I was skimming through my blogroll as I do many times when I check out my page to make sure things are running correctly, and I came across the latest post for a blog called "Happy Harper Stories". Its written by Jamie, who is a chick who goes to my church, Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship, natch) and who I... well, let's be honest, we barely know each other. Ask Jamie, and I'm sure she's tell you the same thing. That, however, doesn't mean I don't enjoy her writings.
Now, sometimes she discusses things that don't really curry my interest, some kid stories, some mommy stories, things I can't relate to (yet--give it another 10 months or a year, and I'll be lapping those stories up with a "yep!" and a "that's me!" and a "wow, there now!" attitude) but many times her writing is comforting, fun and always with a twinge, if not a full on display, of the power and love of Jesus Christ.
So, being a stupid boy, naturally when I saw her latest post was entitled "Biblical Submission and Worship in the Bedroom", I had to click over.
Here is the first paragraph of her post...
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Ephesians 5:21... I have these really great Christian women friends who I get to see once every 3 or 4 months. They are godly women who sharpen me in my spiritual walk. Every time I see them, they make me want to go home and have sex with my husband, so I am sure he loves them. Sound odd? Let me explain.
Her post is about being a Christ Follower and...
(looking around)
(looking around still)
(no one is listening)
...being a Christ Follower and having sex...
SHHH!!!! Don't say that out loud! Did you hear me? No? Okay, I said... being a Christ Follower and having sex. I know, scandalous! Don't you know that Song of Solomon doesn't really exist in the Bible according to some congregations!?
Actually... it does exist. I would invite you to read the rest of her post, which you can go to here (but please, do come back, I'm not done with you yet), which discusses the joy of such marital fruit that He has given to us.
And it made think about something I wrote on October 31st, 2001 (I was married in 2004, so this predates that)... before you read, understand something--this is not a judgemental piece. I mean to point no fingers, nor lay guilt on anyone, myself included, for toes that might be stepped on... its just a little slice of God's love and His purpose.
Anyway, out of the vault of Dave's Encouragement...
"Sex, Love, God and Gifts"
In our Life Connection--Sunday school as it was called for 25 of my 26 years--class at Valleydale Baptist, we've been studying Song of Solomon. The first several weeks this summer were all about dating and courtship, something I will never master, to be honest with you. We took a break in August and September, and started back a few weeks ago in the midst of Solomon and his wife's marriage. We've looked at keeping marriage fresh, the "art" of dealing with conflicts and lately, the "art" of romance--or dating your wife. Okay, we've talked about sex.
Its so strange that we've grown up in a world that has taught us that sex is such an easy thing to do and a casual thing to take part in. Why? Because it’s treated so lightly... Ross and Rachel on Friends had "casual sex" months ago, and now they are having a baby... and though I think the show is hilarious--btw, I'm dealing with that--the whole situation is being treated as a punch line. Instead of seeing this as a degradation of God's gift, we laugh, because the world tells us, "Hey, if you are going to do it, then you might mess up a little."
Somehow, we keep forgetting that God says, "Hey, if your gonna do it, be married."
God created sex. It’s not something that Cinemax created for their late night episodes of Passion Cove, or something Hollywood came up with so they could make Showgirls. God made it. God made it for love. God made a him and a her, and instilled in said him and her a passion and love for each other so deep that they would consummate--sex--and make him and her a "them". Make sense?
Of course, we know sex shouldn't be a byproduct of a date or a night of wanderlust, but a result of marriage and love. Which is the plot line of the latter chapters of Song of Solomon. The entire book is merely a dozen pages or so long, but it far outweighs the world's idea that love is dead, that love is weak, that love is something we generate. We are weak. We are spiritually dead until we meet the source of Love... God. God is Love.
If we say that I am part Hispanic, then it stands to reason that I look it. If we say that Jennifer Pritchett is petite, then by common sense, she should look the part. So, if we say that God is Love, God would look as such... do you follow me?
So what does Love... or God... look like?
As we read Song of Solomon on Sunday, something came to my mind that I read from Rich Mullins. Every word of the Bible is God-breathed, which means He loved us enough to include the poem of Solomon and the details of what God intends in a relationship. But does God just give us the gift of sex in a marriage and then sit back, turning his eyes when we enjoy it? Laura DeGarmo can sing her head off, so when she lifts praises in song, I picture God smiling. Rebecca Glassco glorifies God on stage, Drew Morris with a guitar, Meredith Quintana with her writings... when Becca acts, Drew plays or Merdi writes, I picture God smiling. What about when two godly people are consummating a marriage? Does God smile? Feeling a little edgy reading this? Ha!
Could it be that God "feels"? Maybe God is capable of the same sort of passion. Could God be excited or must He be that reverent picture of a large bearded man on a huge throne? Are we comfortable with the image of God as Father and nervous about God as a Lover? Personally, I think of God as a Parent, which is less personality and more role playing than anything. Are we happy to have God as our Creator, but get a little weirded out as being Creative? God is a great Engineer, but what about an Artist? Being Sovereign comforts us, but I think sometimes being a Poet makes us tense. Do we enjoy the glow of God's light but hide ourselves from the heat of His flames?
Does the idea that Jesus tolerated the sinful woman's anointing of His feet, but enjoyed John resting his head on Jesus' chest make us squirm? Rich Mullins laughingly said "How is it we can accept that Moses saw a bush on fire and was not consumed, but we doubt that God can love in a rage and never cool?"
For those of you out of the Song of Solomon class, read the book when you can. For those of you in the class, pay more attention to the love that God has provided Solomon and his lover to share with each other. Either way, try to take a look at God as a Lover of our souls, not just a provider of our needs.
Enjoying the Lover of My Soul...
Showing posts with label McQ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label McQ. Show all posts
The Encouragement Beginning
Way back in the day, I used to write stuff called "Dave's Random Emails of Encouragement". From 1999 to 2002, I wrote well over 100 essays, stories and short pieces about... well, things that happened in my life that gave me encouragement, and I wanted to pass those things along to other people. In its heyday, I had 125+ people on my email list, and over the course of those years, I would get tons of responses from people telling me they understood, or they felt the same way, or they needed to hear it, and yes, the occasional "dude... shut up."
I even semi-published... well, not really published, but printed out, gave small intros to each one, and put them in a 3 volume set that I gave copies to to a few people (I think McQ got a set, but beyond that, I have no clue).
Here's what I wrote at the beginning of Volume One:
Where is all this going? Well, I figure if I've got a blogsite, and its my words and writing, what a great way to share--actually, in September of 2005, when I was still unsure of what I was even doing (and sometimes I still don't know... ha!) I posted the first Email of Encouragement I'd ever written, as mentioned above.
Now, after all this time, I think its time to post them again, to let you, the Coffee Drinkers, read them, or re-read them, and maybe get a little encouragement of your own.
I even semi-published... well, not really published, but printed out, gave small intros to each one, and put them in a 3 volume set that I gave copies to to a few people (I think McQ got a set, but beyond that, I have no clue).
Here's what I wrote at the beginning of Volume One:
There was Allyson Guy, Amy Alexander, Amy Valdmanis and Amy Worthy. There was Beth Sentell, Daina Richards, Hillary Kelly and Rebecca Glassco. There was Lara Smith, Mary Ann Crittenden, Misty Estes, Nathan Tutor, Shelby Logan, Stephanie Nipp, Sybil Johnson and Tad Roose. There was Tom Johnson, Ty Coffey, Wendy Brobst, Sharon Dobbins, Julie Haynes, Meredith Brazzell and Melanie Jackson. Kay Nichols. Jeff Herring. Chris Fulaytar. Alyssa Guy. Season Chappell. Amy Wible. They were there in the beginning.
September 1999, I wrote up an email called “Stephen”, because I had heard a guy by the name of EJ Smith speak at this Bible Study I had been attending for about two months at this lady named Sybil Johnson’s house. I thought EJ’s lesson was cool, and I wanted to share it with some of my friends. I got lots of response to it, and a few weeks later, I wrote another essay and mailed it out, adding a few more names to the email list upon request. So, from then, every time I went to a Bible Study, retreat, conference, Church service, or if God just taught me something cool, I began to share it over email. The first several emails were adapted from other essays, I just transferred the message from the original author to you, but as God began to mature me in Him, suddenly I found my own words... well, words inspired from God, not from other authors. I used other works to base my essays on, particularly songs, but I love to do my own personal take on the meaning of those songs.
September 1999, I wrote up an email called “Stephen”, because I had heard a guy by the name of EJ Smith speak at this Bible Study I had been attending for about two months at this lady named Sybil Johnson’s house. I thought EJ’s lesson was cool, and I wanted to share it with some of my friends. I got lots of response to it, and a few weeks later, I wrote another essay and mailed it out, adding a few more names to the email list upon request. So, from then, every time I went to a Bible Study, retreat, conference, Church service, or if God just taught me something cool, I began to share it over email. The first several emails were adapted from other essays, I just transferred the message from the original author to you, but as God began to mature me in Him, suddenly I found my own words... well, words inspired from God, not from other authors. I used other works to base my essays on, particularly songs, but I love to do my own personal take on the meaning of those songs.
Where is all this going? Well, I figure if I've got a blogsite, and its my words and writing, what a great way to share--actually, in September of 2005, when I was still unsure of what I was even doing (and sometimes I still don't know... ha!) I posted the first Email of Encouragement I'd ever written, as mentioned above.
Now, after all this time, I think its time to post them again, to let you, the Coffee Drinkers, read them, or re-read them, and maybe get a little encouragement of your own.
A Random Rebecca Mandolin Sighting
For those of you expecting a full on review of "Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince", let me just tell you that I'm breaking my breaking of the self-imposed rule that says I will wait a few days before reviewing a movie... simply put, I loved the movie, and its my favorite of all the Potter flicks, but there's much more to it... but to properly assess and discuss, I have to discuss the movie and the book, so I figure I'll give a few days for people to see it, so I won't be giving spoilers.
Plus, I had a Rebecca Mandolin Sighting.
The Happiest Place in the Mall is a treasure trove of rekindling, by the way. I've seen dozens of faces that I've not seen in years, sometimes in the double digits. Micke Arant, Jaime Echols, Julie Echols, Jason Howell, Jeremy & Crystal Jones and so on, names that won't mean much to you, Coffee Drinker, but names that each carve out memories and instances, sometimes small, sometimes large, in my years of living.
Zipping around at The Happiest Place in the Mall, as I do on a daily basis, doling out magic for this person and that, providing the best 30 minutes of the day for some lucky guest. This is a special week as its Buy One Get One Free on the plush--come in and purchase a plush animal, be it off of the mountain, or one of the big ones, or the mini bean bag plush or even the soft Princess dolls and you get one free!! (if you think that was plug for our store then... you'd be right)
I'm straightening as I go, of course, and am already banking the little experiences--good and stupid--with guests that make the day so interesting (I'll probably end up writing a second volume to one of my most popular posts, "Happy Times") and I work my way to the backstage door, probably headed back to grab a couple of Mater die cast cars to go on the rack.
There's a young woman kneeling over some Hannah Montana water bottles, her face obscured by the mane of thick hair surrounding her head. I stop... well, I don't stop, I really just slow down long enough to say understandably as I move, "Don't forget, all the Hannah Montana, High School Musical and Camp Rock merchandise is an additional 40% off the red tagged price!" (yes, yes, another plug. what are you waiting for? go get you a Sharpay swimsuit for only $8.99 after discount!)
The young woman freezes for a second, slowly turns her head up to me and says, "d$". My eyes widen, my jaw drops and I utter out, "Mandy Stewart." She leaps up, I gasp and we hug for at least ten, maybe twenty seconds, with both of us sputtering out phrases like "Oh my gosh!" and "So good to see you!" and "I can't believe this!".
There are just some people in this world that just... well, they make you happy. Your hard pressed to find fault with them, you have nothing but thoughts and experiences with them that make you smile, and when you see them again after so long without, its as if for a few minutes, the world is just right. Things make sense. Your friend is here in front of you, and for the next little while, maybe a few sentences worth, maybe an hour over lunch, things are just good. My friend McQ is like this. My buddy Mikey is like this. And so is Rebecca Mandolin.
We met in the fall of 1993--forgive me if you've read this already, I might have told this story in one of the previous 489 posts--in English class. We were sitting close to the end of the long table in Honors Freshman English, being taught by a nice blond lady who had hairy armpits. No seriously. Like, she was married to this Brit, and I guess she felt as if she needed to play the role of Brit Wife (do they do that over there? I thought hairy pits was a French thing?) and she liked to wear sleeveless shirts, and when she lifted up her arms in discussions or animated conversations, whoop there it is. Rebecca Mandolin always had a faceful of it.
I personally thought that she was gorgeous, but I was never attracted to her. Funny how that worked, really, as there were lots of guys who were. Maybe that's why we were such fast friends, because I had no ulterior motive. It did make me look good, though, that I had good looking chick friends. Maybe it was also that we both had small town upbringings, being tossed onto this campus and were just looking for nice people to hang out with. Whatever the reason, d$ and Rebecca Mandolin were friends.
Actually, I was attracted to the blond girl who sat across from Rebecca Mandolin and I, Ginny Kochen from Wisconsin. That's a whole other story for another day, but Ginny and I didn't work out. Discovered that Rebecca Mandolin was roomies with another person I had just met, Miranda Bryant, and then we all got to know and hang out with some other people we met and so on.
d$ and Rebecca Mandolin then, having both just turned 21. This is 1996 at a FH/Alpha Gam. The Lovely Steph Leann made me sell that tie at the yard sale a few weeks ago.
Time goes by, as do friends who suddenly aren't around and become acquaintances instead, or people you barely know who come into your life to become pretty good people to be around and such. Miranda and I were pretty tight for a while, then I became good friends with Labett and Adrienne, then eventually I met my best mate Wookiee and... well, you get the drift. I friend hopped, no sense in denying it, at least until around 1995 or 96, when I got involved in our BCM and actually made some friends I could keep.
But even though we weren't talking every day, even though we weren't around each other all the time, Rebecca Mandolin and I never stopped being friends. She introduced me to this awesome redhead, Allison Hodnett (which also didn't work out, thanks to John Glasscock... again, another story), and encouraged it on while it almost started. We had lunch at Los Pericos in Troy from time to time. She would give me the truth that I didn't want to hear when I was, say, hitting on Greta Gaskin ("Seriously, d$, that was totally a line you gave her... and pretty lame too") or telling me about Indya Lawless ("She asked me about you, d$, and I managed to get her number for you") or letting me know I blew it with Rebecca Miller ("You know, you need a divine do-over, really") and sometimes, she would do her own confiding in me about her own set of romantic issues ("Yeah, so... here's what happened... and I feel pretty stupid about all of this. What do you think, d$?").
We both rushed about the same time, Rebecca Mandolin headed towards Alpha Gamma Delta, and I toward FarmHouse, and we would catch up with each other over Fraternity/Sorority gatherings, or pledge swaps or Greek Week, always with a big hug and a big smile.
Eventually, she found her boo, a big gruff guy named Peter who played baseball. Somehow, someway, that final year of Troy State for both of us, we moved different directions and missed each other somehow.
I found Rebecca Mandolin's email address, and contacted her around, I dunno, 2000 or so, and she responded, and again, we lost touch. Finally, she joined the rest of the free world and got on Facebook earlier this year, and I was excited about it, leaving her a wall post that simply said, "Its about time". She responded with, "I am technologically challenged. I had not checked my hotmail for 2 months. I had 500 messages. It is so good to hear from you (slightly less good to see those pictures, although the formal picture is priceless)."
And after that, didn't hear from her again. Not that I tried much, mind you, I'm not stalking out Rebecca Mandolin, but I never saw her online, so we never got around to chatting about anything.
And then today... here she was. She laughed, ruffled the side of my head with her fingers and said, "Oh goodness, look at all the grey you've collected." She introduced me to her son, who is like, 8, and her daughter is 5, and running all over the store. Her husband Peter shook my hand and nodded, then walked back to the front of the store in a typical, "Okay, I'm done, I'm ready to get out of here" fashion.
We stood for about five minutes and discussed the old days, with me bringing up a few names that made her laugh and shudder and she doing the same for me. I gushed about The Lovely Steph Leann, and we discussed kids and when we'll get our own. I gave her this web address and my email, and told her she had no excuse not to find me, and even that The Lovely Steph Leann and I would be in her neck of the woods in August, and a Sunday lunch before we head home is in the realm of possibilities.
To be truthful, I might live to be 84 years of age, and I may see Rebecca Mandolin once, maybe twice more ever... or we might become friends again, at least, virtually anyway. I always long for people from my old days to meet people from my current, notably The Lovely Steph Leann, if only to show to the old friends how far I've come and how wonderful I have it, and to show The Lovely Steph Leann a glimpse into what I used to be and a small glance of how I became what I did. And maybe they will meet, who knows.
Here's us in 2009, both on the cusp of 34. Personally, I could stand to be a little thinner, perhaps like the earlier pic, but I think she's never looked better.
Here's to you, Rebecca Mandolin, for making my day, and here's to hoping you make another.
Someone called Rebecca Mandolin once by mistake, thinking that was her full name. I think its actually "Reba Mandy" or something country like that... she is from Talladega... anyway, I took to calling her that, just like she called me "Young David" for the longest time, even though I'm a month older than she.
Plus, I had a Rebecca Mandolin Sighting.
The Happiest Place in the Mall is a treasure trove of rekindling, by the way. I've seen dozens of faces that I've not seen in years, sometimes in the double digits. Micke Arant, Jaime Echols, Julie Echols, Jason Howell, Jeremy & Crystal Jones and so on, names that won't mean much to you, Coffee Drinker, but names that each carve out memories and instances, sometimes small, sometimes large, in my years of living.
