(not me, but what I feel like)


I have too much work. I'm putting in 12 to 16 hour days every day this week, and it's all work that I want. On top of that I've got a list of people waiting to hear back from me about work they want me to do for them - also work I'd love to do!

So my options are:

• Turn down new jobs altogether.
  
• Start scheduling work out in the future (ie., I can do this for you, but not for 6 weeks).
• Raise my prices so I offend people with my job cost estimates.
• Subcontract jobs to programmers in India.
• Cross sleep off the schedule.
  

(The image below is displayed for reference, but I blocked out one of the letters so you can't tell what network I'm talking about.)

A few years ago there was a push for radio stations playing music for christians should try to widen their audience by not saying "christian" - "positive" is a nicer word that will allow for a larger audience appeal.

It was a marketing move.

But on this particular network, they've gone overboard.

Everything is positive. Everything. Every announcer is cheery, every commercial break starts after some fake laughter from the hosts.

The great psalms are not just psalms of praise, but of lament, crying out to God "WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME!" and "WHY DO MY ENEMIES PROSPER!"

By stripping the scripture, the psalms, or even poetry of the struggle and angst strips it of its genuineness and it's truth.


If someone's life, or their faith, is without struggle, without angst, I cannot identify. I identify much more with the struggle of songs like this part of the Goo Goo Dolls' song:

and i don't want the world to see me,
cause i don't think that they'd understand
when everything's made to be broken,
i just want you to know who I am.

You cannot be positive and encouraging and real while denying the pervasive Angst of life and faith.

In fulfillment of a New Year's Resolution I never made, I'm on a bit of an organizational spree.

It is really de-motivating for me to start my day by looking at a mess. One big mess that I usually see is my e-mail's in-box.

Last night I finished clearing out my e-mail's in-box. G-mail's labeling system helps organize wonderfully, especially using the "Getting Things Done" label method.


Question: "e-mail" or "email"?

A review of my most worthwhile expenses in 2007.

• Blackberry ($100+)
  
  
  
  The Blackberry 8700, with a full QWERTY keyboard and internet access has been amazing. When I'm away from my office or out of town I just forward my business line to my cell, and I'm still available via email, AOL Instant Messenger, yahoo messenger, and Skype (and can make skype calls from my phone). Google maps has helped me out so many times.
  



• Mini Air Compressor ($10)
  
  
  Plugs into a cigarette lighter and pumps air up to 250psi. Used it this week at 11pm in sub-freezing temperatures to rescue my wife who had a flat tire.







• 2GB Thumb Drive ($15)
  I can now run all of my essential programs off the USB drive on my key chain. This means that I can now work from any computer with an Internet connection without installing any programs onto the computer.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Mini-Greenhouses ($10)
  
  These little greenhouses are really cheap, come with dirt, you just add seeds and water, and plants grow. This got me motivated to get our vegetable garden started this year (lots of cucumbers, some corn, snow peas, tomatoes). I've even got one going now getting some indoor veggies started.
  
  
  
  
• Kitchen Shelf Drawer Slides ($50 per drawer + labor)
  
  Getting on my hands and knees reaching into the deep recesses of one of our lower kitchen cupboards to try to find sesame seed oil was too much. I bought the wood and the sliders and build these shelves, which have saved us tons of time and back-ache.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Adoption Costs (around $500)
  Adopting the way we are is surprisingly affordable (under $500 for the fees, court fees, training, etc.), and we've started our family with a beautiful little boy.

I spent a summer in Indonesia before my senior year of college for my internship. A big part of my trip was a cultural research paper. Many people were discussing how individual ethnic groups were losing their group identity due to the national emphasis on identifying one's self as an "Indonesian" person rather than a Malay person or a Minang person, etc.

I found that the real battle is much more between Islam (Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim country) and Western commercialism. Both forces are seeking to change the value system of young people in Indonesia.

It got me thinking about how the main marketing method is to tell the customer what "need" is unfulfilled in their lives, then immediately produce the product or service to fill the need. The top two that irk me are,

"You deserve it." (ie., you're getting gyped and you're a victim and the world owes you.)

"It's not your fault." (ie., you're a victim and someone else ought to solve the problems of your credit card debt.)

It's no wonder people want the government, the church, their neighbors to give to them and not have to give anything for others. Every day we are pummeled with value messages warring for our hearts. What am I doing to counter this, or have I already embraced these values which are utterly contradictory to what Jesus taught?