Ode to B.R. - Upon My "About-to-be-leaving"

I know it sounds funny, but I just can't stand the pain.
Girl I'm leavin' you tomorrow.
Seems to me, girl, you know I've done all I can.
See I begged, stole, and I borrowed.

That's why I'm easy.
Easy like Sunday mornin', yeah.
I'm easy.
Easy like Sunday mornin'.

Why in the world would anybody put chains on me?
I paid my dues to make it.
Everybody wants me to be what they want me to be.
I'm not happy when I try to fake it.

I wanna be high, so high.
I wanna be free to know the things I do are right.
I wanna be free.... just me....

That's why I'm easy.
Easy like Sunday mornin', yeah.
I'm easy.
Easy like Sunday mornin'.

- Easy - The Commodores

Also, if anybody's wondering - this is the song that reminds me of Brett Babin, for some reason.

Soothes the savage breast

So, last night, I saw Elizabethtown with Mitchell and Dustin. Not that they're in it... but they went to see it with me. Anyways - Cameron Crowe never disappoints. Say Anything, Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous, Elizabethtown. The hits just keep on coming. Well, these kids didn't know anything about Cameron Crowe flicks. But anybody want to guess the first thing they remarked about when the movie was over? Of course - the soundtrack. One character in the movie even sends another on a road trip across the country, complete with a down-to-the-minute mixed cd soundtrack. We started talking after the movie about how music makes all the difference, and I even mentioned those cool re-cuts of old movies that keep popping up on the web these days (check these out when you get a chance - they're short).

It's a funny thing that this came up. Because as I drove home from H-Town the other day, I heard a song on the radio, and had a little bit of a moment. It was a song that reminded me of a someone, and a sometime that I missed. For me, that song will always be a link to that time, and especially that person. Some of us really can trace the pattern of our lives through music. I realized that there are some songs that will always remind me of some of you. So as I drove - I started to make a list, first a mental one, and then a written one, that I've decided to include here. This might be construed as pandering - whoring for comments. I don't care. I think I've proven time and time again that I have no problem with that. What I want to know is this: do you agree? Do you even remember the significance of this song, and what the heck it has to do with you? Do you have a better idea for "our song"? If you haven't made the list yet- give it time... this is an ongoing project, or submit your suggestion. So here goes... in no particular order:

I Love The Way You Love Me by John Michael Montgomery (Gayden Jones)
Celebration by Die Happy (April Melancon)
Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton (Andrea Naul)
Goodbye by Hootie and the Blowfish (Ginny Ebarb)
Freshmen by Verve Pipe (Christie White)
Long December by Counting Crows (Abby Conner)
Fields Of Gold by Sting (Casey Adams)
Can't Fight This Feeling by REO Speedwagon (Jennifer Garner)(Yes, I dated a chick named Jennifer Garner.)
Goin' Down by the Monkees (Erin Johnson)
Theodicy On Trial by Tourniquet (Tara Mullin)
God Only Knows by The Beach Boys (Jamie Hawkins)
Arms Of A Woman by Amos Lee (Shelly Munkberg)
Follow Me by Unkle Kracker (Stormy Allen)
Tiny Dancer by Elton John (Emily Babin)
Angel by Sarah McLachlan (Jessica Thacker)
Sweet Surrender by Sarah McLachlan (Robin Watson)
Foreign Language by Anberlin (Dustin Collette)
Arms Of Orion by Prince (Krysten Forde)

Rape Me by Nirvana/ Here I Sit In Prison by Cowboy Mouth (Chris Ables)(Whoa. Creepy.)
Satellite by Dave Matthews Band (Rozino Smith)
Mama Said Knock You Out by L.L. Cool J (Darren Jobe)
Blame It On The Rain by Milli Vanilli (Brannon White)
Every Rose Has Its Thorn by Poison (Mark Johnson)
Paradigm by All Together Seperate (Mitchell Shoumaker)
Farewell To Human Cries by Seventh Angel (Jeff Francis)
Hands In The Air by the Waiting (Shane Mullin)
Groovy Kind Of Love by Phil Collins (Danael Broussard)
The Beautiful People by Marilyn Manson (Bill Chandler)
Ark Of Suffering by Tourniquet (Patrick Mehaffey)
Home Sweet Heaven by Angelica (Sean Borders)
Best I Ever Had by Vertical Horizon (Nathan Dewberry)
Bullet The Blue Sky by U2 (Josh Cohagen)
Lodi by Credence Clearwater Revival,
She's Every Woman by Garth Brooks, and
House Of The Rising Sun by The Animals (Bill, Chris, and Jessica @ the Hungri Maverick)

This is fun! To be updated periodically....