Zipping around at The Happiest Place in the Mall, as I do on a daily basis, doling out magic for this person and that, providing the best 30 minutes of the day for some lucky guest. This is a special week as its Buy One Get One Free on the plush--come in and purchase a plush animal, be it off of the mountain, or one of the big ones, or the mini bean bag plush or even the soft Princess dolls and you get one free!! (if you think that was plug for our store then... you'd be right)
I'm straightening as I go, of course, and am already banking the little experiences--good and stupid--with guests that make the day so interesting (I'll probably end up writing a second volume to one of my most popular posts, "Happy Times") and I work my way to the backstage door, probably headed back to grab a couple of Mater die cast cars to go on the rack.
There's a young woman kneeling over some Hannah Montana water bottles, her face obscured by the mane of thick hair surrounding her head. I stop... well, I don't stop, I really just slow down long enough to say understandably as I move, "Don't forget, all the Hannah Montana, High School Musical and Camp Rock merchandise is an additional 40% off the red tagged price!" (yes, yes, another plug. what are you waiting for? go get you a Sharpay swimsuit for only $8.99 after discount!)
The young woman freezes for a second, slowly turns her head up to me and says, "d$". My eyes widen, my jaw drops and I utter out, "Mandy Stewart." She leaps up, I gasp and we hug for at least ten, maybe twenty seconds, with both of us sputtering out phrases like "Oh my gosh!" and "So good to see you!" and "I can't believe this!".
There are just some people in this world that just... well, they make you happy. Your hard pressed to find fault with them, you have nothing but thoughts and experiences with them that make you smile, and when you see them again after so long without, its as if for a few minutes, the world is just right. Things make sense. Your friend is here in front of you, and for the next little while, maybe a few sentences worth, maybe an hour over lunch, things are just good. My friend McQ is like this. My buddy Mikey is like this. And so is Rebecca Mandolin.
We met in the fall of 1993--forgive me if you've read this already, I might have told this story in one of the previous 489 posts--in English class. We were sitting close to the end of the long table in Honors Freshman English, being taught by a nice blond lady who had hairy armpits. No seriously. Like, she was married to this Brit, and I guess she felt as if she needed to play the role of Brit Wife (do they do that over there? I thought hairy pits was a French thing?) and she liked to wear sleeveless shirts, and when she lifted up her arms in discussions or animated conversations, whoop there it is. Rebecca Mandolin always had a faceful of it.
I personally thought that she was gorgeous, but I was never attracted to her. Funny how that worked, really, as there were lots of guys who were. Maybe that's why we were such fast friends, because I had no ulterior motive. It did make me look good, though, that I had good looking chick friends. Maybe it was also that we both had small town upbringings, being tossed onto this campus and were just looking for nice people to hang out with. Whatever the reason, d$ and Rebecca Mandolin were friends.
Actually, I was attracted to the blond girl who sat across from Rebecca Mandolin and I, Ginny Kochen from Wisconsin. That's a whole other story for another day, but Ginny and I didn't work out. Discovered that Rebecca Mandolin was roomies with another person I had just met, Miranda Bryant, and then we all got to know and hang out with some other people we met and so on.
d$ and Rebecca Mandolin then, having both just turned 21. This is 1996 at a FH/Alpha Gam. The Lovely Steph Leann made me sell that tie at the yard sale a few weeks ago.
Time goes by, as do friends who suddenly aren't around and become acquaintances instead, or people you barely know who come into your life to become pretty good people to be around and such. Miranda and I were pretty tight for a while, then I became good friends with Labett and Adrienne, then eventually I met my best mate Wookiee and... well, you get the drift. I friend hopped, no sense in denying it, at least until around 1995 or 96, when I got involved in our BCM and actually made some friends I could keep.
But even though we weren't talking every day, even though we weren't around each other all the time, Rebecca Mandolin and I never stopped being friends. She introduced me to this awesome redhead, Allison Hodnett (which also didn't work out, thanks to John Glasscock... again, another story), and encouraged it on while it almost started. We had lunch at Los Pericos in Troy from time to time. She would give me the truth that I didn't want to hear when I was, say, hitting on Greta Gaskin ("Seriously, d$, that was totally a line you gave her... and pretty lame too") or telling me about Indya Lawless ("She asked me about you, d$, and I managed to get her number for you") or letting me know I blew it with Rebecca Miller ("You know, you need a divine do-over, really") and sometimes, she would do her own confiding in me about her own set of romantic issues ("Yeah, so... here's what happened... and I feel pretty stupid about all of this. What do you think, d$?").
We both rushed about the same time, Rebecca Mandolin headed towards Alpha Gamma Delta, and I toward FarmHouse, and we would catch up with each other over Fraternity/Sorority gatherings, or pledge swaps or Greek Week, always with a big hug and a big smile.
Eventually, she found her boo, a big gruff guy named Peter who played baseball. Somehow, someway, that final year of Troy State for both of us, we moved different directions and missed each other somehow.
I found Rebecca Mandolin's email address, and contacted her around, I dunno, 2000 or so, and she responded, and again, we lost touch. Finally, she joined the rest of the free world and got on Facebook earlier this year, and I was excited about it, leaving her a wall post that simply said, "Its about time". She responded with, "I am technologically challenged. I had not checked my hotmail for 2 months. I had 500 messages. It is so good to hear from you (slightly less good to see those pictures, although the formal picture is priceless)."
And after that, didn't hear from her again. Not that I tried much, mind you, I'm not stalking out Rebecca Mandolin, but I never saw her online, so we never got around to chatting about anything.
And then today... here she was. She laughed, ruffled the side of my head with her fingers and said, "Oh goodness, look at all the grey you've collected." She introduced me to her son, who is like, 8, and her daughter is 5, and running all over the store. Her husband Peter shook my hand and nodded, then walked back to the front of the store in a typical, "Okay, I'm done, I'm ready to get out of here" fashion.
We stood for about five minutes and discussed the old days, with me bringing up a few names that made her laugh and shudder and she doing the same for me. I gushed about The Lovely Steph Leann, and we discussed kids and when we'll get our own. I gave her this web address and my email, and told her she had no excuse not to find me, and even that The Lovely Steph Leann and I would be in her neck of the woods in August, and a Sunday lunch before we head home is in the realm of possibilities.
To be truthful, I might live to be 84 years of age, and I may see Rebecca Mandolin once, maybe twice more ever... or we might become friends again, at least, virtually anyway. I always long for people from my old days to meet people from my current, notably The Lovely Steph Leann, if only to show to the old friends how far I've come and how wonderful I have it, and to show The Lovely Steph Leann a glimpse into what I used to be and a small glance of how I became what I did. And maybe they will meet, who knows.
Here's us in 2009, both on the cusp of 34. Personally, I could stand to be a little thinner, perhaps like the earlier pic, but I think she's never looked better.
Here's to you, Rebecca Mandolin, for making my day, and here's to hoping you make another.
Someone called Rebecca Mandolin once by mistake, thinking that was her full name. I think its actually "Reba Mandy" or something country like that... she is from Talladega... anyway, I took to calling her that, just like she called me "Young David" for the longest time, even though I'm a month older than she.
Picture Imperfect
We've already established that I'm a complete, foolish nostalgic person... As anyone who has talked to me in the last few weeks has discovered, I've had a blast going through all my college--and high school--pictures, sorting through the ones that I can scan, tossing some that I just don't need anymore (I'm not sure anyone needs a picture of me and fill-in-chick-I-went-out-with being cute) and pausing to stare at pictures of friends that I haven't seen in a very, very long time. Friends I miss.
And something happened that I didn't expect... I think I got caught up in all of it. The memories flood back, kinda reminding me of the Trisha Yearwood song I was singing earlier, while making perfect mochas and delicious grande lattes... "it was like a lighted match had been tossed into my soul, it was like a dam had broken in my heart... after taking every detour, getting lost and losing track, so that even if I wanted I could not find my way back, after driving out the memories of the way things had been, after I had forgotten all about it, this pic remembers when..."
Okay, it wasn't quite that dramatic. But I do love that song, and consider it to the be the saddest song ever written, though thats a complete other post... anyway, some of the memories that rushed back...
Like, there's a picture of me and Mike Brunson blowing on Allyson Guy's head, to cool her down after rock climbing. I was about as tired as I have ever been after that day, but it was awesome because I got about 40 feet up before I reached a point where I just had to leap for it. And I missed, but luckily there was a rope and beaner tying me to a safety point. Later, I screwed up my friendship with Mike, but through God's grace and Mike's forgiveness, things were settled. I dunno that Mike and I will be BFF, but at least the air is clear.
There's a picture of me and Adrianne Benton and Labett White on the beach, a trip I vaguely even remember. We were freshman, the three of us, and we were pretty tight for a little while. We even called ourselves "Threenkies", a silly nickname that only a silly 18 year old guy and two 18 year old girls could come up with. We giggled alot. Adrianne emailed me a few weeks ago with the line "I tried this once and you didn't respond, so I'll try it again"... I emailed her last night. Hope to hear from her.
There's another shot from my senior year (yes, yes, my first one) during the Farmhouse Big Barn Party. I had invited my friend Chrissy to go with me, she said sure, and in the picture, its us with Kevin Spivey and Whitley Porter, four good friends who had a great time. Actually, Spivey was in love with Chrissy's soft felt jacket, but that's another story altogether. That night was a hoot, as it was kinda cold, and for whatever reason, on the trail, my horse decided to go walking in the lake. Mind you, this was like, 9pm at night. Had my first conversation with Spivey in almost 10 years a few days ago. It was awesome.
Oh, what about this one, from my senior year in high school, when my best buddy Chris McCall and I were with my cousin April and our friend Michael down in Orlando, standing under the Hard Rock Cafe car that juts out of the front of the building... good times, all. That's Chris, wearing a shirt that says "Pump This", which at this late (early?) hour I find extreeeeeemely funny. Yeah, and I'm totally wearing the same shirt that I later wore on the beach with Labett and Adrianne. Chris also emailed me a few days back, and I need to email him. On my to-do list on Wednesday.
But the harder pictures are the ones that indicate those friendships that either no longer exist or can't. I'll be very vague here, because I'm not going to try to embarass anyone or call anyone out. One is my fault. I did something stupid ten years ago, and am still paying for it. Maybe I'm not, maybe all is forgiven, but at the same time, it pains me nonetheless. I'm a closure person, for better or for worse, and when there is none, then to me... well, there is none. That whole closure thing has bitten me a few times--I wish I didn't care, but I do.
Another is not my fault, but that doesn't matter, because through no fault of my own, we're done being friends. And that hurts to no end.
I cherish my friendships. See, I kinda have these circles that go around me... there's an outer circle, people I know, people I consider friends, but have to follow it up with an "I guess" because really, they are more like acquaintances. There's another circle, maybe a little tighter, where most of my friends fall. These are the friends that I enjoy seeing when I can, but perhaps haven't taken the time to follow up, or email enough, or haven't been on the receiving end of such an attempt. Then you get a little closer, where most of my "closer friends" lie. Maybe I consider them closer than they actually think they are, friends that I would do anything for, would probably do anything for me, and such.
You've probably heard this entire analogy before, the "outer" and "inner" circles, but its the same with me, really, cause I'm not that much different. Then maybe there are one or two people that I'm pretty tight with, that know lots and lots about me. And the funny part is, no one stays the same really. People drift in and out over the years, some people I would see every day or two for years suddenly aren't there anymore, and we lose touch. People like Sybil Johnson, McQ, The Valdmanis or Big Eddy, people that I would love to see much more of, but just aren't able to.
Others who were never a factor in my life at all, people I barely said a word-one to most times suddenly become someone I talk to on a regular basis... Erin the Marine Wife and Mindy D'A (though she never spoke to me, being the popular ADPi that she was) come to mind (mostly via online chatting), as does The Official Clouds in My Coffee Ombudsman Brad Latta.
I've mentioned before the dangers of Facebook... try it when people you are excited about talking to again decide that it would be best not too. Then again, its a joy when people you didn't think wanted to be closer decide they do. Works both ways. Or as Gloria Estefan might say, "It cuts both ways..."
Though, honestly, if I'm going with Gloria Estefan, and I'm in "I want to hear some make-me-feel-like-crap" kind of music, you can't go wrong with "Here We Are". Wow. Her voice is incredible, her emotion is strong and I can't think of many other songs that make use of the word "sublime". Late 80s/early 90s Gloria = awesomeness. Where was I?
I'm not sure why I have this need to "catch up" with people anyway... its how I've always been. Maybe I'm a friend for life or something, but when I have the opportunity, I like to know whats going on with people I know and care about. Maybe its a few weeks between "catch ups", like with my buddy KT, or maybe its a few months, like with my best mate Wookiee, or maybe even a few years... had a great conversation with Shelby last week. She pretty much called me out and told me I was kind of a terrible friend, that we had been such good friends back in the day and we never talked. She was right. So, I did my best to make it right... and I hope Shelby will be around for a long time.
The Lovely Steph Leann must be bored to tears by now, as I've been regaling her with tales of college profundaty, names like McConnell and Claire and Shelby and Melanie and Ally Song and Hinson and BCM and Yo Adrianne and Bobby Black and Spivey and AmyAlex just tossed out there, each with a hilarious or emotional moment attached to it.
Of course, at some point, I have to ask, where does it end? I mean, I've got almost 800 people on my Facebook Friend list, and I'll be real honest with you... I don't care about most of them. Somehow, if you are from a small town, and that same small town happens to be the same small town I'm from, then somehow we know each other, which means somehow we must be friends. Right? I've actually developed a system now... when I pull up Facebook chat, and it takes me longer than 10 seconds to figure out who you are and why you are on my chat list, then you're gone. Sorry. Its best for both of us, really.
I've considered doing a Top 250... pick out the 250 people that I legitimately talk to (and if you are worried about whether you'd be in that list, then that means you are reading this, and if you are reading this, that means you have enough care to be my friend, which means you'll probably be safe...) and that's my friend list. Oh, its okay to add someone, but someone has to get punted.
Found out that Chris Barrow is living here. Barrow is a buddy of mine from waaaay back in the day, when Wookiee and I lived in the Thomas Circle Apartment complex in Troy. He's the cousin of Courtney Then Shaw Now McGough, and when I wondered where Barrow was in a picture I posted, Court's hubby Michael emailed me his email address. So Barrow and I are having lunch on Wednesday to... well, catch-up.
Where am I going with any of this? Heck if I know. Its late. Its after midnight, and my best friend in the whole entire world is laying in a bed sleeping, not more than fifty feet from where I sit. Funny thing, that Stephanie Campbell. We became really close right off the bat, and she was my best friend, one I could tell anything to, and someone I wanted to tell stuff too first... and I was that for her. She wasn't the first girl that was that way with me, there have been others that have been that close... The Lovely Steph Leann was just the first one that stayed there long enough for me to not just like her, but like her like her. Love her even.
Yours Truly and The Lovely Steph Leann, lookin' all good and stuff.... kinda reminds me of when Mater is talking to Lightnin' McQueen, saying, "I knew I made the right decision... for my best friend..."
Saturday night we were driving home after the glorious wedding of Joey Thornell and Alissa Kelley, had to make a few stops here and there to do some errands, and we decided we were hungry. It was getting late, and neither of us wanted a ton of food, so we figured Taco Bell would be enough for right then... five bucks gets us a drink to share and a couple of Tacos to split.
When we lived in that area, we used to go to the one over on Highway 31, close to The Galleria Mall, but we knew what to expect. It was terrible, and you could figure on waiting about 20 minutes for anything, which means you had to really, really have a hankerin' for a nacho bell grande. The one on Highway 280, where we live now, has never been bad, until this night. When we get inside, there are people standing everywhere. The Lovely Steph Leann asks me if we should go anywhere else, but I just say, "Nah, we'll just wait it out". The last time something like this happened, over at the other Taco Bell, I stood in line for only 10 minutes, as the people in front of me left one by one.
Not this night. We actually ordered pretty quickly, though that was the mistake... once they have your money, your locked in, you can't leave. Its obvious that they were short handed, so we just went and sat down... for about 20 minutes. Some lady started talking loudly that she wanted her money back, another guy came in and told another guy that he had ordered, left, gone across Hwy 280 to fill up his car with gas and come back, and his order still wasn't ready. The Lovely Steph Leann and I just sat there, kinda giggling.
The register guy, Maurice, was complaining loudly about lack of help-- "We ain't got nobody shown up here!" and apparently said something to his manager, who said something back. Maurice left the register and came out into the cafe to stock the condiment bar (and not back to the kitchen to help do something--dress a taco, dump some cinnamon sticks into the grease, top off a quesadilla--SOMETHING) and I heard him say, "I's a man too! I is! I's a man too!"
I looked over at The Lovely Steph Leann and whispered, "This is why I blog." She laughed. I looked at my best friend in the whole world, knowing with all of my heart that she'd never drop me from Facebook, she'd never block her page from my sight and she'll always be in that very, very inner inner inner circle of people that I care about the most, and that care about me. And that's a picture worth a thousand words.
(that last line really made no sense whatsoever, but again, its late, and I thought that would be just romantic enough to end this blog post with... Idol tomorrow! Maybe another real, non-Idol post on Wednesday!)
And something happened that I didn't expect... I think I got caught up in all of it. The memories flood back, kinda reminding me of the Trisha Yearwood song I was singing earlier, while making perfect mochas and delicious grande lattes... "it was like a lighted match had been tossed into my soul, it was like a dam had broken in my heart... after taking every detour, getting lost and losing track, so that even if I wanted I could not find my way back, after driving out the memories of the way things had been, after I had forgotten all about it, this pic remembers when..."
Okay, it wasn't quite that dramatic. But I do love that song, and consider it to the be the saddest song ever written, though thats a complete other post... anyway, some of the memories that rushed back...
Like, there's a picture of me and Mike Brunson blowing on Allyson Guy's head, to cool her down after rock climbing. I was about as tired as I have ever been after that day, but it was awesome because I got about 40 feet up before I reached a point where I just had to leap for it. And I missed, but luckily there was a rope and beaner tying me to a safety point. Later, I screwed up my friendship with Mike, but through God's grace and Mike's forgiveness, things were settled. I dunno that Mike and I will be BFF, but at least the air is clear.
