide this geekyness from most people. Most definately not my wife. But she loves it.

My dream and my prayer is that I can get a job doing this. Whether it's drawing character ideas for a company or selling indie comics. Whether it's coming up with ideas for games and making those games or selling my work at art fairs. As long as I can remember I've wanted to make a living doing what I love.

Speaking of things that I love...
I played bass for a whole service for the first time on Sunday. I was both excited and proper nervous, but I was playing for God and that filled me with peace. See He is the creator of everything and has all power, but I know that He sees our hearts. Although I hit more wrong notes than I can remember, it was just fine for His ears. I had a blast singing as loud as I could, too - right in front of the biggest amp on the stage...

Life is good. I'm having a great time in uni and at the moment it's taking precedence over most other things. I'm finding it hard to keep a fair balance of things, but I think that's just the way things go in life. If everything was doled out in equal portions it'd get boring. Money is tight and food is low, but we're in a first world country with a roof over our heads and a bed to sleep in and we're in love. It's great.

Melissa and I are off to Amsterdam and Germany for Easter. Amsterdam to be with a church there for a week to see how they do things and Germany for a week to meet her Granddad. We're looking forward to it.

Also my best friend, Tim, got back from South Africa on Monday. It's good to hear his voice again and hopefully I'll be able to get back down to Southport and meet up and catch up. Maybe play some footy.

All Other Beans.
Nothing much more to say. I've forgotten my password for one of my blogs and I've lost my video camera - which I use to record videos for another blog. But hey. There's this one and there's my design one (danfairweather.blogspot.com)

That and I need to trim my beard. It's getting pretty scruffy. I lost the length setting I normally use though, so I either have to have it longish or very short.

And also, my friend Thom is asking me to draw things for a webcomic. We have a few ideas and I'm excited about it. I just hope he is more punctual than I am with this updating thing.

Just to add the pictures to this one and I'll be away :D
Peace, friends.
Thanks for stopping by.

What's the dele?

Gosh. October was the last time I wrote things here?

Apologies.

And apologies again that this is to say that I will post something more substantial soon.

I've put up a little doodle of what I'm working on at the moment. I'll have a bit more over at my other blog - danfairweather.blogspot.com

Basically, I'm married and it's amazing. I've been having an amazing time with my wife and a lot has taken a back seat. I'm more than happy about that. We're finding a balance between life with each other and life with each other. It's great!

Anyhoo, I'm going to nip off, now. I've had a long(ish) day (I'm not complaining - my long days consist of me drawing for hours. I love it.), so I'm going to grab a snack, pick up a film for my wifey and me to watch later and go home to my wifey.

I had a thought about Christmas that I posted on Facebook. It's a bit late for it here now, so I think I'll post it later this year. It's still going to be relevant because it's how I feel and I don't think that will change drastically over the course of the next 12 months.

I love God. I love my wife. I love life.

I'll post a bigger entry soon. Most definitely within the next two months.

Bless.

Oh. I looks as though my blog hates the 'enter' key now. Hey ho.