(Sung like the Cardigans circa 1997)
Evaluations from a conference we helped out at in December, “We love the APeX guys, but could you get someone else for a change.”
Ouch!
Someone said for someone else (or so we have heard), “I don’t like APeX because they always do the same stuff.”
Ouch!
The first comment came in the middle over 100 pages of evaluations and comments about the event. It is the only one I remember.
The second comment was shared with me at the end of a day in which over 50 adults had personally thanked us for our work and our presence (many who have seen us multiple times). It was the only comment I could think about as I drifted off to sleep.
I think the reason these comments haunt me is because they reconfirm my own fears.
I love the work we do. I know we have worked very hard and are committed to quality. One some level we must be doing something right because we have found enough work to make a living for close to a decade.
But there are times, late at night (when nothing good crosses ones mind) we I think I am a fraud. That I am closer to being the man behind the curtain than the public face that is put forward.
As I hear these comments, it is easy enough to get defensive, because I justify and defend why me make the choices we make (and it is not because of laziness).
But that does me no good.
It is good to listen to critique and criticism. It is good to be challenged to be better and to grow.
It is useless to agonize and lament. It is debilitating to give all my energy to defending my actions.
It is best to listen, process and let it go.
It is that simple.
Too bad it isn’t that easy.
Love Me, Love Me, Say That You Love Me
16670
I have always wanted to own a t-shirt store. If I did, this is the store I would want to own. (I love the Jonah shirt!)
http://sixteensixsseventy.com
ps: You should visit for no other reason than to find the significance of 16670.
Inside the Youth Ministry Studio
I received the James Lipton treatment today over at Inside the Youth Ministry Studio. (Full interview available for download.)
Scott is doing a great job with this (despite the fact he chose to interview me).
Make sure you check out the last two months of interviews.
What’s left?
States left to perform in:
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tenseness, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
[and yes, I typed all the state names without the uses of a map]
Laser Engraved Toast
[via giantmonster]
Forty Days of Praise
Things I love:
* The democratizing power of the internet to give people access to people the would never meet in a very low cost way.
* Creative ideas
* People willing to share what they have.
This has all three.
Michael James is a musician from California.
For lent he has created a web site called 40 Days of Praise.
Each day of lent he is posting a video of a praise song he has written. The video includes playing instructions, a brief introduction to the song, and him playing it. He also provides the sheet music for you to download.
Stand-Up Comedy
Last night I attended an intro class on stand-up comedy. It was offered by Jen Dziura who is performing in the area tonight.
I attended the class the class for a number of reasons:
* I love hearing about people’s process of writing new material. Even if stand-up is very different from what we do, I always seem to learn something new from someone else creative process.
* It was a good opportunity to force myself to sit down and do some writing myself.
* It was a chance to support Jen. Last night is the first time I met her in person, but have read her blog for more than a year. I am always very impressed by people who are willing to follow their dreams, and to do it in very creative ways. She works very hard on her craft as well and sharing it with others. Even though it was the first meeting, I have admired her for a while.
Any of those reasons would have been worth the $20 to get in the door. But there was something that topped it all.
One of the first exercises we did was talk about our lives and Jen helped us find the topic areas that might be funny to talk about. (Ex: One of the women in the class looked like Gillian Anderson and talked about how geeks have tendency to hit on her.)
There was very unassuming African-American woman in the class who was in her 50′s. She was not a natural on stage, but she was a very funny story-teller. At one point she was talking about (with all the sincerity in the world) the heart attack she had when she was 38. At one point in her life she worked in medical field. The conversation went something like this:
Woman: When I had the heart attack they found me on the toilet.
Jen: You had a heart attack on the toilet?
W: No I had the heart attack on the couch.
J: Then why did they find you on the toilet?
W: I had seen people die before. When most people die they crap their pants. I was sitting on my white couch and I knew if I died they were going to need the couch. So I drug myself to the bathroom. That way if I crapped myself, I would be on the toilet.
Innovation
There are three types of jugglers.
The first do the same old tricks in the same old way.
The second take the standard tricks, but do then in new and different ways. (I hope I am part of this group).
Then there is the third. These are the people who push the envelope. They think of juggling in new and different ways. They don’t simple take old stuff and frame it new. They place it in completely different contexts.
Greg Kennedy is one of those guys.
Here is one of his latest creations.
[via mom]
Ridicules Technology
I am sitting in the Manchester, NH airport on my way home.
There is free wifi in the airport so I am catching up on my blog reading, when I get an e-mail.
The note says that my flight to JFK is delayed. I go up to the gate to check on what is going on.
The gate agent didn’t know the flight was delayed. (She found out the in-bound flight is running a little late).
It is amazing how quickly information is now disseminated.
Getting Called Out
I very publicly stated at the beginning of the year that I was going to change the way I talk. I did it publicly to create a accountability structure, people who would hold me to my word.
I have been doing a decent job at it too. I have been much better about my self-deprecating speak. Even more important, I have done a much better job about the way I talk to others. There have been a number of times I have been able to catch words in my mouth and not let them out.
Except when it comes to two people. A few weeks ago we were in San Diego. Myself and another speaker were arriving about the same time. The moment he got to baggage claim I was into it. Giving him a hard time about carrying bag because of his age and that we should take a bus to the parking lot because of his weak heart.
All in jest. To a dear friend.
And he called me on it. He said he read my blog and thought I had given this up. In a weak defense I said he was exempt.
Than last week in LA I found myself doing it again too another friend.
Maybe it is harder because both of these people like to joust with words, they fight back and it is fun.
But that is no excuse. I still stick to my original premise. It is wrong and destructive for me to do.
I love the fact I have friends who will call me out.
laser engraved toast breakfast can be magical and friendly again when you are able to burn any image you want into your toast. i’m talking about DIY laser engraved toast! nice article on how to burn the image of jesus or david hasselhoff or erik estrada onto some bread. the instructions start off with 1) find some time to kill, 2) get access to a laser etching system, and goes from there.