Hey everybody, thanks for your support...

I want to let you know what's been going on around here. First of all, I hope you've had a chance to check out the website and listen to the music online, and if you don't have a copy of the CD yet, you can order one online at www.mattnightingale.net, www.indieheaven.com/artists/mattnightingale, www.77s.com, www.covenantbookstore.com, and www.cdbaby.com/mattnightingale. You can also pick one up at the Peninsula Covenant Church Resource Center here in Redwood City or The Door Christian Bookstore in San Carlos.

I'm now on myspace, so if you are too, come check it out and add me to your list of friends: www.myspace.com/mattnightingale.

Thanks so much for all of your support on the radio chart at Indieheaven.com! "Always Entertaining Me (The La-La Song)" is currently at #4, thanks to you. The website has extended the dates of the contest, so I'm not assured a spot on the compilation CD yet. Please continue to rate my song (five stars! ) once a day, and on December 31st, the Top Fifteen will be included on the compilation CD. Keith Mohr, president of Indieheaven, says, "We are partnering with a distributor to bring this product into many stores worldwide and want to be sure we have everything in order." Sounds like it could be a great thing if I can stay on top of the charts. It's a LONG time, but I know we can do it!

Tomorrow night, Saturday, October 22, "Still Standing" is going to be the featured album on KBCU in North Newton, KS. I'll be calling in for an interview, basically hanging out for the whole hour. If you'd like to listen online, go to www.bethelks.edu/kbcu. You can also chat with the host and other listeners at www.myguidinglight.org. My part of the show will be at 9pm, Central Time. I'm excited about this great opportunity. A whole hour with just me and my songs!

One final thing to check out. I've been featured in the "Worship Connection" newsletter of the Evangelical Covenant Church. Most of you know I'm a licensed minister in the Covenant, and this is their national quarterly publication for worship leaders. Here's the link: www.covchurch.org/cov/worship/0510/index.html.

Thanks so much for your role in my life and ministry! Much love and many thanks...

Matt

What an honor to be included on the brand new Indieheaven podcast! Check it out for yourself... Here's what Keith Mohr, founder of Indieheaven, says when he introduces my song:

"Next up on Indieheaven Radio is Matt Nightingale. All we can say is 'Wow!' We love Matt's music, and we can't believe he's not on a major label. Hey, who cares about that? It's all changing anyway... Matt has come up with an innovative, catchy and excellent song. Here's one of our favorites Matt calls 'The La-La Song.' It's really called 'Always Entertaining Me' and we like it a la-la-lot!"

This song is seeing a lot of action thanks to you. First the IH Radio charts and now this podcast! Please remember to vote every day. The song is currently #4. It needs to be in the Top Fifteen by the 20th to be included on the IH Compilation CD. And wouldn't it be fun if it hit #1?

Jacob and I had a great time on our 2nd Grade Trip. After Sunday At 6, we had dinner with "the guys" (VK, Buck, Brad and the visiting Jon Simpson) at Max's and then took off for Mission Springs. We got there around 10:30 and headed for our cabin, only to disturb a sleeping couple and their dog... Apparently the room had been given out to two parties! So there we were in Santa Cruz with nowhere to go... We found a cheap hotel and crashed there. Then today it was the Mystery Spot, Marianne's, Boardwalk Bowl, Mini-Golf and the Arcade! Good times.

It's time once again for the 2nd Grade Trip. For some reason, three years ago, I took Joshua away for an overnighter, and now it's tradition. Jake's been looking forward to this for a long time, so tonight he's coming with me to Sunday At 6, then he's going out to eat with me and "the guys," and then we're off!

We're staying overnight at Mission Springs, which is our local Covenant campground. It's free to pastors and staff of Covenant churches, and it's a beautiful place... right in the heart of the Santa Cruz Mountains, surrounded by gigantic Redwoods. Tomorrow we'll go to the world-famous (or should I say world infamous? ) Mystery Spot and then wheverever Jake wants to go. Maybe the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk or Marianne's Ice Cream. Whatever we do, I'm looking forward to some good father-son bonding.

Oh wow. I can't let this post go without recognizing the fact that it's National Porn Sunday! Kudos to Mike & Craig at www.xxxchurch.org for facing the Church's "dirty little secret" head on. Let freedom ring...

