Category: Friends

how to be interesting

Thomas shares a great post on how to be interesting.

  1. Take at least one picture everyday. Post it to flickr.
  2. Start a blog. Write at least one sentence every week.
  3. Keep a scrapbook
  4. Every week, read a magazine you’ve never read before
  5. Once a month interview someone for 20 minutes, work out how to make them interesting. Podcast it.
    Collect something
  6. Once a week sit in a coffee-shop or cafe for an hour and listen to other people’s conversations. Take notes. Blog about it. (Carefully)
  7. Every month write 50 words about one piece of visual art, one piece of writing, one piece of music and one piece of film or TV. Do other art forms if you can. Blog about it
  8. Make something
  9. Read:
    * Understanding Comics – Scott McCloud
    * The Mezzanine – Nicholson Baker
    * The Visual Display Of Quantitative Information – Edward Tufte

I think I’m a pretty interesting chap – but one trap I find myself sinking into is sharing so much with the world via the interweb that I don’t stop and take time to share that with others in real life. And other times, I forget to take the time to find out what makes other people interesting and sharing those things with others.

I think that’s one thing I try to do when we host dinner parties, or work on the something beautiful podcast, or introduce friends – make each person see what makes the other person interesting.

In other words – this person must have some qualities/values that I find to be interesting – so be sure and share those qualities with others when you introduce them.

And also, find the beauty in each person around you. Each person has a story. Each person has value. Each person already has “interestingness.” Find it & share it.

Something I’ve also found that helps add to a person’s interestingness is reading and responding to those random surveys on MySpace. I’ve found out so many random thoughts, ideas and history behind so many of my “acquaintances,” friends and family through MySpace surveys.

Twitter has also helped bridge the time/space gap between many (new) friends as well. In fact, many of the suggestions above can be done with 140 characters or less via Twitter, rather than a full blown blog… or you can incorporate the two together.

Related ::

Thomas’ blog post
the original post from Russell Davies
share your photos for free on flickr
get a free blogger (google) blog
get a free wordpress blog
get your own free Myspace profile
micro-blog for free on Twitter
Twitter tools for WordPress

simply living simply

Kevin has shared some thoughts on living simply.

I think everyone wanting to live simply has different reasons for doing so, Kevin says, “Part of my motivation is money: Spending less on stuff makes our adoption more affordable. It also makes it easier to help others and be more generous.”

Kevin points to two recent posts by Shaun Groves who writes that his desire for living simply is: “To free up resources which should be spent on those presently in need. To prevent need. To invest in personal health – mental, spiritual, relational and physical.”

These things resonate with me deep in my soul. Yet I struggle with simply giving up my wants and desires in order to simply live a simple life. Things like having my own car (truck) to take me where I want when I want, having the AC/heater on at the exact temperature I want it at, eating what I want, when I want or even living in a “suburb” away from the big city. These are things (along with others) that I want control over – but seem to go against the idea of living simply.

Some other things I think are important to living simply (that Kevin and Shaun didn’t specifically mention) are taking full advantage of technology when and where its affordable and practical. Probably one reason I’m a big fan of sites like Lifehacker.com and even social networking sites. I’ve always sent prayer requests to people via txt messaging and e-mails but now with Twitter and my BlackCrackBerry those processes are even faster and easier. There is some additional cost along the way – but to me, for what I do its well worth it for some of the technology (but maybe these are areas I should work on as well). Of course when and where I can use open source – I’m all for it.

I think ultimately I have several reasons for wanting to live simply and both Kevin and Shaun have included them in their reasons – but off the cuff here are some of mine…

  • Investing more in others rather than myself. The more I spend on myself, the less I have to give away. God may choose to bless me and Laurie, but I believe he blesses people so that we in turn can be a blessing to others. I also think this carries over into investing personal time and such with people as well. If I share my dinner with friends and family, not only am I giving to them financially, it offers opportunity to give and share relationally.
  • Being a good steward of ALL that God has given us. We hear this a lot in our churches, but I think we tend to only apply it to our tithe and finances we give back to the church or other causes. I think this also includes being a good steward of the world around us – i.e. living green, recycling, etc.
  • Living simply = less stress. Let’s face it, the less you have, the less opportunity you have for things to go wrong. Sure some of those things may happen and stress may still occur but if I become dependent on things – it becomes a lot more stressful when those things don’t work like they should.

