Well, hi there.

This will not be a typical blog, to begin with.

I was urged by Jean Miller, our building manager at Northwest, to broaden the music network at our church by expanding into cyberspace through updates on our website (www.nwumc.org) as well as using blogging to make announcements and keep people informed on what's happening.

When Jean told me about this, the first question I asked her was, "Is it okay if I sometimes rant about the Cubs?"

"Absolutely!" the fellow transplant from greater Chicago replied.

And that was enough of a tipping point to get me going on this. I'd actually done blogging before a few years ago, back when I had way too much time on my hands in the summers between graduate school and had a couple of favorite sports teams (besides Ohio State) that were actually successful. But with more going on at age twenty-seven than before--a new home, a marriage to a beautiful woman and amazing pianist, and fledgling careers in both church music and music education--I know that these posts will be frequent and fun, but also quick and to the point.

So that said: if you attend Northwest UMC and haven't met me yet, I'm the guy on the far left of the stage behind the organ, trying to guess which pedals to play during each of our hymns. Every now and then I get in front of the organ and flap my arms around. And yes, I do enjoy it.