I have overdosed on the internet

Okay, so I used to only check my email. It was a beautiful thing. I would go on, listen to the little hums and blips of my dial-up connection, log into my account (I used Juno back in the day. Remember Juno?), check my mail and be done with it. All was right with the world. Somewhere between then (circa 1999) and now the internet has spun out of control and it has become just a little daunting. first I got into blogging and I had to link to everyone and have them link to me. Much of my day was spent figuring out how to drive traffic to my site so that people could hear (or read) my unique voice in the blogosphere. Since "content drives readership," though much of my blog has been relegated to videos I find on youtube or the occasional random piece of clip art. That's not enough though, because now I'm also balancing myspace and facebook, trying to mangae my top 8, poke, tag, and write on walls all while actually getting some work done. So here's the deal. For the next couple of weeks, while we prepare for our new website to launch (www.clovishills.com), I will be revamping, downsizing and stepping away from the wacky world of social networking. When I come back (hopefully the new site launches the beginning of July) I will have a blog geared toward Clovis Hills peeps. Hopefullly it'll be a place where people can get to know some of our musicians and me a little bit better so they feel like they know us when they walk in the church rather than just seeing us on stage. I'll be posting with my boss on a regular basis (it'll be in my schedule, probably 2-3 times a week) and while it will still have room for the random stuff that happens in my life, it will be mostly focused on worship. I think that's the stuff I want to talk about; what worship is, who I am as a worship leader and regular joe and who some of the volunteers are that make this thing go. I'm hoping to include video, more photos and a few surprises here and there. So I'll see you in a couple of weeks! Before I leave though, let me leave you with this little video that may help you better understand how I've been feeling. Enjoy!

Crazy times keep gettin' crazier

So this weekend has been insane. On Saturday we had a party to celebrate my mom being Breast Cancer free for 5 years. It was a big day. We called it the pink party, so everyone, including myself wore pink. I know what you're thinking; "Paul, how can someone as cool as you rock a pink shirt?" Well don't worry dear friends, I did and it looked sweet. Okay, anyway. The party was up in Oakhurst and was crazy with family from all over the country, and friends. My sister, Alison was the brains of the operation and her and Jenn threw down a pretty sweet get together. My brother did a video slideshow (made on a mac, thank you very much) and I wrote a song and sang it for my mom. All in all I'd say we're pretty fantastic kids. If that wasn't enough we had church on Sunday where a transformer blew at the start of 2nd service. The power was down for only a couple minutes as our crack technical team rolled right through, but it was long enough to make things awkward, as Kimberly and I tried to yell from the stage to keep people entertained. After church we had a rehearsal for next week's service, because I'll be gone all week in Chicago at the Willow Creek Arts Conference. Today I went over to Dana's and laid down some vocals for a song we're working on for our upcoming "Heroes" series. Now I'm helping Jenn get ready for summer school, sending out a few last minute emails and trying to find time to pack for a few days in Chi-town. Oh the insanity! This summer is going to be pretty break-neck as well with rolling out some vision for the fall (music wise), recording, conferences, a much needed vacation and two series where our pastor will be gone. I think I need a nap.

Lance Armstrong is a Weenie

Okay, no he's not, but that was the most clever title I could come up with to talk about riding my bike to work. I'm finding that when I ride in the morning it's a pretty sweet time to prepare for the day. I haven't quite figured out that whole focusing and thinking about specific things, because truth be told much of the time I'm thinking how much easier it would be to drive, but I turn on the iPod, rock some tunes and cruise. I think I like it so much, not because it gives me time to think about stuff, but because it gives me a period of time where I can think about nothing other than pedaling and the occasional bit of traffic. I've often struggeled with finding time to turn the world off and the 6 miles to work and 6 miles back give me the time to do that. So before and after work my only problems are the sweat on my forehead and the pain in my booty.

My new favorite thing

Saturday Night Live used to be incredibly funny. Back in the day (as the kiddies say), with guys like Will Ferrell, Chris Farley, and Mike Meyers, it was the best thing on TV. Over the past couple of years I have been pretty unimpressed until Dana showed me Deep House Dish. If you haven't seen it, you should spend all summer getting caught up on it, because it is pretty much my new favorite thing. Enjoy!