Assorted Ramblings of Dubious Worth

and lo! a voice doth cry from the wilderness

2005-11-22T19:47:00.000-08:00

yea, verily, i'm writing again! not much, not much, but just a taste.

this evening, i watched 'to catch a thief' with the roomie. how can a movie be so good, and who decided that films should suck since hitchcock stopped making them? i mean, there're occasional exceptions, but still. you get the drift.

someone decided recently that i should have to actually work at my job. sheez.

i recently read some great books: brothers karamazov (dostoevsky), the four loves (cs lewis, for the fifth time or so), wild at heart (john eldredge, amazing and liberating book, highly recommended and won't take you but two days), and the 'inheritance' saga (paolini, only two books)- that last pair was my post-BK cleansing of the mind, a really fun little fantasy, even though it's fairly predictable. standard fare, but worth checking out, and he quotes from blazing saddles in the second book. "Barges?!? We don't need no stinking barges!!!" i laughed. out loud. which i do alot.

alabama's dream season has fallen apart on me. the world turned gray and ashes fill my food. out of the depths, so on and so forth.

anywho, that's really it. i've begun the ball rolling towards graduate school. let's hope it pans out. miss all my bham peeps... mad props. fran, i listened to the 'ham day' thing the other day and almost fell out o'my chair. really. you rock.

k, bye.

soli Deo gloria--

is there anybody out there?

2005-11-11T20:35:00.000-08:00

i promise. i'm here.

i've simply not had the time while at work, nor the inclination while at home, to keep up with this habit.

but life is good, perchance even great.

be seeing you. and i promise to write more.

someday.

Soli Deo Gloria---

the horror...

2005-10-15T08:57:00.000-07:00

What Classic Movie Are You?
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All praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Earth, our mother

2005-10-14T09:46:00.000-07:00

--"Canticle of the Creatures," St Francis of Assisi

Last weekend was the feast of St. Francis, and in celebration, my church had two services in his honor, one on Friday, one on Saturday. The section leaders (myself included) were hired out (read: pimped) to sing in the two contemporary services; as I believe I've mentioned previously, I'm *really* not a fan of the whole contemporary praise-and-worship love-songs-to-Jesus gig. So Friday night's service was rather a drag, just not something I enjoyed, just kinda a job... we had an hour and a half service to rehearse THREE SONGS. Yeah, three. All of which, the section leaders could (and did) sight-read at first go. Hour and a half. Reeeeeeediculous. Charles (Bass SL) and I, in the 20 minutes between rehearsal and service, ran across Broadway to grab a beer and some chicken strips. That was actually fun, truth be told.

Well, we had the same service on Saturday, and I thought it'd be the same kinda boring-assed deal... plus, I was awake and at church at 8:30 on a Saturday. Needless to say, I was *not* in a good mood. However, by the time the service rolled around, there were over three hundred dogs in our sanctuary, as well as various exotic animals including a red-tailed hawk, a burro, a horse, a boa constrictor (who was preceded in the procession by a gerbil named Niblet), and a llama. I challenge you, I *dare* you, to be in a bad mood in a room with three hundred dogs. Especially if you don't have to clean up anything. It was a blast, trite music aside, and I realized even more than normal how much I freakin want a dog.

In other news, there's not much other news. I went with Todd and Liz to see "Serenity" last Saturday, third time going, still great. Really dug into Brothers Karamazov earlier this week, I'm just over the halfway point... have to say, thus far it's not as riveting as "Crime and Punishment," a good deal more slow to get started and somewhat thicker in terms of language, but it's very good nonetheless. Other events of note (since the list thing is "in"):

*got a haircut
*Greg's out of town
*going to the Vandy game tomorrow
*got up at 6am and rode my bike...
Ok, so that one gets more than a bullet. I've been trying to do this for weeks, finally managed to make my lazy butt get out of bed and go. Just went a couple of miles south on Franklin, then looped around back north. Sweet heavenly sisters, it was cold. And when I got moving fast, ie, coming back toward the apartment, it was absurdly frigid. Actually a pretty tough ride, what with the cold and the uphill battle on Franklin... doesn't *look* steep, but you have no momentum coming into it and it's a straight incline, really hard work all the way up to Harding... coming back, though... yessssssss... didn't quite hit 30 mph, but I was cruising at 25 without touching the pedals... good times.

Kinda killed the whole list thing, but that's ok, as I was done anyway.
Here's a Deep Thought for you today:

"Instead of putting a quarter under a kid's pillow, how about a pinecone? That way, he learns that 'wishing' isn't going to save our national forests."
Jack Handy

Soli Deo Gloria--- MwB

quickie

2005-10-06T10:53:00.000-07:00

Added a new link to the sidebar, for the 'Nice Guy' comic strip. Funny, sad, true. www.theniceguycomic.com if the link doesn't work... it's the "Damn near dead on" link at the bottom. Enjoy!

I watched seven episodes of Lost last night, finished up first season. WTF??? Pissed me off, damned cliffhangers.

That's it.

Bye.

oh, really?

2005-10-05T12:04:00.000-07:00

proof that these things are bogus.

What Famous Leader Are You?
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you did not say 'en masse,' you said 'independence'

2005-10-04T07:43:00.000-07:00

--"Shine, Republic" by Robinson Jeffers

Hello out there, dear and loyal readers. Hasn't truly been eventful, but it's been fun! SO. Onward.

Friday? Did nothing. And it was everything I ever dreamed it would be. I watched some episodes of Lost (which is actually a *really* good show), whipped up some dinner, and went to sleep after playing with the dogs. Saturday? Did more nothing. Watched football in the morning whilst eating pancakes, eggs, and country ham; watched football in the evening whilst eating steak and green beans at Patrick's place. (Scott was there too, but since he wasn't watching the Alabama game, he doesn't count.) It was... almost too beautiful for words, the way we absolutely manhandled the vaunted UF Gators. Losing Prothro? That hurts, and the video footage of him breaking his leg was absolutely sickening. He'll be missed, and you absolutely hate to see anybody get hurt like that. But we won, and won in a lordly fashion, which doth make me gladsome.

Sunday, I took a four hour nap. It was good. Then Greg and I went to see "Serenity" again, it was just as good the second time around... I'm not one to see a movie multiple times, but in this case I want to financially support it so that a sequel might be possible. I'll go see it once more in the theater, probably with Todd sometime this weekend.

Other'n that, not much of note since last we spoke... Got to go out for lunch with Monica last Thursday, just a spur-of-the-moment type thing-- Sam's has a great lunch special deal, five bucks for their daily special, Thursday's grilled chicken sandwich. Friday's the real winner, it's their chicken fingers... mmm... might have to go this Friday, I dunno... wheee... so anyway, lunch was fun.

Not much else has actually happened in recent days, to say the truth.

I've noticed that I really strongly dislike watching TV shows on TV. With the exception of Law and Order, most shows around today are based heavily on continuity; with only a few more exceptions, most shows around today are, for lack of any polite parlance, stupid. However, watching good shows on DVD is an absolute blast. Family Guy, Lost, Firefly, are all just plain fun to watch on DVD; the best are shows like Lost, where you can really dig into the storyline for a couple of hours. Thankfully I've not gone out and purchased many of the shows on DVD, I only own Firefly (Greg's got Family Guy), but I really like the whole "no-commercial-or-wait-til-next-week" aspect of the DVD watching. What can I say? Instant gratification is the byword of our culture... *sigh.*

Well, that's about all I's gots for you today, folks. Be good.

Soli Deo Gloria-- MWB

burn the land and boil the sea

2005-09-30T08:37:00.000-07:00

--"firefly" theme song, joss whedon

So I'm dogsitting for Mary again, and her dogs are very excited to see me. Wednesday night, when I got home, they curled up with me on the bed as I went to sleep. Sounds cute, until you realize that there is no possibility whatsoever of rolling over or changing positions when two fairly large dogs have draped themselves across your frame. I think I got three hours of sleep. Last night I made them both sleep on the same side of the bed, with vastly improved results. Methinks I've solved the puzzle.

Wednesday, I went to see Serenity. Which was grand, if it did piss me off somewhat. No spoilers here, just go see it. If you're not familiar with the series Firefly, talk to me, I'll tell you what you need to know going into the movie. (Or we could watch some episodes! I gots the DVDs!) But seriously, go check it out; it's a very well-done movie, great dialogue and the characters are very intimately drawn. Whether you're a SciFi fan or not, it's easy to absolutely fall in love with the characters, especially through the TV show but in the movie as well; I'm not generally a fan of SciFi TV shows, the cheese factor is often overwhelming, but this is a good one. You don't really need much back-story to go into the movie, it does a great job of setting you up with most of the information you might need right up front, but a knowledge of the characters involved would be helpful going into it- ask me about it, I'll fill you in.

Alabama's playing well, tomorrow should be a great game. I look for our defense to shut down the passing game and dare them to run against our front four, while their defense, which struggled with a sub-par UT O, should get worn down by our offense, as it's been clicking rather well recently. Vandy? Louisville? WTF, mate? Sheez.

Didn't get to watch much last Saturday, as I was helping Andy and Heather move. By all that is good and holy, they have lots and lots of crap. Really. We made two trips in the UHaul (they'd already moved a bunch of stuff, and we left some stuff at the end of the day), had ten people moving, and were absolutely floored by the end of the day... It was fun, though, and Andy bought beer and pizza for everybody. I need one of those hobo signs: "Will Work For Beer." 'Cause it's true. I made spaghetti and meatballs that night, homemade sauce and balls, 'twere fun to cook and tasted damned fine, if I do say so myself...

Sunday I went for a bike ride in the rain, which was a blast-- the slick course and the wind completely changed the course, made some parts ridiculously easy and others unbearably hard. Good times.

Monday some folks came over (Andy, Jonny, Patrick, Patrick, Judy, Erin) to watch the UT-LSU game... about which I will not speak, because it was pathetic. Really.

Other'n that, life's been good. Work is slow, which is a plus... got my GameCube last week! Can't wait to play MPII and Tales of Sinfonia... schweet. Gotta beat Ninja Gaiden first, though... and it's... um... hard.

That's all I gots for ya, I'll try to avoid the largish gap betwixt blogs in the future, but... hard to do when nobody comments... feel all unloved... and above all unread... so leave me lovin and I'll write more. Let's make a deal. Ciao.

Soli Deo Gloria-- MWB

rocky racoon fell back in his room, only to find gideon's bible

2005-09-19T07:43:00.000-07:00

--from "Rocky Racoon," the Beatles. This song has been in my head for *days.* Good times.

Man, it was a good weekend.

Thursday night was choir rehearsal-- I'd forgotten how much fun it is to sing with a group that is as focused as our church choir. Hard, hard work, but damn- what a good time.

Friday night was the wineover, part dos. It was an absolute blast-- unfortunately, the wine wasn't *quite* as memorable as last time, since we restricted ourselves to non-CA New World, but we still had some really good wine. The reds (there were four) were excellent, none that I didn't like, and one (Greg's) was actually a Tennessee wine! Called (no lie) "Big Bitch Red." It was fantastic, I thought, fairly mellow but robust. However, Scott's red took the cake. In fact, it almost tasted like cake. Really chocolatey, fairly tannic, I loved it. The whites were sadly forgettable, pretty much all around, but there was one classic chardonnay that made the scrambled eggs next morning taste superb, so I guess that's ok... On the whole, we had a great time: the Highs, the Sanfillippi, Scott and Monica, and Luke McKenty were the nucleus of the night (along with Greg and I), while we had an all-too-brief cameo by Erin of Browncoat fame. Good cast, that. Only Scott and Monica stayed, and in reality, only Scott needed to do so... nobody else drank too much (although Potter was *hilariously* giggly), but Scott did a "public service" by drinking the leftovers of most of the bottles. Then he decided that he really wanted to lie down on my floor. For quite a while. It was very amusing.

So Saturday came, and I made chili. Sigh. Good freakin times, yo. Also made scrambled eggs and bacon for Scott, Monica, and myself, with the aforementioned Chardonnay. Yeehaw... anywho, we started watching football at 11, then continued to do so all damned day; Johnny G, Patrick Bourn, G's roommate Patrick Norton, and Erin McCrum all joined in the festivities at various points throughout the day, and Greg brought Benton over after the VANDY GAME (dude, wtf?), so we had a good mix of people all day long. Let's break it down by game, shall we?

OSU at Louisville: The Cards are playing as well as anybody in the nation right now. Anybody who makes a habit of breaking 55 points per game on a regular basis is a team to be feared, and their schedule looks to be worthy of a table-run. Despite an early deficit to the Beavers, Louisville started putting out the yards and putting up the points in the second quarter and never looked back on their way to scoring seven (yeah, seven) touchdowns.

Ole Miss at Vandy: On paper, or in history, this would be a boring, boring game. An historically just-better-than-mediocre team visits the doormat of the SEC. As Corso would put it, "not so fast, my friend." Vandy is playing intelligent, inspired football, and they're probably going to upset a few more applecarts before this year is out. Don't look for it to be long-lasting, but they're tied for first in the SEC East right now. Really.

Bama at South Carolina: Ok, I'm definitely biased. But I ask you to believe in my objectivity for a moment and look at the game itself. In an intenstely hostile environment, one of the louder arenas in the SEC (which is definitely saying something), Alabama was dominant at all times, in every phase of the game. We never trailed. In the first half, we held the ball for over twenty minutes. All game, we held it for 37.07. No turnovers. 489 yards of total offense. 37 points, the last TD being a go-ahead 36-yard pass by our second string QB, who has hit every pass he's thrown this year (3-for-3, no Int, 1 TD.) We beat the absolute stuffing out of them, one week after they gave UGA a very, very tight game. Now, I understand that losing can deflate a team, especially after a big game, but this is still Steve Spurrier, this was still a home game, and we still won 37-14-- *and it wasn't that close.* We are on a roll; if we don't lose intensity, we *could* go undefeated. The only team on our schedule that can beat Alabama this year is the Crimson Tide. And I stand by that.

UT at UF: Wonderful, wonderful game. UT lost and UF played like crap. Great news for the Tide, since we play both of those teams later on; neither team played intelligently, their execution was off all night, and we get both of them at home. Also, UT's fans might actually shut up for a week. But I doubt it.

In other news, Weis was right about MSU coming to town. Didn't watch the game, but what I did see on the highlight reel was ND being cocky against a dangerous team. Too little, too late. Probably for the best, it should sober them up for the rest of the year and maybe even get them a wild-card berth in a BCS bowl. USC made Arkansas look silly. It was hilarious. I generally pull for the SEC in non-conference play, but after one of the Razorbacks tried to talk smack about the best team in the nation (claiming that they were the equivalent of just an average SEC team, insulting their conference and their ability), especially after the 'Backs lost to Vandy a week ago... I can't help but chuckle that USC scored four TDs in one quarter. Then two per quarter after that. Really. Ten TDs. Delightful.

The other major event of note was the purchase of a bike rack. Now, I bought one last Wednesday at REI, cheapest they had, for one hundred bucks. Saturday morning, Derek called from REI, where they were having their biannual sale of returned items; he'd found the *exact same model* for a whopping $30. It had a scratch in the paint. Hm... I can deal. So I have a bike rack now-- DD brought it over on Saturday and put it on my car for me (which was hilarity in excess, let me tell you. HE HIT HIMSELF ON THE HEAD WITH A BIKE RACK. Stood directly beneath the trunk, onto which he had just affixed said rack, and slammed it shut. ONTO HIS HEAD. Good times.), and Sunday, I went to Shelby for a ride. Felt absolutely wonderful-- out there alone with the dragonflies, pushing myself to go faster than I've gone before, just a great experience. With one exception... right when I got there, immediately after putting on my shoes, I realized that I had to go to the bathroom. Directly. As in, do not pass go, do not put flip-flops back on, take off because this is not going away. It was one of those nasty Little-League bathrooms, with mud all on the floor and no soap. Ew. Other than that, it was great. Now I'm at work, about to go read Dostoevsky for a while... good times. Peace and love, folks.

Soli Deo Gloria--

am i one person today and tomorrow another? am i both at once?

2005-09-06T06:44:00.000-07:00

--"Who am I?" Dietrich Bonhoeffer

If you're not familiar with Bonhoeffer, then I must say that I recommend him quite highly. A German clergyman during WWII, he was one of the very few people with the courage to consistently stand up and denounce Hitler's depridations, yet he could not leave his beloved country. He was arrested and imprisoned near the end of the war, and was executed days before the fall of the Third Reich. His writings are powerful and humble, "The Cost of Discipleship" being the one with which I'm personally most familiar. Do read it, it's quite a powerful work.