There's a picture of me and Adrianne Benton and Labett White on the beach, a trip I vaguely even remember. We were freshman, the three of us, and we were pretty tight for a little while. We even called ourselves "Threenkies", a silly nickname that only a silly 18 year old guy and two 18 year old girls could come up with. We giggled alot. Adrianne emailed me a few weeks ago with the line "I tried this once and you didn't respond, so I'll try it again"... I emailed her last night. Hope to hear from her.
There's another shot from my senior year (yes, yes, my first one) during the Farmhouse Big Barn Party. I had invited my friend Chrissy to go with me, she said sure, and in the picture, its us with Kevin Spivey and Whitley Porter, four good friends who had a great time. Actually, Spivey was in love with Chrissy's soft felt jacket, but that's another story altogether. That night was a hoot, as it was kinda cold, and for whatever reason, on the trail, my horse decided to go walking in the lake. Mind you, this was like, 9pm at night. Had my first conversation with Spivey in almost 10 years a few days ago. It was awesome.
Oh, what about this one, from my senior year in high school, when my best buddy Chris McCall and I were with my cousin April and our friend Michael down in Orlando, standing under the Hard Rock Cafe car that juts out of the front of the building... good times, all. That's Chris, wearing a shirt that says "Pump This", which at this late (early?) hour I find extreeeeeemely funny. Yeah, and I'm totally wearing the same shirt that I later wore on the beach with Labett and Adrianne. Chris also emailed me a few days back, and I need to email him. On my to-do list on Wednesday.
But the harder pictures are the ones that indicate those friendships that either no longer exist or can't. I'll be very vague here, because I'm not going to try to embarass anyone or call anyone out. One is my fault. I did something stupid ten years ago, and am still paying for it. Maybe I'm not, maybe all is forgiven, but at the same time, it pains me nonetheless. I'm a closure person, for better or for worse, and when there is none, then to me... well, there is none. That whole closure thing has bitten me a few times--I wish I didn't care, but I do.
Another is not my fault, but that doesn't matter, because through no fault of my own, we're done being friends. And that hurts to no end.
I cherish my friendships. See, I kinda have these circles that go around me... there's an outer circle, people I know, people I consider friends, but have to follow it up with an "I guess" because really, they are more like acquaintances. There's another circle, maybe a little tighter, where most of my friends fall. These are the friends that I enjoy seeing when I can, but perhaps haven't taken the time to follow up, or email enough, or haven't been on the receiving end of such an attempt. Then you get a little closer, where most of my "closer friends" lie. Maybe I consider them closer than they actually think they are, friends that I would do anything for, would probably do anything for me, and such.
You've probably heard this entire analogy before, the "outer" and "inner" circles, but its the same with me, really, cause I'm not that much different. Then maybe there are one or two people that I'm pretty tight with, that know lots and lots about me. And the funny part is, no one stays the same really. People drift in and out over the years, some people I would see every day or two for years suddenly aren't there anymore, and we lose touch. People like Sybil Johnson, McQ, The Valdmanis or Big Eddy, people that I would love to see much more of, but just aren't able to.
Others who were never a factor in my life at all, people I barely said a word-one to most times suddenly become someone I talk to on a regular basis... Erin the Marine Wife and Mindy D'A (though she never spoke to me, being the popular ADPi that she was) come to mind (mostly via online chatting), as does The Official Clouds in My Coffee Ombudsman Brad Latta.
I've mentioned before the dangers of Facebook... try it when people you are excited about talking to again decide that it would be best not too. Then again, its a joy when people you didn't think wanted to be closer decide they do. Works both ways. Or as Gloria Estefan might say, "It cuts both ways..."
Though, honestly, if I'm going with Gloria Estefan, and I'm in "I want to hear some make-me-feel-like-crap" kind of music, you can't go wrong with "Here We Are". Wow. Her voice is incredible, her emotion is strong and I can't think of many other songs that make use of the word "sublime". Late 80s/early 90s Gloria = awesomeness. Where was I?
I'm not sure why I have this need to "catch up" with people anyway... its how I've always been. Maybe I'm a friend for life or something, but when I have the opportunity, I like to know whats going on with people I know and care about. Maybe its a few weeks between "catch ups", like with my buddy KT, or maybe its a few months, like with my best mate Wookiee, or maybe even a few years... had a great conversation with Shelby last week. She pretty much called me out and told me I was kind of a terrible friend, that we had been such good friends back in the day and we never talked. She was right. So, I did my best to make it right... and I hope Shelby will be around for a long time.
The Lovely Steph Leann must be bored to tears by now, as I've been regaling her with tales of college profundaty, names like McConnell and Claire and Shelby and Melanie and Ally Song and Hinson and BCM and Yo Adrianne and Bobby Black and Spivey and AmyAlex just tossed out there, each with a hilarious or emotional moment attached to it.
Of course, at some point, I have to ask, where does it end? I mean, I've got almost 800 people on my Facebook Friend list, and I'll be real honest with you... I don't care about most of them. Somehow, if you are from a small town, and that same small town happens to be the same small town I'm from, then somehow we know each other, which means somehow we must be friends. Right? I've actually developed a system now... when I pull up Facebook chat, and it takes me longer than 10 seconds to figure out who you are and why you are on my chat list, then you're gone. Sorry. Its best for both of us, really.
I've considered doing a Top 250... pick out the 250 people that I legitimately talk to (and if you are worried about whether you'd be in that list, then that means you are reading this, and if you are reading this, that means you have enough care to be my friend, which means you'll probably be safe...) and that's my friend list. Oh, its okay to add someone, but someone has to get punted.
Found out that Chris Barrow is living here. Barrow is a buddy of mine from waaaay back in the day, when Wookiee and I lived in the Thomas Circle Apartment complex in Troy. He's the cousin of Courtney Then Shaw Now McGough, and when I wondered where Barrow was in a picture I posted, Court's hubby Michael emailed me his email address. So Barrow and I are having lunch on Wednesday to... well, catch-up.
In a random sidenote, my book idea is beginning to take shape. I've been jotting down notes and ideas for three days now--names, descriptions, places, events, etc--and I'm going tomorrow to purchase a "audio diction recorder". I want to be able to get my ideas quickly before I lose them, and by a recorder, I can just turn it on, speak my thoughts, and listen to it later. Did you know these things cost, like, $30 or $40? I was thinking $20. I went to Best Buy, and of course, the $28.99 model is sold out. I almost picked up a $39.99 Sony, but put it back, thinking I'd go to Wal-Mart later. I went after working at The Most Caffeinated Place on Hwy 280, and they had similar prices... that is, after I found it. The old Indian guy who was there when I purchased the Wii Fit was there tonight.
"Can I heep you vit sum-ting?" he barked. I told him was I was looking for, he said, "Come, come". I felt like I was being led to see The Golden Child or something... he leads me to the aisle where they were, points at three different pegs and says, "All vee have is thees, thees, thees, that ees all." Then he walked away. I left without purchasing anything. I have to get something though--I had an entire dialogue conversation with myself today in the car, about four pages worth of material that I hope I can remember again.
Where am I going with any of this? Heck if I know. Its late. Its after midnight, and my best friend in the whole entire world is laying in a bed sleeping, not more than fifty feet from where I sit. Funny thing, that Stephanie Campbell. We became really close right off the bat, and she was my best friend, one I could tell anything to, and someone I wanted to tell stuff too first... and I was that for her. She wasn't the first girl that was that way with me, there have been others that have been that close... The Lovely Steph Leann was just the first one that stayed there long enough for me to not just like her, but like her like her. Love her even.
Yours Truly and The Lovely Steph Leann, lookin' all good and stuff.... kinda reminds me of when Mater is talking to Lightnin' McQueen, saying, "I knew I made the right decision... for my best friend..."
Saturday night we were driving home after the glorious wedding of Joey Thornell and Alissa Kelley, had to make a few stops here and there to do some errands, and we decided we were hungry. It was getting late, and neither of us wanted a ton of food, so we figured Taco Bell would be enough for right then... five bucks gets us a drink to share and a couple of Tacos to split.
When we lived in that area, we used to go to the one over on Highway 31, close to The Galleria Mall, but we knew what to expect. It was terrible, and you could figure on waiting about 20 minutes for anything, which means you had to really, really have a hankerin' for a nacho bell grande. The one on Highway 280, where we live now, has never been bad, until this night. When we get inside, there are people standing everywhere. The Lovely Steph Leann asks me if we should go anywhere else, but I just say, "Nah, we'll just wait it out". The last time something like this happened, over at the other Taco Bell, I stood in line for only 10 minutes, as the people in front of me left one by one.
Not this night. We actually ordered pretty quickly, though that was the mistake... once they have your money, your locked in, you can't leave. Its obvious that they were short handed, so we just went and sat down... for about 20 minutes. Some lady started talking loudly that she wanted her money back, another guy came in and told another guy that he had ordered, left, gone across Hwy 280 to fill up his car with gas and come back, and his order still wasn't ready. The Lovely Steph Leann and I just sat there, kinda giggling.
The register guy, Maurice, was complaining loudly about lack of help-- "We ain't got nobody shown up here!" and apparently said something to his manager, who said something back. Maurice left the register and came out into the cafe to stock the condiment bar (and not back to the kitchen to help do something--dress a taco, dump some cinnamon sticks into the grease, top off a quesadilla--SOMETHING) and I heard him say, "I's a man too! I is! I's a man too!"
I looked over at The Lovely Steph Leann and whispered, "This is why I blog." She laughed. I looked at my best friend in the whole world, knowing with all of my heart that she'd never drop me from Facebook, she'd never block her page from my sight and she'll always be in that very, very inner inner inner circle of people that I care about the most, and that care about me. And that's a picture worth a thousand words.
(that last line really made no sense whatsoever, but again, its late, and I thought that would be just romantic enough to end this blog post with... Idol tomorrow! Maybe another real, non-Idol post on Wednesday!)
Maybe I'll Just Write it Down
Loved college, that's no secret. It thrills me to no end to be able to now scan and post memories via Facebook for the world--and those involved--to see, and its made me think... after reading what McQ did... writing a book.... it's perhaps time that I followed suit.
Her book is entitled "Strength in the Struggle", and you can preview it here, or just visit her site on the interweb for more details. McQ is a neat chick--I think you all would like her very much so if you met her.
Anyway, she self published, which is something I would have to do... the reason her book is a little expensive is that its graphic & photo heavy. For me, it would just be text. Fiction. I referenced what I wanted to write actually in a short story I wrote called "Hey Now" back in 1998, a story that brought in all those closest to me at the time, Shelby, Jenn Mullturp, Allysong, Eddie, Rad a Tad, Troy Mac, Melanie J and a few others.
That story was about a Troy homecoming weekend that brought back this group of friends, and their reconnecting, their lives and their future. Set in 2005, in it I had already written the story that I am finally considering putting to paper now. I still have it in a notebook somewhere.
Why say all of this online? Who knows. Maybe if I write all of this here, it will be enough to not have to worry about actually writing a novel. Or maybe it will get people like McQ going, "Where is it? Huh? You said you were going to write it! Faker!" However, I hope I get around to it, as I've been thinking about it for, I dunno, going on seven years now. I figure if I don't soon, eventually I'll lose all interest.
Then again, who wants to pay $20 for my rambling in novel form when you can get it for free here? So, we shall see.
Her book is entitled "Strength in the Struggle", and you can preview it here, or just visit her site on the interweb for more details. McQ is a neat chick--I think you all would like her very much so if you met her.
Anyway, she self published, which is something I would have to do... the reason her book is a little expensive is that its graphic & photo heavy. For me, it would just be text. Fiction. I referenced what I wanted to write actually in a short story I wrote called "Hey Now" back in 1998, a story that brought in all those closest to me at the time, Shelby, Jenn Mullturp, Allysong, Eddie, Rad a Tad, Troy Mac, Melanie J and a few others.
That story was about a Troy homecoming weekend that brought back this group of friends, and their reconnecting, their lives and their future. Set in 2005, in it I had already written the story that I am finally considering putting to paper now. I still have it in a notebook somewhere.
Why say all of this online? Who knows. Maybe if I write all of this here, it will be enough to not have to worry about actually writing a novel. Or maybe it will get people like McQ going, "Where is it? Huh? You said you were going to write it! Faker!" However, I hope I get around to it, as I've been thinking about it for, I dunno, going on seven years now. I figure if I don't soon, eventually I'll lose all interest.
Then again, who wants to pay $20 for my rambling in novel form when you can get it for free here? So, we shall see.
The 100 Coolest Things of 2008... 40 thru 31
Tell me what this Clouds in My Coffee junk is about... Click here to find out what the heck this is all about.
The Introduction and Recap
The 100th thru 91st Coolest Things of 2008
The 90th thru 81st Coolest Things of 2008
The 80th thru 71st Coolest Things of 2008
The 70th thru 61st Coolest Things of 2008
The 60th thru 51st Coolest Things of 2008
The 50th thru 41st Coolest Things of 2008
40. "Bolt"
I'd been seeing the previews for this movie for a while--Bolt was a television dog, owned by Penny, who somehow is abandoned, or gets out of the studio lot or whatever. He seeks to find his owner, and ends up being accompanied by Mittens the cat and Rhino the hamster. The fact that it was in 3-D made it even better.
After working a while at The Happiest Place in the Mall, the anticipation was even higher, as I saw the preview twice an hour, up to eight hours per day. It seemed like it would be a pretty good film, with the voices of John Travolta (Bolt) and Miley Cyrus (Penny), but the scene stealer appeared to be Rhino, the hamster in the ball who was nothing but a fanboy and Bolt geek.
I laughed, lots. It was well written, well done, and really, it was just a fun movie. Would easily watch it again--looks to be on DVD and Blu-Ray in the Spring (April, maybe) and will pick up... and I recommend you do the same.
39. Getting a Blu-Ray Player
Speaking of "Bolt" on Blu-Ray... we wouldn't be getting it on Blu-Ray if we didn't have a Blu-Ray player, which we do now. The day after Thanksgiving, after spending Black Friday at The Happiest Place in the Mall from 1am to 10am, I ambled on over to Best Buy. Dreary eyed, blurry sighted, foggy brained, I was looking for a Blu-Ray.
The Lovely Steph Leann and I had already discussed it, of course... we had a limit, and the goal was to find one that came under--hopefully well under. And what better place to find one than Best Buy, what better time than the day after Thankgiving. I found our Sony Blu-Ray with all the bells and whistles, upgradable software and BD Live capabilities for just around $200.
And I'm watching the 8th episode of LOST on it right now.
38. The Chipotle Mexican Grill
I had first eaten at a Chipotle around the mall--at the old place, The Casa de Pesos, we lived very close to it, and one day, decided to give it a whirl. Fantastic food, by the way. Had the tacos, with meat and cheese only, topped with sour cream, soft shell please.
When we moved to The Cabana, across town, we moved away from the Chipotle. So, imagine my wonder and happiness when, right across 280, perhaps a mile (if that) from where The Cabana sits, they turned an old Captain D's that had closed down into a Chipotle Mexican Grill. For their "grand pre-opening", they were giving away free food to anyone and everyone for two straight days.
I had Chipotle for lunch, then dinner, then lunch, then dinner. And it rocked.
In fact, The Lovely Steph Leann just came in, and asked me what I wanted for dinner. I think I know the answer.
(That last sentence was written about an hour ago. In the time between typing "...know the answer" and "That last sentence...", We went to Target to get some groceries, then ended up at Chipotle Mexican Grill. The music overhead was some strange tune I'd never heard, sounding like a Mexican Beck. Beckez? Becko? Anyway, I usually go for the chicken soft tacos, tonight I was daring and did the carnitas. Not a fan.)
37. ESPN's The Sports Guy
His name is Bill Simmons, and he used to write as "The Boston Sports Guy" before he was incorporated into the wide band of ESPN columnists. He's actually been there for 9 years, and I think I've been reading him for just that long, even back on ESPN's old site and his first book is just great. And The Sports Guy just gets better with age.
He's funny, he's irreverent, and he does what most columnists do not--keeps politics out. Granted, he's made illusions to not necessarily being a fan of Dubya (but then again, neither is Brad Latta. Or NYC Jenny. Or J Rob. But I love ya, Dubya) but he's never let that really intrude on his topics, nor does he ever make that the focal point. No, his topics range from the Celtics (his NBA team who won a title) to the Red Sox (his MLB team) to the Patriots (his NFL team) to favorite movies to whatever else happens in pop culture. Its also no secret that sometimes I borrow phrases from him here and there.
One of the great things this year too, though, was the B.S. Report with Bill Simmons, the ESPN Podcast... just like his columns, he'd have great shows discussing all the aforementioned topics, but this time he's also got guests with him--Chuck Klosterberg, Michael Lombardi, Cris Collingsworth, NBA Commissioner David Stern, SNL star Seth Myers and so on.
36. "Moratorium" by Alanis Morissette
I've never been this accountable-less and within
I've never known focuslessness on any form
I've never had this lack of ache for dalliance
To let go and let god in ways I have never even imagined
I declare a moratorium on things relationship
I declare a respite from the toils of liaison
I do need a breather from the flavors of entanglement
I declare a full time out from all things commitment
I've never let my grasp soften fingers like this
I've never been careless other... less like autonomy's twin
From the album "Flavors of Entanglement", the excellent newest release from Alanis Morissette, and one of my favorite songs of the year.
35. Dr. Earl does Dinner Theater
Got a buddy of mine who is a doctor, we like to call him Dr. Earl. Well, the Good Doctor has come along in his acting performances over the years, joining Impact, the adult drama team for Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship), and this year, he was cast as "Gabriel", in the modern retelling of the story of the birth of Jesus.
The Good Doctor and Yours Truly over Christmas
The Good Doctor had the majority of the lines, and was in about 90% of the entire show... don't get me wrong, Rhett Barnette (Joseph) and Lisa Whaley-Bowen-Whaley-Owens (Mary) were great, and those who had smaller parts were great too, but for my money, The Good Doctor Earl stole the show. Good job, Earl. Good job.
