"Look at me! I'm a monkey!" ~Edie

Playing for Change Video | via @lensweet

Beautiful music, superior use of modern technology for something positive and good.

This is what happens during unsupervised nap time.

Every single toy & book in Edie's bed.

Len Sweet re: Twitter Theology | MUST READ!

A while back I posted a link to a Time article on Twitter and how it's changing the world for the better and forever. Len Sweet (author of many books I've read and enjoyed like The Gospel According to Starbucks, Aqua Church) is a fantastic thinker and this article does a great job describing his perspective, and much good, about Twitter.

Particularly he has commented on something that's bugged me for a long time, that we in the church LOVE to talk about leadership in significantly greater proportion than we talk about following or serving. Biblically the scales are tipped towards the latter.

Anyway... tolle lege!

CLICK HERE

Sabo

Because until Dusty's canned, Taveras is cut, Stubbs is promoted, and this season is finally over, there's nothing else to be happy about.

Our New Mistake

So Brian and Cheryl have Meka, Eden, and the New Kid.

Todd and Sabrina have Trapper John and Hammerin' Hank.

Not to be outdone--or rather, only to be moderately to severely outdone--Grace and I have Esme and

--wait for it--

Zooey [for real this time]. She's our new little girl. These are the best shots I could get with a hyper kitten and a cell phone. More will come.

She smells weird, but we love her anyway (a dollar to anyone who gets that reference without Internet searching it).

"Trouble Won't Go" | The Blackthorn Project and friends

This is what worship ought to be like and why I LOVE the enter the worship circle projects. www.entertheworshipcircle.com

We are going to try this one for the offertory Sunday.

Bobby McFerrin & the Pentatonic Scale: Don't Worry, be willing...it's not don't worry be happy.

World Science Festival 2009: Bobby McFerrin Demonstrates the Power of the Pentatonic Scale from World Science Festival on Vimeo.

Playing a Target Toss Game @ Great American

I got 2nd place. Which is the first loser!!

Newport Folk Festival 1963 & Now

In 1963 Bob Dylan's star rose to the highest heights of the folk world at the Newport Folk Festival (so they say, I missed by virtue of not existing yet). Here's some pics of Dylan & others with some commentary by photographer Rowland Scherman @ NPR's All Songs Considered blog: CLICK HERE

Particularly check out photos by Scherman (and others like Barry Feinstein): CLICK HERE

Some iconic shots, to be sure.

This year's Newport Folk Festival can be streamed HERE. Artists include Iron and Wine, Neko Case, Fleet Foxes, Joan Baez, the Decemberists, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Gillian Welch, Elvis Perkins in Dearland...

Vintage Illustration

I love vintage illustrations. It's like 8mm film with paper and ink. Was life ever like this?

Texting While Driving = More Likely to Wreck = DUH

CLICK HERE

Some highlights:

“You should never do this,” he [Tom Dingus...yes, the guy in charge has the name Tom Dingus] said of texting while driving. “It should be illegal.”

Over all, texting has soared. In December, phone users in the United States sent 110 billion messages, a tenfold increase in just three years...

...drivers took their eyes off the road for around five seconds when texting.

...texting represents a much greater risk to drivers than other distractions.

87 percent of people consider drivers texting or e-mailing to pose a “very serious” safety threat (roughly equal to the 90 percent who consider drunken drivers a threat). Of the 2,501 drivers surveyed this spring, 95 percent said that texting was unacceptable behavior. Yet 21 percent of drivers said they had recently texted or e-mailed while driving. About half of drivers 16 to 24 said they had texted while driving, compared with 22 percent of drivers 35 to 44.

Youth Pastor Hazing on the Rise | LarkNews.com

CLICK HERE

View more news at http://www.LarkNews.com - A good source for Christian news.

HT: @size14shoe

Inside Out | Sunday, July 26th 2009

Michael Phelps' New Stroke

Michael Phelps is arguably one of the best athletes of all time, almost certainly the best swimmer and is without question built ideally for his sport.

Phelps is in Rome at the World Championships and apparently he and his coach had been working on a new stroke, windmill style, for him to...I don't know...I guess somehow get an edge.

I didn't work.

He was the slowest on the relay.

Bowman, his coach, said something to the effect of: "We won't try that again."

What is fascinating to me is that they would even fiddle with his technique. Why? He's clearly the fastest and best there is. Why mess with something that is great?

Answer: TO GET BETTER.

To improve there must be change.

I am in awe of the fact that they were willing to change what was clearly working to try to get even better. What if in our churches, lives and jobs we all had the same attitude? Many organizations do. And they benefit.

Even if it's the best it might be worth trying. So we might have to say: "we won't try that again." So what?

Girls' Room Update

Although I am not nearly cool enough to go there, we were in Clifton & stopped in @ Urban Outfitters & snagged some letters made out recycled materials for the girls' room.

Also scored glass bear shaped salt & pepper shakers.  Oh yeah.  Uber-hip.

Edie Stars in ER

Results of jumping on the couch after mommy's several warnings not to.  

Coldplay's Strawberry Swing Video

CLICK HERE to watch

Now...Todd & Scott...I know you guys are Coldplay haters but watch the video & dare not to think it's neato.

ht: @holidayatsea

Washington DC, That's the Place for Me

THE way

ht: @long_ck

Anchor Bay Triathlon July 11th, 2009

This was my first open water swim and it was WILD. 1/2 mile total; 1/4 mile out, 1/4 back. The first half of the swim was chaos because people were all crammed together. Some kept getting disoriented and then swimming diagonal. I got kicked, scratched, slapped, poked and drank a bunch of the bay.

The second half of the swim was great because the field had stretched out so I got a groove.

Shortly after we got out of the water the sky exploded with a t-storm. So we rode & ran in the thunder, lightning and rain. Crazy. By the time we were running my shoes were completely soaked so with every step I was squishing. Great time, though!

No pics of me biking or running. Only T. I was THAT fast. Or something like that...

Total Time: 1:20.25

Splits
Swim: 15:46
Transition 1: 1:54
Bike: 33:59
Transition 2: :29
Run: 28:19

Vacation 2009

Captain Stormtrooper Crunch

HT: Josh Griffin

the Lord's Prayer | Forgive Us | 6.28.09

Babar the Barbarian/Librarian