Fun With Photos
I’m playing with some different photo techniques today. You know, to make it look like stuff I can automatically do on my phone. Here’s a couple that I think turned out kinda cool. One of these days I’ll have a real live photography website so I can put all these on there, but for now, let me know what you think.
We Are Not Guru’s
I’ve written about this before, but I feel like it’s getting worse. What is the deal with everyone on Twitter claiming to be a “Guru” or “Expert” at something? What happened to being willing to learn? And also, with the speed that technology is moving, how on Earth can anyone claim to be a “Guru” at anything?
I read something the other day uncovering five “social networking myths” and shedding a little light on this weird thing that everyone is trying to figure out. After all, this person that wrote this is a “guru” and then the person that linked to it is a “guru” and since I’m a “guru” I must need to read it and then blog about it so that I can prove my “guru-ness” to you all. See how that works?
Anyway, this article claims that one of the myths on the internet is that you shouldn’t call yourself a Guru. Meaning, you should call yourself one? Am I reading this right?
“Your social media presence needs more assertiveness. Don’t shy away from authoritative words when crafting your Twitter bio.”, it says. For instance, the words “official,” “founder,” “speaker,” “expert,” “guru,” and “author” are a common characteristic of highly followed Twitter users. They become a reputation mechanism that can earn you more attention.
Interesting. That’s all I need to do? Tell people how awesome I am, and boom, I can get more attention?
See, I’ve started un-following some of these folks because if that’s the “creative” advise I’m getting from “guru’s” I think I’m good. I’d rather really focus on the task at hand and ignore what’s going to become a reputation mechanism to earn me more attention.
Now, before everyone thinks I’m just bucking the system to buck the system, I will say that there is legitimate advise out there from folks like Seth Godin, who I consider to be an actual marketing “guru”, though I don’t think it says it on his Twitter bio. In fact I think Seth is more about killing it at your job and becoming something worth talking about, instead of talking about yourself.
In a world where everyone is writing the book, I’d rather live the life worth writing about.
So, no, you’ll never hear me call myself a “guru”, “expert”, “founder” or anything like that…. but then again… I’m not. Someday I’d like to be a magician though.
Top 10 Christian Guitar Riffs
I tweeted about this yesterday, and I realized that 10 songs might be a little ambitious, but I wanted to give it a shot. In case you missed it, I tweeted that I wanted someone to put together a list of the top ten most recognizable guitar riffs in Christian music. We probably all have different opinions on a lot of them, but some are without a doubt going to make the list. Here goes.
DC Talk – “Jesus Freak”
Newsboys – “Shine”
Audio Adrenaline – “Big House”
Third Day – “Call My Name”
Delirious – “Deeper”
Steven Curtis Chapman – “Great Adventure”
Jars Of Clay – “Flood”
Switchfoot – “Meant To Live
Okay…. maybe I start with the top eight…. What did I miss? Any you disagree with? I know that Third Day one is pretty new, but come on, that’s a pretty recognizable riff. Let’s hear what we need to add to the list.
One Of THOSE Posts
You know what’s funny about constantly working on other people’s “social media”? You start to not really care about your own. Kinda like the landscapers yard that looks like crap, or the painter’s house that could use a fresh coat. Well, here I am. The guy who hasn’t blogged in forever. So, yeah. Sorry about that. I did think I’d drop in here and give you a quick recap on our summer since I have neglected to do so. I’ll try to do bullet-points because that’s cool I’ve heard.
- Started the summer at Rosemary Beach with Mike, Bart and Mark’s families. Had a blast.
- Kristin’s 30th birthday partaay on July 1st.
- U2 concert.
- Nephew came to visit for 10 days.
- 4th of July festivities. Only caught on fire once. Only lit nephew on fire once.
- California visiting family for 3 weeks.
- 11 year Anniversary with Kristin.
- Death Cab For Cutie concert.
- Blue’s birthday.
Yep, most likely there was a lot more fun stuff, but I also want to mention some of the artists that we started working with (or are going to start working with soon) this summer. It’s crazy how things continue to grow and the amazing opportunities we have had over the past few months. Aaron Keyes, Aaron Gillespie, Tooth & Nail, Matt Papa, Gungor, and several others that are in the works. I’ve also had the chance to tackle MercyMe’s packaging/photography for their new record “The Worship Sessions”. Something new every day.
There’s still some pretty crazy things in the works, but I’ll keep that for another update. Now that school has started I hope to get more consistent on here, but then again… don’t we all say that?
How was your summer?
