The 100 Coolest Things of 2009... 50 to 41

First of all, thank you to everyone who has been visiting here either daily or at least every few days... I know for those of you who could care less about Idol--and let's face it, there hasn't been a lot to care about this season--its rather boring when all you see is idle Idol chatter when you come here looking for Happy Times stories, maybe a movie review, or even a mention or two of He Who Must Not Be Re-Elected's last week or so...  so, thank you.

Secondly... why aren't you a fan on Facebook, eh?  If you are reading this on Facebook, you need to go to Clouds to see any video that might be on the site, then search "Clouds in My Coffee" on Facebook and become a fan.  Its the right thing, nay, the cool thing to do. 

Third, we still aren't done with 2009 yet!  In case you missed it (and since I haven't done one of these in a month, you might have!), here's where we've been thusfar:

The 100th to 91st Coolest Things of 2009
The 90th to 81st Coolest Things of 2009
The 80th to 71st Coolest Things of 2009
The 70th to 61st Coolest Things of 2009
The 60th to 51st Coolest Things of 2009

And here we go with the next ten...

The 50th Coolest Thing of 2009... "Right Round" by Flo Rida
Yes, yes, I know the song is a few years old, and yes, I'd heard it before... but I'd never really taken to it until this year.  This year?  It's kinda catchy.  Silly, a little corny, somewhat stupid, partly annoying and all from a guy who's name is taken from a state with a space in between (I'm guessing "Ken Tucky" and "Oak LaHoma" were on the list.  What about Gior Juh?  Ha!  I got at least 46 more of these), but its use of the term "Benja-min Frank-ah-lins" alone makes me laugh.  Its a good work out song.  Not that I work out, but if I did...

The 49th Coolest Thing of 2009... "Mother Lover"
Well, this is a family show.  I keep it Rated PG, every now and again delving into a PG-13 territory, but for the most part, I keep it clean.  So, for this spot, I won't bother linking to it, I won't put up pictures, I won't do anything but give a nod to K-Dub and then say four words:

1) Mother
2) Lover
3) Timberlake
4) Hysterical

The 48th Coolest Thing of 2009... "The Rise and Fall of the WCW"

When I found out this video was coming out, I almost peed myself.  I was so friggin' excited, as I remember vividly the fabled "Monday Night Wars"--that being the battle between WWE on USA Network and World Championship Wrestling on Turner owned TBS.  I was a huge, huge WCW an, having watched it since 1986 or 87 as a kid, when it was called NWA (National Wrestling Alliance", a few years before WCW).

Anyway, I've always been fascinated by the downfall of the WCW in the late 90s, not just as a wrestling fan, but just from a business prospective.  You know how when someone gets straight zeroes in college (knew a guy) and you say, "Man, he had to work to fail that badly..."?  Well the guys running the WCW seriously had to work to fail this miserably.  This was chronicled in my pick for the 18th Coolest Thing of 2006, the book called "The Death of the WCW", and the DVD here is along the same lines.

Its a 3 Disc collection, with two discs devoted to classic WCW matches including stuff like Ric Flair vs. Magnum T.A. from 1985, the classic Flair vs Steamboat Chi-Town Rumble match from 1989, one of Sting's first matches, that being against Big Van Vader from 1992's Great American Bash, the unintentionally funny Bash at the Beach from 1998 with Diamond Dallas Page and Karl Malone against Hollywood Hogan and Dennis Rodman, a huge War Games match in 1996 with Sting, Lex Luger, Flair, Arn Anderson, Hollywood Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and nWo fake Sting.  Yeah, exactly.

Oh, and its got a match from 1998's Halloween Havoc between Diamond Dallas Page and one of my favorite wrestlers ever, Goldberg.  Goldberg absolutely ruled.  Page lost the match after getting hit with a spear AND a jackhammer. 


How 'bout that's Michael Buffer ("leeet's get reeeeeeady to ruuuuuuumbuuuuulllll") in the ring, and Tony Schivione on announcing duties.  Awesome.  By the way, I wanted to do that entrance at my wedding, the one where Goldberg comes out to pyro, and the smoke, and I yell, breath out the smoke, throw the punches and slap myself in the head.  The Lovely Steph Leann said no.  Party pooper.

But the real gem on this disc is the documentary that follows the origins of the WCW, from the beginning with Jim Crockett Promotions to the infamous "Black Saturday".  It took off when Hulk Hogan joined, turning heel (bad guy) for the first time in his career, and the fact that one of the chapters on the DVD menu is titled 'Mistakes Begin', followed by "Vince Russo" says it all.  If there is to be any criticism, it would be on the matches themselves... there should have been a little more surrounding each match, perhaps teh lead up to, and the aftermath, not just from bell-ring to pinfall.  And really, did we need to see a match between Lance Storm and Booker T?  To emphasize how badly things were going for the WCW, they took Booker T, a great wrestler and renamed him "GI Bro".  No kidding.

Great DVD. 

The 47th Coolest Thing of 2009... Lunch With...
It was a good year for reunions.  Lunch with Stan McDuffie in the spring of 2009 was great.  We graduated together, and hadn't seen the guy since the Samson High reunion of 2002.  We met at a BBQ joint in Homewood, and just shared life stories, our pain of what had then-recently happened in Samson and more.  It was awesome.

Not to long after that, I met up with Drew Roe, a fraternity brother of mine who also lives here in town.  That's the crazy thing about Birmingham... I share a city with so many people that I would love to see more of, but never do.  Anyway, we had some lunch, caught up, laughed, did some reminiscing, and had a good time.  Promised each other we'd do it again, and hopefully we will.

Met The Official Clouds In My Coffee High School Crush Julie Wise for dinner last April, and that was an absolute hoot.   Met up with Barrow, one of the coolest guys I've ever met, and the perfect name for one of my characters in the book I might eventually write.  Saw The Official Clouds In My Coffee Troy State Crush Tiffany Abbott at a Chick-fila.  Met with both Dayla Ellison and Rebecca Jourdan Samuelson (we'll get to her later) over lunch, two dear, dear friends that I was so excited to see again. 

This Spring's goal?  To have lunch or dinner with Chris McCall.  I'm planning on heading home for a day or two at the end of April, when The Happiest Place in the Mall is finally The Emptiest Place in the Mall, and I'm going to make it a point to find this guy. 

The 46th Coolest Thing of 2009... "The Princess & the Frog"
There's not much more I could add to what I felt about this movie when I wrote about it in December 2009, so here's some thoughts from that post...

Plot in a nutshell, its a Disney twist on the story of The Frog Prince, the story that has a girl kissing a frog who turns into a handsome prince. In this tale, however, Naveen, the handsome prince, has been turned into a frog by the voo-doo man, Dr. Facilier, and when he convinced our heroine Tiana to kiss him, she turns into a frog herself. Hijinx, hilarity and romance ensue as they, along with Ray the Cajun Firefly and Louis the jazz playing crocodile, try to find Mama Odie to help them turn back into humans again.



The animation is stunning. The film is beautifully drawn, and to its credit, its done so much so that there's no way this film could have been a computer animated feature--it would have lost most, if not all, of its charm. Tiana is a heroine who is working hard for her dreams to happen, not waiting around for someday, her prince will come, and that is to be admired. Much has been made about Tiana being the "first black princess", and yes, that's true, but this film definately takes liberties with history--she's best friends with a rich debutante named Charlotte, which alone is an impractical thought in the time period this film is set in. I didn't get caught up in that, though, and you shouldn't either.


One thing to be aware of when watching this film... you are witnessing the birth of a classic. This is a movie that, no matter how successful it will end up--and it will end up successful--that Campbell Isaiah and Lorelei Addison will watch, and their children will watch as well in 2040 on whatever home video format we're up to then. This is a movie that will be released in Blu-Ray and DVD in April of 2010, and will disappear into The Vault in June of 2011 or so, not to be available for 7 to 10 years.


This is the birth of a true Disney Princess, one that we'll be seeing with the likes of Cinderella, Belle, Ariel and Aurora for a long, long time. The last time we saw a true Disney Princess emerge? Mulan. The last time we saw a true Disney classic not-named-Pixar unfold before our eyes? Yep. "The Lion King". That was the last movie heralded and beloved enough to go into The Vault (well, "Fantasia 2000" also is in The Vault, coupled with "Fantasia", but that's kinda another story)... For me, and perhaps I'm the odd case, this is exciting. I'm thrilled that Disney has finally broken through the ceiling they put on themselves with "Dinosaur" and "Brother Bear".

