soupablog

Bruce Reyes-Chow Presbyterians Issue Statement on AZ Immigration Law

As Christians, we cannot stand by idly while our brothers and sisters die on our borders from exposure and thirst or languish in poorly equipped detention facilities, nor should we be required to do so by any law.

via mod.reyes-chow.com

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U.S. Citizen Arrested for ‘Driving While Latino’ in Arizona....

Abdon, a Latino trucker, was pulled over and asked for his “papers.” When he didn’t have his birth certificate on his person, he was jailed. His wife was called and told to bring his birth certificate to the jail to arrange his release. Abdon is a United States citizen born in Fresno, California.

via blog.sojo.net

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4th Sunday After Easter

On Saturday I had completely cleaned out the old train set and other contents of our exterior closet. I’m turning it into a mini artist retreat for myself. We’ll see how that goes.

This morning is the 4th Sunday After Easter. Great slow pace today. Started the morning with God out on the prayer path at Covenant. The kids in the JAM class were out working on the new reaches of the prayer path with Mike and Ben, so there was the occasional sound of rock being stacked upon rock and weed eaters whirring in he distance. But the further back into the property I got, the more I appreciated being solo. Reminded me of a conversation with Gordon about the sound of silence. I took a few morning shots of the labyrinth to email to some nice folks from San Marcos — St. Mark’s Episcopal — who inquired about walking our labyrinth.

I played guitar in the service. Taizé: Confitemini Domino, quoniam bonus. Confitemini Domino, alleluia.

I’m glad the alleluia is back. Tim spoke from the Revelation pericope from this week’s lectionary. We had a Fiesta lunch at Covenant, replete with a piñata for the youngest. And we discussed the community’s current reality – being between pastors — we’re (thankfully) in a healthy un-hurry … with a resolve to be slow and patient in our search. After the lunch and piñata, We were heading out when I ran into the aforementioned labyrinth visitors, who had shown up. A really nice group of 5 or 6 folks. We talked for a while about the construction of the labyrinth and about how from time to time we guide groups in prayer out there.

This afternoon I did the annual spring cleaning of the shed in our back yard (during the cold winter months, and during the hot summer months, we tend to just shove stuff into the shed [nicknamed The Barn]), but in spring and autumn, we typically do a bigger cleanout.

Spent the night watching the Spurs game with Jordan while I organized and consolidated (and deep cleaned) all my old toolboxes. Some tools, like ratchet sets, Allen wrenches, and hammers, I have in spades; while other tools, like slotted and Philips screwdrivers, I cannot keep for the life of me. Tape measures? Six. Crescent wrenches? Lose them all the time. I probably lose and purchase a needle nose pliers annually. Go figure. I have about 8 carpenters pencils. All unsharpened save one.

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Kate, our softball player

Kate’s really enjoying softball. She got a base hit, and a run.
That’s her in the top photo, second from the left.
Amy was “Dugout Mom” this week, which allowed Emma, 5, to be Bat Girl.
Abi and I cheered on and enjoyed snow cones.
Jordan bicycled to the game. Lunch at Chris Madrid’s on the patio.

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Labyrinth

[Sent from my iPhone]

Paul Soupiset

Toolbox Studios, Inc.
454 Soledad Street, Suite 100
San Antonio, TX 78205

210.225.8269 x102
877.225.8205
210.225.8200 fax
210.787.8968 cell

ps@toolboxstudios.com
http://toolboxstudios.com

Where ideas work.

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What the iPad is Missing (No, it’s not a Camera) | The FontFeed

Yet it’s exactly that part of media consumption, reading, that reveals what’s missing on the iPad: good typography.

via fontfeed.com

read the entire article by visiting the link above.

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Weekend, Part 2

According to the official site, “Fiesta San Antonio started in 1891 as a one-parade event and has evolved today into one of this nation’s premier festivals with more than 100 events and an economic impact of almost $284 million for the city.” Over 3.5 million people will attend this year — and the money generated helps countless community organizations, non-profits, and individuals; the volunteerism on display is impressive as well. http://www.fiesta-sa.org/

Every year, the Fiesta Arts Fair at the Southwest School of Art & Craft is a great kickoff event for the weeklong party. It’s one of the most family friendly events of the week (I’d add King William Fair and the old Alamo Heights Night to the list as well). While Amy and Jordan worked on homework this afternoon, I took the three sisters downtown to walk around, see the art, and make some art of their own. Playing with clay (Balcones White, from Armadillo Clay in Austin; you can find it at http://www.clayworld.com) made me yearn for a clay studio.