THEY'RE BACK SUCKAS!

Believe it! The Duke boys are reunited on next week's episode of Smallville. Thursday night at 7 p.m. CST on the dubba-dubba-dubba-dubba-dubya-bee (WB).

I seriously hope that THIS guy...

... does not try to make an appearance at Tiger Stadium tomorrow night for the LSU/North Texas game. That's ALL we need. As if the new coach doesn't have enough problems playing out from under his shadow, and getting booed by his own fans - there are plenty of folks who are still willing to unleash boos on this dude for leaving in the first place. It's a lose-lose situation. Stay away, Nick. Stay far, far away until Sunday.

Lord, who sinned.....

Robert Terrell has U2 tickets for the show in Houston this Friday night. Not only that - he has passes for INSIDE THE CIRCLE. Not only that - he has passes to get in during the setup.

Robert and I used to be friends. Before now.

Remember that time when Jesus and the disciples encountered the man who had been blind from birth, and the disciples asked him who had sinned, the man or his parents, to have him born that way?

After reading his post, I found myself asking a similar question.

"Lord, who sinned? Me, or my parents, that Robert gets my U2 tickets and passes?"

and,

"Lord, what good has Robert ever done that he gets those tickets instead of me?"

Then God was like, "Don't you read his blog, yo?" And he started to go on and on and on about stuff Robert had done, and I finally just had to quit listening, and start praying for him to get really, really violently sick.

ACHTUNG!

THIS WAY UP �

Boy Wonder has fragile contents which may break!

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From Go-Quiz.com


Nicely packed, Bagboy!

Baby mama drama

Okay, so I know I've used this picture before, but I thought that it was more appropriate for this post than it's ever been. LISTEN TO THIS:

A couple of weeks ago, my sister and I signed up for the Cox cable bundle pack that includes cable, high speed internet, and telephone service. When we finally got it up and running, it was the first time this house had had a telephone since before I lived here. Naturally we were assigned a phone number for our place. Now, since I never wanted to get a phone in the first place (I have done just fine using just my cell phone for the past 4 years - plus I HATE talking on the phone) - I didn't care much about giving out the new number, so I didn't. But my sister gave it to our parents, her boyfriend, and the church, because she got tired of everybody using up all her cell phone minutes, or using them for business. All that to say - we have a phone, but hardly anybody has the number.

A shortly after getting the phone, we hooked up my old answering machine from college. No sooner had we done so, than I started to get messages from Faye. The ONLY person who has ever left a message on our machine, to this day, is Faye. Faye would call and say she really needed to talk to me, and that it was really, really important. Later she would say that she was getting married in December, and needed to talk to me as soon as possible. But she would always call when I wasn't here. She would promise to call back later on, or the next day at 9 p.m., and I would always plan to be home (my curiosity being peaked), but she never called back when she said she would.

The thing is - I have NO IDEA who Faye is. I've never even met anybody named Faye. And I have no idea how she got my number. What could she want? I formulated this theory that she had called the church to see about getting married there, but that they had told her no, because we only allow church members. Persistent and desperate as she was, I theorized that she had looked on our website, grabbed my name as somebody sympathetic-looking, and perhaps similar in age, called back pretending to know me, and perhaps they gave her my number. I thought she wanted to plea for help in landing our church as the location for her wedding.

I could not have been more wrong.