The 45th Coolest Thing of 2009... JT Wins Survivor

Someone sent me a message last year and said, "Hey, so there's a guy from Samson on Survivor.  Do you know him?"  Up until then, the only notoriety Samson had recieved was the terrible massacre from... well, I'm not going to say his name, he doesn't deserve a mention.  So I did some checking up on Survivor, and what do you know, James Thomas was going to be on the show... James, the little brother of Tammy Thomas, who was a friend of mine in high school and who graduated with me, the same Tammy who scolded me for not snatching up this pretty girl named Stephanie, my friend, who I had brought with me to the 10 year reunion. 

And with the country accent, the sly look and the aww-shucks personality, what the heck--JT won the whole shebang.  Seriously.  Like, holy crap, the kid in whatever elementary school grade when I was a senior won a million bucks on Survivor.  I have his picture in my yearbooks! 

Anyway, it was a fantastic season of Survivor, and I'm excited that JT is on the equally as stellar current season, the Heroes vs Villians Survivor.  And if he wins, or comes close to winning, I'm already planning on going to Samson for the Survivor party this year. 

The 44th Coolest Thing of 2009... "Party in the USA"
Oh shut up. 

The 43th Coolest Thing of 2009... "The Blind Side"
Just like "The Proposal", this is a movie that the more I thought about it, the more I liked it.  I thought "The Blind Side" was great when I walked out of the theater, and somewhere down deep, I knew iI was going to like it more and more as time when on.

Here's what I said in December of 2009 when I reviewed it for the first time:

Its full of laughs and heartwarming moments, but its never preachy or manipulative. The movie's intent it never to make you feel like you have to cry, and it doesn't seem like its showing you the "Hallmark" moments just for the awwwww factor... its part of the story. In movies with this "helping each other out" theme, there's always an uncomfortable moment when the kids hate the new person, only to have this togetherness scene that brings them together--"The Blind Side" never has that. SJ and Collins are nothing but loving and supportive of Michael, and it even enhances Michael's rebuilding of his life.

The movie is excellent... its feel good, its warm, its funny, its everything a family movie should be, one that pokes at you to say "awwww" without demanding you tear up or feel sympathy and guilt. After the movie was over, I leaned over to The Lovely Steph Leann, and in my most politically incorrect tone said, "We should go to Ensley and adopt a black child." She frowned at me, then rolled her eyes and got up to leave. She's good at that.

The 42st Coolest Thing of 2009... Walt Disney World with Ty & The McLeods

Talk about a whirlwind trip... I had a few days on my own, as The Lovely Steph Leann was out of town.  I thought, hey, why not go to Disney World?  The Lovely Steph Leann wasn't too keen on my going all alone, so I recruited The Honorable Rev'rn Ty Sharpton and Tommy Mc and Amy McL to come with (that's us, there, after being soaked in the Backlot Tour)

We left midday, got there at something like 1am, checked in, slept for just a little while, spent the full day at Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Epcot, then the next day, walked around Downtown Disney before coming back.  Wow it was fast.  And tons of fun, because Disney is always better with friends.

The 41nd Coolest Thing of 2009... New Shoes
Shoes are those things that you use, but don't realize how good they can be until you find a pair that fits you exactly right.  Thus, this:

During our trip to The Most Magical Place on Earth in June, my feet were getting blistered. The Lovely Steph Leann chalked it up to my Lugz that, while comfortable, were just not made for the walking, standing, running and walking more that we were doing for 14 hours per day, four days in a row--the Skecher tennis shoes weren't doing any better. After watching her to go New Balance and spend over a $110 on a pair of shoes (which, all these years in marriage later is almost still unfathomable), I decided it was finally time to get myself a good pair of sneakers. We discussed it, and, still coming to grips about the fact that I might have to spend that much to fit my wide feet into some comfy shoes, I went to a local shop called The Trak Shak.


The guy there wasn't old... but he knew how to size a foot. I told him what I was looking for--a pair of tennis shoes that could be used for three things--running, walking and if needed, playing tennis, if I ever decided to get my chunky tail up and do something. I told him that my problem was my feet were wide, and it was hard to find a good pair of shoes that I liked. He listened, he asked me to walk around and he told me that he could tell from my walk that I tended to walk inward, probably due to lack of good footwear. Long story short (too late?) I came out with a pair of Nikes that fit... perfectly. What size? 9 1/2. I call them my Trailer Shoes. Why? Cause they are "Double wide".


The whole story can be found here.

Up next... A "Sweet Thing"... Going where no man, save for over a dozen movies and at least three TV shows, have gone before... and later, more Disney... and even more Disney...

Troy State's Freshman Spring

Time for some new music on The Clouds, and this time around, I've decided to pull out the Troy State Freshman Spring playlist... these are all songs that were released, out and popular between December and June of 1994... my winter & spring quarters as a frosh at Troy State University...

"Cantaloop" by Us3... Ladies and gentlemen, as you know, we have something special down here at Bird Land this evening, a recording from Blue Note Records. I dare you not to get into this beat.

"Mary Jane's Last Dance" by Tom Petty... I don't think, even as an 18 year old, I recognized this song being about mary-ju-wanna at the time. This brings back memories of Erin Magonigal sitting with myself, Lisa Murphy, Allison Wiggins, Stephanie Massey, Wookiee, The Wench and Kate Gates, singing along during dinner at SAGA. The video, featuring a then-young-and-hot Kim Basinger? Awesome.

"Because the Night" by 10,000 Maniacs... There's a bridge at the end of the song that I, to this day, still have no clue what exactly she's saying. I actually made up an entire verse that had something to do with "I have no... idea... what to sing so I will go... and make... it up". I sang this to Lisa Murphy while driving to Subway around 1am one night. She loved it. Lisa Murphy rocked.

"...And Our Feelings" by Babyface... Ever had those songs that are like, forever old, and to this day, when they come on, you're still all about it? Babyface was awesome back in the day... this is one that I happily sing along to, loudly, while in the car... "AAAAnd our feeeelings! Just aren't feelings anymore... they're just words without emotions from people we don't know... No! No! No No No nonononono!!!!"

It also helps that the song title has at its beginning an ellipsis. You know my love of ellipses... much better than the use of ( ) in song titles (more on that below).

"You Mean the World to Me" by Toni Braxton... This song is part of the Toni Trifecta, also featuring "Another Sad Love Song" and "Breathe Again". Its rare for any artist to have three straight incredibly incredible songs, but she did it. I love me some Toni... she's who my car is name after.

"Mr. Jones" by Counting Crows... My main problem with Adam Duritz is how in the world he could be some homely looking and still get with all these hot celebrities? In his prime, he dated not only a in-her-prime Jennifer Aniston, but also a in-her-prime Courtney Cox, a still in-her-prime Monica Potter and even a relatively-cute-then Winona Ryder. This would be like dopey me dating The Official Clouds in My Coffee Official High School Crush Julie Wise and Sandy Wright, but then going on to date The Official Clouds in My Coffee Troy State Crush Tiffany Abbott, followed by Laura DeGarmo before finally ending up with The Lovely Steph Leann. Wait... come to think of it, I had a pretty good run myself. Scratch all that.

"Come to My Window" by Melissa Ethridge... For The Lovely Steph Leann's money, she'd take "I'm The Only One" over this song anytime. Not me. I love the slow kick off, followed by the great vocals and guitar. I mean, yeah, she's singing in the choir of the Lesbetarian Church, but still... just cause Elton John is Brokeback doesn't mean that "Your Song" is any less diminished. So be it with Melissa.

"All I Wanna Do" by Sheryl Crow... I feel sad that Sheryl Crow has slowly become a laughing stock liberal. She used to be so awesome! As a matter of fact, I'm actively working on a list of "d$'s Favorite Artists, Ever", and Sheryl has to be Top Five. "The Globe Sessions"? One of my favorite CDs, ever.


As lamented in a previous post, I miss this Sheryl Crow. Sassy, hot, talented, and not a left wing moron.

"Stay" by Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories... There are those songs that you know by heart, and can sing anytime, anywhere. Then there are those songs that you know by heart, but you can't start in the middle... you have to start at the beginning. If someone said to you, "Hey, what's that part in the song about living forever? How does it go, I would have to start at the beginning, singing really softly and quickly to myself, "yousayidonlyhearwhatiwantto... (mumble through the verse)... soiturntheradiooniturntheradioupandthiswomanwassingingmysong... (mumble some more)... someofushoverwhilewerewaitingfortheotherwhowasdying... (a big more mumbling)... and I thought I'd live forever, and now I'm not so sure!! That's it!"

