for the love...

fun at Wal-Mart

2009-01-31T11:17:00.007-06:00

foot warmers with dog heads, $3.00 clearance

required safety warning, absolutely priceless

I've waited my whole life to say this

2009-01-01T12:54:00.004-06:00

This is the year I plan my wedding :)

August 8th, 2009

219 days... and counting!

if you only knew

2008-09-17T13:14:00.002-05:00

I still want the mac & cheese
and I don't like the way I smell today.
It reminds me of when I was unemployed 7 years ago
...must have been what I was wearing then.

weird.

St. Louis in the palm of our hands...

2008-08-09T12:44:00.001-05:00

not that big...
Originally uploaded by Emily Ramsey

Highlights from our trip to St. Louis:

Nancy Magellan - our personal GPS navigational instructor.
Driving into St. Louis for the first time and seeing the Arch in the distance
The Gateway Arch, baby!!
Riding the pod to the top of the arch
Lacledes Landing
Our waitress at Pujols 5 who refers all her customers to Ozzie's for darts, even though the restaurant she works at also has darts.
Ted Drewes frozen custard
Lemp Mansion (not really haunted, but the wait staff might be a little posessed)
The Hill! (Cunetto House of Pasta & Ragazzi's)
Page Boulevard... what?
Driving all over St. Louis
Driving the entire distance of the state of MO from St. Louis to KC
Seeing 40 states on license plates along the way (including Hawaii & Alaska)
Watching the Red Sox embarass the hometeam Royals. Booyah!
Gates BBQ
Not knowing how to order anything at Gates BBQ
Union Station
Mud Pie at the Landing...was that chocolate ice cream?
Looking for 52 states

Check out more pictures at Flickr ------>

2008-07-05T08:58:00.003-05:00

I logged on to Blogger this morning to see if this thing was still here. I am surprised to find that not only do I remember my password, but my password remembers me.

So how was everyone's Fourth of July yesterday? Mine was a little piece of perfect. We got up early (earlier than I get up for work, and on my extra day off!!) and skipped over to the Maryland Farms YMCA to join about 1300+ runners at the Cadillac Firecracker 5k. It was so fun! I haven't run a 5k in about 6 years. I enjoyed this one being on July 4th... we started with a prayer and the National Anthem, and then we were off! My time?? Embarrassing by most runner's standards and experience, but I was happy that I ran the whole thing without stopping in 30 minutes.

For lunch we grilled tilapia, swordfish, chicken, burgers, etc...

Then after an hour and half nap (I needed it after getting up at 5:38 and running), we took in a Sounds game. I haven't been to one of those in a couple of years either. This seemed to me to be the perfect thing to do on July 4th. America's past-time...corndogs...icecream served in a mini basball cap... fireworks... and then sitting in an enclosed parking cage for an hour while 500 cars try to squeeze out of one exit... receiving verbal obscenities from other drivers in the parking cage. Ahhh...America!

Next year we're parking a mile away and walking to the game.

Capture Music City

2008-05-16T09:36:00.002-05:00

Go here. Vote for my stuff. Add your own stuff. Ask me to vote for it.

Thanks. And thanks to Chris for the tip. Go vote for his stuff too.

twitter this

2008-03-09T15:34:00.001-06:00

I am now addicted to Netflix.

Is there a group for this on Facebook?

just because I want to make you salivate

2008-03-08T14:42:00.001-06:00

On the menu for this cold and snowy day:

Breakfast ~
Blueberry pancakes with maple syrup, turkey bacon fried crisp, and a bottomless pot of cinnamon spice coffee with vanilla caramel cream.

Mid afternoon snack~
finish up the blueberry pancakes (the bacon was gone hours ago...). Did I mention the coffee pot was bottomless?

Dinner~
Venison chili slow cooked in crock pot with chopped onions, tomato paste, crushed chili tomatos, red wine vinegar, garlic, chili powder, oregano, cloves, basil, thyme, and cracked salt & pepper to taste. Served over a bed of mixed shredded cheeses and fritos.

Dinner beverage ~
Mulled Apple Cider served chilled in wine glass

Dessert ~
Cheesecake Fudge-Brownie Swirl ice cream

Directions to my house ~
Purposefully not provided

a Susan B. Anthony would have been nice

2008-02-23T07:05:00.003-06:00

This morning my dog Roxy pooped a penny.

I had no idea she could do that.

Unfortunately, due to certain, uh, conditions, I could not tell if it landed heads or tails. (insert joke here). Regardless, I am guessing I have one lucky pet.

I'm trying not to get too excited... but I could be on to something here. I have asked her to try for a nickel tomorrow. I don't want to hope for too much too soon. You know. No need to get greedy.

TODAY ONLY! Liveblogging my own personal thoughts:

2008-02-19T10:27:00.002-06:00

.....

too cool

2008-02-16T14:57:00.002-06:00

Feb 16, 2008 12:36 PM

Subject:

RE: iTunes??

Body:

Hey Emily! I made 'Drive Slow' available as a free download on myspace for you guys. The album comes out March 5th on iTunes and all other digital download services. You can also download it from tikilewis.com right now. I have a store on there. Thank you so much for writing in. Currently working on the whole touring thing. I would love to play nashville.

t

----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: Emily
Date: Feb 16, 2008 6:43 AM

Hey Tiki!
I happened to catch your song drive slow on Good Morning America today. I LOVED it! Will your stuff ever be available on iTunes? Will you be playing Nashville anytime soon?

thanks from your new fan,
Emily

my kind of song

2008-02-16T08:52:00.002-06:00

I heard this song this morning on Good Morning America. It was one of those songs that just grabbed me... you know the kind. I went online to look up the artist and this is what I found:

It's by a girl named Tiki Lewis. She's not on iTunes, so I sent her a MySpace message asking when she'll have this song and others available for download. I know that might sound crazy, but it's worked in the past. Once I sent a message to Peter Bradley Adams. His song Los Angeles was the last song I can remember in recent days that has done this 'grab' phenomenon thing to me. He wrote back and said it was coming. I now have it on my iPod. Check it out (and this one too of course) if you want to know what I'm talking about.

Drive Slow by Tiki Lewis

There is a place I know
Where the people are alone
They hide behind their cars and clothes
And shine their broken halo's

They lay awake at night and think
while their lovers fast asleep
thinking how its suppose to be
as years pass by so quickly

So drive slow, drive slow
steady yourself don't let go.
Lay your burdens down
and lighten your load
drive slow, drive slow

Ooh I went to the house I grew up in
like walking through a coffin
My memories foggy in this hollow space
This disbelief I can't erase.

So drive slow, drive slow
steady yourself don't let go.
Lay your burdens down
and lighten your load
drive slow, drive slow

In a town like this lord only knows
why you hold on when you should be letting go
And we all grow up but we never get old...singing

So drive slow, drive slow
steady yourself don't let go.
Lay your burdens down
and lighten your load
drive slow, drive slow

In a town like this I thought you should know that
I've moved on but I'll never let go
And as I go down this winding road
I'll drive slow.

no love for NIU?

2008-02-15T15:06:00.000-06:00

This post is simply meant to be a question to cast out into the internets. No judgment is passing, no intended social commentary nestled between the lines. Just curiosity that has momentarily struck me in light of current events.

I expected yesterday, and then again today, to turn on my computer, open my feed reader and see an explosion of commentary on the shootings at NIU. But what I found instead was... nothing. Am I missing something? Did I miss your post? I admit I have dwindled my reader down to the bare and most notable of my minimum - a skinny 34 feeds reside in my Bloglines.

I find it strange that no one in my blog circle (selective as it may be) has written anything about the shootings at NIU. Maybe its the same reason I also have not...but then I didn't blog about the shootings at Virginia Tech last year either. Personally I don't feel as connected to this school as I do to Tech. But all the same, there was a LOT of blogging about it last year. And I know there are a lot of people who ARE connected to NIU, even here in Nashville. Last year there were constant updates and even webpage ribbons. This time is different. Is it because not as many died? Is it because we're over it? No matter what the reason is.. I just thought I'd send out the question. Comment as you like.

I just think it's strange that I see more blog love on and for a day that comes every year on 2/14 than I see for a school that is experiencing one of the worst days it's ever known, and hopefully ever will know.

Read one memorial here

late, but introducing....

2008-01-27T07:24:00.000-06:00

my latest adult venture...

...parent to puppy.

This is Roxy and she is a sharpei-mix stray that I rescued from the (sub)urban streets of the night.

Yah, really.

I love her even though she is a sass-punk.

You can read all about her latest (ad)ventures on my Facebook. Yah, I joined that too. I had to do something sem-juvenile to correct the imbalance of being 'too adult'.

for dad on his birthday

2008-01-09T08:00:00.000-06:00

Make a postcard - it's easy!

he's 3!

2007-11-02T07:06:00.000-06:00

My baby nephew is 3 today...
Problem: I have been unable to locate the 'stop growing' button. Has anyone else found one on any of theirs?
Good news is he's still cute.

Happy Birthday Boo!
love,
Money

happy halloween!

2007-10-31T08:06:00.000-06:00

they come in 3s

2007-10-02T10:33:00.000-05:00

My apologies for not posting for a while. Let me summarize my explanation & the recent happenings of my life in 3 bullet points:

* New house

* New dog

* New guy

'nuff said.

Apparently though, I've been memed. So I'll try to get that up here this week. I'm not even crossing my fingers as I type that... that would be a great accomplishment though if I could pull that off.

Big Sarge, the story man

2007-09-16T20:04:00.000-05:00

One of the the most influential people I met during my trip to Panama was Big Sarge. He was one of our translators, a native to Panama, and as his name suggests, a former Sargent in the Panamanian military.

On the first morning of our trip, Big Sarge came up to our breakfast table and told us a story about some of the more 'traditional' Panamanian tribes. He told us how the culture of the female tribe members was such that they did not wear 'anything up here' (as he motioned over his chest). One of my favorite quotes of the entire trip came from this man, and it goes a little something like this, "when the ladies go a-walkin', their breast go a-knockin'... if you are hot (because it is ALWAYS hot in Panama), they will fan you!" And then he did a little shimmy dance, and walked away.

Oh yes, yes he did.

Big Sarge had a lot of funny stories and insights into Panamanian culture, but there is one thing that has stuck with me above and beyond his impressions of tribal women. It is his new name. Before 'Sarge' was Sarge, I do not know the name he went by. But he told us that he found his faith in the Lord while he served in the military as a Sargent. It was at that point that Jack - the director of Latin American Missions, gave him his new name: Big Sarge. He said he liked it and wanted to be called only by that name from then on, because it reminded him of his new life. He had become a new creation and no longer wanted to be affiliated with his old life, only the life he knew as a follower of Christ.

The nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow. Isaiah 62:2

thoughts from communion this morning

2007-09-16T19:59:00.000-05:00

This is My body broken for them. I will be broken so they may be whole.

This is My blood poured out to cover them. In the place of their sin, may He see His Son.

quote of the week

2007-09-01T15:14:00.000-05:00

Last Monday at work we got a collective and non-directed-at-any-one-person-because-we-don't-want-to-call-anyone-out hand slap.
A couple of our computers had contracted a virus and the company now feels compelled to begin blocking certain sites in order to prevent more severe like-occurrences.

One of our sales guys is in charge of the IT decisions. What can I say, we're all about cross-training.

So he says in our Monday morning staff meeting..."we've had some people going on some of the sites that are out there like Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo... and Myface."

I inadvertently laughed out loud. Yet, he didn't skip a beat, and he didn't even crack a smile.

He was serious.

It was cute.

I just wonder if they're also going to block Spacebook...

dated

2007-09-01T15:00:00.000-05:00

It's official. My super-sweet Canon 30D is no longer cutting edge, state of the art, newest phat cat in town.

This is.

I knew it was going to happen. I knew it would happen in September. And I'm really not one to have to have the newest and the best of anything...

..but it was fun while it lasted.

Don't get me wrong. In the six months that I've had my camera, we have bonded as only photographer and camera can. I still heart this digital wonder, and I always will.

*sigh*

aaaannnndd......I'm over it.

Onward.

my friends are funny

2007-08-31T06:58:00.000-05:00

what do you mean you don't understand? I said it in plain Spanish...

2007-08-30T11:09:00.000-05:00

I have one of those page-a-day desk calanders. It is called Living Language/Spanish, and it teaches me a spanish word and phrase-a-day. I've noticed a trend over the last 8 months that I'd like to impart.

Ya casi no existen pizarras negras.

No se? Let me translate: "There are almost no black blackboards left."

Umm... really? And not "really?" in response to the above statement, but "really?" in response to: Are you seriously wasting a 4x4 piece of paper on a phrase I will NEVER USE?

This is not an isolated incident either. Notice that earlier I used the word, "trend".

I want my money back.

in the red

2007-08-23T11:50:00.000-05:00

Let me just start by saying I have always been incredibly responsible with my finances.

And without getting into too much detail, I TOTALLY overdrafted my account last weekend.

By $2500 dollars.

Yah - it was the furniture.

But in my defense, I HAD the money. It was just in a different account. It only needed to be transferred. I made said purchase on a Sunday. NOTHING clears on a Sunday. NOTHING clears same-day...

Curses to my overly efficient bank and pending purchases memo-posts.

So, probably the 10% off that Sofa Express gave me, plus some of the free shipping I scored, was eaten up in the $100 of overdraft fees initiated by my bank.

I understand. I completely deserve it. It's cool.

But I'd like to state a couple of things for the record:

I'd like to thank my overly-efficient Bank of America for being so underly-concerned about the fact that, in my entire tenure of banking with them, I have never made such a large purchase, no had I EVER overdrafted my funds. You'd think they could have at least made a courtesy call to ask if it were possible that someone had stolen my debit card. I've also heard a lot banks will call their members if they see funds being withdrawn from overseas. But out of the 20+ times I used my debit card in Panama, I received zero of these alleged phone calls.

Other BoA beef: once I feared my checking account info had been phished by an unidentified third party. So I called BoA, explained my situation to at least 4 different people, and no one took me seriously until about an hour into the phone call.

And while I'm at it, there's more:

Several times a year I get mail from BoA saying if I do such and such I will receive gift card for $25 or so bucks... Two or three times I participated in these promotions, and each time I would wait for my gift card. And wait. And wait. Still waiting... until eventually I would have to make a phone call, to which no help is received. To which I go down to my neighborhood branch, complain MULTIPLE times face-to-face with "customer service", and then and ONLY then would I receive a credit to my account in the promised amount (that was originally supposed to be a gift card).

When it comes to my bank, I feel so...faceless. And that is a sad thing indeed.

what dreams may come

2007-08-21T11:11:00.001-05:00

I had an unusual and unexplained attack of the bowels last night.

Let me start a little further back.

Last weekend I spent a material amount of money on bedroom furniture for my new house. It was fun, but the excitement wained as I was informed I will not see said bought furniture until mid-November. Bleh.

I am currently engrossed in the final installment of Harry Potter. As of lights-out last night, I had read through chapter 10.

2am comes. Attack proceeds. The only part I can explain (as I outlined above) is that the attack manifested itself in a dream wherein the Dark Lord was uploading furniture through my colon. (because he really is that evil).

I regret this comes in the form of TMI. However, obviously I don't care since I'm sharing it on my blog.

Punch line: funny how, even through the searing pain that woke me from my gentle slumber, my initial reaction was, "at least my furniture came earlier than scheduled..."

a whole post about not talking about it

2007-08-15T10:11:00.000-05:00

So people keep asking me...

Where's the new house? When do you move in? Are you already there? Are you excited?

And it's difficult because here's the deal: I just don't want to talk about it right now. I'm still a little freaked about the M word. My loan is technically not approved through THDA yet. I don't close for another 2 weeks. I have 2 months to move in. I want to get excited, but I'm really just not letting myself right now. Basically because I can't do anything about it for another 2 weeks. I won't let myself buy any new furniture yet, because I can't put in in the house yet. I havn't gone paint shopping yet because I can't start painting until Labor Day weekend. I'm this close to getting a dog, but I won't until I'm settled in the new place.

I'm just kind of in limbo right now, and so I don't want to talk about it.

Fair enough?

But in 15 days...watch out.

There will be pictures.

And posts.

And shopping sprees on furniture and linens.

And a puppy. Who will inevitably pee on my carpet. In my new house.

And I'll want to talk about. And I may not stop talking about it. And you're going to love it.

And there will be Sunday lunches at my place.

Heck, I'll even let you buy me a housewarming present. Yah - seriously.

But until then... you know the deal.

an open letter to Governor Bill Richardson

2007-08-14T14:20:00.000-05:00

Dear Gov. Richardson:

You are cordially invited to Blackstone Restaurant & Brewery, Nashville, Tennessee on Friday, August 17, 2007 for one free beverage, compliments of myself and a blogger known as Newscoma.

This prize is awarded to you as a result of a blog conversation/contest that took place in your honor today, Tuesday August 14th, 2007 at newscoma.wordpress.com at approximately 2:08 PM central DLS time.

We've heard you heed the cries of bloggers, so I'm confident you will receive this invitation in time. We've also heard you have commitment issues, so we'll understand if you can't make it.

Looking forward to Friday! We have a lot of questions regarding your views on important issues. We are also having a Blogger Picnic on Sunday, August 26. So if anyone gets mad about the opinions and beliefs you may allege on Friday, you can come back and publicly retract those statements at the picnic.

Sincerely,
Emily Ramsey
Nashville, TN

long way home

2007-08-07T21:59:00.000-05:00

*Revised - I realized my error when I was reading over my notes this evening. The correction certainly adds weight to an already extensive circumstance.

The flight from Atlanta to Panama City was 3 hours long. We had previously just flown from Nashville to Atlanta - a 30 minute flight that was shorter than the time we sat on the departing runway. We were laid over in Atlanta for hours longer than planned. Finally, seated in the next to last row, a 3-day migraine in-tow, we headed to a place none of us had ever been before.

I sat between two women. To my left, a Swedish girl - about my age - declined to watch the in-flight movie because she had watched it on her previous flight that day. She had been awake and traveling for 24 hours.

To my left, a Panamanian woman sat quietly. Peering out the window with anticipation most of the trip.

I made little small-talk with these women - only enough to find out what I relay to you now. I spent most of the flight desparatley and unsuccessfully coaxing the searing pain in my right cerebrum away. Breathing deeply and regularly to keep from losing hold of the in-flight pasta dish with side of spritzed 'salad', decent dinner roll, and gummy peach tartlet-thing.

I could not help but notice, however, as we made our initial decent towards foreign territory, that my neighbor to the left grew more visibly anxious the closer we came to land. She was not a nervous flyer. And although our arrival was by night, she pressed her nosed to the pane to see any and all signs of our impending destination. I watched her for awhile, smiling. I could tell she was headed home.

She must have felt my stare, because she turned to look at me. It was then that I asked her if Panama was her home. Her eyes widened and her bright teeth came forward. She answered affirmatively, and in the best English she could muster, told me she'd been gone for ten years*. For ten years she had not seen her family. For ten years she had not seen her home. This was her homecoming.

As I smiled back at her and welcomed her home, I understood a little better about this place I was only visiting for one week. This place that is home to many people just like this woman. In this place, I would be the foreigner. I would be the one far from home. And in that moment I felt a slight place-switching between she and I.

Somehow amidst all the planning of this trip, I had failed to recognize one very fundamental truth. This place I would visit would be the treasured home of everyone I met there. I deplaned that night with new eyes that would seek to acknowledge my week-long home with the esteem of a life-long native.

spin-control

2007-08-07T16:28:00.000-05:00

Anyone see a problem here?

Aside from the obvious triple-digits, I think the description of "fair" is....deceptive.

now, dangit!

2007-08-04T15:11:00.001-05:00

So I went on a quest today to find The Bourne Identity in paperback. I, of course, started with the library, since I have about $50 in the bank until next Wednesday. But with the movie release of The Bourne Ultimatum this weekend, the library, of course, was out of copies.

No worries, I thought. I will just have to buy one at the supermarket. I need bread anyways.

I exist too easily in this world of instant gratification.

Luckily, I'm only down $5.99.

"Bourne" observations SPOILERS!

2007-08-04T09:42:00.001-05:00

I'm still reeling from last night's perfectly cinematic, ultimately satisfying, three-part conclusion of the Jason Bourne series. Definitely the best of the three. I really wish I had had time to re-watch the previous two before taking in the finale, but I knew it would all come back to me once it began - kind of like a new Harry Potter book after 2 years of waiting for the next installment.

As the credit rolled, several pieces of the story began to connect in my mind, and I found myself dually impressed by the surprisingly intelligent and meaningful moral of the story. For those of you who have followed the Bourne series, and have already read the books - you should have more detailed commentary on my amateur observations. So please feel free to add in the comments section. As you are about to find, I am strangely ~~affected~~ obsessed with this story.

In the ten minutes of the first movie, Jason Bourne emerges from mysterious waters and finds that he has no idea who he is. He also has no idea where he is, and yet, is forced to save himself from some unknown enemy, for some unknown reason, while he simultaneously connects the dots of his own identity.