'Twas quite the week, dear friends and readers... more dogsitting, more chili, more great days with great friends... Monica came over Thursday and we got a chance to just relax and enjoy each others' company, first time in months... Friday Greg and I hung out at home before I left for my dogsitting gig... Saturday Scott came over to the house where I was 'sitting for a day of football and chili, which wasn't my best chili but was still pretty darned tasty... Sunday Joey and Jackie came to see me! It were the greatest.

Since it's football season, I'll be talking a bit about football. It's the sport that makes me happy. Really. I'm just completely addicted. Wonderful. So if you don't like football, skip this next paragraph.

Ok, so I kicked off the day watching the end of TCU-Oklahoma, which was exceptional. I don't dislike Oklahoma, I think Stoops is a classy and intelligent coach with a classy and talented team, but they're so often so very overrated that it's good to see them lose, honestly. Especially at home, to a team from a "lesser" conference." From there I went to the Georgia-Boise game, which was AWESOME, 'twas a great day for the SEC all told... (Sidenote: UT? Number 3 in the nation? What? Played like ass, that's what. They really should've lost to UAB, which is sad. Very, very sad.) UGA was stunning, there'd better be some buzz about them this week and they'd best crack the top 5. Played better than UT, actually won unlike OU, and played a tough team unlike USC. Should get bumped to 4 or 5. Then my boys were on. And the Tide did roll. The D was on fire most of the game (allowed a total of 9 first downs, 5 of those on one drive in the second quarter, and only 22 yards in the second half), and once the O settled down in Half Two they started playing really well. They were a touch jumpy in the first half, and Shula made some odd calls (going deep on 2nd and ten? what?), but once they started playing the running game, setting up the play-fakes, it started to click, and Croyle's throwing improved drastically after halftime. So I was pleased. They have the look of a contender team, could possibly be playing in Atlanta in December! Wouldn't that be great??? Anywho, afterwards I watched the Notre Dame game... notice, not the ND-Pitt game, because I think Pitt got lost on the way to the stadium. Doubly sad, since it was *at* Pitt. I see good things in Weis' future. Texas A&M lost (hah! bastard Franchione, take that!) and Auburn lost... as much as I really do pull for the SEC whenever they play outside of the conference, I find it hard to be heartbroken when Auburn (also UT, even more so UT) loses. Sue me. So that was good. Then Sunday I watched some of the VTech game, good game to watch, and last night I watched FSU-Miami, which didn't work as I wanted, because I want *both* teams to lose. Every time they play. Really. Hate'em both. So that's the football recap- the Tide won, Auburn lost, and the SEC looks good. Yeehaw.

So on Sunday, Joey and Jackie drove up from the 'Ham to see me, spend the night. Such a wondrous time... drank a bottle of Le Lave, ate some sopapillas, talked the night away... Now, it was fun once they got here. Getting them here? That... that was a trick. I told them to call me once they hit mile 60 so I could guide them through the rest of the drive... which they did not do. Nossir, they did not. They went right past BOTH exits, and had to turn back around... Joey apologized saying that he thought I'd said EXIT 60 not MILE 60, and I almost had an aneurism because THEY'RE THE SAME THING YOU DITZ! Whew. Much chuckling to be had over the trails and travails of the directionally impaired. Yesterday we packed a picnic-type-lunch and went to Centennial for the day, which was also grand. Just sat outside, ate some stuff, walked around, played with some ghetto-fied frisbees... tee hee. It was so good to have you two around, Joey and J-Ro... any time you want, my couch is yours! And for my other B'ham friends, come visit! Punks.

Now I'm back at work and can't work! It's like the start of an Aflac commercial or something... the phone system is down, yet the queue is on, so there are people waiting to talk to sales reps while the sales reps can't log onto the phones... hah! Good times, that. Anywho, gonna go stare in frustration at the crossword. I think I'm getting dumber as the days go by, because the crosswords seem to be getting harder every morning... maybe I just need more caffeine. Mmmmmmmm...

'K bye.

Soli Deo Gloria---

and you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking

2005-08-26T06:39:00.000-07:00

--"Time," Pink Floyd

Forgive the lengthy distance betwixt entries, my friends; the house where I was dogsitting was not internet-friendly, so I didn't have the capacity. Let's dive right in, shall we?

The Good: Watched Boondock Saints last night with Derek, after an evening ride at Shelby. Good, good movie. "Doc, we gotta get you a proverb book or somethin- this mix-n-match shit's gotta go." Also good, I finished "Love/Cholera" (absolutely fantastic, read it right now) and read "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich," which is the tale of a typical day in a Siberian labor camp. Powerfully written, the thing that makes it so good is the utter lack of bitterness that you see from the protagonist; this is simply something he's got to deal with, so he does. No fury, no raving, just the hope that this will prove to be temporary and a remarkable compassion for those who share his miserable existence. Not exactly an "upper" book, but worth checking out, anyway. Last but best, Tuesday night was pasta-and-singing night at the Entsminger house. How sweet it was-- Dr. E makes a meeeean pot o' chicken pasta, and we actually had enough people to sing some of our more challenging stuff this time around; Beati Quorum Via by Stanford is one of the most indescribably exquisite pieces ever written when sung well, and frankly, we sing it very, very well... At the end of the evening, we watched "Mystery Science Theater 300: This Island Earth," which made me hurt from laughing. Really.

The Bad: I've got an ulcer in my mouth. Ergh. It's right on the joint between my upper and lower teeth, so that the mere act of opening my mouth is white-hot pain. Or at least it was white hot pain on Sunday, when I had to sing the solos and psalms for BOTH services. By now it has receded to a sort of dull gray ache. Or some other color-ish metaphor. I'm sure that's really what you wanted to know coming into your morning, but hey, there it is. And frankly, that's really the only bad thing of late, so I can't complain.

The Ugly: Sonic has discontinued the pancake-on-a-stick. I was well-nigh inconsolable last night when Derek and I discovered this- oh treacherous day, oh darkened dawn! The Pancake-on-a-Stick was the best thing going at Sonic. Really! It was like a corn-dog, only it was a breakfast sausage dipped in pancake batter. Dear heavenly sweetness, passed so abruptly from this ever-dimmer world! Murderous rage filled my heart, but then I ate some french toast sticks, and they were passing tasty. So I dealt with it.

Anywho, that's about it. I'm thankfully done with dog-sitting- Jacques was a cool puppy, but he wore me out... I passed out on the couch almost every night just from keeping up with him and being awakened by him in the mornings. Now it's on to another *thrilling* day in my dear little cubby. Sigh...

Just took this, good way to pass the time...

You scored as Albus Dumbledore. Strong and powerful you admirably defend your world and your charges against those who would seek to harm them. However sometimes you can fail to do what you must because you care too much to cause suffering.

Hermione Granger

85%

Albus Dumbledore

85%

Sirius Black

80%

Ron Weasley

80%

Ginny Weasley

75%

Harry Potter

70%

Remus Lupin

70%

Draco Malfoy

60%

Severus Snape

45%

Lord Voldemort

40%

Your Harry Potter Alter Ego Is...?
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Soli Deo Gloria--

i suggest a reading of 'a lesson in tightropes'

2005-08-19T12:06:00.000-07:00

--from "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk," Rufus Wainwright

Thursday morning at 5 oclock, as the day began... I was awakened by a cat's ass in my face. Yup. It was grand. I'm housesitting for my choir director, as I mentioned before, and taking care of his pets: the cats, Chloe and Madeleine (the latter of whom shook, but did not break, what her mother gave her in my face yesterday at a dastardly early hour) and the dog, Jacques. As you may have guessed, Velting (the director) is somewhat of a Franco-phile... who else would name a 180 lb Dobermann mix "Jacques?" Anywho, other than the ass-o-cat, it's going swimmingly; I locked both cats outside the bedroom last night and slipped Jacky-boy some benedryl, got a good, long sleep...

Now, I say two cats. However, until this morning (close to 24 hours into my supervision of the estate), I had not met Chloe. She's very old, and very fat, and doesn't really like people. So I come out of the room this morning and there's this large possum-ish creature looking up at me distrustfully and not so much saying "Meow" as "Yrp." Really. Kinda scary, actually. Turns out she doesn't much care for Jacques, either... But the other two critters are great, Madeleine's dance party notwithstanding; the dog is really sweet-natured and friendly, doesn't bark or jump much, and the cat is actually friendly, follows me around and talks to me... hehe. Good times.

Speaking of Velting, on Monday he asked me to sing for a funeral at church "on Monday;" I thought he meant the next Monday, which seemed rather a long wait for one's terminal arrangements. But no; turns out that it's NEXT MONDAY, the 19th. Er... ew... rather nasty, that. Probably just a memorial service at the church after the actual interment, but... geez... the mental image of an open casket ceremony two weeks post-fact? Yikes.

In other news... went out to eat last night with members of the Nashville Browncoats, fans of the TV show "Firefly" that's become my most recent addiction; it were fun, yo. Derek and I rode together to Outback, where I had the Steakhouse Salad and asked the server to cook it as rare as the law allows. Now, I really like rare beef. Really. I usually tell people either to kill it on a warm day, or simply tell the steak that there is such a thing as a "grill," merely inform it of such an entity, and I will consider it cooked. This stake that was shaved onto the salad filled every expectation-- it was positively dripping with blood, just a bare bit of brown on the edges... in fact, it was almost too rare, which was a nice change from the usual blackened charcoal served in most places. In any event, a good time was had by most-- they were lots of fun, and the only complaint came from Rine, who being a ripe old ten months was not quite happy with being out as late as we were. Crybaby.

In closing, whatever happened to Hypercolor? My friend Lucas had a car that was hypercolor, but that was years after the shirts... talk about things that just absolutely died... Anyway, I'm out like shout, gonna FINALLY finish this book TODAY if it KILLS ME. ('Love / Cholera,' as mentioned previously; still loving it, but it's hard to read since there are like four chapter breaks in a 350 page book... eek.)

Soli Deo Gloria--

and might have known at last unhaunted sleep under that cold and vapour turbaned-steep

2005-08-16T09:54:00.000-07:00

--"The Man who Dreamed of Faeryland," WB Yeats

OK. This blog? Freaking out. Totally. I had links all in it, and they just didn't work. So ... the ones that are left are still working. Grr. On with the day.

The essential difference between working here and working at Amerigo? Here, I'm getting paid for my boredom.

And that's all I'm gonna say about work.

I'm dogsitting for my music minister this week, which should be quite a trip-- went over to his house yesterday to check things out. Beautiful house, kitchen's bigger than my current bedroom, full-blown herb garden in the back, and a 'dobermutt' dog to keep me company! Whew... this'll be fun.

Went to Portland with Derek and Company last night, had a great time, met some new folks, 'twere fun indeed... Last Friday, I went to Liz's place for dinner, Kyle Ford joined us for a rockin' good time-- Todd's out of town at the moment, so she opted not to spend the evening with just her dogs for company. She made some damned good spaghetti. However, she didn't have any meatballs or ground beef. So we used frozen chicken strips for the protein, which made me laugh a bit. Then we just sat and chatted about all manner of things, one of those great moments where conversation deepens and ignites and affirms a wonderful friendship... or maybe that was just the Crown Royal Kyle brought over. (Mixed with an equal part of Amaretto, called a Grandfather, made me very very happy.) Anywho, that was fun. I was going to go hiking with Liz and Company on Saturday, but... I ain't got no shoes! Truly, I have no tennis shoes, sneakers, whatever you want to call them, nor do I have hiking boots. I could've hobbled along in my biker's shoes, but... not so much fun, that one. So I just rode a loop with Deweese later on Saturday. Good times.

One cool thing recently is that Mr. Berg went and bought a poem from me, one he wants to set to music for his church choir. Decent little poem entitled "Carol of Seasons," basically a walk through a person's life and the presence of God in every phase... no Yeats am I, but it's good. Also it makes me want to get back in the habit of writing, something I've let slide since my return from Italy... I'll not inflict my abysmal verse upon you, dear friends and readers, but it's good to be infected by theVwriting bug again...

So go check out Francesca's blog. 'Tis funny, and she uses this great picture of a whiny baby that makes me laugh. And go chastise Joey for his utter lack of recent blogging. Chris Josofhas been posting often lately, and Natasha Rosko has a new one up. Check it, yo.

And in closing: whatever happened to...

Slap-on bracelets? Remember those? They were da bomb for about, I dunno, a week or so. Then they disappeared completely, except for those S&M bars that I've never frequented that time back in '03.

Er...

Ok, bye.

but you perhaps may hope for pleasing woods, and stately dooms, and cities fill'd with gods

2005-08-12T08:34:00.000-07:00

--"Story of Phaeton," Ovid (Metamorphoses)

If you've not read any of Ovid's stuff, do so-- it's great bedtime reading, good ol' mythology.

More biking yesterday, more pain today. Good times, yo.

So I just had a guy call in to our company to place a rush order for UPS 1-day Air. He lives in Donelson, TN. Our warehouse is in Smyrna, TN. They're literally an hour apart. It'd be delivered by Monday. But no, he was adamant to pay $40 to have it "air mailed." Really.

Whew.

It's been a while since "Reading with Michael," so I'm gonna inflict some more literary talk on you. Deal with it. So I've been reading "Love in the Time of Cholera" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and holy CRAP is it amazing. No, really. It's the second book of his that I've read, the first being the inordinately popular "100 Years of Solitude;" it was good, but so odd and almost formless that I couldn't really call it one of my favorites. Worth reading, but not dynamite. This one, however, is fantastic; his characters are brilliantly drawn and achingly believable, his writing skills are beautiful, and it's shaping up to be a love story of the same stripe (if not the same scope) as 'Anna Karenina.' The story is of a young man named Florentino and his first love, Fermina, who eventually breaks off their illicit engagement to marry a wealthy doctor. The heart of the story takes place after the doctor's death some fifty years later, when both Florentino and Fermina are nearing eighty years of age, and Florentino renews his pursuit of his erstwhile love. It sounds cheesy and oversentimental, but the manner of his storytelling renders what could be a trite and sordid romance into a splendid portrait of immortal love. I'm not finished with it, in fact I'm only about halfway through, but it's shaping up quite well... check it out, yo.

So this morning, I went to make breakfast. My standard fare is oatmeal loaded with peanut butter, brown suger, butter, and raisins- no instant crap for me, no sir, I go with the stovetop variety. Mmm, mmm good. But today, I was not of a mind to have 'the same old thing,' so I went to make eggs, sausage, mushrooms, and toast. (Yes, mushrooms for breakfast. Little bitta butter, some fresh garlic, you got a winner. Really.) I go to open up my spicy sausage that I bought a while back, when my nostrils were ASSAULTED by an unidentifiable odor! Now, this was not an unpleasant odor. It just smelled kinda meaty. But it was so strong, and the sausage looked... so... green... that I, well, I kinda balked and threw the damn thing away. With all possible alacrity. Before it could eat me. I'm serious, I was afeared, people. So I had to cut it down to three fried eggs, toast, mushrooms, and yogurt. Boo-hoo... but now it's almost lunchtime, and I'm still stuffed to the gills from breakfast... urp. I also had a fine mug of fresh-ground Nicaraguan coffee (beans from Portland Brew)-- it's good stuff, but I gotta say I prefer the darker roasts, this one's a bit too acidic for me. Oddly enough, I really like the Italian roast. Who would've pensato che mi piacciono il cafe del tipo italiano? Beh, anch'io, per dire vero. Basta!

Anywho, nothing else of note. I'm'a go read some more. Nothing else to do, it's not like I'm at work... well... whatever.

Soli Deo Gloria--

we tire of the flame of the meteor, before it can fade and flee

2005-08-10T14:22:00.000-07:00

--"The White Birds," WB Yeats

He might be my new favorite, that thar Yeats fellow. Just started really digging into the anthology I have, and it's good stuff.

