BlakeAtwood.com

Got a great new phone today. Alas, not the iPhone, but a Cingular 8525. It has a full, physical keyboard. I like it more than I should.

Mark Batterson at Evotional.com and Pastor of National Community Church in Washington, D.C., a church that meets in a theater, says its

Pretty exciting to see the way the theater church movement has taken off in the past few years. I’m still believing for a church in every theater in America!

That’s an ambitious thought, but a worthwhile pursuit. What would it mean if something like that happened? No more building campaigns for one. No more struggling for the best A/V equipment, or even usable equipment. No more pews, just nice, comfortable theater seating. Of course, these are just behind-the-scenes concerns (which are my main concern, given my job).

But what would it mean for the world’s perception of the church? Does it become cooler? More hip? Attractive? Does it lose its otherness, its spirituality, its awe and reverence inducing factors? Or does the environment matter less than the content – the people, the relationships, the stories told and presented?

I was blessed to be involved with terranova from its early stages, but, unfortunately, could not be a part of its shift to becoming a theater church (now meeting on Sunday mornings at City Lights Theatres in Georgetown). I hear its going well, but I wonder what trade-offs they’ve seen, if any, or what feels different. I guess I just miss being "in the know" about the life of that church.

In reference to yesterday’s post about wanting to be a filmmaker of sorts, I just now remembered that my "work" has already appeared on at least 12 screens. I helped to create and edit the promos terranova gets to run before every movie appearing at City Lights. So I am famous, but only in my own eyes. Alas, Pride goes before a fall…

Flooding today has been tremendous. I hope no one thinks they can beat Mother Nature. She teaches hard lessons.

I’m in the early stages of starting a video ministry at the church. We’re looking at cameras. I have some great ideas from the Willow Creek Arts Conference. I’m talking video editing with one of the guys from Austin’s own eleven72 here in a few weeks. I bought In the Blink of an Eye by Walter Murch, a bible, of sorts, for video editors. I’m getting The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing via Netflix in a few days. Obviously, I’ve got the bug, the fever, and what can cure my fever? More cowbell. Or a nice camera. Or both. Also, a MacBook Pro, a few hard drives, new network cables, Final Cut Pro, and a book on how to use Final Cut Pro.

As such, I’ve taken to watching On the Lot. It’s an American Idol-type show, but for filmmakers. It’s not bad, but it’s not great. I read an article just yesterday detailing how the show could be better and I agreed with every suggestion. (Of course I can’t find the article at the moment). Right now, it’s just a short film festival show (you can see the contestants’ films on their site), with no behind-the-scenes on how the directors actually pulled off shooting a 3-minute comedy in a week, or showing the tensions and frustrations and confrontations that are sure to have happened; isn’t that reality programming at its core?

Sure, the films are entertaining, whether they’re truly good or good in the same way movies on Mystery Science Theater 3000 are. But you’d think it’d be better with Mark Burnett and Steven Spielberg’s names attached to it. Maybe Steve’s too busy trying to make Harrison Ford young. I’m glad the show is on. It’s showing me that it is difficult to be a filmmaker. Pointing a camera does not a filmmaker make.

I don’t want to make films, but I do want to tell stories. Stories that demand a reaction.

I celebrated another birthday today. They just keep coming, every year, and always on the same day, and somehow I still seem surprised. I think this was the first year I received more jokes about being old, getting old, old man, etc. I’m not even 30 yet, but age is such a strange thing. Sure, it’s a physical reality, but it’s so much more mental, right? Do I feel like I’m in my late 20s? I don’t know. What is that supposed to feel like?

If you’re supposed to smile through minor glitches in your day, I don’t.
If you’re supposed to rejoice in your student loan consolidation bills because they signify your joyful college years, I don’t.
If you’re supposed to have it figured out by now, I don’t.
If you’re supposed to know what you want to do with your life by now, I don’t.

However, if you’re supposed to start appreciating the little things the older you get, I do. To wit, the Woman’s car would not start this morning. I had to leave work, during a very busy day, come home, jar open the truck’s hood (which gave me fits and also to which I said to no one in particular (maybe God): “It’s my freakin’ birthday!”), jump her car, and then take the car to wal-mart and get a new battery. On the way home, I was thankful for my job, both that it’s close to my house and allows me the freedom to help my Wife when necessary.

All kids and teenagers want to be older; all middle aged people want to
be teenagers; all senior adults wind up as kids anyways. Why rush?

Maybe my focus is too much on getting there (wherever there is) instead of appreciating the ride. I want to know where I end up, but I don’t want to get there any faster.