i am chris brown…for now

JJ Abrams shares with TED why he’s the best at making us wonder.

Had a conversation with a friend recently who’s searching. Wanting answers. Isn’t the spiritual life a strange thing sometimes? My friend’s posture seemed to say, in Merton’s words, “God, have mercy on me in the blindness in which I hope I am seeking you.” I’ve been there.

I started reading through U2’s biography last week. Rock stars create the best stories. They were in Chicago on their first US tour and the club they were playing had tables up to the very front of the stage. The four teenagers said “We don’t play shows unless there’s standing room at the stage.” The club manager said, “Welcome to America…you don’t tell us what to do. The tables are staying.”

The show started, people filled the club, along with every table…all the way to the front of the stage. And by the second song, in true rock star form, Bono walked off the front of the stage and onto the tops of each table surrounding the stage, pulling girls from the crowd up to dance with him.

A rule of thumb I’ve learned at Elevation is we might not always have the luxury of thinking “outside the box.” So a true test of creativity and ingenuity (maybe even more so for artists) is how to create while being inside the box. Let us learn yet again from the illustrious legend. When you can’t move the tables, get on top of them and dance.

**Also, to see a poor example of time well spent, click here.

Just watched The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. I feel rather hopeful, thankful now that I can walk, laugh, communicate how I feel to others. What’s one thing you’re thankful for today?

This may be a short clip from a soon-to-be limited release acoustic track from the record.

And that may be Mack Brock saying, “Ow, I think I just gave myself a handburn.”

My good friend (and foe), Ryansworth, got “got” yesterday.

All props to Ceagon for initiating this trickery. I simply carried it through to completion.

Setup:
Write the word Tool Bag with an arrow pointing east on the white board hanging on the back wall in the cubicle in which I sat….which happened to be directly in front of the cubicle where hollingsworth sits, like so…

Act 1:
Me: “Hey Ryan! Let me take a picture of you for my blog.”
Ryan: “No! I don’t like pictures!”
Me: “Oh, c’mon, be a good sport, pal.”
Ryan: “Oh, ok, but just this once.”

Act 2:
Ryan, completely unaware of what’s to come, pokes his head around the corner of his cubicle, entering slightly into my work space…his face positioned perfectly beside the words that were soon to be his demise. Photo snapped.

Act 3:
Me: “Thank you.”

If you haven’t yet, you’ll probably want to go and check out the staff twitter that’s regularly updating on Pastor Steven’s blog. Keep track of what everybody’s doing all the time.

In other, slightly less interesting news, I’d definitely like to work…possibly live in one of these someday.

We got the mastered copy of Elevation’s record today. Dang! It’s really crazy to have these songs that were written over this past year and hear them come together at this stage and this level. We’ve been impatiently waiting on this record to get wrapped up and it’s finally near. We can’t wait for everyone to hear it. And for some reason I’m really nervous all of a sudden. I’ve never worked on a record that’s been produced at this level…meaning, I’ve never before had the opportunity to co-write with such gifted songwriters as Mack and Wade, and then get to see the Wizard push us even more. I’m nervous, I’m excited, I’m all tied up in knots.

Oh, and the record artwork is so sick of course….even if the guy has odd taste in movies.

So we’re back from the glorious Panama City–where much relaxing took place. So awesome, insightful posts should resume now (3 cheers)…as well work. But today is Memorial Day, and I slept in, and Memorial Day hair looks like this

Beth and I are leaving tomorrow for a week in Panama City with Mack and Meredith, and Wes and Laci. Relaxation. Eating. Reading. Watching Mack turn lobster shades of red.