Pick of the Week: Stupid Baby Names

I'm not sure if this is beautiful, but it is a mess. I guess the beauty is that I can't stop laughing about this. My friends DeDe, Brian, Jenifer and I were all laughing over the stupid names people name their children, and how even if it is a semi-normal name, they have to go change the spelling to confuse everyone. DeDe mentioned that she knew girls named Diamond and Princess. There are other names like Building and Street. She found another girl named "Memoree". We all ask why, but this story takes the cake!

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) -- New Zealand authorities have blocked a couple's bid to officially name their new son "4real," saying numerals are not allowed.

Pat and Sheena Wheaton said they decided to name their new baby "4real" shortly after having an ultrasound and being struck by the reality of his impending arrival.

"For most of us, when we try to figure out what our names mean, we have to look it up in a babies book and ... there's no direct link between the meaning and the name," Pat Wheaton told TV One on Wednesday. "With this name, everyone knows what it means."

But when the parents filed the name with New Zealand's Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, they were told names beginning with a number were against the rules.

The government office has opened negotiations with the parents about the name under a policy that says all unusual names must be given case-by-case consideration.

"The name has not at this stage been rejected," Registrar-General Brian Clarke said in a statement Thursday. "We are currently in discussions with the parents ... to clarify the situation."

Clarke said the rules are designed to prevent names that are "likely to cause offense to a reasonable person." Satan and Adolf Hitler were proposed names that have been declined, he said.

If no compromise has been reached by July 9, the baby will be registered as "real," officials say.

New Zealand law requires all children born in the South Pacific nation to be registered with the Births, Deaths and Marriages registry within two months of birth.

Fighting in Kenya

As many of you know I went to Africa last July to follow up on a peace mission in Northern Kenya. The village of Turkwel has been at peace for 22 months now. The once warring tribes are now intermarrying and working to build a school for the children. One of the guys we were traveling with, who works with Youth In Mission, wrote us an email about their last visit to Turkwel, and some shocking news they received on the way home. A near by village was attacked by bandits and utterly destroyed. I have included a portion of his email below. Please pray for the peace in these areas of Kenya.

"As we were proceeding back home, we received sad news. A village 100 kilometers from Turkwel in Turkana land had been raided by Pokot raiders from Kolowa near Tot (50 Km from Tot). 24 people had been killed (mostly women and children), many more wounded; their animals driven away (3000 camels) and they had been left without food, shelter and clothing. This village is called Lokori. We were really shocked. A week before raiders from Turkana had raided a village in Kasei and killed one person and made away with hundreds of cows. We prayed and left back home. On the way we were thinking of what can be done. We had been successful in Turkwel and now these other areas are now calling on us. We arrived home safely.

The next day, Obadiah went to Lokori to collect news for his company. He confirmed that actually 24 had been killed. The pictures were really disturbing as vultures were eating their flesh. This touched my heart. Obadiah also told us the survivors are really suffering as they have nothing to eat, no shelter, some of them are sick and no one has cared. Some of the pictures showed the wounded patients. We have requested the company Obadiah is working for to give us copies of the pictures and as soon as we receive them, we’ll send them to you.

We met yesterday as YIM board to discuss the call from Lokori. This is a dark and most under-developed area with bad roads. It is one of the unreached areas in Turkana. YIM decided that something has to be done. We therefore ask for Christians, friends, Churches and other organization with a heart to join us in reaching these people. We need to take food, clothing and medicine to these suffering people. We are targeting to raise $4,000 to accomplish this. We shall take Christ’s message but we need to meet their basic needs."

If you or anyone you know wants to help my friends please let me know.
hbmohr21@gmail.com
Here is a story I found that I believe is the same incident.

The 48 Hour Film Project

I fell into a little adventure this weekend. There were a bunch of college kids filming this movie over the weekend for The 48 Hour Film Project. I didn't know any of them, but we were all hanging out at the same house and of course got to talking, and I might have let it slip that I do a bit of video editing and the like, and they asked me to help! I was going to be out of town most of Saturday, but I helped them Friday night until about midnight, then came back Saturday night to help edit what they had shot earlier in the day, and after a nail bitter to finish the project on time jumped in the car at 10 to 7 Sunday, (exporting the project to tape as we drove, isn’t technology wonderful) to turn in the project by 7:30. These people had a lot of talent, and it was, as one might say, "Nice to work with proper villains again." I realized I don't know anyone else that really exsists in the AV world as their full time calling in life, and I miss the collaboration and being able to say things like, "render", "export", "timeline", "J-Cut" and have someone know what the heck I'm talking about. So thanks to my new friends for introducing me to this great project, for thinking that I had something to offer and letting me join in the creativity. I can't wait until next year!
To learn more about the 48 Hour Film Festival go to http://www.48hourfilm.com/

