For those who have been tracking with me lately on my musical journey…I wanted to share this with you: the soundtrack I composed for “Jeune Fille”, The Director’s short film.

This film project was over a year in the making, with the soundtrack being composed, recorded and mixed since about November. The final mix was finished literally days before we premiered the film. The premiere went extremely well, and the next step is to get the film entered into film festivals.

And that’s where this shameless plug comes in.

When I have the opportunity to share with a new friend about our family’s journey into creativity–particularly, how we left everything behind in one place and went to a new place with no guaranteed income, determined to try and make a place for ourselves by doing what we love–a common response is, “Wow. You guys are so brave!”

I generally chuckle under my breath. Bull crap, I think to myself.

This week, the world lost a treasure.

Richard Twiss, beloved speaker, author and teacher, passed away this week from a massive heart attack. His sudden passing sent shock waves through the Christian community, evoking expressions of condolence and grief across the Internet.

Twiss was perhaps better known in Christian circles than outside of them. As the head of Wiconi International, he was largely recognized as a bridge-builder among cultures, helping believers (and especially American believers) see a larger worldview past the American Christian bubble, and being an agent of reconciliation among the First Nations people.

This blog post falls into the category of a personal update, but there are some interesting points of note along the way that probably tie into the bigger discussion on this here blog.

Many of you know (and if you didn’t, I’m telling you now) that I’ve been working furiously with The Director over the past couple of months to finish up an original score and soundtrack for his short film, “Jeune Fille.” Not really that I was coming from behind–it was just my turn to get busy. :) This film project became a family effort, and was probably the most ambitious thing that any of us have ever done. By the same token, because we saw the potential for this film early on, and the kind of attention it could receive, we knew the stakes were high and that we couldn’t cut corners, but that we must give 150 percent from beginning to end.

Over the past couple of months, the Denver Art Museum hosted a rare exhibit of the work of Vincent Van Gogh–a visual chronological journey of his development as an artist. Since The Wild One is pursuing her dream of becoming a serious artist, we simply couldn’t let the opportunity pass us by.

As we walked through the exhibit of rare drawings and paintings, we both found ways in which we related to Van Gogh–not the mental illness/cutting-off-one’s-ear part, but more along the lines of his deep passion, his being largely self-taught, his propensity for pushing the boundaries, and his need to create. (I related in a couple of other ways, too, which I’ll mention presently.)

I have to admit–I still cringe a little bit when some Christian I meet asks me where I go to church. Not that I’m ashamed of my journey, or anything–it’s just that a decade-long journey can’t be justifiably shoved into an explanation of a couple of sentences, and I can be reasonably certain that any attempt to do so will result in the person judging me. (I know I shouldn’t care about that–don’t judge.) :)

So typically, I just answer with “Nowhere, right now,” or “I’m between things at the moment.” At which point I usually get an invitation to go to church.

I generally don’t make New Year’s resolutions–mainly because they are promises that almost nobody keeps, and I’m not inclined to add regrets to my existing list. Not to say I’m underachieving or am committed to mediocrity–I just prefer to set goals for myself as opposed to making promises to myself. Sort of a “let your yes be yes, and your no be no” kind of thing.

However, I do think that a new year on the calendar is a good time to take inventory, to clean house, to acknowledge the good and bad of the past year and look ahead to the next. So you kind of get to sit on this while I do that in this post. Aren’t you privileged?

Due to both personal and professional deadlines I was trying to meet, I quietly missed posting on Sunday, Dec. 30, which also happens to be the five-year anniversary for this here blog.

Five years. Where has the time gone?

Anywhoo, just a quick check-in to mention that, pat myself on the back a couple of times, and let you know to expect a full-blown what’s-up-for-the-new-year post soon. In the meantime–Happy New Year.

So…we survived the Mayan apocalypse. :) That’s terrific.

I’ve got a nice little year-end post brewing, but for now, a few thoughts about Christmas as we’re now a mere two days away.

*Sigh* We’ve had to talk about this far too much this year.

As a people, we’re still in utter disbelief, shock and horror at the news coming out of Connecticut. On Friday, a lone gunman shot his mother dead in her home, then went to a nearby elementary school and executed 20 first graders and 6 adults before taking his own life.

As the reports began to emerge and we started to get a clearer picture of what had happened, the picture grew worse and worse until it became literally unthinkable. How? and WHY?