"Shine" by Collective Soul... I think Collective Soul could have been bigger, had they not come on the heels of Pearl Jam and Nirvana. They were rock without being metal, and were still pretty cool. As it is, they were awesome for the next, I dunno, like 7 years or something... "Gel", "December", "The World I Know" and one of my favorite running/driving songs, "Heavy". This song started it all though. There was a rumor that dcTalk's "So Long My Friend", a song about someone who gave up their walk with Christ to be famous, was about Collective Soul.

"Loser" by Beck... Let's face it, I don't know what this song is about. No, you don't either. Don't try.

"Regulate" by Warren G feat. Nate Dogg. Had to listen to this song throughly to make sure the only questionable material in the song was just mentions of tricks and ho's. We're good.

Maybe this was the first, maybe it wasn't, but this song was at the beginning of the "Featuring" trend. Remember how Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson sang "Say Say Say"? It was "Say Say Say" by Paul McCartney AND Michael Jackson. The "And" represented the fact that both parties did equal amounts of work. But here? Its not Warren G and Nate Dogg... oh nay nay. Its Warren G "FEATURING" Nate Dogg... and its not even "featuring", its "feat.". Can you imagine "Islands in the Stream" by Dolly Parton feat. Kenny Rogers? Or "Endless Love" by Diana Ross feat. Lionel Richie? I'm more bitter about this than I am with the use of ( ) in songs.

I hate when a song uses parantheses in the title. Bryan Adams, are you listening? Either name your song "Everything I Do", or "I Do It For You", or even "Everything I Do I Do It For You", but don't throw ( ) in there. "Everything I Do (I do it for you)". Why? "Over My Head (cable car)" is stupid. Either call it "Over My Head", or "The Cable Car", or even throw a / in there... "Over My Head/Cable Car" would work, though still silly, just not as silly. There are no reasons to have subtitles in your songs. Unless your Meat Loaf, and in that instance, your songs are 24 minutes long, so you probably deserve a subtitle. Just my thoughts.

Anyway, everyone now... "REEEGGUUULLLAAATTOOOORRSSS!!!!!! Mount up."

"The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" by Prince... One of The Purpled One's lesser known tunes, I like it. I own the cassette single. It's fun. It's silky. It's Prince before he lost all of his talent.

"The Sign" by Ace of Base... Personally, I preferred "Don't Turn Around", but this one is the most popular.

"Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" by The Crash Test Dummies... In the archives of ridiculous songs, this has to be right up there. I daresay that when this song comes on the playlist, this will be the first time some of you have either ever heard this song, or have heard it in about, maybe 14 or 15 years.

There's my new playlist, courtesy of "In My Coffee (the clouds)", starring d$ feat. The Lovely Steph Leann.

The 100 Coolest Things of 2008... 20 thru 11

The Super Bowl was awesome this year... scroll down or click here to read the annual running diary...

One more note... if you are on Facebook, the numerous videos are not going to show up. Click on over to Clouds in My Coffee, then bookmark the page. Then check it daily. You never know what might pop up.

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
The 40th thru 31st Coolest Things of 2008
The 30th thru 21st Coolest Things of 2008

20. Rhett Barnette
He's this guy I know in KidStuf, the children's theater program at Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship). He's married to Amarylis, he's got a daughter named Catalina, and Rhett, without going on and on, gets the title for Funniest. Guy. Of the Year.

He's dry, he's a hick kinda guy, he's just hilarious in a room. He's the kind of guy that, when watching The Jesus Painter, stood and made quiet jokes about the program while many were in deep worship. Seriously, funniest guy of the year.


And somehow, this picture fits him perfectly

19. ESPN's Pardon the Interruption Podcast
Pardon the interruption, but I'm Mike Wilbon... Tony... the Celtics just won the world champion over the Lakers! How hard did party and who did you party with?

Oh, I partied alone... unless you count that tryist with Bea Arthur!

So begins an episode of ESPN's PTI, via podcast. Typically, the hosts--Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser--start off bantering back and forth on the hot topics of the day, mostly sports but sometimes will dive off into other topics of the day. They will spend about 1:30 on each one, but may go over or under. The topics are listed on a scroll on the side of the screen.


Mike and Tony, discussing the woman who tried to use a fake One Million Dollar Bill at Wal-Mart

Next, they'll usually do "Five Good Minutes" with a guest, or they'll just keep talking sports, but in the middle of the show is my favorite. They'll do various bits weekly, sometimes Over/Under (they predict the over/under of a certain number like "Over/Under on the number of home runs Pujols will hit this season") or they'll do Oddsmakers (guessing the percentages of a certain event happening, like "chances that Roger Federer will win two or more Grand Slams before he retires") or my personal favorite, Role Play... they'll play a few beats of what can only be described as "porn music" and one will assume the role of a sports figure--Mike will "be Aaron Rodgers" and Tony will say, "Aaron, how mad are you that you were booed off the field this week at Lambeau?"

I downloaded it every day, missing very few episodes, and would sometimes go back and listen to a day or so old episode in case I missed something. You can get it on iTunes via a podcast... in fact, I very seldom every actually watch the show. Its always on iTunes.

18. "The Dark Knight"
Much to the dismay of my friend Lori Land, there are a couple of films I hold in higher regard than this one, but finishing the 18th coolest thing of 2008 is not too bad.

This was an amazing movie. You've heard the hype, you've heard about Heath Ledger's performance, and you've probably heard the mystique surrounding the film. And I am here to say... its all true and its all deserved.



"Batman Begins" was a re-start of the Batman franchise that succeeded on so many levels, and so the anticipation for "The Dark Knight" was only building to crazy heights. When Heath Ledger died in January of 2008, it only further fueled the anticipation for the movie. And the entire time, I was enthralled by what I was watching.

Ledger's portrayal of The Joker is absolutely brilliant. No attempt is made to really discover where he came from, he's just The Joker, a super villain to Batman. If I had any complaints about the movie at all, it is first that I think the Harvey Dent-into-Two-Face story was rushed... I think he would have been a great villain alone, but he did compliment The Joker well. Secondly, that Rachel Dawes met the fate she met. I mean, its Maggie Gyllenhaal... she's awesome!


Maggie rocks

Did you know that Katie Holmes was set to reprise the role of Rachel, a role she did well in in "Batman Begins"... but she dropped out to make... "Mad Money" with Diane Keaton and Queen Latifah. Yes, Katie, how'd that work out for ya?

Anyway, I'm going on the assumption that just about everyone reading this has seen the movie, so I don't much to add to it, other than it was a slambang awesome film, and Ledger is an incredible Joker.

17. FaceBook Connections
I wrote about this not too long ago.. well, it was July of last year... and I said simply, "So, on Facebook, somehow I've managed to find almost everyone that I ever met. Well, actually, I've met a ton of people, so the 508 people whom I call friend on Facebook probably doesn't come close to the amount of people I've met in real life."

Well, since that time, 508 has turned into 774 friends, and just when I think that there can't be many more, another one sends me a friend request. I have now decided that I just don't send friend requests anymore, they can find me...

Over the year, as mentioned in the note from July, I've managed to find The Official Clouds in My Coffee Troy State Crush Tiffany Abbott, The Angel (click to read The Angel Mud Boxer Story), Blair Andress, Dixon Brock, Dayla Ellison, Spring Tolson (also click to read The Spring Tolson Moment) and even more, and though the bigger "friend" news lately is the addition of The Official Clouds in My Coffee Samson High School Crush Julie Wise, that didn't happen until about a week or so ago, so it will be mentioned on The Coolest Things of 2009.

But there's more than that. This seemed to be the year Facebook just exploded, at least to me, from my perspective. More local friends joined--Cindy Warner, Melissa Clark, Emmy & Jason Turnbow--and more Troy friends joined--Amanda Hawkins Casey for one--and more Samson Friends joined--Claudia Sorrells, Jennifer Lambert... Jennifer Herdon--and then there was the Great Rejection of 2008, that being Angiejay, who told me after knowing me for 20 years, "I can't accept your friend request, because I don't know you very well". But I'm not bitter.

