Appendix E-J

We all sat in a room eating smoked turkey and cheesy potatoes. We were enjoying a collection of 13 classic Christmas TV specials (Garfield was sponsored by PetsMart). Then, the lights went down. The stage lights went up. There stood Diana Sitzman…holiday sweater, festive turtleneck, yuletide headband, cheery-looking socks. In her grasp, an accordion.

Everyday Joe’s wishes you a very merry and joyful Christmas. That’s all we can really wish for each other, isn’t it? Joy, in it’s purest form. Joy even when it’s the dark night.

And now, “Deck The Halls”:

Popularity: 8% [?]

Everyday Joe’s will not be open for business on Christmas Eve. We will have our annual Christmas Eve Service, though. It will be at 6 pm. It will be a time when we remember that He got in our skin. It would be lovely to see you there. So very lovely. There is a strong possibility of festive snacks.

Popularity: 2% [?]

For the past couple o’ months, we (Everyday Joe’s & Timberline Oldtown) have been trying our hand at creating a podcast. From the beginning, it was dubbed the Kitchen Table. It is not just a clever name…it is recorded at the vintage 1950s kitchen table at Everyday Joe’s. Clever names are for those without vintage kitchen tables.

From the Timberline Oldtown website:

The Concept: Sit around the kitchen table at 144 S Mason with a big microphone and record for 30 minutes including anyone and everyone that stops by.

This idea is new and unpolished but we are hitting the ground running. Pastor Darren Fred, Executive Director Chris Hess, and Shepherd Daryle Dickens fired up the mic and just started rambling. We do not know what to expect or how exactly each episode will go.

We’ve not pointed many folks towards the podcast, as it is still birthing and growing and figuring out what it is. A couple weeks ago, we took the metaphorical kitchen table to the Novo Coffee roastery and sat with Herb Brodsky: Novo co-founder and father figure, and emanator of the Woo Heard ‘Round The World.  We think that the conversation that followed may have given future episodes more direction. What we know is that we love Herb and we love Novo…and if you listen and do some distilling you may find the heart of Timberline Oldtown and Everyday Joe’s sitting on the table in front of you, beating excitedly.

Listen below, or head over to the Oldtown site to download the episode and listen to others.

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Popularity: 10% [?]

The Agents of Future are some of my favorite people/one of our favorite bands on the face of the planet in its entirety. They were part of the 2009 90/10 Benefit. My guess is – regardless of what believe – you want some part of what they carry around with them.

Observe:

Popularity: 8% [?]

Seven years certainly feels like something.

It isn’t one of those monumental years. It’s a growing year. It’s the “Hey, I’m in first grade and I go to school all day long”  year. You feel a bit older, but can still remember the days when you stayed home all day and naps were required. You start to form an independent identity, but start to understand you can’t do it all on your own.

Year seven at Everyday Joe’s was a year of change: switching coffee roasters (Intelligentsia to Novo), building a new coffee bar, changing the paint on the walls, renewing our focus on quality, renewing our focus on the stewardship of things, making our drinks smaller in light of both of those things, changes in leadership structure…

It could keep going. Lots of change. Many changes. Or perhaps they are tweaks or refinements. Regardless, they were not and are not changes or tweaks or refinements independent of each other. They all function – and we all function – in the realm of serving & taking care of each other better. Constantly better. Encouraging refinements in each other to that end.

And this is still the purpose of Everyday Joe’s: to be a benefit to Fort Collins. To be a place of service and relationship and hope and Love. It is not always easy…and we catch ourselves with our eyes on the wrong things and we encourage refinements. You encourage refinements, perhaps without even knowing it. Thank you for that.

Imparting on year 8 and storing year 7 in the memory banks, it is safe to tell you that we are more secure in our identity than ever. It is not an identity in coffee or concerts or visual art – though those are all things that are crucial parts of it. It is an identity that will take us where Everyday Joe’s and it’s family needs to go. We just need to be honest with ourselves. And we need to listen.

We celebrate the past seven years and we hope to go into the rest not thinking we know it all, but knowing we’ll continue to be refined. Thanks for being here with us.

love.

everyday joe’s

Popularity: 1% [?]

