Just realized that while there have lots of posts here there hasn't been much from me personally. Part of that has just been the business of the last several weeks:
Happening #25 - a great spiritual retreat weekend for teens led by a great group of young people. I actually was NOT quite as wiped out as I often am by these (these kinds of retreats don't work well with my Myers-Briggs Introvert personality).
Then home for a day and off to:
Standing Commission on Ministry Development - Chicago! Great city! Have friends there! NEVER LEFT THE HOTEL FOR 4 DAYS! Apparently there IS some work being done at the wider church level. And the folks who are doing it work HARD! We worked 9-noon, 1-5 and 7-9 each day. I'm the chair of a sub-committee looking at the Ministry of the Baptized concept and what we need to do to make it a reality in the church. Because too often it is either just lip service or code for "ministry of the lay". Curious since I'm fairly certain the ordained have to be baptized too. Unless it comes off when the collar goes on. Met some wonderful people and largely enjoyed myself. It's always tough for me when I really don't know many people. I'm not a natural mingler. So I forced myself, tried to sit with some new folks and have conversations. Kinda painful but cool at the same time. For those who read here and are from the Beliefnet days I actually had lunch one day with someone who began talking about our friend Roseann. I about fell out of my chair! We are indeed a small, freakin' church.
Got home and immediately went to see the national touring company of "Fiddler on the Roof". A personal favorite for the whole family. VERY disappointing. Really felt like a mid-level college performance. Nothing wrong with it except it was a national touring company of Equity actors. Flat characters, lots of singers who couldn't really sing the parts (or simply sang them with no passion). Topol was supposed to be with the company but health issues caused him to pull out (Toronto got Harvey Fierstein! So jealous!). It was just sad. Plus a grumpy lady sitting in front of us. The kid and I, at moments of the show we love the most, might sing, VERY SOFTLY (like I could barely hear her and I was sitting right next to her) or hum a part we loved. Not the whole thing, a phrase or two. I repeat, VERY SOFTLY. It's really not good manners, I know but it's hard to resist, at least for me. And the lady in front of us started getting snotty about it. And was snotty from the git go. At one point she complained and neither of us were making a peep! She lost ANY compassion from me when she and her male companion bolted before the curtain call. Sorry, if you love the show that much you give some respect to the performers. I DIDN'T like it that much but I stayed for all the curtain calls. So I'll leave it to you to judge who was more out of line.
Lots of meetings, I shan't bore you with them.
I did indeed complete the NaNoWriMo challenge, breaking through the 50,000 word mark with a day to spare. I'll be posting my winner's badge on this page later this week. I'm still excited about finishing the book (I figure it's at least another 30-40k worth of writing) but I was kind of surprised by the post contest emotional let down. I was just wrung out. It was great fun.
Oh and quick plug for which I receive nothing in return. Found some really fine free software for writing longer projects (like novels but apparently folks use it for other things too) yWriter 5. It's not youth ministry related so I'm not including it in the regular reviews columns but I really enjoyed using it. The learning curve is relatively shallow, and I keep finding more and more tools. It's not Scrivener, which is the best I've ever seen (and it's what the kid uses since it's Mac only. Not free either but very reasonably priced)but it was designed by a writer who is also a programmer. So it works pretty well. If you're looking for something to do long form writing I'd definitely recommend it.
Right now is a time of waiting for me. I'm waiting to hear back on what may turn out to be a really cool thing for next year. Plus I've made a decision on my next big challenge for next year. More on those later.
Peace
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Oh the things that I do
Wow, haven't posted much here other than "bizness" so a catch up post:
Did the Loop the Lake ride on my bike. Takes you the whole way around Lake Chautauqua which is about 42 miles. I did it in a new personal best of 3 hours 24 minutes and 50 seconds (riding time, total elapsed time was 3:50). The ride was fine except for about five miles of steady light rain that just drenched me. If I'd ridden slower I'd have missed it completely. Felt very good to get it done in such good shape. No major physical problems on the ride or the day after. My new water back pack has been a real boon to avoiding cramping.
