Episode 12 of the Unobjective Intelligence podcast (The Will Young show) is here!

This week:

• I’m stepping up and calling out the parents out there who are letting there kids try to kill people, steel cars and commit crimes. I’m telling you why myspace, the internet, video games, hip hop and all the other crap that everyone blames for our kids problems are NOT the problem.
• We’ll talk about why the “cool train” is a load of crap.
• Finally, I’ll let you in on a little secret about business owners profit margins.

If there is something you’d like to hear on an upcoming episode of the Will Young show please shoot me an e-mail.

You can download the UI podcast by using iTunes with the link on the right, or for those who don’t use itunes, simply click the button that says ‘RSS Podcast’ and download the latest episode to your computer to play in whatever MP3 player it is you use. Sometimes it will show up in a player on this post. If it does, feel free to listen to it there.

**NOTE** “What I’ve Learned” is a new series I am starting here at UI. It will dive into a myriad of different subjects, and what I’ve learned about them during my short time on earth. Hopefully it creates conversation and allows me to learn more about the subject.

Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography in lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young. - Mary Schmich - Chicago Tribune

One of the first things I’ve learned about friends is that that the above statement is quite true. After moving back to the area where I grew up after being away for just over 7 years I’ve managed to rekindled a plethora of dormant relationships in the last several months and it has been quite beneficial to my psyche.  I think a lot of people feel the need to leave where they grew up for many reasons. Quite often I hear people say  things like “If I stayed in my home town I’d be eating hay and riding a tractor” or some sort of statement like that. I’ve found though that more often than not it is your hometown, and specfically your home town friendships that determine the course of your relationships throughout the rest of your life. As you get older, you really will need the poeple you knew when you were younger.

I’ve also learned that the more “friends” you allow in to your life, the more drama you allow in to it as well. Think about it, it’s virtually inevitable. When you mix two or more lives together you can expect to inherit some of the other individuals issues. It’s the way life works. That’s why I’ve learned that it’s important to keep the amount of friendships you have to a minimum, as I have for most of my life. I’ve got too much going on to have to concern myself with other peoples issues, or other peoples problems. Now those that I call friend, are the ones who I have said these people are my friend, I’ll give the shirt off my back, I care about their lives, and want to be involved in them. Everyone else, is merely an acquaintance. Someone who, while I want access to their life, I want only limited access. While, I’d drop what I was doing in a heartbeat for a friend, an acquaintance is someone who if I have the ability to make time for I certainly will, but I am not going to go out of my way for an acquaintance.

I’ve learned that a real friend, doesn’t spare your feelings. They’re honest, and if you’re an idiot that could mean that they’re consistently telling you things that tick you off, especially if you’re fairly consistent at screwing up. The beauty of friendship though is that it’s not ‘mean’ or ‘rude’ coming from your friend. It is simply your friend, being a friend. You have a hard time hearing the truth from someone who isn’t your friend, but coming from a friend it’s music to your ears and you sort of expect it, which helps in making it not quite as hard to hear.

Friends, are not neccesary for survival, but they sure do make living a lot easier. Having a myriad of friends is overrated, but for some reason there are folks who feel like they can not live unless they have all their friends. I’ve learned though, after studying my friendships, and the friendships of those around me, those with a few close-knit friends don’t rely on their friends for survival, but certainly get a long a lot better in life then the folks I know who have a crap load of friends.

Most importantly I’ve learned that friends are simply extended family and should be treated as such. I don’t use my friends, and I hope that my friends don’t use me. I’ve known some of my friends for 10 years and others for as little as 10 months, the reality is they’re my brothers and sisters and I love them all.

Recently my “church”, which happened to be a ministry of another church decided to up and go plant themselves as an official church.

Now, I know what you’re thinking…”So you’re now going to actually be a part of an official church.”

Well no, I’m not. You see, initially I was, but the more I actually sought the guidance of the one who I allow to make those decisions for me, the more I realized I was not doing what He wanted me to do. So, I decided not to move along with my “church.”
Since then my life has been turned upside down. I started attending a Catholic Church, which wasn’t too weird as I had been studying Catholicism for several months (I’ve actually studied quite a few other religions), the folks who I consider deep spiritual mentors had recently converted back to Catholicism, I made a new friend who was Catholic and I took all this to be a sign that perhaps this was the route I was suppose to take. Despite numerous prayers, and not (to my recollection and understanding) receiving any guidance from the one who makes those decisions for me. I rode with it. Well, after awhile, I started to realize that perhaps there were signs and He was telling me this wasn’t the right route to be taking. Needless, to say I haven’t been to a church in well over a month.

