Bacon's Great...

I have a new blog!

2008-02-12T10:54:00.000-06:00

Well, its not really new. I have just neglected to connect this one to that one... I'm planning on keeping this one. But if you are actually reading this then you know how much I haven't been posting in the last 6 months. Sorry. Check me out here www.jesseheirendt.com

Trees

2007-09-28T00:20:00.000-05:00

2007-07-12T23:30:00.000-05:00

My friend heidi sent this to me... its great...

7-alarm fire at The Simple Way Community

2007-06-20T15:12:00.000-05:00

At around 3 am this morning there was a fire that destroyed The Simple Way Community Center and surrounding homes. They are a community of faith committed to living out God's justice and mercy among the poor. Pleas pray for them in this difficult time.

6/20/07 12:30PM

This morning, a 7-alarm fire consumed an abandoned warehouse in our Kensington neighborhood in Philadelphia. The Simple Way Community Center at 3200 Potter Street was destroyed as well as at least eight of our neighbors’ homes. Over 100 people were evacuated from their homes, and 400 families are currently without power. Despite this developing tragedy, we are incredibly thankful to share that all of our community members and every one of our neighbors is safely out of harm’s way.

Go here - The Simple Way - to read the rest of the story.

Great Stuff...

2007-05-05T17:08:00.000-05:00

My friend Brook sent this to me... Thanks Brook, for keeping you eyes out for good bacon stuff! You can check Brook out here.

Brian Corstange - The Wedding Song

2007-04-30T09:55:00.000-05:00

An amazing song by Brian Corstange... the best unknown singer songwriter ever. This is a project called Kitchen Music that some friends have started. Thanks Tommy and Lauren for keeping the good music flowing.

Currently...

2007-04-27T21:09:00.000-05:00

Listening to:

Reading:

Fisheye fascination!

2007-04-25T23:08:00.000-05:00

I now have an odd fascination with fisheye lenses... After spending the weekend with Colorado Calvin, and seeing his great pics that his cool Fisheye camera takes, I had to do some experimenting on my own. I found some instructions on how to make a DIY fisheye lens for my digital camera and here is a collage of some of the photos that resulted.

Nepal or Bust!

2007-04-24T18:14:00.000-05:00

I figured I'd better post on here....

It has been a while.

To fill you in on what has been happening lately...

On the 18th of April I traveled to Omaha Ne to attend the Word Made Flesh board meeting and interview for a staff position in Kathmandu Nepal. We all had a great time! It was really cool connecting with friends old and new. The weekend was full of meetings and deep conversation about exciting future plans. Right now my target date to leave for Nepal in mid November, and I will be there for at least 3 years. There is a lot to do between now and then. From fund raising to reading required books to just getting my life in order, it will be an interesting challenge. The bottom line is that it is all in God's hands. This is his deal. I just need to be faithful and take each step as it comes.

6 months and counting...

How to cut a Mango!

2007-02-15T11:01:00.000-06:00

This is for my friend Heidi V. She has attempted to learn several times. Maybe this will help. Heidi, I'm not giving up on you that easily... I found this post on a really cool website called lifehacker. I also like this post: How to give good compliments. I hope you enjoy it.

I've posted some odd things on this blog...

2007-02-13T18:47:00.000-06:00

...This one takes the cake (or soap as the case may be)

I am currently sitting in my kitchen cooking bacon in the oven... if you've never tried it, it's the best way to go. I spend a lot of time on my computer these days and most of that time is on the internet, mostly work but not always. I've got my own little online kingdom it sometimes seems. Between gmail, google reader, blogger, make magazine, and all kinds of other fun stuff. I tend to be drawn to things that are just a little different. This picture of bacon and eggs is no different. It's not actually bacon and eggs! You might ask then, what the heck is it??? It's soap!!! If you click on the picture it will take you to a very cool site called instructables. It's a great site where people make things and document the process for others to follow. The instructables post about said bacon and eggs tells you how to make soap out of bacon fat! BRILLIANT! I hope you enjoy my twisted sense of what is interesting... if not... I don't really care.

Want to live like a real Hobbit?

2007-01-22T12:03:00.000-06:00

Check out this place.
A Low Impact Woodland Home

Looking for a job? Here's the place for some good advice.

2007-01-12T08:38:00.000-06:00

A friend of mine just joined the business blogisphere. He is very knowledgeable about the whole process of hiring and recruting, resume writing, and many other things. He's working on some pretty cool stuff. Check out what he's doing at the links below. If you'd like to talk to him for any reason let me know I'll put you in contact with him.

Check out the CareerCenterSTL.com blog here. If you are looking for some advice on resume writing or want to learn about what recruiters can do for you.

