23Jan, 2012

Work on Your Character and a Good Life Will Come to You

Posted by Don
63

The blogosphere is abuzz with advice for the new year. We’re being given tricks and tips on getting ahead, becoming more efficient and so forth. But as a guy who helps people live better stories, I have to tell you the best advice I’ve ever heard is simple: Work on your character and a good life will come to you. Of course we have to define “good life” and we also have to acknowledge this is far from a “biblical law” that is destined for success. To be sure, nothing is for sure. But I like the idea and find it comforting. I like the idea that I can stop trying to control the people around me and just work on myself, just work on being a slightly better Don. Does it mean everything will be great? No, not really. Conflict is part of every good life. No meaningful story is void of conflict. But what it does mean is that in every context, I can always control what I can control, and that’s me. Just because there’s a storm on the ocean doesn’t mean there has to be a storm within me. Here are some interesting camera angles I’ve [...]

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17Oct, 2011

The Dawn of a New Era

Posted by Jordan
58

Hello! Let me state up front this is not Donald Miller. This may be confusing for many of you. Please bear with me. If you’ve ever written a blog — and I’m sure the vast majority of you have — you know it’s a bit of work. You need to have interesting thoughts, and then you have to type them on a computer, and then you have to do an image search for a witty picture…it’s not the most difficult thing in the world, but it’s tough to maintain constant production. Now, imagine you’re Don, and you write books for a living, so every sentence you punch into WordPress is potentially a sentence you don’t put in a book. Now imagine you are a cactus wearing a cowboy hat! See? Imagination can be fun. Anyway, Don asked me recently if I’d like to cover a couple blog posts for him every week, and I agreed because I like helping out where I can. Hi, I’m Jordan Green. You may remember me from such things as “Don’s roommate in Million Miles in a Thousand Years“, or as the guy who runs this site. I am NOT the 3-star shooting guard prospect [...]

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12Jul, 2011

Thoughts on the Evolution of an Artist

Posted by Don
14

Last year I had the chance to have dinner with Matthew Perryman Jones. My flight out of Nashville was cancelled and I found myself, suitcase in hand, standing outside the Nashville airport dismayed because all I wanted to do was go home. But there was a part of me that wondered if something good could happen, if I couldn’t “create a reason” for being stuck in Nashville. I made some calls and the night turned out to be great, one of the best I had that season. Within a few hours I was having dinner at a Mexican restaurant with a couple singer/songwriters and producers. One of them was Matthew Perryman Jones. Matthew doesn’t know me very well but I’m a fan of his music. Over dinner he talked about where he was in his career and how he’s returning to his heart, to his love for self expression as a way to connect with others. As I listened, I knew he’d evolved as an already talented songwriter into an artist who longed for a more personal relationship with his audience and wanted to serve them as a friend. Matthew writes songs about his life and the way it echoes [...]

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03May, 2011

Special Blue Like Jazz Screening at Storyline

Posted by Don
36

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Our very first public viewing of Blue Like Jazz the movie will take place at the Storyline Conference in Portland on June 6th and 7th! When you register for Storyline, you’ll not only be attending the conference, but you’ll be in on the first screening of the movie! And not only this, but director Steve Taylor and Cinematographer Ben Pearson will take the stage after to take questions and film some DVD extras for the movie. Our deadline to get a watchable version of the film is set in stone, and the 500 people in the audience for Storyline will be the first to see the film. We can’t wait for you to see it! We will be screening the film in several cities, but that schedule has not been determined. We will also be holding screenings for our backers, but if you want to see the movie first, register for Storyline today! Come on out! Here’s some behind-the-scenes footage to get you excited. It’s going to be incredible. We are all pretty nervous. Can’t believe it’s actually going to happen! Video Update 5 – Blue Like Jazz the Movie from Blue Like Jazz The Movie on Vimeo.

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01Apr, 2011

My Review of Love Wins

Posted by Don
347

I confess I read this book because of all the hoopla on the internet. John Piper hates it, Mark Driscoll wants to say how much he hates it but is tired of launching his enemies onto the New York Times bestsellers list so he talks about it without talking about it. People everywhere are talking about it. Man, I’m a sucker for controversy so I placed my order. Surprisingly, the book has been out of print for a while and I could only get this used, battered copy, and it cost me more than the sale price from twenty years ago. Two words: WORTH IT! Love Wins is a romance novel by Barbara Cartland (who knew John Piper read this stuff? So few men talk about it even though we ALL read them ALL the time! John Piper and I are SO BESTIES NOW!) Love Wins: Caught in a fierce love triangle, Joan June is torn between her dentist and her chiropractor. The dentist has more money, obviously, but is less open to the spiritual ideas and natural practices of the chiropractor. One gives her security and the other pops her back for free and introduces her to the ancient [...]

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