In the beginning, this seemed to simply be a thrilling plot that would keep its viewers on the edge until the last moments. And it was. But why do we care so much about this guy - who we didn't even know - who didn't even know himself? Why do we relate so deeply with him on such a subconscious level? He could have been his own enemy for all we knew - the antagonist of the story for all he knew. And in a way, he ended up being just that. And yet, we pulled for him - all the way through.

Throughout the series, Bourne visits a myriad of countries, and makes a plethora of mysterious phone calls from unidentified cells to his enemies. Outsmarting the agencies that made him the dangerous Frankenstein he had apparently become and using the heightened reflexes and illegal ninja moves against the very organization that had trained him, he journeyed through the mystery of his identity, and killed a lot of people along the way.

In the end, we learn that Jason was his own worst enemy. He learned he had volunteered to become a slave to the secret agencies of the federal government. He had literally sold his identity and adopted a new one. One that he wasn't so sure he wanted anymore. And as he made his final leap towards freedom, he returned to the waters from whence he came, born a new man and into a new life.

So here's my breakdown: we love Jason Bourne because we ARE Jason Bourne. We come into the world not knowing who we are, and constantly searching for our unique identity. Along the way we learn what is important to us, and sometimes what was once important to us, shows itself to be a lie, and we must figure out how to make it right. Ultimately, however, we tend to be our own worst enemy. The choices we make lead us down paths in which we are too easily lost. We volunteer ourselves to a cause that subconsciously we hope will save us from ourselves. And sometimes we find we made the wrong choices. But there is always hope. If we search for the truth, we can use it to escape from our wrong turns.

Coolest unexpected observation: I love the symbolism of water and rebirth here.

Second place: the almost-cheesy play on words of his name.

Oh, and yah - The Bourne Ultimatum had one of the best fight scenes EVER. I'll spare you the play-by-play here. You'll know it when you see it.

Ok, gonna go read the books now. 'Scuse me.

getting back into the swing

2007-08-02T20:29:00.000-05:00

I just now finally finished catching up on almost 2 weeks of missed blog-reading. Sheesh - you guys write, like, ALL THE TIME! I'll admit, I didn't read every word of every post piling up in my feed-reader. With the small exception of a few favs.

Being away for a week has really been harder to recover from this time than ever before. I guess maybe it has something to do with the other major thing going on in my life right now. (that would be "buying a house" for those not paying attention recently). Anyone who ever tells you that buying a house is fun and not stressful and a very enjoyable venture, lies.

I look forward to tomorrow for the following reasons:

I will feel refreshed and ready to kick all tail at work and life in general tomorrow because I am going to bed in T minus 21 minutes. (9pm)
I am getting back to the gym for the first time in about 2 weeks. What's on the sweat-menu? Kickboxing, of course. Pray for me.
My first week back at work will officially be accomplished and I can bask in the glory of a successful vacation taken, returned, and conquered.
The Bourne Ultimatum will finally be mine in which to revel.

Stay tuned for a series of photo essays, and or stories from my trip. Coming this weekend!

'night...

home again home again

2007-07-29T16:55:00.000-05:00

Just a quick post to let everyone know I'm home now and very pleased with last week's trip. I'll be posting a lot about the trip in the coming days. Unfortunately, the transfer port on my camera came home in less than ideal conditions, so my 1,048 pictures are going to have to wait to be shared here until I can get it fixed. But once I do, watch out. I think my Flickr might explode. In the mean time, check out the link I added to my blogroll - Panama Jack. Jack Farber is the director of Latin American Missions. He has been posting blog updates on the work we did last week, as well as the work that will continue this week.

I'd also like to share that I am now an official member of the Delayed Luggage Club! I'll let you know in a few days if that membership gets upgraded to the (officially) Lost Luggage Club. I'm pretty stoked about the whole thing. I mean, it's an honor just to be nominated. Thanks Delta. Also, special thanks goes out to Atlanta Int'l Airport for your state-of-the-art luggage handling and transportation system. You and Delta make a great team.

Well, I'm off to Target now to buy some new underwear. You know...just in case.

where I'll be:

2007-07-20T20:29:00.000-05:00

You can't see me here, but that's me...floatin' down the Panama Canal.

Or at least, that WILL be me, in about 24 hours or so.

Blogging here will be non-existent for the next week. Like that's anything new.

I hope you'll pray for our safety and success! I can't wait to get some REAL pics of this place.

Love & Peace - see you next week.

my version of a straight record

2007-07-14T09:56:00.000-05:00

I fear I have led my readers astray in my previous post.

I'm here to set the record straight: all is well. I am not depressed. I am not sad. I am not worried. I was more or less just venting. I was also tired.

Lesson to the kiddies: never blog on an empty sleep-bank.

I enjoy that my life is full of activities and pursuits and responsibilities. I just need to learn to get enough sleep in order to manage it all gracefully.

Set your own record straight.

life on the side

2007-07-11T21:40:00.000-05:00

Life has been in fast-forward lately. It keeps whizzing by me like I'm a passenger in a speeding car.

Cliche as of late: "work has been crazy"

Trying to buy a house.

Freaking out overing trying to buy a house; but being simultaneously elated over the whole thing.

Trying to write a blog as a side-gig. I missed my side-job today.

I'm supposed to leave on a mission trip to Panama in just over a week. Note the word "supposed". I feel so unprepared for it in all respects. Physically. Emotionally. Worst of all, spiritually. I literally don't even know what my assignment is yet, nor have I personally received my flight itinerary. I have heard rumors, though, that others on our team have received this...itinerary. I am struggling with this idea that the trip has come before the mission. I feel it should be the other way around. Or maybe it is, and I am just not privy to the plan. In that respect, I am a blind missionary. I know there is a need, but I won't know how desperate it is, or exactly what must be done about it until I get there. Maybe that's ok too. I'm trying to stay open.

I miss blogging more. The blogging I've done lately has been more about blogging than about the stuff that got me blogging in the first place. Just another reason I feel my priorities are out of place and I'm a little mixed up inside.

Life just keeps whizzing by me, and I can't even get up early enough in the morning to prepare for it all. I used to pray and read scripture in the mornings. I used to work out a little in the mornings. I used to, I used to, I used to.... Now when I'm waking in the morning I'm afraid to get out of bed. I just want to stay there where it's safe and where life doesn't spin out of control. So I get up later and later. And I regret it every time. If only I had 8 more minutes.... if only I had a few more seconds...if only.

a call for linkage

2007-07-04T08:24:00.000-05:00

Warning: I'm about to be shameless.

So a lot of you know that I write for another site called About Nashville hosted by 451Press.com.

My editors are running a contest for their current writers that will pay $500 to the writer that can get the most incoming links during the month of July. Every time ~~someone~~ you link this blog or this site from your blog or site, I become one link closer to ~~the cash~~ victory.

What's in it for you? My undying appreciation, of course. Kidding. I will return the favor with a little link love of my own for ya.

So let's get linking!! Mama ~~needs a new pair of shoes~~ is trying to buy her first house this year!

UPDATE: if you do choose to participate, please leave a comment or send me an email so I will know about it. Right now, I'm not sure I know any other way to catch your link.

phriday photo: up close

2007-06-29T00:00:00.000-05:00

for general audiences

2007-06-24T17:27:00.000-05:00

I found this website through Jonathan Hickman's blog. It gives your blog a rating (like movies) based on a quick scan for key words and how many times you've used them.

Guess what mine is rate??

Duh.

The best part was the explanation it gave for my rating:

This rating was determined based on the presence of the following words:

shoot (1x)

Yah, I'm really bad about using that word...

phriday photo: off the mark

2007-06-22T00:07:00.000-05:00

on mountains and memories and lyrics

2007-06-18T17:33:00.000-05:00

Several years ago I spent seven weeks during two summers working at my childhood Bible camp in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Sometimes on my days off, I would borrow my friend's car and explore the dirt roads that snaked between the mountain, cutting memories into my mind and leading me to breathtaking overlooks, private residences, and the all too frequent dead-end. I credit this car-loaning friend with introducing me to the Indigo Girls. This duo writes songs more closely resembling poetry than any other songwriters I've ever heard. As I traveled the endless options of left and rights and forks-in-the-road, these women would provide a soundtrack that, for me, became synonymous with those two years of my life.

Today my iPod played for me Love's Recovery. Though this was probably the 500th time I had heard this song, I admit this is the first time I've ever bothered to listen to the words. I think I have a new favorite IG song:

During the time of which I speak
It was hard to turn the other cheek
To the blows of insecurity
Feeding the cancer of my intellect
The blood of love soon neglected
Lay dying in the strength of it’s impurity.

Meanwhile our friends we thought were so together
They’ve all gone and left each other
In search of fairer weather.
And we sit here in our storm and drink a toast
To the slim chance of love’s recovery.

There I am in younger days, star gazing
Painting picture perfect maps
Of how my life and love would be,
Not counting the unmarked paths of misdirection
My compass, faith in love’s perfection
I missed ten million miles of road I should have seen.

Meanwhile our friends we thought were so together
Left each other one by one on the road to fairer weather.
And we sit here in our storm and drink a toast
To the slim chance of love’s recovery.

Rain soaked and voice choked
Like silent screaming in a dream
I search for our absolute distinction
Not content to bow and bend
To the whims of culture that swoop like vultures
Eating us away, eating us away
Eating us away to our extinction

Oh how I wish I were a trinity
So if I lost a part of me
I’d still have two of the same to live.
But nobody gets a lifetime rehearsal
As specks of dust we’re universal
To let this love survive
Would be the greatest gift that we could give.

Tell all the friends who think they’re so together
That these are ghosts and mirages
All these thoughts of fairer weather.
Though it’s storming out I feel safe within the arms
Of love’s discovery.

That camp meant a lot to me as I was growing up, and still means so much today. My father baptized me on that mountain, and I maintain friendships to this day with people I met there almost 20 years ago.

I love the way the random encore of any Indigo Girls song will take me back to that mountain of my youth, will turn the climate hot and humid, and will put me back on a dirt road in search of my dreams.

happy father's day!

2007-06-17T15:32:00.001-05:00

I'm 1!

2007-06-17T15:20:00.000-05:00

It's my blogaversary...or something.

One year ago today I wrote my first post here. I didn't even have my blog open to the public. I was afraid for people to read me. A couple of weeks later, I made my blog public. I thought it would be ok if someone 'happened' upon this. But I didn't want anyone I knew to know. A couple of months later I left a comment on my sister's blog, outing myself not only to the blogosphere, but to my world. To people I knew. To people I knew would read this. It was a little scary, but I wanted to do it. A couple of hours later, people were reading. People I knew, and people I didn't know. People were leaving comments. People were enjoying. A couple of months later I found NiT. A couple of months later NiT found me. A couple of months after that I met people from NiT. A couple of days later we became friends. Ten months after I started blogging, I accepted a city-writer spot at 451 Press. Around that time I also bought my first digital camera. A month later I started my Flickr and added it here.