So now I have a plethora of thoughts running through my head:

• Have I allowed myself to become attached to the idea of Church? Why?!?
• Why is it that my “church” which for the most part was several other folks “church” have to go and screw with things. For instance, I loved the fact that I could spend my weekends (the only days of the week where the normal grind allows me to) sleeping in, and still get fed spiritually at 8pm Monday night. Why does that have to change!?!?
• Who on Earth made this mandate that “church” has to happen at 10:30 am on Sunday morning? Like seriously, I know good and well that there are many pastors out there who would be perfectly content with church at 8pm on Tuesday night. Yet, many do nothing about it. WHY THE HECK IS SO RIDICULOUSLY EARLY ON A WEEKEND MORNING THE STANDARD!?!?!?!
• Why do I feel like the majority of people who have went along with this idea of being a “real church” doing so just because of the trend factor involved?
• Why have I told myself that God doesn’t want me to be a part of this church, even though I know different? Furthermore, why is God allowing me to take his name in vain to convince everyone that my refusal to step on the “cool kids train” is His idea? Why is it that I have found it ok to lie, when I know damn well the only logical reason I have come up with for not wanting to be a part of this incredible thing is because I feel that so many are involved for the wrong reasons!?
• Why the heck am I so judgmental!?!?!?!?!?!?
• Why the heck can I not find a single place where I can just do me? (Not even my “church” that is now becoming a “real church” that I’m not…at least for right now…going to have anything to do with)

My friend Crystal had a live prayer meeting a few nights back, and I asked for her and those in attendance to pray specifically for my situation, and ever since, God has really been kicking me in the butt. Mainly about the taking His name in vain (which I guess answers one of the questions up top), but also about being so dang judgmental and actually do what He’s telling me to do.

Yet…I’m finding that I am very afraid of doing what He is telling me to do.
The thing is, I truly believe in the mission and vision that my friend, who happens to be the pastor of this church that I have been trying desperately to not be a part of, has been given. I believe in the reach that this vision/mission is going to attain. I believe that most folks involved in the process of helping carry out that vision/mission are doing so because they too truly believe in it too. Unfortunately I believe there are others who are simply there because of the cool factor, and for whatever reason I have let that piss me off to no end. I’ve let it jade my opinion of a friend who has done nothing but support me, and who I hold in high regard. I’ve let it jade my opinion of the folks he has prayerfully decided to help him carry out that mission. Worst of all, I’ve let it encompass a great portion of my life. Essentially I’ve wasted a lot of time being a selfish bastard who will not listen to God, because I’m way to judgmental. The sad thing is, while I know I’m overly judgmental (which given that fact that none of us really have any right to judge any sort of judgment is overly judgmental), I also know that I am right in many cases. (And for those sticklers out there…being right means I can prove it)

That’s why I’m so damned confused.

I know what I’m suppose to do, yet I don’t do it. I do what I’m not suppose to do instead, in an attempt to make even more excuses for what I am actually suppose to be doing.

In the end it boils down to me wanting a place where I can do me. Sadly, the one place where I feel like that might be possible, the one place where God has told me He’s making it possible, is the one place I fear it’s not possible.

Pray please. For me, I am so stinkin conflicted, it is driving me nuts. I’m in the stage of just listening now, so maybe if some of you talk to God for me, perhaps He’ll find a way to sucker punch me in to believing what He has to say.

Episode 11 of the Unobjective Intelligence podcast (The Will Young show) is here!

This week I’m talking about:

• How it is people feel differently about certain events like political rally’s, natural disasters, mass shootings, etc based on life experience, or opinion.
• I’m talking about what I call the “Obama Affect”. I don’t want to spoil it here…YOU HAVE TO HEAR THIS!
• Why I believe in 2 years. Citizen Journalism will have overtaken the journalism industry.

If there is something you’d like to hear on an upcoming episode of the Will Young show please shoot me an e-mail.