Last night, with my sister out of town for a week, and noone to witness it - I got one last message on my answering machine from Faye. She said that she had been trying to get in touch with me, but didn't understand why I wouldn't talk to her. She didn't want to leave her phone number, but wanted to let me know that we have a 9 month-old daughter together, and thought I would want to know, and maybe meet her. She emphasized that she didn't want us to get back together, or anything, and that she was getting married in December. She promised to try calling again later on, but after that - and I quote - "forget you!" Much to my dismay - she never did call.

WHAT. THE. HECK.

Just to clarify - Billie Jean is not my lover. She's just a girl who says that I am the one. But the kid is not my son. Seriously, though - I have never met Faye, and I certainly don't have a daughter or son of any age with anybody. But now.... see... now I'm invested in this relationship. I feel bad for Faye because she obviously thinks she has the right man, and he has been ignoring her, for whatever reason. I feel bad for "Jason", whoever he is, because evidently he still doesn't know about his daughter. And I feel bad for me, because really - what's the next step? If she doesn't get closure on this thing before her wedding, is she going to call information with my phone number, and get an address? Maybe show up at my door with my "daughter" and get the shock of both of our lives? Okay, actually - I don't feel sorry for me. Because if that happened I would laugh so amazingly, unbelievably, ridiculously hard for so very very long. You know... after... she left... of course. Now I'm actually sort of wishing that would happen. Because that would make the greatest story ever - and a great follow up blog to this post.

So Faye - wherever you are - don't let it get you down. You've apparently got a great man now, who loves you and my daughter, and is going to make an honest girl out of you in just a few short weeks. You've got so much more to worry about than getting closure with your baby' daddy. Flowers to arrange, tuxes to rent, shoes to dye. Don't miss out on your opportunity to be the very best Bridezilla you can be, just because some man stuck you with a bun in the oven 18 months ago. Cheers!

Voltron, Defender of the Universe

ASSEMBLING VOLTRON
Matt Himes and Richard Ho
Wizard Magazine #169
November 2005

After conquering the imaginations of an entire generation, the Voltron Force heads for some uncharted territory: Hollywood.
Originally launched in 1984, "Voltron: Defender of the Universe" is currently being developed as a big-budget, live-action film by New Line Cinema's Ford Oelman and Mark Costa. The duo snapped up the rights for the cult-favorite animated series from World Events and pitched the concept to producer Mark Gordon (Saving Private Ryan) and musician/producer Pharrell Williams, who will compose the score and produce the soundtrack.
For Oelman and Costa, the journey from TV to silver screen will truly be a labor of love. "We've always been part of the animation generation," said Oelman. "We grew up on shows like Transformers, Thundercats and G.I. Joe, and there's a strong sense of nostalgia for these shows as we get older. As fans, we wondered why there wasn't a Voltron film in development - so we decided to do something about it."
The original series followed the spacefaring adventures of five pilots who journey to the planet Arus to command the robotic lions that make up the fighting machine known as Voltron- all in an effort to save the universe from the dreaded Drule Empire.

...

The producers also plan to do Voltron justice when it comes to the visual effects, which Oelman confirms will be a combination of CGI and physical techniques. "We anticipate using some CGI for the science-fiction elements, but for the most part we want to bring a larger-than-life, realistic Voltron to the big screen", said Oelman. "It's important to utilize every possible technology when making a movie of this scope to ensure the creation of a believable world. For larger mecha battles it can be a good idea to use scale models. I think WETA [Workshop] was amazingly successful The Lord of the Rings, using CGI and scaling techniques as well as intricate makeup and costumes."
The popularity of the various animated series has already proven that Voltron has staying power - and the producers hope that longevity will carry over into the world of movies. "The fact that it's still airing in some territories 21 years after its conception is a testament to its durability," said Oelman. "The film franchise should have the same kind of resonance. We intend to make the first film a success so that we get to do it again and again."


OH. FREAKING. YES. You better believe I am all over this action. Now that Batman Begins is behind us, and The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe is almost upon us, I was badly in need of something I could obsess about. Thank you, crazy-weird Japanese dudes, for creating Voltron. Thank you.

Golden Age J.T.

Earlier today, when I was in the shower, I was thinking of all the things that will be different about living in Houston. One of the biggest drawbacks will be the water. Over here we have what you would call "soft" water. You know, the kind where after you shower, you're not always sure you were able to wash all the soap off? Well, over in H-town, they have what you call "hard" water. The kind where it's difficult to get a smooth shave, and your skin is never slick, but actually kind of rubbery.