Brief moment of hilarity from today:

See, God has this great sense of humor. (For you dissidents, I submit: platypus, giraffe, and Whoopi Goldberg's hair. Or just Whoopi Goldberg. She's like a joke on our whole genepool.) Today on my way back from work, I was chilling at a red light when the left-turn lane next to me got their arrow. However, the guy in the car was yakking on his cell-phone and didn't see the light until it was turning yellow; as a result, none of the people behind him got to go. I chuckled and called him a dumbass under my breath, then watched in sympathy as the girl in the car behind him glared after him in frustration. Lost in my musings on the idiot drivers of Nashville, I was sharply awakened by the horn of the car behind me-- I had, of course, missed my light's changing and almost caused my entire lane to miss their opportunity to move on. That, my friends, is what you get for calling other people names.

In other news, I got my bike yesterday... and went on my first ride on my new steed. Derek suggests I name her 'Debbie,' since purchasing her and the necessary extra items put me in a decent little hole, but I think I'll come up with something slightly more flattering. She's amazingly light, really sturdy, handles brilliantly, and so on.

However.

My memories of bike-riding as a kid are remarkable in their simplicity. "Push with feet. Don't fall. Run over pinecones and feline-type-creatures." That was essentially it. (No, I never hit a cat. I never *would* hit a cat. It's a joke. Cats would be *really* bad for your spokes, I'd recommend just nailing them on the head with the metal pump that comes with most bikes.) At some point, this simplicity was murdered brutally by such dastardly accessories as the clipless pedal. Now, one would think that this means a pedal without clips. No. You're wrong. Damn you and your logic. "Clipless" pedals refer to pedals into which you must clip. Really. Some clips are large and easy to locate, like Derek's (and, incidentally, Lance Armstrong's), while some, like mine, require the alignment of a cleat on the sole of my shoe that is roughly the size of half of an atom with a matching clip on my pedal that measures in at the relatively gargantuan size of one molecule of water. In short, it took about half an hour for me to put in one foot. Then I found that the second foot has to be put into its clip WHILE THE BICYCLE (and, not by any mere coincidence, my body with all of its precious internal organs) IS IN MOTION. Needless to say, I would pay large sums of money to watch some other fool attempt such a thing. After that mystery was solved, things went relatively smoothly- I only fell once, and nobody saw it. That's a good thing. Can't wait to be all serious-cyclist-like, but hey, you gotta start somewhere.

And thanks to Derek and Chris for not laughing at me too obviously. Means a lot.

Well, not much else to report. Football starts soon. Can't even express how happy that makes me. I watched some of Monday night's HOF game, but... it was... painfully boring... Dolphins v Bears... woohoo. Anywho, at least it's something. I'm gonna take off now, nothing else to say. Ciao!

Soli Deo Gloria--

i sought the Lord, and afterward i knew

2005-08-07T19:11:00.000-07:00

He moved my Soul to seek Him, seeking me;
it was not I that found, O Saviour true;
no, I was found of Thee.

Thou didst reach forth Thy hand and mine enfold;
I walked and sank not on the storm-vexed sea;
'twas not so much that I on Thee took hold,
as Thou, dear Lord, on me.

I find, I walk, I love, but oh, the whole
of love is but my answer, Lord, to Thee;
for Thou wert long beforehand with my soul,
always Thou lovedst me.

--anonymous, from the Episcopal Hymnal

I know I don't usually inflict entire poems on you, but this one struck me in church this morning. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Thursday night I went over to the Koltis household to have dinner. Juli was in town to do the flowers for Matt and Gina's wedding and she had Ashley's sister, Amanda, in tow; Todd was making some lamb pasticcio or some sort. Anywho, it tasted great, even if it wasn't quite 'perfect' in Todd's book. (I ate about a half of the whole pan, so I obviously enjoyed it.) Friday was the rehearsal and dinner and bachelor party, all of which were fun... I'll admit, I was a bit leery as to the amazingly informal nature of the proceedings, but they won me over. Outdoor wedding, CD-player for the music, barefoot bridesmaids, you get the drift. However, the preacher ok'd my slipping him a ring-pop during the *actual* ceremony itself, which went over really well... bachelor party was... uneventful to say the least, we drank beer and played halo.

However, two funny things happened at the wedding itself.

First, I managed to get the preacher to ok me handing Aaron a ring-pop when he asked for his ring. That was great.

Then... well... the bridesmaids made t-shirts for the wedding party. On these shirts were pictures of the wedding party in a goofy group picture. My pose was a profile jazz-hands type deal. However, some trick of the pockets makes it look like I'm... somewhat... excited to be there. Actually, very very very excited to be there. Of course, we were all wearing these shirts at the reception and had been for a while before anyone noticed. Hilarity ensued, much of it at my expense, but hey, I'm a good sport.

Not much else to report. The job is still a job-- somewhat boring, etc. I don't have my bike yet, and I've spent the last three days pretty much eating non-stop. Yuck. I'm done. G'night.

Soli Deo Gloria--

you lie! he cried and ran on

2005-08-04T09:54:00.000-07:00

--"I saw a man chasing the horizon," S. Crane

Workin away!

It's been fairly slow around here, which translates into Michael being ridiculously frantic trying to answer questions and juggle calls. I've basically moved from being a waiter with 30 menu items and 60 wine selections to being a salesman with TENS OF THOUSANDS of products on hand. Yikes.

News of note-- I made chili Tuesday, and, if I do say so myself, it were damned fine. In fact, Liz Koltis informed me that it was the best chili she'd ever had, and she used to room with Ashley Richardson, who makes one mean pot o'chili. Anywho, we had some friends over for chili and beer and it was just a good time over-all. We've tentatively settled on a date for the next wineover... should be great!

Last night, Bekka Smith and Cooper, her new ... paramour? can I use that word here? ... anyway, her boyfriend came over. It was great to see her, and great to meet him-- he's an absolute prince, which means he's just shy of good enough for her... hehe. Missionary kid, speaks like five languages, grew up all over the world, just finished a tour with the Peace Corps... yeah. Impressive fellow. And very cool, as well. So, Bekka, if you read this, I approve. If you care.

This weekend is Aaron Moss' wedding. I'm the best man. This should be... interesting. Never been a best man before... I'm not even a terribly good man! Hyuk, hyuk. Anywho, we'll be having a bachelor-type party tomorrow night...should be fun...

I really like that I live four minutes from work- I go home to eat every day... cheap, good, and it's almost like a vacation... sheesh, I'm easy to please. I don't really have much else to say, so I s'pose I'll stop. Ciao tutti--

Soli Deo Gloria--

any idiot can weather a crisis; it is this day-to-day living that wears you out

2005-07-31T09:39:00.000-07:00

--Anton Chekhov

So my job.

It's for a contemporary Christian choral music publishing company.

If you know me *at all,* you are aware that I... do not like contemporary Christian music, as a whole. In terms of worship, I'm definitely a hymn kinda guy; the church I currently attend does chant music, for crying out loud, and I love it. My reason for this is simple; as a Christian, I am commanded to love the Lord with all of my heart, soul and mind. My experience with contemporary worship music is that it beats the first into the dirt, gives a passing nod to the second, and completely ignores the third. I'm not saying that the old faithful hymns are all intellectual gold, lyrically or musically, but I think they have more hits on that scale than their contemporary counterparts.

All this to say, my work entails selling music I wouldn't necessarily be hearing in a church of my choice.

Tee hee.

Anyway, the job itself is cake and the people are a lot of fun, so it's great so far. We went out for lunch to Sam's Sushi last tuesday, and damn... it was great. Sam's like the sushi nazi... for instance, he didn't give me anything like I ordered. He was in the process of making two other orders that were identical and just decided to go ahead and make it three. Not complaining, it was awesome, and actually cheaper... He's also very particular about how you pay. For instance, don't you *dare* go in there and try to pay with plastic. It's gotta be cash, or he'll tell you not to come back (if he's in a particularly bad mood). And if you're in a group with several people, all paying cash and all separate, and the first guy is paying with a twenty... he'll just combine two or three and take them out of the twenty and tell the others to pay the first guy back. Really. It's awesome.

Bought a bike yesterday. Rather, I payed a lot of money to someday soon receive a bike. It's a custom job, so they have to order it from out of town- should have it within a week! Schweetness...

Not really much else to report. Greg cooked dinner Friday and breakfast Saturday, and he is swiftly solidifying his position as the coolest roommate of all time.

I'm employed and happy about it. That's enough for now.

Soli Deo Gloria--

that's one way to lose those walking blues, diamonds on the soles of her shoes

2005-07-27T18:16:00.000-07:00

--'Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes,' Paul Simon

Again, I apologize for the delay in updating. Much to tell. Here goes.

Friday: Read 'Enchantment' by Orson Scott Card, or most of it, at least. Really well-written book about Russian folk tales, probably Card's best book. He's got this bad tendency to start series really well and then just kinda fizzle into mediocrity, so his better books are single novels, 'Enchantment,' 'Worthing Saga,' and 'Ender's Game/Shadow.' (The last two each have a series attached to them, but they stand much better on their own, and were not, in fact, written originally to be part of a series.) Anywho, I drove down to Birmingham to spend the night with Dave. Now, I've already mentioned my bitterness regarding David's ludicrously large house. Friday, I cooked dinner for Dave and Chris, risotto with bratwurst (and a touch o' beer, to be truthful!), and was almost overcome with hatred. Their kitchen is almost as big as my bedroom. Argh. After dinner, we watched 'Life Aquatic,' great flick in the vein of 'Royal Tenenbaums,' if not quite as good.

Saturday: Bought birthday / anniversary presents for Mom and Dad. See, Dad made a smart move: they got married the day after her birthday. Only one date to remember. Got some cedar and hickory planks from William-Sonoma for the anniversary, good for grilling and such, and got some herbs (and a dumpling mold...) for Mom. I read Harry Potter that day, and have to say, I... was not best pleased. Very well written, as enjoyable a read as all of the others, but ... I felt like it was too much a set-up book. It's very obviously dependent on Book 7 for fulfillment, and while that's somewhat understandable for a book in a series, one of the best marks of this series in particular is that each book has individually told a solid story on its own. This one did not, and therein lay my problem with it... however, 'twas a good book all else told.

On to the night! Met with some folks at The Club for a surpise dinner for Mom and Dad... well, the surprise was for Mom. Her parents drove over from Atlanta, their old college friends Bill and Lauren drove down from Nashville, Jason and Anita were in from Tuscaloosa, and Phyllis and Wayne from church joined us. Whew. Long list. Anydangways, we had dinner, and it was good. Hung out for a good long while; I like Phyllis, she laughs at my jokes. Found out I was singing in a trio with Mom and David the next day in church, good times.

Sunday: Church with the folks, sang with the fam, good times had by all. GREAT sermon about the recent history of Islam and the path that has taken its fringe members down their recent paths of madness. Afterwards, we had a little lunch for Mom's birthday- the choir sang a Ken Berg arrangement of 'When I Can Read My Title Clear,' with lyrics rewritten in honor of the birthday. I'll spare you the details- in classic Dad form, it was very, very cheesy and very very sweet. Took a brief nap after church, then hiked back up to Nashvegas.

And oh, what a Nashvegas it is. I fear that my thrilling description of my thrilling new job is gonna have to wait until another night. SVU is winding down, laundry is coming out of the dryer, then bed is calling. Ciao, tutti...

Soli Deo Gloria--

i'm still alive

2005-07-26T19:50:00.000-07:00

but damn, i'm tired.

i promise i'll send you a nice, long post coming sometime soon.

but not right now.

bye.

Soli Deo Gloria--

but o heart! heart! heart! o the bleeding drops of red!

2005-07-21T22:22:00.000-07:00

--'O Captain! My Captain!' Walt Whitman

Whipped cream, mixed liberally with coffee grinds, was applied with violent force repeatedly against my person today.

What, pray tell, was the reason for such humiliation? Quite simple, dear friends and loyal readers. It was my final day at Amerigo. Hence the pie, and the me-putting-up-with-the-pie.

The last two days at work were delightful, I must admit. I made a killing, last night especially, and had one table even set aside a glass of Cakebread Cabernet for my most grateful consumption. But the real story lately is Tuesday, when I went for a bike ride with Derek and Chris, and was immediately thereafter sore in places I didn't even know I had. We also watched several episodes of 'Firefly,' which, if you're a geek like me, is a really cool show. (If not, why are you reading my blog? Go away, and find some "cool person" to talk to. Leave me alone.) It's a western set in space. What more could I want? Good stuff. Check it out.

Last night, I couldn't sleep, so I finished my reading of Steinbeck's rendition of the Arthur myths. Amazing stuff, if you ever get the chance, read it. One minute, I was laughing hysterically; the next, I was fighting back tears. Steinbeck's use of language couples with the bitter beauty of Camelot in a way that is absolutely enchanting.

I'd love to write more, but... ... ... I've no will left in my fingers. Gonna go read something light and collapse. 'Spast my bedtime. Bye.

Soli Deo Gloria--

yet a few days, and thee the all-beholding sun shall see no more in all his course

2005-07-15T09:31:00.000-07:00

--"Thanatopsis," William Cullen Bryant

A word about the above poem. It's a meditation on death, specifically the universality of it (wait a minute. specifically the universality?!? I leave this in just to laugh at myself, and give you dear readers the opportunity to do the same. Really. Dumbass.) and the peace that comes from accepting its inevitability, as well as the attitude of the good and virtuous man toward his eventual rest. Amazing work, some beautiful craftsmanship, and he wrote it at age seventeen. I think I was figuring out some Dave Matthews song on the guitar and hoping that it would induce some girl to make out with me when I was seventeen. Sheesh. Things like that, and this sculpture that Michelangelo did at the ripe old age of fifteen, make me question democratic ideals as a whole... here's to an aristocracy of talent.

So I like to think of myself as a well-travelled man. And in a way, I am. But I was generating this map earlier that I found on Derek's blog, and it's distressing the amount of un-red territory on my map. I've gotta get packin.

So, dear readers, where do you want to go, more than anywhere else in the world? I want to go to Norway, visit the honky motherland (my family's from Oslo, so I'm told), see the fjords and whatnot, but I also want to go to New Zealand, Australia, the Ivory Coast, Costa Rica, Hawaii, and damned near everywhere else on earth. Oh, and back to Italy. Really. I miss my Italy.

One of my favorite stories from traveling is from last summer's trip to Russia, Finland, and Estonia. The hotel in Helsinki (which is a really cool, if ludicrously expensive, place) had two elevators whose maximum capacity was clearly posted as four people each. Clearly. No doubts. Well, one bright day in the middle of the night, some of the kids (and moms, mind you, one of them my own) decided to test these limits. Six of them piled onto one elevator, two moms, three girls, one boy. I happened to be walking by to go up the eight flights of stairs, when the one guy invited me to join the elevator party. I did some quick math and saw that I would *certainly* put us over the advised limit, but he insisted, and I reasoned that the girls and moms were all very little people, so surely my bulkiness would be counterbalanced by their delicate natures.

Now, a word in my defense. The day before, I got onto the elevator with somebody else with all of our luggage, and we *obviously* put it over the limit, as the doors jammed open and a siren squawked (that word looks so weird when you type it) in indignation at our obese posteriors. So, in this new situation, with the feedback from yesterday, I quite reasonably expected to hear a wailing warning if we were over the elevator's limit. Ha! How long, stupid Michael, before you stop expecting rationality out of our fickle world???

We got about half a floor off the ground before the elevator chuckled weakly and shuddered to a halt. Stuck between two floors of a hotel in Helsinki, sandwiched together like, I dunno, sandwiches or something, and unable to raise any help on the intercom... Of course, at that moment, every female in the elevator discovered an as-yet-unnoticed need to go potty. (Thankfully, they didn't. They just whined about it.) So we sat and stewed, telling jokes to keep the panic level down, until we were discovered... but they had to call the elevator repairman to come in, and he lived close to half an hour away... so we ended up staying in this elevator for just under an hour and a half. Rock on. During the latter portion, Mr. Berg (who had been looking for his elder son and his wife) stood on the ground floor summoning and sending the *other* elevator around us, to keep a breeze flowing into our increasingly stuffy tin can. These are the times that make travel wonderful.

Any of you folks have embarrassing tales of travel? Do tell...

Anywho, in regard to daily life, not much has happened. I went bike shopping with Derek yesterday, 'twas fun-- I'll be buying one before long, and then-- I shall challenge my beer gut to a duel to the death! Mwa hahahaha. Victory is mine.

Here's my world map that I mentioned earlier, by the by- check out the site, cool stuff.

create your own visited country map

And welcome to Natasha- have added her link to my sidebar, check it out. She will make you laugh. Until you hurt. Derek's on there too.

