take four minutes to grin

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

That was Matt Harding from the website, wherethehellismatt.com. Here's his story:

Matt is a 31-year-old deadbeat from Connecticut who used to think that all he ever wanted to do in life was make and play videogames. Matt achieved this goal pretty early and enjoyed it for a while, but eventually realized there might be other stuff he was missing out on. In February of 2003, he quit his job in Brisbane, Australia and used the money he'd saved to wander around Asia until it ran out. He made this site so he could keep his family and friends updated about where he is.
A few months into his trip, a travel buddy gave Matt an idea. They were standing around taking pictures in Hanoi, and his friend said "Hey, why don't you stand over there and do that dance. I'll record it." He was referring to a particular dance Matt does. It's actually the only dance Matt does. He does it badly. Anyway, this turned out to be a very good idea.

A couple years later, someone found the video online and passed it to someone else, who passed it to someone else, and so on. Now Matt is quasi-famous as "That guy who dances on the internet. No, not that guy. The other one. No, not him either. I'll send you the link. It's funny."

The response to the first video brought Matt to the attention of the nice people at Stride gum. They asked Matt if he'd be interested in taking another trip around the world to make a new video. Matt asked if they'd be paying for it. They said yes. Matt thought this sounded like another very good idea.

it coulda been worse...

Remember the blog post from a while back where I put up pictures of a supposedly "undiscovered" Indian tribe located near the border of Brazil and Peru?

Remember how disappointed I said I was going to be if it turned out to be a hoax?

Well, according to this story part of it was a hoax. The tribe has actually been known about for a long time - but until this fly over there had been no previous contact with them. The photographer took the picture and fudged the details of the story to try and make a point about the logging industry.

So, I'm disappointed that they weren't newly discovered, but happy, at least, that the photos weren't staged or part of a new Jack Black movie or something.

For your viewing pleasure

Next Gathering?

I'm not sure if Lexington has these types of crosswalk countdowns yet, but I'm thinking it might be fun to do a local version of this stunt! A video for the ages of us counting down at 2pm on a Saturday afternoon in downtown Lexington! Celebrating like mad and having everyone around us bewildered with excitement and curiosity! Who's in?!?!


Crosswalk Countdown - GuerilLA from Kelly Herrington on Vimeo.

Looking for a Cheap Date?

And maybe an easy way to start building community? Be sure to check out the upcoming "Parking Lot Party" at St. A's on June 20th! Details below and no registration required!

Parking Lot PartyFriday, Jun 20, 2008
Crossroads Parking Lot
7:30 pm
Bring your friends and neighbors to the Crossroads Parking Lot for our 2nd Annual Parking Lot Party! We will feature

1. Live DJ
2. Make your own Sundae
3. Sidewalk Chalk Contest
4. Bike Coral
5. Tricycle Races
6. “Drive-In” Movie

Bring your bikes, blankets and lawn chairs! No need to register, just come on over! Rain or Shine!

Free!
For More information, contact Jason Koerner at (859) 263-4633 ext 240

Manipulating Motivation

I receive a weekly sales motivational e-letter and found this week's to be particularly interesting. Being that sales is only a portion of my job, I try to transfer the bigger picture message from these e-letters to multiple areas of my life including business and personal. Check out the meat of this weeks message:

"In 1939, Napoleon Hill wrote many of his success principles in one immortal book, Think and Grow Rich. One of the principles is, “Do more than is expected of you.”
Amazing how old truths are still so valid.

Before Hill, around the turn of the last century (1900), Elbert Hubbard wrote an essay called “Message to Garcia.” It’s about a military officer named Rowan that was given an important message and told to deliver it to a guy named Garcia. Rowan -- without a moment of hesitation, without a “where” or “why” question -- started on the mission and ultimately delivered the message.

In his essay, Hubbard went on to chastise people for not delivering their message, and challenges each reader to take on the same blind “do it or perish” status."

Keep in mind this quote is used in the context of motivating sales reps. But it got me thinking about being directed on what messages I deliver. More than that, what's my direction on delivering God's message?

We understand called to deliver His message of eternal salvation and forgiveness in exchange for simply accepting His love. The hook for me was thinking, what if God had delivered His desire for us to spread His message with a "do it or perish" attitude? Quite a different spin on Christianity I'd say!

But God chose to provide us with free will and the ability to choose. For many, having the option is our downfall. For others, it's even more energizing to accept God's love and gift of eternal life.

Step back for a moment and think about your approach to free will. What would your life be like if your personal commitment to sharing the glory of God were more along the lines of Hubbard's encouragement? If every day you prioritized above all else, your desire to live like Jesus, spread His word when presented the opportunity and refused to succumb to compartmentalizing this responsibility behind or equal to your daily responsibilities.

Man oh man, I've got work to do... :)

Living Large with the Legends

Last Saturday night the Young Adults Gatherings spent an evening eating heavily and watching the Legends (lose) and some great fireworks after the game. It was a bit steamy but settled into a very nice evening. Despite the loss, it was a fun evening that included eats (burgers, dogs, beans and sweet tea!) baseball and some pretty cool fireworks considering it was just another June Saturday night.

As for the Young Adults Gathering, don't let the name fool you. If you're anywhere in the 22 - 102 range, then come on out to our next event. We'll be participating in the church wide cookout/field day in July but then in August we'll be sponsoring the first ever St. Awesome's Amazing Race! It should be a lot of fun so look for signups near the end of June. And if that doesn't get you interested, don't forget we'll be hosting another games and karaoke night later this fall.

The CCC Young Adults Gatherings are meant to be a place to have a good time, meet some new people and start building new relationships without the pressure and awkwardness that sometimes gets in the way. We'd love to see you soon so check back on this blog regularly or check out the Crossroads site for upcoming events!

Here are some pics from the Legends game. Note the Ford sign in the outfield. We actually saw a homerun hit that sign on the fly!