Pick of the Week: Rent Your Fake Wedding Cake

This is genius! I wish this would have been around when I got married! Take a look at this link, and pass it on to anyone you know getting married before they spend a fortune on a wedding cake, most of which gets thrown away!
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/4874846.html

The Greatest Game Ever Played

So it is 7:10PM on a Tuesday night in St. Louis, and where would you want to be? How about the first row behind the Cardinal's dugout? How about the Cardinals home game where they put the smack down on the Pirates 9 to 4 after like a 50 game losing streak? Yes, they are once in a lifetime seats, and they were generously given to us by our good friends Scott and Abby. Tim got Molena to give this little boy sitting next to us one of the balls as he was coming off the field. The little boy's grandpa gave us $20, so we bought the little boy a foam finger, Abby a Margarta and Tim a beer. Everyone was quite happy. Saddly, the wonderful and amazing So Taguchi didn't play that night, but I got to see him at the very end when they all came out to do the "good game" thing at the end. Here are some of the phenomenal pictures from the game, and Thanks to Scott and Abby for including us in one of the greatest nights ever!

Good Enough

Everyone's worst dream came true for my friend this week. She was told she wasn't good enough. There are a lot of gory details that go along with that, but after I mulled it over, trying to figure out why her situation hurt so bad, why it felt so wrong, what all the horrible words meant... That's what it boiled down to. She was told she wasn't good enough, and worse, someone else was good enough. At first I thought, "every girls worst nightmare". Then immediately, "No, everyone's worst nightmare!" I just wanted to scream for her, "I KNOW I'M NOT GOOD ENOUGH! BUT YOU AREN'T EITHER, SO LOVE ME ANYWAY!"

Isn't that what it's about? Admitting that we are a mess, that we have faults, acknowledging that the other person isn't perfect either, and choosing to commit to that mess, in the face of all odds? Knowing that along with that we also get the forgiveness, and the beauty that does exist? After committing your life to someone else, telling them they aren't "good enough" is a cop out. It just means that you think it is too hard. You are tired of trying, you are too weak to find what is good and beautiful and true. I'm not talking about cases of real abuse, or neglect. I'm talking about the, "we grew apart" bollox . "We were just going in different directions." "The connection just isn't there anymore." "We ran out of things to talk about."

I know, what do I know about commitment, I've only been married less than four years. Well I know that I've been the one who has told my husband, "you aren't good enough," in much more disgusting language. I know that most of the time I said it because I was afraid he was going to tell me that I wasn't good enough, and I wanted to say it first. I also know that it is no big news that I am not good enough. I haven't been "good enough" my whole life, but I know that I am loved. I have been loved much and I am loved well, despite my best efforts to push people away, despite my faults, and mess and drama. And I know that not extending that same gift, that same grace that I've been given over and over, to anyone, let alone the man that I've promised to stand by "til death due us part", is being cheap, and weak, and and less than human.

Telling someone they aren't good enough, is saying, "You are just like me, but I'm too proud to see it. This is hard and I'm tired of fighting for you. I have bought into the lie that there is something better than this and that I will be happier if I leave you." When I am the one saying "You aren't good enough", if I think about it for half a second, I realize I am damn lucky that Tim is still there.

If you are the one telling someone, who is on their knees, begging you to love them back, that they aren't good enough, I plead with you, go back and fight for their heart. And if you are the one being told you aren't good enough, that is a lie. Someone has given their life for you. Someone has claimed you not only has "good enough", but the best, beloved, precious, cherished, amazing, and no one else has any power to tell you different. So I plead with you, go back and fight for your confidence so that you can reclaim the heart of the one you love, because they are just as broken and in need of your rescue as you are of theirs.

Pick of the Week: Turning 27

Turning 27 was actually pretty great. Friday night we went to see our friend Molly who was in her high school musical, Footloose. She gave us tickets for my birthday. I had never seen Footloose before, and upon finally taking in this pop culture wonder, realized that I have been missing a huge piece of our culture and some deep truths being expressed in a popular medium. My favorite! Saturday, Tim and I slept in. He gave me a beautiful homemade card, which was scented and refered to me as a "Princess". Then he presented me with Peter Pan on DVD, Also my favorite! (Last week Tim and his mom did an extreme makeover on the bathroom. That was my main present. It looks amazing! Like a whole new house!) After a breakfast of chocolate chip waffles, with chocolate chip ice cream, and chocolate syrup, (the birthday breakfast I had every year growing up,) we went down to Cheap Trix and got my nose pierced! I've wanted a nose ring for 9 years, and I decided it was time. Liz and Jon were in town and invited us to lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. The rest of our weekend included long walks in Tower Grove and Forest Park with King, photographing our surroundings, and watching Peter Pan and Footloose on DVD. Just relaxing, no commitments, no plans, doing whatever we wanted. Twenty-seven feels pretty good. Even though I'm "almost 30" or in my "late 20's", there is something about feeling like I've made it this far, there is forward momentum, we can take on the next challenge with confidence.

