The Lowdown, the Meltdown and a Good Case of Vertigo

It’s been a long time since I just downloaded the random thoughts floating around in my mind. This is the stuff that has been taking up space in my brain in recent days:

• Why am I slightly embarrassed to admit my family is vacationing in Minnesota this summer?
• Brian emailed me this morning and told be about the new and improved CreativePastors.com. I like it a lot. Brian gives the lowdown about the new site on his blog. Make sure you subscribe to the blog and podcast.
• I don’t care who wins the World Cup.
• David Foster cites "21 Reasons Why I Trust the Bible."
• I’m currently following about 75 feeds through Bloglines. I probably only actually read what 12 of those sites are producing, and I scan the rest. The shorter the posts, the more likely I am to read them.
• Diego Rodrieguez says the key to innovation is keeping employees happy. "Too much complexity and challenge leads to despair, frustration, and paralysis. Too little leads to boredom. Just right, and it’s easy to become fully engaged, and as you stretch and overcome the challenge, you experience flow, and are primed for innovative behavior. Happiness follows. It’s basic human wiring."
• Emily and I are watching the third season of 24. (So don’t tell us what’s happened in seasons 4 or 5.) I think television programming is far better than the movies that are being released. Does anyone else agree? Why is that?
• The most frequently played song on my iPod is U2′s "Vertigo." It’s been played 52 times. Next comes songs by the Black Eyed Peas, Maroon 5, Dave Matthews Band, tobyMac and Switchfoot.
• My oldest child is moving into middle school next year. She leaves for Camp Adventure tomorrow. I’m getting old.
• It was sad watching Phil Mickelson meltdown and lose the U.S. Open today. However, he kind of deserved it for making some really stupid mistakes on the final hole. Why didn’t he punch his second shot back into the fairway? What was he thinking?
• The nice people at Al Jazeera (see my post about their visit to Granger) gave me a free coffee mug. Bet there aren’t too many pastors in America with an Al Jazeera coffee mug.