34. McQ Writes a Book
Got another friend of mine, McQ, who runs the Strength In the Struggle blog. She is alot like me, as in, she likes to write alot. McQ is funny, she's got a contageous laugh and now... she's an author.
She started working on this book early in the year... well, I take that back--she's been working on the book for years and years, but she started compiling her writings to turn into a book. Taking the title from her blog, she calls it "Strength in the Struggle" (you can also order the book from this site) and its a pretty good selection of writings. The photography is also taken by McQ from her adventures around the country and is excellent.
Mostly, though, what's cool about it is that she's achieved a dream that not too many people can say they have done... published a book. Self publishing is something I've already considered.
33. "Role Models"
Here's what I wrote on December 17th...
As a follower of Christ, we are bound by the law of what is good and what is right, as listed in the Word of God, telling us be careful what we see and what he hear, be cautious of what we put before our eyes and in our hearts. I say this to head off anyone telling me this exact thing, Amy McL, because I have to say, for me...
...this movie was absolutely hysterical. I mean, unbelievably funny, to the point I was cracking up every few minutes. The plot is a little contrived--two guys get into trouble and are sentenced to work with some troubled kids at a center. Of course, it goes without saying, the ending will be that, though they hate the kids at first, they end up loving the kids, and the kids, though hating the two guys, end up loving the two guys. Duh. That's how movies like this are supposed to end.
That being said, this movie is driven by Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott, two extremely funny and talented guys. Their timing and delivery of what might be unfunny dialogue turn this from cliche to completely a riot. I like Paul Rudd anyway, for his work in the little-seen-but-very-funny "Wet Hot American Summer" (directed by David Wain, as is "Role Models"), the slightly overrated "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" and of course, my 91st Favorite Movie of All Time. Seann William Scott, who will forever be known as Stifler, is also emerging as a great go to guy for silly, stupid comedy, and in the case of genius like "The Rundown" (also on The Dave100), smart, sharp comedy.
Anyway, if "Superbad" offended you, or "Knocked Up" got under your craw, stay away from "Role Models". Its got language, its got unnecessary boobage and its got boy potty humor... but man, its funny. And its great to watch Fogell emerge as a decent actor.
Thinking back on the movie, and all it contained... I still feel the same way.
32. Brad Latta
The Lattas have turned into quite a large group... the youngest, Scott, one of The 100 Coolest Things of 2007, is about to get married to his love, Jessica (Scott says, "That should rank among the Top 20 Coolest Things of 2008, right?") in April, while Matt and his dear sweet Ginger made the Top 100 Coolest of 2006 (or at least, Baby Ashlyn did), so I figured it was about time that eldest brother Brad found his way amongst the blog.
I call him the Clouds Ombudsman, as he likes to give many times a different viewpoint on what I have to say here... and this was a good year for it--the election gave plenty of debating material for sure. He's not a fan of the former president and isn't exactly a huge supporter with the current one, and his law background gives him good insight on what is and is not concerning many, many topics, including politics and even Constitutional law.
Every now and again, when I know I've written something perhaps a little controversial, or tossed out a viewpoint that I know will be unpopular, I cringe thinking of how Brad will respond--then I look forward to it. If there were such a thing as "Coffee Drinker of the Year", he'd be nominated.
31. The Apple Store
Early in December, my iPod started dying. Wouldn't hold a charge, had to plug it in to the computer or the wall to listen it, and so on, and I had to take it to the Apple Store... here's what I wrote on December 3rd:
Adam the Apple Guy called for me, and I told him of my ills. He was impressed that my iPod battery had lasted almost 4 years (March would make it 4, methinks) and I told him how bummed I was that I was going to be without it for a few weeks.
Adam the Apple Guy said, "Well, that might not happen. If we have them in stock, we can give you a refurbished one, just trade them out. The battery and casing will be new, the hardware will be refurbished. Is that a solution?"
You mean I can walk out with this thing tonight? All bright and shiny? Heck yeah!
Adam the Apple Guy even did the registration online for me, with the new serial number and everything. And the price? Not the $80 or 90 I was planning on... but it was $59.99, plus tax. Total cost? $64.20. Love it.
I'm a PC guy, and will be one for a while, mostly because I can't afford to be an Apple guy... but their customer service? Primo fantastico. Those guys rocked that night.
Note on the Pruitt Cool Awards
After further consideration, I have decided to award only one of these per year... I had 3 more recepients in mind, but I am going to wait. This should be more of a "lifetime achievement of coolness" award... so, James & Jessica Hawbaker will remain the sole Pruitt Award for Coolness winners... until 2009.
Coming soon... we dive into the 30 Coolest Things of 2008, with some Rhett, Rick, Rush and "Hey! I read your blog!"
The Introduction and Recap
The 100th thru 91st Coolest Things of 2008
The 90th thru 81st Coolest Things of 2008
The 80th thru 71st Coolest Things of 2008
The 70th thru 61st Coolest Things of 2008
The 60th thru 51st Coolest Things of 2008
The 50th thru 41st Coolest Things of 2008
40. "Bolt"
I'd been seeing the previews for this movie for a while--Bolt was a television dog, owned by Penny, who somehow is abandoned, or gets out of the studio lot or whatever. He seeks to find his owner, and ends up being accompanied by Mittens the cat and Rhino the hamster. The fact that it was in 3-D made it even better.
After working a while at The Happiest Place in the Mall, the anticipation was even higher, as I saw the preview twice an hour, up to eight hours per day. It seemed like it would be a pretty good film, with the voices of John Travolta (Bolt) and Miley Cyrus (Penny), but the scene stealer appeared to be Rhino, the hamster in the ball who was nothing but a fanboy and Bolt geek.
I laughed, lots. It was well written, well done, and really, it was just a fun movie. Would easily watch it again--looks to be on DVD and Blu-Ray in the Spring (April, maybe) and will pick up... and I recommend you do the same.
39. Getting a Blu-Ray Player
Speaking of "Bolt" on Blu-Ray... we wouldn't be getting it on Blu-Ray if we didn't have a Blu-Ray player, which we do now. The day after Thanksgiving, after spending Black Friday at The Happiest Place in the Mall from 1am to 10am, I ambled on over to Best Buy. Dreary eyed, blurry sighted, foggy brained, I was looking for a Blu-Ray.
The Lovely Steph Leann and I had already discussed it, of course... we had a limit, and the goal was to find one that came under--hopefully well under. And what better place to find one than Best Buy, what better time than the day after Thankgiving. I found our Sony Blu-Ray with all the bells and whistles, upgradable software and BD Live capabilities for just around $200.
And I'm watching the 8th episode of LOST on it right now.
38. The Chipotle Mexican Grill
I had first eaten at a Chipotle around the mall--at the old place, The Casa de Pesos, we lived very close to it, and one day, decided to give it a whirl. Fantastic food, by the way. Had the tacos, with meat and cheese only, topped with sour cream, soft shell please.
When we moved to The Cabana, across town, we moved away from the Chipotle. So, imagine my wonder and happiness when, right across 280, perhaps a mile (if that) from where The Cabana sits, they turned an old Captain D's that had closed down into a Chipotle Mexican Grill. For their "grand pre-opening", they were giving away free food to anyone and everyone for two straight days.
I had Chipotle for lunch, then dinner, then lunch, then dinner. And it rocked.
In fact, The Lovely Steph Leann just came in, and asked me what I wanted for dinner. I think I know the answer.
(That last sentence was written about an hour ago. In the time between typing "...know the answer" and "That last sentence...", We went to Target to get some groceries, then ended up at Chipotle Mexican Grill. The music overhead was some strange tune I'd never heard, sounding like a Mexican Beck. Beckez? Becko? Anyway, I usually go for the chicken soft tacos, tonight I was daring and did the carnitas. Not a fan.)
37. ESPN's The Sports Guy
His name is Bill Simmons, and he used to write as "The Boston Sports Guy" before he was incorporated into the wide band of ESPN columnists. He's actually been there for 9 years, and I think I've been reading him for just that long, even back on ESPN's old site and his first book is just great. And The Sports Guy just gets better with age.
He's funny, he's irreverent, and he does what most columnists do not--keeps politics out. Granted, he's made illusions to not necessarily being a fan of Dubya (but then again, neither is Brad Latta. Or NYC Jenny. Or J Rob. But I love ya, Dubya) but he's never let that really intrude on his topics, nor does he ever make that the focal point. No, his topics range from the Celtics (his NBA team who won a title) to the Red Sox (his MLB team) to the Patriots (his NFL team) to favorite movies to whatever else happens in pop culture. Its also no secret that sometimes I borrow phrases from him here and there.
One of the great things this year too, though, was the B.S. Report with Bill Simmons, the ESPN Podcast... just like his columns, he'd have great shows discussing all the aforementioned topics, but this time he's also got guests with him--Chuck Klosterberg, Michael Lombardi, Cris Collingsworth, NBA Commissioner David Stern, SNL star Seth Myers and so on.
36. "Moratorium" by Alanis Morissette
I've never been this accountable-less and within
I've never known focuslessness on any form
I've never had this lack of ache for dalliance
To let go and let god in ways I have never even imagined
I declare a moratorium on things relationship
I declare a respite from the toils of liaison
I do need a breather from the flavors of entanglement
I declare a full time out from all things commitment
I've never let my grasp soften fingers like this
I've never been careless other... less like autonomy's twin
From the album "Flavors of Entanglement", the excellent newest release from Alanis Morissette, and one of my favorite songs of the year.
35. Dr. Earl does Dinner Theater
Got a buddy of mine who is a doctor, we like to call him Dr. Earl. Well, the Good Doctor has come along in his acting performances over the years, joining Impact, the adult drama team for Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship), and this year, he was cast as "Gabriel", in the modern retelling of the story of the birth of Jesus.
The Good Doctor and Yours Truly over Christmas
The Good Doctor had the majority of the lines, and was in about 90% of the entire show... don't get me wrong, Rhett Barnette (Joseph) and Lisa Whaley-Bowen-Whaley-Owens (Mary) were great, and those who had smaller parts were great too, but for my money, The Good Doctor Earl stole the show. Good job, Earl. Good job.
34. McQ Writes a Book
Got another friend of mine, McQ, who runs the Strength In the Struggle blog. She is alot like me, as in, she likes to write alot. McQ is funny, she's got a contageous laugh and now... she's an author.
She started working on this book early in the year... well, I take that back--she's been working on the book for years and years, but she started compiling her writings to turn into a book. Taking the title from her blog, she calls it "Strength in the Struggle" (you can also order the book from this site) and its a pretty good selection of writings. The photography is also taken by McQ from her adventures around the country and is excellent.
Mostly, though, what's cool about it is that she's achieved a dream that not too many people can say they have done... published a book. Self publishing is something I've already considered.
33. "Role Models"
Here's what I wrote on December 17th...
As a follower of Christ, we are bound by the law of what is good and what is right, as listed in the Word of God, telling us be careful what we see and what he hear, be cautious of what we put before our eyes and in our hearts. I say this to head off anyone telling me this exact thing, Amy McL, because I have to say, for me...
...this movie was absolutely hysterical. I mean, unbelievably funny, to the point I was cracking up every few minutes. The plot is a little contrived--two guys get into trouble and are sentenced to work with some troubled kids at a center. Of course, it goes without saying, the ending will be that, though they hate the kids at first, they end up loving the kids, and the kids, though hating the two guys, end up loving the two guys. Duh. That's how movies like this are supposed to end.
That being said, this movie is driven by Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott, two extremely funny and talented guys. Their timing and delivery of what might be unfunny dialogue turn this from cliche to completely a riot. I like Paul Rudd anyway, for his work in the little-seen-but-very-funny "Wet Hot American Summer" (directed by David Wain, as is "Role Models"), the slightly overrated "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" and of course, my 91st Favorite Movie of All Time. Seann William Scott, who will forever be known as Stifler, is also emerging as a great go to guy for silly, stupid comedy, and in the case of genius like "The Rundown" (also on The Dave100), smart, sharp comedy.
Anyway, if "Superbad" offended you, or "Knocked Up" got under your craw, stay away from "Role Models". Its got language, its got unnecessary boobage and its got boy potty humor... but man, its funny. And its great to watch Fogell emerge as a decent actor.
Thinking back on the movie, and all it contained... I still feel the same way.
32. Brad Latta
The Lattas have turned into quite a large group... the youngest, Scott, one of The 100 Coolest Things of 2007, is about to get married to his love, Jessica (Scott says, "That should rank among the Top 20 Coolest Things of 2008, right?") in April, while Matt and his dear sweet Ginger made the Top 100 Coolest of 2006 (or at least, Baby Ashlyn did), so I figured it was about time that eldest brother Brad found his way amongst the blog.
I call him the Clouds Ombudsman, as he likes to give many times a different viewpoint on what I have to say here... and this was a good year for it--the election gave plenty of debating material for sure. He's not a fan of the former president and isn't exactly a huge supporter with the current one, and his law background gives him good insight on what is and is not concerning many, many topics, including politics and even Constitutional law.
Every now and again, when I know I've written something perhaps a little controversial, or tossed out a viewpoint that I know will be unpopular, I cringe thinking of how Brad will respond--then I look forward to it. If there were such a thing as "Coffee Drinker of the Year", he'd be nominated.
31. The Apple Store
Early in December, my iPod started dying. Wouldn't hold a charge, had to plug it in to the computer or the wall to listen it, and so on, and I had to take it to the Apple Store... here's what I wrote on December 3rd:
Adam the Apple Guy called for me, and I told him of my ills. He was impressed that my iPod battery had lasted almost 4 years (March would make it 4, methinks) and I told him how bummed I was that I was going to be without it for a few weeks.
Adam the Apple Guy said, "Well, that might not happen. If we have them in stock, we can give you a refurbished one, just trade them out. The battery and casing will be new, the hardware will be refurbished. Is that a solution?"
You mean I can walk out with this thing tonight? All bright and shiny? Heck yeah!
Adam the Apple Guy even did the registration online for me, with the new serial number and everything. And the price? Not the $80 or 90 I was planning on... but it was $59.99, plus tax. Total cost? $64.20. Love it.
I'm a PC guy, and will be one for a while, mostly because I can't afford to be an Apple guy... but their customer service? Primo fantastico. Those guys rocked that night.
Note on the Pruitt Cool Awards
After further consideration, I have decided to award only one of these per year... I had 3 more recepients in mind, but I am going to wait. This should be more of a "lifetime achievement of coolness" award... so, James & Jessica Hawbaker will remain the sole Pruitt Award for Coolness winners... until 2009.
Coming soon... we dive into the 30 Coolest Things of 2008, with some Rhett, Rick, Rush and "Hey! I read your blog!"
Hannah Pruitt, Matt Damon, The Lost Boys and Other Random Things
It's midnight, I'm done with Day 5 on my 30 Days of Him Journey... you can enjoy this shameless self promotion and read about it over on Welcome to Delaware, where I know you've traveled far... so I thought I'd give you whats rolling around in my head tonight...
Song playing right now: "Secret Garden" from Bruce Springsteen, the Jerry Maguire Mix
First stop... Hannah Pruitt. Final destination, sleep. Stops along the way, Matt Damon, vampires, Lindsay Lohan, Twilight, Fracks and Leann Corby.
I thought I'd mention to you that tonight's songs are coming from a playlist entitled "Hannah Pruitt". I have funny musical tastes... sometimes I want to hear Jodeci, a few minutes later I want some Jars of Clay, then I'm in the mood for LL Cool J, and right after that, classic Clint Black.
So I put together a playlist of about 60 songs that I could, at any time, want to hear. As the playlist evolves, I'll take some off (like tonight, I removed Celine Dion's "To Love You More" and "If You Asked Me To" and The Atlanta Rhythm Section's "So Into You", and added Dino's "I Like It" and "Sail On" by Lionel Richie & the Commodores). See, random.
Song currently playing: "Close of Autumn" by Caedmon's Call
Anyway, it gets the name "Hannah Pruitt" because, while I was making this playlist the other day, I was actually talking to Hannah Pruitt via gMail chat. And I have also determined that Hannah might just be the coolest person I know. Seriously. She's a really cool chick. I've actively tried to find things that would make her uncool, and I haven't come up with anything yet. I'm working on it. For now, "Hannah Pruitt" plays via iTunes.
So, Sean Penn and Lindsay Lohan showed up to the same party. They nuzzled. Right now you are trying to decide whether you actually care enough to click on this link to read about it. I mean, right after you are done throwing up in your mouth.
"The Bourne Ultimatum" is on Starz right now. Well, it is, but I just turned the tv off... anyway, I was commenting to The Lovely Steph Leann that Matt Damon is actually a pretty good actor. I mean, he's big and bad and very believable as a dude that can rip your head off and hock a snot rocket down your neck in the very, very good Bourne trilogy (though it might become a four-logy, as I've heard they are making another one...) but when you watch him in the Ocean's films, he's a dork.
Song currently playing: "Touch Me (all night long)" by Cathy Dennis--this is sometimes odd, as it tends to, even on shuffle, follow Caedmon's Call or a Christy Nockel worship song. Hmm.
Personally, I didn't care for "Good Will Hunting", but Damon has done some good stuff... "Rounders" works because of him and Edward Norton's ability to pull off a pretty lame script... well, them and John Malkovich's portrayal of Teddy KGB, on my short list of favorite movie characters of all time. You can also check out Matt in Kevin Smith's "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back", where he's hilarious, as well as "Dogma", my 98th favorite film of all time.
McQ has finally written a book. Its called "Strength in the Struggle", and its a composition of her essays, poems, devotions and photography from the past several years.
Song currently playing: "Wicked Game" by Chris Isaak. Ironic. Ha!
She's self publishing, which is why a paper back costs close to $40 bucks... the hardcover is even more, but how often do you know someone who has their name on the spine of a book on your bookshelf.
Personally, I've had an idea rolling around my head for about 11 years. One of the characters--bear with me, I've already decided this--is named Daily Johnson.
