blogging

Making a Move

Posted in blogging, moving on February 11th, 2009 by Steve Bradley – Be the first to comment

FYI, I’ve decided to change blogging platforms, moving from Blogger to a spiffy new self-hosted WordPress account. This should be a relatively seamless transition, culminating when the VisionNavigator.com domain is switched over to point to the new WordPress account. Operative word here is should ;-)

Will keep you posted on the progress. In the meantime, please pray for my sanity, and that all will go smoothly.

Feel free to offer any tips, advice, pearls of wisdom, etc. you might have as well…

What’s the last major move you’ve made in your life?

Starve a Blog, Feed a Twitter

Posted in Auxano, Innovation3, Twitter, blogging, facebook, i3, linked-in, myspace, plaxo, social media on January 27th, 2009 by Steve Bradley – 1 Comment

If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been majorly ignoring my blog of late. This is mainly due to the fact that I discovered twitter (go here to see my profile) over the holidays.

The result has been that the time in my schedule normally allotted to blogging has been eaten up with twittering. Which may seem strange if you’ve not yet succumbed to the crack-like addictive properties of twitter…

Because it’s not just twitter itself that’s addicting — it’s the ability to connect instantaneously with so many people, which then opens the door to a whole host of other resources, blogs, tech tools, etc. Which means you never have to stop twittering!

Plus I’ve been busy. In fact, today and tomorrow (weather permitting - please pray for non-ice) I’ll be at the Innovation3 conference, where I’ll get to meet up with other members of the Auxano team, see some old friends, and meet some new ones - many of whom I’ve met on twitter, by the way…

So there you have it. I haven’t given up on blogging, it’s just that I have yet to find a rhythm in 2009 that allows twittering and blogging to co-exist peacefully.

Does anyone else have this problem? What’s your experience with social media tools, like Facebook, MySpace, Linked-In, Plaxo, or twitter? If you use them, how do you incorporate them into your day? If you don’t use them, why not?

Dumb Things I Gotta Do

Posted in blogging, clarity, clutter, complexity, ministry treadmill, missional, simplicity, stress, vision on January 14th, 2009 by Steve Bradley – 5 Comments

[Note: I've been on a self-imposed blog hiatus for the past few weeks, but wanted to check in to offer a brief word of explanation, and let my faithful readers (that's you!) know that I'm still alive and well].

When I was a kid, I remember either my older brother or sister having a very “hip” to do list (it was the 70s, when hip was really cool). It had a glossy plastic orange cover with lowercase white lettering that read “Dumb Things I Gotta Do.” This list hung around our house for a number of years, and to my knowledge nothing was ever written in it. This isn’t surprising really, because who wants to be reminded of pointless tasks you’re forced to do against your will?

This list came to mind recently, because I realized some of my own to do lists have started to feel like that for me. Chores. Sources of stress. Burdens. Fun-suckers. Energy drains. Dumb things I gotta do.

So what’s a person to do? Add another “to do.” Namely, write a blog post about it ;-)

Seriously, I’ve come to realize such feelings are an indicator that there is a disconnect in certain areas of my life between vision and reality. That I’ve over-committed, and undervalued the limited amount of time and energy I really have to spend. That I’ve allowed complexity to set in, at the expense of simplicity and clarity.

So for the past couple of weeks I’ve been doing what I counsel my clients to do. Hop off the treadmill for a bit to evaluate why I was on it in the first place. Employ the aid of a strategic outsider to help me gain some perspective and ongoing vision clarity (because, as a friend of mine so aptly puts it, “You can’t see the back of your own head”). Take some time to evaluate all the task oriented clutter that I’ve accumulated, to see where it fits (or doesn’t fit) within the broader missional framework for my life.

Thus, the blog hiatus. So now you know.

Does your life feel clear or cluttered? How do you manage your to do list(s)? When you look at the tasks on them, do you feel drained or energized?

The One Thing All Bloggers Must Know!

Posted in Auxano, Evil UGA, Georgia Tech, Jane Monzures, Stephanie Blank, Zakk Tyler, blogging, power of words, radio on October 22nd, 2008 by Steve Bradley – 6 Comments

I’ve been blogging for several months now, and have learned a lot. But one lesson became especially clear to me today — a lesson that I feel compelled to share with anyone who enters the blogosphere…

What is that lesson you ask?

People might actually read what you write.

