Hello from New York City!!!

The wedding went off with a hitch (haha) and we are now in NYC until Tuesday. While my wife and have been a few times this is my parent’s very first trip to the Big Apple.

We have had a blast in the city today. Our hotel is directly across from Shea Stadium in Queens so we had a nice long subway ride into Manhattan on the 7 train. We took it all the way to Times Square and I wish you could have seen the look on my parent’s faces as we came up out of the subway and into the street. They were wide-eyed and grinning from ear to ear. We spent much of the afternoon walking up and down Broadway and in and aound Times Square.

I got a chance to take everyone to John’s Pizzarea on 44th. It is this great little pizza place that was built inside of an old church. They have 4 brick ovens and make the (in my opinion) best pizza in town.

There was some sort of street bazaar going on down 6th street. The sights and the smells of all the food vendors was so cool. I especially got a kick out of a group of Italian soccer fans yelling and screaming at the French Creeps booth. Good stuff!

We walked through the bazaar until we reached Radio City and then we turned back and headed home to the hotel.

Tomorrow we are going to 30 Rock, Battery Park, WTC, Central Park, 5th Ave. and the Empire State Building. It should be very good.

Oh yeah, I ran into Danny Glover and his little granson as they were coming out of a grocery store. We walked with them until they stopped off at McDonald’s for lunch. I love this town!!!

I will be out of pocket for the next week or so.

I’ll be in the giant metropolis of Searcy, AR with my youth group for Uplift starting tomorrow. We will be back on Thursday but then I’m off for New York to preform a wedding for my sister-in-law.

This will be the fifth wedding that I will have preformed. I’ve got it down now:

You.
You.
Yes.
Yes.
Kiss.
Kiss.
Present.

That’s about it. 15 minutes tops!

Of course I’m kidding. I’ll try and upload some pictures from camp and a few from the wedding.

I wish everyone a happy and safe 4th of July. If you’re planning on shooting some fireworks off this holiday please enjoy this quiet and subtle PSA from our friends in the U.K. concerning firework safety:

Happy 4th,

Micheal

Update: This week David Crowder preforms live on the Relevant Podcast. The preformance comes at about min 22 of the podcast. Check it out!

Go! Right Now!

David Crowder Band is up for MSN Music Artist of the Month for July. They currently have 70% of the vote. Let’s push ’em higher.

Well, we have officially moved into our new home. A big thank you to everyone who helped load and unload our truck. We couldn’t have done it with out you. The move went smoothely except that I lost my cell phone. Argh! Other than that it went very well and very quickly. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.

Peace,
Micheal

My fellow Bloggians,

We are entering into a time of change and transition here at Kicking at the Darkness. This past Wednesday, we sold our house and we are, right now, on our way to purchase a new one. We will begin moving a week from today. A week from this coming Thursday I will begin my new position as a youth minister in the Dallas/ Ft Worth area. Things have progressed very quickly and we only have God to thank. The entire process from begining to end has been blanketed in prayer and the Lord has been faithful. At no time have we felt any anxiety about moving or selling our house or purchasing a new one. It has been as if everything has already been taken care of. Praise God.

Kicking at the Darkness has been a wonderful escape (ess-CA-pe) and hobby for me over the past year. It has allowed me to connect with people all over the world and work on my writing and web skills. Although I am long way from being the next Thomas Friedman or Malcolm Gladwell, I have enjoyed this space on Web 2.0 immensely.

Over the next few weeks thare will be some subtle changes to the blog that I think will help enhance our time together. First, I will begin posting a Micheal Recommends section under both the On My Desk and On My iPod tabs. I will be writing about the books and albums that have made big differences in my life. I have a bit of an ecclectic taste so hopefully you can find something that you can connect with. Maybe we could even start on online reading cohort. Maybe? Secondly, I will finally update my links page and the about page. Thirdly, we are going to just plain have fun.

Thank you for spending time with me here.

Peace,
Micheal

Tough, you think you’ve got the stuff
You’re telling me and anyone
You’re hard enough
You don’t have to put up a fight
You don’t have to always be right
Let me take some of the punches
For you tonight

Listen to me now
I need to let you know
You don’t have to go it alone

And it’s you when I look in the mirror
And it’s you when I don’t pick up the phone
Sometimes you can’t make it on your own

We fight all the time
You and I, that’s alright
We’re the same soul
I don’t need, I don’t need to hear you say
That if we weren’t so alike
You’d like me a whole lot more

Listen to me now
I need to let you know
You don’t have to go it alone

And it’s you when I look in the mirror
And it’s you when I don’t pick up the phone
Sometimes you can’t make it on your own

I know that we don’t talk
I’m sick of it all
Can you hear me when I sing
You’re the reason I sing
You’re the reason why the opera is in me
Well, hey now
Still got to let you know
A house doesn’t make a home
Don’t leave me here alone

And it’s you when I look in the mirror
And it’s you that makes it hard to let go
Sometimes you can’t make it on your own
Sometimes you can’t make it
Best you can do is to fake it
Sometimes you can’t make it on your own

What a day. From meeting Matt Lauer this morning to talking to Ivanka Trump in the afternoon to a hit Broadway play this evening it was a full day. I’m too tired to type.

The highlights:

At Today we met Matt and Al. We saw Bode Miller through the studio and we saw Dora and Diego dance to Gloia Estafan right in front of us. Viva la Boots! Viva la Boots!

I was standing next to the elevator in Trump Tower when Ivanka Trump walked right out and stood next to me. She was in a buisness meeting so I couldn’t get a picture with her. I simply wispered, “Hello Ms Trump.” She flashed me a big smile and a wave and then it was back to buisness. It was cool but I wish it had been George or Carolyn.

I ate the best pizza at a place called John’s directly across from the Majestic. It was an old church and some of the light fixtures were old, churchy lights. It was pretty neat.

Wicked was wonderful! Boffo!

More tomorrow…

We are in NYC this week with a group of teens. Today we went to the Empire State Building. It was so windy and a little cold up there. It was the first time I had been up there at night. The veiws were breathtaking. The only problem was that there was some big ape hanging out up there with a cute blonde in his hands. Weird, huh?.

In a few short hours we’ll roll out of bed and head to the Today Show and a full day of fun in the city. Tomorrow will be topped off by going to a Broadway musical.

Peace.