Haven't been watching many movies but I am going back through the episodes of "WKRP in Cincinnati". I remember most of them but I'd really overlooked what great performances were turned in by some of the cast. Naturally I've fallen completely in love with Bailey Quarters (again). And yes add me to the list of folks who worked in the industry who will tell you that yes, it really was like that. Great stuff.
Been thinking about what a really solid year it's been for me personally. The weight loss, the improved blood test results, the major step up in bike riding and overall fitness(including a 40+ mile ride, a 50 mile ride and taking on the longest hill in the area 800+ foot rise in 6 miles), working on my guitar playing. I performed with my daughter for the first time in our lives doing a short drama for church (that was very well received (and looking at the video she out performed me too!) Still ahead is the challenge of NaNoWriMo, the National Novel Writing Month. The kid believes her father might just have some small talent for writing (she's the family expert so I shan't argue). But her papi is a lazy butt so she has cornered me into agreeing to taking on the challenge of writing 50,000 words of a novel length story in 30 days. She's actually done the challenge several times and met the goal just this past year. So this is a kind of put up or shut up time for yours truly. I need to start doing some prep work here soon (but no writing yet! That has to be done in November. But I can do character sketches, outline the story, etc in advance) A few years ago I never would have tried, it was just "something I'll never be able to pull off". This year has proven that what I CAN do and what I THINK I CAN DO can be two very different things.
My lady wife and I are doing something radical as well. We're having friends over for dinner. In fact the plan is have a whole bunch of folks over for dinner over the next year. We've always wanted to and never done it. So we've decided it's time to stop being such social hermits. It should be fun. We have some great friends.
Otherwise it's just been life, one day at a time. Time to start wrapping up summer, finishing the chores around the yard, make sure the snow blower is ready to go (SIGH!).
And hope that next year is this good.
Peace
Did the Loop the Lake ride on my bike. Takes you the whole way around Lake Chautauqua which is about 42 miles. I did it in a new personal best of 3 hours 24 minutes and 50 seconds (riding time, total elapsed time was 3:50). The ride was fine except for about five miles of steady light rain that just drenched me. If I'd ridden slower I'd have missed it completely. Felt very good to get it done in such good shape. No major physical problems on the ride or the day after. My new water back pack has been a real boon to avoiding cramping.
Haven't been watching many movies but I am going back through the episodes of "WKRP in Cincinnati". I remember most of them but I'd really overlooked what great performances were turned in by some of the cast. Naturally I've fallen completely in love with Bailey Quarters (again). And yes add me to the list of folks who worked in the industry who will tell you that yes, it really was like that. Great stuff.
Been thinking about what a really solid year it's been for me personally. The weight loss, the improved blood test results, the major step up in bike riding and overall fitness(including a 40+ mile ride, a 50 mile ride and taking on the longest hill in the area 800+ foot rise in 6 miles), working on my guitar playing. I performed with my daughter for the first time in our lives doing a short drama for church (that was very well received (and looking at the video she out performed me too!) Still ahead is the challenge of NaNoWriMo, the National Novel Writing Month. The kid believes her father might just have some small talent for writing (she's the family expert so I shan't argue). But her papi is a lazy butt so she has cornered me into agreeing to taking on the challenge of writing 50,000 words of a novel length story in 30 days. She's actually done the challenge several times and met the goal just this past year. So this is a kind of put up or shut up time for yours truly. I need to start doing some prep work here soon (but no writing yet! That has to be done in November. But I can do character sketches, outline the story, etc in advance) A few years ago I never would have tried, it was just "something I'll never be able to pull off". This year has proven that what I CAN do and what I THINK I CAN DO can be two very different things.
My lady wife and I are doing something radical as well. We're having friends over for dinner. In fact the plan is have a whole bunch of folks over for dinner over the next year. We've always wanted to and never done it. So we've decided it's time to stop being such social hermits. It should be fun. We have some great friends.
Otherwise it's just been life, one day at a time. Time to start wrapping up summer, finishing the chores around the yard, make sure the snow blower is ready to go (SIGH!).
And hope that next year is this good.
