KevMcCord

352 Posts You Only Saw 249

This blog is now 7 months old.  It isn't my first blog, but I made a clean break with my past ramblings.

This is the 352nd post I started in those 7 months.  I only published 249.  I should have only published about 49.  The vast majority of the 103 posts were never finished. For the remainder I felt I might lose a job or become the target of Greenpeace or Peta or another terrorist organization if they came to light.

I plan to give my wife permission to publish them all posthumously.  So here's hoping I die before cryogenics gets worked out.

100 RSS feeds I Read At Work

I currently follow over 100 RSS Feeds (120 actually) most of which are from blogs.  While that sounds like a lot, this is my main source of professional news.  It only takes 15-20 minutes each day to read through 100 RSS Feeds.  That's largely because 60-70 of them only post weekly. 

Here's a very helpful article on why you should read blogs at work!

Blogging Slow Down

While you can't tell, I've been blogging daily.  Sometimes I write 2 or 3 posts.  I just haven't been able to bring myself to click "publish".  It isn't exactly writer's block since I'm writing a ton.  It is that I think the most of what I've written ranges from useless to irrelevant.  Yes, I do mean more so than the usual!  Maybe I'll pull something together today!

Full RSS

I didn't like the way Typepad put the excerpts for my posts out there.  It removed all HTML and I use a lot of bullets and links.  So, I'm back to publishing a full RSS feed.  I just need to find another mechanism to encourage comments.  The full RSS seems to discourage them.

I've Offended

It is no surprise.  I titled a blog with an offensive word and I offended.  Never mind how you or I feel about the word, it caused one person at least to unsubscribe.  I warned everyone.  I do spend a good deal of time organizing ministry, but part of my way of enjoying life is to speak honestly and directly about how I see the world.

Funny thing is I haven't been happy with the choice of that word for the title since I put it up.  It definitely reflects how I feel.  I've said before that I don't post everything I write.  Clearly you have to decide how to present yourself online.  I've decided thus far to share some of the layers in my own view of the world.  Maybe that is not wise maybe it won't matter in the long run.  Still, the word in the title just bugged me somehow.  I probably wouldn't have cared if it had been in the body of the message.

BTW, the blog was on how I feel about austerity and the meaning I was using is: enforced or extreme economy and I still think it stinks (see I could have used that word).

Wordle Says I Say

A few minutes of fun with wordle...

Gives you a bit of insight into what I say on my blog.

Not Really My 200th Post

This is the 200th post I've strated on Typepad, but it is no where near the 200th post I've published.  You see I have this habit of starting a blog post and then deciding it isn't fit for public consumption.

I've started categorizing those into:

• I'm a wimp
• That was a stupid idea
• I bit off more than I can chew
• I have a dark side I'm not willing to show the world
• My wife warned me not to publish this
• I might get fired if I publish this

Here's the problem, blogs thrive on controversy.  I'm setting myself up for failure here!

In reality I try to see if it fits one of my two goals

• Organizing Ministry
• Enjoying Life

Most of the blogs I don't publish fail both categories, but that's just a cop out.  Maybe I need another blog like thedarksideofkevin.typepad.com.

Meet Kenny

Meet my brother Kenny.  He posts a thought provoking post like the one below about 5 times per year.  You don't want to miss those 5 posts.

http://kennymccord.blogspot.com/2008/07/united-we-stand.html

Before you rail on this post, please note he is the real deal.  He's a fantastic brother, husband, father, business man, and Christian.  He isn't conservative enough in my opinion, but he is a great American.

He lives the kind of life that gives him the right to rail like he does in that post.   There's no one I would rather face a challenge with.  If you work in a church,  he may offend you, but trust me we need to be offended sometimes.

Posts I Owe

Here are some posts I either committed to write in a prior post or made a mental commitment to write and have yet to undertake:

• The Back Door - Transfer (see posts #1, #2, and #3 in that series).
• Enthusiasm Curve Part 2 - (see the first post)
• The Name Change Series (to be copied and re-published from my old blog)
• The Check In Kiosk Series (to be copied and re-published from my even older blog)

I think there are more posts I've implied or intended to put out there, but we'll see.

Have you subscribed yet?

Church People Are Web Curious

So my pastor made a comment on an article by MondayMorningInsights.com. That resulted in 50 visitors on our church website in a day.  I'm pretty sure none of them are looking for a church to visit, but more than a few might have been looking for a place to work. 

Not sure what kind of traffic MondayMorningInsights is getting, but that was a bit surprising to me.  After all, he only just made a comment!  He told me his blog got similar traffic as well. Blog and email reading must be the new way for pastors to unwind from the weekend (or in this case get even more wound up).

I found the whole discussion (35 comments) fascinating since it showed a big disconnect among churches who are paying attention to what goes on outside their walls.  There are those who are TOTALLY COOL will the cult of personality church that seemed to be the focus of the comments on the article.  Then there are those who are TOTALLY TRYING TO AVOID the cult of personality.  By cult of personality I mean the whole place rises and falls on the charisma of a single teacher/visionary leader.  Something Guy said on his comment touched off some curiosity.  Could it have been the 13 services and 7 folks on the teaching team at Oasis?