However, therein lies the danger, as mentioned last week... I will have to make some slight changes to some previous posts, as now I'm aware of who's on the site.

Also have to say a big hello to Mindy D'A, this incredibly cute and at the time unapproachable Alpha Delta Pi at Troy State, who I had spoken about two words to ever... and now she's a Coffee Drinker. Who knew?

17A. The Official Clouds in My Coffee Troy State Crush Tiffany Abbott McCauley
She rocks. Through Facebook, not only have I been able to chat with The Official Clouds in My Coffee Troy State Crush Tiffany Abbott, we were able to have lunch a couple of times as she came through town. She's just as short as I remember, just as cute as I remember, and just another reminder of Garth Brooks' "Unanswered Prayers" song. Anyway, she was worth mentioning. Hope to see you again soon, one day to meet The Lovely Steph Leann.


Found this adorable pic of The Official Clouds In My Coffee Troy State Crush Tiffany Abbott, though it was before I really knew her.

16. ESPN's College Football Podcast
Like the PTI podcast mentioned at #19, this was also one I listened to daily. A 30 minute show hosted by Andy Gresh, it gave a rundown of the college football headlines and news to know after a weekend's worth of games, and leading up to more games the next weekend.

The show would start with "The Playbook", which was a report from different ESPN bloggers, each giving news of the six major BCS conferences--SEC, Big XII, Big 10, Pac 10, Big East and ACC--and one blogger, Graham Watson, talking about The Independents & More, which mostly, at least this season, gave news on the sorry state of Notre Dame football and the rise of the Mountain West's Utah, BYU and TCU's programs.

Andy Gresh would have different guests on certain days, like Bruce Feldman on Mondays, Ivan Maisel on Tuesdays, Todd McShay on Thursdays and Mel Kiper Jr on Fridays. On Wednesdays, the show would be hosted by Ivan Maisel and would feature the Dean of College Football, Beano Cook. Personally, though I enjoy Ivan and Beano's take on the games and appreciate their love of the history of the games, I liked Andy hosting much better.

It makes me sad, though, that Andy Gresh left the podcast after this past season and will join Sirius Radio's NFL channel for a new show. You will be missed.

The podcast continues even in the off season--it is available for download every other Wednesday all the way through the spring and summer, to pick back up for daily podcasts in August--presumably with a new host. I'm rooting for Todd McShay.

15. Rush Limbaugh
Ya know, I'm not going to do into detail on this one. I don't feel like defending him. I know he's right, and I agree with about 98% of what he says. He's critical of just as many Republicans as he is Democrats. He plays the audio of who you need to hear, he gives you the resources to listen to the entire bite, and honestly, listening to three minutes of his show isn't enough. You've got to listen to it regularly. Only then will you get the humor, only then will you understand what conservatism is, only then will you figure out that really, liberalism fails.

And then you'll be free. You won't be a mind numbed, believe everything the media tells you, if its written in the NYTime or if Keith Olbermann says it it must be true, robot. You'll get it. And we need as many people to "get it" as possible.

14. WalkAbout Dinner Theater
During the 2006-2007 season, I was highly disappointed that the dinner theater we had planned for that June. I was losing talent like Courtney Maddox and Jess Heckman, and I felt not only defeated, but like a failure.

By that time, I had been doing middle school drama for about 8 years, and we had pulled off 5 dinner theater performances. The reason we didn't do the other 3 years is because either I couldn't, or was not doing drama that summer. Some of the kids grumbled, some of the kids understood, but either way, I had no confidence in our team. We cancelled it because really, many of the kids didn't learn their lines on time.

So, when the new team came around, my "seniors" this time were Hannah Robillard, J Pinky, Grace Mintz, Erin Taliaferro, Davis Reynolds, Grant Adams and Emily Griner... one of the strongest line ups we've had since the murderer's row of Scotty Latta, Jana Blackwell, Laura Posey and the like.

We had a great year, and planned for our dinner theater, entitled "By Faith", in July. And it was masterful. It was a one-night-only affair, done in our middle school area known as "the Big Room", and we had a completely sold out audience. Some of our drama moms, including WalkAbout Mom of the Year Melissa Robillard, helped put dinner together, while the WalkAbout Asst Director and Mom of the Year in 2007, Paula Maddox, helped get the show done.

Awesome. Grace Mintz did this monologue called "Unafraid", and brought the audience to tears, but strangely, I think the skit of the show was a little ditty called "Debbie Gibson & the Foolish Chick", based on the parable of building your house on rock and sand. Starring Kimmy Hasha, Hannah, Emily and a special appearance by Matt McG and Algore, it brought the house down.

14A. Paula Maddox
She's was given the 20th Coolest of 2007 rank last year, and I went back and forth as to whether have her appear on this list or not... after all, she did get a rank last year. She was on the list of possible nominees for a Hannah Pruitt Cool Award as well, but I went differently with that.


Here's Paula, singing with a very waxy Celine

Anyway, she's awesome. She was totally my lean-on during the WalkAbout season, and my venting post as well (as she vented to me her own thoughts). I'm proud to call Paula my friend and if WalkAbout opens up to high school as well, as we are discussing, I am excited that she'll be back to help out. Well, she and Melissa Robillard.

13. "American Girl" by Estelle, feat. Kanye West
Take me on a trip I'd like to go someday... take me to New York I'd love to see LA... I really want to come kick it with you, you'll be my American Boy, American Boy.

I really don't care for Kanye West all that much... and whoever Estelle is, I'm not really sure I'll dig on her music all the much either. But this song? Love it? Got played a ton on my iPod this year, and its just cool. Here's the Wiki on it.

12. "Ironman"
Yes, yes, I thought "The Dark Knight" was great. But I am a Marvel fan through and through, so when I found out that Tony Stark would be played by Robert Downey Jr, I was sold. I was eagerly anticipating the film, and was not disappointed at all.

Its got a perfect mix of humor and action, with a great story and effects, and never gets dark and brooding like "The Dark Knight" was. As a matter of fact, I think I liked just about everything about this movie.


In case you didn't stick around after the credits, here's what you missed. Any comic book fan will be elated at this 35 second scene.

Haven't seen the movie? Here's the rundown...
Tony Stark gambles at a Las Vegas casino, leaving his deceased father's friend and business partner, Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) to accept a prestigious award for him. As Stark leaves the casino with his entourage, he is approached by reporter Christine Everhart (Leslie Bibb), whom he charms into a one-night stand at his Malibu house. When she awakens the next morning, she is asked to leave by Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), Stark's personal assistant.

Stark flies off to Afghanistan with his friend and company military liaison, Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes (Terrence Howard), for a demonstration of Stark Industries' new weapon, the "Jericho" cluster missile. On the way back, however, his military convoy is attacked. In the ensuing firefight, his escort is wiped out and Stark himself is knocked unconscious by one of his own company's bombs.

Waking up hours later in an Afghan cave, he discovers an electromagnet embedded in his chest, placed there by fellow captive Dr. Yinsen (Shaun Toub). It is powered by a car battery and keeps shrapnel from working its way to his heart and killing him. Stark has been captured by a terrorist group known as the Ten Rings, whose leader orders him to build a Jericho missile for him.

Instead, during the three months of his captivity, he and Yinsen begin secretly building a crude suit of power armor, powered by a miniature "arc reactor" invented by Tony's father, Howard. Finally, the terrorists grow impatient and give Stark 24 hours to finish. Unfortunately, the armor isn't quite activated when the deadline expires, so Yinsen makes a suicidal attack in a desperate bid to buy time. Once the armor is ready, Stark charges through the caves. Near the entrance, he comes across a dying Yinsen, who tells him not to waste his life. Forever grateful to Yinsen, Stark burns all the munitions the terrorists have accumulated and then flies away, only to crash in the desert. Stark survives, but his suit is in pieces. After being rescued by Rhodes, Stark declares at a press conference that his company will no longer manufacture weapons. Stane tells him shortly thereafter that his decision is being blocked by the board of directors of Stark Industries.

Stark focuses his energies on building an improved version of his power suit, while making an improved arc reactor for his chest. Potts gives Stark a gift: his first miniature reactor encased in glass and bearing the inscription, "Proof that Tony Stark has a heart". (courtesy of the interweb)

See this movie!

