About Me

My name is Ryan and I'm 25 years old. I live where I've lived my entire life, Cincinnati Ohio. I love it here. I've been married to my lovely bride Allison for 5 years and we have a little girl named Ava. She's crazy-go-nuts. I'm a pastor at Vineyard Westside, a church where people go who don't seem to fit anywhere else. It's a good thing too because I am one messed up dude in serious need of Jesus. Oh yeah...I'm an ENTJ.

What is Reverb?

You're thinking about sound right? Reverb is more than just a sound effect to me. It's my life. It's all about how we're living. Reverb is like a ripple effect, good or bad. If I go around propagating all sorts of negative trash and nastiness what will it lead to? But imagine what it looks like to be a positive wave for the Kingdom. We will harvest what we plant.

Alkaline Convertible Pathways... 12:54 PM | 1

AKA a completely random post.

Here is 90 minutes of my life compressed into 32 seconds. 1 photo was taken every 5 seconds while I ate lunch, did some web updates, and caught up on a little reading. Very exciting.



And here is an amazing poem I came across. It's called The Calf Path and it was written by Sam Walter Foss.

One day, through the primeval wood,
A calf walked home, as good calves should;
But made a trail all bent askew,
A crooked trail, as all calves do.

Since then three hundred years have fled,
And, I infer, the calf is dead.
But still he left behind his trail,
And thereby hangs my moral tale.

The trail was taken up next day
By a lone dog that passed that way;
And then a wise bellwether sheep
Pursued the trail o’er vale and steep,
And drew the flock behind him, too,
As good bellwethers always do.

And from that day, o’er hill and glade,
Through those old woods a path was made,
And many men wound in and out,
And dodged and turned and bent about,
And uttered words of righteous wrath
Because ’twas such a crooked path;
But still they followed — do not laugh —
The first migrations of that calf,
And through this winding wood-way stalked
Because he wobbled when he walked.

This forest path became a lane,
That bent, and turned, and turned again.
This crooked lane became a road,
Where many a poor horse with his load
Toiled on beneath the burning sun,
And traveled some three miles in one.
And thus a century and a half
They trod the footsteps of that calf.

The years passed on in swiftness fleet.
The road became a village street,
And this, before men were aware,
A city’s crowded thoroughfare,
And soon the central street was this
Of a renowned metropolis;
And men two centuries and a half
Trod in the footsteps of that calf.

Each day a hundred thousand rout
Followed that zigzag calf about,
And o’er his crooked journey went
The traffic of a continent.
A hundred thousand men were led
By one calf near three centuries dead.
They follow still his crooked way,
And lose one hundred years a day,
For thus such reverence is lent
To well-established precedent.

A moral lesson this might teach
Were I ordained and called to preach;
For men are prone to go it blind
Along the calf-paths of the mind,
And work away from sun to sun
To do what other men have done.
They follow in the beaten track,
And out and in, and forth and back,
And still their devious course pursue,
To keep the path that others do.

They keep the path a sacred groove,
Along which all their lives they move;
But how the wise old wood-gods laugh,
Who saw the first primeval calf!
Ah, many things this tale might teach —
But I am not ordained to preach.

Marzipan... 11:28 AM | 5



Sometimes you buy large containers of almonds at Sam's club only to realize that you don't really like plain almonds all that much. This can lead to Marzipan.

First things first - let's toss 4 cups of almonds into our handy dandy little food processor and grind them up. We should end up with something like this:



Now let us combine 2/3 cup water and 2 cups of sugar (organic cane sugar of course...haha with my pinky in the air for added fanciness) in a sauce pan.





Pop that sauce pan onto the stove and begin melting the sugar and water together over a medium heat.

Now we need to grab a couple of farm-fresh eggs. (thanks Melanie!)



Separate the whites from the eggs and toss the yolks...or you could eat the raw yolks Hulk Hogan style...it's up to you really.





Now lets check back on our sugar water and give it a stir.



At this time it would be good to get an ice water bath started. In the sink is probably easiest.



See this stuff?



Measure out about 1/4 teaspoon. Mix that in with the sugar water mixture.



After the Cream of Tartar is mixed in...we need to bring the sugar up to a boil for about 3 minutes or so. If you've got a candy thermometer you will want it around 240°...I've got a digital thermometer that is fairly accurate, so I just made sure it was withing range.



After a few minutes of this:



Toss some powdered sugar on to a cutting board or clean workspace.



Now get that mixture cooled down by placing the pan into the ice water bath and keep stirring it until it gets thick.





Now that the mixture has thickened a bit, we can add our egg whites and almonds.