Enough for one day.

Soli Deo Gloria--

i will show you fear in a handful of dust

2005-07-13T18:28:00.000-07:00

--"Wasteland," TS Eliot

Howdy all, hope life treats you well.

So Sunday, I'm getting ready to leave the apartment to grab dinner, when Greg says, "Hey, I made chicken-fried chicken." A veritable feast, I tell you! He is the coolest roommate of all time.

Monday I went to the Frist Art Museum with Tresa Heath and her daughter, Amanda. It was lots of fun, although we weren't terribly ... reverent. For instance, there was one painting of Helen being abducted from Troy in which Helen looks like a man. And a very fat one. With mannish, burly arms. We chuckled. Another one of the paintings had Jesus in Joseph's shop being scolded by Mary, which was also very amusing. 'Twas a good time... the upstairs exhibit was all modern art, modern in the sense of "let's take feces and silly-string and tie them together and it's self-expression." Die. No, really. The world would be a better place.

After singing last night, Greg and I went with Rachel Aston to J Alexander's for dinner, and I spent way more than I was planning, and we had the best time. 'Twas a good time, indeed.

But tonight...

We have a theater in Nashville called the Belcourt, it's in Hillsboro Village if you've never been. They do art shows, classic movies, live music, it's a really cool venue. This week's offering: Casablanca and Citizen Kane, double feature. Greg and I went to see CK this afternoon- hot damn. Such a rich, beautifully made movie... the use of light and shadow is amazing, Kane's development as a character is just incredible... perhaps the best movie ever made, although I've not seen Casablanca so I can't compare the two... That was definitely a highlight of this past week...

Now I'm watching Law and Order: SVU. All good feelings are gone.

Anywho.

I don't have to wait tables for very much longer. That feels indescribably good. I'm gonna play some Morrowind and go to sleep. Good night, dear hearts.

there with vast wings across the cancelled skies

2005-07-09T08:26:00.000-07:00

--'End of the World,' Archibald Macleish

As of yesterday at 5pm, I am now an employee of Word Music. Yeehaw. Good money, great benefits, and no more slopping through rich bastards' food. I'm rather pumped. Thanks to all who've been keeping me prayed up, I really appreciate the moral support.

Went to see Fantastic Four last night with Greg, and it was fun. Not terribly *good,* mind you, but fun. Felt a little limp, in a way; not much in the way of character development, everything was kinda sudden... which is a shame, since Dr. Doom is an especially awesome villain... I felt like they overemphasized the Thing's tragic nobody-loves-me-I'm-a-freak storyline at the cost of every other characters' development. But it was still fun, go see it if you've got the urge.

I also ate dinner with Guenther and Coker, two fraternity brothers (Coker is now ENGAGED!?!?) at Cici's Pizza, and while we were there, Coker spent about half an hour trying to convince Guenther to get a phone number from one of three girls whose average age couldn't have been 15... it really was one of the funniest scenes I've ever watched, I told them that I wanted a video of the two of them interacting, they're just too funny.

So, Thursday night, I had a guy at the restaurant chew me out in front of his whole table, which included several of my regular customers, and half of the staff. My crime? When I came by to make sure their food was acceptable, I had a dirty plate in my hand. Yup. A dirty plate. Never mind that I had tables in four different sections, so that I *literally* had to walk all the way around the restaurant every time I went anywhere. Never mind that I had a total of five tables scattered in this manner, so I was running like a chicken with my head cut off. No. Apparently, I was very rude for trying to work while I was at work. And this fat jackass sat there and humiliated me in front of the entire store, then left me five on ninety-five as a final insult. I don't know if I've ever been quite so close to homicide. This bastard is a regular, he's in here all the time, he and his wife are a pain in the ass like few other people on earth... pathetically convinced that they're important, tragically unaware that they are almost universally loathed... and I only have to deal with the restaurant business for two more weeks. Ahh.

Rant over. Bye!

Soli Deo Gloria--

close enough to be seen, far enough to be safe

2005-07-06T10:18:00.000-07:00

--"And He Waits," Jump Little Children

I just returned from my interview, and... I still don't have a job... although it's looking really good. Dale, my (hopeful) boss-to-be, showed me around the place, introduced me to some of the other people who work there, then we went up to the Big Man's Office. He was busy in a meeting, so Dale and I sat outside and talked for about half an hour-- really fun, just talked about everything from Italy to CS Lewis to his daughters and their growing-up process. When we did get in to see him, he spoke with me for about ten minutes, just a 'get-to-know-you' meeting, then asked me to leave him alone with Dale for a bit... As Dale and I walked back to his building, he said that he didn't know anything for sure yet, but that he really wanted me on board, so I'll know shortly. Sheesh. The suspense, it's a-killing me. So, for all you whom I've promised to call with the news, I'll call once I've got news, but right now I'm still just a-hangin.

Monday: good. Very, very good. I went to a cookout with Tresa Heath's church, Greg came along and the Sanfilippos (Sammy and Amanda, whom I still call 'Potter' just because I always have...) showed up as well. Played Rook for a long time with some fascinating older fellas, then ate a meal of gargantuan proportions... we ended up singing from the hymnal for a bit, just the chamber folks, which was great.

Yesterday, I had one real table and then Joey and Adam. Joey works there, Adam worked there. So I actually sat down and ate *with* them while I was waiting on them. Damn, it was slow. Beyond painful. Ate at Cancun last night with Greg, Amanda, Tresa, Rachel, and Rachel's roommate Laci-- *really* good Mexican food, the best I've had in Nashville thus far. So that's the last few days, be in prayer for this job... ciao!

Soli Deo Gloria--

give to these children, new from the world, rest far from men

2005-07-01T17:40:00.000-07:00

--'A Faery Song,' WB Yeats

I'm back in the lazyboy, and... you guessed it... all's right with the world.

First, from where I left off, I did finish my Risk game with David: in fact, I beat the living snot out of him. Tee hee. Then I went to lunch with Veronica and Cameron and Cameron's friend Beth-- it was so good to see the girls... we ate at Taziki's, this little Greek place in Homewood. Good times. Went to church that night and sang in Dad's choir, which was... interesting. I sat by Renn Williams, with whom I sang in Mixed Ensemble in high school and who has two volume levels: really really really loud, and holy crap he's singing louder. So I was exhausted from keeping up with his overpowering decibel level... and if you've *ever* sung with me, you know that someone overpowering *me* is doing some pretty serious gutbusting.

After church, I went to Buffalo Wild Wings with Joey, Jon, Lucas, and Dane (our drama teacher from JC, his name is actually Ed, but he seems to like Dane better...)... oh yeah. First, I went to David's new house. It's... disgusting. This kid is a sophomore in college, and he's living in a home significantly larger than our parents' abode. Really. Four college boys split this house for $1400 a month (!!!), it's a block from UAB, and it's FRIGGING ENORMOUS. Bastards. Anywho, back to Buffalo- it was so great to see the guys, haven't seen them anywhere near enough in the last few years... although Jon was seriously confused as to the nature of this establishment. See, you order your food when you come in, then go sit down with a buzzer. But then a waitress comes to your table, and you order a drink from her. Later on, you get your food from up front when your buzzer goes off, but when it goes off, they come find you, rather than you going up front to get your food. Finally, if you're still hungry after you get your food, you can ask your waitress for more food. Then you get more food. And the cheese stands alone.

Come to think of it, I'm probably kinda confusitated, myself. But we had fun.

Anyway, yesterday I went and bought some clothes for the new job I hope I have, then Francesca headed over for dinner-- good times, man. She and my parents sang every Carpenters song ever written, and they didn't even charge me admission. After dinner, I went out with Becca, Ronnie, Joey, Luc, and John. DAMN it was fun. We went out for drinks at On Tap, then headed to... karaoke!!! WOOHOO. Really. I mean, it was hilarious. Joey, Lucas and I all sang- Joey did Piano Man, which was awesome, and Luc did some country tune, "Wildfire..." it was funny just to see him sing this horribly cheesy song. I sang "With a Little Help from my Friends," and (of course) Ronnie went to leave after the line "would you stand up and walk out on me?"... tee hee. Vewy, vewy funny.

AND there was this one creepy old guy who whistled. That's right. He whistled at a karaoke bar. He sang one or two verses of his song, then whistled the rest. ??? Eesh.

Friday, I helped Dad in the yard (and am still paying for it, my back is *killing* me), ate lunch at Flatrock, then drove home... hung out Friday with some friends up here, Guenther and Holland, we went to Rafferty's for drinks (well, Holland and I did...) then watched Blazing Saddles! Still just about the funniest movie ever...

Yesterday: Todd's for the Cubs' game (bastard losers), then grilling... wow, we ate a loooooot of meat... and shrimp... and potatos... and grilled portobello... and veggies... eesh. But it was fun, good ol' guy time. Now I'm watching the Cubs lose *again.* Seriously, these guys are just sad. Oh well.

Sorry it's so scattered, but I wrote this over three days... just haven't really felt the urge... so... there 'tis. Hopefully I'll have a new job in three days. Peace.

Soli Deo Gloria--

down the vast edges drear and naked shingles of the world

2005-06-29T06:34:00.000-07:00

--"Dover Beach," Matthew Arnold

Sitting in Birmingham, just hanging out. Mom just got finished cleaning the house, since the cleaning lady is coming today. Yeah. She cleans for the cleaning lady. Go figure. I've been in town for the last two days or so, have done nothing of consequence... played some cards, watched some movies, so on and so forth. Last night, I played Canasta with Mom and Dad, which I must remind myself never to do again... Dad's whole strategy is to give Mom whatever she has on the board already, so you can't really beat her. She acts like it frustrates her, but she takes advantage of it, anyway. Hmph.

Saturday, I did nothing... took an hour long walk, just trying to clear my head from some ... disagreeble crap that's been floating around lately. Felt good. Work was slow that night, then Scott and Monica came over and drank a bottle of wine afterwards, Tasca d'Almerita Regaleali Rosso 2000. Really good, warm red, plummy, not much spice. I's a fan. It was great to see them, have missed both of them this summer.

Read Catch-22 earlier this week, which is still one of the best/funniest books ever written... Yossarian lives, man. I'm striving to wade through Ben Franklin's autobiography, but ... it's slow going... reading some of Woody Allen's short stories in the meantime, that's one funny fella.

In short, boredom. Gonna go wake David up and finish off our game of Risk. Ciao.

Soli Deo Gloria--

a love like that can grow to be nine-tenths hatred and still call itself love

2005-06-24T16:47:00.000-07:00

--"Till We Have Faces," CS Lewis

Hello hello, faithful friends and dear readers. It's been a relaxing week, for the most part. I've read alot, three books worth, in fact... more later... Worked a bit, and I mean to tell you, I've really got to get out of this job. Starting to feel almost suffocated by it. Here follow events of note:

Tuesday: went out for dinner with Tresa Heath. She's this delightful lady who sings with Chamber Singers- she's older, has kids heading to college soon, but some time back came to Dr. Entsminger and asked him if she could sing, she just needed music in her life. So she sings with Chamber Singers, and we've grown very close over the years, so we got to have dinner over at Rafferty's this past Tuesday. I needed it direly; she's such a soothing spirit, we spoke of so many things... I had some things to get off of my chest, just general frustrations with life and employment and numerous other things, and she was such a delightful listener... and also a delightful speaker, for the things that she had to say, I needed to hear... 'twas fun, indeed.

Wednesday: I was planning to go out with Brandie and Kelley, two of my managers at Amerigo; we were planning on hitting up the movie in the park (Centennial Park in Nashville has a program where they show movies on Wednesdays during the summer), then head back to someone's house and drink voluminous amounts of wine. However, Kyle Ford gave me a call out of the blue, said he had a night off of work, and, to be frank, I'd rather be hanging out with him. Not to be rude, I love them both dearly, but I see my managers all the damned time. Kyle is one of my closest friends in all the world, and the only time I've seen him since graduation was at my birthday festivity over at Sam's. So we hung out for a while, got some sushi at Ken's (really, really good), then went to see Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Which, honestly, was great. Vastly entertaining, delightfully funny... I was pleasantly surprised, I was expecting a fairly mindless action flick, but it was pretty intelligent. Had a lot to say about marriage and the subsequent ennui... Fun movie, go see it if you get the chance.

Thursday: I was awakened at 8:30 by a phone call from a man, Roy Patterson, I think, calling from the US Department of Energy. It appears my friend Ashley listed me as a reference on her resume, and he was looking to do some background checking on her... ... ... so he came over to my humble abode 'round about one, and asked me all kinds of questions about Ash, which I answered as best as I could. It was kinda weird, but hey, I'd walk through fire for Ash, don't see any reason not to tell the guv'ment that she's the coolest thing since sliced bread. Later on, Greg and I watched Kill Bill 2, which was fun, then I went to Sunset Grille for my friend Meghan's birthday. Good times. Had some white whine, "Hugel," that was... drinkable. That's about it. Nine dollars for ... drinkable. Sigh. Left early, as I had to be up early for work, but it was good to see Meghan and Anne-marie.

Friday: Lunch was lunch. Ate crabcakes after the shift, then went to a job interview at Word Music. Really cool guy, Dale Bleam, interviewed me for about an hour, asking me about my choral background (hyuk hyuk, I been around a bit) and my sales techniques. I think I acquitted myself rather well, all told, and he seemed to like what I brought to the table as far as attitude and experience; I'll know by the middle of next week for sure. Please keep this in your prayers: I really, really need to get out of Amerigo, and this seems to be my best feasible option for doing so.

Time for Reading with Michael!

Finished George Carlin's book. That is one bitter, angry man.

Just read The Color Purple today. Wow. I mean, really... just... wow. So powerful... so moving... so much pain, so dark, yet so strong and ultimately joyful. I can't really talk about it just yet, not any more concretely than that, so just know: it's good.

Earlier this week, I finished 'Till We Have Faces,' my favorite novel by CS Lewis. It is the tale of Cupid and Psyche retold, from the point of view of Psyche's sister. (If you're not familiar with the tale, go read it here. It's a great story, one that everybody really ought to know...) As Lewis remakes it, it becomes a treatise on love and how terrible a thing it can become. In many ways, it's a literary companion to "The Four Loves," in that he makes the general point that when any love between human beings becomes their god, it soon thereafter becomes a devil. Here, Orual (the sister) is so desperately in need of Psyche's love that she becomes twisted and bitter, attacking the gods for taking away the apple of her eye and never making themselves known, never speaking clearly, ever speaking in riddles and signs. She speaks of the one defense against heaven and the intrusion of holiness into one's life: "to be very wide awake and sober and hard at work, to hear no music, never to look at earth or sky, and (above all) to love no one." Throughout the book, there is no God, as such; there are the gods, Cupid and Aphrodite among others, but no hint of monotheism until the last page, when she calls on the Lord... the key line to the book is near the end, when she realizes what a strangling thing her love must have been and how deeply she had lied to herself in order to believe that it was noble and true. "I saw well why the gods do not speak to us openly, nor let us answer ... How can they meet us face to face till we have faces?" And I look at the lies I tell myself... I look at the poison that wells within me when the jealous, possessive part of my human nature is thwarted... and I look at the One that loves me, even so... Read it, dear friend, and I think you'll see what I mean.

That's all for now. Friday night is here, which means very little for me other than that I don't have to work. Which is good. Bye.

Soli Deo Gloria--

i could not bring my passions from a common spring

2005-06-20T12:54:00.000-07:00

--'Alone,' EA Poe

Alright. Moment of confession.

Friday night, I went to Tin Roof with Kevin Coker and Johnny Guenther to see a band called Danny and the Seahawks (something like that, anyway). This show simply confirmed something about myself that I've known for a long time: I am boring.

Really.

I'm in the middle of a roaring crowd, several of whom are gorgeous gals, all of whom are sloppy drunk, a band is playing fairly decent southern rock at the concrete-pulverizing level of volume, and all I can think about is a. how dumb most of these people look and b. how much I really, honestly love stale, nasty Bud Light being poured onto my jeans by some numbnut from Vandy trying to bone the nearest semi-coherent blonde. In fact, I spent much of the night leaning against the side wall, trying to look interested, and attempting to tell people that no, I'm not a bouncer, I just like wearing black and don't really enjoy dancing. But seriously, I've known all of this for a while, and it just reinforced it: if this is what most people my age do for excitement, and I find it excrutiatingly dull (not to mention mildly depressing), then, by the standard of my age group, I am boring.