Song currently playing: "Good Run of Bad Luck" by Clint Black
Daily was supposed to be named Daisy, but her mom's "S" looks like an "L", and that's what the nurse put on the birth certificate. She's short, short hair and glasses. She looks like what my friend Devan Craddock looked like in school. There are other characters in my little story, but Daily is the one that sticks out.
Song currently playing: "We Danced Anyway" by Deana Carter
(helping The Lovely Steph Leann with the weather in Pensacola, where she's headed for a few days)
Song currently playing: "Tortured, Tangled Hearts" by The Dixie Chicks
This next little blurb goes straight out to Katy Sexton--though I'm sure there are many out there who love "The Lost Boys" (and, unfortunately, many out there who said, "Huh?" when I mentioned "The Lost Boys"), she is who I think of when I think of Lost Boy Fans.
Cracked.com gave 8 things that today's modern vampires could learn from The Lost Boys. And its hilarious.
Song currently playing, after realizing my iTunes wasn't on shuffle: "How Do You Mend a Broken Heart" by Al Green
My favorite is "Vampires Can Really Do a Number on Your Plumbing", which says, "Vampires, on the other hand, will emit a bloodcurdling scream, their flesh will melt, blood will shoot out of all of your sinks and pipes, and your toilet will violently explode for no good reason whatsoever.
With that being said, you may want to avoid this method of vampire slaying altogether unless it can be executed in a kiddie pool in the backyard, or somewhere else that isn’t hooked up to your house’s pipes. After all, in these tough economic times, who wants to have to hire a plumber to scrape melted vampire out of their pipes?"
By the way, did you know they did a sequel to this movie? It actually shouldn't count, because only one of the Two Coreys was involved. I'm not sure if Feldman was in the right by being in it, or Haim was more right by NOT being in it. Then again, what else does Corey Haim have to do right now?
And you know they had to call Kiefer Sutherland. You know they did.
"Yes, Mr. Sutherland, um... we wanted to know if... well, if you'd be interested in... being... well, being David the Vampire again?"
"I'm sorry, being who?"
"You know, David, the lead vampire in... The Lost Boys. We are doing a sequel and we thought if you could help, I mean, you could lend some credibility to our project... even Haim won't do it and..."
"Dude. Do you know who I am?"
"Yes sir, you're Kiefer Sutherland and..."
"I'm 'effin Jack Bauer. Don't ever call me again. Or I. Will. Kill. You."
--click--
Song currently playing while I formatted this post, and added links:
"You and I Both" by Jason Mraz
"I'll Be Okay" by Amanda Marshall
"I Guess The Lord Must Be in New York City" by Harry Nilsson
"Circle" by Sarah McLachlan
"Speechless" by Steven Curtis Chapman
So, here's DNC-TV's list of The Lamest Blogs on the Internet. No doubt, The Anonymous Poster would have put mine on this list, but she keeps coming back, doesn't she? As for the list, some actually look amusing enough to check out for a minute.. except anything using the words "Hilton", "Kim", "Paris" or "Kardashian", and that freaky looking Pepsi-KFC blog. Weird.
From the More Random Than d$ Department...
So, a week or so ago, I posted the music list for December, my Christmas favorites, along with the hideously awesome video to "Last Christmas" by Wham!.
Well, there's a website out there commited to this song so much, they do nothing but post covers to the song... 360 of them... and counting. No, I'm being totally serious.
Song currently playing: "Love Shoulda Brought You Home Last Night" by Toni Braxton
Something tells me The Lovely Steph Leann would LOVE ELL OH VEE EE her a Frack. Just sayin'.
Song currently playing: "Bye Bye" by Jo Dee Messina
"Twilight" was terrible. Seriously. I went into it, having not read the book, trying to be as open minded as someone who had never read the Harry Potter novels, yet was walking in to see "Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone" (you can't say "Goblet of Fire" or "Order of the Phoenix" because if that's your first Harry Potter movie, you won't have a clue whats going on. Its like jumping in to 4th episode of Season 3 of Lost. Heck, even someone watching every episode of that show won't know whats going on... where was I?)
And it was terrible. I was so bored. It was weird seeing Mike Dexter from "Can't Hardly Wait" try to be this older father figure.
Song currently playing: "Running on Empty" by Jackson Browne
Anyway, I almost fell asleep... when Edward Patterson appeared onscreen, the girls behind me actually when "Ooowww! Hottie!!" Seriously, there was about 10 good minutes of this film, minutes that made me think, "Okay, this might be good", and then it just flailed and flopped and sucked. Terrible.
Now, before you get all "Oh, you didn't like it because its a chick movie!" on me, just remember... "Notting Hill", "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and "Steel Magnolias" all rank highly on The Dave100. Love those films. Because they are actually good.
Finally, wanted to shout out to Leann Lawerence--my very first Troy State University date. Leann Corby (then) was this chick I met...
Song currently playing: "Sail On" by Lionel Richie & the Commodores
...at our Troy State orientation in July of 1993. I thought she was beautiful. I asked her out, she said yes (there's much more to the story, but really, when you're married to The Lovely Steph Leann, its all just inconsequential) and we went to dinner and a movie, "The Man Without a Face" starring Mel Gibson.
We didn't go out again, as I turned my attention to Wisconsin Ginny, then to Kat Gates and so on, but Leann and I remained friends through college. She was that kind of friend I would run into, or we'd have lunch here and there, and we'd catch up, and then another month or two would go by before we could speak again and so on...
Leann and Dave... 15 years later...
Well, I graduated, she did too, she went one way, I went another. Lo and behold, The Lovely Steph Leann and I are at the wedding of one of my high school friends, Stephanie Phillips, and Leann Corby is there! Her fiancee (could have been husband by then), David, knew Stephanie and her groom, Perry, and it was like, "Wow..."
Song currently playing: "Slide" by The Goo Goo Dolls
If you told me at the beginning of the day to name 10 people that I never thought I'd see in The Happiest Place in the Mall, I'm not even sure Leann would have come to mind. And she came in, husband and children in tow.
And it was just awesome to see them both. Leann still looked great, we swapped quick stories and catch-up tales and they were on their way. But it was great to see her! So Leann, hope to see you soon.
Songs playing while I wrap up:
"Callin' Baton Rouge" by Garth Brooks
"Sweet Surrender" by Sarah McLachlan
"Sunday Afternoon" by Joel Blount
and appropriately... "Kiss and Say Goodbye" by The Manhattans
I'm going to bed now, to my own Leann. My The Lovely Steph Leann, that is.
Song playing right now: "Secret Garden" from Bruce Springsteen, the Jerry Maguire Mix
First stop... Hannah Pruitt. Final destination, sleep. Stops along the way, Matt Damon, vampires, Lindsay Lohan, Twilight, Fracks and Leann Corby.
$$$$$$$$$$
I thought I'd mention to you that tonight's songs are coming from a playlist entitled "Hannah Pruitt". I have funny musical tastes... sometimes I want to hear Jodeci, a few minutes later I want some Jars of Clay, then I'm in the mood for LL Cool J, and right after that, classic Clint Black.
So I put together a playlist of about 60 songs that I could, at any time, want to hear. As the playlist evolves, I'll take some off (like tonight, I removed Celine Dion's "To Love You More" and "If You Asked Me To" and The Atlanta Rhythm Section's "So Into You", and added Dino's "I Like It" and "Sail On" by Lionel Richie & the Commodores). See, random.
Song currently playing: "Close of Autumn" by Caedmon's Call
Anyway, it gets the name "Hannah Pruitt" because, while I was making this playlist the other day, I was actually talking to Hannah Pruitt via gMail chat. And I have also determined that Hannah might just be the coolest person I know. Seriously. She's a really cool chick. I've actively tried to find things that would make her uncool, and I haven't come up with anything yet. I'm working on it. For now, "Hannah Pruitt" plays via iTunes.
$$$$$$$$$$
So, Sean Penn and Lindsay Lohan showed up to the same party. They nuzzled. Right now you are trying to decide whether you actually care enough to click on this link to read about it. I mean, right after you are done throwing up in your mouth.
$$$$$$$$$$
"The Bourne Ultimatum" is on Starz right now. Well, it is, but I just turned the tv off... anyway, I was commenting to The Lovely Steph Leann that Matt Damon is actually a pretty good actor. I mean, he's big and bad and very believable as a dude that can rip your head off and hock a snot rocket down your neck in the very, very good Bourne trilogy (though it might become a four-logy, as I've heard they are making another one...) but when you watch him in the Ocean's films, he's a dork.
Song currently playing: "Touch Me (all night long)" by Cathy Dennis--this is sometimes odd, as it tends to, even on shuffle, follow Caedmon's Call or a Christy Nockel worship song. Hmm.
Personally, I didn't care for "Good Will Hunting", but Damon has done some good stuff... "Rounders" works because of him and Edward Norton's ability to pull off a pretty lame script... well, them and John Malkovich's portrayal of Teddy KGB, on my short list of favorite movie characters of all time. You can also check out Matt in Kevin Smith's "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back", where he's hilarious, as well as "Dogma", my 98th favorite film of all time.
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McQ has finally written a book. Its called "Strength in the Struggle", and its a composition of her essays, poems, devotions and photography from the past several years.
Song currently playing: "Wicked Game" by Chris Isaak. Ironic. Ha!
She's self publishing, which is why a paper back costs close to $40 bucks... the hardcover is even more, but how often do you know someone who has their name on the spine of a book on your bookshelf.
Personally, I've had an idea rolling around my head for about 11 years. One of the characters--bear with me, I've already decided this--is named Daily Johnson.
Song currently playing: "Good Run of Bad Luck" by Clint Black
Daily was supposed to be named Daisy, but her mom's "S" looks like an "L", and that's what the nurse put on the birth certificate. She's short, short hair and glasses. She looks like what my friend Devan Craddock looked like in school. There are other characters in my little story, but Daily is the one that sticks out.
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Song currently playing: "We Danced Anyway" by Deana Carter
(helping The Lovely Steph Leann with the weather in Pensacola, where she's headed for a few days)
Song currently playing: "Tortured, Tangled Hearts" by The Dixie Chicks
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This next little blurb goes straight out to Katy Sexton--though I'm sure there are many out there who love "The Lost Boys" (and, unfortunately, many out there who said, "Huh?" when I mentioned "The Lost Boys"), she is who I think of when I think of Lost Boy Fans.
Cracked.com gave 8 things that today's modern vampires could learn from The Lost Boys. And its hilarious.
Song currently playing, after realizing my iTunes wasn't on shuffle: "How Do You Mend a Broken Heart" by Al Green
My favorite is "Vampires Can Really Do a Number on Your Plumbing", which says, "Vampires, on the other hand, will emit a bloodcurdling scream, their flesh will melt, blood will shoot out of all of your sinks and pipes, and your toilet will violently explode for no good reason whatsoever.
With that being said, you may want to avoid this method of vampire slaying altogether unless it can be executed in a kiddie pool in the backyard, or somewhere else that isn’t hooked up to your house’s pipes. After all, in these tough economic times, who wants to have to hire a plumber to scrape melted vampire out of their pipes?"
By the way, did you know they did a sequel to this movie? It actually shouldn't count, because only one of the Two Coreys was involved. I'm not sure if Feldman was in the right by being in it, or Haim was more right by NOT being in it. Then again, what else does Corey Haim have to do right now?
And you know they had to call Kiefer Sutherland. You know they did.
"Yes, Mr. Sutherland, um... we wanted to know if... well, if you'd be interested in... being... well, being David the Vampire again?"
"I'm sorry, being who?"
"You know, David, the lead vampire in... The Lost Boys. We are doing a sequel and we thought if you could help, I mean, you could lend some credibility to our project... even Haim won't do it and..."
"Dude. Do you know who I am?"
"Yes sir, you're Kiefer Sutherland and..."
"I'm 'effin Jack Bauer. Don't ever call me again. Or I. Will. Kill. You."
--click--
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Song currently playing while I formatted this post, and added links:
"You and I Both" by Jason Mraz
"I'll Be Okay" by Amanda Marshall
"I Guess The Lord Must Be in New York City" by Harry Nilsson
"Circle" by Sarah McLachlan
"Speechless" by Steven Curtis Chapman
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So, here's DNC-TV's list of The Lamest Blogs on the Internet. No doubt, The Anonymous Poster would have put mine on this list, but she keeps coming back, doesn't she? As for the list, some actually look amusing enough to check out for a minute.. except anything using the words "Hilton", "Kim", "Paris" or "Kardashian", and that freaky looking Pepsi-KFC blog. Weird.
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From the More Random Than d$ Department...
So, a week or so ago, I posted the music list for December, my Christmas favorites, along with the hideously awesome video to "Last Christmas" by Wham!.
Well, there's a website out there commited to this song so much, they do nothing but post covers to the song... 360 of them... and counting. No, I'm being totally serious.
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Song currently playing: "Love Shoulda Brought You Home Last Night" by Toni Braxton
Something tells me The Lovely Steph Leann would LOVE ELL OH VEE EE her a Frack. Just sayin'.
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Song currently playing: "Bye Bye" by Jo Dee Messina
"Twilight" was terrible. Seriously. I went into it, having not read the book, trying to be as open minded as someone who had never read the Harry Potter novels, yet was walking in to see "Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone" (you can't say "Goblet of Fire" or "Order of the Phoenix" because if that's your first Harry Potter movie, you won't have a clue whats going on. Its like jumping in to 4th episode of Season 3 of Lost. Heck, even someone watching every episode of that show won't know whats going on... where was I?)
And it was terrible. I was so bored. It was weird seeing Mike Dexter from "Can't Hardly Wait" try to be this older father figure.
Song currently playing: "Running on Empty" by Jackson Browne
Anyway, I almost fell asleep... when Edward Patterson appeared onscreen, the girls behind me actually when "Ooowww! Hottie!!" Seriously, there was about 10 good minutes of this film, minutes that made me think, "Okay, this might be good", and then it just flailed and flopped and sucked. Terrible.
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Now, before you get all "Oh, you didn't like it because its a chick movie!" on me, just remember... "Notting Hill", "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and "Steel Magnolias" all rank highly on The Dave100. Love those films. Because they are actually good.
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Finally, wanted to shout out to Leann Lawerence--my very first Troy State University date. Leann Corby (then) was this chick I met...
Song currently playing: "Sail On" by Lionel Richie & the Commodores
...at our Troy State orientation in July of 1993. I thought she was beautiful. I asked her out, she said yes (there's much more to the story, but really, when you're married to The Lovely Steph Leann, its all just inconsequential) and we went to dinner and a movie, "The Man Without a Face" starring Mel Gibson.
We didn't go out again, as I turned my attention to Wisconsin Ginny, then to Kat Gates and so on, but Leann and I remained friends through college. She was that kind of friend I would run into, or we'd have lunch here and there, and we'd catch up, and then another month or two would go by before we could speak again and so on...
Leann and Dave... 15 years later...
Well, I graduated, she did too, she went one way, I went another. Lo and behold, The Lovely Steph Leann and I are at the wedding of one of my high school friends, Stephanie Phillips, and Leann Corby is there! Her fiancee (could have been husband by then), David, knew Stephanie and her groom, Perry, and it was like, "Wow..."
Song currently playing: "Slide" by The Goo Goo Dolls
If you told me at the beginning of the day to name 10 people that I never thought I'd see in The Happiest Place in the Mall, I'm not even sure Leann would have come to mind. And she came in, husband and children in tow.
And it was just awesome to see them both. Leann still looked great, we swapped quick stories and catch-up tales and they were on their way. But it was great to see her! So Leann, hope to see you soon.
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Songs playing while I wrap up:
"Callin' Baton Rouge" by Garth Brooks
"Sweet Surrender" by Sarah McLachlan
"Sunday Afternoon" by Joel Blount
and appropriately... "Kiss and Say Goodbye" by The Manhattans
I'm going to bed now, to my own Leann. My The Lovely Steph Leann, that is.
All Things New II: Welcome to Delaware
A few days ago, I wrote "All Things New", a sort of different blog for Clouds in My Coffee. While I am a Christ Follower, and have never backed down from what I believe, at the same time, direct ministry has never been the aim of Clouds in My Coffee.
Having said that, I do want to make it clear that as Christ Followers, I think everything we do is a form of ministry, because with our salvation secure and our hearts a home for the Holy Spirit, we are, for lack of a better phrase, Christ Ambassadors... but here, its not just Biblical scripture, prayers, Jesus, The Messiah (no, not Obama, I mean the real one), God and so on... I've read sites like that. While inspiring, it can get a little tedious. I enjoy what I write here, and enjoy the comments I get on all sorts of things.
Now... having said THAT... I wanted you to know about a "sister" site I have created. Its called "Welcome to Delaware"... while I would love to drive as many people to Clouds as possible--and would love for you to do the same--I'll only mention Delaware in this post, and it will be listed among the Recommended Blogs in the links to the right.
I'm sure you have two questions... the first being, why did you create another site? What is it even about, and why should I care? (that's three questions, but I kinda condensed them into one inquisitive string). The second being, what is with that name??? Who gives a rip about Delaware?? (again, more than one, but you get the gist.)
I created another site because while I love to journal--hence, Clouds in My Coffee--I tire quickly of writing on paper. My brain works too fast, though I'm sure The Lovely Steph Leann might disagree, for me to write down what I want in a legible manner, and it ends up scribbled... however, I type pretty doggone fast. In Mrs. Rials typing class in 11th grade at Samson High School (go Tigers!) I was top in the class, reaching 75 perfect words per minute
So, if I'm going to continue on my journey that I call "30 Days of Him"...
(I got that catchy little name from the movie "30 Days of Night", though thats where the similarilies end, I think--never pictured God as a vampire zombie. Randomly, vampires have been prevelant around my life lately... not that I know any, but I just finished reading "Salem's Lot" by Stephen King, an excellent vamp novel, I talked to Amy McL today about reading vampire novels, and I somehow ended up watching "Twilight" this afternoon... bored to tears. Seriously. There is about 10 minutes of that movie that I thought was enjoyable and... where was I?)