Now throw that mix back onto the stove over medium heat until it all mixes up together and becomes like a paste.



Spread your powdered sugar around the cutting board area and dump out your Marzipan to cool.



You can move it around until it stays and doesn't run off the edges...allow the Marzipan to cool until it's pliable.



It should look a little something like this:



Now this part is optional. I've got cocoa powder and a little cinnamon mixed into a bowl.



Pinch off a piece of Marzipan and roll it into a small ball. Now roll that ball around in the cocoa/cinnamon mix.



You end up with little Marzipan Truffles.



Dust them with a little powdered sugar and you've got a treat fit for anyone. Careful though...this little boogers are addictive.

ManScaping... 11:49 AM | 1



Landscaping and gardening are sacred to me. The entire process of planning, buying, planting, maintaining, and even weeding is an easy way for me to slow down just enough for my cloudy mind to clear, and the sunshine to flow in. Each year I get the bug a little more and this year is no different...I've got it bad right now. All I want to do is work in the gardens. It's so fulfilling to see the work of your hands cause something to look better, healthier, more full of life.



The husbandry of the garden mimics so many areas in our lives. The commitment we take caring for plants, flowers, trees and shrubs is not unlike the investment we make in the human. Feed it, water it, nurture it, and it will thrive. Allow it to go hungry, dry, alone, and it will surely shrivel away to nothing eventually. Even those that we think are hardy...those that seem to need not much care at all...they too will inevitably wither and fade. Unless they are Honeysuckles. There are always Honeysuckles.



I've been doing a few landscaping jobs lately and it's been a blast. Extra money never hurts and it's something I truly enjoy doing. So if you need help in that area...let me know.

What's something that you just lose yourself in?

Day 6 of the Plastic Cup Challenge... 11:31 AM | 7


In an effort to be more environmentally conscious AKA cheap, I have decided to enroll myself into a Plastic Cup Challenge. This challenge consists of writing your name on a disposable plastic up and telling everyone you know that you'll gouge out their eyes if they throw your cup away. Easy peasy.

So far, I'm up to day six with my little blue Solo cup. I wrote my name on it in big letters with a fat Sharpie marker and I have used only this blue cup to drink out of since starting the challenge. Not counting drinking wine out of a wine glass because I just can't bring myself to sip a nice Cabernet out of a plastic cup. I have not run my cup through the dishwasher (yet) as I just rinse it out quickly after I drink something. I return my blue cup to the same spot each day and I've yet to lose it. A miracle in itself if you ask me.

I'm quite curious to find out how long I can keep up this challenge. My goal? One year. I am professing publicly that I will try my hardest to use my plastic cup for one year...hold me to it now. Oh yeah...and I just ordered 150 of the 12oz. compostable cups from here:

http://www.worldcentric.org/store/placups.htm

Do you think I can make it a full year with "little blue"?

If I could eat only one thing... 12:18 PM | 6

If I had to pick something to eat over and over every for either lunch or dinner...that item would have to be a Chipotle Burrito Bowl.

Rice. Black or Pinto Beans. Chicken. Cheese. Sour Cream. Hot Salsa. Oh how the Lord is good.

I can honestly say that I've eaten more Chipotle at this point than any other restaurant food in my life and I have yet to get sick of it. The worst it's even been was probably 4 times in one week. I know, I know.

But look:



I typically get the burrito bol, but every now and then I've got a craving for regular burrito with all it's tortilla goodness.

Here's my standard issue:

My Chipotle Burrito:

Chipotle Fan.com


I'm curious if I ate it every day for two weeks what would happen. This is an experiment I might have to conduct some day.

So what's your thing? What could you eat over and over and never get tired of it?

Building relationships... 11:42 AM | 9




Building relationships with people is easy. Let me rephrase that. Building relationships with people is hard. Man was not created to be alone. We were created for community and anyone you meet without that community inherently lacks much in the blessing department of this life.

I suppose building relationships can become easier, as it can be a natural outflow of the love we have in our hearts. But, to say it's an easy process would be somewhat deceptive. Here are some things I've noticed:

* We have to get over ourselves. If I submit to my introverted nature, I'm not willing to put myself out there for the fear of rejection or just plain laziness. Often I've experienced a great relationship boost with someone just by sharing something about myself against my better judgment. I'll typically err on the side of divulging too much information about who I am for the possible benefit of a sparked connection. It's tough, and it's scary, and sometimes it doesn't work out...but it's worth it. I can't tell you how many guys I've told something along the lines of "Yeah, I've really had serious struggles with pornography over the years." Only to have that guy call me a couple weeks later to start the process of getting some help.

