The thing I really love about this, though, is that it is you putting up 12 songs in any order you want, but the only thing that can back them up is the music itself.  It just posts the artist and title of the song, and that’s it.  This is the way a mixtape should be.  No commentary, no defense, just let the music stand for itself.

Mine is at http://jimmy.muxtape.com.  Make one yourself, add it to the comments, and if its really good, maybe I’ll write a post about it.

3 tips to ensuring the plan’s success:
1.  Have just a hint of haze so the buildings lights blend together in the distance.
2.  Take the drive on a warm August evening in a convertible. 
3.  Let someone else do the driving and just enjoy the ride. 

I think my favorite part of this drive is that you get a full tour of every part of Chicago in  the 30 minutes or so it takes to make the drive.  You start on the far south side with the factories, small neighborhoods, and such.  Then move through one of the rougher areas of town, immediately followed by Jackson Park (the actual park) and then some of the University of Chicago.  Next you follow LSD up to Soldier Field, the museum campus, and downtown.  Finish off with the Gold Coast, Lincoln Park, and some of the north side neighborhoods.
I’m not saying that I stopped loving Chicago.  I’m just saying that I re-fell in love with it tonight.  This is worth a couple hours and a few gallons of gas.  Trust me. 

Resolutions are lame

I’ve spent the past week thinking about last year and how I want this year to be different. I realized very early in this thought process that I have no idea what my New Year’s Resolutions for last year were, but I’m reasonably certain they didn’t stick. So I’m not making resolutions this year; they never last.

Instead, I’m starting a list of things I’d like to do to improve my quality of life. There’s no pressure with this list; if something isn’t working out, then it either isn’t improving anything or I’ll simply try harder.

So, with that in mind, here’s my first pass at this list:

Slow down
Learn a new programming language
Budget better, save more
Write (at least) one original article per week
Read more
Commit to a todo system (regardless of which one)
Consume less frivolous media (less RSS, for example)
More music, less TV
More time with family/friends, less with my computer
I don’t think it’s an unreasonable list, and hopefully I can look back at this in a year and think “Well, I’ve done all those things…now what?”

I like that idea. Like I’ve said before, I’m not a huge fan of resolutions. I don’t like the idea that I need to change myself to be better. Lots of little improvements are much better than 1 big improvement in my head. So, I’m thinking about adopting that list. I’m not sure about the programming language, mainly because that’s one thing I really have no use for in my life.
One thing I have spent a lot of time reviewing recently, and would really like to focuse on in the coming future is increasing my productivity. Its something I’ve added leaps and bounds to in the past few months, but I think I can do more.
I’m taking my advice from two articles I’ve read recently, both based on the Getting Things Done idea. One is Practicing Simplified GTD by Gina Trapani on Lifehacker. The other is Improving Your Process: Boosting Productivity by Jonathon Christopher on Monday By Noon.
I’m not going to rehash these articles for you because they’re both quick reads, and they both will be beneficial, even if you don’t follow their advice exactly. But, I’m going to give you a little rundown on how I plan on implementing the advice they offer.
Really, what it comes down to for me, and both of these articles offer great solutions, is coming up with todo lists. My plan is to keep a daily todo list, a projects list (for anything that requires more than one step), and a someday, dream list. The other thing that needs to change is my e-mail. I was very good for sometime at keeping my inbox at zero(as per Merlin Mann’s Inbox Zero, but I’m back up to about 100 messages in there (granted, they are all read, which is a big improvement). What I need to do is start dealing with e-mail on my terms, not on someone elses.

But now, you’re probably asking yourself, how does this affect me? Well, the Boosting Productivity article talks about cutting back on social networks. I’m constantly being flooded by news and information about people who I rarely think about or have no bearing on my life. So I’ve decided to take an hour and thoughtfully purge my friends list on Facebook. I’ve already deleted my MySpace acount (I think), but I enjoy the good aspects of Facebook, so I’m planning on keeping it. I’m not setting a goal of a certain number of friends I have to stay under, but my method is going to consist of eliminating friends with names I don’t recognize immediately (a sure sign I haven’t talked to them in quite a while) and people I haven’t talked to in considerable amounts of time and I honestly don’t see myself talking to them soon.
So, to those friends who don’t want to be deleted, chances are if you are reading this, you won’t be.
And, if you are one of the unlucky ones, its not you, its me.