11. Joining the VCM
Way back in the day, Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship) had an awesome college ministry. It was called Common Ground, and there were, on any given Sunday morning or a typical Monday Bible study night, anywhere from 25 to 40, maybe more, college and career minded folks. This is the place where I met some of my best friends and most cherish people, like McQ, Valdmanis, Shawn Sharp, Jenn Adams, The Good Doctor Earl, Amy McL and so on...

But over time, and a few various events, things happened here, things happened there, and Common Ground was no more. The subsequent attempt at the college ministry following Common Ground wasn't successful, and for years, our church languished without it. You could go all the way through preschool, grade, middle and high school and have a ton of groups and activities to be involved in. When you are in your 20s and single, or "young married" or beyond, you have tons of things to do. But the gap between high school graduation and your single mid-20s, nothing.

So it was exciting when Philip and Jill Waters, Jillip, was going to re-start the college ministry. The Lovely Steph Leann and I had been reading in our church bulletin that it might be starting up, so in service, I looked over and asked her, "Do you want to help? Should we get involved?"

Sometimes, The Lovely Steph Leann gets excited, sometimes she doesn't, but usually when she is excited, it usually involves choir or singing. Imagine my surprise when she says, "Yes. I think we should go!"

We walked down to the new college ministry room, and were excited a few of the kids there already, along with Jillip, who expressed excitement that we were there.

The Lovely Steph Leann and I talked with the group, and just told how much the ministry had impacted our lives--heck, we met there--and how we wanted it to impact their lives too. Over Christmas, we saw attendence leap up to over 20 per Sunday, and the word was spreading of the fact that Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship) had invested in the college groups.

And so The Lovely Steph Leann and I are here now, in the VCM (Valleydale College Ministry). Its a little sad that we have left the Turnbow class on Sunday mornings, because of how many people there we just love, but we're happy to at least be helping in something that we know is going to grow and make a huge impact! Yay God!

So that leaves 10 more spots. And several events that rank among them... find out the Top 10 Coolest Things of 2008...

Julie Wise & the Facebook Lament

Facebook is a dangerous, dangerous thing. When I started blogging three and a half years ago, leading up to a NYC mission trip, I never imagined the outlets and resources that words typed & written could be read through.

I hopped on MySpace a few years back, mostly because I had come across Amy McL's MySpace page and wanted to make a comment. Well, to comment, I had to have a "page", so I made a page. Probably spent way more time on making the page flashy, but I had nothing else... I couldn't do a Facebook page, because Facebook was only for people who had a college email address, and then it was opened to those who had certain work or "network" email addresses.

And then, one day, the gates of Facebook opened up to one and all, much to the dismay of many who thought it should remained an exclusive club.

I've said this before--I blog to be read. Seriously, I enjoy knowing that people sometimes enjoy what I write. I don't have many talents, if any, so apparently I can do this halfway decent. If I wanted to remain private, I would just use a journal and keep it hidden under the bed. So how do you continually get read? Be entertaining in what you write (I guess this depends on who you ask), blog alot (so there is something for people to check) and advertise.

I started doing that on Facebook last year, typing the web address in my status line, along with an idea of what had just been written, be it Idol recaps, movies, music, whatever... I also had my blogs imported into Facebook, so now anyone who lists me as a "friend" can see just about anything I've written--which isn't all that impressive, because anyone with a computer and some time to kill can head to Clouds in My Coffee and see EVERYTHING I've written.

And therein lies the danger. Back when I first started, when I first began to discuss things like... Troy State... Samson High School... past experiences... former friends turned long lost acquaintances... it was not a big deal. I mean, who's going to read this? I haven't seen Tiffany Abbott in years, so if I gush about my crush on her there, she won't see it, right? Or if I discuss parties and cruises and crazy things in high school involving Jason Smith or Cristie Wright or Shannon Williamson or whoever, I haven't seen any of them in a decade, so what of it?

And what about Angiejay's dismissal of me during our Homecoming dance? Or Susan Ward's mean comment that kinda bugged me for years afterwards? See, for a long time, Tiffany and Jason and Cristie and Shannon and Angiejay and Susan... they weren't even real people. Well, I mean, they were, but not here. They are characters in the story that I happened to be telling at that time. Most of you don't know Tiffany Abbott from Tiffany the Redheaded 80s pop star (though had I dated Tiffany the Redheaded 80s pop star, I would have been 15 at the time, and you'd better believe I'd have told that story.)...

...well, most of you didn't know her. Many of you do now.

Sidenote. When I say "story", I hope you rest assured in the fact that pretty much everything I tell you about the old days is pretty much the truth, or at least the truth as best I can recall it all these years later. So when I tell you the story of The Greg to Diamonds Foundation, where in 8th grade Ryan Frary, Chad Ward, Chris McCall and myself collected money in jars for two weeks to earn enough to buy a diamond ring for Greg Avant to give to Jennifer Lambert so she'd go out with him... that's a true story. Besides, if I said stuff like, "Yeah, I dated Stephanie Phillips and I was prom king with Beverly Day and when I went to college, I went on a mission trip to Belize with The Angel and..." someone would refute that. Especially now. My point is made. And if you think this is all a ploy to invoke as many old names as I can come up with... well, you may be right.

All of this came to mind the other day when none other than Julie Wise joined Facebook. Julie Wise, the tall, frizzy headed beauty that had my glances and my heart (for whatever that was worth in high school) during my junior and senior years, Julie Wise, who've I've referred to as The Official Clouds In My Coffee Samson High School Crush... she now has become techno savvy.

A friend of mine, Staceyfran, stopped by The Happiest Place in the Mall, and we discussed blogging. Her site is here, she's just getting started, so go check it out and give her some feedback. (okay Stac... you may or may not have any traffic, who knows... but now you gotta update in case company comes callin'...) Anyway, I mentioned, in passing, that Julie Wise had now joined Facebook and that I was going to blog about her arrival, and then I stopped to say, "You know, Julie, who..." and she cut me off. "Oh, I know who she is."

And for whatever reason, it just struck me that there's alot that I've said in four years. And who knows who is reading what? I mean, I can't do anything about it now... I'm pretty sure I've made jokes here and there at others expenses, but there again, remember... its almost a comedic characterization. And yes, I can think of one catchphrase in particular that wasn't very nice... I won't even mention it here, for fear of someone on Facebook sending it out, if it hasn't happened already. And I haven't used it in a long, long time. Because up until now, when Mikey or KT or J Rob or Paulie Walnuts read something about Julie Wise, or Angiejay, or Jennifer Herndon or Chris McCall or whoever... its a funny story.

But Facebook connects the freakin' world. For better or for worse. Of course, the simple answer is, "Just remove the blogs from Facebook". Sure. But remember why I blog. To be read. And if I can get 25 page loads per day from people clicking over from Facebook (and I do sometimes, mind you), there's no way I'm taking it down. Doesn't matter now. Too many people have it bookmarked.

So, fellow bloggers, just remember the old creed used by Ferb of "Phineaus & Ferb" fame.... "But the internet is forever."

Oh, for those of you wondering, here's a then (top) and now (bottom) picture of none other than The Official Clouds In My Coffee Samson High School Crush Julie Wise (yes, yes, its "Edberg" now, but it will always be "Wise" to me)


She's gonna go nuts when she sees this...

But believe me when I say this... as Athena-esque as she was then, and as pretty as I still think she is now...

...She's not The Lovely Steph Leann. So I personally think I got the better end of the deal. I wouldn't trade her for all the Julies and Tiffanys and Goddesses and Kate Winslets in all the world, cause she's just that fantastically awesomely lovely. Just sayin'.

Besides, both Julie Wise and I had (I still do, actually) large heads. She sent me a note a few days ago that said: "You know it is good we didn't have those NBA sized head babies..."

Welcome to Facebook... and to Clouds in My Coffee, Julie Wise. I hope you enjoy it.

Mormon Idol!

The final night of audition episodes... next week starts Hollywood Week, one of the most exciting weeks in television--or at least the most exciting weeks in Idol, anyway. But first... we have to get through Salt Lake City, home of Young Archuleta...

THIS IS AMERICAN.

IDOL.

I'm going to the Dollar Theater (it costs a buck to go in, not an actually theater here at The Cabana...) to see "Role Models" again with Mikey at 10pm, which means I leave here around 930, so we'll try to knock this episode out quick enough.

A bajillion people surround the arena hoping to make the Hollywood Round. No doubt many are married. Multiple times. Ha! Bigamy jokes never get old.

Once again, The Lovely Steph Leann miss Idol, as she's in Atlanta again, coming back tomorrow.