* We have to reach further. My friend Lee has always commented on the painting of God and man on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. It would seem that God is outstretched entirely reaching with all His might to make contact while Adam leans back casually, only to barely lift his left hand. Wow, what an effort Adam. This is not uncommon. There will almost always be a catalyst for the relationship and that has to be us. If we get ourselves into a place of thinking, well they don't even try to make this work...it's like a one way attempt. - YOU'RE RIGHT! They probably don't know how to make it work. Maybe they're shy. Maybe they haven't experienced good friendships and they're slow to trust. They need extra prompting and you're the person to provide it. We must be willing to sacrifice our pride for the amazing thing that will replace it.

* We have to do it again and again. When I'm shot down from someone in some way my inclination is to write them off. My heart becomes a little harder and I'm even slower to try again with someone else. It's been said that we must keep our hearts soft and allow our feet to become hard. A calloused heart is no good at all, but the callouses on our feet let us walk even further on this journey. Someone screwed you over? Forgive them. Restore the relationship as best you can. Release their throat from your grip. You put yourself out there only to be squished? Try again. Get creative and love them where they are. Put the ball in their court and let them know that you're there whenever they're ready. A soft heart and hard feet. The journey is the destination.

P.S. - I called my mom yesterday and wished her a happy Mother's Day. I've not done that in a few years. We talked for about 15 minutes and it was good.

The Shack and the garage... 12:20 PM | 8


I just finished reading The Shack and dangit if I didn't cry my little pink-polkadotted, Hello-Kitty, My-Little-Pony, sissy eyes out. That was a great book.

I didn't want it to be a great book...I wanted in all my wanting ability for that to be a totally crappy, lame squad book. It wasn't though...it was excellent. It made me feel all kinds of stuff that I didn't want to feel, but needed to.

Denise gave it to me and typically I hate books people give to me. I don't know what it is...I've got some kind of thing embedded in me that causes people to give me dorky books. This was not so, THANK YOU D-Money for the book! My men's group is actually starting a study on The Shack next week. We'll see where it takes us. Read it!


In other news, we are having a garage sale this Friday. I've been putting off cleaning out my garage in the hopes that it would burn down and I could collect some sort of insurance payout...that hasn't happened and I can't take it anymore. Ryan and I cleaned out everything yesterday and began sorting through the mess...an emergency garage sale is in order!

So if you're keen and hip and available on Friday from 8am - 2pm, stop by my house and buy something from me. Or you can bring stuff over that you'd like to sell. I'll only charge you an 84% commission. Be there or be square!

When pigs fly... 11:07 AM | 5



My wife Allison has totally impressed me.

She left the house yesterday around 5am to run the Flying Pig Half Marathon. Her and Carrie have been training and so have "the Amy(s)". They committed themselves to running long distances at least a couple times a week for the last few months...it's hard for me to wrap my mind around. I'm not a runner as I've mentioned before.

Ryan and I took Ava downtown to see the girls running in the Pig. She was anxiously awaiting her mama:



As we waited around the 11-mile mark, there were no breaks in the human chain. I have no idea how many people ran this thing, but there were at least a thousand determined faces that crossed our path in just a short time.



Carrie snuck up on us and passed before we could even yell anything encouraging:



I'm pretty sure the most she heard from us was, "Oh hey - whoa! Hey!"



And then there was Allison:



I was so proud to see her still running with the pack so close to the finish.



At least with Allison, we blurted out something remotely encouraging. She was doing great. And before I knew it she was already passing us. Ava did not like that. I guess it was slightly traumatizing for a 21 month old to see her mom for the first time that day, glimpse her for just a second, and then have her run right by. Horizontal tears were spraying from her at that point. No worries however. Two peanut butter cookies fixed everything.





Doing life together... 5:02 PM | 2

































Frustration... 1:16 PM | 3


I'm having some trouble focusing lately. I need to work on getting myself organized and sticking to my schedules. This whole "living in community" thing is throwing my off a little. It's great...really great, we just have to make sure we aren't sacrificing other areas - such as focus for me - for the community time.

What was I talking about again?

Community Garden... 11:15 AM | 1


Dream with me. What could a community garden look like?

I need a new camera... 11:13 AM | 3


Bad. I have been shooting with the same Nikon D100 camera for close to 7 years now. It was extremely expensive, but it has worked wonderfully for me since I've owned it. As of late, my D100 is starting to crap out on me. Pixels are burning out and images are showing up slightly out of focus at all times. The shutter release is slow and the camera overall is just beginning to wear out. I suppose you'll have that after many years of hard use.

