summer is finally here.  how do i know? my son walks in my office with his summer feaux hawk. lol.

coni (world’s greatest hair artist), told me today that cam came in, sat in the chair and…. well, it went down something like this:

cam: [very politely] “i’m interested in a feaux hawk, please.”

coni: “you are? a feaux hawk?”

cam: “yes, one feaux hawk please.”

coni: [glances at my silent husband]

my honey: [gives the nod}

coni: "yes, sir. one feaux hawk coming right up."

cam: [grinning wildly now]

coni: [more excited than cam] (ok – i added this last part of the story…. but i bet she was. lol)

i love summertime. here’s a photo of his first feaux hawk ever. i turned it into a chalk and charcoal because it took it with my camera phone and the quality was really lousy. i have a feeling i’m going to treasure this series of chalk and charcoal photoshop fun. oh, who am i kidding. i already treasure them. life is fun.

ok, after i started my reply to bryan’s comment about this post i noticed i had a new blog post going. so here we go…

1) How long do I have to unsubscribe for?

as long as it takes. for me, i’m really stuck. i just needed some new inspiration. and my rss reader was so full of similar content that i had no more room for other points of view. i needed to make it drastic. maybe for some it’s just replacing one or two links with something else or simply adding a couple. blogging is such an amazing tool. there is so much information out there, so many connections to be made. for me, i want to be sure i don’t make the blogsphere small by relegating myself to the same blogs forever and always. and let’s all be realistic (because i know most of you are as addicted as i am to this whole blog community)… there is only so much you can take in and still do what God has set your hands to. we have a responsibility to make it count.

it has only been two days but i already have seen tremendous results. i have new inspiration. things that pertain to my community and reaching the people that may actually walk through the doors of the rock. i’m excited. and i have already found myself peeking in on a few blogs i unsubscribed to… some of which i haven’t actually been to in months because of the convenience of rss. and i actually read instead of skimming to get through my list. i enjoyed it much more. i have all of those sites bookmarked… i didn’t kick them out of the yard – just made my boundaries a little more defined.

2) So, I guess I should take that plugin off my blog that automatically re-posts all of Los’ blogs on mine? I thought that would help draw traffic. Oh, well…

yes, we all read los’ blog… no need to repeat. and posting a link to him only draws traffic to his site. go join the discussion and say something really worth while… that brings the readers.

3) Great post. I would post a link to it, but that might defeat the purpose of your blog.

i’m not los, perry, ed or any of the other first name only necessary leaders… post away. (especially, since i just told all my subscribers to go away … hmmmm, maybe i should have thought this through a bit more.)

i’m not suggesting we shouldn’t post links about one another. i’m not trying to break up the community. i’m just saying… if you find yourself in a rut like me with nothing new to contribute to the community – do something about it. i was having trouble coming up with my own content because my brain was full of a whole lot of overlapping information – so this is what i came up with.

4) I think it’s funny that the CommentLuv link for my comment is about a sermon from Ed Young… wait, were you talking about me?

i have read blogs where the only thing i hear out of them is stuff i keep hearing and seeing from the “big dogs” in the blogsphere. that is to be expected to a certain extent. we all have a common goal, we all want to encourage one another… and we should talk about what is happening in one anothers’ lives. i guess i’m hungry to hear more about what makes people really tick. we all have unique gifts, talents and callings. god has something unique he wants to speak through each of us. think about the blog content of these leaders that we all follow and admire. why are we so drawn to them? for me it’s because i hear their heart. i feel like they are using the voice God gave them… they rarely repeat one another. by their content they lead. i think more of us have that in us.

for the record… i’m scared to look at my feedburner stats (lol)
ya’ll are great – really. i love our community.
anyone have anything to chime in on here?

whew!

typing that title felt so good.

i have found myself recently engulfed in the stagnant stench of blog funk. i’m bored with reading. i’m uninspired and have nothing creative to write. lots going on to write about… yet – - i produce nothing. i have a vacation coming up that will help greatly, but i can’t wait until then to try to get myself unstuck.

so, today marks a new method to my blogging madness. and tonight marks step one (of who knows how many) of my proposed solution, which is… start over.

it all started on a whim as i created quite a bloody mess within the halls of my google reader. i chopped, i cut – - i dismembered. i culled my reader down from 132 subscriptions to 65. most of those who remain are church family, blood relatives, a few new distant blog friends and a small handful of bloggers who have developed such a strong community on their site that i simply can’t make myself not look.

did it hurt? um, yeah. but as i began pairing down my list i became more and more excited…. inspired even. you see, i realized that i still know exactly where to find all of these people. i’ll get curious and check in on all of them from time to time. they won’t disappear just because i unsubscribed. i may even re-subscribe for a season. but as i looked at my new list – short and sweet – i suddenly realized how sadly i was under-utilizing this amazing tool we call blogging.

so, this is my new plan… [until it changes ]

• about every 3-4 months i plan to unsubscribe – from as many blogs as i possibly can stand to live without;
• i will be more diligent to ask God what information i should seek out to become more effective in the purpose He has for me;
• i will be more diligent to ask God what information i can put out there to help others become more effective int he purpose He has for them;
• i will use my google reader as a tool to glean a diversified spectrum of useful inspiration rather than just the words that tickle my fancy.

ok, my fellow LEADERS. this my challenge to you…

• if you have followed foolishnotions for a long time… unsubscribe from my blog and as many others as you can stand. no, this is not some clever scheme to make you stay. i love my blog stats as much as anyone. but i will be seriously disappointed if my readers don’t at least drop by one or two. [ ]
• fast blogging if you have to. pray for God to lead you to the information that will help you be more successful in the plans and purposes He has for you.
• i say this next thing with all the love and respect i can muster for my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. commit yourself to blog about the things God is pouring into you… stop regurgitating what God is pouring into other leaders. don’t misunderstand that, please. God certainly anoints great leaders to impart wisdom and encouragement into our lives. but if you find yourself ONLY repeating what God is telling someone else, perhaps it’s time to refocus.

ok? ok.

where am i going to start? i think, for this round, i may spend more time researching what my community is up to and less on what other churches far away are up to. after all, my job is not to reach the church. it is not not to mimic leaders. my job is to reach my community. my job is to be a leader.

so, my far away friends… i love you much
but if you have been around here for a long time – - unsubscribe.
then, come back someday to tell me what new things God
has poured into you through this amazing tool called… blogging.

remember, we’ll always have twitter.

are you serious?!?!?!? i wish i could buy stock in this kid’s career. wow.

tnx: angela