Pick of the Week: Dreams by Arno

dreams



Add to My Profile | More Videos
My friend, Mark, had this posted on the MySpace page, and being the video geek that I am, I love it! To see more videos by this artist, go to:
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoID=1988137142

Pick of the Week: DBD

My friend, Haas, is staring in a video series called The Dirty Bomb Diaries. The project's aim is to portray a natural disaster from a first person perspective. Haas plays a young woman who has moved to a new city, living on her own. She keeps in touch with her friends and family through her webcam, which is how we, the audience, get the scoop on what this young woman's life after the dirty bomb is detonated near her apartment. Their are four, two minute episodes posted on YouTube now, with at least 10 more to follow. Being video nerd, I think that the editing is superb and Haas adds a fantastic face to this project.
To see the videos goto:

http://www.youtube.com/dirtybombdiaries

Product Red

Product Red is a business model to sell goods and services, specifically for raising funds to buy and distribute anti-retinol medicine for those with AIDS in Africa. You can buy everything from a Product Red safety pin at the GAP that costs a dollar, to cell phones, credit cards, clothing, watches, and iPods, all with profits going to help ease the suffering of those dying of AIDS.

So far I have bought 3 safety pins. The total cost to me? Three Dollars. What that means to someone with AIDS? My purchase provided 25 single-dose (nevirapine) treatments for mother and baby, to prevent the transmission of HIV from mother to child.
To learn more about Product Red and the efforts you can contribute, visit there website.
http://www.joinred.com/manifesto.asp

January

The New Year came and went and with the start of Beautiful Mess Photography as an official small business, I have neglected my blog. Here are pictures from my New Year's weekend, watching the Mizzou bowl game and out with the high school friends in Columbia. Stay tuned for my latest "Pick of the Week".

Pick of the week: OK Go-Here It Goes Again Video

Pick of the week: Ok Go--Here It Goes Again


I saw this video on New Year's Eve while out at one of my favorite little places in Columbia, MoJo's. My friend Arie and I, were highly impressed by the originality and excellence of this little music video. As a whole, OK Go is a great band and their newly released album, OH NO, is a great pick-me-up which includes 17 music videos. Made us of Damian Kulash: Vocals, Guitar, Tim Nordwind: Bass, Dan Konopka: Drums and Andy Ross: Guitar, Keyboards and hailing from, Chicago and Washington DC, their sounds is somewhere around Jet meets THe Killers. OK Go, got their break touring This American Life and opening for They Might Be Giants. I'm a big fan of the album and the videos are the icing on the cake.

For more info check out their website http://www.okgo.net

PIck of the Week: Amani Ya Juu

Amani Ya Ju means "Higher Peace" in Swahili. It is a project to help African women improve and lean skills in sewing, marketing, fashion design, buying and bookkeeping. It is based in Nairobi, Kenya and my friend Lynn Windmeyer was been working for the last year. When I was in Kenya in July, we took a tour of Amani, to see Lynn and the ladies she works with. When we arrived, we were met with singing, and greeted with a hug and a kiss. All of it together, the warm welcome, seeing Lynn in her work, the colors of the fabrics, and the grace and beauty of the Amani women was all but magical. The clothes are beautiful. Lynn has done an amazing job coming up with designs and finding new colors and the Amani ladies bring it all together in the art of excellence. To learn more about Amani Ya Juu and to see the beauty they create go to

http://www.amaniafrica.org/index.htm

Windmeyer Wedding

Our friends, Tim and Lynn got married this weekend. It was beautiful and really fun! Lynn designed and made all the bridesmaid dresses as well has her own wedding dress. Tim was in the wedding so we stayed in the block of rooms reserved for the groomsmen. Most of them were Windmeyer's friends he has made while working for Sameritan's Purse in Africa for the past 4 years. Liz and I made fast friends with the girls who were there from SP. They are such an amazing group of friends.

Jon and Liz shared a hotel room with us. Our room was a wreck the whole time. I love how comfortable the four of us are together in such small living quarters. Brushing our teeth next to each other, Tim and Jon tying each other's ties. Liz and I sharing make up and jewelry. You don't have too many friends like that in your life.

Guests came from all over the world to celebrate Tim and Lynn's life together. The new Mr. and Mrs. Windmeyer have had such a beautiful and generouse impact on us all. On the night of the rehersal dinner people, including me and Tim, stood up and told stories, funny, touching, scary, loving, all of out Windmeyer and Lynn have touched our lives. We laughed a lot, and ate together and cried from being happy and cried a little from being sad. It was hard to say good-bye knowing that this group of people would probably never be gathered in the same place again. It was a great weekend that will not be quickly forgotten. We were loved well, and will in turn know how to love better because we have been a part of these people's lives.