Whoa...  

...where has the time gone? It's been a full week since I last posted!

Some cool things have been going on--it's a personal pride, I guess, which can be a bit dangerous, that I've been working, useful, and busy the last week or so, despite being on summer "vacation."

So, rather than focusing on what I've been doing, I'll tell you about what I've been involved in, since there are other people doing important, useful, cool things.

--we've been building a green screen video lab at Community Bible Church. My best friend Kenny (and my two other friends, Jordan and Matt) operate the computer/technology department for the church and Community Christian School and they offered to let me come help make the green screen room, an area of video tech that I'm really interested in. They've also been letting me fool around on the video editing computer because it has Adobe CS3, which is a terribly secksy program.

--Avalon youth ministry has had a really great week. We started our small groups for the high schoolers (The Uprising), and while small at the moment, I'm praying that God gives me a vision for what He wants the Uprising small groups to look like and accomplish.

--The Uprising outreach service had a lot of visitors and long-lost members show up last night--the energy was much higher last night. We had a totally sweet movie trivia game (hosted by yours truly) and a pretty funny skit by our skit team. Kirk's talk was right-on, as they usually are. He's got a talent for telling people what the Bible says without crapping on them. I've been around so many people who can take ANY verse in the Bible and translate it into the same message over and over: "You suck, God doesn't like you, neither do I, and we won't until you look and talk like me." Not so with my friend, Kirk. The dude doesn't hesitate to challenge, but there is always the underlying concept that, regardless of where you are or have been, Jesus loves you and wants you.

--The Resistance, our middle school ministry, is chugging right along. It looks like our small groups are getting more cohesive. Oh...and by the way, ask and ye shall receive. We've been praying for more small group leaders and have had five new adult faces show up in the last month, looking to plug in. Woot! They've been so positive and enthusiastic about helping, teaching, and loving our kids.

--idea for a tee-shirt: Black 100% cotton tee; simple block type font; "God Melts My Face."

--Maggie's been learning a lot--and apparently listening very closely to what Shannon says. She wouldn't let me lie down in her bed last night to read her a story until I took my socks off. "Why, Maggie? Why do I have to take my socks off?" My sweet little monkey child looks up at me, puts her finger on her chin, smiles impishly, and says, "'Cause they're dirty."

--my fetus (currently inhabiting my wife's womb) is apparently a little larger than a lemon. When I get home from England in two weeks, we'll go get an ultrasound and find out if we're having a Wyatt (cross your fingers) or a Molly (that'd be fine with me, too).

A few blog/random links:

Los' video today. If you haven't seen the Pausch video or read the book, I suggest you do. Excellent, thought-provoking stuff. Material like this always makes me feel like I when I watch a Rocky training montage.

My current project (just for fun). No one asked me to make this and I don't expect anyone to use it, but I'm really enjoying screwing around in After Effects. SUCH a powerful artistic tool. The actual Quicktime video is 42 mb, and has crisp resolution, but uploading to youtube drops the video quality. It could use some music / sound effects...and a longer logo at the end, with a fade-out. I'll keep working on it.

Kirk's brother, Chad, has a blog and I didn't know. I'll put it up on my links list to the right. He's very talented with AF and has made some totally sick graphics for Avalon. He's a snazzy guy, too.

I'm not a fast talker--no, I know anyone who knows me IRL (in real life) is shouting, "YOU LIE, MATT FORD!" but I'm not a fast-talker. I talk fast, sure, but I often have difficulty figuring out why I think what I do and expressing it immediately in succinct, clear, and persuasive terms. Which is why I wish more managers and bosses would read and understand this post.

LoL Bruce Campbell's Tomato Soup

ZOMG MacGuyver cures deafness!

Harry Potter opens the egg...



Marathon post, I know...but I had some free time. :)