A year later my life has changed. Doing what you love will do that to you. I love to write, and I love to take pictures. This site has become my venue for sharing my loves with anyone who wants to know. And it has been a blessing.

Thanks for visiting me this year. I hope you'll keep coming back.

kerry & ivy: a photo love story

2007-06-16T18:50:00.000-05:00

Ivy sits alone in corner at the back of a bar (yah, like that happens a lot).

Enter Kerry Woo.

Kerry and Ivy contemplate the larger universe which envelopes them.

They are satisfied with their findings.

Ivy spies her chance to sit next to Justin on the couch.
See ya!

Kerry, struggling to hide the pain, gives us a brave smile.
Life moves on.
It's that fast.

friday photo: shoot

2007-06-15T00:00:00.000-05:00

kids think the darndest things

2007-06-10T21:29:00.000-05:00

When I was little, I remember sitting in church and watching the contribution plate being passed and wondering what it all meant. Even at a very young age, I understood that all things belonged to God because He made them. So it was, of course, a mystery to me why we were giving Him our money. In my mind, God didn't need money. He already owned everything. How could our currency have any value to an all-possessing God? So, as a child, I thought this passing of the money-plate was a strange ritual indeed. Even stranger to me was contemplating how the money got from the collection plate to Heaven. I imagined everyone leaving the auditorium after services, and the lights being cut, and the doors being locked. I imagined the communion table at the front of the room, sitting there all alone in dark, waiting for every soul to vacate. And then, somewhere in the middle of the night, the money would begin to magically float up out of the golden plates and into heaven - a transition complete with fairy dust and stars. And that was God's way of "taking up the collection".

But I still, for the life of me, could not imagine what He was going to do with all that cash when He got it up there.

I'm no cow, but...

2007-06-08T11:22:00.000-05:00

I just got tagged.

By a cheater, no less. Well, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, and say that he is merely putting a spin on this whole tagging game. You see, my tagger was tagged by someone who said "list 8 random things about you". Then he tagged 6 people (and he was supposed to tag 8 people - see? Eight facts, 8 people.) So John is all like, Joe wants me to list 7 random facts about myself....uh, ok. And then tags 6 people. So the way I see it, I only have to list 6 random facts about myself, and then tag 6 people. Right? And the people I tag would just list 5 random things about themselves and then tag 6 people (because the only constant here is that everyone is tagging 6 people, regardless of the number of random facts they list), and so on and so forth, until the final ~~victim~~ tagee actually does not have to list anything (or perhaps they list a negative number of facts, in which case their would be no final tagee, but an infinite potential for this meme to continue - cuz that's just what we need). Or we could just go with the whole, "I'm gonna make up my own rules to this game, and if I tag someone else, they can make up their own rules too." Does anyone see why I hate memes?

*sigh* Onward.

6. I sometimes make up my own rules to stuff.

5. Tags make me nervous. (The meme-kind, that is)

4. I am thirsty right now.

3. Tags make me thirsty.

2. My favorite blogger is my sister.

1. I think Paris should go back to jail.

Should anyone be able to decode the above "rules" of this tag, feel free to consider yourself tagged. No, scratch that. I hate when people do 'open tags'. No, you must be tagged. Individually, and by name. Having said that, no one is tagged. Stop the madness!!

Good day.

please don't leave

2007-06-06T11:40:00.000-05:00

After reading through the circus that began late yesterday afternoon and has continued on to this morning at NiT, I am compelled to send a little justification out to Brittney.

I don't understand why she gets so much criticsm. She very rarely dispels her own opinion at NiT. She is a journalist. She is non-biased when it comes to reporting the latest news in Blogland. How anyone can mistake this is beyond me. Ironically, because she is so good at what she does, and because she does have such high journalistic integrity, she allows free speech in the comments of her posts - to the point that people abuse this right by abusing her. It makes me so sad to see such childish, horrible name-calling - by adults, no less - caused by such a fundamental misunderstanding. As I read through the comments at the originating post, and then at the follow-up post, I realized that everyone was disgusted about the same thing. EVERYONE (including Brittney and her Nemisis) was in agreement that the content of the originating article was infuriating. There was no denying that. What may now be equally infuriating is the lengths some will go to kill the messenger over message. If this guy really wanted to blast the article, he should have done so where it was published. But because his true beef lies with Brittney, the article was just an excuse to come out of the woodwork and get a little attention.

Here's a tip for you Sam Smith: Brittney's not going give up being the true journalist that she is, even if you can't take it. And we're not going to give up supporting her.

Here's a tip for you Brittney: for every one Sam Smith, or Ted Olson, or 'hiding behind Anonymous or other ridiculous pseudonyms' out there, there are a dozen Emily's, Hutch's, Malia's, Ivy's, Aunt B's, etc....

Keep up the good work Brit. Please don't quit.

phriday photo: Dillon Dixon

2007-06-01T00:06:00.000-05:00

...and some other dude on the left.

she's like, totally 7 now, and stuff

2007-05-26T14:01:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday Sweet Pea!

phriday photo: rock star

2007-05-25T00:05:00.000-05:00

Eric Heatherly @ The Stage on Broadway, Tuesday 5/22

you are what you see

2007-05-22T18:25:00.000-05:00

If you visit here regularly, you may (or may not) have noticed something. I don't blog about t.v. shows. This is because I don't really watch t.v. that much. Yes, I have one, and yes, I have cable. And yes, I do, on occasion, decide to sit down and relax by voluntarily turning off my brain and turning on that blackhole box. But I don't have a show. I don't want a show. I want to explain why. This post is dedicated to those of you out there who have a show, have too many shows, or think you need a show. And you all know I know you know who you all are...

Top Ten reasons why you do not need a show:

10. You are what you see. This could be bad if you are watching - well anything. Unless you are watching your own reality t.v. show, and then that would be, just, meta - and therefore redundant, and also a little bit egomaniacal. But I digress.

9. Studies show watching teevee produces less brain activity than sleeping. It also has an adverse affect on your ability to discern reality from fantasy. And that's not just when you're watching The Real World.

8. Excessive televisioning inhibits our social capabilities. By becoming sucked into the world of fantasy-based situations, we are less likely to maintain real-world relationships and problem-solving skills. Can I insert one more hyphyenated-word? Segue into #7.

7. Nobody wants to be friends with you if this scenario happens more than twice:

Your phone: ringing

You: hello?

Your friend: hey dude! what's up? do you want to grab a bite tomorrow night?

You: I can't.

YF: why not man? gotta hot date?

You: yah man. Desparate Housewives!! duh. Don't you watch?

YF: dude - no man. That's messed up. (and yes, yes it is.)

You: click

6. OR Scenario 2 (a variation of scenario 1)

Your phone: ringing

You: hello?

YF: hey friend! I need help! My engine just blew. I'm on 65 at the Dickerson Pike exit. Can you come get me?

You: uh, can you wait until American Idol is over? They're about to send someone home.

YF: click (in case this needs translation, you two are sooo not friends anymore!)

5. ooh, one more!! Scenario 3: At all costs, do NOT let this be you:

Your phone: ringing

You: hit 'ignore' on your phone. I mean, come on - the Bachelor is JUST ABOUT to hand out the first 10 roses...

4. Your coworkers WISH they had something better to discuss than whether Meredith Grey is a better character alive or dead. They are secretly counting on you to bring the more meaningful discussions of the world to the table. You know like, salvation, for example.

3. You have better things to do and better things to blog about. You could blog about what you did instead of watching Lost. Remember, you already have passions, interests and viable hobbies. T.V. shoud be a filler, an extra, a last resort - never a priority. (see #5-7)

2. Jack Bauer is never going to love you as much as you love him. And if he was real *gasp!* he would probably kill you.

And the #1 reason why you do NOT need a show....

~~1. Your MOM has a show.~~

1. You have friends, family, pets, charities and even enemies that deserve your inheritance much more than Sammie's baby on Days of Our Lives. Her baby has a diddy. They just don't know who it is yet.

Disclaimer: I have, sometimes in the past, been privy to shirking off certain social engagements and responsibilities to watch Top Chef, Friends, Real World/Road Rules challanges, America's Next Top Model, and others I am too ashamed to mention by name. Please know I have seen the error of my ways and no longer....oh forget it. I think Deal or No Deal is about to start.

phriday photo: neon at the roof

2007-05-18T00:04:00.000-05:00

all wired up

2007-05-14T14:19:00.001-05:00

I took my laptop to Panera yesterday afternoon to do some writing since they have free wifi and awesome food. As I was putting it and the AC adaptor in my carrying case I decided I should grab my iPod and headphones, and spent about a minute and a half untangling my earbuds. My cell phone was also in desparate need of charging, so I brought my charger as well. I wanted to bring my camera and transfer all my current pics to my laptop, but honestly did not feel like lugging it out the house also, not to mention, another plug-in cord. I got to looking at all my gadgets....all of these wireless gadgets of this wireless age. And what did I see?

A bunch of wires.

BTW, happy 100th post to me :)

phriday photo: where in Nashville?

2007-05-11T00:03:00.000-05:00

I drive past this scene about a dozen times every week. Do you know where it is? Hint: it is owned by a founding member of the Grand Ol' Opry.

moonlighting, baby!

2007-05-07T17:12:00.000-05:00

Today I officially became a freelance writer! I accepted a position as 451Press.com's Nashville City writer. This is so part-time, and it's not like I'm giving up my day job or anything. Though hopefully one day, that would be the plan.

Thanks to Ivy and Brittney for pimping the call for writers on NiT where I read about it and thought, 'hmm...'

That hmm... became additional income. Score!

Therefore, posting at For the Love may be lighter in the coming weeks as I get used to my new required writing schedule at 451. If you miss me though, come on by and visit me at my new paying gig! I'd love to have ya. The more traffic, the more commission baby.

I'll post the link to my site once there is posting to be read. Right now it's a little....bare.

phriday photo: Ingram Record Plating

2007-05-04T00:02:00.000-05:00

and her name shall be called...

2007-05-03T20:15:00.000-05:00

So it's official: I am a new aunt again.

Yes.

Apparently for the last 9 months my sister has been unknowingly carrying the next big thing to hit the Carden household.

No. Seriously, you guys will believe anything.

They got a PUPPY!!!

This is awesome since it happens to be the next best thing to having one of my own. It's like training wheels for the soon-to-be-puppy-mother. Much like being an aunt to actual children, except I'm no soon-to-be-mother to any of those.

I'm holding out until I get a house (possibly this year), or until I just can't take it anymore and I break down low enough to pay the exorbitant pet deposit plus adoption fees, shots, food, ~~clothing~~, bedding, toys, ~~pet insurance~~, etc...am I leaving anything out?? Motherhood is expensive. Aunthood is soooo much better!

