Great Video... 09/02/2010
One of the funniest things I've seen in a while... My Workspace 08/26/2010
Had intended to share something a little "bigger" tonight, but my allergies really have really had me under the weather the last couple days, so we'll do something quick and fun instead. Earlier tonight, John over at ChurchCreate posted this "Group Hug" assignment - share a picture of your workspace RIGHT NOW (no pre-picture manipulation allowed). This was the picture I submitted:  The only thing missing there is my Droid Eris, since I used it to take the picture ;-) Kind of an anomaly not to have a giant glass of water there, as well, but whatever. The point was to be in the moment! Not surprisingly, my non-Mac infested desktop was in the minority among those posting on a ministry blog. The Smallest Church In Ohio 04/30/2010
Earlier this week I took a trip to Southern Ohio to help my brother move back home from college for the summer. Along the way, we stopped off to see the self-proclaimed "smallest church in Ohio". Now if you've read this blog for long, then you know that I'm interested in tiny buildings and minimalist lifestyles, so this was pretty fun for me. First, a couple of pictures (click on an image to enlarge):    The church is 10x14 and open 24/7. As far as I can tell, they don't hold any formal services, but leave the place open primarily as a prayer chapel for travelers. There is a large Bible on the pulpit and several smaller Bibles & Hymnals in a basket on the floor. In the front there are two large containers, one marked "prayer requests" and the other marked "answered prayers". There is also a bulletin board in the back covered with prayer requests and notes, and a small collection box in the front (wide open - it had a few pennies in it when we stopped). There's seating for eight (not too big) people... I figure if you had it "standing room only", you could probably get 10-12 folks in, including someone up front. The church is really well taken care of, somebody is obviously putting some time into it's maintenance! All in all, it was a very nice stop and a very cool little church... I would love to go back sometime when I have time to just sit and pray for a while or maybe take my guitar or ukulele in and play for a bit. 40 Days Of Water Recap 04/12/2010
I wanted to post a quick recap of my 40 Days Of Water experience that ended last weekend. In the end, I gave up 67 items for a total savings of $81. That's a lot more than I saved last year, which either means I undervalued some things last year (yikes!) or that my habits have gotten worse in the last year (also yikes!). Any way you look at it, though, $81 is a lot of money. blood:water mission says that they can supply water for one person for one year with $1. Looking at it from that perspective, I either gave 80 people water for a year, or one person water for their entire life! Pretty cool, but still a small ripple in a very big ocean of need. That's where THIS number comes in: $31, 714. That's the total amount raised for Ugandan water projects through this years 40 days. Incredible! That number translates to water for 350-400 people for their entire lives! I feel very humbled to have been a part of such an awesome, life-changing campaign! And while I've definitely enjoyed having other things to drink over the past week, I'm hoping and planning to keep my habits a little more under control this year in solidarity with those who never have the option. PS - Just because the 40 days is over doesn't mean you can't support blood:water mission and the very important work they are doing in Africa. Click here to donate. Rare Semi-Political Thought 03/23/2010
I'll have my Sunday Setlists post up later today, but right now I just want to share a quick thought that's been running through my mind since yesterday. I'm not a very political person. I've got my opinions, but as much as possible, I like to keep them to myself. I'm fiercely moderate, and I'm sure that my more politically enthused readers would find plenty to disagree with me on, whether liberal or conservative. For that reason, this blog VERY rarely gets into anything at all political, but today I'm going to break my rule. I've been fascinated by this whole health care issue. I've seen a lot of opinions expressed very strongly, and I've seen our leaders on both sides of the isle suffer vicious verbal attacks throughout the process. Democrat or Republican, it really seems to have brought out the worst of who we are as a country... a level of politicism that would rather lash out at the "other side" over the tiniest detail rather than try to have a real discussion and solve some problems. Here's the thought that's been on my mind lately: Despite our best efforts, there is no single man or woman nor any group of any political or ideological persuasion that can bring the kind of peace and restoration that our nation is searching for. There is only one who has ever been able to do that. He is is the only one who can do it now, and He is the only one who ever will be able to! Any and all of our human solutions are just temporary fixes awaiting Christ's return to restore His creation and His people. Important to keep in mind when we put our trust in congressmen and presidents! Android Apps 02/25/2010
It's been a while since I've let my tech-geek side come out here on the old blog, so I figured it was about time I let him stretch his legs. This past December I made the leap into smart phone territory. I had been using Verizon's mobile web app extensively on my last two phones and was primarily looking for a richer internet experience. My (not so) new (anymore) HTC Droid Eris has definitely provided me with that, and quite a bit more. I've been very impressed with the way this phone has increased my productivity and efficiency when I'm not at my desk. Being able to buzz through a bunch of emails during downtime at a symphony rehearsal has given me more time to do other things when I get home. I'm all about it. One of the reasons I decided to go with an Android phone instead of an iPhone or the like was because of the open source aspect. I like most of what Google's been doing in the past few years, and there OS seemed like a natural fit for me. It has been. Another thing that has been awesome is the Android App Store. Admittedly, the store is not as well stocked as Apple's, but there are still a lot of valuable and fun things to download, and most of them are free! I know I have readers who are also on the Android bandwagon, so today I thought I'd throw up a quick rundown of my 5 favorite free apps. Here we go! (one quick disclaimer that these screen shots aren't mine... they were compiled from around the internet)  5. Advanced Task Killer Free This is an indispensable tool. Actually, if you're using Android, you probably don't need me to tell you about this one. Everything you do on Android opens an app. Almost none of those apps close when you leave the program, so your phone can get bogged down pretty quickly (sad news for speed and battery life). This app lets you kill all that stuff running in the background. Simple and necessary.  