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Weekend, Part 1

Here are some photos Jordan and I took with the iPhone this weekend on an impromptu father/son outing to the hill country. It was a micro retreat, a mini vacation, an 24-hour getaway, but we needed to reconnect a bit, recalibrate, communicate. By midday Saturday we were already heading back home, but it was good and vital to get away, throw the frisbee, and talk.

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San Antonio Remembers Blog: April 14 in San Antonio history...

1963
The first Starving Artist art show is organized by Rev. Paul Soupiset to raise funds for the food program run by the Little Church of La Villita.

via sanantonioremembers.blogspot.com

HT: Andrew Crews

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3 sisters

I walked in the front door a few hours ago and the front room had been transformed. The lights were all off, and votive candles sparkled everywhere. The whole room smelled like white tea / ginger. As my eyes adjusted, I saw what was happening: the three sisters were giving their mama a full spa treatment. Amy’s feet were soaking in hot, sudsy water and Abigail, 12, and Kate, 9, were each rubbing a hand as Emma, 5, was seated at a stool, massaging Amy’s feet. A sign that said “SPA” with an arrow was taped to the threshold.

When Emma saw me come in the house, she popped up and walked over to a little table, grabbed a pen and clipboard, and while smacking imaginary gum with an actress’s feigned nonchalance, she said: “Welcome to the 3 Sisters Spa, mister. Do you want me to put you down next on the list?”

I’m no dummy. “Absolutely,” I said, taking on the role of a stranger who had wandered into nirvana. “Put me down for the full spa treatment. I want everything. Pedi-mani-footsie- whatever kind of -cure you’re offering.” Amy was giving me looks that confirmed I was in for a treat.

“Name, please?”

“Daddy.”

“Oh, because I thought your name was Paul. I’ll just put down as Paul. P – A – U – L ...”

A few minutes later my feet were soaking, my legs were being rubbed, my temples were being massaged, and I was thanking God that I had the great fortune to have three daughters who were creative and giving and spontaneously fun.

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Confirmation Sunday - Jordan

For the last 6 months or so my two oldest children, Jordan and Abigail, have been attending Alamo Heights United Methodist Church — the same church I attended from birth to about 15 or so — with my parents on Sunday mornings. Their youth group and youth Sunday school at AHUMC has many of their school friends in attendance, and simply has more to offer them throughout the week. Jordan’s settling in there parallels my leaving my parents’ church in order to attend a larger youth group with my friends at Trinity Baptist when I was a teen in the mid ‘80s.

Jordan’s eighth grade Sunday school class is a confirmation program (interesting from my point of view since this winter/spring I’m working on illustrating a confirmation program for a client down at the studio). He made the decision to be confirmed at the church, and to become a member of the church as well — I couldn’t be more pleased with such a mature decision; we attended AHUMC with him today to stand in support of his membership/confirmation vows (this just a week after his being baptized). I’m glad he’s making his faith his own, and glad that our paths aren’t exactly the same, because it shows me that it’s really his choice at play.

The Holy Spirit work within you,
that being born through water and the Spirit,
you may be a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ.
Amen

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An hour on South Congress Ave. | Austin, TX | 041010

Taken with the iPhone

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Adventurous Austin Saturday - Texas Book Festival Folks, SoCo, and Millbrook

Painting: Jo’s / Austin (2006), Paul Soupiset

This morning when I pulled into Jo's (Hot Coffee, Good Food) on South Congress in Austin at about 7 a.m., I had already been awake for two hours. Unusual for me. I ordered a vanilla latte, and sat down with the New York Times (on my iPhone), and noticed I was sitting next to actor Luke Wilson. A quick Google search for “Luke Wilson” and “Jo’s Coffee” confirmed that this sighting was not an AT&T-induced apparition, but a semi-regular occurrence. I let him be.

My morning destination, called “Millbrook (Roy-Hardin House)”, was nearby, and I got to experience a beautiful Austin street I had never driven down before. The street name is Mary, and like its probable namesake, this little street in SoCo is, in its own eclectic way, blessed. I’ll have to return and explore it (the portion running between Congress and Lamar). I arrived at the address I was given and rolled into a green oasis with a stone entry. The decomposed granite driveway produced a lovely rustic popping sound under my car’s tires.

