I (still) Love Design!
Friday, August 15th, 2008 | jhinson | Uncategorized | No Comments
I so often forget how much I enjoy spacial problem solving. I have been working with this website to plan out what it will look like in the future. Most of the reason is because right now it just looks like a blog…but later on, I hope to have a much more comprehensive website.
I was working on a logo design for a friend, and had come up with some cool ideas, but the right one hasn’t quite settled yet. While I was brainstorming and coming up with new ideas and designs…I paused, and smiled. I love doing this stuff. I guess what was never appealing to me was the idea of working for $10 an hour for a design firm that was going to use my design as their own. The lack of ownership in that always turned me off. Plus, I never liked the catty world of design; keeping up with the latest and greatest styles and trends always frustrated me too. Now, I’m not so worried about what others think, so I’m enjoying this process a whole lot more.
Design is beautiful.
Purpose; and a plan
Tuesday, August 12th, 2008 | jhinson | Spirituality | No Comments
Altruism is defined as devotion to others or to humanity, the opposite of selfishness. In a nutshell - it is doing for others while expecting nothing in return. For quite some time I have questioned whether true altruism really existed. In my life, when I am serving others, am I doing it out of a true desire to see others helped and happy, or to free myself of the thought (or guilt) of being a selfish person? I questioned this often, which I think is healthy for us as humans to do.
Upon learning more about God’s nature and his person (i.e. his heart), I realize that he has the ability to free us from our selfish existence and is waiting for us to allow him to do so. My thought is this: Pursuing altruism without God, is trying to fulfill our purpose without the intended plan.
We were created to work together. No man is an island, no mater what any epicurean tells you. I believe, as this has made itself evident in my life that TRUE altruism cannot exist without God. It is only through trusting in God and being plugged in to that type of source that we can be free of the weight of self.
1 John 4:16 says:
“…God is love and the one who lives in love lives in God, and God in Him.”
How many times do I go about my life neglecting this amazing fact? To truly pursue understanding God, is to begin to understand Love. They are inseparable. This is why we cannot judge. This is why we cannot condemn. I could go on, but for now, let me conclude with this:
Love - In the context of Christianity, implies charity. However, LOVE, as it is intended is not obligation, it is not charity. My heart moves me to communicate this: We love because the spirit inside us - God’s spirit - cannot be still until we are fulfilling our purpose - To love, help, hurt and celebrate with others. Therefore, community is a necessity to us as people; not just Christians.
Finally…the theme is done.
Sunday, August 10th, 2008 | jhinson | site updates | No Comments
Well, I’ve done it. I designed my first theme using Wordpress (which by the way, I really like). I didn’t build this theme from the ground up, but it doesn’t look anything like it did before. I mostly used the CSS from another theme, then changed it drastically. I’m still figuring this stuff out, but for the most part, I really like this system.
Lives acceptable to lose…
Thursday, August 7th, 2008 | jhinson | Spirituality | No Comments
I have never been a pacifist, nor am I now. I believe in defense of self, family, home, and freedom (not necessarily in that order). I have never been a violent person, nor prone to act out in aggression, but I do get passionately angry about injustices done to innocents.
I am against abortion. I stand against it because, as Mother Theresa said, “It is a poverty, that a child should die so that you and I may live as we wish.” For the same reason I believe we must act to save lives, to preserve hope in others. As a Christ Follower, it is my responsibility to care for the orphans of the world. I believe that one day, we will come to judgment, and in this day, we must answer to the gray areas that we rationalized in order to ease our conscience. This is what I believe.
I’ve stood by the war in Iraq, for the freedom of an oppressed country; but is it right? I don’t know much about it all, except that Saddam was a Tyrant, and shouldn’t be in power, but somehow tyrants always do rise to power don’t they? Whether it’s right or not that we’re at war in Iraq, American soldiers are still in miserable conditions and putting their lives on the line every day.
Thousands of American lives have been lost in Iraq. This number didn’t bother me until today. Many parents lost their children in this war. The trauma that war inflicts on soldiers is nothing to take lightly either. Families have been ruined because of this war. I’m not saying I think the war is wrong, but I don’t want to shrug off the effect that it is having on households around our country. Today I was listening to Derek Webb’s “Love is Not Against the Law” song, when the line “Are we defending life, when we just pick and choose, lives acceptable to lose, and which ones to defend…” shook me.
I guess the point of all this is simple: Just because a person volunteers to go into the military and serve his country, does not mean that country can justify his death by the fact that he signed up. He signed up in good faith that the people of his country would not waste his life, and devastate his family for a war that is not a righteous, justified cause.
To whoever stumbles upon this thought and wants to drop me a note about the war and politics and what-not, you’ve obviously missed the point. The point is that life is sacred, and should be protected. And so, while I believe in defense, I will protest the sword if it is not wielded well. I am now called to examine this, no longer as an American, but as a Christian.
LISTEN Craigslisters!
Monday, August 4th, 2008 | jhinson | Rants | No Comments
UPLOAD A PICTURE!
I have no interest in reading about an item you have for sale from your home, which I also have no interest in visiting UNLESS I see a PICTURE of an item I WANT TO BUY!
How hard is it to post a digital photograph? Almost everyone has a digital camera now. It’s not like it’s ebay charging you to post a photograph, craigslist is free. If you want to take out a classified with no photos, use the newspaper. The bottom line is that people browsing craigslist are looking to see pictures of stuff.
POST A PICTURE…it doesn’t cost you anything, and I promise you’d have better luck selling an item on craigslist!
Things that are annoying
Friday, July 18th, 2008 | jhinson | Rants | No Comments
Long email addresses…having to spell your name for people, people that say “right?” when they are making a point, as in, “So, the health system in this country is screwed up Right?” Expecting a baby to be born at any moment, but the baby isn’t in any hurry. Those things are kind of annoying.
My plans have changed. Instead of making this into the new face of jhgraphicdesign.com, I’m going to discontinue this domain (probably). It kind of irritates me, having to type out my full email address which is more than 20 characters long, and I’ve had it with that. So, I’m going to make a new domain and website, not just for me, but for my family…and my upcoming baby girl. We’ll have updates for everyone. So…since REALLY no one reads this, that might be interesting to you.
Peace.
Welcome!
Wednesday, April 30th, 2008 | jhinson | site updates | No Comments
Welcome to the VERY new face of jhgraphicdesign.com. This is the third* time the design of the site has changed. This is the first of many phases of this one. As you can see, it looks like a blog now. If you were to keep returning, it would look more and more like a comprehensive website, as I get the time.
Thanks for dropping in. I plan to configure everything very soon. This is the first post of this project.