David Osmond is the son of Allen Osmond, the oldest of the Osmond Brothers group, from the old school days. And yes, Donny Osmond is in there somewhere. I think I used to have a crush on Marie Osmond for like, a day or something. Anyhow, toss an Osmond on the screen, and you have a backstory, this one being about how David has multiple sclerosis, and used to be in a wheelchair. Dad is on screen, almost in tears about how proud he is of his boy. Yikes. This is a heart breaker completely.

"Something Within Me" by Take 6 is his song. He sounds pretty good--I can't imagine him not making it, after all that kind of backstory. Paula gets onto him for not picking a song that he could sing solo, instead of the group song he picked.

Holy crap... they are actually leading us to believe he may not make it.

And he comes out with a golden ticket. Whew.

Time for the next audition, and we have Tara Mathews, who proclaims herself as Salt Lake's only goth chick. She's one of those people who should not be wearing what she's wearing. Look, some of us are blessed with figures that great clothes flatter, some of us don't. Just accept who you are. And dress like it.

She says she as ESP. She's singing "One Day I'll Fly Away" from the Moulin Rouge soundtrack. Simon says, "Does it tell you you're going to win?" and she says, "I don't know, but I think so." And then she starts singing. Or howling. Or screeching. "One day I'll flyyyyy awaaayyy..." and Simon says, "I hope pretty soon."

All around the venue, contestants are practicing, and some sound terrible. Like the one trying to destroy "Last Night" by Carrie Underwood, or the chick yelling, "I'm gorgeous" or the welfare Kenny G singing something Motown. He's cross eyed and he licks his lips. I just threw up in my mouth.

So this guy is handing out with a friend in a pink bunny suit. A guy. In a bunny suit. The guy, Chris, comes in wearing a Simon shirt, holding a Simon sign/fan. Greg the Pink Rabbit comes in. Chris Kirkham does, "Roll to Me" by Del Amitri, and really, its not that bad. The judges stop him and make Greg the Bunny leave the stage. He starts two notes of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", and the judges stop him and tell him no.

I think that it might have actually worked if not for the Greg the Bunny thing going on.

Alrighty... that last line was written at 903pm. In between then and now, which is 1214am, I ended up in a conversation with Paula Maddox, the 20th Coolest of 2007, and The Clouds in My Coffee Official Troy State Crush Tiffany Abbott, then had to answer a note from The Clouds in My Coffee Official Samson High Crush Julie Wise (who just joined Facebook, by the way... I'm totally going to talk about this soon), then I realized it was 930, so I had to race out the door and down the road to the dollar theater to meet up with Mikey for the movie that I mentioned earlier... sheesh...

Well, now, I'm back. And...

THIS IS

(still)

AMERICAN IDOL!!!

I figure its a show from Salt Lake City, so why not have 2 parts to it, instead of just 1? Hah! Bigamy! Its all the rage in the comedian circles!

Here's the montage of "No" and "No way" and "terrible" for our viewers. Lots of people who graciously bow out with a "thank you", and exit. Very nice. Because its going so "nice" for people who aren't making it, Seacrest encourages the crowd to not take no for an answer. Oh, Seacrest, you pot stirrer.

Single mom Frankie who was "definitely born to do this". Aren't they all? She's been "visualizing it, and am pretty sure I'm going to go through". Of course, she's been singing all her life. There is nothing else she'd rather do. And...

...wow. Very, very good. Very sultry, very crisp. I don't know "crisp" even means, but it sounds good, just like her. I have no idea what she's singing, cause she mumbled through the song title... it might be Amy Winehouse? Yes, I just googled the lyrics, its "You Know I'm No Good" by Winehouse. Only Frankie doesn't have the disgusting beehive, eye shadow and drug issues. Frankie goes to Hollywood, relax.

Megan has a backstory, an arm full of Carly Smithson tattoos, a 2 year old named Ryder (?!) and now an ex-husband. She even gets a "World I Know" Collective Soul tune over her video. She looks like her arm fell into an ink blot. She's going to take on "Can't Help Lovin' that Man of Mine", whoever sings that.

I think I like Megan better than Frankie. Two in a row, go Idol! Randy kinda likes her, Paula likes, borderline loves her, Simon says she's original and loved her. Kara says she glows, and is all about some Megan.

There's a hot streak now, where one contestant after another heads to Hollywood... that ends with Andrew Gibson's bad bass and terrible high note. He's got a soul vibe and a bad acne issue. It's a big no.

Austin Sisneros is the Riverton (Utah) High School senior class president. He's planning for homecoming. He's auditioning to inspire people. Aw, the problems of the young. We even see a video of him walking the halls with his four wives-to-be (its good he didn't marry them, cause they are in high school... he's just dating them) "When I Look to the Sky" by Train is his song. He does so-so, and offers up to sing Raffi's "It Takes a Village". I thought Hillary Clinton wrote that song.

Randy likes the voice, but doesn't like the song choices... but says yes. Kara says yes. Paula believes in him. Simon just says, "You're going to Hollywood with four yes'".

Seacrest is standing on a ridge, pointing out the filming site of High School Musical, full of joy and happiness... and then we see the Montage of Tears. The Montage of "I Should Be the American Idol". The Montage of "They Don't Know What They are Talking About".

Jarrett Burns takes on Corinne Bailey Rae's "Put Your Record On", which is a billion times better than the next three or four people they quickly show.

Next we have a chick who's 5'11 flat footed, over 6 feet in heels. She's an Amazon! A Glamazon if you will... her name is Taylor, and she's from Utah, and Randy says she reminds him of Jordin Sparks. She takes on "Joyful Joyful" and hey, not too bad. Reminds me of Lauren Hill's version in "Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit", in one of the greatest musical scenes ever.


Great musical number...

They love her. Welcome to Hollywood. She's actually tall enough to be two wives for some Utah guy.

And the end of the show backstory (there always is one, usually a hardship story involving tears) belongs to Rose Flack, 17, from Rathdrum, Idaho. Rose is living with her friend's family, because her dad died years ago. She holds a pic of her dad up, and... tears. You knew it was coming. A few years later, Mom dies in a car wreck... holy crap, Idol, what are you doing here? Geez...

She's really pretty, in a Gwen Stefani sort of way, like funky hippychick cool. I'm hoping she's good... she, of course, says this audition is the "determination of the rest of her life". That's lots of pressure.

"I Feel the Earth Move" by Carole King is her song. And she's good... thank you! She smiles like Keira Knightly, but ten times better because I don't think Keira is all that good looking--Rose is very cute.

Paula says to work on the vocals, but yes. Randy says she has a cool vibe, so yes. Simon says it wasn't the best audition, but she was memorable. Kara says yes too, so Young Rose is off to Hollywood. I hope they build you a strong ship, Young Rose.

A dozen people are headed to Hollywood from Salt Lake City, and as far as we know, none are married to each other.

Wait, what? What? Tomorrow night? New York and San Juan, Puerto Rico in another Idol show? What the...? Holy crap... I have to blog another night about Idol this week? Well, Mindy D'A demands it, so I guess that's a yes.

I love the previews for Hollywood week... its always the "most tense week ever", and "some will fight, some will fall, others will rise" and "but to survive Hollywood Week, they'll have to survive each other!"

And we end with Simon looking at some notes and simply saying, "Didn't like you then, don't like you now..."

Another Cuppa Coffee

Well, hello there.

Are you new? Well, first, let me welcome you to my, d$, blogpage. This was starting in June of 2005 to chronicle a mission trip to NYC, and I thought, "What the heck, why not just keep writing it?" And a few years, over 40,000 hits and over 600 posts later, here I am still... in fact, July 2010 will make five whole years of blogging, something I never thought I would get to... but, here I am still. 

What is this page about? Anything. Everything. Nothing. All at the same time.

Its about pop culture... God... music... movies... friends... family... thoughts... dreams... hopes... adventures... experiences... television... books... links... food... fashion (uh, right)... football... baseball... travelin'... wrasslin'... politics (which, I'm usually right, so I tend not to discuss too much)...

Its about Troy University (go Trojans!)... Samson High School (go Tigers!)... Toni Rocki Honda... The Former Happiest Place in the Mall... Starbucks... sweet potato casserole... my love of Sharpies... The Rock... my mancrush on The Rock... WalkAbout...