You can download the UI podcast by using iTunes with the link on the right, or for those who don’t use itunes, simply click the button that says ‘RSS Podcast’ and download the latest episode to your computer to play in whatever MP3 player it is you use. Sometimes it will show up in a player on this post. If it does, feel free to listen to it there.

The latest edition of the Unobjective Intelligence podcast (The Will Young show) is ready for your ears.

I’m at 10 Episodes! Thank you for downloading, listening and providing feedback! Here’s to many, many more episodes!

This week I discuss:

• Why I think this relentless pursuit of your dreams is unhealthy.
• How standing up for what you believe is sometimes not a good idea.
• I’ll lay to rest with a fitting memorial the Campaign 08′ update (it just wasn’t working the way I envisioned it)
• Finally, I’m talking 3rd party politics and why they are a joke.

As always if there is something you’d like to hear please shoot me an e-mail.

You can download it using iTunes using the link on the right, or for those who don’t use itunes, simply click the button that says ‘RSS Podcast’ and download the latest episode to download to your MP3 player. OR…if it shows up you can use the player above (most of the time it doesn’t work though).

My (blogging) friend Anne has been in the Dominican Republic with her church.

She’s issued quite the world changing challenge. She’s even upping the ante and providing a little incentive too. Go check out Flowerdust.net NOW…to see what I’m talking about.

The latest edition of the Unobjective Intelligence podcast (The Will Young show) is ready for your ears.

This week I discuss:

• Community, and how all our efforts to create authentic community are futile.
• Independent music and how independent musicians have it so much easier than they ever have in the past.
• Campaign 08′ update complete with some 3rd party candidate updates.

As always if there is something you’d like to hear please shoot me an e-mail.

You can download it using iTunes using the link on the right, or for those who don’t use itunes, simply click the button that says ‘RSS Podcast’ and download the latest episode to download to your MP3 player.

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Links relevant to this weeks episode:

Community:
Dictionary.com’s definition(s) of community

Independent Music:
Myspace - Is quite possibly the fastest way to get your stuff discovered.
Purvolume - Another great place to host your music online.
Ind-Music.com - a great resource for independent musicians.
Audacity - a great program for PC users for their recording endevours.
The fruity company - as much as I really don’t like this organization they have quite a large amount of tools to help the independent musician.
Jay Aden - GREAT solo musician I talked about on this weeks podcast.
Jami Brackin - another great singer/songwriter doin her think in Nashville. I used to work with her…I can’t wait until one day I can say “I knew her before she was famous.”
Leah Kauffman - she is the voice behind the “I’m in love with Obama”, and the “My box in a box” youtube viral hits. She has an AMAZING voice.
Chris Jackson - His wife is an amazing blogger, and He is an amazing musician. I can only imagine the amount of creativeness that flows through their home. His stuff is so mellow, that I have honestly started to blare it when things get tense at work.
Obadiah Parker - I quite literally stumbled upon these guys one day, and they kick butt!

Campaign 08′ Updates:
Candidate Sites:
Barack Obama - Presumptive Democratic Nominee
John McCain - Presumptive Republican Nominee
Charles Jay - Boston Tea Party Candidate
Chuck Baldwin - Constitution Party
Cynthia McKinney - Green Party
Bob Barr - Libertarian Party
Frank McEnulty - New American Independent Party
Gloria La Riva - Party for Socialism and Liberation
Gene Amondson - Prohibition Party
Brian Moore - Socialist Party USA
Ralph Nader - Independent
John Taylor Bowles - Independent
Jackson Kirk Grimes - Independent
Alan Keyes - Independent
Frank Moore - Independent
Kelcey Wilson - Independent

CNN Election Coverage
Yahoo News Election Coverage

The latest edition of the Unobjective Intelligence podcast (The Will Young show) is ready for your listening pleasure.

This week I discuss:

• Relationships, and how I feel the internet is positively changing the way we approach them.
• Why getting involved in your community is important, and how you can get involved in your community.
• And I’ll give a very brief campaign 08 update.

As always if there is something you’d like to hear please shoot me an e-mail.

You can download it using Apple’s iTune’s using the link on the right, or for those who don’t use itunes, simply click the button that says ‘RSS Podcast’ and download the latest episode.