4. The Weather Channel The Eris comes with a great little weather widget right on the home screen, but it links up to AccuWeather online for more info. Nothing wrong with that, but I've always appreciated The Weather Channel... use it on TV, online, on my desktop, so why not on my phone? TWC's android app is simple and straightforward and gives you the info that you need.  3. Ethereal Dialpad This one goes in the "just plain fun" category. A very simple little synthesizer. Just select a scale and a "scene" of sorts and you're good to go. Drag your finger across the screen to see and hear the synth come to life. Great way to kill time, and the sounds it produces are very pleasing and relaxing. Some of the visualizations are a little lame, but a couple of them are absolutely mesmerizing, plus it's free!  2. Lightning Bug I just discovered this one a couple of days ago. It's a surprisingly full-featured sleep machine and alarm clock that I've used every night since. You select one of five scenes and then blend in different sounds (I've been using "Beach At Night" with rain, lightning, and waves crashing). Set a sleep timer and it fades it's volume down at the end of the time period. It also has an alarm clock that lets you access all the major features of the built in alarm, but much more intuitively. I used to have an alarm clock that did this and have missed it recently. Not anymore!  1. Bible YouVersion.com is pretty much awesome. Their online resources are top-notch, and the newest version of their Android app brings most of that functionality in. Now you can log in with your account and follow all of the reading plans, versions, etc. that are available online. The only thing still missing is an option to download Bibles for offline use (something that's been available on the iPhone app for some time now). Any way you look at it, YouVersion is revolutionizing the way people read and study the Bible, and I'm glad they're sinking time into their Android development. It pays off for people like me! So there you have it! A little bit of what's been taking up my time lately :-P Nerdy tech post: complete. 40 Days Of Water 02/15/2010
Ash Wednesday is this week, which means that the Lenten season is almost upon us. Lent has traditionally been a season of prayer and fasting, and the folks over at blood:water mission have come up with an excellent idea for this time of year in their 40 Days Of Water campaign.  I participated in this last year, and will be doing it again this year. I'd like to encourage you to participate as well. It's a simple idea: drink nothing but water for 40 days & donate the money that you save to blood:water towards their efforts in Uganda. Most of us never really think about how much we spend on beverages in a day or a week, although it can be quite significant. Most of us have never had to worry about if we would be able to find clean drinking water, or how far we would have to walk to obtain it. By drinking nothing but water (something that is readily available to us), we are able to offer those less fortunate an opportunity to have that same opportunity. Would you consider joining me in this effort beginning on Wednesday? It's Hip To Be Square 12/09/2009
So I'll admit right up front, I haven't used this product, and I really have no idea how it works. That said, this looks to be a pretty amazing little innovation! Check it out: Square Basically, it's a little device that you plug into the audio jack of your phone, ipod, etc. and it allows you to take credit card payments that way. It's in what seems to be a very limited beta right now, but their website says it will be rolling out to the general public early next year. They seem to be gearing it very heavily right now to small businesses, but I see huge potential for something like this in the independent music world. I can't think of a show I've played in recent memory with CDs for sale where someone hasn't asked about credit cards. And the truth is, I wish I could accept them, but the cost is prohibitive for only a few sales. This looks like it could be a much simpler and more cost effective solution to this issue, and I will definitely be watching for that public release to see how the costs stack up! Catching Up 07/03/2009
I haven't written anything here in a while. I hadn't planned to be so absent, but life has just been crazy lately! Now that the dust is settling a little bit, I figured I should check in here and fill everybody in! Tumbleweed Fencl in Columbus! 06/09/2009
One of my lesser known hobbies/passions is minimalistic living & travel. I'm the guy who goes on vacation for a week with nothing but a small duffel bag and still comes home with stuff I didn't use. I've been interested in the small house movement for some time now, and Jay Shafer of the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company has been at the center of that movement since the beginning. Having spent a significant amount of time on the Tumbleweed site checking out the plans and pictures over the years, I was more than a little excited to find out that Jay was personally bringing a brand new Tumbleweed Fencl on tour across the country. I was even more excited when I realized that one of the stops was 15 minutes from my house! I was lucky enough to go down tonight and see the Fencl, and I have a few pictures and thoughts to share with all of you:  The Fencl is about 125 square feet (which by Tumbleweed standards would be a "mid sized" home). There were about 15 tiny house enthusiasts there tonight to see the house. Jay hung out inside and answered just about any question you could think of about his houses and company. It was a real pleasure to meet him and some of the other folks from the Columbus area interested in these homes.  The Fencl has a sleeping loft at one end of the house. A lot of the Tumbleweed houses have full length lofts, but I think I like this design better, as it makes the great room (where we're all standing) feel really roomy. There's a double ladder to get up to the loft, which holds a full size mattress comfortably.  Here's a shot of the kitchen. It features a small fridge and a double burner stove. There's also a sink off to the right. The bathroom is to the left. There's a small heater in the great room which easily heats the entire house (Jay has reported in the past that he can heat his house for an entire year for less than $200) Another thing that this picture illustrates (if only a little bit) is the abundant storage space. For being such a small house, the Fencl has a ton of closet and shelf space. To wrap this one up for anybody who's still with me... call me crazy (many people have), but I've always thought I could live in this type of house, and tonight definitely confirmed that. When you go small, the quality can be really excellent, and to be honest, I think all of my stuff would fit in here (except for the large instruments, of course... some other kind of storage would need to be arranged for that gear) I'm not sure if I'd want one quite this small, but I could definitely do less than 500 square feet. The simplicity would be freeing, I think. Maybe someday... for now, I'm just glad to say I finally got to see one in person! So what do you think? |  About This Blog
This is my personal blog, and it contains my own thoughts and opinions. It is not intended to reflect the views of any of the companies or organizations I work for/with. Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy! CategoriesAll ArchivesSeptember 2010
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