Now all she needs is a name. GMan wants to call her doggy. JBelle wants to call her Clara. David wants to call her Taffy. I want to call her Sweetmamalicksalot. Malia wants to never name her in hopes that it's never been done before and she can rock with the likes of the artist formerly known as Prince. Who knows what's in store for this nameless pup....other than a severe identity crisis at the age of 10 weeks.

how cute is SHE?

2007-05-03T00:01:00.000-05:00

Cute? Yes. Amazing? Definitely. Legendary? Always.
Before I begin oding to Patty Griffin, I'd like to share a story.

Monday night I went to a friend's brand new house in Mt. Juliet that she won on a reality t.v. show so we could watch a personal screening of the show that will publicly air on Saturday May 5 (yes, really.) I told her, I'm going to see Patty Griffin at the Ryman tomorrow night! She said, "oh yeah!?, the one with the red hair?!" I said, "yes!" and immediately felt in my heart that this friend did not know who Patty Griffin was, but was instead, erringly referring to KATHY GRIFFIN!

Oh yes. Yes she did.

Errrrr.....

On to a happier story.

Patty was beautiful, and humble, and soulful, and girly. All the things I love about her, plus. She wore a light green sparkly cocktail dress with flaming red stilettos that mirrored her hair. She was a vision. She's also very tiny. Did you know that? Yes, very tiny.

She pranced onto the stage like a child approaching the gifts under the tree on Christmas morning. She was giddy, and Nashville sat in silent awe as she carefully sat down at the piano to begin with a little french diddy her grandmother used to sing. I wish I knew what she was singing about. It sounded like love wrote a lullaby, but it was probably about turnip greens. It doesn't really matter either way. It was magnificent.

After that she stood and chose a guitar and the band came out and they were miraculous and moving and I promise nobody's voice laces a cello and upright bass like Patty's. There were moments when you could not decipher her from the strings. And then there were moments when all you heard was her big melodic bellow coming from that tiny whimsical frame. And she would giggle when we clapped as if it were all too much for little 'ol her. I love when they're humble.

Patty took us on a ride all the way from Stay On the Ride (my personal fav from Children Running Through) to Trapeze, to the only "happy" song she ever wrote - Burgundy Shoes, to an acoustic Mary during which the entire audience let out a collective and audible breath when she sang its first note, to Gettin' Ready which fulfilled the 'rock your face off' concert requirement, and of course a love song for her dog. Can you guess it? It's only her biggest, newest single right now. Yup. Heavenly Day. Wrote it for her dog. That's what she said. And then she closed the show with three songs, one being Rain. I swear I thought raindrops would fall through the ceiling at her mere symphonic request.

At the end of the evening, when all was sung and done, I was a satisfied fan. I felt it was much more than a showcase of rare talent and genuine character. I felt like Patty had come to see us -Nashville, to play at the famed Ryman, to walk among ghosts and leave her own spirit drifting in the shadows of history. To take the stage and present a song or two that would leave her heart, travel through her lips and be received as a gift. That's what it felt like. So thanks Patty. And come again.

For a couple of other (more eloquent) accounts of the experience that is Ms. Griffin-Live at the Ryman, go here and here.

phriday photo: overgrown

2007-04-27T06:41:00.000-05:00

the door

2007-04-22T13:50:00.000-05:00

Imagine that you are standing in front of a door. And you know that what is behind this door will completely fulfill your life. It will bring into fruition every dream you have for yourself. It will bring you what you’ve always hoped and wished for. So you go to push open this door, and much to your frustration you find that it won’t budge. You keep pushing, adding more and more pressure until finally the weight of your body is leaned against this door. It still does not open. You step back and get a running start, thinking surely you can force this door open. When that does not work, you pray that God will open this door for you. After all, you know that God wants all good things for you, so surely He would want you have what is on the other side of this door! Unfortunately, even prayer does not open this door. Confused by the difficulty of this seemingly simple task, and deeply hurt by the perceived rejection of your Creator, you finally give up.

In the moment you take the pressure of your will off of the door it begins to slowly open – towards you! In all of the excitement over this door’s promises, you never thought about the way the door was designed to open. All the time you were pushing, it only needed to be pulled; or at least opened by someone from the other side. Because not only do you see it open towards you, but a hand is on the other side of this door, guiding it open. This is not what you expected to see waiting for you there. You hear a voice say your name and immediately know who it is. “Dear child, all this time I have been trying to reach you, trying to open this door for you, but you have been resisting me. You have been pushing against this door and keeping me out. I have so many plans for you, so many things I want to give you and show you. Beautiful things that I made just for you. Exciting things that you have been hoping for. Why did you resist? I was here all along, on the other side of this door, ready to give you your heart's desire…ready to make your life complete.”

Paul said in Philippians 4:12, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” I think this secret he knew was shedding HIS own agenda, and taking ownership of God’s. It has become clear to me that I have been resisting God. And in so doing, I have been forfeiting His plan for my life. I have been putting all my energy into accomplishing MY will and consequently disabling God’s will for me.

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11

Romans 5:5 -- “and hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.”

I wrote this story and compiled the scriptures for a women's Bible study a few months ago. I post it here for you today, hoping it finds you living freely in submission to God's perfect plan for your life, and enjoying the blessings He so desperately wants to give you.

If not, go ahead....

step away from the door, and watch what happens.

a friendly warning to Randy Travis & Josh Turner

2007-04-20T15:39:00.001-05:00

Last night I did something I never do. I went a show at Douglas Corner Cafe featuring local singer/songwriters. My friend Susan seriously makes a ~~hobby~~ lifestyle out of going to these shows. You can find her at any random dive/live music venue on any random night of the week, supporting the lesser-known folk in their dream of making it big in the music industry. Not only does she listen to the music, she meets the artists AND becomes FRIENDS with them. She's so cool. *sigh*

Anyways, she was telling me earlier this week that a mutual friend of ours was singing back-up for a local singer/songwriter opening for another singer/songwriter at Douglas Corner this Thursday night. I'd been wanting to see her perform for a while, so I figured this was my chance.

As much as I enjoyed the opening act...it was a little long. Tell me, since I don't go to these things that much...is it OK to perform 14 songs when the main event is only doing 10? hmmm....just a harmless question.

So one hour later Matt Jenkins finally takes the stage. And I mean FINALLY. As good as Charla was, there was a clear distinction in talent and professionalism displayed by this guy. Oh, and if Randy Travis or Josh Turner happen to be reading this (yah I know you two stalk my blog), y'all better watch out. This guy is good. Now don't get all bent outta shape here...it's not like he STOLE your voices (because he definitely has his own unique sound). It's more like he's just better than you. *GASP!* did I just write that out loud? Oh, get over it. It was gonna happen at some point. We all have our 15 minutes, and yours is up.

I'm just kidding. Randy, Josh, you two are lovely. But there's a new boy in town. Get ready.

phriday photo: fish out of water

2007-04-20T06:52:00.000-05:00

anonymously yours

2007-04-19T08:44:00.001-05:00

I have had some complaints from the greater populace regarding my blog's ban on anonymous commenting. The reason I set it up this way was in attempt to defy the laws of spamming. I don't get a lot of spam on my blog, and I'd like to keep it that way.

But in an effort to better serve my readership, I am, at this time, lifting the ban and accepting 'anonymous' comments. If you are commenting without a Blogger account, please tag your comment with at least your first name, or some other identifying nom de plum. Otherwise, I will assume you are a stalker and may possibly delete ~~you from the face of the earth~~ your comment.

Don't test me.

Disclaimer: If at any time the lifting of this ban results in increased spam, we'll resume to 'account-holders' only and all y'all non-account holders wishing to comment will just have to contact me some other way.

Anonymously Yours,
For The Love Managment

looks like they let the intern handle this one

2007-04-18T10:35:00.000-05:00

My roommate and I have a saying. Whenever we're watching t.v. and something goes wrong with the program - like the sound goes out, or the show gets cut-off and another random shows begins mid-story (believe me, it's happened - enough times that we have a saying for it), we'll look at each other and say, "guess the network left the intern in charge."

So earlier this morning I got one of those annoying 'funny forwards', only this time, it was funny.

The premise of the email was mapping directions from New York to Paris.

All I'm gonna say next is Google has some mighty fine interns.

Scroll down to direction #23, if you will.

does anyone else see E.T. on a stick?

2007-04-16T21:47:00.000-05:00

2007-04-16T17:42:00.000-05:00

It scares me sometimes how quickly time goes by. I guess hitting 30 will do that to you. I can only imagine how it's gonna hit at 40...at 70...

"The week ends the week begins" (Dave Matthews)

Sometimes in my mind I put the day in fast-forward and I can see myself lying in bed, already reflecting on things that haven't happened yet . On Sunday nights I tend to look ahead to the week that lies before me and I can see a fairly accurate image. I will go to work. I will go to church. I will excersize at the Y. I will eat, I will sleep. I will do certain things each evening depending on the day of the week. I will see the same people, do the same job, drive the same roads, and do the same things I've done every week for who knows how long. This is the unchanging framework of routine which surrounds me. But I am a blur of motion.

The only things I can't foresee are those little surprises that seem to make the dull constancies worth it. Like getting an email from a long-lost friend. Or watching a community come together post-disaster to take care of their own. Planning a road trip with friends...seeing a really great concert... reaching those rare moments of success. It's those little surprises that become the defining moments of each week, and it's the defining moments of each week that become the mile-markers of a life. They are the landmarks that keep every stretch of road from looking like the last. They are the points of interest that prove there was growth along the way. And even though each day may have looked more or less the same, over time threads of change were braiding their way through the monotany.

Bottom-line: I guess it's not really the pace of the current that scares me. It's forgetting to appreciate it while it lasts.

Enjoy your day. Each one that you get.

faithful to me

2007-04-14T10:32:00.000-05:00

Listen to this:

All the chistles I've dulled carving idols of stone
That have crumbled like sand 'neath the waves.
I've recklessly built all my dreams in the sand just to watch, them all wash away.

Through another day, another trial, another chance to reconcile
To One who sees past all I see.
And reaching out my weary hand I pray that you'd understand
You're the only one who's faithful to me.

All the pennies I've wasted in my wishing well
I have thrown like stones to the sea.
I have cast my lots, dropped my guard, searched aimlessly for a faith
To be faithful to me.

Through another day, another trial, another chance to reconcile
To one who sees past all I see.
And reaching out my weary hand I pray that you'd understand
You're the only one who's faithful to me.
You're the only one who's faithful to me.

your MOM'S a pinky...

2007-04-14T09:35:00.000-05:00

You Are a Pinky

You are fiercely independent, and possibly downright weird.
A great communicator, you can get along with almost anyone.
You are kind and sympathetic. You support all your friends - and love them for who they are.