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Links mentioned in this weeks episode:

Relationships:

Los’ entry that started it all. He makes a very valid point, check out some of the comments too.

Jeff Jarvis’ Article.

Abstract of the article in the Journal of Adolescent Research. (NOTE: To read the full article you have to buy it)

Article in the New York Times that talks about the above study.

Maxwell Payne Article.

Kristin Stanberry’s Schwab Learning Article.

eHow’s guide to maintaining healthy online relationships. I didn’t mention this one in the podcast, but I figured it was worth listing anyway.

Community Involvement:

The Corporation for National and Community Service.

The USA Freedom Corps.

Campaign News:

Glassbooth - Find out what candidate shares your ideals and philosophy.

McCain’s Straight Talk Express bus now a plane

Shake-up in the McCain campaign

McCain calls shake-up part of “natural evolution”

McCain/Obama talk about Patriotism in Parade Magazine

Obama talks about his consistency on Iraq

AP Analysis: McCain Struggles to regain footing

Senator Obama speaks about Patriotism

Obama endorses faith-based social programs in Zanesville

Senator Obama talks to Relevant magazine about mental distress not justifying abortion

John McCain press release regarding the Colombian Hostage Rescue

McCain camp’s comments on Obama’s Iraq comments

McCain traveled to Mexico to push free trade

I get asked on numerous occasions why I immerse myself in the online world of blogging, social-network services, online chats and the like.

Carlos posted a great entry that sums it up, please check it out.

I commented back with this (I’m posting, so you’ll have a better idea of why this entry resonated with me):

Well written and I couldn’t agree more.

I feel like what was once my small, semi-dedicated circle of friends has expanded through this vast world of online relationships. I’ve “met” people that I wouldn’t have otherwise had the opportunity to meet, that have let me in to their lives and who I’ve let in to mine. To me it’s not a “network” of people whose names I can drop, it’s a family. It’s people who are willing to lend a hand from 900 miles away even if it’s through an AIM chat.

Thank you for this concise and poignant statement. It resonated with me immensely.

I know that there are many out there who say that online relationships are unhealthy. I’ve always, and will continue to beg to differ. I think it is very possible to maintain a very healthy lifestyle, and maintain very healthy relationships even if a large number of those are online. Let’s face it, we’re living in a new world.
I could go on for quite a while telling you how Alex has inspired me with his dedication to his ministry and to the people of his community and to his family, or how without thinking twice he answers my e-mails when I have questions that in the grand scheme of things are completely a waste of his time. Or I could tell you how both Carlos and Heather have given me not only a sound biblical example of parenting, but a realistic “We don’t have all the answers but dang it we love our kids and we’re trying our hardest to be the best, Godly parents ever” example of what a parent should be. I could tell you how Anne and Crystal have reminded me on numerous occasions that the only way you’re going to get anywhere in life is to remain transparent, and to constantly be on guard when it comes to matters of the heart. I’d probably also mention how Chris, reminds that you do not have to agree with someone to know that they are right, that they are wise, and that they are thinking about things well outside the realm of anything you could possibly grasp. (Consequently, I’ve met Chris in real life, and he does the same in real life as he does online.) I’d probably even tell you about Pete who reminds me continually that life DOES indeed come at you fast, and the only way you can deal with it is to fully embrace what is thrown at you.

That’s just SOME of the many people I follow, you can always check them out in my blogroll, and in time I’ll be adding some more of the blogs I read either via their feeds or online that are not currently up there.

The point I’m trying to make with this, is that I’ve grown physically, mentally, emotionally, relationally and spiritually as a result of the blogosphere. I’ve also done a lot of growing as a result of my “real life” relationships, but I can not and will not allow others to write off relationships formed via the internet as if they lack substance, because, well they clearly do not.

Thanks again Los for sharing your heart.

The latest edition of the Unobjective Intelligence podcast (The Will Young show) is ready for your listening pleasure.

This week I discuss:

• Medical Tourism and why it bothers me so much.
• Why book smarts aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.
• A campaign update.

As always if there is something you’d like to hear please shoot me an e-mail.

You can download it using Apple’s iTune’s using the link on the right, or for those who don’t use itunes, simply click the button that says ‘RSS Podcast’ and download the latest episode.

Enjoy and have a great week!