Doug Van Pelt

Music Skins for HM

This is what can happen when you walk through the SXSW trade show and network with the folks you meet. I talked to one of the two founders of the Music Skins folks and we worked out a deal. Like many of the artists we cover, we now have some HM skins for iPods, notebooks, Guitar Hero controllers, phones, PSP's, and a bunch of other gadgets.






I'm going in for surgery in about ten minutes, so I plan to spend the rest of the day reading, resting, and relaxing with a repaired knee.

Subject: Urgent Prayer Requests

Here's a prayer request from Shaun Groves, who is helping lead the Blogger's Trip to Kolkata, India (yeah, that's the native spelling of the city we know as Calcutta). Please join with me in praying for these needs. I'm expecting some big and cool things from this trip.

On this trip a handful of bloggers will travel with me at Kolkata, India to see Compassion International's ministry to children in the third world firsthand and write about it. The result will tens of thousands of readers wrestling with the problem of poverty for the first time and hundreds of children in the third world being sponsored through Compassion International.

One of the things these bloggers will be doing is meeting their sponsored child if they've chosen to sponsor one in India. This allows these bloggers to actually hold their sponsored child, exchange small gifts, and directly hear from their sponsored child what kind of impact the sponsor's $32 a month has made in their life and family.

For the first time ever, we are running into a few last minute glitches that could make all of those visits very difficult to make happen. Without getting into confidential and boring specifics, all I can say is that we need one of the sponsored children's parents to agree to let their child make a long journey to meet one of our bloggers, and a few other more minor road blocks to be removed as well. We need you to pray. If these visits do not happen, it's not the end of the world but our bloggers are traveling for two days in large part to meet their sponsored children face-to-face so, for the bloggers, these visits are immensely personally important.

Also, there are a few minor concerns over safety. We are told that where we will be staying and traveling is completely safe t the moment and should remain that way but there have been attacks on tourists and Christians in other distant parts of India in recent days so your prayers are welcomed.

Lastly, some of our bloggers are leaving spouses and children and taking their first international flight halfway around the world. For folks not used to traveling, traveling internationally can be a little stressful. Add to that stress the 104 degree heat and 12 hour time change, and we could use your prayers for health, peace, and perseverance.

Thank you for supporting this journey! Thank you for praying! Follow the trip by visiting www.compassionbloggers.com/india from April 26th to May 2nd.

GMA on the fly

Today is my third day to be at GMA, but my first chance to get on the internet and do anything. Although I haven't been a lot of ground like I usually do (I guess I'm an event monster that usually tries to spread myself over as much musical ground as possible at a thing like this), I have still experienced a lot in two+ days.

Saturday promised to be amazing, with a Mute Math show on the agenda. But since I was without vehicle on this trip, I took a shuttle bus over to the Nashville Convention Center and looked for a way over there. My friends, who were at the event (a giant Record Store Day party at Grimey's on 8th Ave), went out to get something to eat and were going to pick me up to take me to the show. Their insider contacts at the event informed them, however, that the small building was packed beyond capacity and there was over 200 people outside wanting to get in. People were being turned away. We all agreed that it would be futile to try to get in. So we passed on that and instead sat around and laughed ... a lot. Good friends getting together really works the old diaphram and stomach muscles, because good times, memories and jokes are shared in a free-form fun time that is super enjoyable. I've learned over the years by experience that these are the memories that stay with you much more so and longer than business meetings and most of the shows. There are memorable performances, for sure, and that is the combination that makes coming to something like this so enjoyable.


Sunday evening saw some really big events. One was the PB&J party on the rooftop (which was transferred into a gym at a church across the street from the Convention Center). This thing was packed with people, lots of free Rock Star Energy drinks, people walking around with trays of PB&J sandwiches (for real) and small cups of milk. There was some funny videos on the wall played between some bands. One of them had an edited interview with Will Farrell, which must've been blue-screened so that Will was in a room with Syntax Records logos on the wall and they answered questions about the artist that was coming on next. Lots of cool lights and a great sound system made this the best event I'd seen so far.