You get along well with: The Ring Finger

Stay away from: The Thumb

What Finger Are You?

I took this test online this morning. I've seen it posted over at Rae's and also at Kat's. What can I say? It looked fun. I'm just glad my results weren't 2 fingers to the right, ifyaknowhatahmean...

phriday photo: nashville oil mill

2007-04-13T06:50:00.000-05:00

God Bless You Mr. Vonnegut

2007-04-12T20:47:00.000-05:00

Kurt Vonnegut

November 11, 1922 - April 11, 2007

I started reading Vonnegut when I was in college in '97. Like many other readers, it was his most widely acclaimed Slaughterhouse-Five that introduced me to him. Then it was Breakfast of Champions that hooked me. In this author, I experienced a style of writing that to me was endearing. It wasn't flowery or pretty. It was plain and truthful. It was irreverent at times, but honest to his heart. Best of all, it was funny. I just noticed I am using past tense here - not because he is gone, but more because I'm reliving those first days of my Vonnegut-discovery. I am tempted to say I'll miss him, but I didn't know him personally. What I know of him I read in his books, which are still with me and available to be read and reread. I am sad to realize, however, that there will be no more new releases. No more original chicken-scratch illustrations. But, "so it goes," he would have said.

So it goes.

Dear Mr. Vonnegut:

You once said that "a plausible mission of artists is to make people appreciate being alive, at least a little bit." You should know that I put you in this category of artists, just as you do The Beatles.

if you can't stand the 1st amendment, stay off of our blogs!

2007-04-12T09:35:00.000-05:00

Watch out JL Kirk & Associates. Nashville is Talking about you. All of us.

the stupid stuff i witness
Glen
Bob Krumm has verbed you
Malicious Support
Hutch
ThinkTrain
Enclave
Tiny Cat Pants
Women's Health News
Newscoma
SayUncle
Comments on "She's Been Served"
Lynnster
Ivy
Bill Hobbs

How's all of that for ~~libel~~ free speech?

Don't worry, there's more. And there will continue to be more. This is just a small list to get you started on all the certified letters you need to get out. Also, there are links on each page that will take you to more prospective certified letter recipients. You may just want to send one big fat one to Google too. I've also heard there are couple of newspapers about to excersize their first amendment rights as well, so you better get on that too.

I'm with you. We really can't be letting people express their personal opinions on their personal blogs. But that's just my personal opinion on my personal blog.

Oops. Better add me to that list now too...

Emily

there is an unspoken rule about this kind of thing

2007-04-10T21:45:00.001-05:00

Last Sunday my roommate Holly and I brunched at Sophie's Bistro on Nolensville Road. The service was...surprising.

As I ordered my 3-egg omelet with 5-year cheese, spinach, and bacon, the waitress gazed intently into my eyes, nodding her head, drinking in every word of my order, her doe-eyes silently communicating concern and approval simultaneously. I get nervous when this phenomenon occurs.

My roommate ordered a similar dish - the 3-egg omelet as well, only with 3 other choices inside, specifically I do not remember. I apparently was not the only one.

As the waitress whisked herself away to put in our order, I immediately looked at Holly, held my left hand out, palm up, and began to imitate the motion of writing with my right hand, as if to silently say, "write it down lady!" She nodded in agreement, then excused herself to the restroom.

No more than 15 seconds after Holly left the table, the following conversation took place between me and our waitress, whom we will refer to as Sophie.

Sophie: I'm sorry Miss, I did not write down your order and I have forgotten what your friend said she wanted in her omelet. (I am internally shocked and sympathetic of course, but remain externally calm and unaffected.) Now, you ordered the omelet with bacon, spinach, and cheese - is that right?

Me: Yes, that's right!

Sophie: I just can't remember what you're friend ordered - do you?

Me: No, I'm sorry, I really wasn't ~~shooting laser signals through her pupils with my eyes like you were~~ paying attention when she was ordering.

Sophie: Oh, yes, I see...well I'm almost certain she ordered the onions, cheese, and sausage. Though I wish I could be sure...

Me: (nodding and gazing sympathetically at her with the best doe-eyes I could muster)

Sophie: Did she go to the restroom?

Me: Yes.

Sophie: Ok, well I'll go put this order in!

Me: (thinking, "so, what - are you going to pop your head in the restroom and ask her?")

About 2 minutes later, Holly comes back to the table. "I had a visitor," she says.

the answer

2007-04-08T13:24:00.000-05:00

This morning, as I was getting ready for worship, I had my iTunes on shuffle listening to music, and Sarah McLachlan's The Answer came on. I was about to hit 'next' because I was in the mood for spirituals, and then it hit me - what this song has always made me think of.

I don't know who Sarah wrote this song for, or what it means to her, but I'm pretty sure she did not write it from the perspective of Jesus Christ. For some strange reason, this song has always created a scene in my head that comes from John 19:38. It begins right after Jesus has died.

"Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate's permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus' body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there."

There are other accounts of Jesus' burial in the gospels, but John's is the one I think of, because John was 'the one whom Jesus loved'. They were best friends. And I think no other disciple was as affected by Jesus' death quite like John. It's like John is writing a tribute to these two men who thought enough of his best friend to use their resources and positions to care for the body that once housed a man who had changed all of their lives.

I imagine this song playing, like a soundtrack, if we were watching this scene in a movie. I imagine these words are Jesus'. I imagine Joseph and Nicodemus wrapping his body with linen and tears and remembering their friend. Remembering what He told them:

I will be the answer
At the end of the line
I will be there for you
While you take the time
In the burning of uncertainty
I will be your solid ground
I will hold the balance
If you can't look down

If it takes my whole life
I won't break, I won't bend
It will all be worth it
Worth it in the end
Cause I can only tell you what I know
That I need you in my life
When the stars have all gone out
You'll still be burning so bright

Cast me gently
Into morning
For the night has been unkind
Take me to a
Place so holy
That I can wash this from my mind
The memory of choosing not to fight

If it takes my whole life
I won't break, I won't bend
It will all be worth it
Worth it in the end
'Cause I can only tell you what I know
That I need you in my life
When the stars have all burned out
You'll still be burning so bright

Cast me gently
Into morning
For the night has been unkind.

Later this morning, as we worshiped, we happened to sing this hymn:

I believe in the One they call Jesus
I believe He stilled storm Galilee
I believe that He walked on the water, and
I believe that He's the answer for me.

Yes I believe in the One they call Jesus
I believe He died on Mt. Calvary, and
I believe that the tomb was found empty, and
I believe that He's the Answer for me.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Easter. I hope that for you, it's not all just about candy and eggs. I hope for you that it's about that empty tomb - where no one had ever been laid, and where no one lays today.

he's not just all about candy & eggs

2007-04-07T09:52:00.000-05:00

When I was little, my bedroom was a small village of stuffed animals. I loved them, and I believed that each one was real and that they all came to life when I wasn't around. Even before hearing The Velveteen Rabbit, and MUCH before Toy Story was ever a glimmer in Disney's eye, this was my childhood belief.

One animal in particular was, and is still, my favorite - the leader of the pack, the chief of the tribe. He was small in stature, but what he lacked in size he made up for in kindness, friendship, and wisdom. All the other animals looked up to him (well...down, but you know - figuratively up) because they knew that he was my most admired animal. And there was no jealousy because...well because they are stuffed animals and this is MY story and MY childhood, so there was no jealousy amongst them. Only harmony. :)

Sam was given to me in 1984 during the summer Olympics. In the moment we were introduced we became instant friends. Inseparable, genuine BFF. He went everywhere with me that my parents would allow, and he was always left in charge of the other stuffed animals when I had to leave the house for school or church or birthday parties.

Years went by and Sam earned the merit of a worn and tattered complexion; the tell-tale sign of a child's true affection. His yellow beak smudged with an era of kisses and tears. His soft brown fur resembled worn shaggy carpet. And the red, white, and blue-striped covering of his trademark hat unstitched at the seams to reveal a hard, plastic hat-structure that threatened to undo the magic that I believed was held within. The dingy yellow beak I hardly noticed. The brown shaggy fur was nothing by which to be alarmed. But the unravelling of the hat, hanging by a thread, revealing the Bald Eagle underneath, was more than I could bear, and I began to mourn the loss of my friend.

One Easter morning I woke to find no Sam beside me. But being Easter morning, I had other exciting treasures to keep me occupied. Easter morning always meant wearing a brand new pretty dress to church. It meant ribbons and eggs and candy and baskets. But this Easter morning was going to mean much more. For in my basket, proudly watching over the candied eggs nestled in green plastic grass, was my Sam - sewn up and repaired, magic still intact.

I didn't know the Easter Bunny had a sewing kit, or was so domestically-inclined. And I don't know if the Easter Bunny ever knew how much that gift meant to me. But maybe, just maybe, if he reads my blog, he may know now.

no lie, this is what msn weather wrote

2007-04-07T00:26:00.000-05:00

Special weather statement:
COLD WEATHER EXPECTED THIS EASTER WEEKEND......EASTER FASHION LIKELY TO INCLUDE FUR COATS...

Some things are just awesome to me.

inaugural phriday photo

2007-04-06T07:46:00.000-05:00

My friend Brian does 'Friday Foto' on his blog and I've always thought that was such a great idea. Now that I've got my super-sweet Canon 30D, I want to try my own version. Hope you don't mind Nicklaus.

I'm taking today off work!! Happy Good Friday to all.

no vacancy

2007-04-03T16:37:00.000-05:00

Last night, this dude tried to move into my apartment.

He did not have rent, so I had to put the smack down.

Literally.

HAhaaaaa!!

2007-04-03T00:37:00.000-05:00

good times

2007-04-02T21:14:00.000-05:00

yoga: toddler-style

2007-04-02T20:52:00.000-05:00

My nephew does Downward Dog on command.
Good nephew. Good.

Peek-a-boo!

This one I call 'Potted Plant', but he still thinks he's doing Downward Dog.

Kids are cute.

open mic monday

2007-03-26T18:59:00.000-06:00

Welcome! Here's a fun little ditty I wrote...about 10 years ago.
Don't think about it too much.

Could it
Can't it
Might it be -
we try too hard,
we dig too deep?
we look too hard,
with passion
we search
spend hours
on hours,
we desperatley
lurk
we search
and
research......we read
and discuss
we fervently seek,
then fail in disgust.
Sometimes
you will notice
an interesting thing:
if you look
hard
enough
you won't see a thing!!!
some poems are like that,
their purpose is dense.
it appears they are
meaningful
when they're really
nonsense!

