In mijn mailbox kreeg ik een invite voor Google Wave beta.

Leuk, leuk, nog niet uitbundig getest bij gebrek aan tijd.

Ik heb nog 7 invites over, laat iets achter bij de commentaren.

Stern Online schrieb gestern, dass die erste Euphorie um Google Wave schon abflaut – schneller wurde ein neues Web 2.0-Tool wohl noch nie für tot erklärt. Bei Second Life hat’s 2 Jahre gedauert, bis der Hype vorbei war, bei Twitter immerhin ein halbes Jahr… Google Wave hat eigentlich noch gar nicht richtig angefangen, denn alles ist im Beta-Test und der Zugang wird im Schneeballverfahren erteilt: Wer auch immer eine der heiß begehrten Einladungen aus eigeweihten Kreisen bekommen hat, erhält nach kurzer Zeit die Möglichkeit, selbst einzuladen.

8 Einladungen warten auf Euch: Wer will mit mir Wellenreiten?

Heute – also gefühlte Lichtjahre nach dem Hype – habe ich endlich meine ersehnten “Invites” bekommen. Deshalb meine Frage in die Runde: Wer hat noch nicht, wer will noch? Bitte meldet Euch mit einem Kommentar hier im Blog oder einer Nachricht auf Twitter Vielleicht fragt Ihr Euch, warum ich so öffentlich rumfrage und nicht einfach meine Google-Kontakte für Wave aktiviere… Weil ich mich bislang schlichtweg von Google ein wenig fern gehalten habe, meine E-Mail-Korrespondenz läuft über andere Accounts, mein Blog läuft auf WordPress, meine Daten verwalte ich immer noch am liebsten auf der eigenen Festplatte. Aber mit Google Wave beginnt sich das nun ganz langsam zu ändern, denn dieses kollabrotaive Wellenreiten macht mich neugierig.

Erste Themen-Waves entstehen – mal schaun, welche Dynamik und welche Qualität der Austausch annimmt:

Über Dennis Schäffer bin ich zu einer EduWave “Who is Who – E-Learning auf Google-Wave” eingeladen worden, Jan Northoff hat eine Welle zu Second Life eröffnet. Und Annette Schwindt hat auf ihre unnachahmlich hilfsbereite Art eine Wave zu “Erste Tipps zum Umgang mit Google Wave” eröffnet.

Ich bin gespannt, wie sich Kollaboration auf Google anfühlt, ob es sich wirklich als NEU im Sinne von revolutionär und irgendwann-nicht-mehr-wegzudenken erweist. Bis dahin werde ich experimentieren und freue mich auf Mitstreiter/innen!

An dieser Stelle sei noch auf ein paar interessante Erfahrungsberichte verwiesen:
–> Wavetank, 21.09.2009
–> Spreeblick, 16.10.2009
–> Futurezone, 21.11.2009

Und wer den kompletten offiziellen Guide durcharbeitet, kann bestimmt auch bald Google Wave-Seminare anbieten!

Clicking on someone’s website in Twitter I was taken to this interesting site: Free & Powerful!

It looked interesting enough. Through that portal I was introduced to the guy behind ICU-PEOPLE-SEARCH.ws, the free people search that does what Google and Yahoo doesn’t. The guys name is Tissa Godavitarne and he shares how while unemployed from a corporate desk job he made millions of dollars using his “secret sauce”. He offers to give you your own people search engine to make money with if you join his Acme-People-Search site (for free).

Here’s his story in his own words in one page.

I considered he might be a real person telling a real story, so I searched the internet to see what I could find on him and found this fourteen minute video he made showing the millions he made in a short time, without selling, and how you can do it. He even gives you you own web pages if you join him for free! And it won’t take much of your time.

Another “sounds too good to be true story”, right?

Well, I joined him just to see if he really does give you $125 as he promises on his site and I’m here to tell you he’s the real deal.

I got MY $125 TODAY and there’s more to come!

Look at his story. Watch his video. Then JOIN ME and become a Team Member at Free & Powerful and create residual cash wealth from the convenience of our laptops!

It’s totally free to join as I write this, but I don’t know if he’ll always keep it free. So secure your place before others join my team in front of you.

JOIN ME at FREE AND POWERFUL (for free) today!