We live in a great house on the campus of Peninsula Covenant Church. It's one of five houses that the church owns for staff housing. Just last week one of our neighbors moved out, and the Smith family moved in. Jeff is our Children & Families Pastor. Their moving in has created quite a stir in the 'hood, because they have three very cool things they bring with them: a new baby, a dog, and a trampoline. A real, honest-to-goodness, big, round trampoline with a safety net and all.

So, for the last several nights, I've been heading out to the tramp with my iPod Nano and jumping for 20-30 minutes... It's surprisingly good exercise... surprising because it's actually fun. Tonight I listened to a cool mix of Michelle Shocked music and jumped for a long time...

Yesterday's Emergent Lunch was pretty cool. Sometimes, though, I feel like it's a contest to see who is the most hip or relevant person in the room. I sometimes feel like I have to be clever or witty or somehow ultra-spiritual. I know it's just my own insecurities... God, help me to just be myself! I sat across from a cool woman named Sheryl who happens to be Brian McLaren's editor at Jossey-Bass! We had a good discussion about our spiritual journeys... It was cool to meet Tony Jones and hear a little bit of his heart. But sometimes I feel like there's something contrived about this hip, cool spirituality. God, give us discernment about the way to really follow Jesus in the 21st Century!

David Crowder*Band has released what will probably be my favorite so-called "worship album" of the year. It's called A Collision, and it's great... From the banjo and barn-dance choir of "I Saw the Light" to the anthemic praise of "Here Is Our King" to the spooky Sufjan Stevens cover, "O God Where Are You Now? (In Pickerel Lake? Pigeon? Marquette? Mackinaw? )" to the apocalyptic finale, "The Lark Ascending Or (Perhaps More Accurately, I'm Trying To Make You Sing)," this is a sweet record from start to finish. I've only been through it twice, but I'm looking forward to digging into it again in the morning.

The twins have been waking up at 5:45 every morning and climbing into bed with Luanne and me. We have relative peace as they snuggle with us until about 6:03, when they begin demanding breakfast. The next hour consists of our telling them to go play in their rooms and their coming in again and again to ask for breakfast, to ask if they can watch TV, to ask if we'll play with them, to snuggle and climb on our heads... I'm going to sleep now so that I can try to get up with them. I know someday I'll look back on these days and miss them... I keep reminding myself of that. Thank you, God, for precious, healthy children!

Another exciting week at the Nightingale house...

• Luanne led worship on Tuesday night for a women's bible study/worship time at PCC called Wellspring. It is becoming more and more apparent that she is a gifted and called worship leader... We always knew she was a gifted singer... but she is so much more than that... God is using her in really cool ways.
• We went to a sand castle competition yesterday at Ocean Beach in San Francisco. A bunch of elementary schools teamed up with architecture and engineering firm specialists to create these massive sand sculptures around a "Comic Adventures" theme. It was pretty amazing... We had dinner at Rainforest Cafe. The kids loved it.
• Jake had a field trip on Thursday to Albertson's. Sounds like fun, except he says they didn't get ANY samples.
• "Always Entertaining Me" is #4 on the Indieheaven radio chart... Make sure you rate it every day!
• I'm finally up at CD Baby! Check it out... That means Napster, iTunes, Rhapsody, etc. are not far behind!
• I bought some new music on Friday... Mexican Standoff by Michelle Shocked (one of three CDs she released on the same day this year) and Jacksonville City Nights by Ryan Adams & The Cardinals (the second of three planned 2005 releases). I love music so much. I had a gift card to Barnes & Noble, so I used that...
• Every Friday from 9-11:30, the twins are at preschool, the "big boys" are at school and Luanne's at work, so I get a glorious couple of hours all to myself. Last Friday I enjoyed a trip to the chiropractor, Barnes & Noble (2 CDs and a venti nonfat, no-whip caramel mocha... a little bit of heaven), the post office, the bank, the library (got the new Erin McKeown CD, We Will Become Like Birds there), and the video store.
• Not much else... My friend Curt, the blogging KING, says I should pick a thing and stick to it... Maybe music... That would be natural, huh? Maybe instead of saying I picked up three CDs, I should tell you about them... Maybe next time.
• OK, g'night for now...