**end**

Wow! look who's here! It's Gabe Dixon. He'd like to perform my "today's favorite song", All Will Be Well. I'm gonna sneak out now though cuz I've already heard this song play a million times in my head today. You guys enjoy. I'm going to kickboxing.

All Will Be Well - Gabe Dixon Band

The new day dawns,
And I am practicing my purpose once again.
It is fresh and it is fruitful if I win but if I lose,
Oooooo I don’t know.

I will be tired but I will turn and I will go,
Only guessing til I get there then I’ll know,
Oh oh oh I will know.

All the children walking home past the factories
Could see the light that’s shining in my window as I write this song to you.
All the cars running fast along the interstate
Can feel the love that radiates
Illuminating what I know is true,
All will be well.

Even after all the promises you’ve broken to yourself,
All will be well.
You can ask me how but only time will tell.

The winter’s cold,
But the snow still lightly settles on the trees.
And a mess is still a moment I can seize until I know,
That all will be well.

Even though sometimes this is hard to tell,
And the fight is just as frustrating as hell
All will be well.

All the children walking home past the factories,
Could see the light that’s shining in my window as I write this song to you.
All the cars running fast along the interstate
Can feel the love that radiates
Illuminating what I know is true
All will be well.

Even after all the promises you’ve broken to yourself
All will be well.
You can ask me how but only time will tell.

Keep it up and don’t give up
And chase your dreams and you will find
All in time.

All the children walking home past the factories
Could see the light that’s shining in my window as I write this song to you.
All the cars running fast along the interstate
Can feel the love that radiates
Illuminating what I know is true,
All will be well.

Even after all the promises you’ve broken to yourself,
All will be well.
You can ask me how but only time will tell.

All will be well.
Even after all the promises you’ve broken to yourself,
All will be well.

You can ask me how but only time will tell.
You can ask me how but only time will tell.

spring cleaning

2007-03-24T17:34:00.000-06:00

My apartment lost about 20 pounds this afternoon. I got rid of a whole box of clothes, and several boxes of junk I can't believe I still had. I'm a no-clutter kind of girl. But I still end up accumulating too much stuff I don't need and will never use.

When I was little I used to keep everything. I even had a pair of tennis shoes called Pack Rats. They had little pockets on the side where you could keep stuff. You know like a penny, or a jellybean, or a moth. Did I mention I kept everything?

Now I can't stand to have things around that I don't need or use. It feels heavy. It feels wrong. It makes me anxious and unorganized, and when I feel unorganized my Life seems like one leaky shingle away from overhead disaster. Occasionally I even bereave the decorative items. I look at them with the disdain of a Superior Purposeful Useful Human. What are you, oh ornamental bowl that holds no matter? What say you, inferior green topiary? Have you nothing but the minor power of aesthetic enhancement to contribute to my life?

Post Time-Out: (The) Ohio State is leading Memphis by 6 pts. This unnerves me. I don't think I can take one more 1-point loss this weekend. But I fear those Tigers may disappoint today.

Post Time-In:
Actually, I think I was done with the whole spring cleaning theme.

I do want to make a special shout-out to the local Nashville Thunder little league soccer team. Way to go kids!! My niece is on this team and I couldn't be more thrilled. I hope she enjoys this and will continue to play team sports every opportunity she gets.

On the schedule for tonight: a beautiful New York Strip on the grill, homemade banana pudding, fellowship with good friends, and maybe a little more basketball.

have a great weekend!

hogwash!

2007-03-22T07:25:00.000-06:00

I can't believe this!

Who does she think she is? THE Hermione Granger? No, she is an actress. She is 16. She is doing a disservice to Harry Potter fans everywhere! Not to mention the illiterate ones. Ok, that may be going a little over the top. But, my goodness!! What's two more films Miss Watson? Um...about $4.5 million in the bank. You're right, that's totally not worth it.

This article, by the way, reminds me of something out of the Scene's Fabricator. Or maybe I'm just in denial.

Another round of butterbeer, please. We're gonna need it.

and instead of the fries, can I get a side of your shameless self-promotion?

2007-03-21T18:00:00.000-06:00

My coworker Anna and I had lunch at Chili's today. Little did we know we would be served by a local rock star.

We had no sooner sat down and ordered our diet cokes with and without lemon from our waiter Joel, than were we approached by another server who was positive we were both Irish and wanted to know where were were from. Joel comes back with our drinks, shoots 'other server guy' a dirty look and says jokingly, "stop talking to my table."
'Other server guy' runs in the other direction and we all share a short laugh and knowing smile.

Throughout our lunch, 'other server guy' continues to make odd appearances, crouching down at eye level, making inconspicuous Irish conversation, as not to draw attention from Joel. Joel, however, is not so easily deceived, and always seems to round the corner to our rescue at all the right times, sending 'other server guy' in the 'other direction' each time.

By the time we were finishing up, 'other server guy' makes one last attempt to redeem himself. What he says next was surprising, "hey, you two should ask Joel about his show tomorrow night. He's in a band and they're playing at the Rutledge." Ohhh, we get it. "And, if you happen to think of it, will you tell him I'm not as creepy as he probably thinks I am." No problem creepy guy. Exit Creepy Guy.

Enter Joel with our checks. "Hey Joel, are you in a band?"
'Uh, wow - how did you know?'
'We have musician radar.'
'Are you playing tomorrow night?'
'Uh, yah...'
'At the Rutledge on 4th?'
'You're weirding me out.'

He totally knows, by the way that Creepy Guy clued us in. He is laughing and is all fake-embarrassed-like. Then he really starts to make the sale.

'Well you guys should come out. It's going to be totally awesome! Creepy Guy will be there...'
'Right, well, we can't then'
'Hey I never asked if you wanted dessert.'
'We were just saying how full were are...but there's always room for free dessert...'
'Hmmm...how about if you come to the show I'll bring chocolate cake.'
'Really? Well, that IS something worth considering."

Very long story short, Anna and I took an unexpectedly long lunch wherein we were detained by our server, Joel Larabell of Brenn, negotiated free dessert at our next trip to Chili's, and scored VIP status at tomorrow night's show.

So anyone else who would like to come on out to the Rutledge tomorrow night @ 8pm and support a few good bands I've never heard of is more than welcome.

Get in line with me & Anna - we're with the band.
(well us and every other girl that was in Chili's this week...)

"ahem...tap tap..is this thing on?"

2007-03-19T22:31:00.000-06:00

It's open-mic night here at For The Love.

I recently found some poems that I wrote my freshman year of college. It's funny. I knew at the time that I would one day find them and read them, and I always wondered what my future self would think of them when I did. Would I think they were stupid? Would I no longer understand what I was talking about? Would I throw them away in a desparate act of unholy obliteration? Some, I remember, have already fallen victim to the latter. Years ago. But I pulled a few of the survivors out tonight and decided I will probably, at some point, share a select few, here on this ~~stage~~ page. I am surpised to find that the future self I am today would totally write these poems now, that is, if I had more energy and inspiration.

The one I've been thinking of for a while now, goes something like this:

Plunge me
like a naked child
make me learn to
swim
Plunge me
like a dying sinner
into waters that for-
give
and I will let you
I won't fight
it's what I want
let's make it right.
Plunge me
back into feeling
teach me how to
love
Plunge me
into contentment
show me I have e-
nough
so make it real
yah, make me see
push me push me
so perfect I'll be.
Plunge me.

**snap*snap*snap*snap*snap**

Thank you thank you! You're too kind..wow, really thanks. Good grief! Stop snapping already.

i think a screw was loose

2007-03-19T20:05:00.000-06:00

Tonight when I opened up my laptop, I heard something rattling inside.

Never a good sign.

So I shook it all around and finally a little silver screw came bouncing out of the removable internet card slot.

Great.

Now my computer has Shaken PC Syndrome.

I have no idea what it was even doing in there. Must have been an extra, superfluous part.

nice bracket...

2007-03-17T09:57:00.000-06:00

Well first round came and went and I did pretty well, considering my methods. Out of 32 games I only mis-prophesied 10. I have four Sweet Sixteen picks out (all from the West and Midwest), and one out from the Final Four.

My highlights:

Duke was a HUGE upset (for some, not me). Either way I win. Personally, I'd rather see a friend make good on a bet than have Duke go to the second round like I'd put on my bracket. So I'm ok there. Whether or not this friend is OK remains to be seen.

Virginia Tech was a HUGE surprise. Worst. Game. Of-the. First. Round. I had picked them to go to Round 2, but the way they were ~~passing~~ playing all night, it wasn't looking good. Who knew they could pull it out in the last few seconds of the game? Certainly not I. But it was only out of pure FEAR during the last 9 minutes of the game. Adrenaline can make some crazy things happen. My question to the Hokies is, "Do you guys KNOW you don't belong in this tournament? Because you're certainly playing like you do." All I know is if I was on Illinois' team, I would seriously be reconsidering my calling right now.

Kentucky/Villanova: A sampling of the conversation during this game, "Go wildcats." And "hey wildcat, way to steal the ball from that wildcat." Or "i'm gonna predict that the wildcats win tonight." Also, "go blue & white!" One more, "who's responsible for pitting the wildcats up against the wildcats? The 'committee'." In the end though, the wildcats DID win, and my bracket is in good standing.

The last four games of the first round all went a little something like this: the teams I had down to lose were winning in the first few minutes. Then, simultaneously all four scoreboards were tied for about a whole minute (maybe). Then all four of my picks started picking up the pace (except the wildcats) and eventually won.

Over all, I could care less about the West and Midwest games right now. Although I would like to see VT do well, I'm not delusional. I'm pretty sure (and this is based on what I saw last night and not on that "serendipitous feeling" I described in an earlier post) that their party ends tomorrow. Still, you never know. And THAT is the beauty of the Madness. The only game worth seeing today is Vanderbilt & Washington St., though I think I have a prior engagement. The only thing I'm going to say about National Champions at this point is this: my pick is coming from the South, so stay tuned.

playing in my head right now:

2007-03-16T07:23:00.000-06:00

"I'm free, free to be me
I'm free, free to be me!
Anything I wanna be,
I'm free, free to be me."

Sung by all seven first grades classes (circa 126 children) at Granberry Elementary School.

Any better suggestions out there? Be warned, not even OK Go could get this song out of my head.

don't get MAD, just shoot

2007-03-15T07:50:00.000-06:00

Truth: March Madness is here

Predictions: Without revealing who my picks are for Final Four or even National Champion, I will start small with a few hopes for First Round.

Disclaimer #1: These picks are based on absolutely nothing save my unexplainable obsession with pure serendipity.

Translation: I like making random picks and seeing how far they actually go.

Disclaimer #2: I understand this is not the way it should be done, but shut up. These are my picks not yours. If you want to talk about YOUR picks and how YOU do it, get your OWN blog.