I finally got an invite to Google Wave. I would review it but I have nobody to Wave with. If somebody comes up with a site for people to test Wave with, let me know. I also still have 6 invites left.

Mwolvesto50

Efter att ha testat google wave under några veckors tid nu har jag kommit över åtta stycken invites, dessa tänker jag dela ut till er läsare! Allt ni behöver göra är att länka till detta inlägg i er blogg. (använd gärna bilden här intill)

Har du dessutom något att erbjuda i utbyte, låt säga en invite till voddler eller något annat intressant är naturligtvis chansen större att vi ska komma överens. 

Antal invites kvar: 15

The next generation to emailing is here… Google Wave!

www.wave.google.com

Xmas landscape card in 2 slightly different designs, with snowflakes, reindeer, pine trees,… and merry christmas lettered on christmass balls.  See download links further this post. Useful as greetings, announcement or invitation card. Have fun using!

Luke 14:8-14

Invite

Off-lectionary sermon.

People often ask if we, a clergy couple, ever share or swap sermons.  We don’t.  But sometimes one of us comes across something that fires both of us up.  This is one of those sermons, not shared, but mutually fired up.

1.  Way In

Around here, Thanksgiving starts today

big feast tonight in the dining room

after Hanging the Greens after church

worship committee providing some lunch

just priming the pump for tonight

don’t forget Thursday morning at 8:30—Turkey Trot

good start to the day

get some exercise in before you settle down to the big feed later

We’ll be at home

Kazy’s mother, Polly, is coming up from Florida on Monday

she’ll be here for Thanksgiving, and through next weekend

Menu

Yesterday Kazy and I talked about our menu

favorites:

turkey, dressing

green beans

mashed potatoes

 Ed and the Fellowship Committee working on tonight’s menu; Church dinner

I’ve seen the list, we are in for the usual delicious dinner

What’s your menu at home?

turkey?  anybody do something different?

dressing or stuffing?

green bean casserole, with cream of mushroom soup and onion rings

sweet potatoes?  marshmallows melted on top?

dessert?   pecan pie, sweet potato pie

all the stuff you need/like or it doesn’t seem like Thanksgiving.  Right?

Imagine for a moment – something more important than the menu

You think I’m looking for a churchy answer, right?

like giving thanks, counting our blessings, remembering those less fortunate

Those aren’t the answers.  But I am looking for a churchy answer

hint: it’s about the guests

2.  Tell the Story (Luk. 14:8-14)

 Background

Jesus was a dinner guest in the home of a Pharisee

it was the sabbath

“they were watching him closely”

of course, Jesus was giving them something to think about

a man suffering from dropsy/hudropikos came in the house

renal disease causing heavy swelling

Jesus asked his hosts if it was lawful to cure on the Sabbath

the Pharisees were silent

everybody knew it wasn’t lawful to do it

Jesus cured him anyway

Then Jesus noticed, in today’s reading, how guests chose places of honor at the table

Ever hear the old conversation starter question, “If you could choose anybody from anytime to dinner, who would you ask?”

people often name historical figures, musicians

usually mention Jesus Christ

would you really?

just remember, he’s not afraid to call you out

which is a good thing

just be aware of this when you invite Jesus home

Culture heavy into exchanging favors

had a lot to do with power

i.e. who owed you a favor, or who you owed a favor

dinner and party invitations were currency in this system

within that system, choice seating was a distinction

head of the table = honor

Jesus calls the dinner guests to consider hospitality

don’t take the head of the table seat if it’s offered

invite somebody from one of the lower seats to sit there

say “Friend, move up higher”

Don’t take the best for yourself, lift somebody else up

this breaks down steps of hierarchy and privilege

he goes on to a lesson about the guest list  (see what I mean about inviting Jesus to dinner? he will call you out)

 don’t pad your guest list with people you owe a favor to

or people you want to be beholding to you

in fact, invite people, who cannot repay you

i.e. people who the culture says have nothing to offer

poor, and the outcast

this is where your blessing is

3.  So What?

when we open up the table to all of God’s people … look who’s around us:

that’s right, all of God’s people

and it doesn’t matter who sits where

head of the table, middle of the table,

 even the kid’s table, because you’re going to move that one up

But Lord, what if we don’t have enough to eat?