Some of the people you'll read about include my wife, The Lovely Steph Leann... Mikey... MZ... Little Sister Ashley... McQ... The Deuce... My Best Mate Wookiee... DeNick & DeLisa... friends like S'ray and C'ray... Tiffany Abbott (the Official Clouds in My Coffee College Crush)... Julie Wise (the Official Clouds in My Coffee High School Crush)... Brad Latta (the Official Ombudsman of Clouds in My Coffee)... Tommy Mac and Amy Mac... The Goddess... Amy Adams, whom I'm in love with... and more. Much more.

To the right, I've tried to assemble a list and collection of links that I use and enjoy, and that I hope you will too.

Its always a work in progress, and I'll be making more changes but I invite you to become an official Clouds in My Coffee Drinker--just click on the right side. It will make you a "follower", but that sounds so... well, cult like. It's not like I'm Obama or anything.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the tweaked site, I hope you let me know what you think and I hope that I can be a page you check frequently!


How can you not love a site written by this guy? Seriously? This is a face that says, "Hey, read my site!"

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.

The Happiest Thoughts in the Mall

For research purposes, really, I tried watching Hannah Montana the other night. Not only did I feel sort of creepy, the show wasn't really that funny. I know, I know, I shouldn't be expecting Emmy worthy acting, but still, Billy Ray Cyrus is a pretty terrible actor. How he made all those years of "Doc" on PaxTV (now ION) is beyond me.

Miley Cyrus... I can't look at her without thinking Courtney, one of my WalkAbout alumni. She and Miley look much alike, though truly, Courtney is and will be much prettier. And with her mom, Paula, I don't expect many Vanity Fair cover shoots in Courtney's future.


If your a 15 year old boy, what do you do? One is richer. One is prettier. The answer? You do nothing because, alas, both are out of your league.

Also watched The Wizards of Waverly Place. Thought it was rather funny, actually. The whole concept is that there are this family of Hispanic kids who are also wizards, and they are in training to take some life test (which I can only assume will be in the final episodes of the series). Now, while the show is also poorly acted, it was still rather clever.

Watched the cartoon Phineaus & Ferb... now this show is hilarious. Two step brothers who go one impossibly ridiculous missions (Hey Ferb, they closed the mini-golf course! Let's just build our own! I'll get the crane), their sister Candice, who's life mission it is to get them in trouble, and Perry the Platypus, who is not only Phineaus & Ferb's pet, he's also a secret agent--Agent P. Ridiculous, but its quite clever. It might be worth the whole episode just to hear Ferb speak.

Weirdest feeling, ever... walking through the mall, towards the food court, and glancing over to see one of your middle school students in Victoria's Secret. I shuddered. I threw up in my mouth. I ducked the Dateline crew, headed towards Libby Lu, and went to lunch.

Let me answer the question that is on everyone's... okay, well not everyone's, but many people's minds. Okay, maybe not many people, but a few have asked...

"How are things at The Happiest Place in the Mall???"

And my answer typically is... "Magical."

The truth is, it has been magical. Its been wonderful. Its been so great to not wake up three or four times per week at 4am, or get home at almost 11pm. Its been great watching the kids play, or trying out the new Wall-E foam rocket launcher, or tossing the Power Rangers soccer ball around with another Cast Member, or even doing stock in the back, which is like Christmas sometimes.

The challenge is, that The Happiest Place in the Mall recieves anywhere from 40 to 100 packages of shipment... per day. Per day. And our backroom is not very big. So many a'day I am out there, sweat pouring off my face, box cutter in my hand, cardboard stacked around me, opening up Mickey Lunchtotes, or Cinderella backpacks, or Dalmation snowglobe tumblers, or whatever. So, the organizational skills come in handy.

There is alot to learn, though. The cash register is not as up to date as I'm used to, with Starbucks's systems. So, doing a refund is alot of work sometimes, but I'm getting it. The Cast Members are great--I've taking a liking to Audrey, whom I've enjoyed picking on (those of you who know me know if you get picked at, that means I genuinely like you) and our managers have been very welcoming and helpful and gracious. Another I've taken a liking to is Crystal, whom I've worked with several times, is great on the floor as well.

There are several I haven't worked with, or worked with much to get an impression of, but I'm usually pretty good at reading people. I tossed a beachball at one girl, not aggressively, not mean, just fluttered it up playfully. She swung wildly and tried to duck and looked affronted. I could see I had to be on eggshells around her.

Of course, there's Stephanie... not The Lovely Steph Leann, mind you, but another Stephanie, that I really need to come up with a nickname for, if she's going to make the blog on a regular basis. I thought of "My Friend Stephanie", only I had a feeling that most people wouldn't remember that as the name of a Christian rock band from about 14 years ago. I'll come up with something. Anyway, she's just a... well, a really cool chick.

The other day I was back at Plush Mountain, the big pile of stuffed characters--which sits on a shelf, mind you, so don't let any child just run and jump it, because they could hurt themselves--and I was straightening a rack... this cute little girl, maybe three or four, comes running up. She stops, suddenly, and stares, open mouthed at what must seem like a fifty foot high mountain of Mickey, Minnie, Nemo and all her favorites. She then yells, "MOMMY!!! I'VE HIT THE JACKPOT!!" It was precious.

I frequently see friends of mine come into The Happiest Place In The Mall. Jeremy Jones, and his wife Chrystal, came in last week. Got to say hello to them, and their two little girls. Not too long after that, here comes Vaughn Barron, and his wife Currie, and their kids. A day or so later, I see Jaime Echols... all friends of mine from college. A few days ago, I get a message from Tiffany Abbott McCauley, saying she's swinging through The Ham, and wanted to stop in and say hello. So she did, she did, and it was awesome.


This is Tiffany and me, after 12 years of not seeing each other. She hasn't really changed much since Troy. By the way, you can see another version of this pic, with a better pic of me, in my Facebook "Me and..." album. Now, if I could just get The Angel to come visit.

Perhaps its just the "honeymoon" period, because I did have that at my last Starbucks store. Leaving there was difficult, but I think it was the right time. I'm working now, part time, at Starbucks in Homewood, the SoHo area (stands for So Homewood). Its a beautiful store, and its a shame its closing too. I was there last Tuesday night, and at that point, had gone about 13 days without making a single drink--the longest such drought since I started in 2003.

I stood there, behind the counter, steamed milk pitcher in one hand, making a latte, and it felt... strange. This wasn't Vestavia, this wasn't 280, this wasn't Cahaba, this wasn't 20th Street... this was a different store, but not only that, this was a different role. I'm not manager, I'm not assistant manager and I'm trying not to be either. I'm just a simple barista making a simple drink. And it was so freeing. I was just able to make drinks and not worry about anything else.

Where was I? Yes, The Happiest Place in the Mall. Did you know that Christopher Robin has been replaced? I'm rather torn by this, because while I was never a CR fan, he's been there a long, long time. My guess is, he grew up and left 100 Acre Wood, because they have this chick named Darby there now. I haven't gotten used to Darby yet. I'm currently watching her and the Pooh crew in "My Friends Tigger & Pooh", and the animation is weird. Its not 2D animation, and its sort of CGI... like, cheap CGI, I think.

I've got a button on my Facebook page with Pooh on it. He's dressed all gangsta, and the caption says, "Tigga, Please". Its hilarious.

Saturday night was my 33rd Birthday Extravaganza, and you can tell you are getting older when the party is over around 930 or 10. Lil' Sister Ashley stayed until about 1030, watching the Olympics with The Lovely Steph Leann and myself, then left. We were just getting up to go to bed, around 1105, when I flipped the channel to The Happiest Channel on Cable, and Camp Rock was on.

I've been meaning to watch Camp Rock for a week or so now, having it on DVR, because we're currently pre-selling the DVD.... only 19.95, and you get the Jonas Brothers folder set that you can't buy in stores, plus a 15% off coupon you can use... but we kept it on. And maybe it was because we were tired, maybe it was because The Lovely Steph Leann took a liking to Joe Jonas, maybe it was because I took a creepy glance at Meaghan Jette Martin... for whatever reason, we stayed up to watch the whole thing.

And its rather fun. There weren't as many songs as I thought, and most of them fit into the movie (rather that just randomly bursting out in song, like we do in real life). Some of the songs i knew already, having heard them about 13,000 times in The Happiest Place in the Mall.

Well, its time to go get ready to make smiles!

The Facebook Connection

So, on Facebook, somehow I've managed to find almost everyone that I ever met. Well, actually, I've met a ton of people, so the 508 people whom I call friend on Facebook probably doesn't come close to the amount of people I've met in real life.

