Sunday, October 18, 2009
Tour Busses cause Jet Lag
This may seem far-fetched to those of you that have never spent any time on a tour bus, but I think my tour bus is giving me jet lag. Being in my bunk, on the bus COMPLETELY deprives my body of any light-induced daily rhythm. No matter if I take a nap at 2pm, go to bed at 2am, wake at 4am or wake at noon - it's still pitch black in my bunk until I reach above my head and turn on the light. Only a diligent alarm lets me know that the sun should be up outside. Until I reach one of the two areas on the bus with windows, my body has no idea where it is in the course of a solar day. And to be honest: there is something incredibly refreshing about opening the door to the back lounge every morning and getting hit with some sunlight (that's usually the moment right before I realize the window is open, and I've gone to the lounge to retrieve my pants . . . ). I have no scientific proof, but I'm starting to think that tour busses cause jet lag.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Random Thoughts and Update
Insert standard "it's been a while" apology here . . . .and moving on
Many of you now know that Ashley and I are engaged. We are both very happy and excited to move forward in creating a life together. It has been inspiring to receive so many notes of congratulations and encouragement from our friends from all corners of the globe. Thanks to everyone for the messages. It's safe to say we both were flooded with love from all of you.
For a while I was convinced this is a crazy time to be getting engaged and embarking on the path of marriage; but more recently I've come to realize that this is a major life change that will bring it's own craziness to the table. I mean c'mon: we are getting married. That's a pretty grown up thing to do. There's no taking this lightly. She and I are in this together until God decides one of us has done all that is to be done here. That's quite some time: and quite exciting; and QUITE a lot to think about. It's CRAZY!
On other "life" fronts: Creation Festival: The Tour is six shows in, and I think this weekend we finally hit our stride. A series of late/short load-ins resulting from routing ending up showing us what we can accomplish when it's all on the line, and God put an incredible crew of men together to keep all of the pieces in the right place and things moving slowly. To illustrate the progress that has been made: on our first show last weekend - we finished one hour behind the production schedule. At our most recent event we arrived just under two hours before the doors were to open and completed the show just 10 minutes past when it was originally scheduled to conclude. It was an amazing experience to be a part of, and I couldn't be prouder of the guys out on the road doing this tour. It's starting to feel like a family out there, and that is where the real fun begins.
And there's plenty of fun to come: next week myself, Ashley, Paul and Kevin are headed down to Atlanta to take in the U2 tour, with the added bonus of Muse in a support role. Does it get any better?! Oh yeah - the Yankees won the AL East. And Fall has arrived. These are good times. A solid balance of change, challenge and growth.
Many of you now know that Ashley and I are engaged. We are both very happy and excited to move forward in creating a life together. It has been inspiring to receive so many notes of congratulations and encouragement from our friends from all corners of the globe. Thanks to everyone for the messages. It's safe to say we both were flooded with love from all of you.
For a while I was convinced this is a crazy time to be getting engaged and embarking on the path of marriage; but more recently I've come to realize that this is a major life change that will bring it's own craziness to the table. I mean c'mon: we are getting married. That's a pretty grown up thing to do. There's no taking this lightly. She and I are in this together until God decides one of us has done all that is to be done here. That's quite some time: and quite exciting; and QUITE a lot to think about. It's CRAZY!
On other "life" fronts: Creation Festival: The Tour is six shows in, and I think this weekend we finally hit our stride. A series of late/short load-ins resulting from routing ending up showing us what we can accomplish when it's all on the line, and God put an incredible crew of men together to keep all of the pieces in the right place and things moving slowly. To illustrate the progress that has been made: on our first show last weekend - we finished one hour behind the production schedule. At our most recent event we arrived just under two hours before the doors were to open and completed the show just 10 minutes past when it was originally scheduled to conclude. It was an amazing experience to be a part of, and I couldn't be prouder of the guys out on the road doing this tour. It's starting to feel like a family out there, and that is where the real fun begins.