but Jesus said

“And you will be blessed” (v. 14)

who has served a meal at the Alpha Center?  (raise your hand – Sondra, Jennifer, Rosanne, Carol B, Carol M, Kay, Diane, Rachel W, Annette … come on, Deacons)

maybe there wasn’t enough food to open an All You Can Eat Buffet

but did you ever have to turn somebody away without anything?

was there always something in the pantry you could use to stretch the meal if you had to

At the Open Door in Atlanta we always had enough

whether it was

150 we served at breakfast or lunch

dinner after worship on Sunday night

500 or so on Labor Day

there was always enough

This is a time for us to think about invitation

consider the ones Jesus spent time with

rich and powerful?

sure, when he was in trouble

but who did he choose to spend time with?

regular people

but always the poor, outcast, sinners, prostitutes, sick, workers, unemployed, foreigners, ones who everybody else hated

who do we invite?

the ones that make us comfortable?

the ones who invited us before?

the ones we have to invite?

what if we really opened it up

did like Jesus

go back to his guest list (above)

Can you imagine this Thanksgiving feast?

can you imagine inviting somebody you didn’t ask before?

is there somebody who’s going to be lonely Thursday?

is there somebody nobody else might think about?

can you imagine a truly Open Table – a truly Welcome Table?

can you imagine?

who would Jesus invite to Thanksgiving dinner?

You will be hearing more about programs and events in the coming months

building relationships, building community

hospitality and inviting

might be breaking some new ground – breaking some old habits

but it also is breaking down barriers and tearing down walls

might be a little scary, a little uneasy

kind of like inviting Jesus to dinner

but think about a first step

is there somebody you can invite to dinner at church tonight?

oh wait, we already turned our reservations in – the tables are already set up

are we going to let that guide our hospitality?

because it’s not always that neat and tidy

so what, bring a new guest, and bring some extra food

you have enough at home

we’ll probably have enough extra here

at the very least, be on the lookout tonight for somebody you don’t know very well

seek them out – Jesus may have put that person there for you

find out something about them

maybe you don’t know them at all

maybe you don’t know them well

maybe this isn’t the year for you and me to invite the poor and homeless into our house for Thanksgiving dinner

but imagine if we did

imagine what it would be like to share a meal

in a place where all we had to offer each other is our presence

just being together, sharing food

without worrying about who looks like what or who belongs

at least give it some thought

maybe this isn’t the year

but next year…

so let it be with us.  Amen

Andrea and I are getting married on a budget…a very tight budget I might add…so, in order to save some money and to satisfy my creative spirit, we decided that I MAKE our wedding invitations. Of course, I wanted them to be a little different than the usual invite, in order to reflect the strangeness of us as a couple. So I put my googling skills to good use and looked at hundreds of different invitations on the web, and tutorials on how to make your own invitations and everything, but was still not quite satisfied. So I looked up cardmaking tutorials on youtube, and found what I was looking for! (Unfortunately I can’t remember the link to the site, but as soon as I find it, I’ll post it!)

So I gathered all my materials and am now very slowly starting to put them together. They are not even close to being finished yet, but I’ve had a few people asking me how they are coming along so I took a few pictures:

So far so good I’d say. I ordered the plain white square envelopes online and using a stamp and embossing powder, I made them look fancy. I also made a little map that I am going to glue onto one of the flaps…and in case you were wondering, yes I did spend afternoons folding 12″ x 12″ paper so that it would look like that I’ll post more pictures as soon as they are done!

I should really keep up with this blogging malarkey. I keep finding lots of bits & bobs but keep forgetting to share all my inspiration and finds with you guys. I will update on a regular basis from now on though, promise….. I’m finding twitter to be a helpful tool for finding new designers and design studios. Follow me.

I seem to have gone back to my letterpress craze and the obsessive blog browsing is also kicking in, I could seriously browse blogs for days on end but it’s stopping me from doing any of my own work which is in desperate need as i’m feeling very useless without paper, printer ink, pens (they run out before the pen even touches the paper) and a lack of motivation to do my own work…. and also now I lack a letterpress which I am in dire need of or in my case just want, so if anyone wants to buy me one your very much welcome.

