A Blog Divided and Bloggal Suicide

Are you addicted to blogging? Does it seem sometimes that the purpose of your life is to experience things so that you can blog about them? Or, when you're reading something (a book or the Bible)... does it start out innocent -- but then become a research project for your next blog post? How often do you check your blog stats? Every 15 minutes?

This is a shout-out to my buddy Steve, who committed bloggal suicide today. He was hooked, and decided to kill his blog. Cold turkey. My other buddy, Mike, blogged on a similar issue today (just in a more existential way). This is also why my wordpress blog is dead. Some folks out there seem to have a full time job as bloggers.

Are you suffering from a blogging addiction?? What are you going to do about it? Leave your confessions here.

Also, ever since killing my wordpress "Bible" blog, this blog has become more comprehensive to all the things I'm interested in (mainly music, theology, programming, and Linux). However, I think that's made this blog cluttered and confusing. I think when folks come here, they're just looking for one of those (and the others become annoying). Plus, I can't change the URL to gabesRockPreachyHackyGeekyLog.blogspot.com.

So, tell me (both of you who read): Should I split up this blog, or keep going like this?

TQM Church: Do I belong here?

I wrote before about The Total Quality Management Church, including links to various high-quality, well-marketed church web sites. The main issue I had with them was this: Would you feel welcome at these churches if you looked like this:



I know I wouldn't, even if I were all dressed up. With everyone so perfect... where would I fit in? How would this church be relevant to what I'm going through?

Sure, all the stock and professionally done photos evoke a positive message, one that won't offend, and one that won't scare anyone. But, they also tend to project the kind of people that you're looking for. It unconsciously says to the poor, the needy, the outcasts, the ugly: we don't want you around.

Like I said before: it prevents defects (nobody gets offended by an ugly picture), but it also prevents excellence (an atmosphere where God changes the lives of real, un-perfect people).

[1] - Image is of Yu Zhenhuan, who holds the world record for "Hairiest Man."

Broken String

I broke a string while performing this Sunday. Really embarrassing when you're only doing 3 songs.



It was my D string. Broke at the bridge. How do you break a D string? What do you do?

I had been religiously changing my strings before every 'gig.' I really love the sound of new strings, but very few people notice. So, at $4/pack I started making them go longer.

And when the cursed event happens:

• Everything on your guitar is now out-of-tune. It
  is, indeed, the laws of physics.


• What's that? Did you say that you don't keep a spare
  set of strings in your case? For shame!


• Changing a string will take at least 5 minutes because
  you have no roadies, and the case is 30 feet away.


• Tuning quickly and making do could work... but all those
  hours of practicing all those tasty licks are... not much use now.
  Every scale. Every arpeggio. They need that string.


• What's that? You don't know where the octaves on your
  guitar are located? Too bad. It's going to be very
  hard to make-do.

I chose to make do, because I knew I couldn't grab a string fast enough.

The best way is to change your strings is on the D'Addario website: here. They stay in tune, break in very quickly, and makes changing strings super fast. You end up with about 1 wrap (which breaks in quick), but you do a "lock-wrap" so that it stays really secure (which stays in tune). Using this method, I've been able to change strings right before a performance without having to re-tune more than once or twice.

So tell me: What are your broken string war stories? What did you do?

[1] - Image from http://www.verkstad.com/art/stringball/StringBall05.jpg, by John Kieltyka

[2] - @Mike: better? :-P

Jesus is a Friend of Mine

Modern pasters are all the time finding cool videos to use in their sermons. This one was shown recently at University Baptist Church in Waco, TX (home church of the David Crowder*Band):

Sonseed's "Jesus is a Friend of Mine"

Instead of being good boys and girls and listening to the sermon, they went to the office and learned the song. Check out the video on David Crowder's Blog.

Classic.