Later on I went over to the Renaissance Hotel for a Stryper listening party. There was a small suite filled with people, a tiny stereo, and Michael Sweet and his band's manager. Michael would explain a little bit about each song and then play it. We heard a good half dozen songs off the record and ... I think ... I'm going to like it ... a lot. I still need to hear it on a good loud sound system (like my car), but I'm thrilled at the inclusion of so many good guitar leads. Michael described the goal of this album to kind of get back to their roots, so he said there was a lot of double harmony guitar leads and harmony vocals. I enjoyed hearing that again, but mostly because it sounded fresh, energetic, tight and on. I love the little squeals and guitar string-bending notes I heard all over the place. It has that big metal sound, but of course, the tunes are very melodic. A friend or two heard it and prepared me for not liking it, but I don't agree with their assessment at this time. What I heard sounded very promising. It was great to see Michael and give him a big hug. Lots of folks in the room brought memorabilia to have signed, and Michael stayed around to chat and sign it all. One little guy showed me his Oz lego figure that he painted that he was hoping to give to Oz, who was a no-show due to a late flight from the West Coast. Both Mike and Oz will be performing at BB King's on Tuesday night as part of the always good Dog & Pony Show.


Tonight's Dog & Pony Show features a headline performance by Tonex. I don't want to miss that.


I was able to see a couple metal bands I didn't know, as well as the White Collar Side Show. I had seen their DVD that featured a live show in a giant empty theater and knew I was in for a mind-bending, raw audio and visual treat. It was something else to be there and see it live. They're really good ... and original. Two of the guys play drums and various percussive instruments (including a giant saw and a 50 gallon barrell). A female bass player jams in a cage on stage right with a "faceless" mask on. Lots of fast-paced video with antique and campy footage runs on a screen, and there's lots of rhythmic sound bytes and voices that play loud over the system.


This Fires Embrace put on a really heavy, but short set of pummeling songs. Blissed rocked the house out late into the night, with David Pierce's vocals living up to his last name.

A NEW rock and roll

That's right... I've recorded a new album. Enough of this writing about rock and metal music. It's time to make some! What I've done is combined doomy, gothic metal with a vivid imagination... Okay, stop! I'm kidding. I wish I had musical talent and could create art, but with my lack of skill, we are all better without it. Trust me on this!

Seriously, I have something VERY COOL to announce. I've been waiting on this for awhile, but didn't want to talk about it too much until it was ready to go.

Now,

you,

GO!!!

here, that is:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/11520





This is an HM branded browser.
First I must stop again...
I'm sorry.
Why do I always spell the word browswer like that? My fingers want to hit that w key again. What is wrong with me? Am I cursed? Browser! Browser! Browser! I trained myself to write 5's and 4's differently when I worked at a bank years ago, since my numbers needed to be written fast and legible for others.

I'm back.
This HM browser is stinkin' cool!
"Why are you so excited about it, Doug?"
I'm glad you asked!
Before I answer, however, I must remark that this new Tumbledown album has a hidden bonus track as track 13. It's not really a hidden bonus track, but tracks. The whole entire album replays in that track!?! Either that or my CD player is going bizonkers.

I am stoked about the new HM "boom" (as the folks at brandthunder like to call the browser skins) because of the obvious HM logo branding/imaging aspects, of course; but also for the buttons and functions it brings to the hmmag.com website all of a sudden. You like the way it looks?

Here's what the genius behind the browser had to say: "Brand Thunder is excited to bring the BOOM to HM Magazine!" (Yes, they're fans of P.O.D.)