“This was the moment when we tore down barriers that have divided us for too long; when we rallied people of all parties and ages to a common cause; when we finally gave Americans who have never participated in politics a reason to stand up and to do so,” Obama said. “This was the moment when we finally beat back the policies of fear and doubts and cynicism, the politics where we tear each other down instead of lifting this country up.

“Years from now, you’ll look back and you’ll say that this was the moment, this was the place where America remembered what it means to hope. For many months, we’ve been teased, even derided for talking about hope. But we always knew that hope is not blind optimism. It’s not ignoring the enormity of the tasks ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path.

“It’s not sitting on the sidelines or shirking from a fight. Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it and to work for it and to fight for it.

“Hope is what I saw in the eyes of the young woman in Cedar Rapids who works the night shift after a full day of college and still can’t afford health care for a sister who’s ill. A young woman who still believes that this country will give her the chance to live out her dreams.

“Hope is what I heard in the voice of the New Hampshire woman who told me that she hasn’t been able to breathe since her nephew left for Iraq. Who still goes to bed each night praying for his safe return.

“Hope is what led a band of colonists to rise up against an empire. What led the greatest of generations to free a continent and heal a nation. What led young women and young men to sit at lunch counters and brave fire hoses and march through Selma and Montgomery for freedom’s cause.

“Hope — hope is what led me here today. With a father from Kenya, a mother from Kansas and a story that could only happen in the United States of America.

“Hope is the bedrock of this nation. The belief that our destiny will not be written for us, but by us, by all those men and women who are not content to settle for the world as it is, who have the courage to remake the world as it should be.

“That is what we started here in Iowa and that is the message we can now carry to New Hampshire and beyond.

“The same message we had when we were up and when we were down; the one that can save this country, brick by brick, block by block, calloused hand by calloused hand — that together, ordinary people can do extraordinary things.

“Because we are not a collection of red states and blue states. We are the United States of America. And in this moment, in this election, we are ready to believe again.”

“Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.

And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.

And how else can it be?

The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.”

-Kahlil Gibran

I felt like it was a pretty good year for music. One thing I did notice this year is British music was fantastic. There were a few releases that basically got ignored here, but were critically acclaimed in Britain. And yes, before anyone says anything, there a few very predictable spots on my list.

Albums I listened to a lot but didn’t quite make the list:

• Anberlin - Cities
• Athlete - Beyond the Neighbourhood
• Battles - Mirrored
• Bloc Party - A Weekend In The City
• Eisley - Combinations
• Explosions in the Sky - All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone

10. Matthew Good - Hospital Music
9. The Classic Crime - Seattle Sessions
8. Band of Horses - Cease to Begin
7. Editors - An End has a Start
6. Maximo Park - Our Earthly Pleasures
5. Tyler Ramsey - A Long Dream About Swimming Across The Sea
4. Cloud Cult - The Meaning of 8
3. Stars of Track and Field - Centuries Before Love and War
2. The National - Boxer
1. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky

This week has been filled with news of shootings. We had nine people killed in the Nebraska shopping mall, seven people killed in two separate shootings at Colorado religious establishments, and even a fight breaking out that turned into a shooting match at a Columbus mall. Not very festive news for the most festive time of the year.All this has had me thinking about the FISA debate when proponents of the warrantless wiretapping were quick to argue it was necessary to give up freedoms for security. Would these same people apply that argument to the second amendment instead of the fourth? I think we all know the answer on that. Perhaps the next time a Republican Senator says that we should give up freedoms for security when it comes to listening in on phone calls, then he should be asked about giving up the right to bear arms as a way to protect us in church or at the local mall. Let’s see how quickly the subject changes then.

from:http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/12/10/a-week-of-shootings/

“neither a systematic theology nor a summary of Paul’s lifework, but it is by common consent his masterpiece. It dwarfs most of his other writings, an Alpine peak towering over hills and villages. Not all onlookers have viewed it in the same light or from the same angle, and their snapshots and paintings of it are sometimes remarkably unalike. Not all climbers have taken the same route up its sheer sides, and there is frequent disagreement on the best approach. What nobody doubts is that we are here dealing with a work of massive substance, presenting a formidable intellectual challenge while offering a breathtaking theological and spiritual vision”

says N.T. Wright.
Well, Elizabeth and I have decided to try to climb up Paul’s masterpiece. We’ll see how it goes. I’m going to post here about our progress, but December is Romans month in our lives.
Feel free to join in and see how you like it.
Romans 1 is due on Monday, December 3. Stay tuned.