And that's fine, really. Truth be told, I like the way I am, with a few reservations. I'd much rather go to a bar with (gasp) seats, order a round of drinks, and spend time talking with me buddies, sharing stories and laughing about stuff. (In fact, that's what I thought we were going to do at Tin Roof- I'd never been there on a Friday night, didn't know there would be a band, and kinda went to see Kevin Coker, who I haven't seen in some time... but I actually only said about four words to him all night. Oh, well, I'll run into him at some point.) I don't terribly like crowds, I really don't like absurdly loud music, I'm not a big fan of cheap beer, and, as I mentioned, I don't really dance all that much. I mean, I'll dance if called upon to do so. I dig swing dancing, although I suck at it; doesn't matter, it's fun, and I could easily do it for hours on end. However, the senseless gyrating (I call it "air breeding") that tends to go on in situations like those requires far more alcohol than I was willing to purchase or consume at that particular moment in time. Or most other moments, to be honest. The scenery was great, I enjoy looking at hot girls, but that's all you could really do, look, unless you were willing to make a complete ass of yourself. Frankly, I'll save my ass-like behavior for those who know me and can laugh at it without being creeped out or offended.

Does this mean I hold people in contempt who do these things for fun? Not at all, or at least not entirely. There were several people there who, I'm sure, Darwin would probably attempt to evacuate from the gene pool, but hey, that's nothing new. Many other people there were just enjoying themselves, having a fun time, and that's great. More power to you. It's just not something I can get excited about. I'd rather be reading, or watching a movie, or relaxing somewhere with the people I love, sharing a drink and conversation. Like I said, I'm boring.

And I'm kinda glad, in a way.

Saturday, I got to hang out with Greg, who is finally back-- we drank some wine, a Sauv Blanc he'd picked up somewhere, and shot the ol' shit for a while. Talked to my parents yesterday, haven't spoken to them in quite some time since they've been in BLOODY IRELAND WITHOUT ME, but they're doing fine... I'm trying to go home to see them next week, I hope it works out... watched Kill Bill last night, started the second part but Greg fell asleep... tee hee. I'm reading two books at the moment, one is "Till we have Faces" by CS Lewis (unbelievable book, but I'll talk about that later), the other is "Napalm and Silly Putty" by George Carlin. Wow. Most of it's just hilarious, but one line struck me as profound last night: "My main operating principle: don't take any shit from the zeitgeist." (Just in case you don't know, 'zeitgeist' means 'spirit of the age,' or the generally accepted worldview and value system of the moment. If you knew that already, congratulations, if not, now you're up one word.) Yeah, that was great. Also, "If a movie is described as a romantic comedy, you can usually find me next door playing pinball." Hehe. I'll include "Heartwarming triumph of the human spirit" in that category.

That's it for today... leave me lovin to let me know you're there... bye.

Soli Deo Gloria--

if you would comfort me, sing me a lullaby

2005-06-16T21:25:00.000-07:00

--"Sing Me to Heaven," Daniel Gawthrop

Returning from Batman at the Imax, I'm left with only three words: go see it.

But, since I can't do anything quite that simply, I am compelled to wax eloquent. I felt like a kid in a candy shop. Great music, engaging storyline, fun dialogue, awesome acting, and the gadgets! My inner technonerd is a very small part of me, truth be told, but he was very well pleased by this movie. It was also a very faithful rendering of the dark nature of the original comics, nothing like the more whimsical, cartoonish movies of recent years. There was much about Bruce Wayne's evolution into the Batman, his training and his psychology; even more about the concept of making oneself into a symbol, a legend, that surpasses mortality. The way he preys on the fears of the evil is absolutely fantastic... whew. Good movie.

In case you've not noticed, O Faithful Reader, I have a certain affinity for heroism. I think it's the Norseman in me, but any tale of heroic battle against evil gives me goosebumps, at least if it's a well-told tale. It's why I read Steven King, why I love Tolkien and Lewis, why I relish comic-book movies, hell, why I watch the Teen Titans when the mood strikes. I feel like, in many ways, we (here meaning that amorphous, philosophical amoeba called "society") try to educate the 'hero' out of ourselves, and we attempt to make up for it with things like Batman and the X-People. Part of the natural progression of any society that espouses relativism as its core principal, I suspect: if nobody is evil, why train people to be heroes? (I love arguing with relativists, because they really can't fight back. It's easier than taking candy from a baby. It's about as easy as having candy, and eating it, while near a baby. Also, the baby gives you more candy. Really, try it some time. "There's no such thing as an absolute truth." Self-referencing paradoxes RULE.) *Michael returns from the tangent to the rant.* One of my favorite passages in CS Lewis deals with something along this very line, specifically in regard to people's objections to telling children fairy tales. His argument is very well developed, but the gist is that we live in a world in which there are dragons, there are ogres, there are wicked witches brewing mischief; teach this to the children, and let them know of the knights and warriors who defy such evil, or they shall be crippled when the time comes to fight back.

Enough on that particular topic, at least for right now... but it's a fascinating one, at least to me.

In the way of daily events, I made around $200 yesterday, but have developed some form of knee problem that is... disconcerting. Even so, Lord Jesus, quickly come. Or send me a new job, whichever floats Your boat. Scottles found a case of Bertani Le Lave, my favorite white wine in all the world, which I was convinced was unfindable; he's gonna split it with Andy and myself. I... am excited. Really, really, pathetically excited.

Oh, and did I mention that Liz Koltis (almost typed Pratt, gotta get over that, she and Todd are married and dammit I feel old) and I shared a 60 oz margarita the other night? No, we did *not* finish it, but it was still 60 ounces of margarita, for ten dollars. Tasted like ass, at least for the first three sips or so... after that it just kinda tasted like happy. This was at La Hacienda, if you're ever in the mood. (Honestly, the food weren't too great, but I hear their burritos are really something.) Other than that, life has been biz as usual around here, although I'm really looking forward to having a roommate again... Damn it's lonely having 1500 square feet to myself. Hmph.

While we were at Opry Mills tonight, we stopped in Barnes and Noble for Liz to buy her dad a father's day gift. I was browsing and found a street-map of Florence, actually the exact same brand I had while I was there. It... made me very homesick... sigh. I miss the life I had in Florence, even the crummy parts were somehow delightful. (Remind me to tell you about my adventures in Venice... wow.)

If you made it this far through this convoluted mess, then congratulations, you're a glutton for pain. Ciao.

yet each of old Lost, lost! one moment knelled the woe of years

2005-06-14T06:57:00.000-07:00

--from "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came," Robert Browning

When I first read "The Gunslinger," the opening to the Dark Tower series, I was twelve years old. I'm now twenty-three, and have been travelling with Roland and his "ka-tet" for eleven years, a large portion of my life as an avid reader of tales. As I mentioned before, King is excellent at making you fall in love with his characters, and Roland of Gilead, the "hero," is the most enchanting of them all... see, he's not terribly good, nor is he a fun person to meet. However, his terrible persistence, his aching faith in his quest to save the Tower, and his bleak charisma are absolutely spellbinding... you come to love him as a father-figure, and there are moments in his path when he really lights up for you and shows you something worth loving.

And at the end of the Dark Tower...

Well, I won't ruin it for you. Read it yourself. But know this: I have never in my life felt real, breaking despair until the end of that book... At first I was furious with King for the way it ended, but ... it was perfect... terrible, but perfect. For all who say that words carry no power, I laugh at you, and pity you.

Got that offa my chest.

Made some decent money last night, pretty low sales overall but one or two good tables can really boost your numbers at the end of the night. Best of all, everybody was super-easy to deal with, very very sweet and enjoyable people and I didn't make any mistakes that would have jeapordized their glowing feelings... one lady was kinda irritated to find that her fettucine had oil on it, but ... ... ... when they make a batch of fettucine, they use oil. Period. End of story. She was freaking out over the residual oil left from the pasta making process. Sorry, no sympathy. And her husband still left a really good tip. So there.

Now, a word to all you non-waiter-type-people out there. Do us all a favor, and never ever ever ever ever ever ever *tell* your waiter / waitress that they did a good job until *after* they've received their tip. See, this is known affectionately as the "Kiss of Death," when your table stops you after their meal but before you've got the money and says, "Michael, thanks so much for the great service! We've really enjoyed it!" Happened last night, and just like I thought, I got 5 on 40. Don't tell me I did well: show me with an extra buck or two. Kind thoughts keep no roof over my head. Now, another table told me I did a good job after handing me a 30 dollar tip on a 100 dollar bill. That, I can handle. They backed it up. But don't, don't, don't vocalize it beforehand or else we'll be terrified that you're substituting goodwill for greenbacks, and I don't think very many waiters give a rat's ass for goodwill.

Finished up yesterday with some beer at the Saucer. Mmm... Oktoberfest... 'twas fun to hang out with the kids, I'm sure we'll do it again sometime... but next time Holland knocks over my beer, she dies. Really. *Especially* if it is Paulaner Oktoberfest.

That's all. Today it's work --> singin' --> becca's in town. Yeehaw.

Soli Deo Gloria--

(minor excitement)

2005-06-13T13:09:00.000-07:00

took the gre today. 3 sections, one was written and i won't have the score on it for a while, but the other two were verbal and math and i got a 750 / 720 respectively, which is a 1470, which is FREAKING AWESOME if my memory serves me correctly. (it's vaguely the same as an SAT score.) so, since i didn't study at all (yeah, like i ever do) and plan to retake it shortly with a bit more preparation (yeah, like i ever will), i feel really really really good about it.

that's all.

oh, and here's a line from my book that made me smile big-big:

"Never is a word God listens for when He's in need of a good laugh."

hm....

(i'll NEVER have a million dollars. i'll NEVER get a full scholarship through grad work. you get the drift.)

bye... soli Deo gloria...

no! i am not like prince hamlet, nor was meant to be

2005-06-12T19:36:00.000-07:00

--TS Eliot, "Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock" (In case you can't tell, this is my favorite poem. I use it alot. Get the hell over it.)

Some time, some time, and nothing between.

Work. (Not bad cash, but not great, either.)

Reading. (Finishing up the Dark Tower books, and damn, are they wonderful. I mean, a lot of King's stuff is trash, but ... when he decides to really write, he's amazing. And his characters are so well drawn that you fall in love with them, you feel like you know them, the good ones are just bad enough and the bad ones just good enough to know that they're human. Then he kills them. Bastard.)

Playing. (Sam's on Friday night with Jen Holland and Mike Yedlikhacihqkj or however you spell it, and some of their friends. I also started playing World of Warcraft again, my uncle's now playing so we started up some characters together... wonder how long before I'm bored with it again?)

Looking. Now, here's where the interesting stories are. Monday, I made some phone calls from the Tennessean classifieds, and by Tuesday, I had received four voicemails and an email about different work opportunities. However, one was from a pyramid scheme (Liberty League International!), which was worth the thirty-minute "conference call" just to hear all these dopes talking up their pyramid... two were from the same company, Primerica, and I actually had an interview with one of their reps on Thursday. Sounded *great,* helping people build mutual funds and investments, so I signed on and came to an orientation meeting that night, all excited to have a new job... and found out that they were really involved in selling life insurance to people, cold-calling on Saturday mornings. Um... ... no thanks. Bolted out of that one. Now I'm waiting to hear back from Word Music and the Symphony, both of whom have my abominably short resume in their clutches... sigh. We'll see.

Not much else to tell. Greg's out of town, his dad's been fairly ill recently so he's checking up on him. My folks are in Ireland, and I hate them for it. Becca Smith should be coming back to town before long... don't think I mentioned last time that she's into 'graphology,' study of handwriting... freaky stuff, that. She took a sample of my writing (an FnA assignment, Form and Analysis, lovingly known as "Effin A" to the students who live through it) and proceeded to tell me all sorts of things about myself. Now, at first, it was laughable; she told me things that anybody who's been around me for five minutes could tell, and she's one of my best friends. Of *course* she knows that I'm loud and goofy, that I've got a powerful physique but don't really put much effort into exercise, etc. But then, she got into some pretty deep stuff... my relationship with my father, some emotional characteristics that honestly surprised her (and me, I thought I'd hidden these things deep enough to not be bothered) and so on... eek. Note to self: all future communication with Becca is to be typed. Actually, it was kinda cool, but odd, nonetheless. Talked to Monica on Saturday, phone call out of the blue just to let me know what's going on in her life; 'twas great to hear from her.

So there's a week. I'll try and keep a little better updating schedule, but none of *you* (my fellow bloginators) are doing any better, so there. Ha. Love you all... time to go take the GRE. Bye.

Oh, and the "Do not read" referred to itself, not the Gems post. The "Do not read" was one I screwed up, but seriously, go check out that link if you haven't... hope it's still working, because it's really really really funny.

Soli Deo Gloria--

DO NOT READ THIS POST!!!

2005-06-07T14:36:00.001-07:00

dammit, don't you ever listen?

gems!

2005-06-07T14:36:00.000-07:00

freaky, yet hilarious. i honestly couldn't tell whether i was laughing or shuddering. thoughts?

and i asked myself about the present: how wide it was, how deep it was, how much was mine to keep

2005-06-06T08:41:00.000-07:00

--'Slaughterhouse-Five,' Kurt Vonnegut

Ups and downs, downs and ups... more of the better, though.

Saturday morning, I had "The Acuto Family," named after the dish that they've eaten every Saturday since I've been at Amerigo, the Chicken Acuto. (Great dish, by the by... chicken over black bean salsa with a spicy olive oil sauce. Mmm.) Anyway, they're the sweetest people, and so easy to handle: coke for him (one refill), water for her, bread with butter, not oil, and 2 chicken acutos (acuti!), one blackened. Then you don't have to speak to them again. You could conceivably not speak to them at all. They're that easy. But they always leave exactly $2, no matter their total, and they were the only guests I had all day. Hence, a $2 income for waking up at the ass-crack of Saturday Morning.

File under "down."

Then, while we were bored out of our minds, I decided to dust out the wine cabinet, just being helpful. Standing on a chair. With two bottles of wine in my hands. And a feather duster. On a chair. Care to fill in the blanks? My chair creaked. Moments later, there's $60 worth of wine on the floor. I offered to buy it, which the manager, Brandon, thankfully declined.

And, yet again, file under "down."

Left work around noon-thirty, and when I got home, Greg was getting ready to go to ... a crawfish boil! Halle-frickin-lujah! So we went, and I ate several ... um... pounds... of the delightful, yet hideously ugly, little bastards. Greg-- he ate two. The smallest two on the table. See, he's got this thing about having dirty hands... chicken wings are out. Ribs, he can do, but... 'tain't pretty. Crawfish? Dirtiest food on the planet... so he wasn't really too big a fan... hehe, and the look on his face when I told him you have to suck the head was *priceless.*

That was a definite up.

Saturday night, instead of making $60 for running food, I made $140 waitin tables... which was certainly an up, but I made that transition after my friend, Michael Grauer, quit quite suddenly. He's an older waiter, close to 50, and he had a heart-attack last month, and he blew out his ACL a while back and it's never healed, and he finally just said, "I'm sorry. I can't do this," and walked out the door.

Kinda up, but ... quite the down.

Last night, Becca Smith came to town, which was probably the best thing that's happened around here in an age or two. (She's a dear friend from college who I haven't seen since she graduated last May, other than one quick breakfast last summer. For those who know her not.) 'Twas great to see her, we cooked an *amazing* dinner (tomato risotto, garlic green beans, and poached salmon with butter, basil, garlic, and ... lime... mmmmmm), she brought a bottle of Cote de Rhone from France, and we chatted the hours away until she finally crashed on my couch. Took her to the airport this morning, she's flying to Portland to visit her brother, then she's coming back next week. Looking forward to it, yes indeed.

Way, way up.

Other than that, life as usual... made some calls today regarding ads in the Classifieds, we'll see what happens. Finished "Bonfire" yesterday, started "Slaughterhouse-five," which is, thus far, delightful. And much, much easier to read. ("Bonfire" is great, but Wolfe's writing style is very internalistic, lots of ellipses and exclamation points and... and sentence fragments! Such audacity! The fragments! Vonnegut's much less arduous on the eyeballs.)

'Tis enough for now. Fare thee well, dear friends.