Now we have a "media" button, which opens a sidebar on the left side.
This sidebar has three buttons at the top: News | Video | Podcast.
The news takes the RSS feed from our "Internet Exclusives" and puts them in a convenient spot. I plan on coding all future "News Updates" with a "headline" code next to each of the 12 News Update items, instead of just a single page of 12 items being one RSS feed. When that happens, the RSS feed in the upper right of the browser, which currently toggles through several of my most recent tweets, will start scrolling through the latest news.
That's hot right there, huh?
I agree. Thanks for your enthusiasm.

Next, there's the Video button (which has been selected in the image above). Here you click on the button and the sidebar fills with thumbnails from a dozen or so videos. This playlist will update with new videos all the time. I'll keep the HM commercial spots in there, too, cuz who doesn't want to laugh along to those funny spots?
Oh! You don't? Really? No? Okay. Good.
(do I sound like Will Farrell? I hope so. Kinda like the cheerleader skits, where you only hear one half of a conversation...)
Having a video player on the website? Killer.

The Podcast button places ALL of the HM Podcast episodes into the sidebar. Most of them have a description of what's on each episode. I plan on getting that updated. Who wouldn't want to know which episode had the Chris Cornell interview on it? Or Paramore? Or The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus? Anyway, it's a cool place to get the Podcast right there on the site.

Hopefully, now it will give more people more reasons to stay at our site. I best better get busy updating content, huh? Before I go to GMA, I plan on posting the "Internet Exclusive" interview with Jeremy DePoyster of The Devil Wears Prada. Be looking for that soon.

Another thing I'm working on setting up with be a "Music" button, which will appear soon (Lord willing). We're looking for a good online radio station to partner with on that...or maybe I'll do a playlist type feature. I dunno yet. We were gonna hook up with one internet radio station, but the hangup there was people had to register to listen, and that is a hiccup in the process. We want it to be kind of instantaneous, ya know?

Another thing I just figured out is how to send text messages from an email program. So, what that means, is you can sign up for text message updates. I'm tweaking how this will be formatted, but my plan is this: When I get some hot news, I'll code it so that the RSS feed will recognize the headline. I'll send that, along with a "click here for more" link that will take the person to the News Page on our site. This will be a convenient and quick way to get breaking news. How cool would it have been to hear that The Crucified were playing Cornerstone Festival this year if you first heard it in a short text message? I agree.

Two pieces of advice:
1. Get unlimited texting on your phone. You'll love it.
2. Sign up to get new, breaking HM News on your mobile device by emailing me at news@hmmag.com with your 10-digit mobile number, and I'll start sending you news alerts as I get this rolling. (Unlike my twitter account, where I obey no rules and sometimes post what I'm eating, this will be breaking news and cool "glad I signed up for this" information.)

P.S. I just checked my mail and, wouldn't you know it, the new issue of HM arrived. I have to tell ya, I have no plans of posting the May/June issue on hmmag.com while I'm in Nashville, so this'll be one of those times where the print bird gets the early worm (or something cute and fun like that).

My dad in the movies

You can smell it in the air...
it's the kids at county fair...
(from "Homeward Bound," one of many swashbuckling, old timey drinking songs that Mike Herrera's new Tumbledown project recorded).

Hey, this isn't how I meant to start this blog, but the lyrics just hit me as this blank window opened.

change o subject...

So, this guy named Roger Nygaard (Trekkies) has made or is making a new movie, called "The Nature of Existence." He came to visit my dad's place for an interview about his drawings, "Jesus, With You Always."

Here's a segment of that interview:

I've got more things to share, as I prepare for my trip to Nashville (for GMA) tomorrow and next week. Please keep coming back.

Memories of Africa...

Am still feeling grateful and life-changed from going to Uganda last year.


Some facts about Uganda:
Population is 31,367,972, which is highly affected by AIDS in such a big way.


English is the most common language, as it's taught in grade schools, used in courts of law, most newspapers, and some radio. Ganda or Luganda are both popular, too.


The life expectancy is 51.31 years for the male; 53.4 years for the female.


The GDP per capita is $1,000.


Christianity is the religion that 83.9% align themselves with.


