Category — Background

Good grief, it’s been a year since I started this blog!

At this point I suppose it’s normal to put forth some goals for the upcoming year, etc. etc. But honestly, I don’t really have any specific goals. This past year I’ve tried blogging every day for a month, writing series, and so on. Will I do any of those things this year? Maybe. Mostly, I just want to continue writing on topics that really interest and excite me, and hopefully serve the people who read this in a small way.

And sometimes that means not posting for a long time and sometimes it means a flurry of posts in a week; and that’s ok with me. There have been a few times this past year when I felt like, “Oh no, I haven’t posted…I really need to post something…but I have nothing I really want to say!” But I’m learning that with technology — as in real life, if you don’t have anything to say, don’t. Better to have a small or even no audience and a few posts I really believe in rather than consistent traffic and a lot of blah posts.

To those of you who have read consistently this year — thanks. I’ve appreciated and been encouraged the comments and emails from those of you I know personally and those who have somehow stumbled across these ramblings.

Here are some of my favorite posts from this past year:

• Grateful for . . . Brothers
• I can’t walk straight.
• Are you a classical music nerd?
• 5 Tips for Better Practicing
• Fear & Desire
• 12 signs you may not want that gig
• Tom A Mar (9/16/26-4/10/11)
• In response to Chinese Mothers
• On playing in church, part 2
• For Good Friday

(Photo)

The Blog According to Wordle

I’ll finish up my gratitude series later today, but just wanted to take a moment to thank all of you for reading along with me this year. According to the blog stats, the average reader spends over 3 minutes on this site — which is a lot in this digital age. Thanks for investing your time in my ramblings; it really does mean a lot to me!
I’m always curious to see what garners the most interest on the site, which influences what I write about in the future. Here are the top 10 (well, technically 11) posts for this past year (not counting the gratitude ones, which I listed yesterday):

• 5 Tips for Better Practicing
• On Playing in Church, Part 1 and Part 2
• Considering Colleges, Part 1
• Worship Music Roundup
• Fighting the Blues, Part 1
• Inception & Toy Story 3: Encountering Art at the Movies
• Cafe Finds: Belle Pastry
• The Nature of the Artist
• Hppy Birthday, Leonard Bernstein
• Japanese Vending Machines: The New Extreme

Now, if I may be so bold: can I ask for your help? If you enjoy this blog, please help spread the word by linking to or liking a post, commenting, or shooting me an email. I’m sincerely interested in finding out what people like and don’t like; and I do my best to work reader suggestions into the blog content. You can also subscribe via RSS or subscribe via email.

Thank you, and best wishes for a great 2011!

Today marks the first month anniversary of Counterpoint Cafe’s existence. Thanks to everyone who’s read, commented, and sent me feedback in other ways. You’ve given me some good ideas of what’s on peoples’ minds, and I hope to incorporate them into future posts.

The top 5 posts from the first month:

• On Playing in Church, Part 2
• 5 Tips for Better Practicing
• Fighting the Blues, Part 1
• Considering Colleges, Part 1
• Worship Music Resource Roundup

If you’d like to help support this blog, would you consider subscribing to the feed or sharing it via Facebook or Twitter? Thanks!

(Photo: koalazy monkey)

The title I chose for this blog was inspired by two of my favorite things in life: music and coffee.

First, the music part:

Counterpoint is one of those music theory classes that most music majors dread. Writing two melodies that sound good together and don’t violate the “rules” of theory is HARD. I took a quarter of it in grad school and quickly learned that my innate counterpoint talents are fairly nonexistent. It did help me to appreciate even more the rock-star counterpoint of J.S. Bach, whom most musicians consider the master in this area.

To me, the idea of counterpoint (definition 1b above is what I have in mind) offers a fitting analogy to how God works out our lives. Seemingly independent events somehow relate together in a grand composition. The counterpoint in each of our lives is simultaneously woven into an even deeper level of intricacy as God weaves together the history of the world. And at the end of life we’ll look back and marvel at how everything DID work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

The second part of the title — Cafe — is pretty self-explanatory. I’m from Seattle; I like coffee. Furthermore, some of my best thinking/meetings/study sessions have taken place in coffee shops. So in my mind, the cafe concept is one of community and ideas and friendship. Hopefully, this blog project can promote these things.

Confession: I am a fairweather blogger. I’ve kept personal blogs on-and-off for close to 10 years, starting when Blogger, Livejournal, and Xanga were your platform options and you could choose between ugly and boring for your blogskins. I’ve never really publicized my blogs before because they were pretty much for myself and, frankly, most people wouldn’t find them interesting.

So what makes Counterpoint Cafe different? For starters, my focus for this blog is more practical than personal. Sure, it will draw from my experiences. But my hope is that it will educate and inform more than just express. Over the years as a student and now a professional in the arts, I’ve benefited immensely from others’ advice and teaching, and I hope CC will help me pass the knowledge on.

Secondly, I hope that eventually CC can help foster community among Christian artists and art-lovers out there. What issues and questions as an artist are you facing? I’m sure you’re not the only one. Post a comment or send me a message, and we’ll see if we can’t work it into the conversation.

Next time: the story behind the name.