Brand recognition

A quick thought for you today. I was just on Google+ and Tumblr and I realized that nobody really gets on those sites. And I wish they did. Boy I wish they did. Because they are such cool sites. And there are a lot of people on Twitter, sure. But everybody is on Facebook. Facebook is like the Wal-Mart of social networking. There isn't a soul that doesn't go eventually.

And it got me thinking because I personally love all those other sites more than Facebook. Nothin' against Facebook I just really, really like what all those other ones offer. More.

It's so mind boggling to think of how a following--or at least the appearance of a following--changes, depending upon the vantage point that a particular arena places you at any given time.

As an example, I bring up Dave Matthews Band to all my friends. Maybe one of them likes them at least just a little bit. In that arena it'd be easy to get discouraged because it's tough to find a solid base within my circle of people that can just talk DMB all day long. And it could lead me to think that I'm all by myself in the sense of DMB. But then I go to a concert where all us loners get together and all of a sudden I see from a different angle how many people call themselves fans.

All I'm saying is: Are you trying to gain a following? Have you been at it for awhile? Do you feel after all your efforts that you still only run into maybe one new fan or follower a week? Maybe? Well. Don't worry. If you can manage it, don't worry. Because chances are that if not today or tomorrow, someday soon you'll look up and you'll be checking out those one-by-ones in a different setting. A different venue. A different arena. And they'll all be together. And you'll see the magnitude of the impact you really had. And I get the feeling that, picturing it the way it will be someday *now*, you'll be able to get up today and get that one more fan or follower that counts you as someone that had a great impact on him/her. Stay in the race. Stay in the fight. After all, it IS life long.

You want something?

Just something real quick.  Bethany is so incredible with Selah, and the stuff that she says to our little girl are just so simple yet profound.  It truly is amazing.  Selah was on the ground and Beth picked her up into her lap and she made a whining sound like she wasn't happy about the current situation.  So Bethany tried to help her out.  I think she put Selah down and a couple moments later I heard the same noise coming out of Selah.  So Bethany tried to help her out again.  This continued on for a while as Beth moved from what she was doing, heading towards the doorway to go outside with her.  That's one thing we've learned, see, as the thing that ultimately makes Selah feel better, the age olde solution of going outside and getting some fresh air and working or playing in the yard--it really doesn't matter which.

Anyway, all throughout this time, Bethany kept telling her that if she wanted something, that whining wasn't how she would get it; it would take asking.

I was like, Wow.  How often do I NOT ask for things but instead waste so much of my time talking about what's not right and what hasn't happened yet?  Does this necessarily have to be dialogue with another person?  On the contrary, I have a lot of these conversations with myself that are equally if not more hazardous.  Isn't that amazing?

So, another lesson learned; and by something as simple as having a child of my own.  Just because something that I want hasn't happened yet, maybe I shouldn't wonder what I'M doing wrong, spending precious seconds contemplating what I need to do better and what I need to drop and what I need to say good-bye to, and what getting up at 4 a.m. tomorrow might do to fix it, and I better get my laundry done today because I definitely can't think about changing what I need to change with a hamper full of dirty clothes, and I haven't drunk my proper intake of water today to make sure that I'm hydrated, blah!  Just blah.  It's all fluff.

Do I want something?  I just need to ask.

A late night visit.

Ah, I love homework. There is something about getting up early and getting started on it. I've always been the type of person that gets up really early on his own to work on some sort of project. It'll either be to do a workout because I've made it a goal yet again to lose weight; or i want to devote more time to reading so I'll do a little bit of that; or just whatever the case may be.

I must admit I'm starting to get excited to graduate; but not for the usual reason one might always hear. It's not because I'm just so sick and tired of the work and work. It's because I haven't been able to spend that extra little bit of time that I have on other things that I want to work on. I used to have the ability to pick and choose. As it has been for the past year now, all my extra time has to go towards homework.

I did make a little bit of time to practice last night on the drums. I spent about a half hour and also used that time to be brutally honest with myself. In being honest with myself I couldn't ignore--based on my experience in the industry--the fact that I most certainly wouldn't hire me. I simply don't spend the amount of time I should on my craft IF it's what I want to do for a living. My commitment level and my expectation level are not on the same level; and they're gonna HAVE to be if I'm going to really really do this and stop fooling myself.

That was the first thing I realized. The second thing I realized is that I am still VERY much in love. How do I know? Lots of indicators abound, but an example the sticks out the most has to do with what I enjoy practicing. The things that I enjoy practicing--every single one of 'em--would likely illicit the response something along the lines of, "Boring."

What am I saying? Am I saying that I feel as though I should only practice something by passing it through the "boring" test. Quite the opposite in fact. See what's happening is this. I love drumming so much and I am so captivated by even its most basic exercise, that I'll practice something, and even though it may be very elementary, it's just as cool sounding to me as if I was playing an "awesome solo."

So, I'm very much looking forward to spending more time on 'em. It's time I actually do something instead of just fartin' around 'em.

Ouch

I don't know if you have ever heard of a little website called futureme.org. But let me tell ya. It. Is. SO cool. I was first introduced to it when I read Jon Acuff's book "Quitter" and he talks about his personal use of what the website offers.