There are 236 Compassion Child Development Centers, and 59,206 children are enrolled.


It's a beautiful country. You should definitely visit if you ever get the chance.


With Compassion International's work in Uganda (and all over the world) and particularly with their well-rounded focus on the whole person and the age range of pre-natal into adulthood, the country is changing. Their Leadership Development Program is amazing, grooming sharp leaders that are impacting their country. I think it's true that it's only a matter of time before a former Compassion sponsored child will be the president of Uganda.




Compassion International is taking its third Blogger's Trip in a couple weeks -- this time to India. It's exciting to see one of the bloggers that went on our trip to Uganda, returning to make this one to Kolkatta. Please check out Anne Jackson's blog and the other Compassion Bloggers going on this one. It is sure to be amazing. The raw insight that someone has when they visit a third world country and write about it daily is pretty darn cool and real. The photographs and videos are an extra way to connect and vicariously travel with them.


If you haven't thought about it already, please sponsor a child.

a healthy rebuke to Baptists (i think)

Have you ever noticed that Baptists seem to lead the charge against Catholics? It's like the average Baptist person... No, I don't think that's really true... I think the average Baptist person has got it together pretty well, living a healthy life in encouraging fellowship and a sensitive heart towards evangelism. I am betting that it's kind of a noisy, loud minority in the Baptist camp that can't seem to let the whole "Catholic thing" be ignored. It seems they are so irritated that Catholic doctrine may teach something false.

Let me ask you a question, Mr. Baptist (I bet the majority of these Catholic bashers are male): Which is better -- to have your doctrine correct or to live out the example of loving service (i.e. live like Jesus)?

If you had to generalize here, one could probably say that many Catholics do a better job of serving the poor, caring for the sick, and involving themselves in "mercy ministries" than the Catholic-bashing Baptist does. The Catholic might have an error in their doctrinal outlook (gasp), but could you not admit, Mr. Baptist, that they have you beat in the "action" category.

Most people know that the answer that Mr. Baptist would give to the following question: "What's more important -- the physical health and well being of a human being; or their spiritual health and eternal position?" The Baptist would obviously say "spiritual" and "eternal well being," would they not? But could they be wrong in ignoring or de-prioritizing one under the other? Did not Jesus Himself spend a lot of time addressing the physical needs of those around Him?

My challenge to Mr. Baptist is: "If you're so spiritual, why can't you obey a simple and major command of Jesus -- to love your enemies?" Admit it: Catholics are your enemy. Love them for a change. If you deny that they're your enemy ... man, if that's how you treat a friend, I'd hate to see how you treat an enemy!

I realize I'm bringing a flawed argument to the table here. I doubt my challenge will work, but maybe some of my words are sharp enough to get the right questions being asked.

If you don't believe there's a big chasm between Catholics and some denominations of Protestants, pick up some Chick tracks about Rome and the Catholic Church. They'll be glad to fill your imagination with allegations of a satanic conspiracy to pervert the church with deception, etc. I think it's crazy.

I think it's possible to disagree with someone doctrinally -- even on some big issues -- and still respect and love them and learn from them and serve alongside them.

When love motivates people to action, something right is going on.

A message to St. Peter

I'm not sure if you'll read this, Peter. I can imagine that you probably don't have much interest with what's going on down on earth when you've got the person of Jesus in your presence up there. It might be a very rare thing that you'd ever peer down here for any reason. If you did indeed watch what goes on down here, I imagine you might have more interest in a beautiful servant washing the sores of a very sick person in a hospital somewhere in India, rather than some music magazine editor in Texas.

Anyway, if you do pay attention to stuff like this, I've got an apology for you.