Well those are the basics. Be sure and read Kevin’s post as well as Shaun’s to see what they’re doing. Maybe a little later I’ll share some of the simple things Laurie and I have started doing to try to simply live simply.

In the meantime, how, why and where do you live simply?

Switch off that television

This video is making it’s rounds around the Interweb. I’ve seen it on 3 or 4 sites now but saw it first on Thomas’ blog a day or two ago. Everyone’s had some great opinions on it. I personally like Thomas’ best – maybe cause we’re looking at things in a similar way.

I’ll try not to steal his thunder. Watch the video and then read his post for sure. But here are just a couple highlights:

From the video:

Media that’s targeted at you but doesn’t include you may not be worth sitting still for.

Thomas writes:

The way Clay expresses it is basically… the new media (blogging/wikipedia/youtube etc) = consuming + producing + sharing > this is a shift from the old media that only expects you to consume.

People are watching less television and are doing something… making something happen… like just now as I create this post. It reminds me of the old Why don’t you? motto :: Why Don’t You Just Switch Off Your Television Set and Go and Do Something Less Boring Instead? :: kind of ironic, I know… but its real… and its now!

I have some great friends who chose not to purchase a TV for the first couple years of their marriage. They only had a small Commodore monitor hooked up to a VCR for watching movies. They finally gave in though when Tim needed his Texas Rangers fix and probably didn’t help that their girls were getting older – but I wonder how different our lives would be if we all stopped simply consuming television on a daily basis….

Speaking of anniversaries

My Google Calendar reminded me of something today.

3 years ago today I officially started my blogging adventure.
Stranger in a Strange Land 1.0.

Although back then, it was hosted elsewhere and looked a good deal different (I’m not sure what happened to the old header).

You may notice there are posts older than April 30, 2005 – have no fear – those were added after I started my blog so I could have some record of the columns I wrote for the Belton Journal and Harker Heights Evening Star. You might also find an old Xanga account out there that I tried briefly and I even tried building my own “blog” from scratch but that was taken down ages ago – after I found out all about CMS.

It’s been a great ride so far. The feedback has been great – well most of it :-).

Through writing my blog and reading others I’ve met some great friends like Thomas. I’ve connected with old friends like Chad. I’ve gotten a better insight into the lives of some very close friends. And I’ve even gained a better insight and understanding of my wife.

And hopefully you’ve each learned something more about me as well. Hopefully you’ve been able to see more of what makes me me. While my posts may not always be personal in nature – they are personal to me. They are things that make me think, influence me and challenge me.

Hope you’ve enjoyed the ride so far and hope you continue reading. Thanks!

Quote of the day

“I’ve really just begun to see that everything that I do with my life is sort of a theological statement. So many times I thought theology was just this black and white doctrine in a dusty book somewhere. But I’ve begun to realize that what I do with my money, what I do with my lifestyle, what I do with my politics, all of these things are theological statements. I’m not just living in a vacuum somewhere… Where I shop is not just a practical decision anymore or or financial decision or because they have the best products or the best tasting things. Where I shop at and where I go to eat at and what types of things I buy with money… I’m trying to invest in these things with some theological meaning because they are theological statements. Where I shop shows the world what I think about God or how I view God.”

– Josh from the Nick and Josh Podcast 4.0

Found out about The Nick & Josh Podcast from Chad and Tripp on The Homebrewed Christianity Podcast. Apparently Nick & Josh have decided to pick a “podcast war” with the Homebrewed guys. Should make for some fun. I’ve advised Chad to break out an F.O.C. gun as the true WMD.

The latest on Elliot

Received word that Elliot did pass away at 9:05 a.m.

From Sara’s sister:

Elliot weighes 4.65 pounds and is 18 3/4 inches long. I have attached a couple of pictures so that you can see our beautiful boy.

Elliot passed away at about 9:05. We are all heartbroken, but praise God for the time that we all had!

We are so grateful for your continued prayers and support.

Vanessa

Please remember the family at this time.