If you’ve not sent anything to your mom today, feel free to cut and paste. This is a great Billy Collins poem that seems to sum it all up. The Lanyard –Billy Collins The other day I was ricocheting slowly off the blue walls of this room, moving as if underwater from typewriter to piano, from bookshelf to an envelope lying on the floor, when I found myself in the L section of the dictionary where my eyes fell upon the word lanyard. No cookie nibbled by a French novelist could send one into the past more suddenly— a past where I sat at a workbench at a camp by a deep Adirondack lake learning how to braid long thin plastic strips into a lanyard, a gift for my mother. I had never seen anyone use a lanyard or wear one, if that’s what you did with them, but that did not keep me from crossing strand over strand again and again until I had made a boxy red and white lanyard for my mother. She gave me life and milk from her breasts, and I gave her a lanyard. She nursed me in many a sick room, lifted spoons [...]
Steve Taylor is moving forward on shooting Blue Like Jazz the movie. He’s set to shoot in Mid May through June. We will be shooting in Portland and Nashville through the end of June. I couldn’t be more excited. I’m skyping today with the actor who will likely play me. Unfortunately I can’t tell you who it is until we sign contracts, but we are both stoked on the choice. Anyway, as a teaser, Gabe Lyons over at Relevate took a look at the screenplay and wrote a little review. Just one more glowing review of the screenplay. I can’t wait: From Gabe: Blue Like Jazz portrays a vivid tension between Christianity and the world. I thought it was fantastic. It was hard to swallow some the direct obligations towards Christianity – they are so true though. The times of hope and resolve allowed me to emotionally connect to the character of Don. I laughed out loud and swallowed hard at times when reading through the script. The story touched on every single issue that outsiders have with Christianity (Judgmental, Hypocritical, Antihomosexual, Sheltered, Too Political, and Proselytizing based on the research of unChristian). It’s an emotional ride that brought me [...]
My friend Chase Reeves sent me this video . A great way to start the day. I realize it’s already afternoon where some of you are, but I hope this helps you get through the rest of tuesday.
The bad news: She does have a drinking problem. The good news: It’s just Vanilla Cream. But that’s how it starts. Pray for her all the same. Hope you’re having a great Saturday!
I’ve read a number of reviews for No Line on the Horizon, the new release from U2. Some think it’s a masterpiece, others think Bono and the boys must have put it together over the weekend. The variety of reviews made me wonder what kind of pressure the four kids from Dublin must feel when they step into the studio. And I’m not talking about a fear of the critics. The critics are the least of their worries. Imagine being a 50-year old family man, spokesman for a global aid organization and mediator of peace between dignitaries and also having to pull off this: • Make sure there are at least two arena songs on the album. Arena songs are anthemic, upbeat songs that drive crowds at large concerts. Why, because U2 is an enormous company with hundreds of employees whose families depend on a world tour. It’s not about Bono, it’s about hundreds of people, and those people are on their minds when they walk into the studio. A subtle and creative album would be nice, but essentially that would mean laying off friends who’ve worked for them for decades and count on them to bring in enormous crowds [...]
