Daily Grind, Employment

Work is Slow but I’m Upbeat

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I don’t talk about it much publicly, but work has been slow lately. Terribly slow. Income dropped in 2008, for the first time since I started working on my own (though honestly, the drop wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be). And 2009 looks to be worse.

But against all that, I’m upbeat about it. Certainly I have my moments of doubt when things get kind of scary, but I also know that God provides. He’s done it before and I know he’ll do it again. I’m not sitting back and waiting for cash to fall from heaven, but part of my faith involves relying on God. In reality I’m always reliant on God, but it’s times like this when it becomes so much more obvious. In the mean time I’ll tighten my belt, perhaps wean myself from Cherry Pepsi, and struggle through.

Maybe I’m a bit naive, but I think times like this can be an opportunity. A time of unemployment launched me on this freelance journey in the first place. And while work has been slow I’ve been working on other projects, such as the Billy Graham blog, Start Seeing Art, and my 2006 novel Turn Left at the Blacktop, among others (By the way, I printed off a 158-page copy of the novel today so my wife could read it and give me her assessment).

I’m confident that hard times like this can refocus us, can present new opportunities, can be good for us. Sometimes, frankly, it does suck. But recession or economic depression are not the end of the world.

History

Martin Luther King Jr. the Radical

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Martin Luther King Jr.I’ve been reading The Preacher and the Presidents: Billy Graham in the White House lately (can you guess why?) and have been fascinated by the perspective of history. Specifically Martin Luther King Jr.

Admittedly, my understanding of current history (say, the last 60 years) is weak at best. I blame my education when the textbooks crammed anything after World War II into a miniature chapter at the end of the book that we never covered. Of course that was a long time ago and any further lack of education is my own fault. I know the basics of the 1960s and 1970s, but I’m usually lacking context and an understanding of how events relate.

Martin Luther King Jr. is a prime example. I never realized what a radical he was.

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Just for Fun

Breakfast Time Twitter Poem

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Wow. That’s about all I can say. At least one person found poetry instead of weirdness in my daily digest of Twitter posts (which I’ve already deleted). And he turned it into a poem about breakfast and Billy Graham, among other things.

You can read the poem here or after the jump (poetry like that is too potent to not give you a little warning).

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Site Updates

Blog Housekeeping

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I’ve been doing a bit of blog housekeeping around here lately. Among the things you may have noticed:

Daily Digest of Twitter Feeds
For a few days I was testing a tool to import my Twitter posts into my blog. It posted them once a day as a daily digest of everything I’d said on Twitter. After four days it seemed like too much. Too often and too out of context, so I just disabled it. For now we’ll stick with my most recent Twitter posts in the sidebar.

I liked the idea of having my Twitter posts archived, but I’m just not convinced this was a good approach. I think it would work better as a separate blog and then it’s really only good for a private archive, so I’m not sure anyone else would care.

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Blogging

Billyspot!: The Billy Graham Blog

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Billyspot: The Unofficial Billy Graham BlogI finally did it: I started a Billy Graham blog. I’ve talked about this idea years ago, but I’m finally doing it.

It’s called Billyspot and it covers all things Billy Graham. It got started just before Christmas, so it’s definitely still in the infancy stage and has a long way to go. But for now the basics are there.

Why a Billy Graham Blog?
The big question, of course, is why write a blog exclusively about Billy Graham? There’s something engaging about Billy Graham that I find fascinating. He’s a world famous and highly respected evangelist. Consider the potential paradox of that statement for a moment: In a politically correct world he tells you that Jesus it the only way to salvation, and yet he’s still one of the most respected men in the world, a counselor to presidents.

It’s kind of amazing that a religious man can have that kind of near-universal acclaim. And I want to know how he does it. I want to know the behind-the-scenes stories. I want to know the theological questions that arise. I want to see the goofy things that inevitably come up around a man like that.

Hence, the Billyspot. I’ve talked a lot about Billy Graham in the past, I worked for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association for two years, and I have a pile of Billy-o-bilia to serve as fodder. Here we go.

U2

All the Hype That U2 Can’t Leave Behind

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Bono in the U2 iPod adI mentioned before Christmas that the new U2 album, No Line on the Horizon, is coming out March 3. Let the hype machine begin. I’ve talked in the past about the marketing of U2, so I’m curious to see what they do this time around. Here’s a round-up of some of the current news:

  • Q previews the new album, comparing it to Achtung Baby in spirit and offering hints that producer Brian Eno and guitarist the Edge think it may be U2’s best album.
  • Rolling Stone offers a track by track appraisal of the new album.
  • Lead singer Bono brushes off nervousness about the new album: “Sure, you’re always nervous, but we’ve gone at it as if it was our first and the critics who have gotten a chance to listen to it already have all said it’s the best yet.”
  • Drummer Larry Mullen Jr.: “I think it’s some of the best music we’ve ever written.” (Q interview)

Hmm… I sense a theme developing.

Books

2008 Reading List

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Below is my annual reading list chronicling what I read in the past year. Seems like every year the list gets shorter, and this year was no exception. Though my reading was propelled along thanks in part to a continued sci-fi kick, reading through the entire Harry Potter series and a year-end post-apocalyptic fiction kick.

You can also check out my previous reading lists: 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002 and 2001.

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Movies, Society

Reactions to the Movie Waitress: Abuse & Marriage

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I watched the movie Waitress this afternoon, primarily because it stars Nathan Fillion (I like him in just about whatever he’s in: Serenity/Firefly, Buffy, the short-lived Drive and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, among others). The movie was good, though it bothered me on two points. The basic story is a pie-making waitress gets pregnant, which ruins her plans to leave her abusive husband and prompts an affair. Despite that downer of a summary, it actually had funny moments (Andy Griffith’s character rocks).

Where are the Good Fictional Marriages?
First, is it possible to see positive marriage relationships portrayed in TV or movies? Maybe it was the trailers before the movie that featured multiple flicks about failing marriages, but this seems like a recurring theme. I realize life isn’t Leave it to Beaver and difficult, failing and failed relationships need to be portrayed; and I realize this isn’t a new theme; and I feel like a fundamentalist fuddy-duddy for complaining about it—but I just wish we could see more movies/TV shows about marital relationships that worked. I know they exist, I just feel like they’re endangered according to the entertainment world.

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Music

Top 50 Albums of 2008 for $5 Each

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If you’re looking to spend some Christmas money, you might want to check out the top 50 albums of 2008 for $5 each on Amazon. I really couldn’t recommend anything on the list because I’m musically inept. But Tim has a nice list of top albums for 2008, including a list of other top lists.

While I really like the iTunes store, I think Amazon is returning music to the realm of the impulse buy. For more impulse goodness, check out Amazon on Twitter for daily deals.

Internet

Updating My Squidoo Lenses

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I’m not exactly the lensmaster I used to be, but I’ve been working on some of my Squidoo lenses lately (what’s a Squidoo lens?). It’s kind of a weird little distraction, but I’ve got a few fun lenses going:

And there are more. I’m still not exactly sure what the point is, but it’s kind of fun, especially when you pick a topic narrow enough to be interesting and not covered elsewhere (like, um, Anne Lamott, who doesn’t have a web site).

A work-at-home dad wrestles with faith, social justice & story.