...I figured it would be better to type it out than write it. Plus, it would give me an outlet to start reprinting some of the "Random Emails of Encouragment" I used to write, long long ago. And Delaware will be simply that. God stuff. That's why I wanted to keep it separate from Clouds...
Don't fret, though, Coffee Drinkers. This will be my main site.
Now, why should you care? You don't have to, actually. You can visit every day, you might never go there. Its okay. I might mention it from time to time, but over all, its not a big deal.
Now... the name...
You've probably heard me mention "Welcome to Delaware" as a song, or that it is the title of the d$ Life Soundtrack, the double disc edition... well, I guess I should explain. McQ asked me tonight the perfect question... what does it mean to you?
"Welcome to Delaware" is a song from the former Christian duo WaterMark. I say "former", though Nathan and Christy Nockel are still together. They performed for years as WaterMark, now do separate projects, he as a worship leader for Passion, a writer and producer, and she as a worship leader for Passion and a solo artist.
The song is the 7th track off their 1998 self titled debut (you'll see from the link its now out of print), and its one of those hidden gems that few people even know about. It just stuck with me. When I was working at WTBF in Troy (Go Trojans!) I interviewed Christy for Sunday Night Power, my Christian Music show on Sunday nights, and I asked her the meaning behind the title...
She said, and I'm paraphrasing, "We had a concert in Delaware upcoming at the time, and neither of us had ever been there. We were nervous about it, about the area, it was winter, it was cold, it was unfamiliar... and it just kind of became a prayer. Its about God taking us to places we have never seen, cold places, unfamiliar places. Places we are not comfortable with."
Such is my life. I moved to Birmingham in August of 1998... I didn't know a soul, Amy Wible had abandoned me, I had an apartment I couldn't afford, my job I moved for was kaput after a week... and God was saying, "All you really have here now... is Me".
Well, its bitter cold December, and the leaves are falling true, and I do believe I'm still in love with You. Yeah, my scenery keeps changing, and sometimes its hard to view, but You've let me see so much since I've known You. But I headed to what seemed like nowhere (Birmingham?) but You told me to come, You told me You'd meet me here.
You were here to say, "Welcome to Delaware, I know you've traveled far. And its a lot colder here than what you're used to. And I know that in the wintertime, things aren't what they used to be, all you really have here now... is Me. All you really have here now is Me.
(by the way, the next verse is one of the most beautiful, deepest, sweetest verses to me in all of Christian music... I'm not kidding... as I sit here and think about how it applies to my life, I just wiped a tear away... man, its dusty in here...)
So I settled here, and that is that. For You to show me who I am, You had to take me to a place I've never been. And all the things I've dreaded most about the things unseen have now become the sweetest part of me...
Though I headed to what seemed like nowhere, I knew you would come, I knew You would meet me here.
You were here to say, "Welcome to Delaware, I know you've traveled far, and its alot colder here than what you're used to. And I know that in the wintertime, things aren't what they used to be. All you really have here now is Me."
Though I headed to what seemed like nowhere, I knew You would come, I knew You would meet me here. You were here to say "Welcome to Delaware... All you really have here now... is Me."
That song changed my life. No kidding.
That's why the site is called "Welcome to Delaware". Of course, it helps that its just offbeat enough to be memorable and quirky.
By the way, the line you see on the bottom of the title, "Thoughts of a Grace Abuser" comes from another song that changed my life. The song is called "Disappear", which was actually a consideration for the title of the site, from the band Out of the Grey, which was Christine and Scott Dente, another husband & wife duo.
The second verse--something about second verses and souls being stirred--says, "Given, I've been given so much freedom, Grace abounds and I'm the chief abuser..." That about sums it up.
Matter of fact, random Dave Trivia, years ago when I was about to leave AOL for good to get a Gmail email address, I was talking to Jessica Rogers about what my new screenname/email should be... GraceAbuser came up in the conversation, and she said, "That sounds cool, if you know what it means, but if you don't, it sounds like you are beating some girl named Grace." Touche. SuperDave it is.
Anyway, you can check the site out, or not, up to you. Bookmark it, or never look at it, its fine. I just did want to share, and let you know it was there.
But I'll expect you back here at least every few days.
Having said that, I do want to make it clear that as Christ Followers, I think everything we do is a form of ministry, because with our salvation secure and our hearts a home for the Holy Spirit, we are, for lack of a better phrase, Christ Ambassadors... but here, its not just Biblical scripture, prayers, Jesus, The Messiah (no, not Obama, I mean the real one), God and so on... I've read sites like that. While inspiring, it can get a little tedious. I enjoy what I write here, and enjoy the comments I get on all sorts of things.
Now... having said THAT... I wanted you to know about a "sister" site I have created. Its called "Welcome to Delaware"... while I would love to drive as many people to Clouds as possible--and would love for you to do the same--I'll only mention Delaware in this post, and it will be listed among the Recommended Blogs in the links to the right.
I'm sure you have two questions... the first being, why did you create another site? What is it even about, and why should I care? (that's three questions, but I kinda condensed them into one inquisitive string). The second being, what is with that name??? Who gives a rip about Delaware?? (again, more than one, but you get the gist.)
I created another site because while I love to journal--hence, Clouds in My Coffee--I tire quickly of writing on paper. My brain works too fast, though I'm sure The Lovely Steph Leann might disagree, for me to write down what I want in a legible manner, and it ends up scribbled... however, I type pretty doggone fast. In Mrs. Rials typing class in 11th grade at Samson High School (go Tigers!) I was top in the class, reaching 75 perfect words per minute
So, if I'm going to continue on my journey that I call "30 Days of Him"...
(I got that catchy little name from the movie "30 Days of Night", though thats where the similarilies end, I think--never pictured God as a vampire zombie. Randomly, vampires have been prevelant around my life lately... not that I know any, but I just finished reading "Salem's Lot" by Stephen King, an excellent vamp novel, I talked to Amy McL today about reading vampire novels, and I somehow ended up watching "Twilight" this afternoon... bored to tears. Seriously. There is about 10 minutes of that movie that I thought was enjoyable and... where was I?)
...I figured it would be better to type it out than write it. Plus, it would give me an outlet to start reprinting some of the "Random Emails of Encouragment" I used to write, long long ago. And Delaware will be simply that. God stuff. That's why I wanted to keep it separate from Clouds...
Don't fret, though, Coffee Drinkers. This will be my main site.
Now, why should you care? You don't have to, actually. You can visit every day, you might never go there. Its okay. I might mention it from time to time, but over all, its not a big deal.
Now... the name...
You've probably heard me mention "Welcome to Delaware" as a song, or that it is the title of the d$ Life Soundtrack, the double disc edition... well, I guess I should explain. McQ asked me tonight the perfect question... what does it mean to you?
"Welcome to Delaware" is a song from the former Christian duo WaterMark. I say "former", though Nathan and Christy Nockel are still together. They performed for years as WaterMark, now do separate projects, he as a worship leader for Passion, a writer and producer, and she as a worship leader for Passion and a solo artist.
The song is the 7th track off their 1998 self titled debut (you'll see from the link its now out of print), and its one of those hidden gems that few people even know about. It just stuck with me. When I was working at WTBF in Troy (Go Trojans!) I interviewed Christy for Sunday Night Power, my Christian Music show on Sunday nights, and I asked her the meaning behind the title...
She said, and I'm paraphrasing, "We had a concert in Delaware upcoming at the time, and neither of us had ever been there. We were nervous about it, about the area, it was winter, it was cold, it was unfamiliar... and it just kind of became a prayer. Its about God taking us to places we have never seen, cold places, unfamiliar places. Places we are not comfortable with."
Such is my life. I moved to Birmingham in August of 1998... I didn't know a soul, Amy Wible had abandoned me, I had an apartment I couldn't afford, my job I moved for was kaput after a week... and God was saying, "All you really have here now... is Me".
Well, its bitter cold December, and the leaves are falling true, and I do believe I'm still in love with You. Yeah, my scenery keeps changing, and sometimes its hard to view, but You've let me see so much since I've known You. But I headed to what seemed like nowhere (Birmingham?) but You told me to come, You told me You'd meet me here.
You were here to say, "Welcome to Delaware, I know you've traveled far. And its a lot colder here than what you're used to. And I know that in the wintertime, things aren't what they used to be, all you really have here now... is Me. All you really have here now is Me.
(by the way, the next verse is one of the most beautiful, deepest, sweetest verses to me in all of Christian music... I'm not kidding... as I sit here and think about how it applies to my life, I just wiped a tear away... man, its dusty in here...)
So I settled here, and that is that. For You to show me who I am, You had to take me to a place I've never been. And all the things I've dreaded most about the things unseen have now become the sweetest part of me...
Though I headed to what seemed like nowhere, I knew you would come, I knew You would meet me here.
You were here to say, "Welcome to Delaware, I know you've traveled far, and its alot colder here than what you're used to. And I know that in the wintertime, things aren't what they used to be. All you really have here now is Me."
Though I headed to what seemed like nowhere, I knew You would come, I knew You would meet me here. You were here to say "Welcome to Delaware... All you really have here now... is Me."
That song changed my life. No kidding.
That's why the site is called "Welcome to Delaware". Of course, it helps that its just offbeat enough to be memorable and quirky.
By the way, the line you see on the bottom of the title, "Thoughts of a Grace Abuser" comes from another song that changed my life. The song is called "Disappear", which was actually a consideration for the title of the site, from the band Out of the Grey, which was Christine and Scott Dente, another husband & wife duo.
The second verse--something about second verses and souls being stirred--says, "Given, I've been given so much freedom, Grace abounds and I'm the chief abuser..." That about sums it up.
Matter of fact, random Dave Trivia, years ago when I was about to leave AOL for good to get a Gmail email address, I was talking to Jessica Rogers about what my new screenname/email should be... GraceAbuser came up in the conversation, and she said, "That sounds cool, if you know what it means, but if you don't, it sounds like you are beating some girl named Grace." Touche. SuperDave it is.
Anyway, you can check the site out, or not, up to you. Bookmark it, or never look at it, its fine. I just did want to share, and let you know it was there.
But I'll expect you back here at least every few days.
The Story, aka, Woulda Shoulda Coulda
All of these lines across my face... tell you the story of who I am... so many stories of where I've been... and how I got to where I am
At heart, I'm a nostalgic person. Seriously. I hold on to things I should've let go a long time past, if for no other reason than that something might have a story I can tell. This is much to the dismay of The Lovely Steph Leann, mind you.
Probably the focal point of this entire argument is the famed Ren & Stimpy Toilet Paper. For you young folk out there, Ren & Stimpy was a cartoon that would come on Nickelodeon on Saturday nights. My high school Saturdays were spent working at The Wright Place restaurant, waiting tables in Samson, Alabama, pining for Julie Wise, The Official Clouds in My Coffee High School Crush, though really preparing to end up marrying Cristie Wright. Not that I was planning that, but that's what I was supposed to do, according to everyone in the cafe, anyway.
Ren & Stimpy would come on, I would make sure to plan my 20 minute meal break around that time, and watch it on the cafe television. And laugh, really, really hard. I mean, how can you not laugh at a fake commercial for a game called "Don't Whiz on the Electric Fence"? Classic.
This love for Ren & Stimpy carried through my freshman year in college, where I became fast friends with Mandy Stewart, Miranda Bryant, Bobby Black, Bradley Grantham and a host of others who somehow impacted my life either in small or large ways.
It was the Christmas of 1993 that Mandy Stewart gave me a roll of Ren & Stimpy Toilet Paper as a gift. It was wonderful. It was hilarious, and I loved my friend Mandy--weirdly enough, she was probably one of the top ten most beautiful girls I'd ever met, yet I never had a thing for her. Personally, I was a Spring Tolson fan myself, but she was unreachable.
Where was I?
But these stories don't mean anything... when you've got no one to tell them to... it's true... I was made for you
Anyway, I haven't talked to Mandy in about... six years? Seven, maybe? Yet, I still have that toilet paper. I mean, you don't want to use it--I'm not sure of the life of the quality in a roll of TP, but I'm sure 15 years is more than can be expected. Why do I still have it? Perhaps I've had it for so long now, its crossed the "But I've Had This for -- Years" threshold... when you have something for soooo long, its just hard to get rid of. I should.
The only sentimental value of it is just a memory of a good friendship that I had for a season of a few years, a friendship that actually had begun to fade away before we even lost contact--you know how that is, you become close to someone, and over time you slowly but surely drift in different directions.
My friendships, solid for a time, with Allyson Guy, Eddie Hamner and Melanie Dill were just like that. Solid for a season, some years, some months and then *poof*. They go from being people you trust will give their life for you--and maybe they still would, who knows--to people that aren't anywhere on your list to call if you had a flat. Not to say they wouldn't help, again who knows, but they wouldn't be on my list.
I climbed across the mountain tops... swam all across the ocean blue... I crossed all the lines and I broke all the rules... but baby I broke them all for you...
My whole point is nostalgia. I have a number of items that I haven't rid myself of, perhaps because the only thing they do hold is the opportunity to tell a story. The t-shirt I have that says "I Love NY" on it, signed by the members of the 2002 Mission Trip team from Shades Mountain, including the aforementioned Melanie, is in a box. I talk to the team slim to none, though I've made several Facebook connections, yet the t-shirt affords the chance to tell the story of the puppet show in the park, or how the term "Some Detours Are Worth It" became the mantra for the trip.
What's funny is that, even as I heralded all the memories the t-shirt held, I sat for a second, frozen, thinking of something. Finally, the mantra came out. Perhaps its time for the t-shirt to go.
I have a bad habit of woulda shoulda coulda thinking. Seriously, I need to stop. I have always said there were two things I would go back and do if I could zip back to 1988... the first is invent Build-a-Bear.
Think of this... a store that sells teddy bears, but YOU have to come in and make your own, doing the work, then you pay me for it. That's brilliant.
The other is I'd write Harry Potter. At this point, probably from memory. Oh, don't worry, I would anonymously send JK Rowling a check for a few million, making sure she was okay with life. And I would NEVER, EVER make Dumbledore gay. There's no sense in that. In fact, its just stupid. But I digress.
Oh because even when I was flat broke... you made me feel like a million bucks... you do and I was made for you
But in my woulda shoulda coulda... what if I had lived in a home that wasn't filled with cigarette smoke for my 18 years growing up? Looking back, I'm sure I smelled freakin' awful, especially when I sweat. The Official Clouds in My Coffee High School Crush Julie Wise woulda totally gone out with me, I'm sure. Well, maybe, but I would have had a better chance. Or what if I had actually gone out with Cristie Wright? This wasn't out of the realm of possibility, for a while anyway, so I'm not just grasping at straws here....
In my woulda shoulda coulda world... what if I had never applied for a credit card that freshman fall? What if I just went to school, say two quarters (Troy State was on quarters until the fall after I graduated, then they went to semesters) then worked a quarter? What if I had never gotten two Visas, a Mastercard and a Discover?
In my woulda shoulda coulda world... what if I had paid attention when coming through Elba, instead of running that red light and crashing the Ciera? Or stayed awake when coming home from Enterprise, instead of falling asleep at the wheel and crashing into a telephone pole? Or paid attention when turning left towards The Deuce, instead of just blindly turning in the path of a black Mercedes, driving by Gangsta Pimp? Or stood my ground for the cheaper, more economical Tercel instead of being pushed into the bigger, pricier Sable?
All things I wonder.
In my woulda shoulda coulda world... what if I had studied a little harder, not lost my scholarship because I was lazy for a few months and all that hard earned money had stayed in my pocket and not gone to pay for school? What if I had made it work with Jennifer Mullins? What if I had asked out Elisabeth Bradshaw that night on the golf course? Or what about Melanie Jackson? Julie Echols? Chrissy Bullock? (All married now with kids, or on the way at least). Or Amy Wible? That alone is a story that I could write for days. And did, actually.
In my woulda shoulda coulda world... what if I had actually asked out Mary Ann Crittenden again? (this is only assuming she would have said yes, an assumption I make blindly, unsure of the actual answer at that time, and unsure that I want to know) In this world, I'm not thoroughly convinced that God has One Certain Person for each. Perhaps He, in His wisdom, has a couple, though knowing what He has in store for you, but allowing you the free will to choose what your plan is, versus what His might be? I bring up Mary Ann in this particular line of thought not by coincidence, but in thinking that she might be one of those particular people.
Now, I don't say this out of any dishonor or disrespect for The Lovely Steph Leann... I'm pretty sure she had one or two "What Ifs" in her life, a couple or two of One Certain Persons... heck, she woulda shoulda coulda ended up with Jason Quinn (!) and I have another friend of mine who asked her out, before she and I started dating. She said no, but she might've said yes. But, it makes me think...
In my woulda shoulda coulda world... what if... when The Lovely Steph Leann Campbell had told me in the fall of 2001 that she loved me... what if I had admitted what I knew to be true, yet took me another 9 months to admit... what if I had told her the same. That she was who I was supposed to be with. What if? That's a whole other year we could have added to our story.
Let me wrap this part of the discussion up by saying very plainly and clearly--whether she was My One Certain Person, or the One Certain Person He had for me at The Most Divine Moment, either way, The Lovely Steph Leann and I were meant for each other. Just be around us awhile, you'll probably see that.
One of my favorite things to hear is "I love hanging out with you guys... you guys are so fun together". Not "cute", which I'm sure is nice, but "fun", as in, we are a couple that people enjoy being around as much when we're together as when we're apart. This is a simple compliment, yet its more rare than you might think.
You see the smile that's on my mouth... it's hiding the words that don't come out... and all of my friends who think that I'm blessed... they don't know my head is a mess... no, they don't know who I really am... and they don't know what I've been through like you do... and I was made for you.