Check out CareerSTL here. To post a resume or look for some great jobs.

My last Operations meeting at Fish

2007-01-12T01:49:00.000-06:00

Because my last day at Fish is Tuesday, I was selected to provide the material for the entertainment/getting to know you portion of the weekly meeting of my department. Here's what I did...

this is some really cool stuff

2006-10-01T22:04:00.000-05:00

my desk lamp

2006-09-14T21:51:00.000-05:00

Music

2006-08-24T21:49:00.000-05:00

The Soulard Blues band at Joe's bar (BYOB)

Currently reading...

2006-08-21T21:47:00.000-05:00

The Violence of Love
by Oscar A. Romero

"We must learn this invitation of Christ:

"Those who wish to come after me must renounce themselves."(Luke 9:23)
Let them renounce themselves,
renounce their comforts,
renounce their personal opinions,
and follow only the mind of Christ, which can lead us to death
but will surely also lead us to resurrection."

June 19, 1977
Oscar A. Romero

Questions

2006-08-19T10:33:00.000-05:00

I'v been doing some reading and a lot of reflecting lately. Nothing new just the same issues and questions that keep coming up.

What is God calling me to?
What is my responsibility?
Where do I fit in?
What is my vocation?
etc...(they could go on for pages)

I'm not necesseraly coming to any new conclusions, but rather experiencing and learning to trust God's sovreinty and that it is about the journey and not as much the outcome. Overall, I feel some peace in that, this is God's deal and not mine, and he will give me what I need when I need it to accomplish what he's calling me to do (whenever, wherever, however).

Currently reading:
Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation
by Parker J. Palmer

New computer fun!

2006-08-08T22:19:00.000-05:00

I just purchased a new computer and digital camera. Here is some of what Ive been working on.

Nathan's day video

LLoyd's day video

Poker night at Mike D's house!

2006-05-26T20:28:00.000-05:00

Here are some pics from a poker night I went to on Friday nightat Mike D's house. We started with 3 tables of 5-6 people. It was great fun. Unfortunately I am a horrible poker player.. We started playing at around 8:00 pm and by about 8:20 pm I was already out of the game.

Here are Nate's chips after he put me out... Over all I didn't feel like I played to bad, the hands I was dealt were worth playing... I just think that I made the wrong decissions when playing them. Honestly, I was the first person out of the game so my opinion of my play is probably a not so accurate. The proof is in the pudding, or the chip count.

Here is Robert D. holding son Spider Man while trying to defend himself against his brother's unorthadox play. At this point I didn't feel so bad about being out of the game, because it gave me time to chat, hang out and watch the action without the stress of playing.

At the around 11:30 pm , Nate M., Anne W. and Sarah D. were the only 3 left at the table. It came down to the wire... The chips changed hands several times, and when it was all over we called the game at around 11:45 Sarah D. Held the most chips, Anne W. came in second in the chip count and Nate M. came in third.

Hanging out at Twilight Tuesday at the St. Louis history museum

2006-05-23T20:32:00.000-05:00

Dave and Anne Heyse

Ponderings of Lloyd Jackson

2006-05-21T00:23:00.000-05:00

Hear Lloyd Jackson's thoughts on the events of the evening, pork products and the meaning of life. To visit his blog go here.

Good music, good friends, strong drinks and spicy cajun food

2006-05-20T18:01:00.000-05:00

Here are some photos I took with my phone on Friday night at the Broadway Oyster Bar. We went to see a band called Fundamental Elements, they were great... Kind of a mixture of funk with some hip hop. They played some old Stevie Wonder songs and we thought of Matt Neher and his little dance. After a Long Island Ice Tea, I ordered a bucket of crawfish, they taste great but are kind of scarry to look at.

Photo by Tanya M.

2006-05-16T12:32:00.000-05:00

Jesse Neil and Dave

Art that calls for a response

2006-05-16T12:12:00.000-05:00

My sister and I went to an art show a couple of weeks ago. My friend Craig R Norton was showing some of his paintings. His work is beautiful, but not in the way you would think. He has a way of capturing emotion in people's faces that is very moving. One painting in particular captivated me for some time. It was about the genocide in Rwanda. The faces of two individuals in the painting will be etched into my brain for a very long time.

The first was an older African woman, her face was distorted with pain, agony and grief. I can only imagine what must have been going through her head. Knowing that she would probably die, but also wondering how callously men could slaughter her whole family one by one in front of her. Seeing her hopes for her children and grandchildren snuffed out like the wick of a candle, in an instant. She must have thought at one point that she would grow old in the care of her family, helping her daughters take care of her children. Telling them stories of her childhood. Of how her mother would make her favorite food or that special way she would wash the clothes by hand. Her dreams were for others and she knew what was being lost.