Soli Deo Gloria--

noon is half the passion of light

2005-06-02T20:32:00.000-07:00

--'Noon,' TH Ferril

Right now, I'm watching the Cubs from the comfort of my lazyboy, wondering why I'm still contemplating this glass of wine.

About three hours ago, Greg and I started watching 'Young Frankenstein,' which makes me laugh in very painful ways. "Oh, sweet mystery of life, at last I've found you!" During the viewing, I noted what I think might be a bug-bite on my finger. Ouchie.

Went in to Amerigo today for lunch around 3, still not really feeling quiiiiiiiite up to food. Thought I'd give'er a go, had some chicken and artichoke soup and the goat-cheese pasta with grilled salmon. Kinda oily, really, and didn't make my queasiness get much better. I was supposed to talk with Brandie about our new martini list, but she was busy dealing with the remnants of the wine dinner last night, so I just talked with Mary Beth (the bartender, and the single most precious and delightful human being I've ever met, so much so that I honestly think she's some kind of evil mastermind just because nobody, nobody, nobody could be this sweet) and left.

This morning, I got home about 7ish. I'd crashed on Brandie and Kelly's couch after B and I consumed the better part of four (1 2 3 4) bottles of wine. (These are two of my managers at work. Brandie's the one who just lost her longtime boyfriend, Kelly is the kind soul who donated her extra room while B looks for a new place.) We had a great time, talked about everything under the sun, and I broke one of her Riedel glasses (ouch)- she's doing fine, all things considered, and she's kinda accepted the fact that the problems between her and Jason are completely from his end, not her. However, upon awaking, I did *not* feel good. In fact, I proceeded to feel not-good several times, in varying degrees of violence. I'll let your imagination finish that one up, but it wasn't pleasant, and it was a long time before I could really think about eating breakfast. Hence my eyeing this current glass of wine askance, although by now it's just a mild discomfort.

Yesterday, I worked all damned day. Got about a half-an-hour break in there, could've had more if we'd not had a liquor rep come in to help us devise a new martini list. So... really... it was all good... hehe. Some of those things are quite tasty, really good girly-type drinks that'll make us lots of money. I approve. Anywho, I made much money yesterday, so I was happy. And Tuesday night, I talked with ... Ashley Winther. Really! I haven't seen her since I graduated JC, so it was quite fun to catch up.

And that's the last two days in reverse.

I'm calling people about a new job tomorrow. Wish me luck. Ready for something to give...

Soli Deo Gloria--

that motley drama, o be sure it shall not be forgot

2005-05-31T19:13:00.000-07:00

--"The Conqueror Worm," EA Poe

"The Tomato Sauce that Followed Me Home."

That's the name of my new book, based on the adventures Greg and I had whilst cleaning our fridge. Frightening beyond measure! Terror beyond the scope of mortal ken! Unknown unmentionables that lurk in dark places! And eggs, eggs, eggs that were well nigh a year old!

See, Greg's old roomy, Todd, who also happens to be my old roomy, still had lots, and I do mean *lots,* of stuff left in ye old frigidaire. We tossed out four heftybags between fridge and freezer, and very, very little of it was ours. (I had some celery that had long since ... melted... ... but that was about it from my end.) So we emptied, and we scrubbed, and we dried, and we reorganized, and it was good. But frightening!

Afterward, it being Memorial Day and we being male, we grilled and drank beer. That, too, was good. Sirloins marinated in Italian dressing and garlic, veggie kebabs brushed with garlic butter, and corn boiled with salt and pepper and butter. And Famous Amos cookies with whipped cream. Mmmmmm. Mmmmm. Tasty. And Benton and Chris came over to drink beer and watch the Cubs. And they won, four games in a row. (There *has* to be a law against the Cubs winning four in a row somewhere.) So Memorial Day was great. Later on, I played Halo for the first time at Derek with him and Johnny, and I have to say... where's the hype? I mean, I'm not a big FPS fan in the first place, which didn't seem to make much impact on the boys, and it wasn't terribly fast paced, I spent the majority of my time looking for them, so that they could then kill me, since they neglected to tell me that there's a melee attack. Bastards. I think I got in like ten kills in three games, so... bite me.

Worked today... had one table ask for a glass of the Cusumano Insolia (8.50 a glass), didn't like it, bought the Cakebread Chardonnay instead ($80 a bottle), so I was kinda sayin... sure! Ended up being a thirty-dollar tip. Not too shabby. We got a new summer pasta special, Crawfish Pasta... spicy cajun sauce with crawfish tails over bowtie. Awesome. Then had Andy, Rachel, and Tresa over for dinner- made mint-chocolate pie... mmm. Good.

Gack. I'm less coherent than usual. This has taken about an hour and a half to type, due to random IM conversations and such. So I'm gonna go to sleep now, and go to work tomorrow. Joyful, joyful. Bye.

Soli Deo Gloria--

that i may offer him the friendship of one whom life wounded and caged

2005-05-30T09:27:00.000-07:00

--"The Unknown," Edgar Lee Masters

Nothing, nothing, nothing at all.

And I'm dead serious. Nothing. Friday? Nothing. Read all day, worked at night, made $100 or so, then went to Waffle House with Johnny G. Saturday? Sounds awfully familiar. Read all day, worked at night, made about $90. I had a party of 30 which I split with Donny Aldredge, who's been at Amerigo for six years or so; but they had a set menu, which meant that we were basically McDonalds workers, no salesmanship allowed other than, "Would you like another glass of cheap, nasty-ass house merlot?"

Some jackass is driving by my apartment with his music loud enough to shatter concrete like crystal. And I'm on the third floor.

Anyway.

Sunday? Church, then home to watch approximately 10 hours of Law and Order: SVU. Now, I'm a *huge* fan of the original series. It gives you such a great view into the workings of both the police and the DA, and it tends to raise sticky issues of legal morality and ethics in every episode. SVU is a lot more sensationalist, dealing with lots of outlandish sexual deviants and such, and it doesn't go into nearly the detail on the DA side of things as the original. (Sure, the DA is there, and she's pretty hardcore, but it's all about her histrionics in the courtroom, never her planning strategies with her boss and her associates.) But they did have some pretty sticky issues dealing with assisted suicide and organ donorship, and in one episode, in true L&O fashion, the bad-guy got off scott free. So, all in all, it was fun, although I bet the dreams I can't remember from last night were really f'ed up.

One great thing happened yesterday: I saw Ashley Richardson! She called and told me that she and her boyfriend were in town, we went out to Calypso Cafe, where I ran into Carrie Graham, as well. Great kid, Carrie... she's teaching in Texas, 4th grade. Hehe. Cool. So anyway, it was great to see Ash, and she broke up the monotony of my L&O marathon. Yay...

Had one weird dream last night. Dreamt that my parents moved to some itty-bitty town in Virginia, were working at a church out there. They had this really nice little house with a glass roof in the upper area, because they wanted to see the stars... in the dream, I actually cried when I saw the stars in all their beauty that night. Interesting, that. And the mayor was always having these political demonstrations that everybody in town had to participate in by either carrying a sign, filming them, or organizing. One of these (I'm *not* kidding) was a protest geared toward making Waffle House start selling nutritious food, "like it did back when it was founded." ?!?!? I called the Mayor "Juicy-Fruit" cause he was dressed in a purple shirt and orange pants with a matching orange scarf... I remember thinking that was pretty funny. hehehe. 'Juicy-fruit.' We (my dad and brother and I) also went ... shark-hunting. No, really. Shark-hunting. And some seventeen-year-old girl was trying to hit on me at one of the protests. And, weirdest of all, my parents had a cat. So... I think somebody slipped me some cocaine or something, because damn. My parents hate cats almost as much as I do. (Sorry, Fran. I'm sure yours is great.) Has anybody else noticed how when somebody wants to convince you how good their cat is, they say "He's so great! He's just like a dog!" So... ... ... right. In general, I'll take slobbery and un-potty-trained in favor of hairballs and world-dominating supremacist attitudes any day.

Well, that's... that's about it. I've signed up for my GRE, I'm about to start pounding pavement to see if I can at the very least find a part-time job to supplement my abysmal income, and I'm waiting for God to write in letters of fire on the wall what the hell it is He wants me to be doing with this silly little life he's given me. So that's it. Drop me a line if you're in town, I'm most likely bored out of all human reasoning. Ciao.

Soli Deo Gloria--

but no good sight is good until you see the blossom of branches walking towards you airily, airily, airily

2005-05-27T12:45:00.000-07:00

--"Mary Hynes," James Stephens

Do I know myself or what? I sure did sit on my couch. And the Cubs sure did lose. (If you're confused, read the last bit of yesterday.) I *did* manage to pick out some music for church, but did not manage to get over there and give it to Michael, the director. Oof. I'll do it Sunday. But anyway.

Last night, singin' time! I had some snacky stuff, veggies and cheez-its, while Liz Pratt, Andy High, and Tresa + daughter came over. 'Twas fun, we sang through some good stuff, hit some of the Barber at the bitter end. Not that we actually *sang* the Barber; when I say we took a stab at them, that's pretty much what happened. There was blood. They're ridiculously hard, these Barber pieces. I mean, really. Absurd. But damn! they're gorgeous. Highly recommended, they're called "Pastorales," really nice. Anyway, Tresa brought Lasagna, I cracked open a Louis Martini cab sav (yes! a cab sav that I actually *like!* and it's dirt cheap, too!) and we ate dinner, followed by ... sopapillas! Deeeeliscious. We're meeting again this coming Tues, I get the feeling I'll be making a mint-chocolate pie.

Yeeeees.

'Twas a good time, last night was. Then I got productive today... cleaned up in the kitchen, did laundry, got my Insurance check mailed, got my lease signed, signed up for the GRE, and (gasp) I actually practiced! Singing! Really! Haven't done so in weeks, haven't done so with any regularity in months. Yikes... scary... how your voice... kinda... disintegrates. Mmm. Gotta get on that.

And what's with this damned book? Tom Wolfe is now on the top of my to-kill list, cause I really don't want to read anymore of this, it's getting too frantic and dark, but I can't stop reading it because it's just kinda seized my imagination. So I read without wanting to do so. Argh! Really good, though, all the sordid nature aside.

Found this on Darwin Awards (specifically the chicken one) this morning... laughed very hard, out loud. Yay. And the Cubs are winning, and it's a holiday weekend (no money, but out of work early), and the Powerball jackpot is up to what, 220million? Which, by the way, I'll win. I won't *tell* any of you bloodsuckers about it. Nor will I give you any of my precious moneys. But I *will* win. Ohh yes.

Mwa hahahahaha.

Ok, gotta go iron. One of these days, I'll pose some kind of interesting philosophical concept or discussion. But not now. So... bye.

(ps- Scott, if you read this, and you still haven't posted anything, shame on you!! Right now! Post!)
Soli Deo Gloria--

we sing, but oh the clay is vile beneath our feet and long the mile

2005-05-26T08:30:00.000-07:00

--"We Wear the Mask," PL Dunbar

*edit for the edit: fixed your links, j and j! i am the html masta! ok, no, not really, but i fixed it. everybody else, go. read. bask.

*edit: jackie and joey, sorry that your links aren't working. trying to get them up and running, but jackie's won't connect somehow and joey's won't even show up. dammit, joey!*

Thursdays are happy days. Sittin in my chair, drinking coffee, and I ain't got crap to do. Sigh.

Monday night: wine tasting at work. Waste of time, really. Six wines, four of which I'd already tasted, three of those I already knew I didn't like. Hmph. Actually, five of those I'd tasted, but one was over a year ago. Anyway, there was one Riesling (humming-bird-feeder-water), there were two Sauv Blancs (ick and ickier), then two Chardonnay (one from Italy, one from Cali, both good but only the Cali was new to me), and last, one sparkling. J Brut. Not bad, although I'm not much of a fan of sparkling wines in general. Long and short, a disappointment of a tasting; we've got some great whites on our list, but didn't really try any of the better ones on Monday.

Tuesday? Biz as usual. Work, $13, home. (Had to buy a $9 bloody mary cause I screwed it up. Dammit.) That night, I went over to Laura Rosser's house, hung out with her and Crystal and Kate. It was ... hilarious. I took over a bottle of Pieropan Soave, really crisp white, not too bad, and we just sat around, drinking wine, chatting it up. Good times. Laura broke out her Word Demos CD, these hilariously pathetic demos that people sent in to Word Records, actually thinking in their poor little brains that they'd get published. My favorite? The STD rap. BY FAR. I wish I could remember the others, for their hilarity knows no bounds; I'll have to get a copy of that from Laura... Crystal showed us a website that, in all honesty, made me laugh so hard that I was in pain: I am fast and danger! Ack. Then we saw a movie clip called "Baby Got Book" (I like big Bibles and I cannot lie...). That was ... painful in a different sense. But, all in all, 'twas a great night, haven't seen Laura in forever and got to know Crystal and Kate, two awfully cool girls... so Tuesday was good.

Yesterday, worked again. Now, at work, there are three managers, Brandie, Brandon, and Kelley. I like all three, honestly, (odd to like all of one's bosses), but Brandie is the absolute shiznite. She's very laid back, very easy-going and fun to talk to, and she's also outstandingly competent. She also just got dumped by her live-in boyfriend of two plus years. yikes. Tuesday, she had to move out... and explain to his five-year-old son why the second mother-figure in his life was walking out on him. (His birth-mother is ... uninvolved ... to be polite about it. 'Absent' is slightly more accurate, but not quite harsh enough.) Anyway, she was at work yesterday, and she seemed fine for the most part. Here's the great part: we had an all-male wait staff yesterday (not surprising, only two female waiters anyway) and we were just swarming her with affection and doing everything we could to make her laugh. No plan, no conversation, just understood: our Brandie is hurting, let's try to make her feel better in the only way that we boys know how. Turns out that Tuesday, close to half of our staff turned out to help her move, got it done in less than half an hour. She's like our big sister or something... we love her and would walk through fire for her, although most of us couldn't ever say that in so many words. And if any of us ever happened across that f*#$er in a dark alley somewhere... grr.

So anyway, that was yesterday. Made dinner last night, steamed pork chops with polenta (mmmmmmm good) and green beans. Tasty all around. Then Greg broke out this Spanish blush wine, a Rioja, and we tried it. Really good! Not normally a fan of blush, since American blushes tend to taste like Koolaid without the dignity, but this had some really good complexity to it. If you can find Rioja, give it a whirl.

And now... I'm on my lazyboy. Noticing a theme, here? I'm in the process of perusing my favorite webcomic, '8-bit Theater,' which is downright hilarious if you've ever been a fan of videogames. Especially RPGs or action-adventure type stuff. Some *great* comedy in there. And in other news, I've errands to run. Which, roughly translates, means I've got to finish reading this chapter of 'Bonfire of the Vanities,' then read some more 8BT, then clean up my mess from breakfast (eggs and bacon, mmm mmm good), then probably read some more 8BT, then take a shower, then find music to sing for church this summer but it'll be too late by then and I'll just hit the couch and watch the Cubs lose again. yay!

Soli Deo Gloria--

because they drew such charming round pictures of the moon

2005-05-23T11:51:00.000-07:00

--"Old Euclid," Vachel Lindsay

Home again, home again, back in my Lazyboy.

Rode down to B'ham with my Aunt Judy yesterday after church. She's... a trip. Sweet little Southern lady ("Southern" here meaning "no word in her language can have fewer than eight vowel sounds") who can talk for hours without any seeming purpose. And she did. I think I *might* have gotten in two sentences during the entire three-hour drive. She recounted, blow by blow, the two hour season finale of CSI that she'd watched the night before, then she just started talking and I just kinda started nodding, doing the classic male behavior: "Mhm. Hehe, yeah. Really?!? Riiiiiight. Yup! Mmmhm." And so on. THEN we get to the church for the ordination, we have the service, Dave (little brother) and I sing a song, yada yada. During the laying-on-of-hands, which was hilariously long since almost the entire choir came and stood in line, I leaned down to Dad and asked, "You look really uncomfortable on this chair, want me to get you a pillow?" Two or three people asked me what I said to make him cry like that... tee hee.