That being said, its like the last few weeks, long lost acquaintances, crushes, bro's, then-BFFs, high school mates and more have found me. Or I have found them. Here's who I've been in contact with--keep in mind, there is one guy and seven girls on this list, of which I only wanted to date one (maybe two, if you count Cristie...), three more were just visions and two more were good friends, but keep in mind I've already posted about finding Bobby Black and my Samson buddy Chris McCall...

Tiffany Abbott. She was my Julie Wise in college. Had a huge crush on her my freshman year. But she had a boyfriend. For whatever reason. Anyway, I was watching Ricki Lake (loved me some Ricki back in the day) and they put a call out for "Do You Have Feelings For Someone Who Is With Someone Else?", so naturally... I called. Left a voicemail about this hot chick named Tiffany. Two weeks later, they totally called back and asked if I wanted to be on the show. She's married to Kirk McCauley now, and has several rugrats.

Blair Andress. He and I talked more over Facebook in the last few weeks than we may have talked in several years at Troy. A fraternity brother of mine, we swapped stories about some of the chicks that you'll read about in this post. He went out with Tiffany once, and his car exploded. Interesting story. He's married to Miranda, has a blog, and has kids of his own. (just checked out his new blog... he's got a freakin' video intro. All I have is music right now. Dang it.)

Dayla Ellison. We were friends for about two years, my freshman and sophomore years... and suddenly, she wasn't there anymore. Well, she went to Auburn. Got married. Had kids. Saw her the other day for the first time in 13 years. She married Ben Baugh, and has three children.

Heather "The Angel" Hanson. I nicknamed her the Angel, because if I remember correctly, there was heavenly singing and glorious light around her head when she talked to me. Maybe I'm just remembering that wrong... I was an impressionable, single 19 year old boy. I mentioned a few days ago that she's also got a blog, which you can find under "Dave's Fave Blogs" on the right, or click here.

What's my favorite Heather story involving journalism, mud, boxers and college, you ask?... so, one day, I'm trying to get to class. I have a journalism class with McKerrell, and YOU DO NOT miss his classes. Simple as that. I'm racing across Troy's beautiful campus, and I'm faced with a dilemma. I can go down to the end of the sidewalk and down the staircase, or I can just go straight down this hill here in front of me. Of course, its been raining all day, but hey, I'm gonna be late.

So, down the hill I go. And after a second, my foot slips, and down I go. Into the mud. Of course, everyone who sees it is laughing, and frankly, I don't care, because I would laugh my head off at someone else. I pop up, and run into the building, and up the three flights of steps. I dash into the bathroom to assess the damage, and realize I'm filthy. I mean, from my ankles to the middle of my back, I'm covered in mud, and my backpack is destroyed. But I re-iterate... you do not miss McK's classes. And I cannot be sitting in the nice, plush chairs like this. So, what can I do? I strip off my shorts and my shirt, leaving me in my white undershirt and purple striped boxers and shoes and socks. Then, I dash off to class.

As I walk in (right on time, natch), McK looks at me. "David Dollar? Are you in your boxer shorts?" I reply, walking by to my workstation, "Yep. I don't miss class for something like mud." I plop my stuff down at my computer, which happens to be directly across from The Angel herself--as in, if there were no computers, we'd be staring at each other. She looks around her computer with a curious glance, "Dave... are you really wearing boxer shorts?" Not looking, staring at my own computer, I nod, "Yep." She stares at me for a moment, "With nothing under them?" and I finally look at her, "Yep. And as long as you don't flirt with me, we'll be just fine here, Heather." She gives me a chuckle and disappears behind her monitor.

True story. I kid you not.

By the way, I had to walk across campus to our BCM to get to my car, so I could go home and change... well, put clothes on. I had almost made it, when Mike Connor yells at me from across the quad, "David Dollar!! Are you walking around in your boxer shorts????" Looking around to see him, and the 88 other people between us, I just yell, "Yep! Quite drafty!" Years later, when Gordon McKerrell retired, he gave his Top Ten Most Memorable Moments of his Troy career. Amidst the jailed students, drunken parties and Chris Hansen moments, I ranked 3rd. The Lovely Steph Leann caught her quite a man.

Spring Tolson. Now, if Tiffany was my achievable crush, and Heather was just An Angel, then Spring Tolson was my upperclassman-out-of-my-league-entirely goddess before I knew who The Goddess was. I was a freshman, and when you are 18 years old, there is something almost mythical, or even Athena like about a senior, especially a Kappa Delta and gorgeous.

As a freshman, I had a habit of carrying BreathSavers. I would actually get them at Sam's, and would have some in my pocket, because I believe that good breath is good to have, and at certain, unexpected moments, its vital. Like, the one day I had finished a good lunch at The Adams Center with my friend Bobby Black, Miranda Bryant and Mandy Stewart and was off to check my mail. As I was leaving, I popped in a BreathSaver... not just a wintergreen, mind you, but because I was feeling quite happy, I tossed in The Rolls Royce of BreathSavers, The Vanilla Mint.

Without a care in the world, I'm strolling through, when, around the corner, I practically run into Spring Tolson. Like, it might have been the only time we actually had contact. She knew my name, cause honestly, everyone knew who I was... not that I was "all that" but I just knew a lot of people.

Once, Big Wookiee and I were strolling across campus to our cars at the BCM, and when we arrived, he looked at me and said, "I don't like walking with you." Bewildered, I asked, "Really? Whats wrong?" He smirks and says, "Cause, dude, it takes forever. You know, like, everyone, and they all stop and talk to you." Where was I?

Oh, there I am, standing toe to toe with SPRING TOLSON. Perhaps she shared heavenly light and angelic choruses with The Angel (I met Spring a year before I met Heather, so who knows). Anyway, the Kappa Delta says hello, and tells me sorry for running into her, which I respond with Hi Spring and that it was my fault. We stood talking for about ten minutes, and honestly, I don't know what we talked about, nor do I even care. I was just happy to be on Spring Tolson's radar. Now she's Spring McKinley, and taught at Oak Mountain for several year--enough to know and have taught several of my kids from Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship).

Rona Mock. We had a very small youth group at Samson's First Assembly, or as I like to call it, The House O'Hypocrisy, Dancin' and Universal Tongue Speakin'. (this is an entirely different post, by the way). In this youth group is Chris McCall, Philip Norwood, Doug McCall and Rona Mock, and sometimes Amy Johnson.

Rona and I were just good friends. She wrote a whole page in my yearbook. I helped spearhead the romance between she and Ryan Hutchison (who up until that time also had a thing for Julie Wise--maybe I hooked them up to rid myself of the competition, though Jody Linton still loomed.. again, and entirely different post). I graduated, went to college, she graduated some years later, went to a different college, she married Ryan, I saw her and Ryan at an Auburn bookstore somewhere circa 2000, and that was that. Then, suddenly, she pops up on MySpace, then on Facebook. Apparently, she and Ryan are living here in Birmingham. Currently, I'm working on plans to meet up.

Cristie Wright. Another close friend from high school. Yet again, an entirely different post. We'll stop there.

Dixon Brock. Got a short list of people that I want to find via Facebook or MySpace, and let me just say that Dixon was near the top. We were tight in my later years in college, and though we found each other to be fairly cute and awesome, we never had the slightest inclination in dating. We just talked and chatted and hung out and I even spent a completely-non-romantic-just-buddies weekend with her at her home at the beach in Mobile... Fairhope... wherever.

And one day I find Dayla Ellison online. And a few days later, I find Dixon Brock. And my heart just warmed, because she's so great. She's married with kids too.

There are many left I'd love to catch up with. Melanie Jackson is one. My freshman groupies Miranda Bryant, Allison Hodnett and Mandy Stewart are others. But now that Dixon Brock has been located, I can mark her off my Top Three, which still includes Troy McConnell and Amy Alexander.

FYI... the only reason pics of Blair, Dayla, Dixon, Cristie, Rona and Heather are not online RIGHT NOW is because my scanner isn't working. When it does, they will be posted. Be afraid. Be very afraid. To some, including myself, the early to mid-90s were not kind to people. Spring Tolson, you're off the hook. No pics. I was too intimidated to take any.

FFYI... while typing this blog, out of the blue, Jon Chancey from FarmHouse contacts me. Facebook is taking over the whole world.