08.25.08 The Social Cause DIet

Some words I wrote made their way into a new book called The Social Cause Diet.  Author Gail Perry Johnston, while recovering from an eating disorder, discovered how satisfying a life of service can be.  The Social Cause Diet is part her story and part compilation of motivating tales from 45 other folks including my Compassion Bloggers friend Shannon crafted to inspire and mobilize readers to serve others.

It’s available from Amazon.com and it would make a great gift for the reader in your life in need of a gentle nudge away from self-absorption.

Have you read it yet?  What’d you think?

08.25.08 From Screamo To Cowboys To Colorado

After the screamo festival I headed to Texas to spend a day with my family and play/speak at a cowboy church in Athens.  That’s right - from skinny jeans to Wranglers, tattoos to cowboy hats.  I’ve got cultural whiplash. That, my friends, is a diverse weekend.

Now I’m in the DFW airport about to board a flight to Colorado Springs.  I’m spending a good part of this week at Compassion‘s mother ship filming a DVD that will be used to train other speakers and artists on how to communicate about Compassion, and having a lot of meetings with marketing and IT folks about the present and future of Compassion Bloggers.

While I’m there I’ll also make the final decision on who’s going with us to the Dominican Republic in November so I’ll let you guys be the first to know when that’s all done.  And I may have time to shoot some video and get answers to any questions you guys might have about Compassion International too.  If I do, what would you like to ask?  What would you like to see?

08.24.08 Shaun Groves Goes Screamo

As promised, here’s video from the screamo festival this weekend - with appearances by Tracy Edwards, P.D. Ross and Ben Stewart.

Also available on Youtube.

Again, I love my “job.”

08.22.08 Important Lessons For A Soft Rock Star From A Screamo Guitar Player

I spoke at a screamo music festival yesterday and here is just some of what I learned about music making from one guitar player there.  I wrote these lessons down and will afix them to my bathroom mirror at home for review every morning.

1) Play the guitar behind your head.

2)Spin the guitar around your neck.

3)Play a friend’s guitar.

4)Wear tight jeans.  And boxers.

08.22.08 Two Groups And A List

People who give me life: My wife. Brian and Amy. Ben. Redneck Neighbor. Sophie. Tracy. Jim Gaffigan. Wess.

People who take life from me: The guy with the endless need for affirmation.  The gossip. The lady looking for a fight.  The guy with nothing good to say. The girl who forwards me Republican propaganda.  The guy who forwards me Democratic propaganda. The addict.  The outloud incessant worrier. The grown man who’s still mad at his mommy. The perpetually depressed. The comma-deficient. The abuser. The anonymous. The rock star. The...there are a lot of these.  They’re easy to list aren’t they?  And listing them, focussing on them and not the folks in the first group, is a sure way to become a miserable life-taking person myself.

It’s time to stop keeping that list.