The second was a little boy, not more than five or six, standing in the street crying. He doesn't know much about why his family is hated so much by the men who are killing them. He is ripped out of his mother's arms while she is screaming in terror, when he realizes he has to run for his life. He runs down the street, two blocks away he still hears her screams, then they stop. Fifteen minutes later he finally stops running, his lungs are about to explode. He stops in the middle of the street, nobody sees him because they are in the middle of their own fight for survival. Alone in the street he stands paralyzed by fear and confusion, tears streaming down his dirty cheeks, he is now an orphan, but he doesn't know it yet.

In the painting there is a bubble coming from the little boy's mouth, the kind that are in comic books, it talks about the ethnic cleansing that happened in Rwanda and how so many people were brutally killed in just days.

I stood there reading this for a good ten minutes, I had an idea of what went on but I didn't know any of the specifics. As I continued reading I remembered Ginny, a nineteen year old girl from Rwanda who stayed with my family for almost a year. She was a refugee who came to the USA with her sister after this horrible event. When she moved in with us we were told that she had no idea where the rest of her family was, but that they were probably dead. Most of the time she just stayed in her room and watched TV, I never understood why she never came out. Now I had a whole new perspective on what she must have seen and experienced, I was a little ashamed.

For at least an hour after my sister and I left the art gallery I felt something that is very hard to describe. It was this feeling of almost panic. These things were going on around the world and I had to do something about it. Exactly what that is I am still not quite sure, but I think talking to people about it is a start. Making people aware of events like this that are still going on today in different places around the world. Praying for those that are oppressed is another thing that I can do. My friend Craig paints these depictions to help people remember and to spur a dialog about what is happening in our world. He feels that this is the way that God is calling him to respond to these issues. Thanks Craig for reminding me. To see some of Craig's work go here.

2006-04-29T14:40:00.000-05:00

a photo my sister took at my grandparents house in central california

late night rain

2006-04-29T14:25:00.000-05:00

It is 2:38 am and the city has gone to sleep. St. Louis is a small enough town that after a certain time everything stops. Occasionally a street sweeper purrs by. A car filled with late night hipsters on their way to the local 24 hr diner for breakfast, stops at an intersection where a red light directs no other traffic, they sit for what seems like a long time. Meanwhile I lay in my bed unable to sleep. The air in my room feels stagnant. I get up, put on my sweatpants, sweatshirt and slippers and go out for a cigarette. Sitting in silence I enjoy the cool night air and the smoke as I feel it fill my lungs. A light rain is falling and because of the moisture in the air the streetlights make stars in my eyes. Mist gently falls on my face. Inhale, exhale, and put the cigarette out in our makeshift coffe can ash tray. The back door creeks as if it has been woken up from sleep. Navigating my cup around the dirty dishes that fill the sink I fill my glass and take a drink. Back in my room my head is swirling with words and ideas, I feel that if I can just get them out, maybe I can sleep. They are all running together, every thing I think of seems connected to something else and making sense of it all is difficult. Maybe sleep is the best thing for me right now.

The back porch

2006-04-25T21:12:00.000-05:00

Our back porch is a place where great conversations seem to always happen. Where, over a cigarette, cup of tea, or a beer, we can just talk about the stuff that really matters in life...

Tonight I am by myself...

It's April and spring is here. But today winter wanted to hold on a bit longer. Tonight it is quiet and a little chilly so I made a cup of tea, with masala. No sirens. Every few minutes I hear a car go by or somebody drop a trash bag into a dumpster and the clink of a discarded glass bottle. I have been thinking a lot about friends that are far away.

There is turmoil.

Yesterday a young girl dressed up to look pregnant, walked into a crowed place and detonated a bomb. Many were killed. An agreement was broken and now many more may die. There has already been undescribed suffering. Families have been ripped apart by men and water. 4 hours away a family is serving tea in cups that have pictures of roses on them, it is very sweet, with milk and a little ginger. There are little plastic containers filled with silver and stones open on the table.

Elsewhere, there are people out in the streets pregnant with hope that there will now be change, after almost 3 weeks of defiant action against one man. Maybe now people can buy vegetables, and go to work. Soon, black marks on the pavement where tires were burned will be worn off by life going back to normal, but the memories of 13 will not. Little boys can now go and get a haircut.

I still believe that God is sovereign and that he uses suffering to bring people to himself, but it doesn't mean it is easy.

2006-04-18T11:52:00.000-05:00

...and there will be no bacon surfing...

2006-04-17T21:54:00.001-05:00

a photo I took in Guatemala