3/15
Yes Collins - I believe Duke will make it past the first round. Even though I would REALLY love to see you make good on your bet.

Indiana over Gonzaga

Vanderbilt over George W. (risky?, who cares.)

Malia, Xavier will bring the Morman spray (I'm sorry, I just can't seem to get enough of that)

Nashville, Belmont will go to the second round, but the party ends there.

3/16
Kentucky beats Villanova

Virginia Tech over Illinois

Tennessee over Long Beach

That's all for now, team.

celebrity office party: i had a dream last night

2007-03-15T07:36:00.000-06:00

Last night I dreamt that I was at an office party, only we weren't at my office (it felt more like a church building I once knew), and no one from my office was there. As I was walking around I kept noticing all these famous people. Lindsey Lohan was stepping onto the elevator as I was stepping off. We exchanged hellos, but I was completely unaffected by her presence. I passed by two guys that I knew to be famous but I couldn't tell you their names. One was nonchalantly bragging to the other on how he got Mariah Carey's phone number. I keep passing all these people looking for someone I knew. I wanted to find my sister and talk to her. But mostly, I think I was just looking for a place where I belonged.

thanks for breaking it down in such simple terms

2007-03-14T13:31:00.000-06:00

I hate politics. But for some reason, I am WAY looking forward to next year's presidential election. It's always a media circus, but this time, it will be a star-studded media circus. Our candidates for next term are politicians we all know and love, and some we love-to-hate. We've watched them toil and spin for decades, and now they are taking that all-important step towards the ~~big~~ White House.

Without getting into detail about who my favorite candidates are - we'll save that for another day - I'd like to draw your attention to The Tennessean's latest attempt at "breaking-it-down" for the simple folk in all of us:

As if we hadn't know-ticed.

But thanks anyways for once again for bringing our democracy down another notch.

P.S. I'm reminded of something my sister said about Mormon spray the other day...not sure why that popped into my head just now.

five years later: part III (the end of the trilogy)

2007-03-12T16:55:00.000-06:00

I should have posted this yesterday, but I had other things to do and the day got away somehow. But yesterday was my 5 year anniversary at work.

Oh, about the title of this post. If you need to watch the first 2 episodes in order to catch up, they are here and here. But you don't HAVE to read them to understand what happens in this final shocking conclusion to the trilogy of "5 years later". I just keep calling it that because I wrote 2 installments of "5 five years later" and always knew I'd write this one when the time came. I feel so....sci-fi-movie-script-writer. Uh...Emily...George Lucas and Steven Spielberg are on the phone. They'd like you to come up with an original idea.

Anyways, yes, five years later I still work for the same company, and I consider it quite an accomplishment. I've gained a lot of experience in a field I never intended to work in, not to mention this fully completed 5th year gets me a third week of vacation and 80% vesting in my 401(k). I don't mean to sound bitter or ungrateful. I really am excited about that extra week of vacation. It's just that, I'm 30, and I've spent 5 years in one place, and I've put a lot of work into it, and yet I still feel like I don't know what I want to do with my life. I still don't know how to get from point A to point B. I know what I want for my life, but I don't feel like I have a lot of control over getting it.

I could list about 10 specific things that I want for my life. But the only one I'm going to mention here is this one: the moral of today's post: Contentment. I want to be content, in every stage of life (is it ironic that I am not content with my lack of contentment?). I want to be content where I am now, with who I am now, knowing that any change made in my life will be made by my Father in order to accomplish His will for my life.

Sometimes I really resent that.

But most of the time, as scary as it is, I really appreciate it.

on the "lighter side" (pun intended)

2007-03-12T16:19:00.000-06:00

Subway now offers apples and raisens as side options on their menu!! It's about time.

This, my friends, was the highlight of my day.

Trying to turn that frown upsidedown,

:I
well, it's getting there.

:(

2007-03-12T10:52:00.000-06:00

My heart hurts today.

I hate saying goodbye.

in response:

2007-03-10T12:11:00.000-06:00

"Sending you get well wishes and hoping you'll feel better soon."

Dear MinuteClinic Practitioner:

Thank you for remembering me in my time of need. Out of all the nurses and doctors I've ever visited before, you're the only one who has sent me a get well card! I understand you probably don't have cards that say, "hope the Hepatitus-B vaccine works out for you!", or "wishing your left arm minimal pain and localized redness". Speaking of which, I took your advice on moving my arm around after receiving the shot. I walked around Walgreens for about 5 minutes doing the chicken dance up and down the aisles. It worked! I did not experience any pain, redness, or swelling where the vaccine was administered! I did notice the next day, however, a blue rash-like pattern. But it went away. One question, is green pooh a normal occurance after these kinds of vaccines? Don't worry, that went away too.

Wishing you many happy patients and speedy claims processing all your MinuteClinic days, (and sending you ALL more than you needed to know,)

Emily

panic! at the clinic

2007-03-05T12:47:00.000-06:00

I finally went to the Minute Clinic today to get my Hepatitus B vaccination. I am going to Panama in 4 1/2 months. I knew this vaccine required 3 doses, several months apart, so I really should have gotten on this about 2 months ago. Oops.

Anyways, I get there and the nurse says, "So what's goin' on today?" I say, "oh, I just need to get a vaccine because I am traveling this summer." She looks at me kinda sketchy-like and then I observe her physically switching gears in her head. She expected me to be sick I think.

"Which vaccine do you need?"
"Hepatitus B"
"hmmm...I don't normally work this clinic. I hate working in other people's clinics. I don't know where anything is. Bare with me."
"Yes ma'am."
"You need to sign a vaccination authorization. I don't know where they keep those here"...her voice trails off as she rummages through cabinets in non-lit closets."
"Sure thing."
"Have you been here before?"
"No ma'am."
"Ok, we'll have to put everything in the system then..."
"Yes ma'am."

Several minutes later.

"I don't even know if we have any Hepatitus B on hand."
"Hmmm..."
"Oh! Here's one!"
"Great."
"It's Merck...not Smith Kline"
"Is that a problem?"
"No."
I am internally chuckling, by the way.
"It's ice-cold though."
"Sounds chilling."
"Yup. I'll warm them up for you." She starts rolling tiny bottles of deathly virus in her hands.
"Thanks!" I do prefer a warm virus, after all.

The rest is pretty boring. I got my vaccine. I'll be back on April 4 to get my second dose. I'll have to wait until I get back from Panama to get my final dose. The nurse did not seem to think this would be a problem. "You'll have 2 doses in you." Verbatim. I'm feeling confident. I'll just be sure not to handle any blood, change any diapers, or have sex with any of the locals.

This is a mission trip after all.

what I mean when I say, "it's been one of those days..."

2007-02-28T18:35:00.000-06:00

First off, I would like to make known that I disapprove of "people" being referred to as "accessories", as stated in a sentence on this morning's traffic report: Tickets are being issued to drivers in the HOV lane without their accessory person.

for the love.

Warning! Red light indicators flashing on your car's dashboard actually DO require immediate attention. Slow down, pull over, call for help. If you don't, your car WILL break down. If not immediately, eventually. And at the worst possible moment.

Special thanks to the following for making this day bareable: Buddy at Bailey's Wrecker Service, for being precisely on time. I hear that never happens. He was also a very pleasant conversationalist. Also to Al at Crest Honda for the friendly taxi service from Crest to my office. He even stopped at Maggie's Cafe in Brentwood for me so I could get some lunch! Now THAT'S service. One to Bud - my Crest Honda serviceman. Friendly, reliable, and efficient. And one more to the City of Gallatin for making the Conference Drive exit off Vietnam Vets such a convenient place to pull over. Hats off to those precious tax payers.

I've never had a more pleasant break-down experience. Thanks guys!

This has been a public service announcement of fortheluv dot blogspot dot com

I cannot end this post without sending out a congratulations to Irnel: MetroCenter Taco Bell's "champion of the week". Ya'll go on out there and patron this young man (?) for the exceptional work he is doing. I'm sure it'll be one of the best tacos you'll ever eat.

This just in: it has come to my attention that with the retirement of president Milton Sewell of Freed-Hardeman University, a change to the student handbook has been implemented. Students are now allowed to wear shorts to class.
Those liberals.
They can also wear distressed jeans, but only those without holes.
Nope, still conservative.
Whew.
It is uncomfirmed if this change is directly related to the resignation of Pres. Sewell.
Conspiracy? You decide.

condemned is the new trendy

2007-02-27T23:34:00.000-06:00

I used to think this building was empty and condemned.

Turns out it's one of Nashville's budding hotspots for the young, upwardly-mobile. (Please pronounce that last word with the long i sound.)

Go figure. I mean, we're all modern in our own time, working towards a day when we will be worn out and broken. How nice that we can marry the two with such artistic irony.

for the love...

fun at Wal-Mart

I've waited my whole life to say this

if you only knew

St. Louis in the palm of our hands...

Capture Music City

twitter this

just because I want to make you salivate

a Susan B. Anthony would have been nice

TODAY ONLY! Liveblogging my own personal thoughts:

too cool

my kind of song

no love for NIU?

late, but introducing....

for dad on his birthday

he's 3!

happy halloween!

they come in 3s

Big Sarge, the story man

thoughts from communion this morning

quote of the week

dated

my friends are funny

what do you mean you don't understand? I said it in plain Spanish...

in the red

what dreams may come

a whole post about not talking about it

an open letter to Governor Bill Richardson

long way home

spin-control

now, dangit!

"Bourne" observations *SPOILERS!*

getting back into the swing

home again home again

where I'll be:

my version of a straight record

life on the side

a call for linkage

phriday photo: up close

for general audiences

phriday photo: off the mark

on mountains and memories and lyrics

happy father's day!

I'm 1!

kerry & ivy: a photo love story

friday photo: shoot

kids think the darndest things

I'm no cow, but...

please don't leave

phriday photo: Dillon Dixon

she's like, totally 7 now, and stuff

phriday photo: rock star

you are what you see

phriday photo: neon at the roof

all wired up

phriday photo: where in Nashville?

moonlighting, baby!

phriday photo: Ingram Record Plating

and her name shall be called...

how cute is SHE?

phriday photo: overgrown

the door

a friendly warning to Randy Travis & Josh Turner

phriday photo: fish out of water

anonymously yours

looks like they let the intern handle this one

does anyone else see E.T. on a stick?

faithful to me

your MOM'S a pinky...

phriday photo: nashville oil mill

God Bless You Mr. Vonnegut

if you can't stand the 1st amendment, stay off of our blogs!

there is an unspoken rule about this kind of thing

the answer

he's not just all about candy & eggs

no lie, this is what msn weather wrote

inaugural phriday photo

no vacancy

HAhaaaaa!!

good times

"Bourne" observations SPOILERS!

"ahem...tap tap..is this thing on?"