The heat reminds me of Texas. When I was in Junior High, it was nothing to spend an afternooon in 100 plus degrees playing tennis alone, beating a ball against a wall across the street at the elementary school on a surface littered with gravel, so that the ball always took crazy, unexpected bounces. Why [...]
Entries from July 2009
July 26, 2009
Off to Family Camp
It’s Sunday afternoon after a long, but invigorating morning of worship and preaching. I’ve got about a half hour left and then it’s off to Pleasant Valley Family Camp. Whether or not I’ll be able to post from there remains to be seen, but hopefully I’ll have some cell phone range for tweets. Lots to [...]
July 25, 2009
True Voices
It’s going to be hot today. A massive garage sale opens in the church parking lot around 9. Two of our members have decided the next moment in their lives is to be lived in Kenya, working with orphans there (if I have my story straight), and this garage sale is the first financial salvo [...]
July 24, 2009
Finding Time for TED
A friend told me about TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) about a year ago, and I ignored him. He brought it to my attention again last week, and I finally broke down and checked it out. I’m not yet officially hooked, because I haven’t had time to log the hours it will take to benefit from [...]
July 23, 2009
How Music Rescues
I don’t know anything about Dr. Karl Paulnack, of the Boston Conservatory, but I’m thankful for him anyway. A few days ago, a friend sent me a link to an article by Paulnack, an address he gave to a group of parents about the place of music and art in the world. A classical musician, [...]
July 22, 2009
Twitter-Dee, Twitter-Dumb
It’s fun to stay on top of things, noodling the most entertaining tweets from my Tweetdeck. But I may be reaching the cliff called Overload. If not, I can sure see it from here. Sensory overload always been an occupational hazard of living inside this particular brain. I go into libraries, stop at the door, [...]
July 21, 2009
Why Art Matters: Rebellion, Beauty, Life
Sorry, no great revelations coming, but as I’ve wandered the internet over the past couple of days, a couple of things caught my attention. A blog begun by a freelance writer here in Seattle asking the question: why does art matter? (The blog post title comes from her. Thanks, Rosie.) It was mentioned in a [...]
July 20, 2009
Finishing the Story: Le Theatre du Soleil
Okay, so I’ve got to finish the story that I seem to start for everyone, including the congregation yesterday morning, but never seem to finish. If you’re following me on Twitter, you may have noticed a series of tweets on Saturday related to my daughter Amy and a particular theatre production in New York. Les [...]
July 17, 2009
Imaginative Bravery: Money and Art
Years ago, I came across a play called Spike Heels by a writer named Theresa Rebeck. I was struck by its frank language, it’s straight-ahead exploration of love, sex, and identity in a world of 20 and 30-something confusion. Since Spike Heels, Rebeck has gone on to wide success and acclaim, including a nod as [...]
July 16, 2009
The Visitor
Thomas McCarthy’s film The Visitor snuck up on me several months ago. I forget who, but a couple of friends had recommended it and one boring night, there it was, offered on one of the cable subscription channels. So I clicked on it and sat there, no expectations…and just got bowled over. Whether it was [...]