And there's plenty of fun to come: next week myself, Ashley, Paul and Kevin are headed down to Atlanta to take in the U2 tour, with the added bonus of Muse in a support role. Does it get any better?! Oh yeah - the Yankees won the AL East. And Fall has arrived. These are good times. A solid balance of change, challenge and growth.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
What it's Like to Finish a Tour
I don't know if I've ever written this blog, but we got home EARLY this morning (think 4am) and all day I have been struck by the little things I feel and experience that are a direct result of ending a tour. Short or long, these things seems to be universal to my experience coming back from at least a couple of weeks away.
-Where is my girlfriend and where is my brother? People = home for me
-For some reason, I always wake up way earlier than I want and I can't go back to sleep. Major bummer
-My legs hurt. Like "did I just run five miles in my sleep?" hurt
-I don't want to go ANYWHERE. I even passed on ordering a pizza.
-I need to go EVERYWHERE. There are so many "home" things to do that they all seem urgent
-There are always 1-3 tour errands left to run when you get home: it never ends when you walk in the door. That's kind of a bummer sometimes
-My right thumb hurts because I've been using a trackpad for two weeks, but not a real mouse.
-Sometime around dinner it occurs to me that the "to do" list hasn't been eliminated, the title at the top has just switched to a different project.
-I want to read everything I didn't get to read while I was gone. That currently encompasses a book on the Theory of Randomness, a book about CoDependence (wow, did I never understand what exactly that is), and a biography on Churchill.
-The quieter the house is, the better
-No offense to my artist friends, but I'm listening to music by someone I haven't seen face-to-face in the last 30 days. It's kind of an ears/mind reset
-I find myself avoiding any opportunity for anyone to ask anything of me. I need to not be needed for a little while.
-As the day winds down, I feel tired but do not want to go to sleep. I want to keep enjoying the quiet and being home.
-My bed is the best bed in the world. I like the Hilton bed on the road, but I could market the Josh-bed. It's that great.
So there it is - my experience of coming home.
-Where is my girlfriend and where is my brother? People = home for me
-For some reason, I always wake up way earlier than I want and I can't go back to sleep. Major bummer
-My legs hurt. Like "did I just run five miles in my sleep?" hurt
-I don't want to go ANYWHERE. I even passed on ordering a pizza.
-I need to go EVERYWHERE. There are so many "home" things to do that they all seem urgent
-There are always 1-3 tour errands left to run when you get home: it never ends when you walk in the door. That's kind of a bummer sometimes
-My right thumb hurts because I've been using a trackpad for two weeks, but not a real mouse.
-Sometime around dinner it occurs to me that the "to do" list hasn't been eliminated, the title at the top has just switched to a different project.
-I want to read everything I didn't get to read while I was gone. That currently encompasses a book on the Theory of Randomness, a book about CoDependence (wow, did I never understand what exactly that is), and a biography on Churchill.
-The quieter the house is, the better
-No offense to my artist friends, but I'm listening to music by someone I haven't seen face-to-face in the last 30 days. It's kind of an ears/mind reset
-I find myself avoiding any opportunity for anyone to ask anything of me. I need to not be needed for a little while.
-As the day winds down, I feel tired but do not want to go to sleep. I want to keep enjoying the quiet and being home.
-My bed is the best bed in the world. I like the Hilton bed on the road, but I could market the Josh-bed. It's that great.
So there it is - my experience of coming home.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
The Shack
I’m sure most of the folks reading this blog have read The Shack. In fact, most of you have been urging me to pick it up over the last few months. Ashley’s Mom even went so far as to loan me her copy, which I am starting to think may be with Papa now. Last week in North Carolina a family friend encouraged me to read it in a way that finally broke my resolve, and since my return home Saturday I’ve worked my way through the pages.
There are two reasons I did not read the book before now. Number 1: Except for the occasional foray into my Complete Works of William Shakespeare, I never read fiction. Number 2: I try to avoid “spiritual” books (more on that later). Let me be clear though: I was never a shack-hater.
