Like I was saying....
I came across this commercial yesterday. And I’ve watched it more than a few times. But it absolutely the funniest thing I’ve seen in a while. I thought it might be a funny hoax at first. But it’s legit. These guys that make funny vidoes started making local business commercials.
And after you watch it, you can watch the making of here:
And then the critical response:
I don’t know what’s up with the blogging lately. Or what’s not up with it. I used to be the one who’d try to encourage people to blog. And even got a few people into it. But I’ve been a major slacker. I think it’d be easy to blame it on Twitter. And I’ve noticed that a bit more lately too. Some people who used to be really frequent bloggers have moved most of their online voice over to twitter. And I really like twitter. But didn’t expect to give it attention at the expense of blogging.
I guess sometimes when you have a quick thought in your head that would eventually morph into a blog post…if you zip that thought out to twitter through a text message or Tweetdeck, then you feel “done” with that thought. Or at least you look for conversation about that thought through twitter or Facebook (my tweets update my Facebook status…so feedback is there as well).
And this new twitter attention has taken some of the time away from regular blog reading too! But a couple of nights ago when the house was all quiet I looked back through some of my favorite blogs…and realized what I’d been missing. Yes, I like a 140 character glance into what someone is thinking/doing. I mean, who doesn’t want to know that Pat’s power is out again or that Will thinks that love for a Pizza Hut buffet knows no age boudaries. And it’s always interesting to know that Emily has a cold and is going to be early or that Shaq is sending a message to Brett Farve. I like those things. I really do.
But in my return to reading some blogs, I realized there’s so much more to read than just 140 characters. And I want to return to it. [But of course follow me on twitter as well: @statedog.]
A few years ago I experimented with starting some forums based on high school sports in my area. I was pleasently surprised with the growth and activity and soon expanded it to cover my entire state. It still chugs along today. And I’ve enjoyed being the admin of those forums. But lately I started getting the itch again.
And with a headful I ideas I focused it down onto the city I live in: Oxford Mississippi. Oxford is a unique place, especially for Mississippi. But there is always lots going on, plenty of people in and out of the city because of the various sporting events, cultural events, and just some general tourism. And there are quite a bit of “online people” in Oxford too.
So I decided to start OxfordTalk.com! Here’s a quote from the welcome post on the site:
“We hope to be a local resource site for Oxford, Mississippi and the surrounding area. We’re a gathering place for Oxford folk, both new and old, transplant and native to interact and get to know one another. Here is a place we can join together in discussion of any and all things related to Oxford. The community is a great place to live, work, and visit so we want to partner with the city to promote the local atmosphere.”
So there you go. It’s not growing like gang busters or anything. But I think it’s got great potential.
It’s nearly midnight. And the house is still and quiet.
I’m not always awake during this time, but usually still up reading or watching or listening or just lying still thinking. It’s also a time for reflection and prayer. And it’s times like these that I realise how much God has blessed me. I’ll think through my dad and see the smiles of my children, the goofy things they do. I’ll think of the couch in my living room that I got to sit on while talking with Beverly or watching an episode of Friday Night Lights or The Office. I’ll think of my dog who doesn’t like to come back when called from the neighbor’s yard because they have more things he’s not peed on yet. I’ll think of my son and the way he has a new laugh and a new facial expression and likes to use it a lot. And I could keep going on and on.
I know I have a lot to be thankful for. And a lot I’m responsible for too. And I think with those combined comes great expectations from God.
Last time my daughter had a soccer game we all got ready as a family to go to the game. She got her uniform on and we all loaded up in the van. We get there and park close to the field, so I tell Addie to run on over to the field while I get her baby brother out of the car seat and everything. So she runs on over while I follow behind. And her mom and sister are bringing up the rear. I get there and notice they’re already playing. Huh?
They must have started early, because it was only 6:08. The game started at 6:15, right? Addie gets in the game but soon the last whistle blows and it turns out that the game started at 5:30. OUCH! How did I make such a mistake? So after appologizing profusely we go to a local park and play a bit before coming home. Man, she was disappointed, and I felt likc crap.
So after a week off with Spring Break we had another game last night. I double checked the time. Yes, it’s at 6:15. Addie asked me if I was sure. “Yes, I’m sure, honey” was what I told her. And I was.
So we get to the fields again and I tell her to run on over. She asked if they’d started already. I told her that it was just the game before finishing up. We’re a little early. But we get over to the sideline…and they’re eating their post game snacks. WHAT!?! Again? Holy moly! How do I screw things up like this? I even double checked the schedule this time.
So you can imagine how low I felt. To know your seven year old was disappointed last time because she didn’t get to play soccer after getting all into her uniform and driving out to the soccer complex. To be ready to have fun and have her parents watch her. And then to realize it was all for nothing. And it was ME that realized I’d caused this disappointment in my daughter. Again.
That really sucked.
So I’ve been absent from blogging a bit lately. Not really sure why. I’ve had ideas. But not put them down on the blog yet. And I’ve had the SEC Tournament, March Madness (it made me mad), allergies, and some other things going on. I’ll be back. With a force. Bank on it.
But some people have blamed Twitter for a slow-down in blogging lately. Could be. I’ve been Twittering a lot more lately (follow me here!). But it’s no excuse. But either way, I found an awesome twitter video this morning by way of Carlos. It’s simply amazing. If you know what twitter is, watch below and laugh!
