great b-day bonus

Well, my birthday was last Friday, but tonight I got a special bonus that I wasn't expecting and it made my evening.

My best friend and former college room-mate wrote me an ACTUAL email and let me know what is going on in his life!

(Now in all fairness, I am not that great at shooting emails out to him either. And I know that he sends me a note with some fear and trepidation, because invariably, I'm so excited to hear from him that I send him back an email that is way too long to expect anybody to read.)

AO is just a great, talented person that I'm so glad to call him my friend. We were both music majors in college and with very few exceptions had almost the same schedules the whole time we were in school. We were also in the same traveling ensembles and then we decided to be room-mates (can anybody say "recipe for disaster"?) We did have our rocky spots in college, but I think that the fact that we made it through with a friendship still intact strengthens the friendship we have now. Even though we're both kind of flaky when it comes to staying in touch.

I think about this phenomenon quite a bit (and I know I've written at least one song about it); how we must cherish our friendships while we're in the middle of them. Because people come and go, as much as I still love AO, he lives a long ways away and it's hard to keep up with each other. The important thing is to bathe the relationship with grace. So I haven't heard from you in a long time; You haven't heard from me either! Why waste precious time and energy focusing on how we're bad at correspondence when we could just pick up where we left off! That's way more fun!

That's just one of the reasons that I appreciate AO so much. We just pick up where we left off. He's got 4 kids and a great wife and I've just got a great wife. He's a successful, talented music minister at a large church in Arizona. I, among other things, move pianos. So what? I still know what he looks like in bikini underwear...that's got to be worth something, right?

Holly and I have run into old friends where, for whatever reason, they don't feel like they can do that, and it's so sad to me. Believe me when I tell you: Don't be like that. Cherish your friends, especially the ones that you only get to have contact with occasionally.

34 years old

Today. Not sure how I feel about it. But, there you go.

When will it end?

Written on a piece of paper and put in a tip jar of a fellow singer/songwriter/performer and close personal friend of mine:

"Tip: God has given you a wonderful gift. You glorify Satan. The fear nightmares and bondage you sing of can only be broken one way! Give God back His gift."

I've known the person who received this "tip" for nearly a year. I know that he has wrestled with personal demons and addictions and I know how those struggles have been illustrated in his songs and his art. He has also shared with me how he believes that God has had a hand in pulling him through some of those things and brought him to the place he is at right now.

The ignorance, arrogance and presumption inherent to the note he received is unconscionable. How could this "tip-giver" possibly think that leaving this note could/would do any good for anybody? How could they think this note could draw anybody toward Christ?

I hold deep admiration and respect with how this singer/songwriter has approached spiritual matters and faith in his life. Will he ever choose to take the name of "Christian"? I don't know; but could you really expect anybody to want to sign up for a group that perpetuates this kind of idiocy in recruitment?

Seriously, who might be serving Satan's purposes the most? An artist who is honest about the search and struggle in his life or a Christian who happens to be a jackass and/or an idiot?

Do you think this person actually left any money in the tip jar along with this note? Not bloody likely...

Sticking Up for Crossover Artists - Commentaries -

And it continues... This helped with the funk I put myself into by reading Pruitt's ignorance.

Secular, Sacred, or Both? - Commentaries - Christian Music Today

Articles like this give me hope. At the same time, the more I read articles like this where somebody else "gets it", the more disheartening it is to know how many well-intentioned people I know are so completely oblivious.

busy shack

Moved pianos 8 hours on Monday and another 8 hours on Tuesday. At Easthall, we have Wednesday through Saturday blocked out. My library book, Until I Find You by John Irving, is overdue and somebody has a hold on it and I've got about 200 pages to go. I just can't seem to find a second to get it finished.

Holly and my 12th wedding anniversary is this Sunday. She has a big weekend planned for us and I'm looking forward to getting out of here.

I'm supposed to be at the studio by 10am. Still need to shower.