sorry, folks.  i know i’ve sorta fallen off the map lately but, never fear, i’m still alive.

life, as you could probably guess from the last post, is a little wild right now.  i (along side my amazing wife) have been spending a lot of time just trying to sort out where things go from here.  so far, they’ve gone in the direction of freelancing.  which is honestly really cool.  it’s allowed me to use a lot of my talents all at once and to hone several of them.

in particular, i’ve been trying to work on my photography.  with that goal in mind, i spent some time with my friend max (check his blog here) who is pretty much the mensch in all things creative.  he was so kind as to drop some knowledge and let me spend some time learning at his feet.  he also was generous enough to let me borrow some equipment!

so, this past monday i trucked it all over to east nashville for a practice shoot with my two favorite artists – jeff lockerman and dj fat andy.  these are my boys so i knew it would be a fairly low-pressure shoot.  also they didn’t pay me squat so they couldn’t complain if none of the shots turned out.  this was just a “proof of concept” shoot to make sure i knew what i was doing.  you see, tomorrow jess and i have a REAL photo shoot with a new (and pretty great) band and i gotta be on top of my technical game so it can go smoothly and everyone can be happy with the results.

luckily, the shoot went pretty well, i think.  here are a few shots to keep you all satisfied until i can get the full portfolio galleries up.  i should be able to do that in the next few days.  plus i should have some shots to show from tomorrow’s shoot!

enjoy!

alright… i think i’m about ready to write this post.  i think i am anyway… here goes – this may ramble and i’m fairly sure it won’t be up to my usual writing standard…

so i used to work at a company called emi.  i had two jobs there, actually.  the first one was awesome and i met some really amazing people there (including my wife) and learned a lot.  i was challenged daily and i loved my work.

then i got laid off.

but i got another job there and that was good.  i worked with more truly amazing people who would enrich my life more than they could know.  i learned even more about the music business then i could have imagined… but i did not enjoy the actual job.  of course i TOLD myself that i loved it and that it was great…

then in april i was “let go.”  i got two weeks and my boss and the company has been pretty awesome throughout the whole situation but the long and short of it was – i was out of a job.

i called my wife. i cried.  i went through the usual stages that one supposedly goes through with these things…

but i kept coming back to one thought over and over… they were right.  that job wasn’t right for me.

and that’s hard to admit, just so you know.  i’ve always been of the mindset that i can do anything.  i’m smart.  i’m talented.  i can do whatever is needed.  i’m chris dumoulin – i’m unstoppable!

and i am… and i can.  i still believe that.  but here’s the thing…

the second gig was very left brained – it was about spreadsheets and numbers and checklists and tickboxes.  i’m a fairly right-brained person… i like patterns and big pictures and lofty concepts and creating something from nothing.  i can do the left-brained thing… but i’ll always be forcing it.  and, ultimately, that’s what i ended up doing and that wasn’t good enough.

see that?  that right there?  that hurts to admit.  i wasn’t good enough to do what really needed to be done…

see, that industry is being bent to the point of breaking and they need someone in there who thinks in grids and who dreams in spreadsheets.  otherwise they will not survive.  i’m not that guy.

but, when the pain and anger went away and the doubt and self-recriminations subsided, i was left with an overwhelming sense of…

relief.

it was over… i DIDN’T like that job. and now i didn’t have to go back to it.  that was a weirdly wonderful feeling.  don’t get me wrong, i liked (and continue to like for the most part) the company, strangely enough.  the end of that job left me missing the people that i worked with in a bad way.  i mean, i worked with some seriously amazing people for the most part…

of course, along with the relief, i was left with a shit-ton of fear.  “what now” became the overwhelming question in my mind and that of my wife.  we made a promise to each other, though.  we promised each other that we would hit the mat and pray hard – that we would refuse to worry about money – that we would fervently seek God’s plan and direction for us. we committed to each other that we would spend at least 90 days seeking God’s will.

so i started helping jess with her work where i could.  we are blessed that we share similar yet complimentary talents and skill-sets so i was actually able to be of some use.  this freed her up to take on some more work… and then more work came along and we took on more and more.  and then people started contacting me for freelance work.

