Month: January 2007

I’m typically pretty indifferent when it comes to politics. Honestly, I just don’t care. It really feels like it’s a self-sufficient machine. A robot operating only to rule the world. Voting only seems to matter so that we end up with the least evil person in the seat. Even then, the result doesn’t feel like it actually means anything.

So why do I feel like I should chime in about Hillary’s announcement? One sentence:

I can say I know how Washington Republicans think, how they operate, and how to beat them.

She spends the first half of her announcement talking about the mistakes of our current president. She spends one paragraph talking about questions facing our country. She spends a majority of the rest tooting her own horn. Then, in this one sentence, she starts her entire campaign out saying, “it’s Us against Them.” That’s why I hate politics.

Sure, my political views tend to lean towards the Republican side. Does that mean I automatically disagree with the Dems? I disagree with many of the platforms typically supported by them, but not because they’re Democrats. Does that mean I automatically agree with the GOP? Nope, it doesn’t mean that either.
I’m tired of this two-sided struggle. It ping-pongs back and forth needlessly. Bipartisanship is a farce unlikely to ever end. It’s not that we need another party, or we need people to cross party lines at all. Frankly, I feel like we need to get rid of the party structure all together. What a joke.

Is there anything we can do? Vote better people in? Speak out? Sadly, no. Sure, that’s pretty cynical, but at this point, I’m pretty confident it’s a lost cause.

Just as I was getting pretty frustrated with the new year and losing the wind in my sails, along comes a healthy dose of reality. This morning I received confirmation on two new projects and may have another come in shortly. That’s good news, obviously. However, in reading Getting Things Done, I’ve started making a list and trying to get organized. The difficult part is getting past the initial list phase and isolating my “next actions.” My list happens to be rather overwhelming. Here is is, in short form, along with ’07 goals for each item (in no particular order):

My family

Currently: I’m working a lot. I spend a ton of time locked in my office whether I’m working or not. It’s hard to separate my professional and personal lives when working from home. I feel myself becoming independent again and just generally disconnected.

Goal: Most of this is personal, so I won’t bore you with the details. I mainly want to make family a priority again and reconnect.

Evermind Media Group, LLC

Currently: Luckily, I just had another influx of good projects. For some reason, steady work is not easy to find. For that reason, I find myself being easily distracted on personal projects or non-money-making activities. That’s not good when you’re self-employed and the only breadwinner in your family.

Goal: Obviously, I want to make money. That will take a steady stream of clients that I can have fun working with. In order for that to happen, I need to work harder to network and market myself. I’m working on getting the website finished, and my first product/service to be released hopefully in Q2 of this year, so here’s to hoping that goes well. There are also plans to continually expand my services further into the ministry arena. Those may get put off until next year.

First Baptist Church Ellisville

Currently: I’m still serving as volunteer tech director. With the addition of another audio engineer, I have been able to step back to only mixing every other week and am able to sit with my family to worship. We’re working to expand our video production capabilities as I type this.

Goal: As mentioned above, we’re working to expand our video production capabilities. This includes the addition of professional cameras and related gear as well as producing quality video content for service enhancement and outreach. There is also a serious need for more volunteer help. I’d like to see us at least double our team to support some more creative efforts as well as beef up our operation teams to facilitate our worship services.

Fellowship of Technical Ministries

Currently: Sadly, we’re in a holding pattern for this ministry. Twelve months ago, I was fired up about being part of the leadership team. Today I’m frustrated. Only two other people from that original group have shown up at meetings. I’m sure some of it is due to my lack of planning quality meetings, but I can’t bring in guests for a crowd of zero.

Goal: I really am passionate about this ministry. I hope that we can get it started off on the right foot this year. The organization’s founder is back in town next month, so hopefully we can light the fire again and gain the much needed support once again.

Project Wunderllama

Currently: This is the product/service I mentioned earlier. I’m working on it as time is available (which isn’t often).

Goal: I’d like to get it released sometime in Q2. I think the big picture of this service could really revolutionize technical ministries in general. The goal is to essentially provide tools to equip those involved in technical ministries with tools and knowledge to help them better do their jobs.

Unofficially Titled Worship Project

Currently: I’ve been asked to help produce a worship event coming up in May. We’ve met once and have another meeting this weekend. This is something I’m more excited about than anything in recent months. I’ve been trying to pull something similar off for a while. The team seems to be really passionate about making this a reality and extending it into a longterm ministry.

Goal: For the year? Just to pull it off well. For the future? Turn it into a stable longterm ministry that may one day go on the road.

General Stuff

Currently: My hobbies are being ignored. There isn’t really time for “general stuff” right now

Goal: Hopefully, as a result of putting GTD into practice, I’ll have more time for family and my general interests. I finally got the rest of my dad’s tools from his shop. I need to finish building my garage shop and start putting the tools to good use. I honestly feel like I’m honoring him when I use them. There are a few remodeling projects to be done around the house, like a new office so we can reclaim another guest bedroom so people don’t have to sleep in our dining room.

If our finances ever get back to normal (or even better than normal), we desperately need new cars. Working from home, I don’t have to drive the Death Mobile (’94 cutlass cierra) as much, but it’s the priority. Our ’02 Passat is fine, but the warranty is almost up and is rather expensive to maintain. We want a Highlander and a Camry. It’d be nice to see that happen soon.

I heard recently that Gold’s Gym has bought a building right around the corner. I plan to be the first to sign up.

I want to express myself via art more.

Without getting too lame, I don’t feel like I have much of a social life. Most of my friends are related to my wife or live several hundred miles away. Being involved in my role at church, I don’t have the opportunity to socialize via an ABF (church-speak for Sunday School). Working from home, I don’t meet very many new people, much less any that I’d want to hang out with.

There are a great deal more, including some things I can’t really discuss publicly yet. We’ll just see where we are in 11.5 months.

Conclusion

Generally, I just need to get organized via GTD and better manage my priorities. I didn’t discuss much about how what motivates me leans more to the pro-bono side than the money-making side, but hopefully that will change one way or another. Have any advice?

Honestly, I have no idea what that title means. However, the last two months since Asher was born have been C. R. A. Z. Y. When I redesigned this site, I had every intention of posting weekly, of polishing the design and keeping things fresh. Obviously, that didn’t happen. Funny how a new baby can change things so drastically.

With that said, I’m learning a great deal about myself.  While I’m a motivated person, I procrastinate. Sometimes, that procrastination leads to things being forgotten. Luckily, the forgotten things tend to be things like this site, not my family or my work.

I have some pretty huge goals for myself for 2007. Many of them carry over from 2006, as I got a bit distracted by trying to build my business. Now that I’m relatively comfortable and have several projects ongoing, I feel like I can step back, look at the big picture and see how things line up.

Stay tuned for more writings in the areas of church technology, media, web design, philosophy, my family, etc. There may even be another redesign in the works as I complete my company site (finally), update Asher’s site, wrap up my first product offering, start at least two more blog sites and pursue ministry from an entirely different perspective.