Anyway, at the reception, I was introduced to my cousins, John Allan and Leena. (Not sure how to spell that second one, but you get the idea.) Haven't seen either of them for years, he's six, she's four, so they had no idea who I was... but that did NOT stop them from causing me serious spinal problems by jumping all the heck over me. Honestly, they set my child-rearing years back *several* decades. Leena, in particular, was awfully cute, adorable little girl with curly blond hair, but at one point she punched me in the jaw! I looked at her and said, pretty sharply, "NO!"... and the look on her face... didn't seem like she'd heard that word too much... hehe. Oh, one other thing: I'm standing there talking to Francesca when John Allan runs up and asks, "Who's this?!?!?" as if astonished that I would be caught dead speaking to a female. After I told him her name, he asked if we were getting married. Yeah, we laughed.... and told him that yes, we are, it'll be either monday or tuesday. His eyes got reeeeeeal big. (Sorry, Fran, I just don't think it'd work out. Shall we call it off?)

At home last night, David talked for several hours solid about his trip to France (I mean, damn, dude, do you ever even *breathe*?), but after dinner, Dad and I got Grandaddy talking about his childhood and his father. Fascinating, I just love hearing old stories like that... his dad was the mayor of Roswell, GA (unpaid position, of course) and was responsible for the entire waterworks of the town. Another great story involved his cousin going to federal prison for tax evasion, ask me about it sometime and I'll tell you. Hilarious. Anyway, that was good, then a huuuuuuuuge breakfast this morning (Mom tends to ... overdo ... her meals, which is fine, since Dave and I eat enough for any normal eight human beings, anyway) and back to Nashvegas. Three more hours of my dear, sweet Aunt just a'babblin' away... but today, she told some great stories about her work, she works in the English As a Foreign Language dept at Vandy (can you *imagine* learning English from someone who really speaks Southern?!?) and man, she had some great stories about the Arabs and Japanese who came to study with her. "I haf fallen madly in luf with a byutiful blont guhl. Could you speak to her fazer for me?" Great, great times.

And now... I'm in my Lazyboy. And my dad's a Reverend. Don't think I'll ever quite get used to that, although he's certainly been doing enough preaching over the years... and it's Monday. Slow, aching Monday. Think I'll ... um ... go and ... ... ... ... damn, what can I do today? Well, the porch beckons, so I'll probably just read myself to sleep... again... argh. Bye all.

Soli Deo Gloria--

"Watching all of them with his black feathered wings unfurled"

2005-05-22T06:47:00.000-07:00

--"Dream Brother," Jeff Buckley

Pancake Pantry, baby. I can't figure out why, but I absolutely love waiting an hour in line to be sitting down for twenty minutes at that place. Something about standing in the line, it's just part of the over-all Pantry experience, y'know? While waiting in line, I took a quick trip across the street to Bookman, never been before. They didn't have what I was looking for (what for which I was looking!), "Unbearable Lightness of Being," but they *did* have an amazing array of stuff, I'll definitely be going back to waste all kinds of hours in that place. Then Dad and I did a crossword puzzle whilst waiting in line, that was kinda fun... Once we got inside, I had the Sugar and Spice pancakes (cinnamon, applesauce, etc.) and Dad had the Sweet Potato 'cakes (they're my usual, but I got something different this time around). Good, good times, indeed. So the ol' man's gone, great weekend having him around, but it's nice to have my couch back...

I got to be the silverware / togo person last night. Let me tell you. Excitement galore. Now, I did make much more than I did bartending the other day, walked out with $35, but then my bud Donny walked out with a grimace. "How'd you do, man?" "Dammit, I only made ninety. May sucks, I wanted to make $200." The sad thing, he usually does make $200 on Saturdays. The bastard. Here comes the part that relates to the quote of the day... on the way home, I'm buzzing along, not exactly *speeding,* but certainly not following anything remotely like a speed limit. And, yeah, there're the blue lights. Coming up behind me aaaaaaaaaawfully fast. That sinking ball of lead in your stomach, the white flutter along your spine, you know that feeling? Oh yeah. Hopeless, helpless agony as they flare, get closer, the siren comes on... and he goes around me. Flies right by me, heading for a crash scene that I noticed up the road. I really think I'm going to send Metro the bill for my new pants, since I RUINED that pair. Anyway, came home and cooked, made sauteed perch and rice, 'twas good- then I called my friend from Italy, Cici, just catching up. She's doing well, working for an architect's firm; sadly we didn't get to talk long, but it was good to hear her voice. I miss my Italy friends.

Well, off to church, heading to Birmingham later for Dad's ordination! Wheee... "Reverend Ken Berg." Does that scare *anybody* but me?!?

Soli Deo Gloria--

"So on we worked, and waited for the light"

2005-05-21T07:22:00.000-07:00

--from "Richard Cory," EA Robinson

How fickle is the restaurant life. Last Friday, I didn't get to stand still for more than a moment at a time. Yesterday morning, I had one customer.

Yup.

One.

And a to-go order. Total of thirty dollars in sales. I made $7, which after tithe and dry-cleaning became $5. My one and only customer was gone before eleven-thirty, so I literally stood around doing nothing all day. Which, honestly, was kinda nice. I got everything set up for Friday night, then just sat around jawing with Brandie (me boss) and Michael (me coworker) until quittin time. Well, that's what normally would've happened, except that about 1ish, Monica showed up! She'd been shopping in Cool Springs, got bored, came by to chat. We hung out for a while, swapping stories about her trip to Florida and my life as a bartender, until I had to go. 'Twas cool. (Turns out you have to have a license to be a full-monty stripper in Florida. Yeah. Can you imagine the exam for that?!?)

I was Dad's mode of transportation yesterday (he was at an ACDA convention, if you know what that means, you're a dork, if not, be ye glad), so after work I went and picked him up and took him to Las Paletas. Yeah, it's a popsicle stand. It's an amazing popsicle stand. He had kiwi, I had chocolate wasabi... interesting, but I'll stick to the fruit flavors in the future. So we headed back to my place and hung out until dinner. Dad took me, Greg, and Monica over to Bosco's for dinner... see, my parents like to know that I actually *have* friends, so whenever they meet new ones, they like to spend money on them to ensure that they will continue being my friends. 'Specially me pops. So we had a fun dinner, then came back here and had a bottle of wine-- gotta admit, it's a really, really good white wine from America... (Giacomo, I know we've talked about this before, but there *are* good American wines. This is one of them. Don't be such a snob. That's *my* job.) Anyway, it's a Chateau Potelle Sauv Blanc, has a really cool honey-suckle aroma with just a touch of lemon, the flavor is lightly creamy with enough fruitiness to keep it from being 'buttery' (I hate buttery wines), but the finish is the best part: just an amazing explosion of caramel right on the aftertaste. Whew. (This is where you need to NOT have your white wine over-chilled, two hours in the fridge is more than enough, because you can deaden this part of the flavor that way. FYI.) So we drank some wine, we talked about everything under the sun, we listened to some PDQ Bach (New Horizons in Music Appreciation-- sports-casters for Beethoven's Fifth. HILARIOUS.) (Derek Deweese just informed me that he's going to the opening of the new Harry Potter as Hagrid. I am chuckling.)

So that was Friday. A really good day, even though I only made five bucks at work. Hence the opening line of poetry, read the entire poem, but the point of it all is that money really isn't the greatest thing in the world... (Less preaching, more pancake pantry.) Sweet potato pancakes, here I come!

Soli Deo Gloria--

Love without demands always descends into disdain

2005-05-19T21:54:00.000-07:00

--from "I See," Ken Berg

That's right. Cummings he ain't, but Dad's in town, and in his honor, a line from one of his songs. Like most things about him, the song looks a bit preachy and stuffy when you read the lyrics, but when you hear it, the music lets you know that there's far too much fun to be had. Figure that out, if you like, but I'm telling you: that's me pops.

Basically, I hung out all day, started reading 'Bonfire of the Vanities,' read some poetry, tried to play Xbox, all sorts of random things, just killing time until Dad got here. (See, I have an amazing relationship with both of my parents, but Dad has become much less of a parent than a buddy, so it was really like I was waiting for my best friend to get in town.) I fixed us a veritable feast tonight; I roasted some chicken, then pan-seared it with basil and peppermint leaves (yeah, you heard me), a really interesting combo, served with some cheddar risotto and garlic green beans. Finished it off with blackberries and whipped cream... hehe, I made the old man whip the cream whilst I was finishing up dinner. Good times.

So he and I and Greg relaxed and had a nice dinner, then we went to see Star Wars. Now, I'm a big fan of Star Wars, but I'm certainly not of epic proportions. I like the stories, they're heroic enought to be moving to my Nordic blood, but I can't deny the silliness of much of the dialogue and the absolutely abysmal acting that permeate *all* of the movies. While I and II were definitely sub-par, III was a bit better, although it still felt a bit cheaper than the first three, if you know what I mean. I enjoyed it alot, though, mainly because, dialogue aside, it's a powerful story about good intentions and the road they pave... also, that obnoxious wench finally dies. (Sorry if I ruined your life with that little tidbit, but I promise you'll get over it.) She was so annoying, I would turn to the Dark Side myself just to have a chance to shut her up. Gack. Yes, I know she's gorgeous. I'm aware of this. She doesn't have to *talk* in order to be gorgeous. Why couldn't the queen of Nabu have been mute? Hmph. Anyway, she was as annoying as she was in the first two, but the majority of the flick was great. Go see it, mainly... for the preview... of 'The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.'

I was terrified when I heard that they were making a movie out of this. I was even more disappointed when I heard that it was Walden and Disney, acting together. (Neither organization can be said to be exactly friendly to traditional Christian values, and the Narnia books are ... well ... rather that.) However... the trailer...

I couldn't breathe.

I mean it. Halfway through, I stopped breathing. If it's half as good as it looks, it'll be glorious. Although I'm still skeptical about the overtly religious aspects, and still don't exactly approve of every dear childhood sanctuary being made into a movie, I've got to say it looks as if they've done a spectacular job. (Although they could've cast Lucy as a little bit prettier. She's got that British bull-dog look to her.) Anyway, I'm excited to see what happens... more than a bit frightened, honestly, since Narnia is such a dear thing to my heart, but I'm excited, as well.

And it's time for me to, as they say, "go pumpkin." (Ok, so "they" don't say that. "They" have probably never heard of it. But I say it. So there.) G'night...

Soli Deo Gloria--

(randomness)

2005-05-19T11:35:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm pretty sure that neither of the people who read this care. However, if you're ever really, really bored and want to read some mildly funny stuff, here's the link to the livejournal i had a few years ago. http://www.livejournal.com/users/beefwberg/ Most of it is (like all blogs) self-indulgent crap, but every now and then I was really funny. Like, the Blasts from the Past, and the Theory of Mondays. check it out if you're bored beyond all reason.

Also, I rediscovered the Darwin Awards website today, and it led me here: http://www.gophergas.com/funstuff/womenlivelonger2.htm. Wow. I laughed alot.

Also, there's an evil sock demon in my dryer. No lie. Unlike most people, I don't have one that is content to just steal socks. Instead, he swaps them out, so that I always have at least one pair that simply doesn't match. And I'm just anal enough to get really, deeply, and righteously pissed off about this.

(Enough.)

Peace.

Soli Deo Gloria--

we were very tired, we were very merry

2005-05-19T06:01:00.000-07:00

--from "Recuerdo," Edna St. Vincent Millay

Ahh... a chance to sit.

Tuesday, I worked. Not much money, but hey, not much work, either. I can live with both. Now, the standard for Tuesday night is a little get-together of Chamber Singers alumni who just love to sing and don't want to let the summer interfere. I was all looking forward to a night of good music, followed by two-for-one drinking at Sam's, when I found out that Amanda Potter, one of our 'charter members,' had this little bitty wedding thing that night. So needless to say, she couldn't go, and some of our others were in the wedding, so they couldn't go. In the end, Rachel Aston and I ended up going to PF Chang's to sit at the bar and eat/drink, which was a lot of fun, actually. I mean, hanging out with Rachel is *always* fun, we get to trade war stories about the restaurant biz, but PF Chang's? Bah. Easily the most over-rated place I've ever eaten. I've never had anything terrible while there, but I've never had anything utterly delightful, either, and I always get my check and wonder how the hell they're charging so much for so mediocre. Well, this time was a little better as far as the food went, I had some kind of spicy scallop dish that was actually fairly good, then I had a pretty good little cheesecake. (Rachel had some kind of honey chicken, then a piece of chocolate cake that probably outweighed her by a good twenty pounds. Of course, that's not saying much, since I doubt Rachel weighs twenty pounds to begin with. Tiniest girl I know, and she can eat *and* drink me under the table. Whew.) She had some wine, I had some gin, then we had Sambuca with dessert. (Ok, so I just looked up "Sambuca" to make sure I spelled it right, and I found this hilarious website: http://www.efd.lth.se/~d94tn/sambuca.html. People are stupid.) All in all, we had a good night, and I got to talk shop with the bartender for a bit, always fun; turns out they carry Grand Marnier 150 and charge a lot less for it than we do... hm. I honestly can't fathom being rich / dumb enough to spend $42 on one glass of any liquid, but I guess it's good stuff.

Anyway, so that was Tuesday. Delightful. Yesterday I worked my tail off in the morning, but got out of the restaurant by 7:30 at night with $100 in my pocket, so I was kinda happy... One of the coolest customers ever was in there yesterday, this gay French literature professor who sits at the bar, drinks four martinis, and talks about books and movies for hours. He's hilarious. Gave me quite a list of books and movies I need to check out, some of which I'll actually look up. After work, I came home and read for a while; I don't know about any of you, but after a lot of heavier reading, I tend to need some "exlax-for-the-brain" type stuff, so I picked up a book by David and Leigh Eddings that I'd been meaning to read for a while. It's called "The Redemption of Althalus," and it's actually fairly fun- they tend to write fairly juvenile fantasy works, such as The Belgariad, which are really a lot of fun if a bit shallow. This one's a good deal more mature, although his style is still fairly glib at times. A fun read if you're looking for something light, easy, and escapist; there are some moments in it, though, that are really outstanding.

I found out yesterday that Becca Loomis is my neighbor. How much does that rock? One more person to share my porch.

Well, I'd better go clean the apartment- Dad's in town tonight, we're going to see Episode III... hehehe, I'm pumped, although I hope I don't get too much into the spirit of Star Wars and try to cut down my father with my lightsaber. (Of course I have a lightsaber. Don't ask, you can't hold it.) Anyway, so I figure I'll go eat something, then go clean. Yup. Good plan. Peace.

Soli Deo Gloria--

life is good, be it stubbornly long or suddenly a mortal splendor

2005-05-16T20:08:00.000-07:00

--from "Shine, Perishing Republic" by Robinson Jeffers.

I've been told that my opening quotes are enjoyable, but I should probably start referencing them. So that's this one. One of my absolute favorite poems, check it out. I'll go back through and edit the others so you can know from whence I'm hailing.

And life is good; it is very, very good.

Got a free lunch today. Free food is good food, especially when it's a cup of shrimp and bacon chowder followed by an arugula with flamegrilled apple salad topped with blackened salmon. Oooooo baby, the ecstasy. Then, I bought four bottles of wine. See, we change out our wine list once every few months, and this time there was a lot of wine left over from the previous list... so... I bought some. Two whites, two reds, total of $77, not bad considering the two reds alone would be closer to $60 in a wine store and probably $120 in a restaurant (at least). All of them are great, I'm opening up the Chateau Potelle Sauv Blanc on Friday....... cause me pappy's in town! Yeehaw for that, man-- it'll be a blast.

After lunch, I came home and relaxed for a while, then had a series of conversations with some dear friends that removed some unnecessary tension from my life and theirs. I'll not go into sordid details here, if you want to know, buy me a beer sometime and I'll tell you, but the long and the short of it is that some ... misconceptions ... had arisen, they are now dissolved, and we are free to journey wherever God leads without the crushing burden of mistrust. I honestly haven't felt this good in a while, just from two simple conversations. Usually I prefer to let things simply work themselves out but in this case, it needed to be addressed directly, and it was, and it's better. Ahh... releasing a burden is a delightful thing, especially when the burden was simply never truly there. Similar events have happened before, where doubt is cast aside so easily; I wonder that I haven't learned my lesson by now, but it's such a delight to be reminded of such things that I almost think I do it, at some level, on purpose, simply to have the joy of discovery all over again. (It's why my dad's so forgetful, he claims it makes life much more exciting since you're always learning things, even things you've known for years.)

