A little different mood tonight. Josh Groban both unwinds and inspires me. What do I mean by that?

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders
You raise me up… to more than I can be.

Nuf said?

I check Phil Gerbyshak’s blog every day to see how I can stop having a nice day. Phil wants us to stop settling for “nice”days, and make every day a great day! Check his 4 Rs for Recharging Your Batteries.

Thanks, Phil!

Ted reminds us to be careful what we say – on or off the blog!

…45 looooong years ago…

• The Yankees won their 14th straight, beating the Red Sox, 3�1.
• Future Hall of Famer Billy Williams hit his first major league homer, as the Cubs beat the Dodgers, 10�8.
• Oh, the Braves lost to the Pirates 7-3 in Pittsburgh.
• Chubby Checker’s “The Twist” was the number one song in the nation for the fourth straight week.
• Nigeria and Cyprus gained their independence from Great Britian.
• The Beatles performed at the Indra Club, Grosse Freiheit, Hamburg, West Germany.
• Miles Davis performed at the Astoria Theatre, Finsbury, London.
• Atlas ICBM Missiles were first deployed.
• The Cartwrights tried to end a disabled rancher’s dependence on his corrupt hired hand on Bonanza.
• Rose, the former housekeeper, got married, Opie was unhappy at her departure, Aunt Bee came to live with Andy and Opie, and Opie was not exactly thrilled with her, as the best TV show ever debuted.

And on this day, in other years, these people made their debuts…

• Jay Underwood
• Mark McGwire
• Randy Quaid
• Donny Hathaway
• Stella Stevens
• Julie Andrews
• Sir Richard Harris
• George Peppard
• Rod Carew
• John Glenn
• Tom Bosley
• Jimmy Carter
• James Whitmore
• Walter Matthau
• Vladimir Horowitz

The first list? I don’t remember a single one of those events!

The second list? Pretty good bunch of folks, eh?

The last word on time and such for right now (part three…”slippin’, slippin’, slippin'”…get it?)…

The good folks over at Creating Passionate Users remind us that we need to think young – so we can keep our own minds sharp and so we can better meet the needs of those we’re trying to reach. Four really good posts from over there grabbed me this week. I’ll just drop ’em in here like the infamous random links – you can need to check ’em out…

• Think young
• Dignity is deadly
• If you’re over 35, do you have a clue?
• Blow your own mind

Patrick Rhone guest-blogged over at To-Done about making the best use of one’s time. He wrote in the context of meeting a client’s ever-changing specs, but his quote is well-suited to all of us in whatever endeavor we’re currently undertaking…

Time not spent on the front end of a project is usually spent on the back end. Sometimes, it is even multiplied. Therefore, it will take the same amount of time, if not more, no matter what.

…into the future…

I’ve been thinking – obsessing, really – about time lately. About days that slip away. About weeks that are not effectively used. About years you can’t ever get back, once they’re gone.

This week, I’ve been challenged by some things that others are saying about these kinds of issues.

Tony Morgan, one of the Simply Strategic guys, has been posting notes from the Innovative Church conference at Granger. The stuff from Mark Beeson’s opening session smacked me right between the eyes and left a permanent mark (no pun intended). He asks three foundational questions that ought to change our perspective and give us a sense of real urgency about how we use our time and energy…

• Do you really believe people need the church?
• Do you really believe your days are numbered?
• Do you really believe God is working and you are doing God’s work?

It was the second question that turned my crank. Here’s how Mark filled that one out…

I don�t have time to play church. My days are numbered. Life is brief. Then I tell people, �Your life is precious. You don�t have time to play church. You need to make your life count.�

There’s an event that occurs every year about this time. No matter what I try, I can’t seem to get away from this uncomfortable and unpleasant event. In fact, this event is so obstinate and so pervasive, it’s been coming around almost 45 times now.

But, my brother – the best brother I ever had – seems to have a knack for lightening the burden of this obnoxious annual event. I got home today and there was a box from Amazon.com on the table. Here’s what Brown did for me today…

Let’s unpack a little, shall we?

Cheryl Bentyne is one of the members of the Manhattan Transfer. This is pretty awesome stuff! (And the music ain’t too shabby, either!) If you’re into great jazz singers, you won’t go wrong with Ms. Bentyne!

About that Blast! stuff…Way back, many moons ago, my high school band director introduced me to this crazy thing called drum corps. (I’ve posted before about our annual summer pilgrimages to Wisconsin for drum corps shows.) Anyway, Blast! is a spin-off of drum corps for the theater stage. It incorporates all the best of drum corps, marching band, and pageantry, and puts it in your face on the stage. If you’re into brass, percussion, and other such good stuff, hurry up and order Blast!

My brother also indicated that some of these goodies just might find their way into the Sunday Night Unwind. Ms. Bentyne is certainly a candidate for that. But Blast! may be a better fit with my “at bat music!”

Anyway, if you find that annual event keeps sneaking up on you, relentlessly, at least it’s good to have a big brother to take some of the sting out of it. Thanks, bro!

If you follow this little blog via Bloglines or some other aggregator, you may have gotten a post last night about some ambitious plans for some renovations. Please disregard that post – for the time being…

Thanks!

I was reading the comments over on Todd Rhoades’s Monday Morning Insight post on checking ourselves and our “preconditions” for leadership, and all of a sudden, it hit me…

I’ve never met one without a huge chip on her shoulder.

And in the words of the great philosopher, Forrest Gump…

That’s all I’ve got to say about that.