We of Everyday Joe’s & Timberline Oldtown would be tickled if you joined us on Christmas Eve at 6 pm for a celebration of peace. It will be great. Last year, there was pie.

See you then.

Popularity: 2% [?]

I told you this was going to happen.

For a while, it seemed like Appendix E-J had turned into a place for all things concerning Aaron Strumpel. His album Elephants just excited us to no end and we knew it was going to make its way to other ears and other places and both those ears and places would pass Elephants on to other ears and places far beyond the reach of a Everyday Joe’s.

It is starting.

How about a full review by noted writer Andy Whitman in Christianity Today?

“…in the hands of many contemporary musicians, the Psalms have been neutered, transformed into wispy, ethereal sighs and coos. The powerful drama so evident on the page—the tug of war between intense pain and fleeting hope, the wrestling with injustice and senseless death, the crying out for mercy and forgiveness—has largely been absent. Aaron Strumpel’s new album, Elephants (Thirsty Dirt), intends to restore the blood and desperation.”

MmmmmmHmmmmmmm. That’s what I’m talkin’ about. Read the rest of that review here.

Then you can go ahead and wash down that little word snack with some verbage from the small start-up publication USA TODAY:

“Here’s a fresh reminder of the literary and musical beauty of the Bible — no matter what, or whether, you believe…a new, surprising album of psalms set to music.”

In 5th grade, USA Today was my go-to source for articles to complete my current events reports…mainly because they reported on things like space toilets. Now they are reporting on Aaron Strumpel and people who love his music. Read the rest here.

FURTHER:

• Christianity Today review
• USA Today Mention
• Andy Whitman’s Blog: Razing The Bar

Popularity: 98% [?]

Part of working at Everyday Joe’s is talking to people…whether you feel like it or not. It usually seems the most fruitful conversations are the ones you didn’t want to start or actually tried to avoid. Communication with others is important.

Recently, our friends at Beet Street were kind enough to feature Everyday Joe’s in their weekly re:Beet e-news letter as the subject of “Beet Street Burning Questions.” Chris sat down with a microphone in front of his face to talk of things Everyday Joe’s & otherwise. He almost cries, which is par for the course. Listen below and check out what the rest of re:Beet has to offer here.

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FURTHER:

• Beet Street Official Blog
• Sign Up for re:Beet

Popularity: 55% [?]

8 years ago, Timberline Church bought into the idea of a church in Oldtown Fort Collins. Timberline Oldtown (formerly Joshua’s Crossing) was planted.

6 years ago, Timberline Oldtown bought into the idea of a non-profit coffee house as a form of non-traditional outreach to the community…focusing on Love & relationship rather than forceful theology. Everyday Joe’s was planted.

This past weekend, we were invited over to the Mothership (aka Timberline) to give an update about the going ons around here. This meant speaking 4 times to a total of around 3000 folks. Exhausting and fun.

To kick things off, we showed a video on several very large screens that made me look like I was 7 feet tall. Below is a timelapse of 24 hours in our building…spanning Sunday morning church, a special Sunday evening concert featuring David Bazan & Karli Fairbanks, and a monday morning at Everyday Joe’s. Enjoy and we love you.

FURTHER

• Watch the full presentation including the video
• An old Everyday Joe’s promo video
• An older Everyday Joe’s promo video
  

Popularity: 73% [?]

Todd Fadel is a good fellow. He makes music with Agents of Future (loud, beautiful) and is friends with friends (Aaron Strumpel, The Blackthorn Project, Kate Hurley etc.).

A little while back, I received an e-mail from Mr. Fadel concerning a thing he was building called Love Is Concrete. When he first explained it to me, I thought it sounded magnificent. Now that it is around, I know it is magnificent. I speaks so clearly of truly Good things and things I hope Everyday Joe’s can accomplish that it about makes me overly-emotional. I’d try to explain it, but I think the following video does a better job. Watch it, and then follow the links to the web site.

Further:

• Love Is Concrete Official Site
• Agents Of Future Myspace

Popularity: 39% [?]