The Wishing Tree
Posted on Wednesday, November 16, 2011
On the rare occasion that I get to visit a big city, I love to go to the art museums. Paintings are my favorite. When I go to New York City, I love to visit the Museum of Modern Art. The last time we went to MOMA, I made the mistake of visiting the paintings after we had been there for a few hours. By the time we got to the huge exhibit, Rachel was “over” the art museum and ready to get out of there. I could have looked at the paintings until the museum closed. The work takes you to another place and another time and another paradigm. On our way out, we were making our way through the courtyard that is also a sculpture garden. It is cool to think about all of the energy that is exerted by the artists, especially when crafting sculpture. I thought about some of the great sculptors and artists in Mississippi, including the iconic Dr. Samuel Gore of Mississippi College, who was the instructor for my friend Gary Walters, who works primarily in watercolor. READ MORE
We Need More Men
Posted on Thursday, September 29, 2011
I just finished reading Wild at Heart by John Eldredge about ten years after everyone else. He writes: When a man’s life becomes an adventure, the whole thing takes on a transcendent purpose when he releases control in exchange for the recovery of the dreams in his heart. Sometimes those dreams are buried deep and it takes some unearthing to get to them. We must pay attention to our desire. Often the clues are in our past, in those moments when we found ourselves loving what we were doing. The details and circumstances change as we grow, but the themes remain the same. READ MORE
Sharpen Your Saw
Posted on Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Is your life as chaotic as mine? The days and weeks race by and we look in the mirror and we almost don’t recognize the person that we see. Our kids grow and change and break our hearts and fill us with joy. We reach this ceiling of complexity wherein we just go through our day and check the boxes of the tasks we are to complete. Whether its carpool lines, meetings, meals, grocery stores, yard work, church, phone calls, emails, Facebook, TV shows…. check, check, check. READ MORE
The Vortex of Life
Posted on Thursday, July 14, 2011
Webster defines a “vortex” as a mass of fluid with a whirling or circular motion that tends to form a cavity or vacuum in the center of the circle and draws toward this cavity or vacuum bodies subject to its action: something that resembles a whirlpool. READ MORE
Who Are You?
Posted on Thursday, June 23, 2011
I have been reading Winnie-the-Pooh to my kids. We went on the ride at Disney a while back and I realized I didn’t really know the story. Someone told me today that a new movie is coming out too- we will definitely go. A while back, I downloaded it for free when we first got our iPad. I am only now getting around to reading it to the girls- chapter by chapter. I wonder if A.A. Milne ever in his wildest dreams imagined that people all over the globe could have his work in their hands in a matter of seconds through a digital devise connected to communication waives in mid-air? Amazing how far our technology has developed, while the themes that define who we are really haven’t. READ MORE
Spinning Plates
Posted on Thursday, April 14, 2011
The search for significance in an age-old question that artists and writers have attempted to answer through their work for centuries- I am in a season of life where I am thinking a lot about making a difference. So this is the American dream as it is presented to us- being married to someone you love, having your own car, a job, a house with a mortgage, two kids, a reasonable amount of unsecured debt and a vacation once a year. It is something you see in an iPhone or a beer commercial or read about in Southern Living or Garden and Gun. READ MORE
Why do We Forget Our Wedding Day?
Posted on Sunday, April 03, 2011
I went to a really cool wedding on Saturday afternoon. It was in a renovated warehouse in downtown Jackson. Exposed bricks and beams, industrial lighting, a mix of antiques with modern furnishings, exposed HVAC and strings of single bulb lights gave a magazine-shoot-in-a-New York-loft type of feel to this very happy occasion. The weather was perfect, the bride and groom ecstatic and Rachel and I were especially touched because the couple was the first we had mentored through a program at our church. READ MORE
God Is In the Business of Changing Names
Posted on Friday, January 21, 2011
My first name is Marty, but I have always been called by my middle name. In high school I started using the first initial “M” when my full name was written out so people would call me Craig. There is nothing necessarily wrong with the name Marty- it is just not what I’m called. As an attorney, I have handled a few name changes. It is a relatively simple proceeding. You file a Complaint alleging why you want to change your name and at the stroke of a pen, your legal name can be changed by a judge. In a divorce decree, if a woman wants her prior name restored, it simply takes the addition of one line of text and her name will no longer identify her with her former husband. In a backwards kind of way, as a divorce lawyer, I am in the name changing business. READ MORE
Rechargeable Batteries
Posted on Monday, December 27, 2010
Rachel and I were talking over coffee this morning and we realized that we have had four gatherings of family and friends in four days- the culmination to a chaotic year. The holidays can wear me out as much or more than work. Vacations can be the same way. Looking around the comparatively quiet but disheveled house, there are remnants of opened Christmas presents, gifts that the girls have not gotten around to play with, and two Christmas trees that I wouldn’t advise anyone to smoke near. READ MORE
A Blank Canvas
Posted on Friday, December 24, 2010
I am an art collector. I don’t have anything too crazy or extravagant- just cool, Mississippi, colorful art. I bought my first piece at the end of my third year of law school at Ole Miss. Through the years I picked up this canvas print that I have always liked. The scene is a setting with a big sea and a big sky and a single, red boat. I like it. When I look at it, any anxiety I have seems to slip away just a touch. This piece is what I call “trunk art.” That’s my word for art that is mass produced as opposed to a true original. I don’t know if I am using the word correctly, but it seems to fit. READ MORE
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