So this week I got three free books. Looking forward to each of them.
The first one is Mad Church Disease. It was written by Anne Jackson. She grew up in the home of a pastor and has worked as a staff member of a church for quite a while. And she’s witnessed and experienced first hand the dangers of burnout related to ministry jobs. And in Mad Church Disease she explored those dangers and pitfalls closely. I was able to get this for free because I won the contest on the books Facebook page. I won it back in the fall of ’07. Seemed that it would take forever to get my prize. But it’s here now.
The next two were because of a gift card I’d received for my birthday. But I got Vintage Church by Mark Driscoll and Crazy Love by Frances Chan. Both came highly recommended.
Mark Driscoll is pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. Interesting city. Interesting church. And it’s quite a conservative church when compared to the local culture of the Northwest. Mark Driscoll says somethings sometimes that really have rubbed some people the wrong way. But I usually appreciate the heart from which he communicates from. He can make you crack up now and then too. Vintage Church is his look at the Biblical model for church, how it is structured and effectively in action.
Crazy Love, by Francis Chan, is about what a life that is truly and passionately in love with Jesus would look like. How would that love affect the person and the way they lived their life. Francis is pastor of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, CA. Great communicator with a heart for the scriptures. I’ve heard him speak a time or two and get his podcast sometimes too. Check him out.
So..those are my new free books. Hopefully I’ll spend some time reading them soon. When I do I’ll give a quick review!
Have you seen this? I found it by coming across Lanny Donoho‘s twitter feed. After checking it out I decided to give it a whirl.
Basically Daily Mug Shot is where you can go once a day (and only once a day) to use your computers webcam (or you can import pictures) to take a picture of your face (your mug). After you do this daily for a while it will then loop all the pictures in a stream (or like a flip book) to where it can be pretty cool looking and funny.
Here is a link to Lanny’s. [Lanny is the guy behind BigStuf Camps and lots of other stuff that’s pretty cool. BigStuf impacted my life a lot. And a lot of kids I took to BigStuf camps too! You should go. Seriously.]
But I’ve got a ways to go before mine has enough pics to be worth looking at. But you should do it too.
Do you ever have a handful or projects in your mind that you think could be successful but know it would take a little bit of work to get out? I think I have a handful in my head right now. I think they’re each doable. I think they each possess a good deal of marketability. And each would be fun to embark upon.
Of course they each would take a little bit of time. But though it’s not necessarily the goal of these projects, I think even a little bit of money could be made from them. At least to pay for the effort and time put into them. But I always get caught up in making little decisions about details to actually launch them. Little things that, while they’re “big deals”, really won’t affect the outcome. It’s like if I were trying to build a dog house to go in my back yard, but I’m standing in Home Depot trying to make the decision on the “right hammer” for the job.
In the end, the dog house will probably look and work just the same as long as I have a good plan in place and do good work. The make and model of the hammer probably wouldn’t matter too greatly. But it’s things like this that I stumble over and get caught up in over analysis.
So…that said, I think I’m typing this to give myself a boost. Give myself a public calling out of sorts. Either move forward with the idea(s) or drop them.
There….
It’s 11:40 pm right now and tomorrow is coming very quickly. Wake up call at 4:30am. Wow. But today and yesterday both have been full.
Yesterday was a church day. Full of it. We got the Grace Church for the first service. Sat through the production meeting to see them run through a few details. When the service started we didn’t go in though. Instead we went to the Fifth and Sixth grade ministry called Fusion. Watched about 73 kids worship and then as teaching began we had to leave. Because as soon as Matt Williams finished the sermon in the 9am service he was leaving in a get away car (or 4 Runner) to rush to a different campus downtown to preach.
So we meet him at the back of the church, jump in the 4 Runner and to go to The Handlebar downtown. We get there as people are still coming in and see the opening worship set and the sermon. And the we repeat the cycle by rushing back to the Pelham road campus for the 11am service there. He gets to the church just in time to get on stage and preach there too.
But again we don’t hear the sermon because we go check out the Seventh & Eighth grade ministry. So we hang, watch for a bit, and see some of the teaching. But then we go back to the main worship service and hear part of the sermon and then the closing worship set. So…that was three main worship services and two children/youth services.
So we go eat at Five Guys and then drive to Clemson and catch part of a baseball game.
Then back to Greenville and go to the satellite campus of Newspring Community Church. A much, much different feel than Grace. And I don’t know if it was because it was the 6pm service or not, but it was a very young crowd. Like over half teenagers probably. The youth ministry meeting was afterward too, so maybe that contributed. But I’ll say that Perry Noble‘s sermon was easily the best sermon I’ve ever heard about marriage and relationships. And..it was the 3rd one of the series. So I have to go and listen to the previous ones. I’ve read Perry’s blog a bit here and there. And it’s obvious the dude pulls no punches. And he didn’t in this sermon either. I’ll be sure to get a link up for it when it’s ready.
And then a trip back to Grace’s campus to meet with two staff members to go to supper. And that was a full day.
Today has been meeting in really small settings with different staff members of Grace Church. We started around 9am and went through til about 4:30 or 5. I’ve been amazed with the openness and accessibility of the staff. They have gone out of their way to be available for conversation, questions, observation and whatever else we asked of them.
Tomorrow I’ll go through a few things that I learned or caught my attention this weekend. But maybe not til I get some rest. There has been a dare of staying up all night long before the flight. We’ll see!
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