Monthly Archives: January 2011

Go ahead. Claim your mental-inventions here.

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I mental-invented the moving sidewalk when I was in 5th grade, out of a burst of late-night mindwandering… All that thinking was a part of my strategy to keep myself awake in case The Aliens were going to try to abduct me. With this imagination, just a commercial for The X-Files would keep me awake for nights. Go ahead and laugh. And embarrass the 12-year-old Mandy within me. But, then one day, the grown-up Mandy went to the airport and couldn’t believe her eyes. Someone had stolen my idea for the moving sidewalk.

 

And, while I’m at it, I’m also gonna stake my claim for the Jean-Horn. You know someday someone’s gonna figure out how to make a shoe-horn for your butt. And when that day comes, I’ve got witnesses that can verify my intellectual rights to that. Right? Who’s with me?

(Ok. Back to what really matters here: fun and random comments!) Have you had any mental-inventions that you’d like to claim here?

Now’s your chance.

(Postscript: I’m writing this at 10:30pm with all the lights off in the house. The train horn just scared me and, while typing this, I thought I saw a light out of the corner of my right eye. Twice… Great.)

Meet me in K.C. (Oh look. It rhymed.)

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But it’s not about a song. :) It’s a GIVEAWAY!!!

My good friends over at AllAboutWorship.com are holding an amazing worship retreat in May. Make no mistake, it’s definitely a retreat. If you’re a worship leader looking for a chill-experience of inspiration and connection, this is your weekend. Brenton Brown (!), Sarah Reeves, Dave Fitzgerald, and Pocket Full of Rocks will be among the leaders. Y’all. It’s gonna be awesome.

Why am I excited about this? Because the fabulous All About Worship guys let me interview worship leaders and songwriters for their podcast happenings. Isn’t that crazy? And if I can get the $$ in order, I’ll be at the retreat this year to meet everybody (and maybe you)!

So, here’s the REALLY fun part: I’m giving away one FREE REGISTRATION here this week. So, leave a comment telling me why you’d love to go to the All About Worship Retreat in May & I’ll randomly pick the winner extraordinaire this weekend.

Aaaaannnnd, for my most favorited readers, to get 10% off the cost of registration: use the code mandysblog. wootwoot!

All the info you need can be found at worshipretreat.org.

Leave a comment. Maybe you’ll win. & maybe I’ll see y’all in Kansas City in May!

Starbucks knows something about you that you may not know yet.

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Have you seen the new Starbucks Logo? (If not, hit it here.) They’ve stripped the logo down to their little lady, the Starbucks Siren. No more “Starbucks” or “Coffee” or circles. Just the siren. Interesting concept, huh? But, why?

minimalism

They (who are “they” anyway?) say we’re in the information age, but I say we’re quickly entering the TMI age. From driving down the road, to opening our computers, to using our phones, to entering a store, we’re overwhelmed by information that we don’t even want or need. So, the new wave of marketing will be underwhelming–minimal–trimming down packaging descriptives and text, recognizing that we know their brand already.

What we want is simplicity. What we want is open space. Room to think. Air to breathe. So, they’re making room in their logos. Soon, you’ll see it in other places as well, like the new Levi commercials that focus on people, not product.

Just watch.

To: Present Me. From: Past Me

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I found this in my inbox on New Year’s day–written a year ago using futureme.org. It immediately struck my heart in a very very deep place and reminded me of some important things that I’ve already forgotten. By now, just three days later, I’ve already made plans to reinforce some of the forgotten values in my life and in my world. Here are a few snippets of what I read on Saturday:

…. I hope you haven’t forgotten the passions that were lit on fire when you were at seminary a year ago – passions for the Kingdom worldwide. Passions for songwriting. Passions for your husband. Passions to be a mom.

I do know that you’re doing ok…. And know that, as I write this a year before you receive this, that I’m so unspeakably excited about the year that is now behind you.

I pray that you’ve lived it to the fullest. That you’ve learned the lessons that were placed before you. That your faith has grown. That your marriage has grown. That your soul has grown.

Keep going. Keep writing. Keep serving. Keep dreaming.

Keep living.

If you haven’t already written yourself a letter using futureme.org, you should. It’ll help you stay on course, breathe new life into your new year, and remind  you of where you came from.