I was a guest at Millbrook along with my friend Bob Carlton and the board members of the Texas Book Festival. Bob and I were on hand to facilitate a conversation with the board about the present/future of books/reading/digital publishing. I have to say I’m impressed with this organization: this is a forward thinking, smart group of people who are both engaged in the conversation, and are doing amazing things around literacy and promoting [good] Texas authors. Anyway, I was honored to come spend some time with this group, and thankful for Amy and the kids for generously letting me go. My public-speaking stage fright was more at bay than usual.

I could have easily hung out at Millbrook all afternoon. The lush, shady-green reminds me of my childhood backyard. I’m sure this is someone’s sacred space. I had a nice talk with Nancy Whitworth, the owner of the place as well. The grounds are amazing in April — the 1800s rubblestone house was once a mill. A carriage house turned photographic studio and other outbuildings are situated amidst dense foliage.

I swung by South Conress briefly on my return trip home, long enough to go on my ritual/habitual trip to Uncommon Objects and enjoy a couple of street musicians before coming home down IH-35.

I’ll post some iphone photos from Congress a little later tonight if I can last.

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Hanging with the Lynch Mob

Good to see old friends tonight, play a few rounds of Ms. Pac Man, watch the kids grow up, and introduce the kids to Safety Dance.

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which we all know is pretty close, geographically to Kastis Automotive Repair in San Antonio

The future of publishing: E-publish or perish | The Economist

via economist.com

HT @bobcarlton

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The Little Blue Book, the Silver Ratio, and Ben's monk like discipline

Up at church on a Wednesday night on the 13th of November 2008, a friend and mentor named Ben approached me with a request — would I be willing to reset the type from a tattered little 1961 prayer book originally published by the Church of Scotland and now long since out of print? He produced a timeworn copy of the small 72-page  book that, judging by its appearance, was well used and well loved. Ben had secured permission to republish this book, but needed some advice on what to do next. We stood there for a while and talked about how we might go about the project. I was keenly interested in the design and typesetting, but not in literally typing in every page of the text. Ben could have farmed that out, but instead he decided he would manually enter the text of the book into his Macintosh, a little at a time, and would make the typing something of a daily discipline for himself.

By February, 2009, Ben had sent in the first 14 pages (A few others and I were to also to serve as an offsite backup for his digital files). He told us he was proceeding in “monk like fashion,” comparing his typing skills to the “slow methodical work a dark ages scribe might have used.” As the year progressed, Ben would give me updated documents: By this time last year he was up to page 21, and by September he had reached the half-way point. I began receiving monthly installments starting in November, with the last few pages arriving in my e-mail inbox on Easter morning. Ben’s work as a scribe was now complete; my work as typesetter and designer had just begun.

So tonight I created a test file in Adobe InDesign. I guessed at the page size and built a B6 document (125mm x 176mm), though I’ll have to borrow back the original book from Ben to be sure of its dimensions. My hunch is that it’s pretty close. (Trivia: The ISO 216 standard which officially described the UK/European/everyone-else-but-North-American A and B paper sizes wasn’t established until 1975 [14 years after the little blue book was published], but a similar German paper standard [DIN 476] was in place from 1922. Moreover, the “silver rectangle” has paper-folding antecedents from the 18th century — the B6 uses 1 : 1.414 aspect ratio, lauded since the time of the Greeks. Seems that, in the same way the golden ratio is related to Fibonacci numbers, the silver ratio is related to Pell numbers.)

I also flowed the initial copy deck into the document tonight, just to see what kind of running type would prove legible and readable at that small size. I’m leaning toward setting the body entirely in Garamond Premiere Pro, because Garamond’s design was originally punchcut with optical variations — and the Slimbach’s Garamond revival took great pains to create “unique optical and stylistic variations” for its small type (this tiny book will probably be set in 7.5 point type!).  

Ben said when we started the project, “I still feel clear that this little book has great potential as a dear, deep tool over time to develop a pilgrim's prayer life, and to let that journey and experience be shared between generations; especially parent and child.“

When will the whole project go to press? To quote Ben, “Who knows when it will be finished; but ... its time will be its time.”

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Ah, the fruits of walking downtown to lunch when you live in a large city. I present: paletas - Popsicles for grownups

Ah, the fruits of walking downtown to lunch when you live in a large city.

If you squint off in the distance of this photograph, you can see the paleta bicycle vendor. I waved him down from a distance and yelled, “¿Tiene Horchata?” He shook his head to indicate that he didn’t, but he yelled back “Tenemos: Coco, Piña Colada, Pickle, Vanilla, Banana....”

