Live Music Week -vs.- Just Spending

A few nights ago I was lying in bed and thought, "what was I doing 24 hours ago?"

I was leaving a concert in San Francisco.

"What was I doing 7 days ago at this hour?"

I was leaving a concert in San Francisco (at the Fillmore)

"What was I doing 2 years ago today?"

I was leaving a concert in San Francisco (at the Fillmore)

That makes it sound like I go to shows all the time. While that's not true, Julie and I did just go to 3 concerts in 7 days. First, we saw Mute Math at the Fillmore, then The David Crowder Band in Sacramento, and then The Temper Trap in San Francisco.

All three shows featured some of my favorite bands, and some of the bands with the best live shows.

I think we spent almost $200 on tickets. Since we don't go to movies, or have a very good cable package, we don't spend that much on entertainment, but it still is a lot.

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On Sunday, I preached a sermon on justice. Talking about and thinking about justice makes me question the ways I spend my money. Is it worth it for me to pay $70 for 2 tickets to a concert? That provides 2 hours of entertainment for Julie and me. We have to spend even more money to drive to the city and park.

Or, I could take my $70 (more like $90 after gas and parking), and send it overseas. I wonder how much food I could buy. If over 1 billion people make less than $1 a day, then I just spent 3 months wages on 2 hours.

If half of the world's population makes under $3 per day, then I just spent a month's wages.
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The passage I preached on (Leviticus 25) indicates that God values us treating others justly, but also values what seems fair to us--we are allowed to spend our money on ourselves, it would seem. Listen to the sermon online.

I don't feel bad about going to the concerts. But I have spent a lot of time thinking about what justice looks like in my spending habits. I think it's important for every person to think long and hard about the ways they spend their money and if they are treating others justly.

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Tonight, we're helping out at the Camp South Africa banquet. I hope they raise a lot of money.

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By the way, the concerts were all great. Mute Math is less impressive live than they used to be, but still great. David Crowder Band is funny, thoughtful, innovative, and nearly virtuosic on their instruments. And the Temper Trap is the best small band you've never heard of, and possibly my new favorite band. Since Mute Math's live show is not what it was, The Temper Trap has definitely supplanted them as my favorite live band. I love their sound, I love that an Asian frontman is rocking the mic, I love that two of them are outspoken about their faith in Jesus. I love that they have ties to a great movie--(500) Days of Summer-- (and for me, are one of the reasons the movie was great).

So there you have it--Justice and Art.

Website accomplished!

I finished my first ever real website. There will always be minor edits, and some are coming as early as this week. But, I got the bulk of it done and posted. I don't know how long I spent on it--80 hours?

The thing I feel most satisfied with is that everything is 100% compliant with the W3 standards (which are the standards of coding). I have not seen any church websites that actually are 100% compliant. But, it is hugely important. Browsers load compliant web pages more quickly, and that is especially true with Internet Explorer 8.

Also, blind computer users are able to use screen reading programs to hear what is on the page.

Sonoma County has an abnormally high number of webdesigners because the Santa Rosa Junior College is well recognized in the digital arts field as one of the most influential colleges in the world (for example, Adobe products cost less for SRJC students than for Adobe employees, and about half as much as they charge the average college student).

Because SRJC-educated webdesigners know about web standards, it's all the more important that a local organization has a validating website--or we're not maintaining a high enough quality of programming to appeal to those people who happen to know a thing or two about html. It may seem insignificant, but everything we do matters.

Design wise, we wanted to emphasize the Web 2.0 style that is popular (menu at the top, rounded edges, reflections, drop shadows, shiny stuff) because we want to express that we are committed to engaging in dialogue with culture, no matter how fast culture changes. If web styles move on in a year, then the site needs to be redone.

Relevance is more important than longevity.

Also, there is a prominent place for the church's social networks. The church does have a system of authority (pastors, elders, small group leaders, kids' leaders, etc.), but everyone is involved with the church--it's neither democracy nor dictatorship. So, involvement in each others' lives is important, hence the emphasis on social networks.

If you want to check everything out, go to http://www.mwnc.org.

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I've been getting so many long-term projects done lately that I feel like I'm getting over a year and a half long procrastination period (well starting to get over it). From wedding videos to photography editing to ordination papers, I've been a lot more focused lately.

Victory! (Warning: Gross picture)

I caught a gopher with a trap the first time I set one.