I'm wasn't really sure where this blog was going when I started, but I think I know where it will end up. Yes, Clouds in My Coffee Drinkers, you can go crazy thinking about the woulda shoulda coulda in your life... sometimes I think I might. But I lead quite a charmed life. Not a perfect life, mind you, and I probably under-serve my Best Friend and Helpmate in every way possibly, be it conscience or un-, and the fact that I have a personality on Clouds in My Coffee named The Goddess can attest to that... but The Lovely Steph Leann is the blessing that I cannot fathom, if that makes any sense.
This song I've quoted, "The Story" by Brandi Carlile, is amazing. It just is. It actually finished as the #32 Coolest Thing about 2007. I first heard it when I watched Grey's Anatomy's earlier seasons, and it just hits me in one of those funny ways. It has a double digit play on Dave's iPod (though that doesn't mean much nowadays... sometimes I get on "song kicks" where I just want to hear the same song over and over, be it old or new... right now, my Song Kick includes "No Time to Kill" and "Good Run of Bad Luck" by Clint Black, "If I Ever Lose My Faith In You" by Sting and "I Guess the Lord Must Be In New York City" by Nilsson, among others. Who knew?) already, and it doesn't make me sad... or happy... just nostalgic.
All of these lines across my face... tell you the story of who I am... so many stories of where I've been... and how I got to where I am
Bottom line is, I'm a nostalgic person. I've stated this already. I enjoy thinking back to college and even high school, the memories I've had, the things I've done. Perhaps I'll take a cue from McQ, a certain Dave Hall of Famer when she comes on the ballot, and just take the plunge. I've got lots of stories of where I've been... but, as Brandi Carlile says...
But these stories don't mean anything when you've got no one to tell them to... It's true... I was made for you... Ohh yea it's true... That I was made for you
This is the video that accompanied Grey's Anatomy. Might I say this might be the exact, perfect song to go with this video. As a matter of fact, I'm commissioning Scotty Latta to work on this project when I die...
I want this video played at my funeral, but take out all the Grey's Anatomy clips, and replace them with video clips of my own life... let's get Chris McCall and I jumping off the bridge at Ponce de Leon Springs from my childhood, and waiting tables with Victor, Cristie and Sandy at The Wright Place, and an over dramatic shot of my running across campus at Troy State late for class, and for good measure, throw in a shot or two of Tiffany Abbott (The Official Clouds in My Coffee Troy State Crush) rejecting me, perhaps get my first slow dance with Angiejay... wait, scratch that... or maybe Eddie and I dressing up as clowns at that mission retreat, or me directing WalkAbout, and a great video clip of me standing with Best Man Wookiee at my wedding, and I as Best Man at his wedding, and you gotta toss in some Deuce, and Lil Sister Ashley, and KT, and maybe me arguing with Clouds in My Coffee Atty General Brad Latta over politics (we really didn't, but it would look good for the video) and... well, just be creative.
One final thought. This is one of those songs, like many others, you can play at the perfect time. Perhaps when there's a break-up and a get-back-together. But you can play this at the wrong time... like a few weeks ago, when I watched Penn State beat Ohio State. They did a Joe Paterno montage, and played this song behind it. Creepy. Very creepy.
At heart, I'm a nostalgic person. Seriously. I hold on to things I should've let go a long time past, if for no other reason than that something might have a story I can tell. This is much to the dismay of The Lovely Steph Leann, mind you.
Probably the focal point of this entire argument is the famed Ren & Stimpy Toilet Paper. For you young folk out there, Ren & Stimpy was a cartoon that would come on Nickelodeon on Saturday nights. My high school Saturdays were spent working at The Wright Place restaurant, waiting tables in Samson, Alabama, pining for Julie Wise, The Official Clouds in My Coffee High School Crush, though really preparing to end up marrying Cristie Wright. Not that I was planning that, but that's what I was supposed to do, according to everyone in the cafe, anyway.
Ren & Stimpy would come on, I would make sure to plan my 20 minute meal break around that time, and watch it on the cafe television. And laugh, really, really hard. I mean, how can you not laugh at a fake commercial for a game called "Don't Whiz on the Electric Fence"? Classic.
This love for Ren & Stimpy carried through my freshman year in college, where I became fast friends with Mandy Stewart, Miranda Bryant, Bobby Black, Bradley Grantham and a host of others who somehow impacted my life either in small or large ways.
It was the Christmas of 1993 that Mandy Stewart gave me a roll of Ren & Stimpy Toilet Paper as a gift. It was wonderful. It was hilarious, and I loved my friend Mandy--weirdly enough, she was probably one of the top ten most beautiful girls I'd ever met, yet I never had a thing for her. Personally, I was a Spring Tolson fan myself, but she was unreachable.
Where was I?
But these stories don't mean anything... when you've got no one to tell them to... it's true... I was made for you
Anyway, I haven't talked to Mandy in about... six years? Seven, maybe? Yet, I still have that toilet paper. I mean, you don't want to use it--I'm not sure of the life of the quality in a roll of TP, but I'm sure 15 years is more than can be expected. Why do I still have it? Perhaps I've had it for so long now, its crossed the "But I've Had This for -- Years" threshold... when you have something for soooo long, its just hard to get rid of. I should.
The only sentimental value of it is just a memory of a good friendship that I had for a season of a few years, a friendship that actually had begun to fade away before we even lost contact--you know how that is, you become close to someone, and over time you slowly but surely drift in different directions.
My friendships, solid for a time, with Allyson Guy, Eddie Hamner and Melanie Dill were just like that. Solid for a season, some years, some months and then *poof*. They go from being people you trust will give their life for you--and maybe they still would, who knows--to people that aren't anywhere on your list to call if you had a flat. Not to say they wouldn't help, again who knows, but they wouldn't be on my list.
I climbed across the mountain tops... swam all across the ocean blue... I crossed all the lines and I broke all the rules... but baby I broke them all for you...
My whole point is nostalgia. I have a number of items that I haven't rid myself of, perhaps because the only thing they do hold is the opportunity to tell a story. The t-shirt I have that says "I Love NY" on it, signed by the members of the 2002 Mission Trip team from Shades Mountain, including the aforementioned Melanie, is in a box. I talk to the team slim to none, though I've made several Facebook connections, yet the t-shirt affords the chance to tell the story of the puppet show in the park, or how the term "Some Detours Are Worth It" became the mantra for the trip.
What's funny is that, even as I heralded all the memories the t-shirt held, I sat for a second, frozen, thinking of something. Finally, the mantra came out. Perhaps its time for the t-shirt to go.
I have a bad habit of woulda shoulda coulda thinking. Seriously, I need to stop. I have always said there were two things I would go back and do if I could zip back to 1988... the first is invent Build-a-Bear.
Think of this... a store that sells teddy bears, but YOU have to come in and make your own, doing the work, then you pay me for it. That's brilliant.
The other is I'd write Harry Potter. At this point, probably from memory. Oh, don't worry, I would anonymously send JK Rowling a check for a few million, making sure she was okay with life. And I would NEVER, EVER make Dumbledore gay. There's no sense in that. In fact, its just stupid. But I digress.
Oh because even when I was flat broke... you made me feel like a million bucks... you do and I was made for you
But in my woulda shoulda coulda... what if I had lived in a home that wasn't filled with cigarette smoke for my 18 years growing up? Looking back, I'm sure I smelled freakin' awful, especially when I sweat. The Official Clouds in My Coffee High School Crush Julie Wise woulda totally gone out with me, I'm sure. Well, maybe, but I would have had a better chance. Or what if I had actually gone out with Cristie Wright? This wasn't out of the realm of possibility, for a while anyway, so I'm not just grasping at straws here....
In my woulda shoulda coulda world... what if I had never applied for a credit card that freshman fall? What if I just went to school, say two quarters (Troy State was on quarters until the fall after I graduated, then they went to semesters) then worked a quarter? What if I had never gotten two Visas, a Mastercard and a Discover?
In my woulda shoulda coulda world... what if I had paid attention when coming through Elba, instead of running that red light and crashing the Ciera? Or stayed awake when coming home from Enterprise, instead of falling asleep at the wheel and crashing into a telephone pole? Or paid attention when turning left towards The Deuce, instead of just blindly turning in the path of a black Mercedes, driving by Gangsta Pimp? Or stood my ground for the cheaper, more economical Tercel instead of being pushed into the bigger, pricier Sable?
All things I wonder.
In my woulda shoulda coulda world... what if I had studied a little harder, not lost my scholarship because I was lazy for a few months and all that hard earned money had stayed in my pocket and not gone to pay for school? What if I had made it work with Jennifer Mullins? What if I had asked out Elisabeth Bradshaw that night on the golf course? Or what about Melanie Jackson? Julie Echols? Chrissy Bullock? (All married now with kids, or on the way at least). Or Amy Wible? That alone is a story that I could write for days. And did, actually.
In my woulda shoulda coulda world... what if I had actually asked out Mary Ann Crittenden again? (this is only assuming she would have said yes, an assumption I make blindly, unsure of the actual answer at that time, and unsure that I want to know) In this world, I'm not thoroughly convinced that God has One Certain Person for each. Perhaps He, in His wisdom, has a couple, though knowing what He has in store for you, but allowing you the free will to choose what your plan is, versus what His might be? I bring up Mary Ann in this particular line of thought not by coincidence, but in thinking that she might be one of those particular people.
Now, I don't say this out of any dishonor or disrespect for The Lovely Steph Leann... I'm pretty sure she had one or two "What Ifs" in her life, a couple or two of One Certain Persons... heck, she woulda shoulda coulda ended up with Jason Quinn (!) and I have another friend of mine who asked her out, before she and I started dating. She said no, but she might've said yes. But, it makes me think...
In my woulda shoulda coulda world... what if... when The Lovely Steph Leann Campbell had told me in the fall of 2001 that she loved me... what if I had admitted what I knew to be true, yet took me another 9 months to admit... what if I had told her the same. That she was who I was supposed to be with. What if? That's a whole other year we could have added to our story.
Let me wrap this part of the discussion up by saying very plainly and clearly--whether she was My One Certain Person, or the One Certain Person He had for me at The Most Divine Moment, either way, The Lovely Steph Leann and I were meant for each other. Just be around us awhile, you'll probably see that.
One of my favorite things to hear is "I love hanging out with you guys... you guys are so fun together". Not "cute", which I'm sure is nice, but "fun", as in, we are a couple that people enjoy being around as much when we're together as when we're apart. This is a simple compliment, yet its more rare than you might think.
You see the smile that's on my mouth... it's hiding the words that don't come out... and all of my friends who think that I'm blessed... they don't know my head is a mess... no, they don't know who I really am... and they don't know what I've been through like you do... and I was made for you.
I'm wasn't really sure where this blog was going when I started, but I think I know where it will end up. Yes, Clouds in My Coffee Drinkers, you can go crazy thinking about the woulda shoulda coulda in your life... sometimes I think I might. But I lead quite a charmed life. Not a perfect life, mind you, and I probably under-serve my Best Friend and Helpmate in every way possibly, be it conscience or un-, and the fact that I have a personality on Clouds in My Coffee named The Goddess can attest to that... but The Lovely Steph Leann is the blessing that I cannot fathom, if that makes any sense.
This song I've quoted, "The Story" by Brandi Carlile, is amazing. It just is. It actually finished as the #32 Coolest Thing about 2007. I first heard it when I watched Grey's Anatomy's earlier seasons, and it just hits me in one of those funny ways. It has a double digit play on Dave's iPod (though that doesn't mean much nowadays... sometimes I get on "song kicks" where I just want to hear the same song over and over, be it old or new... right now, my Song Kick includes "No Time to Kill" and "Good Run of Bad Luck" by Clint Black, "If I Ever Lose My Faith In You" by Sting and "I Guess the Lord Must Be In New York City" by Nilsson, among others. Who knew?) already, and it doesn't make me sad... or happy... just nostalgic.
All of these lines across my face... tell you the story of who I am... so many stories of where I've been... and how I got to where I am
Bottom line is, I'm a nostalgic person. I've stated this already. I enjoy thinking back to college and even high school, the memories I've had, the things I've done. Perhaps I'll take a cue from McQ, a certain Dave Hall of Famer when she comes on the ballot, and just take the plunge. I've got lots of stories of where I've been... but, as Brandi Carlile says...
But these stories don't mean anything when you've got no one to tell them to... It's true... I was made for you... Ohh yea it's true... That I was made for you
This is the video that accompanied Grey's Anatomy. Might I say this might be the exact, perfect song to go with this video. As a matter of fact, I'm commissioning Scotty Latta to work on this project when I die...
I want this video played at my funeral, but take out all the Grey's Anatomy clips, and replace them with video clips of my own life... let's get Chris McCall and I jumping off the bridge at Ponce de Leon Springs from my childhood, and waiting tables with Victor, Cristie and Sandy at The Wright Place, and an over dramatic shot of my running across campus at Troy State late for class, and for good measure, throw in a shot or two of Tiffany Abbott (The Official Clouds in My Coffee Troy State Crush) rejecting me, perhaps get my first slow dance with Angiejay... wait, scratch that... or maybe Eddie and I dressing up as clowns at that mission retreat, or me directing WalkAbout, and a great video clip of me standing with Best Man Wookiee at my wedding, and I as Best Man at his wedding, and you gotta toss in some Deuce, and Lil Sister Ashley, and KT, and maybe me arguing with Clouds in My Coffee Atty General Brad Latta over politics (we really didn't, but it would look good for the video) and... well, just be creative.
One final thought. This is one of those songs, like many others, you can play at the perfect time. Perhaps when there's a break-up and a get-back-together. But you can play this at the wrong time... like a few weeks ago, when I watched Penn State beat Ohio State. They did a Joe Paterno montage, and played this song behind it. Creepy. Very creepy.
When I Get Where I'm Going... '98 through '03
I wanted to go to Nashville. I wanted to go to Atlanta. I really wanted to go to Mobile. Perhaps I could go to Knoxville. Or maybe Savannah. Best laid plans work out, sometimes... and sometimes, they don't.
As much as I'd like to say that it was fate that led me here, or that it was chance, or a job, or something else, I really have to put the blame on two entities in my life... God and Amy Wible. I thought Birmingham was terrible. It was a big, convoluted city, comprised of about two dozen small towns crammed together to make one big metropolis. I didn't want to be here. But I kept feeling it. And finally, about a month before the move, I was driving down I-65... actually in Birmingham, for some reason, and it just clicked. I nodded my head, and said, "Okay, God. I'll do it. This is what You want, and I guess I'll have to comply."
Here's what I wrote, in an essay called "A Love Story In Three Acts", and this was Act Two, Scene Two. (for the whole thing from the beginning, you can click here... its quite a great story, methinks).
June passes and July is almost over. Though I really, really want to go to Mobile, I feel God is calling me to Birmingham. I'm fighting it in my prayerlife, not wanting to admit this is what God wants for me, even though it was pretty evident, since none of my interviews in Mobile was going to lead to anything. Through some random conversation with Amy, I mention a possible move to Birmingham, possibly working for this new Christian station starting up called Reality Radio 101.1. She tells me how great that would be, because with her in Tuscaloosa, I'd only be 45 minutes away, not two hours, and how great it would be dating the DJ for a Christian radio station. Much like God led me to Christian drama through Chrissy, God finally sealed the deal with me for Birmingham through Amy. --July 7, 2006
So, randomly, Claire Baldwin and I drove up to Birmingham to find me an apartment, and I managed to find a small, two bedroom loft apartment for only $475 per month. I'm imagining this apartment's rent has gone up slightly. Anyway, I paid the deposit, and was excited to finally move!
So, on August 17th, 1998, Shelby Logan, Eddie Hamner, Troy McConnell, Allyson Guy and a select few others helped me load up the vehicle(s), drive to Birmingham, unload the stuff, drive BACK to Troy, then drive back to Birmingham to unload the rest of it. My friends rocked. They still do. Allyson, I still miss you, friend...
Anyway, they stayed the night, Eddie and Troy at the Loft, the girls at Allyson's home in Alabaster, and they left early the next morning. And... I was alone. It was hard for the first few months... the job that I thought would be my ticket here in Birmingham ended up being a disaster, after a week....
And that led me to the Adecco Temp Agency, where I met a temp consultant named George Marling, who, after hearing I had just moved to Birmingham, said, "Have you found a church yet? (I nodded my head no) Well, here... (setting down a green pen in front of me)... this is my church. Valleydale Baptist. You should give them a call. You might like it."
I tried it a few times over the course of the next few months... and liked it. I was officially baptized in January of 1999, and for the first time in my life, I became a church member. Several of my closest friends--Troy, Allyson, Shelby, AmyAlex, Melanie, etc--were there, and it was amazing.
I still didnt have a lot of local friends, though, as I made frequent weekend trips to Troy, staying with Joey Hinton and Tad Roose (whom I know I annoyed after a while, crashing on their couch...), but I did have one friend that I grew close too... a chick in my singles class, Rebecca Jourdan.
I met her not only at Valleydale Baptist Church, but also figured out we worked together at Parisian Corporate, the job I took after being hired on through Adecco. She was five or six years older, but so darn good looking. In October of 1998, I had my wisdom teeth removed, and Rebecca volunteered to take me to the dentist, wait for me, and drive me home. It's important to note that I had quite a crush on Rebecca at that time, so when she took me, full of drugs and gauze, home, and helped me to my couch, I vaguely remember expressing my true devotion to her, and I vaguely remember her smiling.
Not too long after that, early 1999, I was hanging out with the high schoolers and Big Eddy Mac, and Downtown Jerry Brown at the house across from the church, when I met the high school intern, Tom Johnson. It felt like a "Anakin... this is Obi Wan Kenobi" kind of moment. Unbeknownst to the church, but beknowst to many of us, Tom was liking this chick named Stephanie Nipp.
It was at a party that I first heard about Michael Nipp, who went to school in North Alabama, and was managing a band called Soul Pilot. His parents told me that I should meet him, and not too long after that I did. And it was Michael who took me to Sybil Johnson's Bible Study, where I met Meredith Quintana, Shawn Sharp, Jill Berthon, Amy Valdmanis, Jennifer Pritchett, Ty Coffey and so many more, people who would add to the backbone of influence already given by Troy, AmyAlex, Shelby, Claire, the BCM, Cristie Wright, Chrissy and so many more.
