I’m posting this with a developer preivew of the Flock browser. It is an amazing new web browswer based on Firefox that allows you to access flickr/photobucket and delicious straight from the browswer (no extra plugins needed) and also, has builting blogging features (i.e. me posting this right now) and a nice Sage-esque built-in RSS reader. This is the browswer of the future…now!

Blogged with Flock

The nameless church is organizing a film screening and discussion as apart of our quazi-monthly Dia:Logos Series. Here is some info about the event.

The Wounded Bookshop
Friday, May 12 at 7:00pm
109 Amelia St.
Fredericksburg, VA 22401
view a map

Come and watch the award winning documentary, “The Corporation,” and stay for an interesting discussion on the good, the bad and the ugly of Corporations in America and the world.

At Dia:Logos, we value everyones opinion and encourage participants from diverse backgrounds to come and share their unique views. Dia:logos is a culturally relevant conversation series that we host on a quazi-monthly basis.

Get more information on the Film:
http://thecorporation.com

RSVP if you are intrested in attending

As always, check out our blog:
http://www.thenamelesschurch.com/

My day started with a good and challenging theological conversation with my friend Chris at about midnight last night and today has ended with another theological conversation with another Chris. It is good to have these discussions with people you agree with and don’t agree totally. It has reminded me that I don’t know everything, and that the answers are not tied up in neat little packages for my consumption. And the journey continues…

Here was the rest of my day:

Had coffee with Paul Lewis this morning. Always interesting, inspiring and challenging to talk with him. I really like the guy to say the least. You should check out the Wounded Bookshop off of Caroline St., get a cup of coffee, read a book, enjoy the atmosphere of life and say hi to Paul for me.

Next I drove down to the Montpelier Wine festival in which my boss, Michael, had a tent rented for the company employees friends and vendors. We had a fun time, got to hang out with people outside of work, which is a really good change…it makes those relationships more communal and real. I bought a couple of bottles of wine which I intend to share communally with a few more friends.

On the way to the fest, I drove through rural VA attempting to get a good enough signal on my Treo to catch up with a few friends. I chatted with Jon, a college roommate and fellow artist. Had a great conversation until the technologically sparse, rolling country side dropped my call and my signal. So, it was back to quiet driving, sans my iPod (that is for another blog post).

All the while Jamie is in Maryland enjoying her wedding shower and spending some much needed time with friends. I missed her today Often times you just want to experience the good things in life with the person you love.

I read an article today about a politician in Ohio who was running for a local office. But, much to his chagrin, the election ended in a tie. To top it all off his two sons didn’t vote. So, if we were pointing fingers we could suggest that his son’s irresponsible lack of respect for their father and of their civic duty caused this electoral stale mate. However we’re forgetting about the hundreds, if not thousands of other people who didn’t vote in the same election. A Similar incident happened to a friend whose mom was running for a local office and lost by a handful of votes, and finding out that a few of our friends didn’t vote. They are not on trial, though. Rather, this does illustrate a good life principle: the power of the few… That a few people/things/etc. can make a big difference. I think this is in the Tipping Point somewhere…Sorry, Mr. Gladwell for stealing this.

I had to remind myself of this while sleeping in on the cold, damp ground of John Marshall Park in D.C. last weekend. That 60,000+ people made the decision to do the same thing I did and that hopefully, a few hundred members of press and the government listened…not just to our sleeping (or lack thereof), but to the pain of the children of Northern Uganda.

Ok, so that is macro living—big, you know. But i forget all the time that my life is made up of little chunks, little decisions—micro living. Everyday microlving: when I decide to get up in the morning, how I react to people I work with, how i love Jamie, what i eat, what my time is used for, how I choose to experience or not experience God.

I suspect that my micro living choices are the things that make my macro living more…well, macro. That if I love those around me better, eat better, etc. that if I live better in the small things, I might pave the way for bigger and better things.

From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. Luke 12:48

Somebody has used the Google Maps API and an image-to-ascii generator to give us the completely useless ASCII Maps. This reminds me of another completely ridciulous project that someone came up with, a web server written in PostScript. People actually spend their time on this stuff! … and humbly, I admit, I spend my time blogging about it.