and it keeps coming.  it keeps coming and coming and it’s amazing.  one of my friends (i forget who) said to me shortly after this all went down, “honestly, it seems like freelancing is the only way you’re going to use all of your skills and talents, man.”  and it’s been true.  i love that when i get up and make my coffee i can just go upstairs to the office and work.  i love that i can be working graphic design in the morning and then be elbow deep in CSS and PHP in the afternoon and then, after dinner, i’m working with facebook’s advertising tools.  it’s a buffet of awesome in my office every day.  AND i get to work with some of my very best friends all the time!

i’m not saying that i’m stuck on freelancing – i’m still open to a full-time gig for sure… but we’re about half-way through this 90 day period and it’s starting to feel like this is what God has for us right now.  and that’s awesome… and it’s scary as hell.

so here’s what i ask of you, my friends, family and passers by: if you think about it, pray for us. pray that God would make His will known to us and that we would be obedient.

also, if you have any web, marketing, social media, photography, mixing, engineering, graphic design or general nerdly needs – drop me a line.  i’d love to work with you and share part of this journey with you.

much love, friends.

-cdumo

Like an ability or a muscle, hearing your inner wisdom is strengthened by doing it.
Robbie Gass

Human After All – Daft Punk

INTELLIGENCE

Thirty million generations of philosophers have debated the definition of intelligence. The most popular definition appears in the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation android manuals:

“Intelligence is the ability to reconcile totally contradictory situations without going completely bonkers. For example, having a stomach ache and not having a stomach ache at the same time, holding a hole without the doughnut, having good luck and bad luck simultaneously, or seeing a real estate agent waive his fee.”

~ Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy

i am tired of being told who i am. i am tired of being told what i think. i am tired of the labels and recriminations.

the left says that, if i don’t jump on the healthcare reform wagon and cheer and clap, then i hate the poor and sick and disadvantaged. the right tells me that, if i see the need for and desire change in the healthcare industry, i am a communist. if i to oppose abortion i am labeled a misogynist. if i to support same-sex marriage i am destroying the american family. it does not matter what i believe and why. it just matters that it’s not the stance of a particular political party. to one side, i am a bigot and a racist and to the other i am morally corrupt and hate america.

you are all wrong and i’m tired of it. you obviously do not know me. you obviously do not understand who i am.

i am a patriot and a humanitarian. i am a champion of civil rights and equality. i am a defender of the rights of the individual. you try to impose military rule on me and mine and you better be ready to point a gun at me and mean it because i will not allow it. you try to bar the poor and needy from the shores of my country and you best believe that you will hear my voice.

i believe that this country is great. i believe that this country is great because it is governed by its citizens and not an aristocracy.  i believe that this country is great because its very governmental system encourages debate. i believe this country is great because we CAN disagree and still live in peace. i believe that this country is great because we are built around individuality – because the rights of the individual are central to our existence. i believe that this country is great because we are, even so, not ruled by any one individual. i believe that this country is great because it is home to every culture yet belongs to none. i believe that this country is great because you can have nothing and still make something of yourself. i believe that this country is great because the “american dream” is real. here – in this country, on this soil – it is real.

i believe that this country is great.

and i will not let you tell me otherwise. don’t tell me how bad it is – i know the problems. i’m living them. listen to me when i tell you how to make it better. don’t try to frighten me with skeletons in governmental closets. rhetoric and invective will not sway me. your paranoia only discredits you. i will not follow hysteria. i will not follow fear-mongering. i will not follow manipulative, emotional appeals. i will not follow you.

because i am not a follower.

i am a centrist. i am non-partisan. i have strong opinions. i have political stances. i have issues and causes that i am passionate about. i will defend what i believe to my dying breath. i am independent but i am not quiet and i am not apathetic. do not make the mistake of believing that i am.

i am an american. i am the epitome of the individual. i am my own person with my own thoughts and the ability to reason. i am educated and i am very, very smart.  i will not tow a party line. i will not go where you attempt to lead me whether by pachyderm or ass. i will not be led.

i will lead you.

i, the people, will show you where this country is going. that is the way this country works. ignore me at your peril. hear me and hear america.

i am a centrist.

i am an independent.