Entries from August 2007 ↓

I know, I know, I gotta do better than that. If anyone has a suggestion as to where I should try to play, leave a comment.

In the meantime, I am getting some help from my friend Tim Bushong in getting at least a three-song demo CD recorded before the holidays.

Plus, I have another secret non-music project that I’m working on that I hope to announce by the end of next month. Stay tuned!

Hey there! Come to The Anchor Room here in Fort Wayne on Friday, and you’ll get to listen to me performing my songs, including my newest, “Come To Me.”

I’ll start at 7:30 p.m. and play until 9:30 p.m., with a little break in the middle.

I hope you can come out and enjoy a great iced mocha with us.

Here’s a new song I’ll be playing at The Anchor Room (here’s a map) on Friday. It’s loosely based on something our pastor said near the end of a sermon.

Come To Me

If you are searching for the strength to survive
Afraid to just face the truth that you’re less than alive
If you’ve no feeling in the depths of your soul
Then cling to the Shepherd who makes broken things whole

Chorus:
The Savior says, Come to me
Bring your burdens and come to me
Whatever your sin or the darkness you’re in
You should come to me
The Savior says, Come to me
If you’re weary, then come to me
The times that you fall, they don’t matter at all
If you come to me

If you are doubtful that you really belong
Then heed to the Spirit’s call and prove yourself wrong
‘Cause He’s not conniving for a way to revoke
All the love He has shown us and the promise He spoke

Chorus

You have no need to fear because He invites you here
He opened the blood-stained door with plenty of room for more
He’s not the God of the big stick, no, He placed His own back under it
He suffered the blows and settled the scores
And died on the cross that should have been yours

Chorus

Whatever your sin or the darkness you’re in
You should come to me

©2007 Jon Swerens

Good guess, Nancy, but no five bucks.

When I asked about the birds on our new anniversary lamp, former News-Sentinel columnist Nancy Nall made an intelligent guess:

Five bucks says those are cranes. You see them a lot in art deco/art nouveau fixtures, probably because both periods had a certain amount of Asian influence, and those Asians love ‘em some cranes.

Art Deco! Boy, I don’t know much about that style, except for some reason I always think of Miami Beach hotels, but I don’t think of the Chrysler Building, which I’ve actually seen once, I think.

This explains why Mary and I instinctively knew the lamp would look just right in our house. “Art Deco was a popular design movement from 1920 until 1939,” and our house was built in 1925. Perfect fit.

A friend of Mary’s on a homeschooling bulletin board said

depending on where this lamp was made, it might take on different popular birds… Art Deco usually focused more on song birds or exotic birds..

Durring the 1800’s in was very in vogue to have ornamental birds.. parrots, peacocks etc.. in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s the focus was more on hunting birds.. then in the 1920’sh period it was on exotic and song birds..

SO.. that being said, when this lamp was made and where (was it in france? the americas?) would be a big hint on the the type of bird. IF it was made in the later end of the art deco period, it would be possible that it could be a crane. I can’t find a picture of a real one with a curl, but I HAVE seen artist depictions of cranes with curls.

Hmm, so unlesss we get other information, we’re going to say our lamp features imperial pheasants. Here’s a photo she found of a scupture of a pheasant:

Today my dear Mary and I mark our 19th wedding anniversary. Nineteen years! What a wonderful, dear wife I have.

We can honestly say that our marriage has never been better. How God has blessed us so far beyond what we deserve.

But we didn’t know what to do to celebrate. Take a trip to Marshall, Michigan? Take a day trip somewhere else? Nah, it wouldn’t work this year. I had a short weekend, having to work Saturday and today. So we were kind of lukewarm on any plans.

Then about a week ago, we were browsing a yard sale and came across this floor lamp. We fell in love with it and knew it would look great in our living room

So, we spent the money we would have spent on a trip on the lamp instead. We think we made the right decision!

Below are some more detail photos of the lamp. The bird experts of the family don’t know what kind of birds are represented around the rim of the bowl. Let us know if you have a guess.

Is a city-supported downtown baseball stadium and retail complex a good idea for Fort Wayne? Discussion about the proposed Harrison Square may be a moot point, with papers being drawn up and demolition in full swing, but still, the sides remain at loggerheads.

Opponents have been painted as cranky old conservatives. Supporters are portrayed as young optimistic professionals.

But the youngsters have a seemingly unlikely opponent in Richard Florida.

Florida is a professor at Carnegie Mellon University and the author of “The Rise of the Creative Class,” a best-selling book that studies the 38 million Americans he calls creatives: artists, scientists, musicians, architects and other such people. If anyone is in favor of attracting young creative professionals to cities, it’d be Prof Florida.

In his book, he’s critical of most cities’ efforts:

It’s not that these cities do not want to grow or encourage high-tech industries. In most cases, their leaders are doing everything they think they can to spur innovation and high-tech growth. But most of the time, they either can’t or won’t do the things required to create an environment or habitat that is attractive to the Creative Class.

Sounds like something any young creative person in Fort Wayne might say. But then Florida goes in a somewhat unexpected direction:

They pay lip service to the need to attract talent, but continue to pour resources into underwriting big-box retailers, subsidizing downtown malls, recruiting call centers and squandering precious taxpayer dollars on extravagant stadium complexes. (emphasis mine)

Plus:

The most recent studies show that stadiums do not generate economic wealth and actually reduce local incomes.

Now, before I get flamed in the comments, I realize the differences in Harrison Square’s tax structure and private investment. But we can set that aside, because one big argument for building this stadium is supposed to be to attract and retain the young professional.

Florida begs to differ:

Not once during any of my focus groups and interviews did any member of the Creative Class mention professional sports as playing a role of any sort in their choice of where to live and work.

So why try to build stadiums?

The answer is simple. These cities are stuck in the past.

So Florida may very well call Harrison Square a step into the past, not the future.

I hope for great success for Harrison Square, despite Florida’s gloominess. But it is disingenous of Harrison Square supporters to be so cocky and dismissive of opponents as old stuck-in-the-muds. The very inventor of the term “creative class” may be the biggest critic of all.

One of my favorite comic strips has come to an end: Bo Nanas.

According to The Kansas City Star:

The Washington Post Writers Group, which syndicates the strip, said only 14 newspapers were carrying