The Global Night Commute was really an amazing experience. We (Chris,My fiance - Jamie, Jamie J., Jimmy, Jack and Daniel) met up in Fredericksburg yesterday at about 4:00 to head up to D.C. for a night’s stay at John Marshall Park in D.C. It was really cold and very unsleepable., but if I can miss one night of sleep to help end the war in Northern Uganda, then that is what I needed to do.

If you have not seen Inivisible Children yet, you have to. It is a documentary about the victims of the war, the Children of Northern Uganda.

• My photos of the Global Night Commute
• Check out Chris’ audio blog from the Global Night Commute
  

Yes, that is me being interviewed on D.C.’s Channel 9 News at 11. No, my name is not Bobby Bailey, my name is Ian Soper, who according to the video is a teenage girl. Thanks for uploading the video to MySpace, Chris.

I’m leaving in a couple of hours to head up to D.C. for the Global Night Commute. This is will be a powerful event that will hopefully push the U.S. into making effort to ending the war in Northern Uganda. You may have heard of this if you saw the Invisible Children filmmakers on Oprah the other day. Their documentary is an eye opening and powerful look at the war that is going on their and the children that fear abdcution, death and a horrific life at the hands of the rebels day in and day out.

I’ll be trying to blog about this through out the night tonight on the nameless church blog. Check it out tomorrow.

I’m not sure at what point in my life I stopped believing in the Easter bunny. In fact, I can’t remember when I actually did believe. Mom made easter baskets for us for Sunday morning. Grandma would hide our Easter baskets around the house so when we came over after church we could find them. That was fun We had Easter egg hunts at Grandma’s house and at church. Fun times.

This year it was my turn in the circle of life to be the Easter bunny. The nameless church took our Easter Sunday and made dinner for homeless people at the Thurman Brisen Center in Fredericksburg…and I was the Easter Bunny. I dawned a hot, sweaty, smelly rental Easter Bunny get-up that may have never been laundered, waved at children, gave them Easter baskets and was the sort of figure head for the children’s easter festivities.

I had them all fooled. Well most of them. After the Easter Bunny got to hot and sweaty, he declared that it was time to go home. He went up the elevator, and a few minutes later I appeared. The children cannot be fooled. Some said, “That was him, I see his shoes.” Which was a common question to the Easter Bunny that day, “Why do you have shoes on?” He replied, “The Easter Bunny has been on his feet delivering candy all day and the shoes are more comfortable than being barefoot.” I don’t think that my answer sufficed. Another kid discovered that my neck matched the description of the Easter Bunny’s neck. Being that my neck is disproportionately long, and because of that fact, my my mask, sort of hovered above my shoulders, leaving my neck vulnerable to the inquisitive stares of children.

So the secret was out. I was the Easter Bunny. Did I mind? Not too much. Did the children feel loved by hugging a giant bunny on the hopeful day of Easter (despite some less than hopeful circumstances). I do hope so
More photos from Easter 

I went out on a limb today and bought a djembe drum. I guess this wasn’t totally a suprise. I’ve been drumming on my body for a while now at the nameless church Sunday night gatherings, I’ve becoming the resident drummer, not by virtue of skill, or experience, but rather of just my compelling need to beat myself with my hands during songs of worship. Tonight I got a chance to use the new dejimbe drum and actually be in a …band? Am I a musician now? I thought it all stopped in 8th grade?

I’ve been heavily listening to what I refer to as musician’s music for many years now. Usually that includes tons-o-jazz, jam oriented rock, prog-rock, etc. Plus tons of other music. It is strange take the depth of my listening and move it into playing a piece of carved wood and hide that I just picked up, and to really here some music come out of it. Granted my beats waver in and out of the time signature, and I probably sounded like a crack addict with the way that I was playing, but it was real. I felt so comfortable and expressive behind this drum, it was like painting. It was totally like painting. Amazing.

I got the drum from a very cool place in Fredericksburg, called Eyeclopes studios. The owner Ken Crampton is heavily involved in the drumming lifestyle, hosting regular drum circles, lessons, and runs www.everybodydrum.com. He’s bulding a new place, and I highly recommend checking it out when it is open.

Check out some shots that Ryan took of me drumming.

My good friend Ryan just created a very cool video and has posted it on MySpace and YouTube. Check it out.