Now to the meat and potatoes: my thoughts. I confess I enjoyed it. I found it an easy read and the author gently lured me into his world of tragedy and redemption. There are some timeless themes in the text that, if the world adopted completely, would forever alter our life experiences. Plus, it’s always fun to fathom what God would say. Anyone remember the Conversations With God series?
Having said that, and playing into my second reason for not picking up the book sooner, I don’t think there is anything in the text that hasn’t been screamed from the rooftops before. While I take issue with a few theological elements, it is critical to remember that The Shack is A book and not THE book. All that we believe and all that we understand about the trinity characters of The Shack has to come from the Bible. I agree with the assertion in The Shack that religion and institutions throw a wrench in things, but we are now free (thanks to the reformation and the proliferation of literacy) to study the Bible and find what Father, Son and the Holy Spirit means to us on a very personal level; The Shack is not the place for that exploration in our every day lives.
My prayer is that as entertainment, The Shack opens the door to healing and points people to the Biblical truths that we have been handed. Otherwise it’s just entertainment. Now where did I put my book on how randomness rules our lives . . .
There are two reasons I did not read the book before now. Number 1: Except for the occasional foray into my Complete Works of William Shakespeare, I never read fiction. Number 2: I try to avoid “spiritual” books (more on that later). Let me be clear though: I was never a shack-hater.
Now to the meat and potatoes: my thoughts. I confess I enjoyed it. I found it an easy read and the author gently lured me into his world of tragedy and redemption. There are some timeless themes in the text that, if the world adopted completely, would forever alter our life experiences. Plus, it’s always fun to fathom what God would say. Anyone remember the Conversations With God series?
Having said that, and playing into my second reason for not picking up the book sooner, I don’t think there is anything in the text that hasn’t been screamed from the rooftops before. While I take issue with a few theological elements, it is critical to remember that The Shack is A book and not THE book. All that we believe and all that we understand about the trinity characters of The Shack has to come from the Bible. I agree with the assertion in The Shack that religion and institutions throw a wrench in things, but we are now free (thanks to the reformation and the proliferation of literacy) to study the Bible and find what Father, Son and the Holy Spirit means to us on a very personal level; The Shack is not the place for that exploration in our every day lives.
My prayer is that as entertainment, The Shack opens the door to healing and points people to the Biblical truths that we have been handed. Otherwise it’s just entertainment. Now where did I put my book on how randomness rules our lives . . .
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Internal Blogging
This last week had it's ups and downs. What week doesn't right? Yet as we head for Tulsa to drop the band off, I'm reveling in a sort of reflection on the week past. I've begun to try to integrate the good and the bad into my life - to allow and encourage them to exist simultaneously or directly adjacent if that is how they land on the runway of me . . . and its working. It's not so much about the good thing that happened or the bad thing that happened, but how one inspired the appreciation of the other. I can't say I've got it down yet, but there's something freeing about exploring experiences in this way.
I've got a lot to sort through for myself as of late - there's a lot I could say, but in this cyber-driven world I think I'm going to keep some things for real, face-to-face relationship. Bounce ideas off of others - disagree - challenge - insult - all the things it takes courage to do to a real person, but come with a few keystrokes of anonymity via various web interfaces. So interact with me one-on-one: I dare you.
I've got a lot to sort through for myself as of late - there's a lot I could say, but in this cyber-driven world I think I'm going to keep some things for real, face-to-face relationship. Bounce ideas off of others - disagree - challenge - insult - all the things it takes courage to do to a real person, but come with a few keystrokes of anonymity via various web interfaces. So interact with me one-on-one: I dare you.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Air France 447
As someone about to embark on a trans-oceanic flight, and a novice aviation enthusiast the mystery of Air France 447 got my attention just before going to bed last night. First, my thoughts and prayers are with the families. Any airline disaster is a tragedy for the families of those on-board, but I can not comprehend of how the pain and anguish must be amplified when those you love may be forever "missing".