If often said things (both verbally and on this blog) to the effect of "Peter was an idiot," or described the 12 disciples as a bunch of bumbling idiots. In relation to my blog from yesterday, I recently watched part of The Passion Of The Christ, which zooms in on several details of the final hours of Jesus' time on earth before His crucifixion, including Peter's thrice denails. I know that I can't really stand aloof of the disciples and say, "Oh, I would've figured out what Jesus was talking about (when He kept refering to His pending arrest and death) or that I wouldn't deny knowing Jesus." One can't really brag about what they would or would not do until they've actually lived through such an event. Then, most know that bragging is not too appropriate or fulfilling anyway.

I can't really compare myself to Peter and judge him and his friends too harshly. They had to experience some traumatic hardship that I have yet to face. I hope to do great things with the help, guidance and power of the Holy Spirit, so I don't necessarily revere Peter beyond reach. like I cannot attain goals near his impact; but I'd be amiss if I thought myself better or that I'd done anything as noble as leading the first church in Jerusalem through its formative years, and then died by an upside-down crucifixion.

Would You Die For Me?

All of my passion from the center of my gut tells me that I would stand up and die for Christ if so called upon. But I know that I cannot stand up and be so arrogant to make that claim. I cannot say that I would not bend and would not deny my savior when they ripped my fingernails off or dislocated my shoulder blades. If I was able to stand up and be martyred for Christ, though... If I were able to somehow withstand being tortured for His Namesake, it would probably only be because I realize that He did the same for me. He offered His back to be whipped with a cat of nine tails, lashed 39 times upon the flesh of His back. He set His face "like flint" towards Jerusalem months before His trial and execution. And, moments before His arrest in the garden, He surrendered to the will of His Father, which He kinda knew meant brutal punishment, mockery, being struck in the face with strong, burly fists, and tortured to death on a cross. Jesus was a real man, facing the most gruesome physical pain one can imagine. He accepted this punishment for me. Only if I realized this, dwelled upon it, and somehow by the grace of God was given strength to stand upon it, would I be able to even think I could withstand this kind of pain.

The Love Prayer.1

There is a really cool person that lives close to the HM Ranch. Over the past couple of years, she's become one of HM Magazine's biggest supporters. She comes by to visit often, bringing brownies, cookies and other treats she bakes. She is a passionate lover of Jesus and young people. She's a real angel and does a super job of loving and checking in on the interns that live here during the summer and other times. We all love her and think the world of her.

If you could, please remember her in prayer this weekend and, especially, on Monday morning. The doctors found a rare form of cancer in her and have scheduled a surgery for Monday morning in the hospital in Temple, TX. Please join us in prayer that God would give these surgeons skill and wisdom and His blessing and that He would use them and His mighty power to heal her body and rescue her from the dangers of cancer.

Thanks!

The Love Dare.16

Love Intercedes
This is another good chapter. It goes into how we cannot really change our spouse. One statement or question is funny. It's like, "Do you think God gave you insight into your spouse's problems and shortcomings so you could nag?" Ha ha.

The authors use the good analogy about farmers planting seeds, knowing that, in the right soil, it'll probably grow. There's also some cool, balanced statements about prayer that I like:

God is sovereign. He does things His way. He's not a genie in a lamp that submits to your every wish. But He does love you and desires an intimate relationship with you. This doesn't happen apart from prayer.

Do you feel like giving up on your marriage? Jesus said to pray instead of quitting (Luke 18:1).

Are you stressed out and worried? Prayer can bring peace to your storms (Philippians 4:6-7).

Do you need a major breakthrough? Prayer can make the difference (Acts 12:1-17).

I like this little tid-bit, too:

There are some key elements that must be in place for prayer to be effective. But suffice it to say that prayer works best when coming from a humble heart that is in a right relationship with God and others.

It's easy to make the mistake that either God will give you what you want if you follow the "right formula," or use past experience in un-answered prayer (which is really a case of "didn't get what I want") as a way to dismiss prayer as a futile exercise. Sometimes we use defense mechanisms to deal with disappointment. This scenerio would be a sad one: to dismiss God, His existence, or His desire to draw close to us in prayer in some form of philosophy known as Deism...