The tasty items in question are Mexican style paletas, which are popsicles for grownups, basically. They are made simply (milk, fresh fruit, sugar), so the watermelon might actually have seeds frozen into the bar; vanilla with raisins has whole raisins, and the creamy pecan has crushed pecan bits suspended.

For years now, whenever I spot the bicycle cart with the freezer-box mounted in front, I’ll pay a dollar (they cost between 50¢ and $1 depending on what the bicycle driver asks on a given day) and try a new flavor — anything from tamarindo to horchata (rice pudding with cinnamon)

¡Disfrute! It’s a great way to celebrate spring.

According to Travel & Leisure, you can find paletas in Yonkers, Nashville, Kansas City, San Antonio, Phoenix, San Francisco and Oxnard.  Reply below if you know of other cities that have paleterias...

Okay, back to work. :-)

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I'm a Social Justice Christian.

via youtube.com

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You remember the idea of a book club, yes? Beck Hansen has a record club. Imagine a room full of friends coming together to grapple with a recorded body of work. Beck's currently covering INXS Kick in this fashion. Here's "New Sensation" — the cool stu

via stereogum.com

Beck, Liars, St. Vincent & Os Mutantes – “New Sensation” (INXS Cover) | Stereogum

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Jordan gets baptized, Amy gets 40 candles, Abi gets strep, and other updates

Soupiset Update:  Today my lovely wife turns the big Four-O!  Having celebrated basically the whole week, we’re spending tonight chilling at the house, sans-energy — eating Arby’s, recuperating from sunburns, taking care of strep-throated Abigail, and waiting to see if I, in fact, also have strep.

We had started the whirlwind week in Galveston, spending chill time with Amy’s brother, Syler, his wife Heidi, and their kids, along with grandparents Nana and Tom-Tom and some friends who stopped by the house.

The rest of Holy Week flew by. Sunday night brought the chaos of a major grad school project of Amy’s; Monday brought deep mini-van cleaning and more grad school; Tuesday was Jordan’s pole vaulting meet AND his strings concert down at the Municipal Auditorium (he played violin in his track uniform!). Wednesday night was another heavy grad school night for Amy. Thursday late afternoon I left work and headed out with the family to the Westin La Cantera http://www.westinlacantera.com/ — thanks to Grandpa, we were able (as an extended family) to return to this Texas Hill Country gem for a weekend of family and sun, abbreviated only sporadically with work obligations.

Thursday night, I played host to twenty four family members at a birthday dinner at Carrabba’s Italian Grill (one of our favorites places out) in honor of the lovely and talented Amy Soupiset, who was saying good-bye to her thirties, and hello to the fourth decade of her life. We retired to the Westin to sleep a few hours.

Friday morning all the cousins, in-laws, outlaws and grandparents caravanned out to Laity Lodge. My beloved son, Jordan, was baptized there on Good Friday — a profound and good and right day to publicly state his choice to follow Jesus and to identify with the rag-tag, imperfect group of sinners and saints who make up the community of faith. (historically Easter would’ve been the most appropriate time, but Good Friday allowed all the grandparents to be present). We put together a simple service on the banks of the Frio river (holy ground and a thin space for my family), read from the gospel and the epistles, and were so happy to have my brother-in-law, in from Chicago for a long spring break, officiate. In a word, it was beautiful. I might also add: simple, touching, and holy.

We returned to the Westin to hang out by the pool, read, participate in a conference call, and rest up before Syler and I drove to my house to grab music gear: Syler joined Jeff Deverter and me in our Friday night gig at Orderup. This was the first time we played as a trio, and I gotta say, the additional instrument and voice really made it sound good. Usually, one of the three of us was playing bass, so the whole thing had a fuller sound than normal. We added a few new songs to the set list, and Syler fronted vocals, and all the cousins and a few aunts and uncles and grandparents were there as well, having a blast. The breezy, cool evening was spot-on for a patio concert. We crashed back at the Westin, slept in (actually, the birthday girl got a manicure), hiked on a little nature trail, and ended up at the pool again before heading home. (On the way home we stopped in the Shops at La Cantera to glimpse the Apple iPad on its first day in captivity. Abi grew gradually sicker over the last 24 hours, and we just confirmed it’s strep throat. This revelation coincided with my starting to feel puny as well. I think I’m going to wrap up this post and go get tested. The faster I get meds in me the better.

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