Case in point, I wrote a post yesterday that was inspired by an interview I heard on a local FM radio morning show (The Zakk Tyler Show) between Zakk and Stephanie Blank. Later in the day, I got an email from none other than Zakk himself!

It seems that someone had passed along the link to him. So he read it and sent me a very nice note, thanking me for pointing out that he was joking when he implied that he would treat others like servants were he wealthier. I responded that I thought it was only fair, since it was clear to me he was making a joke on himself to bring out a positive story about Mrs. Blank (her serving folks despite the fact that she’s very wealthy).

Fast forward to this morning — when I received an email from his co-host, Jane Monzures, asking if I’d like to go on-air with them. Before I could respond, Zakk called me, and a few minutes later I was on the radio with Zakk, Jane, and someone named Mike, I believe. Fortunately, they were gracious hosts, reading my post on the air, and allowing me some time to mention the work I do with churches through Auxano.

Overall it was a very positive experience — with one possible exception, perhaps. When Jane brought up a similar story about the wife of Mark Richt (University of Georgia head football coach) serving water to the players, my true colors came out. I had to admit my passionate allegiance to Georgia Tech, which of course requires me to have an equally passionate dislike (ok fine — hatred) for UGA. Don’t believe me? Then consider the fact that the words “To Hell with Georgia” are featured prominently in Tech’s fight song…

So while I’m not proud to admit it, I think I did utter on live morning radio something to the effect of: “Well it’s hard to hate them [i.e., the Richts, who seem to be really great people, by the way], but I find a way to do it anyway.” Hopefully folks will understand that I, like Zakk, was in fact joking…kind of :-)

The moral of all of this?

Words have wings. You never know where they’re going to land.

There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs. Luke 12:2-3

Have you ever been surprised by the effect your words have had on others? What words have had the greatest impact on you?

This Day in History: You Must Be Joking :-)

Posted in Humor, blogging, computers, emoticons, history, joke on September 19th, 2008 by Steve Bradley – Be the first to comment

Twenty-six years ago today, something remarkable happened that changed the course of history. Especially for those who are fond of emailing, bloggging, and text messaging.

What was it, you ask?

It was the day that one computer geek showed the world how to take a joke :-)

Or not :-(

Still don’t get it? Then read on:

1982: At precisely 11:44 a.m., Scott Fahlman posts the following electronic message to a computer-science department bulletin board at Carnegie Mellon University:

19-Sep-82 11:44 Scott E Fahlman :-)
From: Scott E Fahlman

I propose that the following character sequence for joke markers:

:-)

Read it sideways. Actually, it is probably more economical to mark things that are NOT jokes, given current trends. For this, use:

:-(

With that post, Fahlman became the acknowledged originator of the ASCII-based emoticon. From those two simple emoticons (a portmanteau combining the words emotion and icon) have sprung dozens of others that are the joy, or bane, of e-mail, text-message and instant-message correspondence the world over.

Thank you Scott Fahlman! You’ve made the world a better place, and for that, I salute you.
[For the full story go here]

What’s the funniest thing you’ve seen or heard recently?

Beginnings - First Post

Posted in beginnings, blogging, creativity on May 31st, 2008 by Steve Bradley – Be the first to comment

Not sure what to make of this blog. I have high hopes and dreams for it — on one level I see this as an opportunity to connect with other like minded folks, and to be challenged by those who see things from a different perspective. On another level, I see it as a place to chronicle/journal my thoughts, and record some of the things I’m learning. On yet another level, it’s a place to be creative, to muse, be amused, and celebrate things that God has for some reason wired me to appreciate or be interested in. For this reason, I don’t want to limit myself to simply personal or professional topics — I want to be free to write about anything that seems important enough to write about at the moment.

Hopefully, my ramblings will resonate with others, and serve to create new relationships and realities that will be beneficial. As I write this, however, I’m struck with the reality that I’m writing for a very limited audience right now (namely me — and God). This in fact may be the only demographic I’m able to reach, and that’s ok. If this turns out to be merely a tool that helps me make sense of my own journey, that’s fine. If others peer in and find something helpful, that would be great, but I don’t want this to become a burden/chore, or simply another checkpoint on an already overburdened “to do” list.

My prayer is that of the psalmist, that the words of my mouth and meditations of my heart would be pleasing to you, O God. So, with that being said, I bring my first post to an end.