Dinner shift tonight was great. Three tables, all of them big spenders. Many people complain about May being dead, we don't get much volume; however, I kinda like being able to get to know the people I'm serving, and that happened tonight. 'Twas good. I also got to have a great chat with Brandie, my manager... she's honestly the only thing I'll really miss once I get out of this place. Very down to earth, very fun, simply a wonderful human being. Anyway, we talked for a good while about the fact that I'm probably not going to be there much longer, then about our new wine list, then about having another wineover at her house (she has a full set of Riedel glasses, both red and white, that make it pretty much a closed case). In the course of the conversation, I noticed a splinter in my pinkie; upon my exclamation of dismay (wasn't a pretty word, I'm afraid) she started laughing and told me a great story: apparently, about two years ago, this rather largely buttocked (are those real words?!?) woman came into the restaurant and actually got a splinter in her ass.

That's right. Her ass.

Brandie actually had to pull out this splinter in the girls' bathroom.

Can you IMAGINE?!? Pulling a splinter out of some fat chick's ass?

Wow. I laughed really, really hard.

Then I bought one more bottle of wine, just for good measure. Sheesh.

Anyway, that's pretty much it for today. About to go edit the previous entries and add in the quotations, then it's time to shuffle on off this mortal coil. Peace, all...

Soli Deo Gloria--

but once, a myth-white moon shone there

2005-05-15T19:05:00.000-07:00

--from "Wood," TH Ferril

I really dig Sundays.

I sing at Christ Cathedral downtown, paid section-leader gig. Pretty fun, great music, althought the theology is a bit liberal for my tastes. Anyway, we sang, it was good, i came home and chilled out. Went to Belmont to help a friend move (I like feeling helpful) then went to work. Now, a word about my restaurant on Sunday nights. It's like having a night off while at work. I had four tables. I made $26 for doing nothing. Can't really complain. Now I'm at home. And I've had most of a bottle of wine. And, well, it's cool. ("Il Brecciarolo" Rosso Piceno DOC, if you care.) And now I'm sitting here, watching Teen Titans, and wandering wheresoever the wine takes me. I like it here.
((fast forward 30 minutes))
I just talked with my parents for half an hour and have very little idea what we talked about. Whew, the wine gets ya talking.
((fast forward one hour))
Then I just beat Jade Empire. Great game. Check it out.
((easy does it))
See? I dig Sundays. Easy-going, so relaxed, just me and my wine and whatnot.

Found myself reminiscing on Italy earlier... one event in particular stands out. I'd early on befriended a group of five American girls living together on Via Ghibellina (damn, I miss the Italian street names-- Via Ricasoli or Franklin Pike? yeah...), and one night two of them called me giggling their fool heads off, asking if I wanted some apple pie. "Is water wet? Of COURSE I want apple pie!" Then they ask, "Ummm... do you have any friends that might want some, too?" and they both start laughing even louder. I was mystified, but I like apple pie, so I marched on over there and went into their apartment. Cici and Libby (the two girls) were blushing furiously and giggling outlandishly. Turns out Libby, the cook extroardinaire, got her conversions wrong; you see, one kilo translates into two pounds. She got that one backwards. So her recipe, which called for 4 pounds...

...

Yeah. She bought eight kilos. Which is actually SIXTEEN POUNDS. Of apples. In one pie.

Hah.

That was the single biggest pie anybody has made, ever, in the history of our world. I'm sure of it. We had about seventeen people up there eating away, and could barely put away a third of it. Hilarious.

Isn't it great what you remember when your mind is wandering on its own?

Soli Deo Gloria--

And we shall talk until talk is a trouble, too, out on the side of the hill

2005-05-15T06:24:00.000-07:00

--from "The Coolin," James Stephen

Friday? Friday morning? Hell. Yup. Absurdly busy, didn't make any good money. The kitchen kept screwing up, then I kept screwing up, then we got two liquor orders in 45 minutes before I was supposed to get off of work... so I ended up being a half an hour late leaving. But enough on the bad part of Friday... cause I had free symphony tickets! Monica joined me for the evening (in case you haven't noticed just from reading these, yeah, we like music) and we had such a lovely time... sushi @ Taste of Tokyo, then to the Bernstein concert, then we went and watched the fireworks from the Sounds game on her porch and hung out for a good long while. Damn, Moni, I'm gonna miss you this summer ;^)

One thing, though- we're not the most reverant of people when it comes to the symphony... during the first piece, that was fine, it was a fairly comical number, we could be silly and not worry about it. However, the second, "Dybbuk," was the score to a ballet about thwarted love, the Kabbalah, and demonic possession. We managed to find way too much humor in this. We were sitting on the front row, in the dead center of the row, and we kept laughing outrageously... whew. I mean, they had a cheesebox listed as one of the instruments for the damned thing. Can you imagine going to a junior recital... for a cheesebox? Ha! The laughter never stopped. I'm sure several blue-haired ladies in the audience thought that we should have been "smote" by God for our irreverance. Good times.

In other news, I actually had a good day at work yesterday. Busy as all hell, running like a chicken with my head cut off, but I made a loooooot of money, close to $250 all day. Daytime was horrid, running all over the place, but dinner was great-- not many tables, all of them were pretty hefty money tables (around 30+ a person), then I got Dave.

Dave Harris is not A regular. He is The regular. He's in our restaurant almost every night, maybe misses one night every week. He owns a few car dealerships in Nashville, and spends more in our restaurant in one year than I could make in three. (Seriously, he was over 1% of our annual sales last year, breaking 100k with ease.) We keep Grand Marnier 150 on hand just for him, and we sell it at $45 a round. He likes it a lot. So anyway, he, his wife, and two of their friends were my last table. Yeah. I made lots, and lots of money off of him. Good night.

So there's the last couple of days. Still looking for a new job- one good day doesn't convince me to keep putting up with the server lifestyle, I gotta get out. If anybody hears of anything, lemme know... time for church! Peace all.

Soli Deo Gloria--

I grow old, I grow old... I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled

2005-05-13T07:09:00.000-07:00

--from "The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock" by TS Eliot

For those who don't know, Tuesday night was my Dad's last concert at John Carroll. He's been there for 28 years. He's had the same job since he was younger than I am now. (If I have the same job in 28 years, shoot me. In fact, if I have the same job in 28 days, you might want to go on and shoot me anyway. But gently, mind you.) Anywhoo, they sent out invitations to all 2500+ of his alumni, and a couple *hundred* showed up... there were about 100 people standing in the back of the auditorium because there just weren't seats. The last number, Rutter's "Gaelic Blessing," is one of those 'alumni come up and sing with us' pieces. Well, that took around fifteen minutes, just getting all the people somewhere near the stage. It really was amazing to see all the people his work has touched- and to see people I hadn't seen since graduation (Laura Greene) or earlier (Andrea / Merissa Braden) as well as about six young ladies who introduced themselves as, "Hi, I'm (insert name), I changed your diapers!"

I actually remembered most of these, but one in particular named Doonyah. She's Lebanese, married her high-school sweetheart, and they have nine children within nine years of each other. Two sets of twins.

Nine children.

Nine children.

Nine children.

Nine children.

Are you in pain yet? I mean, birthpains aside, I hurt just thinking about keeping up with that many kids. However, I've heard that they're the sweetest, most obedient group of kids alive, and from what I remember of Doonyah's sweet nature, I don't doubt it. But still...

Nine children.

So the concert was great, sorry to all my B'ham posse but I sat and talked with my parents for hours upon hours, well past any time they've seen since their college days, and I simply couldn't leave them... I love you all dearly, but I never get to see my family, so- next time, we'll be throwin' down. I promise.

Wednesday, Mom had a piano concert with her teacher from college, it was so much fun... Ate lunch with the folks and went to a job interview... wow. A friend of the folks owns a magazine company based in B'ham, I got an interview with an ad rep. Went very well, although I doubt I'll take the job; it's a lot of money, but it's a career, and I'm kinda looking toward grad school right now rather than diving into a career. That and I don't really want to leave Nashvegas just yet... so I'm looking for a new job around here, if anybody knows of one lemme know. (Got to get out of the restaurant biz. Gotta gotta gotta.)

Yesterday was a pleasant day off, hung out about the house, helped a friend get some stuff moved, got a haircut and had my last voice lesson. Wheee! Funny thing, though- I forgot to eat! ME! That's like water forgetting to be wet! Sheesh. Finally ate a big, fat breakfast at around 2; something delightfully decadent about breakfast after noon, y'know? Got out of choir practice early last night, which *really* made me happy... and now, it's off to Amerigo. Bartending today, then symphony tonight! Damn, I'm pumped. Peace all...

Soli Deo Gloria-

Lo! tis a gala night (part two)

2005-05-12T12:58:00.000-07:00

--still from "The Conqueror Worm," and Poe still wrote it.

*edited may 15- Scott reminded me the name of his Chenin Blanc!*

Firstly, sorry about the whole not-finishing-the-post thing. I was late for work, then I got home and my computer was not turning on anymore, then my dog ate my homework. So there. Now I'm back, and I've got to finish the tale of Saturday... so here goes... (If you've not read Part One, do so before this, since Saturday was such a great day all told...)

So Greg, Scott Addington, Mr. and Mrs. High (Andy and Heather) and I went to Rafferty's for dinner, had a lovely time. (I had fried catfish. I loooooove me some fried catfish.) Then we went back to the apartment and broke out the snacks that Greg had bought (as well as several that Monica and I had pilfered from the recital... tee hee) while we waited for Nathan and Monica to show up. Once we were all together, I spoke very briefly about wine in general (New World / Old World, and the Italian ranking system in particular... I love saying the word "QWPSR." Makes me happy. Stands for "quality wines produced in a specific region," but it's more fun to say it as one word) and we got started! Here are the wines we tried, in what I can remember of their order (hey, we drank eight bottles of wine among eight people, bound to get confused):

white:
*Banfi "San Angelo" Pinot Grigio (Monica's offering)- 100% Pinot Grigio. Crisp white from Tuscany, lots of green apple and lemon. Fairly acidic, not much finish, great summer wine.
*Bertani "Le Lave" (my offering)- Blend of Chardonnay and Garganega. From the Veneto region of Italy, a bit creamy but still strong fruit flavors. Almost 'wild' in its taste, a bit of honey in it... my favorite white wine ever. If you find it, buy it.
*Graf Riesling (Andy and Heather's offering)- 100% Riesling. Dry German Riesling, not the bubblegum stuff you get from Cali. Changed the way I look at Riesling, honestly... really good, very complex, nicely acidic, weird aroma but not unpleasant.
*Vouvray "La Craie" (Scott's offering)- French Chenin Blanc, 100%. Very enjoyable, similar to the Le Lave in creaminess but a little less tangy. A solid middle ground between the first two, with enjoyable acidity and oakiness.
*Camus Conundrum (Rachel's offering)- Blend of five grapes from Cali. Honestly, not my favorite... really fruity, really sweet, not much in the way of acidity or oakiness. More of a cocktail wine than something you would try to pair up with food. Good stuff, though, if you're into cocktail wine.

red:
*Erik the Red (Nathan's offering)- Who knows? Nathan was probably the person there who knew the least about wine going into the evening, so he went to a shop and asked for a decent, fun red wine. He picked this one because not only did it have a viking on the front, it had a frog in a viking hat on the front. Wow. Actually decent stuff, a bit weak, kinda pinot-noir ish.
*Erath Pinot Noir (Greg's offering)- 100% Pinot from Oregon (I think...). Awesome stuff, not very expensive but very good. Really smooth, a bit of spiciness, great pinot.
*Zenato Valpolicella Ripassa (my red wine)- Valpolicella from Veneto. My favorite wine (that I can afford)... Fairly rich and warm, almost velvety; a bit tannic but not overly so. Really smooth, a good solid spice to it. Tastes a bit like chocolate-covered cherries...

So after that we were all some combination of sleepy and giddy. Good times. Scott, Nathan, and Monica were in no condition to drive, so they crashed for the night... I got three hours of sleep before church... whew. It was a blast, hope to do this again soon... let me know if you want to join in!

Soli Deo Gloria-

Lo! 'tis a gala night within the lonesome latter years

2005-05-09T06:56:00.000-07:00

--from "The Conqueror Worm," Edgar Allan Poe

Saturday was, on the whole, a wonderful, wonderful day.

For a while now, I've been wanting to have a 'wine-over' party (inspired by Becca Smith) where friends come and bring a bottle of wine and a pair of pj's. I finally managed to get the date down, and we did it on Saturday! So I got up fairly early and *gasp* cleaned the ol' apartment before going to ... a recital.

Of children. On the piano.

Oh, how sweet.

You see, Monica (the one mentioned in the previous post) is a piano teacher at a little studio in Nasvhille, and during our conversation on Thursday, she mentioned that her studio was giving a series of recitals on Saturday. Being the music teachers' son that I am, I asked if I could go along to one of them, and she actually let me... whew. So I went to the recital at 12:30 and watched an unbearably adorable array of kids, most terrified for their lives, banging out their pieces as fast as possible so as to escape back into the obscurity of their church pew. (The best part is, by far, the bow. Oh, the trembling terror inherent in those bows... hehehe.) One little girl, however, was not only not terrified, she was determined to get her bow across as nicely as possible; she climbed the stair up to the main floor above the piano, where she could be seen by everybody in her pretty dress, and bowed very gracefully before playing her little eight measure piece. It was hilarious. The last number was a girl singing "Turn back, O man" from Godspell (Fran... oh yeah.)- when we arrived at that point in the program and were waiting for her to come out, I whispered to Monica: "There had better be a boa involved in this." She thought I was crazy, "Come on, this is a family recital. Nothing like that, I'm sure." BOOYA. Big, pink, feather boa. It's so rare that I'm right, that... I had to gloat, just a little bit. Sorry, Monica... ;^>

After the recital, there was a trip planned to Frugal McDoogal's (WalMart for alcoholics, for all who don't live in Nashville) to buy the wine for the evening. Greg (roommate), Andy (buddy from Chamber Singers), and Monica were all going to ride with me over there... however... when Monica got to my place, she'd locked her keys in her car. (I still think she was just trying to make me feel better about the porch.) Anyway, AAA got involved, we all drove to Frugal in two cars, Monica and I walked right into the beer store cause we paying NO attention to where we were going... good times. Got the wine, came back to release the keys, then everybody dispersed until the evening's festivities were to begin!

to be continued

Wholly to be a fool while spring is in the world, my blood approves

2005-05-06T13:57:00.000-07:00

--from "Since feeling is first," by ee cummings

Yesterday was a fantastic day.

I headed to a voice lesson at 11, but my accompanist had forgotten about it... so instead I went out for coffee with my dear friend, Anne Marie, whom I hadn't seen in ages. Sat outside at a cool little coffeeshop, got a bit sunburnt, so on and so forth. Beautiful day in dear ol' Nashville.

Swung by EB Games and traded in a bunch of crap for Jade Empire, which will probably be really cool once I actually start playing it... however, the day was just too wondrous and my porch beckoned. Since I'm re-(to the twelfth power)-reading the Chronicles of Narnia at the moment, I took my copy of "Voyage of the Dawn Treader" and sat on my porch for a while, visiting with my old friends, Caspian, Reepicheep, Eustace, and above all Aslan. Well, after about an hour, I figured that my laundry was done, so I regretfully set my book down and move to go back inside... only to find that Casper, my pet ghost, had playfully locked the porch door behind me when I left.

Awesome.

After being furious and frustrated for a half of a second, I realized that a) I've got a great book to read, b) it's a beautiful day out here, c) I ain't got jack to do. So I laughed and sat back down to read-- it was about fifteen more minutes before a car pulled up to the apartment complex and I got the kind souls to run to the office and get me out of the jam I was in.

Good times, yo.

Anyway, last night was great as well-- another dear friend, Monica, came over purportedly to watch Shrek 2... however, we just started talking and before I knew it, midnight had struck. One of those delightful conversations that touches on everything and just makes one heady with the wonder of connecting with another human being... sigh. Good times.

Then I overslept for work today for the first time ever. That, that... was not so cool. But I survived. Now it's time to go BACK to work. Sigh. Birmingham folks, I'll see you Tuesday night at the concert... peace all!

Soli Deo Gloria--

let us go then, you and i

2005-05-04T16:30:00.000-07:00

--from "The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock," TS Eliot

So I've finally, finally bitten the blog bullet. I'm sure that more information will be forthcoming in the future as I learn how to use this thing, but here's my first post. Just wanted to get one on the ol' web, give me a sense of accomplishment before I head back to the kitchen and absolutely destroy a PBJ.

Soli Deo Gloria