There is an aspect to this story that I've yet to hear mentioned on the news, as efforts focus on finding the aircraft and, I hope, the rescue of survivors. Should the aircraft be unrecoverable (due to inability to locate it or it's sinking to the depths of the Atlantic) we may never learn what actually caused the incident. Air travel is an incredibly safe way to move about the world. Airlines, aircraft manufacturers, governments, crew and ALL persons involved in the operation of commercial air traffic go to great lengths to minimize risks, broaden margins of error, and create multiple redundancies in the event of a system failure. But with each aircraft tragedy we inevitably find something no one considered. We can't think of it all, and the silver lining to these tragedies is that they ultimately hi-light a previously undetected risk and marginalize that risk for the remainder of the airline industry. But that silver lining may not come should Air France 447 ultimately be un-recoverable - adding a haunting final touch to what I can only assume is tragedy over the Atlantic.
There is an aspect to this story that I've yet to hear mentioned on the news, as efforts focus on finding the aircraft and, I hope, the rescue of survivors. Should the aircraft be unrecoverable (due to inability to locate it or it's sinking to the depths of the Atlantic) we may never learn what actually caused the incident. Air travel is an incredibly safe way to move about the world. Airlines, aircraft manufacturers, governments, crew and ALL persons involved in the operation of commercial air traffic go to great lengths to minimize risks, broaden margins of error, and create multiple redundancies in the event of a system failure. But with each aircraft tragedy we inevitably find something no one considered. We can't think of it all, and the silver lining to these tragedies is that they ultimately hi-light a previously undetected risk and marginalize that risk for the remainder of the airline industry. But that silver lining may not come should Air France 447 ultimately be un-recoverable - adding a haunting final touch to what I can only assume is tragedy over the Atlantic.
New is Out, Old Is In
I've been in Australia the last few days. We came over for a show in Newcastle, NSW - a beautiful city whose kind people I now count as friends!
Sunday I set-up camp in downtown Sydney. Figuring it's not every weekend you end up in Australia I planned long ago to explore Australia's metropolis for a few days before returning home. And you know what - I'm not a fan. Everyone's been very nice; the city is very clean; the city is very modern, but ultimately this just isn't for me.
When I was younger - think high school and early college - I LOVED going to big cities. New York was my favorite. I loved the energy, the hustle, the bustle the ceaseless entertainment and what seemed like exotic shopping.
Now the places I most enjoy are more steeped in tradition and history. Show me a museum, or a medieval church and I'm happy for days. Put me in a country whose populace is equally divided between pre-revolution and post-revolution and I become a fascinated student of the society.
So what happened? Well - I think a city, is a city. Buildings, shows, shopping - ALL of the cities in the world have it. But history is that thing you can not build into your city. You have to weather it, learn from it, hide it, re-discover it and then put it on display for it to become an integral part of your city or nation. And that's what I like about traveling now.
To my new friend Sydney: thanks for the tour - you're young and you will go far, but for now I'm going to rely on the wisdom of older places to enrich my touring life.
Sunday I set-up camp in downtown Sydney. Figuring it's not every weekend you end up in Australia I planned long ago to explore Australia's metropolis for a few days before returning home. And you know what - I'm not a fan. Everyone's been very nice; the city is very clean; the city is very modern, but ultimately this just isn't for me.
When I was younger - think high school and early college - I LOVED going to big cities. New York was my favorite. I loved the energy, the hustle, the bustle the ceaseless entertainment and what seemed like exotic shopping.
Now the places I most enjoy are more steeped in tradition and history. Show me a museum, or a medieval church and I'm happy for days. Put me in a country whose populace is equally divided between pre-revolution and post-revolution and I become a fascinated student of the society.
So what happened? Well - I think a city, is a city. Buildings, shows, shopping - ALL of the cities in the world have it. But history is that thing you can not build into your city. You have to weather it, learn from it, hide it, re-discover it and then put it on display for it to become an integral part of your city or nation. And that's what I like about traveling now.
To my new friend Sydney: thanks for the tour - you're young and you will go far, but for now I'm going to rely on the wisdom of older places to enrich my touring life.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)