Entries from February 2008 ↓

These quotes about the craft gave me pause.

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Several posts this morning struck me as I wandered the highcallingblogs.com network.

First, new comer Sarah Fry thinks about practice and discipline as a way to tune our ears. It is a rich metaphor that she doesn’t pin down, inspired by Heifetz playing a Bach Chaconne.

In fact, scroll down to the bottom of this post and click play on the video below. Listen to that music while you read this. (I’ve made the links open in new windows, so you can keep listening while you read Sarah and L.L. and PapaPoet and Ginger.)

I’m listening while I write.

We can share this moment, these words and music–together on my screen and my speakers–will be together on yours as well. Continue reading →

Yesterday after we had our new pastor over for an old-fashioned pot roast lunch, complete with my wife’s to-die-for homemade chocolate pie, I found myself weeping while I did the dishes.

The pie really was that good, but it didn’t make me weep. And the pastor wasn’t picking on me. Or at least, he didn’t make me cry.

Stephen Eley, Ken Scholes, and Edward Bear did that.

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I’ve been talking to Ken Mann a bit via email lately. He directed me to this video that wrestles with relativism and the human need for absolute truth–and a rowdy discussion of the video over at ThinkingChristian.

The video is not quite three minutes. (Click here if it won’t load.)

So here are my thoughts and questions for you.

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It’s time for another blog tour experience.

I presented on blog tours last week, and I’ve been working hard with L.L. on her presentation at Mt. Hermon (which Becky will hopefully have small role in as well) . Now, it’s time to set aside the numbers and research and fancy quotes from famous people, and get to work on a real tour.

This month, CSFF is featuring Chris Walley’s The Shadow and Night from Tyndale. (You may remember them as the little press that exploded in the 1990s with a series called Left Behind.) You can read more about Chris Walley on his site and his blog. Frankly, I’m excited about this one. So without further ado, here’s page one. Review to follow.

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Who cares what the bloggers say about blogging.

Who cares what Facebook users say about Facebook.

What does NYU say about social media trends? What does the New York Times say? What do investors say?

Sometimes we need to step outside our blog bubbles and take a hard look at the online world we’re living. Don’t be afraid to ask the hard question about all these promises.

What is hype, what is hope, and what is verifiable fact?

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Lately, L. L. Barkat and I have been pretty busy trying organize everything we know about social media for a presentation at Mt. Hermon. Yesterday, I presented some of what I’ve learned about social media to the San Antonio Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

I promised the AFP people to share the slideshow online. Here it is…
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According to BIGResearch, bloggers are younger, better educated, and earning less than the average American. Interesting. Take a minute to look at the article.

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Here’s a little poem since I haven’t posted one in awhile. Comments to follow.

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L. L. Barkat tagged me for an interesting meme that reminds me of the Oulipo group (especially N+7 poems). Yes, their site is in French. No, I don’t speak French, and you don’t have to either to appreciate the 1-2-3 meme.

Here’s what I had to do.

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