Prayer is not a formula. If we do "everything right," that doesn't guarantee that God will be forced to give us what we want. Sometimes I think God might use our prayer time as a sort of therapy for us to realize and cope with our circumstances. I know that I often get introspective when I hear what my voice is praying for.

Today's Dare:
Begin praying today for your spouse's heart. Pray for three specific ares where you desire for God to work in your spouse's life and in your marriage.

The Love Dare.15

This chapter talks about a holy honoring. When you honor someone, you give them your attention. You don't listen to them from behind a newspaper (or magazine, cough...) and mumble responses. You give them eye contact and full attention. To consider something holy is not to consider it perfect. God is perfect and He is holy, but people are holy and they are not perfect.

I like the "yeah, but..." detail that the author brings up here:

Perhaps you don't feel this way, and maybe for good reason. Perhaps you wish some outsider could see the level of disrespect you get from your wife or husband -- someone who would make your mate feel embarrassed to be exposed for who they really are behind closed doors.

...but when your attempts at honor go unreciprocated, you are to give honor just the same. That's what love dares to do -- to say, "Of all the relationships I have, I will value ours the most. Of all the things I'm willing to sacrifice, I will sacrifice the most for you. With all your failures, sins, mistakes, and faults -- past and present -- I still choose to love and honor you."

That's cool. I imagine many of us had had similar thoughts of rejection, feelings of injustice, pity, and resentment. This chapter challenges us and pushes us beyond that.

Today's Dare:
Choose a way to show honor and respect to your spouse that is above your normal routine. It may be holding the door for her. It might be putting his clothes away for him. It may be the way you listen and speak in your communication. Show your mate that he or she is highly esteemed in your eyes.

I wish I could just take the easy route and hold the door open for my wife. But, since I already do that most of the time, that would kinda be like cheating. I need to find something "above my normal routine." hmmm...

HM Video Playlist for April

Here's something I hope to make a regular thing here, where I keep a good playlist going of new up-to-date videos of our favorite bands. Here we have 13 different items (3 HM spots + 10 cool videos):







Enjoy!

As I Lay Dying DVD preview

Here is a short look at the upcoming AILD DVD, This Is Who We Are, which is due out on April 14.









Whattya think?
This band is amazing and cool.

The Love Dare.14

Defensive driving saved my life (and the life of my dog, too) this morning. As I was traveling along Hwy 79 at 50 mph, I approached the intersection in Hutto at Front Street, seeing a school bus in the left turn lane, I thought, 'Don't try it!' With only a hundred feet or so between us, the long vehicle heads into the intersection (the driver had an unprotected green light) right in front of me. I guess he or she thought they could make it before I got there. Real dumb on their part. Not the sort of risk-taking a bus driver should do. If I was more Type A I would have looked for the bus # and called it in. I had to slam on my brakes and hit my horn. It's a good thing I hit the horn, because a small car was following the bus through the intersection and would've blocked my path around the tail of the bus in the inside lane. Hearing my horn and seeing me come into the intersection, they stopped. I hated seeing the long and high tail section of that bus, knowing that if I couldn't stop or maneuver around it, it could take the top portion of my car off.

Whew! I have a full agenda today. Chiodos interview (with Craig Owens, the lead singer) at 1, writing and planning next issue, updating the As I Lay Dying video on my blog, and then dinner with the next great cCm artist - Toby Walters.

The Love Dare.14
"Love Takes Delight"
This chapter starts off with a verse,

"Enjoy life with the wife you love all the days of your fleeting life."
-Ecclesiastes 9:9

and then reiterates a point they try to drive home:

"One of the most important things you should learn on your Love Dare journey is that you should not just follow your heart. You should lead it. You don't let your feelings and emotions do the driving. You put them in the back seat and tell them where you're going."

The next paragraph elaborates, explaining that you won't always feel like loving. It's not realistic to think that your heart will always be thrilled with your spouse. No one can maintain a burning desire 24/7 just on feeling alone. A sense of obligation isn't enough, either.