Michael and Tom decided to move in together... they invited me along. I jumped at the chance. So for the summer, it was Michael in one room, Tom in the other, and me on the couch of our apartment in Pinebrook, on Little Valley Road. When September came, Tom moved to Samford, I moved into Tom's room, and Shawn Sharp moved into Michael's room, with Michael still there. When Christmas rolled around (and we had our first Apartment party, a precursor to big parties to come) Tom moved to the couch. It was here that I met Tommy McLeod, mostly because I came home one night and he was randomly sitting on our couch, watching tv. I'm not sure Mikey was even there, or if he was, he might have been asleep.
And then... one day in May, Michael came home and said, "Hey Dave... I found this four bedroom apartment not too far from here, over behind Ellis Piano. What do you think?" And so it was. The Deuce was born. The legend was made. Common Ground was born not too long after that.
Passion One Day was in May of 2000. Incredible event. Will never forget it, or the fact I spent a month going out with Jill Berthon.
My dad passed away in 2000... it was a devestating blow to me in so many ways. The hardest part was that I didn't cry at the funeral. I had so many mixed emotions. And I remember, a week later at Thursday night Bible study, when Nathan Tutor was teaching, we were in prayer... and I just fell apart. It was terrible, and yet, wonderful. I remember Ty Coffey putting his hands on my feet, and Amy Valdmanis and Meredith Quintana both leaning over and touching me while we prayed. It was beautiful.
Speaking of beautiful, Wookiee, Yours Truly, Michael, Shawn, Tom, Jennifer Hudson, Tommy, Brook DeRamus (our downstairs neighbor--he was an oceanographer who spent alot of time in Mobile, so we didn't see much of him), Matt Latta, David Mark Osborne and Daniel Powell started this football game... we called it The Deuce Football Championships, or The DFC, for short. We figured we'd do it this year, and just have fun... I mean, who expects this to go past a single football season?
I let go of Amy Wible in 2001. The closure wasn't there, at least all the way, but it was finally over. My heart begun to heal... and I had already been introduced to Stephanie Campbell. That was a saga over the next two years I won't recount fully, but during such time, The Deuce lived, survived, and stayed strong. I witnessed Stephanie Nipp break up with Tom, which was rough on all of us. We watched Ginger and Matt get married, which was blessed on all of us.
I started a new job in May of 2001, hired away from Parisian to Cox Radio, to work with 106.9 Oldies, WZZK and Rock 97.3. I met Michelle Carr, who would quickly become one of my heroes. Plus, she's a great chick.
WalkAbout was going strong too... started in 1999, it had begun to be a major part of my life, as it is now. And in 2001, the first ever WalkAbout dinner theater was presented, starring Meredith Osborne, Andrea Brobst and Katie Noland, among others. Sometime around 3 in the morning, on July 4th, I also had my first kiss with Stephanie Campbell. She was, and still is, fantastic.
September 11th happened. It was tough on everyone, as we all sat mesmorized by the footage. I wrote about it here (part one) and here (part two), and then again in 2006, here and here.
In 2002, we knew The Deuce was bigger than itself when I came home to find Mikey sitting on the couch, watching tv... nothing unusual here, except for the five or six Samford students sitting around the kitchen table, playing cards. "Dude, who are they?" I whispered to Mikey, sitting down beside him. "I dunno... I thought you knew them..." he replied.
I went out with Amy Vos once, on a single date. Seriously, she was just so awesome. I was quite disappointed, at that time, that things didnt lead to a second date, though I look back and see all the things going on at that time in both of our lives was truly God making sure she would end up with Tommy... a relationship I saw born in and around The Deuce, just like I had seen Justin and Jennifer's relationship born in a conversation on The Deuce floor.
My friendship with Melanie Dill grew, and then, over the course of the summer, faded, just like my friendship with Allyson had done a few years go. My friendship with Stephanie was still there, though. I went on the toughest mission trip ever, to NYC, with Melanie, Alex, Fish, Liz, Chad, Mark and several others. And when I came back, my head was spinning. I sat down with the guys during our weekly Bible study, and said, "Um... I think I'm going to go out with Stephanie Campbell. Like, seriously, chase her. This is what I'm supposed to do."
Once the meeting was over, I was in my room, and Michael came in, closing the door behind him. He told me how happy he was about me and Stephanie. He told me that he had been praying for us, how he had--and all the other guys--had been hoping that something like this would happen. And it did. Tom had already started dating Jill Berthon, Tommy and Amy were together, Michael had already met Ashley O'Neal, Justin and Jennifer were going to be together forever by now, and somehow, it was my turn.
Our final Deuce Christmas bash was in December 2002... it was a grand gala, complete with performances by Ben Caver and Joel Blount, and we had an attendance of over 70 people. This success was truly why we never planned a DeuceFest Eye Vee (IV) or a Christmas bash in 2003... I actually didn't want to face the idea that we might not have that many people come. The Deuce was beginning its slow decline, a graceful, gentle drop. We knew when to stop, and we did.
February of 2003 is when the Challenger exploded. It was also my very first day on the job at Starbucks. I was hanging out with Katy Scott, one of my favorite people ever, and a possible first ballot Dave Hall of Famer (when I finally open the doors) and we were at Starbucks in Mountain Brook. Her friend Kerry Walls was working, and being d$, I had to admire that Kerry was really quite cute. Kerry says, "You should apply for the new store... in Vestavia!" So I did.
I worked four nights per week, for over a year, earning money for debt, comic books, a possible proposal, and more. April 2003 found me in kinda hot water, though... I had an expired license. And a ticket from 2000 that I somehow forgot about. No, I'm serious, I actually forgot about it... and the officer who pulled me over for the tag reminded me.
Mind you, I am headed to work at Starbucks. I get pulled over, then quickly arrested and put into the back of a police car. Randomly, Ty, Mikey, Wookiee and Tom are leaving together, and pass by, only to see me on the side of the road in the backseat of a police car. No kidding, the officer looked like Eddie George, and I told him so. For the next twenty minutes, I sat in the back of a car, handcuffed, talking through an open window to the arresting officer about the Titans chances that fall.
Yes, yes, I was taken to the station, fingerprinted, and booked. I never saw the inside of the cell, though, as the Dolla' Posse, made up of several of the guys, bailed me out quickly. Laughing. I went to work, ink still on my hands. Boy, I learned alot from my time in prison. Don't drop the soap.
Summer came, and I was able to save up enough for a ring, to which I quietly and unceremoniously gave to The Lovely Steph Leann. And now we planned for a wedding, while attending Tommy's and Amy's in the fall. Wookiee was now engaged. Tom was now engaged as well. Mikey and Ashley were heading that way.
And this is where we'll leave it... a quick recap of the first five years in Birmingham, with the next five to come later... Sunday, August 17th, 2008 celebrates 10 years in the city, after a plan of only being here 1 to 3 years somehow doesn't work out like I planned.
As much as I'd like to say that it was fate that led me here, or that it was chance, or a job, or something else, I really have to put the blame on two entities in my life... God and Amy Wible. I thought Birmingham was terrible. It was a big, convoluted city, comprised of about two dozen small towns crammed together to make one big metropolis. I didn't want to be here. But I kept feeling it. And finally, about a month before the move, I was driving down I-65... actually in Birmingham, for some reason, and it just clicked. I nodded my head, and said, "Okay, God. I'll do it. This is what You want, and I guess I'll have to comply."
Here's what I wrote, in an essay called "A Love Story In Three Acts", and this was Act Two, Scene Two. (for the whole thing from the beginning, you can click here... its quite a great story, methinks).
June passes and July is almost over. Though I really, really want to go to Mobile, I feel God is calling me to Birmingham. I'm fighting it in my prayerlife, not wanting to admit this is what God wants for me, even though it was pretty evident, since none of my interviews in Mobile was going to lead to anything. Through some random conversation with Amy, I mention a possible move to Birmingham, possibly working for this new Christian station starting up called Reality Radio 101.1. She tells me how great that would be, because with her in Tuscaloosa, I'd only be 45 minutes away, not two hours, and how great it would be dating the DJ for a Christian radio station. Much like God led me to Christian drama through Chrissy, God finally sealed the deal with me for Birmingham through Amy. --July 7, 2006
So, randomly, Claire Baldwin and I drove up to Birmingham to find me an apartment, and I managed to find a small, two bedroom loft apartment for only $475 per month. I'm imagining this apartment's rent has gone up slightly. Anyway, I paid the deposit, and was excited to finally move!
So, on August 17th, 1998, Shelby Logan, Eddie Hamner, Troy McConnell, Allyson Guy and a select few others helped me load up the vehicle(s), drive to Birmingham, unload the stuff, drive BACK to Troy, then drive back to Birmingham to unload the rest of it. My friends rocked. They still do. Allyson, I still miss you, friend...
Anyway, they stayed the night, Eddie and Troy at the Loft, the girls at Allyson's home in Alabaster, and they left early the next morning. And... I was alone. It was hard for the first few months... the job that I thought would be my ticket here in Birmingham ended up being a disaster, after a week....
And that led me to the Adecco Temp Agency, where I met a temp consultant named George Marling, who, after hearing I had just moved to Birmingham, said, "Have you found a church yet? (I nodded my head no) Well, here... (setting down a green pen in front of me)... this is my church. Valleydale Baptist. You should give them a call. You might like it."
I tried it a few times over the course of the next few months... and liked it. I was officially baptized in January of 1999, and for the first time in my life, I became a church member. Several of my closest friends--Troy, Allyson, Shelby, AmyAlex, Melanie, etc--were there, and it was amazing.
I still didnt have a lot of local friends, though, as I made frequent weekend trips to Troy, staying with Joey Hinton and Tad Roose (whom I know I annoyed after a while, crashing on their couch...), but I did have one friend that I grew close too... a chick in my singles class, Rebecca Jourdan.
I met her not only at Valleydale Baptist Church, but also figured out we worked together at Parisian Corporate, the job I took after being hired on through Adecco. She was five or six years older, but so darn good looking. In October of 1998, I had my wisdom teeth removed, and Rebecca volunteered to take me to the dentist, wait for me, and drive me home. It's important to note that I had quite a crush on Rebecca at that time, so when she took me, full of drugs and gauze, home, and helped me to my couch, I vaguely remember expressing my true devotion to her, and I vaguely remember her smiling.
Not too long after that, early 1999, I was hanging out with the high schoolers and Big Eddy Mac, and Downtown Jerry Brown at the house across from the church, when I met the high school intern, Tom Johnson. It felt like a "Anakin... this is Obi Wan Kenobi" kind of moment. Unbeknownst to the church, but beknowst to many of us, Tom was liking this chick named Stephanie Nipp.
It was at a party that I first heard about Michael Nipp, who went to school in North Alabama, and was managing a band called Soul Pilot. His parents told me that I should meet him, and not too long after that I did. And it was Michael who took me to Sybil Johnson's Bible Study, where I met Meredith Quintana, Shawn Sharp, Jill Berthon, Amy Valdmanis, Jennifer Pritchett, Ty Coffey and so many more, people who would add to the backbone of influence already given by Troy, AmyAlex, Shelby, Claire, the BCM, Cristie Wright, Chrissy and so many more.
Michael and Tom decided to move in together... they invited me along. I jumped at the chance. So for the summer, it was Michael in one room, Tom in the other, and me on the couch of our apartment in Pinebrook, on Little Valley Road. When September came, Tom moved to Samford, I moved into Tom's room, and Shawn Sharp moved into Michael's room, with Michael still there. When Christmas rolled around (and we had our first Apartment party, a precursor to big parties to come) Tom moved to the couch. It was here that I met Tommy McLeod, mostly because I came home one night and he was randomly sitting on our couch, watching tv. I'm not sure Mikey was even there, or if he was, he might have been asleep.
And then... one day in May, Michael came home and said, "Hey Dave... I found this four bedroom apartment not too far from here, over behind Ellis Piano. What do you think?" And so it was. The Deuce was born. The legend was made. Common Ground was born not too long after that.
Passion One Day was in May of 2000. Incredible event. Will never forget it, or the fact I spent a month going out with Jill Berthon.
My dad passed away in 2000... it was a devestating blow to me in so many ways. The hardest part was that I didn't cry at the funeral. I had so many mixed emotions. And I remember, a week later at Thursday night Bible study, when Nathan Tutor was teaching, we were in prayer... and I just fell apart. It was terrible, and yet, wonderful. I remember Ty Coffey putting his hands on my feet, and Amy Valdmanis and Meredith Quintana both leaning over and touching me while we prayed. It was beautiful.
Speaking of beautiful, Wookiee, Yours Truly, Michael, Shawn, Tom, Jennifer Hudson, Tommy, Brook DeRamus (our downstairs neighbor--he was an oceanographer who spent alot of time in Mobile, so we didn't see much of him), Matt Latta, David Mark Osborne and Daniel Powell started this football game... we called it The Deuce Football Championships, or The DFC, for short. We figured we'd do it this year, and just have fun... I mean, who expects this to go past a single football season?
I let go of Amy Wible in 2001. The closure wasn't there, at least all the way, but it was finally over. My heart begun to heal... and I had already been introduced to Stephanie Campbell. That was a saga over the next two years I won't recount fully, but during such time, The Deuce lived, survived, and stayed strong. I witnessed Stephanie Nipp break up with Tom, which was rough on all of us. We watched Ginger and Matt get married, which was blessed on all of us.
I started a new job in May of 2001, hired away from Parisian to Cox Radio, to work with 106.9 Oldies, WZZK and Rock 97.3. I met Michelle Carr, who would quickly become one of my heroes. Plus, she's a great chick.
WalkAbout was going strong too... started in 1999, it had begun to be a major part of my life, as it is now. And in 2001, the first ever WalkAbout dinner theater was presented, starring Meredith Osborne, Andrea Brobst and Katie Noland, among others. Sometime around 3 in the morning, on July 4th, I also had my first kiss with Stephanie Campbell. She was, and still is, fantastic.
September 11th happened. It was tough on everyone, as we all sat mesmorized by the footage. I wrote about it here (part one) and here (part two), and then again in 2006, here and here.
In 2002, we knew The Deuce was bigger than itself when I came home to find Mikey sitting on the couch, watching tv... nothing unusual here, except for the five or six Samford students sitting around the kitchen table, playing cards. "Dude, who are they?" I whispered to Mikey, sitting down beside him. "I dunno... I thought you knew them..." he replied.
I went out with Amy Vos once, on a single date. Seriously, she was just so awesome. I was quite disappointed, at that time, that things didnt lead to a second date, though I look back and see all the things going on at that time in both of our lives was truly God making sure she would end up with Tommy... a relationship I saw born in and around The Deuce, just like I had seen Justin and Jennifer's relationship born in a conversation on The Deuce floor.
My friendship with Melanie Dill grew, and then, over the course of the summer, faded, just like my friendship with Allyson had done a few years go. My friendship with Stephanie was still there, though. I went on the toughest mission trip ever, to NYC, with Melanie, Alex, Fish, Liz, Chad, Mark and several others. And when I came back, my head was spinning. I sat down with the guys during our weekly Bible study, and said, "Um... I think I'm going to go out with Stephanie Campbell. Like, seriously, chase her. This is what I'm supposed to do."
Once the meeting was over, I was in my room, and Michael came in, closing the door behind him. He told me how happy he was about me and Stephanie. He told me that he had been praying for us, how he had--and all the other guys--had been hoping that something like this would happen. And it did. Tom had already started dating Jill Berthon, Tommy and Amy were together, Michael had already met Ashley O'Neal, Justin and Jennifer were going to be together forever by now, and somehow, it was my turn.
Our final Deuce Christmas bash was in December 2002... it was a grand gala, complete with performances by Ben Caver and Joel Blount, and we had an attendance of over 70 people. This success was truly why we never planned a DeuceFest Eye Vee (IV) or a Christmas bash in 2003... I actually didn't want to face the idea that we might not have that many people come. The Deuce was beginning its slow decline, a graceful, gentle drop. We knew when to stop, and we did.
February of 2003 is when the Challenger exploded. It was also my very first day on the job at Starbucks. I was hanging out with Katy Scott, one of my favorite people ever, and a possible first ballot Dave Hall of Famer (when I finally open the doors) and we were at Starbucks in Mountain Brook. Her friend Kerry Walls was working, and being d$, I had to admire that Kerry was really quite cute. Kerry says, "You should apply for the new store... in Vestavia!" So I did.
I worked four nights per week, for over a year, earning money for debt, comic books, a possible proposal, and more. April 2003 found me in kinda hot water, though... I had an expired license. And a ticket from 2000 that I somehow forgot about. No, I'm serious, I actually forgot about it... and the officer who pulled me over for the tag reminded me.
Mind you, I am headed to work at Starbucks. I get pulled over, then quickly arrested and put into the back of a police car. Randomly, Ty, Mikey, Wookiee and Tom are leaving together, and pass by, only to see me on the side of the road in the backseat of a police car. No kidding, the officer looked like Eddie George, and I told him so. For the next twenty minutes, I sat in the back of a car, handcuffed, talking through an open window to the arresting officer about the Titans chances that fall.
Yes, yes, I was taken to the station, fingerprinted, and booked. I never saw the inside of the cell, though, as the Dolla' Posse, made up of several of the guys, bailed me out quickly. Laughing. I went to work, ink still on my hands. Boy, I learned alot from my time in prison. Don't drop the soap.
Summer came, and I was able to save up enough for a ring, to which I quietly and unceremoniously gave to The Lovely Steph Leann. And now we planned for a wedding, while attending Tommy's and Amy's in the fall. Wookiee was now engaged. Tom was now engaged as well. Mikey and Ashley were heading that way.
And this is where we'll leave it... a quick recap of the first five years in Birmingham, with the next five to come later... Sunday, August 17th, 2008 celebrates 10 years in the city, after a plan of only being here 1 to 3 years somehow doesn't work out like I planned.