It's time for a new camera. Trouble is...it's been time for a new camera for a while and I don't have any money. Dangit! It's one of those deals where I really want to get back into the hobby, and I wouldn't mind making some fat cash while I'm at it via weddings and portraits and such...but the jack just isn't there. If it were however, I'd pick me up one of these puppies:

The Nikon D60. It's pretty much an intermediate camera, and it would be a step down as far as durability goes, but the advancements that have taken place over the last several years in digital photography make this little thing a far more versatile camera than my old D100.

I'm coveting. If you're a photo dweeb you need to let me know if this is a bad move. That's all for now...

...and so I'll leave you with this:


A husband's observation... 11:13 AM | 7


A new revelation has not come upon me. I didn't just notice something. No, this observation has been re-cognizant throughout my five years of marriage. I'm also certain that I am a part of a much larger group of males who have experienced this same matrimonial torment as I. To that which I am speaking:

Anybodyelseitus.

Anybodyelseitus effects all males between the stages of marriage and death. Anybodyelseitus primarily effects the Annoy Bones and Self-Confidence area of the male brain. Anybodyelseitus most commonly results in mild adult temper tantrums and a slight eye twitch.

Many diseases can be the result of various causes. Anybodyelseitus is not this way. It's cause is very pointed, and that is, when your wife listens to anybody else but you. Consider this:

"Hey honey, I was thinking that you'd look pretty darn good with shorter hair. Waddaya think?"

"Nah...I like the length of my hair. You don't like my hair?"

"What? Your hair looks great...I was just thinking you might want to get crazy and do something different, that's all. No big deal."

"I don't think so...short hair just wouldn't look good on me."

"Okay, that's cool."

* Fast-forward time to approximately 8 days later *

"...what do you mean you're getting your hair cut off? I thought you said you wouldn't like it."

"Well I was talking to Julia and she said that I could pull it off. I thought you wanted me to get my hair cut."


Crazy? I think not. As this evidence clearly states, my wife has listened to someone else rather than me. Please note that the topic of my wife's hair being cut off is merely an illustration for proving a point. And that point is, my wife, and I'm pretty sure every man's wife, has the disease of Anybodyelseitus. What's up with that?

Why do our wives, the very women who have promised before God and the great state of wherever the heck you were married, listen to cereal boxes or Oprah or that guy wearing the statue of Liberty outfit during tax season rather than us, the husbands?

Chime in on this one.

5 Thoughts for today... 11:36 AM | 4


1. Don't talk about it, be about it.

2. Would you follow you into battle?

3. Never eat anything you aren't willing to kill yourself.

4. Your routine is flawed - it's time to get out of it.

5. ...because if you don't, who will?


A past discovered and Juno... 8:56 AM | 4


My bride picked up the phone a couple of days ago to find an unfamiliar voice. My grandma Nevada. Nevada was the foster mother of my mom. My sister Amie and I grew up knowing her as our grandma of course. We didn't see her nearly as much as my dad's mom though.

Nevada called us to let us know she had come across some photos that she was getting rid of to see if we wanted them. She said basically that once her and my grandpa Don die off, there won't be anyone around who knows who all these kids are. They raised many foster kids. Those foster kids had lots of kids. I had a different cousin pretty much every time I went over there. All loosely connected...all a little confused.

So I called Nevada yesterday and I drove Allison, Ava, and I over to meet up with them. We sat around and chatted for a while and reminisced. It was certainly bittersweet as I only realized just how long I've been away as I was walking through the door. It's been about 9 years since I've connected with them. How can you be so close and just drift away for 9 years?

I picked up some photos and it was so exciting because I don't remember any of them.

My mom and dad together...and looking happy:

My sister before the drugs, before the accident, before her innocence was ripped away:

Looking forward to everything:

Mom (she called me yesterday and she sounded straight.):

Apparently mom had something to do with the church...I always thought she was lying:

I was 14, Amie was 13:

It was a good trip to my grandparents house. It boggles my mind to think of just how introverted an extrovert can be. I've got to make time for the important things in my life.

We watched Juno last night. I liked it. I didn't know if I liked it at first because it made me uncomfortable...but it was good. I reminded me of real life and how things happen. So many people want to look deep to find where problems come from...so often they're just a result of boredom or the chips falling in the wrong direction. Juno was worth seeing.

ThisIsReverb.com

This blog is my attempt at being interesting. Moreover, it's an opportunity for the people around me to get in my head and take a peek at the weird stuff that goes on in there. How many thoughts do we have in a day that are keepers? And of those keepers, how many do we lose? ThisIsReverb.com is an effort to keep some of my thoughts...and freely give them to whoever gives a crap.


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