It points out that we get to choose what we treasure. It gives advance warning that:

"Today's dare may be directing you to a real and radical change of heart. For some, the move toward delight may be only a small steap away. For others, it may require a giant leap from ongoing disgust."

Today's Dare:
Purposefully neglect an activity you would normally do so you can spend quality time with your spouse. Do something he or she would love to do or a project they'd really like to work on. Just be together.

I kinda had to put this chapter on hold during the second SXSW week, because I was out of the house for the better part of each day, followed by a harried last week of deadline. (Man, March is hard around here) Today I will try to get this dare done.

I liked this chapter and the emphasis on choosing delight. Good word.

The Love Dare.13

(gasp!)
cough...what? you're back on the blog?!?
We don't believe it!

Sorry for the delay. I would have liked to have made this 40-day experiment 40 days in a row, but that wasn't very feasible with SXSW and deadline right on top of each other in March.

This chapter is called "Love Fights Fair."
It is one of the basic things that a couple should learn in pre-marital counseling. Of course, these principles work really well in any relationship. In a marriage, it is vital to learn this. When conflict happens -- and it happens to the most holy of us. We can act pretty pious when we're alone, but when we rub up against another person's habits, sin, and exhaustion, we will inevitably have conflict. The thing about a fight is it often brings out the worst in us. Not many people plan for a fight. It's usually unexpected, so being caught off guard is working against you. Many times you're exhausted, so that is working against you (double-time, because conflict itself is very emotionally draining; so it's zapping what little strength you already had). And when you're tired and worn out and irritated, that is a prime time for ugliness to rear its, uh, ugly head.

I think it's kind of funny to see people resort to the least-common denominator of name-calling. It's like, when they run out of all their ammunition, they just simply try to hurt the other person by calling them names. This is an obvious rule to abide by.

When my wife and I got engaged, we got some good advice and this whole "fighting fair" thing was drilled into us.

The Love Dare book lists some good rules for fighting, broken down into "We" boundaries and "Me" boundaries:

We
1. We will never mention divorce.
2. We will not bring up old, unrelated items from the past.
3. We will never fight in public or in front of our children.
4. We will call a "time out" if conflict escalates to a damaging level.
5. We will never touch one another in a harmful way.
6. We will never go to bed angry with one another.
7. Failure is not an option. Whatever it takes, we will work this out.

"Me"
1. I will listen first before speaking. "Everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger." (James 1:19)
2. I will deal with my own issues up-front. "Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?" (Matthew 7:3)
3. I will speak gently and keep my voice down. "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." (Proverbs 15:1)

I want to be able to learn better how to call a "time out" during my own anger or in a conflict. I'm not worried about the extreme end of "damaging levels," but would like to be able to halt my emotions and force a cool down just because I think it would be a better way to approach conflict sometimes. I'm thinking of a scenerio in which a conflict doesn't get resolved, but keeps going around and around. Stopping or pausing would be good to re-focus.

Lord, help us all respond better in conflict. We could use Your help all across the board in all of our relationships.
Amen.

Quick Change

Whew! I just finished the latest issue of HM (the May/June issue #137), and it about took the life outta me. It was trippy how time knda got liquid for me at the end. My fam went out of town for a dance conference and I stayed camped out at the office from Friday thru Sunday. Then I came to work on Monday and worked through the night to try to make a 12 noon EST deadline. If it were closer to the International date line, then I might've made it. But I went without sleep Monday night and finished up around 10pm Tuesday. One Monster Energy drink around 9 or 10pm on Monday gave me the smooth energy I needed to stay pretty much alert and with it. I'm glad I finished this one.

Now, having taken most all of today off to recuperate, it's probably not the best timing to make a big decision, but...

I've finally come around and decided that bringing hip-hop back to HM is the thing to do. It's really the music of the streets, and it's raw and cool. So, while the cover artist probably won't be hip-hop every single issue, at least half the mag will probably be rap.