Woo Springbreak

Urban Harvest GSO

jon_meadowbrook — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 03:16:15 +0000

I have been spending a fair amount of my time with Urban Harvest in Greensboro NC. Currently it is a community garden that is hoping to develop into a Urban Farm! This is very exciting for Greensboro and me so I am super excited to share my time with such wonderful people. Dawn was featured on the local Fox 8 news and you can catch a few glimpses of me in the background harvesting, weeding and watering! WOOO

Birthday Update

jon_meadowbrook — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 18:47:48 +0000

June 28th was my Birthday and I celebrated it with Aaron Johnson on the 29th. We went to the lake, rented two boats and got a little crazy. It was an absolute blast! Below is the video from that time (there are also pictures if you click the link to read more):

The last photo demonstrates what happens when my beard is blown back…HA!

Toys Alive #1

jon_meadowbrook — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 18:49:30 +0000

I’m feeling random and I received a few of Mattel’s Retro Action DC Super Heroes for my Birthday and I thought about trying to photograph them each week (much like my failed Star Wars project…woops). These are incredible action figures that are the closest thing to modern day Mego figures which were the ORIGINAL action figure (kind of a big deal to me)! You can learn more about Mego by clicking their name and more about their World’s Greatest Super Heroes by reading this fantastic book! Here is the first Photo:

What mischief will they find themselves in next week?

Camden Update #1

jon_meadowbrook — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 23:27:05 +0000

I have been living in Camden for three weeks officially and I have to say, it is a difficult transition. This photo is from the roof that I sit on and read. Right across the street is the liquor store. Sometimes there are prostitutes here. Most of the time the drug dealers are on the corner. I hear a lot of shouting throughout the day. Mostly people sharing trivial information. Sometimes you hear people shout such things as “I WILL F****NG KILL YOU IF YOU DON’T GET OUT OF HERE” “B***H I WILL KILL YOU BEFORE YOU GET ANYWHERE NEAR ME” while their child is playing 15 feet away with a toy airplane.

You can read more by clicking the link!

Camden is rough, but I am really enjoying the company of the people I live with. “Blueberry” is the name of the house where I live and I share that with a married couple, Timothy Cheryl and their one-year-old daughter Lydia, and a young woman named Kristin. We share meals together and clean together. I really like living with other people who are happy to share their lives with different people.

Some of my days include following Chris (he is the guy with the Chickens, he keeps three in his backyard) on some of his jobs and assisting his work while learning about remodeling homes and carpentry. One tip I have is to always have a spare toilet flange if you are going to be changing a toilet from a hold house. We haven’t gotten to pottery yet but we have been involved in a LOT of theological conversations as well as readings. Here are some quotes that I am holding onto:

“What we do when we educate kids to be happy and self-fulfilled is to absolutely ruin them. Parents should say to their kids, ‘What you want out of life is not happiness, but to be pat of a worthy adventure. You want to have something worth dying for.’ It’s awful when all we have to live for is ourselves; that what the Gospel reveals to us. -The Hauerwas Reader p. 529

(On Christmas) “Remember when you got a chemistry set rather then a bicycle and you thought, ‘I hate this thing.’ But one wintry day you started playing with the chemistry set and discovered that it was really interesting. Suddenly you were trained to have wants you didn’t know you should have. That’s what Christianity is all about. It’s an adventure we didn’t know we wanted to be on.” p.531

“Any religion that doesn’t tell you what to do with you pots and pans and genitals can’t be interesting” -Chuck Primus

If you know me, then you know that last quote is something that would engage my mind hahaha.

I have also been attending Mass with Chris, Cassie (Chris’s wife) and Kristin each Sunday. The Catholic faith is interesting and quite different from anything I have experienced. We go to the Sacred Heart Parish right by my house. The people there are very friendly.

While here I have gotten to watch be a part of Chris’s life while he prepares to be a father. Some of his friends got together to have a Father Blessing where I met some new friends including another author that I appreciate. I’ve gotten to build some picture frames, have eaten “Water-Ice” and even celebrated the first birthday of Lydia.

I’m having difficulties adjusting to a loneliness where I am not in a safe place and don’t have a close network of friends. It’s also hard since my housemates have lives of their own. I don’t think there is much more to add to this…so I’ll just cut it off.

“The Tap” Shirt Designs

jon_meadowbrook — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 21:48:38 +0000

It’s been a while since I got my hands dirty doing some design work. Jonathan from Daystar in Greensboro NC asked me if I would design some shirts for their college gathering called “The Tap”. The following are some designs that I am very happy with:

Here are some sample pictures of people wearing the graphics. (Templates come courtesy of DesignByHumans…I love their stuff):

My personal favorite is the top one…I sure hope they pick it…

Leaving for Camden NJ

jon_meadowbrook — Wed, 26 May 2010 11:30:33 +0000

Today I am driving to Camden NJ. If you know anything about this area then you know it is not the “safest” place to leave. I will be apprenticing with Chris Haw, co-author of Shane Claiborne’s second book Jesus for President. I am beyond excited to learn about life in community, theology, carpentry and pottery. This year has been a great year of growth for me and I am going to miss my friends. You have all been so helpful and kind to me and I thank you for all the memories that I am taking with me. Hopefully we have gotten enough time together for you to know how much you all mean to me.

If you don’t mind, please pray for me to be alert and that i might learn everything I can from the next 2-3 months!

Happy Birthday Mom

jon_meadowbrook — Wed, 19 May 2010 14:15:01 +0000

Today is my Mom’s birthday and we have a unique day planned out! First we are going to visit the farm I worked on in Hillsborough followed by lunch in the city. When Mom was growing up, Hillsborough was one of her favorite places to hang out. After lunch there is shopping followed by dinner at Ganache in Greensboro. Our evening will end with a ballroom dancing class at the Fred Astaire dance studio in Greensboro! This is a scan of the watercolor painting I made for Mom:

Josh & Lenny’s Wedding 2010

jon_meadowbrook — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 20:58:35 +0000

The following are photos from my good friends’ Josh & Lenny’s wedding. I got to be the Best Man and had a total blast. Accomplishments include winning Knuckles out of a UFO catcher game! I’m still excited about that. You’ve got to see their kitchen! I love the stove. It was good catching up with guys from an old band I was in called Gwen Stacy. I have missed Brent and Cole. One of my favorite moments was discovering that the wedding cake included some Funfetti Cupcakes! Epic Win

PRO-Stache 2010

jon_meadowbrook — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 21:21:58 +0000

My friend Jesse grew a mustache for a full year and let me photograph him before he cut it off. Enjoy!

Let’s embarrass my Dad…

jon_meadowbrook — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 21:21:50 +0000

A while ago a High School friend of my Dad’s came to visit us in NC just before they went to Argentina together. He brought along some photos that I wanted to share with the world:

It’s pretty fun being able to imagine what your parents were like at your age…