Adam Ramerth at Lark designed this unique set of letterpress wedding invitations which I must say go beyond the usual traditional bland choice of wedding stationary. Studio On Fire have also done an amazing job with the letterpress work. Niiiiiice!!

‘Tis The Season for a Tweetup / #tisatweetup

Hosted By: @launch787 and @lifeinaustin

RSVP here: http://ow.ly/E35n

Thursday, December 3 from 5 – 7:30pm (CST), Upstairs Mezzanine at Central Market (4001 Lamar)

In my debut as a co-hostess of a twitter event, please join Launch787 and me, This Is Life In Austin, for a tasting of everything delicious! Sip on free samplings of holiday wines while noshing on mouth-watering morsels provided by Central Market’s catering department. We’ll be giving away gift certificates and other goodies (including a massive gift basket) all through the night!

What’s a tweetup? Where people from Twitter (twitterers? tweeters? tweople?) Meet Up … Tweetup!

No really, Lyssa, what’s a tweetup?  A: All my fave people in one place. With someone else providing food and booze. And the chance to win lots of cool stuff. Trust me, it’s waaaay better than hanging out at my house with my crazy dog, Old Dog, and the cat that isn’t quite toilet trained, so he insists on pooping all around the house. Trust me.

See you there!

One of my close friends who decided to throw a themed party to celebrate her birthday this year where everyone would show up dressed like a rocker from any decade they wished, and party like a rock star. She asked me if I would do an invite flier, which I was more than happy to do for her. Above is the flier, and below is the stand-alone illustration. I am happy to say that she was pretty stoked when she first saw it. The party was a great time for friends and fun.

—Jim

This morning, I read through the chapter several times wondering what passage I should write on because I was hoping for words of encouragement as many of us need it but this was the portion that stood out because it again showed our sinfulness. One of the tragedies of life is that regardless of how hard we try, our sinfulness comes in the way of everything we do and say. For those who feel otherwise, we are reminded time and time again in the word about this and it is a reality we deal with regardless of if we are saved or not. We always think about ourselves and our needs first before we think of anybody else and lastly about God. We cater to our own needs and work in our own dimension and this puts a skew on life.

In today’s passage, what Jesus did for the man was life altering and no human could ever do that, whether the world’s best doctor or magician. However, the hardhearted people of the time were not looking at the blessing from Jesus in the crippled man’s life and rather were focussing on the right and wrong of it. Are we the same? Do we judge with biased eyes? What blessing is this to our fellow humans? I am encouraged today to look at the suffering of people around us and pray healing and blessing in their lives and not judgement about what they did wrong and how they need to fix their issues. God through his spirit will convict and correct them but our duty is to invite God into the lives of the broken.

In His Loving Service,
Vineet

Solitude Mountain

Three Xmas Bells card in six different designs.

We’re sending out change of address cards. {FINALLY!}

Yes, we closed on the house May 29th.

And yes, we moved in back in September.

And I’m well aware that Christmas cards should be going out soon-ish.

In hopes that Christmas cards make their way to our door this year, we thought it might be nice if people knew we moved. Ya know, everyone besides the internet. {Hi’s interweb friends!} Besides, better late than never ~ right?!

{front}

Since it is almost Christmas card time, we wanted to go with a postcard to save on postage & envelope costs. We used Prints Made Easy for our wedding save the dates and were very pleased with their quality, service & turnaround. Vistaprint is cheaper but I’ve never been crazy about their quality. After a little googling, I actually found a Prints Made Easy coupon code for $5 off ~ fiveoff ~ if anyone’s interested. For 300 postcards, we paid $48.34 but I upgraded the shipping a little. 300 is a few too many but 100 wasn’t enough {the lowest option}. I would love a 200 option!

{back}

So if we’re on your Christmas card list, consider this your reminder that it’s time to update our address. Cause I loves me some Christmas card-y goodness.

* This is in no way shape or form a paid plug. I’ve just used printsmadeeasy.com a few times and have always been happy with the product.

** Picture used on the front of our postcards was taken by Kamila Harris

*** Wood display frame HOW TO coming tomorrow!!!!!

Been another couple days since an update. I am now a part of google wave preview. I need someone to “wave” with. Send me a message if you also need someone to test this with. Seems really cool and is wayyy better than conventional e-mail.

Now a Part of Google Wave