Often mindless pontification, occasional greatness. These blog posts are on my opinions, including reviews of books and music.
Hurray! It’s time for my annual soundtrack. I can hardly believe I’ve now made five of these things. These are the twelve songs that impacted me the most this year.
I love the cohesiveness of this mix. Tracks one and twelve form bookends, a kind of point and counter-point that frame three narratives. Tracks two through four depict the rise and fall of unrequited affection. Tracks five through nine all have something to say about heaven. Tracks ten and eleven are about regaining perspective.
This is a guest post by my friend Bryan Zhang. Bryan is a graduate of the FSU Film School. He’s the director of many short films that have appeared on my blog, including those in the Campus Safari series and the Generations series. Actually, Bryan has shown up in a lot of my blog posts, much as he tends to show up at my house unannounced. If you like this post you should check out his website. You can find him on Twitter as @realbryanzhang.
I’m 22 years old and I have the whole world in front of me. I live in a world of infinite options and possibilities. And I know I’m not alone. My generation is filled with people who look at their future and frown at the gaping question mark. I remember being asked what I would do after graduation. What a horrible question. And we all know the drill for answering that question – put on a meek smile and vaguely reference some “opportunity-somewhere-that-might-work-but-then-again-you-don’t-know-and-then-humbly-say-you’re-open-to-whatever-God-wants-you-to-do- but-you-don’t-really-know-what-that-means-because-you’re-scared-out-of-your- mind.”
I’ve come to realize that God’s not going to spell out my entire life for me. In fact, it really seems like He’s primarily concerned with the work being done in me over the work done through me. So what does this mean? What’s God’s desire for my life?
This is a guest post by my friend Brittney Harlacher. Brittney is a stay-at-home mom, married to the love of her life, who also happens to be her high school sweetheart. Their three incredible daughters fill their home with laughter and glitter. She is currently homeschooling their eldest child, pre-homeschooling their middle child and answering forty-two “why” questions a day for their youngest child. Before God blessed their family with these bundles of joy, Brittney worked as a Speech Writer for the president of Florida State University.
Back in the days of yore, when I was in college (before iPhones, Google or texting), there was a very popular personality test making its way around my group of friends. It was called Myers-Briggs, and with four simple letters it told you who you were and how you viewed the world. INFJ, ENTP, ISFP, ESTJ – suddenly it made sense why other drivers on the road made you crazy or why putting together a bicycle from nothing but bolts and tubing was super easy or why you chucked that doctorate degree to pursue acting. But your mom and dad could have told you that and you wouldn’t have wasted an hour bubbling in a questionnaire.
Before you could suck your thumb, roll over and smile (HUGE milestones when you are new to the world…go ahead look at a new parent’s recent photos of their little bundle of joy and see how many shots of the first “smile” they have…and yes I am guilty as charged) you either liked the attention of many or preferred the cuddling of one; you got over things quickly or put on your best pouty face for a couple of hours; you moved on to the next, new, interesting thing or preferred to stop and smell the flowers.
This is a guest post by my friend Patrick Gines. Patrick is a graduate of the FSU Film School and a talented filmmaker. I had the privilege of helping him out with his social media presence during the production of his thesis film, When the Waters Rise. If you like this post you should check out his website. You can find him on Twitter as @patrickgines.
In order for me to produce creativity, I require creative space. I am the creative director at Four Oaks Church Tallahassee, and a prime example of this came when I switched offices this year. In January of 2011 I had an office located on the staff wing of the building. It was one of the earth-toned, four-walled boxes finished off with a drop celling and automatic fluorescent lights. By March I was no longer doing any work in my office because it made me feel as unattractive and lame as it sounds. Now, when I say this, I am not ignoring the importance of buckling-down and being productive where you are; yet, I will argue that in order to sustain continued creative product, creative space is required, and what that creative space should ensure is a creative feeling to work from.
In the first episode of my podcast I requested name suggestions since I wasn’t all that thrilled with The Morning Rant as my title. I chose it because my blog title has always included the phrase “Rantings, Ravings and Writings” in one form or another, and I’ve even used an abbreviated variation on some other, smaller projects like my tumble blog.
A couple people wrote in suggestions. They include:
Prelude to my Week
Rob Sucks/Joe Sucks *
Inside the Andrew’s Studio
Life, Tech, and Jesus
What’s Better than Regular Drew? *
Mountain Drew
* indicates an inside joke
When I was a college senior I had various people ask me the question:
Where do you see yourself in five years?
Guess what? It’s five years later!
Back then I would have thought I’d be working professionally in ministry and (among other things) making websites in my free time. Instead, I’m making websites professionally and ministering to college students in my free time.
Funny how that happens.
I’m proud to bring you my fourth annual soundtrack! As always it was a lot of fun putting it together. (Here are my soundtracks from 2007, 2008, and 2009.)
I have a few rules when picking the songs for my soundtrack. First, I limit myself to twelve songs, which is somewhat of an arbitrary number. Second, I limit myself to one song per artist. Third, I use both quantitative and qualitative data to make my decision. The quantitative data is how many times I played the song (I use my Last.fm account to keep these stats). The qualitative data is how the song impacted me personally. Finally, I can’t repeat a song from a previous soundtrack. Something else to keep in mind is that these songs weren’t necessarily released in 2010; they are songs that impacted me in 2010. (Also, the songs aren’t ranked; this is how I have them ordered in the playlist.)
With that said, here’s my soundtrack.
I can’t say I know the etymology of the idiom, but I think when writers and people in the publishing industry use the phrase “publish or perish” they mean that a writer must produce content for others to stay relevant as a writer. Here we are in the last week of 2010. I’m creating some goals for myself for the new year. Some of them have to do with writing. As I do, I realize just how close I’ve come to “perishing.”
Chris Tomlinson’s memoir Crave: Wanting So Much More of God tells of his desire and attempt to take seriously what it means to be a Christ-follower, living full-on for God even when that means doing something risky or conspicuous. Colorful metaphors, self-deprecating humor, and genuine expressions of personal transparency leave the reader feeling like Tomlinson is a member of their own church small group. The stories of his experiences will challenge and inspire any Christian desiring to grow in their faith.
Crave is a series of testimonies about how God has moved in Tomlinson’s life, revolving specifically around his desire for more than what is typically offered by American mainline Christendom. We watch him struggle to develop the habit of praying daily even after successfully developing the habit of flossing nightly mere weeks before. We follow him to a nearby outdoor mall where he and a few friends set up folding chairs and sit next to signs that say things like, “What is your prayer request?” and “Ask anything about God.” We experience his apprehension and anxiety as he internally debates whether to initiate a spiritual conversation with a young woman next to him on an airplane flight. Throughout his stories there is a strong sense of the conviction that has enveloped his heart and life, that God is not who he once thought He was.
I just want to be clear on where I stand regarding this very important issue.
Image used with permission. You can get it at imwithcoco.com. Artwork by Mike Mitchell. Join the Facebook page.
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