Dear Barcelona,

I showed up to the Detroit Bar on Tuesday night with little expectation, having never even heard of you before I arrived, but from the moment you started playing, I was impressed.

What I immediately noticed and appreciated was your level of musicianship, not to mention what went on when you weren’t playing (but I will). Your posture from stage was inviting and sincere instead of pretentious, you looked like you were enjoying yourselves, and your transitions went smoothly. Your combination of musical excellence, showmanship and professionalism really separated you from everyone else. (I also liked the light inside the kick, it added an aesthetic that fit your style)

Then I went to your booth to buy a cd. You guys shook my hand, talked to me for a bit, thanked me for coming, gave me a free poster, and were as sincere off stage as on. You simply did everything right. Thanks for an amazing show, you’ve won a fan here.

Jared

Here’s a great way to “give thanks” to God this Thanksgiving – buy a pair of shoes for someone living in a third-world country. If you sign up for the Soles4Souls “50,000 Pairs in 50 Days” Campaign, you can share the Gospel of “good news to the poor” for just $5.

Here’s how it works:

Go to 50000shoes.com.
A $5 donation buys two pairs of shoes. Everyone that’s reading this has $5, and everyone has 2 minutes. From start to finish, donating is literally three clicks. No fluff. No hassle. Anyone can donate.

Spread the word.
Use the widget code on the landing page to post a link on your blog. Email everyone you know. Join the facebook group. Ask your friends to do the same!

Win a trip.

Besides the fact that the blogging world can literally impact 50,000 people before the end of the year, one person (and their guest) will be chosen at random to hand-deliver the shoes they purchased on a Soles4Souls trip to Mexico. Imagine handing someone their first pair of shoes… ever.

Do the Math.
If 500 people influence 10 people to donate, and those people influence 5 more, that’s 50,000 pairs of shoes ($5 buys 2 pairs).

Get Started.
Sign-up at http://50000shoes.com/, donate your $5, and start spreading the word.

For more on this campaign, read this article by my friend Jeff Goins : Shoes, Social Media, and Justice

I’m sick. I hate being sick. I hate the coughing, the sneezing, the nose running and all the feelings that go with it. I hate what it does to my ability to focus, to multitask, to get things done.

I hate that it forces me to slow down. Then I realize that that’s exactly what I need.

Slow down.

When I slow down, I think about things more before I say them, if only because talking requires more effort. I think more about how my actions affect other people. I take time to just think about things. I am a do-er. I love to do. I often don’t consider that doing without thinking is pointless, really. When I slow down, I focus on what matters.

I need to take time to slow down every day, instead of waiting until I’m forced to.

I recently moved, and so I’ve been selling some things I don’t need on ebay. I noticed a cool feature today: Ebay will let you automatically donate a portion or all of the profit you make on your item to one of hundreds of non-profit organizations, and also give you a credit for seller fees. Check it out:

How cool is that? I’m donating my profits to invisible children, because they’re awesome.

The driver has to work harder than anyone. He’s the first to show up and the last to leave. When his teammates are all out drinking beer, he’s up in his room studying pictures of turns. You see, a driver must remain 100% focused at all times. Not only is he responsible for knowing every inch of every course he races, he also responsible for the lives of the other three people in the sled. Do you want that responsibility?

- Cool Runnings

Read it again but put “leader” in place of “driver.” Leadership is like that I think, and it can be lonely. Sometimes you just want to have fun instead of having the responsibility. Which is why you have to want it.

Ever try to play a itunes song outside of itunes? Oh, you can’t. Ever want to send an itunes song to a friend to check out? Oh, you can’t. Ever want to convert a itunes song to mp3? Oh, you can’t. Ever want your audio in higher quality? Nope.

Amazon MP3. Still one click to buy and add to itunes. MP3 Format. 256 kbps. DRM Free. Oh, and cheaper than itunes.

Aug 8-10, I’m volunteering for an organization called Teen Leadership Camp, to take 40 kids who are in the care of the Social Services Foster Care System to camp for a weekend. The goal is to offer life-changing paths, build hope, friendship and memories for these kids who have either been abused or neglected by their families.

I’m setting a goal of raising $400, which covers the cost of one kid going to camp. If you can chip in $5, $10 or more, that would be awesome. You can give by clicking the badge on the right column over there.

Check out this video and also see http://n-tlc.org for more info. If you have more questions, email me.

Something about music stirs my soul more than anything else. While I think “worship music” is important, I now am pretty certain that I won’t be writing any. Not to say that it won’t be worship, if that makes sense. I want my music to cross boundaries of belief to point people towards God. I really look up to Thrice for this, they’re creating original, honest music that has a wide appeal but is so clear when you dig into its message.

The biggest barrier towards me doing something with music seems to be me. I don’t write because I don’t like what I wrote, and after trying for a little while I get frustrated with my lack of skill. I say, when I get better at this or that, then I’ll do it. It’s hard to keep at it when there’s so much to do.