Basically what the website does is allow you to write a letter to yourself that will be delivered to you at some point in the future of your choosing. I used it for the first time a few days ago and intend to use it again. Mostly because I only wrote myself a one sentence letter and, hey, I mean let's be honest: I'm too high maintenance for something so roughshod.

Just to let you know. There's an option to share with everyone the letters you wrote to yourself. And a snippet of the letter is placed right on the home screen. I happened to catch one that a woman wrote that included reminding herself how much she loves this thing that her husband does. Uh yeah. And my eyes are still on fire.

Movin' to something different.

I've been trying to try to think of something a little different for my next blog posts. Something against the normal grain, which has been a little serious and melancholy. Melancholy? Yeah I think that's the right word I'm looking for. But anyway, I've been wanting to make my next ones a little bit on the more lighthearted side.

I probably will do something else, too, that is a little bit different. I'm going to start publishing blog posts with the heart of, "Do I feel like sharing this link or not?" In the past I've just published and gone straight to sharing the link on all my social networking sites no matter what. Mm. With that in mind I think I'll share this one. Then I'll start with that change from that point forward.

Let's see, what else? Ooo. I wanna start including pictures or videos that I see that have impacted me in some way. This one might be a little tougher to do without some guidance so I might call you of you're technically inclined for the occasional advice or other gem of knowledge.

That's it for now! I'm sittin' here with my brother-in-Christ Randy and his two boys at the water park about to get ready for The Road Adventure Part V. I'm ready. Bring it on!

So studious!

Hey everyone!  Now before I even really get rollin', let me first say that, yes, I know it has been quite awhile since I posted anything.  There's a couple reasons.  They'll sound very opposite but in a weird way they kinda work together.  First is that a lot has been going on.  A lot of changes in my life that has made it challenging to write.  Second, nothing has happened. Wait, wha?  But, Jason, y-y-ya just said that a lot has been going on!  Well.  I know.  But I guess what's been lacking has been those moments that you look for that have so often strategically and painfully hidden themselves in the cracks of the every day grind.  That's what I usually experience that makes me walk right in the door at the end of the day and get it all down on cyberspace before I forget any of the cool details.

Oddly enough, I don't really feel that way; at least I don't always really feel that way.  I experience doubt that what I'm putting on here is really helping anyone.  Sometimes.  But then I remember that it doesn't really matter if what I put on here helps someone or not.  It's not up to me to decide.  It's not up to me to push that on someone.  It's simply my job to take everything that I think about--sometimes painful, sometimes joyous--and like it, love it, or leave it, just put it on here and let the chips fall where they may.

I have certainly come to appreciate the use of a journal that is just for conversations between me and Yeshua.  I've come to appreciate it on a whole new level.  Most of those recent conversations have come in the form of me thinking that they belong on here and creating a pretty lengthy rant, only to delete it before posting it.  Destructive?  Mmm, I wouldn't say that.  Self-preservationistic?  Probably more accurate, although perhaps not totally grammatically correct.  Why do I think it as such?  I would say that it's universally agreed that not everything is meant for every audience.

Okay, so that's a little bit on that.  I promise--even if only to myself since I'm shirking more homework to write this--that there won't be much more to this post.  But just a couple more nuggets.

I still don't know what I want to do with my life.  I'm working like crazy towards finishing so many projects from my youth.  I know that even if the achievement that I see in the near future doesn't go towards anything I will want to do career-wise, it's still a notch in the goal post.  I'm going to get my BBA next spring but I can't say that my obtaining a position administrating anything business-related is just going to make my inner-bright-eyed-learning-student-self jump for joy with the feeling that it was all worth it.  The business model that I've come to love over the years is not one that believes that a degree is worth any more than the paper it's printed on.  Rather it's one that takes a look at the person and asks How much of yourself are you ready to pour out so that your family tree will be changed forever?

I still want to play drums for a living.  I must be the only one my age still saying that.  Eh, I should probably be a little bit more specific with that.  I'm probably the only one that had aspirations in high school to playing drums for a living.  Experienced that dream by being a soldier musician for the army band.  Left that world thinking that a seemless crossover into the civilian sector would just be waiting for me on the other side.  Fast forward roughly nine years later and have seen nothing come to fruition.  Keeping in mind that I in no way disregard any of the gigging I've seen these past nine years, when in fact I fully recognize every opportunity I've had as my own personal vacation time as the love and appreciation for the art has never left.

Okay, I'm done for now.  I'm a little nervous about this one because I feel like I was a little less careful and reserved than I usually am.  But like I said earlier, this is for anyone that needs it.  If that happens to be noone or even less than noone, I'm ready.

Also an aside: I'm shooting for at least one blog post a week.  I think that's what I started out with but I didn't really start out with that frequency with any gameplan.  Now I actually have one:  I want to start writing more.  My plan is to start once a week again and increase the frequency a little bit each month.  It's time to start getting better at it.  And believe me when I say that your critique is a very welcomed part of that.

I hope everyone's summer is going very well!