NOT ONE LESSON

Peachtree Road at 6:00am [North Buckhead]

I haven’t run since January of this year. Part of it was due to injury, but it was mostly that my attention went to cycling instead. But since my accident just over a month ago, I haven’t been able to do anything on the road. And cycling is on hold until I can (1) straighten my arm out enough, and (2), not cry when my wrist moves.

But I can run.

For the first time in 9 months, I rolled out of bed early (5am), grabbed the DS Trainers and went for a run. It was the both the worst and best 35 minutes in a long time. My ribs still hurt, so the impact of the running was something to deal with. But I was running. And that’s what mattered. Every step was moving me further from where I had been, and closer to something else. I ran without music, which I love to do; the sounds of the city waking up is a good enough soundtrack.

I will be back tomorrow, for sure.

Picture: Alden walking through the High Museum of Art, Atlanta

I dig on the art museum. All the space. White walls, track lights, hardwood floors, and those movable walls that transform open space into corridors of exhibits. It’s brilliant. There’s nothing to it. Take the art away, and the place becomes irrelevant. Just an empty IKEA, which is hard to imagine. If we ever renovate a space for our church, this place will have influence in our plans.

New series: “Come Together”
Text: Hebrews 10:23-25
Begins August 9, 2009

The process is pretty simple, much like the room in the picture. Create white space and fill it up with ideas without edit.

The details come from the text.

The stories from real life.

The messages are born out of both the failures and successes of living out the text.

The piles of study materials and books grows and then recedes.

Most of what’s on the walls never gets used.

And more times than not, what’s not on the walls will show up and carry the series through.

The parking lot underneath our building is full of cars with those Alumni tags or plate covers. Here is a list of the colleges and universities the kids from our condo attended:

University of Geogia

Georgia Tech

Virginia Tech

Florida State University

Emory University

Auburn University

University of Kentucky

Baylor University

Cincinnati Christian University (that’s us!)

I think that’s it. I’ll keep looking.

WHO LIVES AROUND YOU?

There are days here and there when I notice, or feel, myself rubbing shoulders with frankness and short-talk with people, namely the ones behind the counter. Most days I’m slow and patient; most days I’m at ease and chill with whatever goes down. But lately my steps have been quickening with the staff at the stores I frequent, and it’s all over these ridiculous “member cards” or discount rewards cards that are crowding our key chains.

I think it all started at Radio Shack years ago.

Guy behind the counter: “Is that all?”

Me: “Yep, just the batteries.”

Guy behind the counter: “Cool. Can I have your zip code?”

Me: “What?”

Guy behind the counter: “Can I have your zip code, please?”

Me: “For batteries?”

Guy behind the counter: “Yep.”

Me: “Uh, okay. Um…45718.” (At this point you should know that the zip code mentioned in this little replay script is fake, just like the one I would give at the store.)

Tonight, it went down like this:

CVS employee: “How are you tonight?”

Me: “Good. You?”

CVS employee: “Good, thanks. Do you have your CVS Card with you?”

Me: “No. I don’t.”

CVS employee: “Well, do you know your phone number? I can look it up.”

At this time I can feel the angst in the line of people behind me. I feel like a bad club member, or worse yet, like a non-member! I didn’t look behind me, but I just know that people were looking me up and down, saying: “Figures. Why don’t these people go back to Rite-Aid where they belong?” There’s also a panic inside of me because I really don’t remember WHAT phone number they have in the system. Like any good family, we have three: the house phone (which has never been plugged in) and the two cell numbers. Was it one of those or some mystery number that we gave them a long time ago and have since forgotten?

But watch what happened next:

Me: “No.”

I’m not sure, but at that moment I think I heard the music stop. If it were a musical (perhaps titled: “The Man Who Said ‘No’”), the customers would have started singing and dancing, shouting out words that had to do with my defiance and bravery to go against the grain. Okay, so I made that part up. Back to the story…

CVS employee: “Oh.”

Me: I swiped my debit card, punched in the info, and walked out.

The revolution has begun.

We went to the zoo today and were treated with some musical goodness on the way out.

Video: Filmed with a FLIP camera tied to the front of my Timbuk2 bag while scootering back to the office from an early meeting. (My battery ran out before I got to Buckhead.)

My son’s favorite subjects are: Math, Art & Indiana Jones. That’s it. Things like English, French and Reading are way down the list. He struggles the most with spelling. Not that he can’t spell; he just hates doing it.

But every subject has its Rock Star.

Last night the 2008 National Spelling Bee was on. I saw it as a chance to prove to my son that spelling skilz are cool. I think it worked. And Sameer was funny.

I’ve always loved this picture. That’s a Fender Precision bass in it’s last moments. It’s the cover shot on The Clash’s 1979 London Calling record, a record Rolling Stone titled “Album of the Decade” (80s). I remember wondering how it edged out The Joshua Tree, but being okay with it because I loved this band.

The picture is blurry.

Out of focus.

Confusing.

Chaotic.

I love how there’s a random fan on the stage.

Rock-n-roll.

What picture best describes rock-n-roll for you?

Picture: Field Day, Sarah Smith Elementary School
Location: Some park near by