Peace
Monday, January 26, 2009
Weekend Update January 26
The Week That Was - Hmmm, what did happen this past week? My office got cleaned, kinda sorta, I got work done on a variety of projects. I started with a new book group at my church, we're reading "The Shack". It's a fairly large group, 15 people or so, and diverse in age, theology and even a couple non-episcopalians. The book is OK so far. I had Adam McClane of YS Blog ask if he could do a profile on me which was really cool. If you're into youth ministry and haven't discovered the blog, check it out. The profile goes up first week in February. Am I excited? Yeah, just a little. Other than that I got my hair cut and did office work. And did winter things like run the snowblower. It was that kind of week.
The To Do List - I have organizational meetings about CROP Walk and the LCLC event this week so I guess I'm over the ELCA guilt thing.
What Am I Procrastinating About? - Not sure, just really don't want to look at my to do list. Cause it's long...
What Am I Watching/Reading/Listening To? Reading The Shack as I mentioned. It's OK but not earth shattering for me. This is the kind of stuff I've been teaching for a while. Not braggin', just sayin'. We'll see where it goes. I've got an Orson Scott Card book I want to read and one other (whose name escapes me).
Movies - I'm not even sure I want to bring this one up. It's called "The Aristocrats". If you're easily offended avoid this movie like the plague. If you're average-ly (?) offended avoid this movie. Paul Provenza and Penn Gillette got about 100 comedians to talk about the ultimate dirty (but not always) joke that they all tell each other that goes back to the days of vaudeville. Some of the versions are awful, vile things. A couple are really funny. It's interesting to hear these folks talk candidly and casually about how jokes work, why this one does or doesn't and why they tell it over and over and over. Everyone from Shelly Berman and Phyllis Diller to Chris Rock and Robin Williams (and the editorial board of "The Onion"). It's a weird movie about a weird, stupid, ugly but strangely interesting joke. I've spent 89 minutes worse in my life.
Next Up Holding myself and my daughter to our new pledge of mutual accountability. She has part of the deal and I have part of the deal. In fairness I'll only reveal mine. I'm to work at playing the guitar and writing. She's tired of hearing me whine. Same thing goes for me about her part of the deal. And we've agreed to hold each other accountable. Very cool. But then my daughter is all that and a bag of chips. Does anybody say that any more?
How Am I Doing You know, I think I'm doing OK. I'm going to do what I can do and try to trust in God for the rest. What a novel concept.
Peace
The To Do List - I have organizational meetings about CROP Walk and the LCLC event this week so I guess I'm over the ELCA guilt thing.
What Am I Procrastinating About? - Not sure, just really don't want to look at my to do list. Cause it's long...
What Am I Watching/Reading/Listening To? Reading The Shack as I mentioned. It's OK but not earth shattering for me. This is the kind of stuff I've been teaching for a while. Not braggin', just sayin'. We'll see where it goes. I've got an Orson Scott Card book I want to read and one other (whose name escapes me).
Movies - I'm not even sure I want to bring this one up. It's called "The Aristocrats". If you're easily offended avoid this movie like the plague. If you're average-ly (?) offended avoid this movie. Paul Provenza and Penn Gillette got about 100 comedians to talk about the ultimate dirty (but not always) joke that they all tell each other that goes back to the days of vaudeville. Some of the versions are awful, vile things. A couple are really funny. It's interesting to hear these folks talk candidly and casually about how jokes work, why this one does or doesn't and why they tell it over and over and over. Everyone from Shelly Berman and Phyllis Diller to Chris Rock and Robin Williams (and the editorial board of "The Onion"). It's a weird movie about a weird, stupid, ugly but strangely interesting joke. I've spent 89 minutes worse in my life.
Next Up Holding myself and my daughter to our new pledge of mutual accountability. She has part of the deal and I have part of the deal. In fairness I'll only reveal mine. I'm to work at playing the guitar and writing. She's tired of hearing me whine. Same thing goes for me about her part of the deal. And we've agreed to hold each other accountable. Very cool. But then my daughter is all that and a bag of chips. Does anybody say that any more?
How Am I Doing You know, I think I'm doing OK. I'm going to do what I can do and try to trust in God for the rest. What a novel concept.
Peace
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