Michelle Obama Publishes A Picture Book??

As I’m sure you know, former First Lady Michelle Obama has authored a book called, “The Look.” Evidently it’s gives the reader (or viewer?) an inside look at her fashion over the period of her time as the First Lady. Cool idea! People love fashion. And in today’s image driven culture (Instagram, TikTok, etc), a book of photography is probably a smart move. Well guess what Michelle?? Someone else in this conversation has two books under his belt and one is even a picture book for newborns and toddlers. Yes, it’s me. I’m talking about me. I’m a little shook that Michelle didn’t reach out for advice. What gives?

I’m not going to go as far as to say my books are better than hers or that the pictures in my books are better but…. OK, yes I WILL go there. Just wait till you see the adorable artwork in these two books. I worked with such talented artists to create both. I’m still in awe. I’m still enamored with the illustrations in “Big and Small, God Made Them All,” and the pups in “The Brave Bamboo” have me wrapped around their paws. Delightful stuff that a young person you know will love, I just feel sure of it. Check out the books below and order a copy or two. Let’s outsell Michelle, OK? 🙂

Big and Small, God Made Them All

Buy Now

The Brave Bamboo

Buy Now

-Out of the Wilderness

I wonder what my stalker is up to lately…

A few days ago I did something completely normal but then felt a tweak in my lower back. I wish I could say I was doing something super athletic but… nope. It sucks because any move I make I can feel the tightness in my back. Y’all, I can barely sit up to yell at people on Twitter.

Oh, who am I kidding? I can tweet snarky remarks in bed, no problem. That reminds me, I haven’t heard from my stalker in awhile. I wonder what they’re up to? I could use more insightful life advice so if you’re reading this, let’s get back together. We’re good together. I write posts about different topics and you respond with constructive criticism. I need you back!

-Out of the Wilderness

NF and “Fear” has me speechless

I was sooooo not ready for NF’s new song and video when I woke up this morning. And yet, it’s going to be something I remember about this week. Where were you when you first heard/watched this song of hurt, questions, and wonder? I can barely come up with words to write, honestly. It’s a song, a video, I’ll need to revisit over and over to be able to shape my thoughts about it and how it draws out my own hurt. My own questions. My own wonder.

Here’s “Fear.”

With every second ticking by, my heart sank lower. Yet, at the same time, the encouragement of someone writing how it feels to be deflated. To feel depressed, even if it’s not clinical. It’s not officially diagnosed. But it can show up like fog on a fall morning. It rolls in and there’s not much to do to keep from getting enveloped by it. Two steps forward, three steps back. Believing that God is for me, in the way that someone standing on the roadside rooting us on as we jog by in a marathon. But then wondering if they snicker when we trip and fall.

Life can be dark and NF has never, ever hidden that away. It’s in his lyrics in so many songs and “Fear” might very well be one of my favorites of his. I typed however many words for this post but I still am left watching this video…

speechless.

-Out of the Wilderness

Don’t Have a Cow, Man – Affinity Vector Work!

If you haven’t heard by now, Affinity is free. I, along with lots of other designers/artists/creators, was pretty shocked when they made the announcement a couple of weeks ago. I had been using Affinity Photo for a few years and really loved it. I’d given up on the lesser alternative–*ahem* Photoshop— because of Adobe’s idea to make it a monthly subscription. Back in the day, Affinity offered a one-time purchase for their software, an idea I’m definitely all about. But even better than that, now it’s free. I’m not going to ask how they managed to do this and I don’t really want to know because that might take the magic away. I was waiting as patiently as I could for Affinity to release Vector in order to practice design work. I have goals and I can’t share them quite yet but I’m learning how to design pictures– it’s so hard but so empowering to actually come up with designs and images that turn out better (usually) than I hoped. A long way to go for me but I worked on this cow for more than a couple of hours recently. I love the texture of the fur, the eyes, and I’m just so proud of myself for coming up with a cute cow, even if it ends up going nowhere else besides being the star of today’s post. So for now, here she is…

Affinity is awesome. If you have an idea and want to explore your creative side with a fun piece of software, get it today and I think you’ll really like it. I certainly do!

-Out of the Wilderness

Make Songs 3 Minutes Again

Hello there and thanks for reading today’s blog post. You might not know this but I write and post every single day at 1pm central. I actually live in the eastern time zone but it was back in 2020 when I decided to do a daily blog and at that time I lived in Nashville, Tennessee. This is a central time zone city so my posts went up at 1pm. Now I post at 2pm eastern but anyone who’s worth their salt and knows a thing or two about time knows that 2pm eastern is still 1pm central. So here’s my post for today and maybe it’s a hot take, if anyone is still using that phrase?

Make songs 3 minutes again.

Time and time again I come across songs that are either A) 2:59 or shorter or B) 4:00 or longer. What gives!? I’ll admit I get rather irritated internally when I check how long a song is while it’s playing and I see a 2: …or a 4: …maybe I’m just crazy. Am I crazy? 2-minute songs are never long enough (never mind what Johnny Cash said after he recorded “You Are My Sunshine”). And there’s only one song that should ever be over 4 minutes and you know what it is. Yep, “Purple Rain.” Every second of that 8+ minute song is perfection.

Tell me I’m not the only one that’s noticed this. Entertainers, play a little longer! But not too long, mmmmmk?

-Out of the Wilderness