Over the weekend, a local podcast called The Lancast interviewed me about my current project of recording my church's history, making books, and researching history.

Listen to the podcast episode here or in iTunes under The Lancast.

Also, I promoted a concert in June with Nathaniel Tann and Hiram Ring. Event details are on facebook.

Follow my progress and get updates on the history of Bossler Mennonite Church on the facebook fan page.

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about balance in the various areas of my life. But really, what does it mean to have balance? I recently read Shine Hipp's book called "Flickering Pixels" about how technology affects our faith. Basically, technology affects how we perceive and relate to God, among. The challenge of Hipp's book is to think about how we use technology and how it changes our daily life and perceptions. When it comes to technology, balance helps to keep the whole kit and caboodle from spiraling out of control.

Over a year ago, I made the decision not to own a television. I haven't looked back since. And yes, I do watch online episodes and movies on Netflix and hulu, but it's not streamed into my living room and isn't letting television viewing be a default activity. It's not straining my concentration by being on in the background. I'm also not limited to network schedule either in that I must watch a show at a certain time each week and consequently miss attending events or spending time with friends and family. More importantly, television isn't teaching me to be a passive observer anymore. 

In the past several months, i've made a conscious decision to change some of my habits. Here's two examples:

1. Not rudely answering phone calls or focusing on my phone when with other people. When I'm with people, I put aside my technology and be wholly in a conversation.

2. Time away from screens. Computer screens strain eyes and just like people need sleep, eyes need rest.

While these two new habits aren't balancing yet, it's a start. Big change happens one step at a time...

Last night, I was driving home from interviewing someone and my brain asked the question, "What if we tried to drive using only our left foot?" Being tired, I went with the stupid idea. It lasted less than a few seconds to decide it wasn't safe. First, no one drives only with their left foot. (Unless, of course, they only have one foot.) Second, I've driven an automatic for the last two to three years, so using my left foot felt weird. If I had driven a car with a manual transmission my left foot would have been more prepared to take over from my right foot. Think about it. It takes practice to put the exact amount of pressure on the gas pedal. Like almost everything in life, we don't automatically know how to do something. (excluding the child prodigy and maybe a genius...) Instead we have to learn how. It's the same with driving.

After making an attempt to use my left foot, another question popped into my head, "Who decided we should drive our cars with our right foot?" I posted this question on twitter and got various guesses before getting a YouTube video from TopGear on Automobile History Investigation.

It turns out that idea came from Cadillac who had the first car with the foot pedals where we still have them today. The Austin 7 car took this a step farther and was mass produced, making the good ideas of the Cadillac stick.

If you enjoy knowing how stuff works, watch the video for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtwC1bqyW2c

Today from my front stoop I heard a young kid say the f-bomb. I'd guess the kid to be around 10 or so and definitely in elementary school. It shocked me and got me thinking. Personally the f-bomb is one word that makes me cringe. I know I"m not the only one who thinks this. Otherwise, it wouldn't be a swear word. 

The whole incident brought me back to something my mother said when I was young. I described something about my day by saying, "It sucked." She reacted strongly and at the time I had no idea why. She told me later when I attempted to use the same word again that the word had a different meaning to another generation as a swear word. And so we have it—one generation/s swear word becomes a common language practice with the next. As language changes and evolves over time new ways are found to get that same great reaction whether that be cringing, lashing out in anger or whatever reason you may find to swear.

Pop culture further feeds the word evolution by introducing the fowl language over and over again. Movies, tv, and just plain street talk build on the image of pop culture and stream it into our homes while assisting the word evolution like pouring gas on a fire. Being bombarded by a word over and over again numbs the hearer to the word's true power and desensitizes like the mast amount of news imagery does to our sympathy.

Swearing is about letting off steam, showing strong emotions, sharing negativity, and who knows what else. What are we teaching our kids? What will they take to the next generation? I can't imagine what the next big bad swear word will be, but I'm sure it will come...