Then I got to thinking - the Golden Age Flash, Jay Garrick, was the first speedster in all of comics. And do you know how he got his speed? As a college student he was investigating the properties of so-called experimental "hard" water, and prolonged exposure to it caused him to develop super-speed. Yeah, I know - doesn't connect quite as well as getting bitten by a radioactive spider, or having your parents killed right before your eyes - but that's the story. Anyways, here's hoping that after years of being used the the "soft" water, prolonged exposure to the "hard" stuff will endow me with powers I never could have imagined. Like the ability to run at several times the speed of sound. Then I could come visit you all on my lunch break, and be back at work in plenty of time. *Fingers crossed!*

Leadership Bartlet Style

Yeah, yeah, so I know this is the second West Wing post already on the new blog, so blah, blah, blah bite me. But as I mentioned in the earlier post (the most wildly successful post comment-wise, of my young blogging career, I might add), since the acquisition of my DVR, I have more West Wing episodes to watch than time to watch them. It doesn't help that this past week, Bravo! featured a marathon of seasons 5 and 6.

So - this afternoon, as I lay on the couch in my pj's (Yes, I said this afternoon, and NO, I did not even see the morning, and you can judge me if you want but I work on Sundays). Where was I? Oh yes...

This afternoon, as I lay on the couch in my pj's, watching Leo's heart attack and Claudia Jean's assumption of the Chief of Staff position - I was reminded of a thought I had a few weeks back when I was in the thick of West Wing watching... before LOST, Smallville, and new West Wing episodes which (did I mention?) have taken a turn for the lame. I had this idea that someone should write a book on leadership, using examples from the West Wing. I mean, somebody wrote this book, this book, and this book. They could call it Leadership Bartlet Style (Jamie - you may eat your candy now). I am enthralled by watching not only the decisions those characters make, but the process they go through in order to make them.

The silliest thing you'll ever hear me admit to on this blog is that I've started to think of our office as a mini-West Wing. Maybe, just maybe (mention this to anybody else and I'll deny it), myself as a Josh Lyman. As stupid as it sounds, it motivates and inspires me, even excites me - to think of our place like that. Now, my boss is hardly anything like Jed Bartlet (Glenallen Walken, perhaps?) but you should have seen us during the Hurricane relief efforts. Stand-up meetings to coordinate, specific tasks to specific people to benefit the greater cause, verbose, lofty, hilarious conversations while walking down the hall at breakneck speed. Okay, maybe not that last one. And don't think this type of thinking wasn't a factor when I considered accepting my new position at Copperfield - they've already got this vibe going on.

And you might get the impression that I think I'm going to write this book - but I'm under no such illusions. Maybe I'll do some research. If by "research" you mean watching countless episodes of my favorite show and writing down cool stuff. Maybe I can get credit on the book jacket that way - but I have the perfect person picked out to write this book.

Shane Mullin.
Dude, I'm about to make your career.

Shane is a bigger WW fan than anybody I know. He has the charisma, and thinks big enough to actually write a book and expect it to sell. He studied business at ETBU - AND is currently enrolled in classes toward a Master of Science degree in...

wait for it....

ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND ETHICS.

Are you kidding me? It's like asking me to write a book about Batman, and laundry-piling. It's buttah! Tell me you wouldn't buy this book?

Irony of ironies, just today that kid blogged over on his site that:
"I need to rework my Personal Concept of Leadership and I need to write my Leadership Development Plan. Both of these documents are going to serve me well for a long, long while"

You can all thank me later. Possibly with a back-end deal on the book profits. I'm claiming proprietary rights on this. Steal it, and I'll sue you. In love, of course.

Ain't she a beauty?

Big day for me yesterday. I paid off the car. That's right - I am now the proud owner of a tan 1999 Ford Escort Sedan, in mediocre condition. More importantly, I am now the sole owner of something that cost (not something that is worth, mind you) $12,000.00. This means 1 of 2 things. Either I will 1) bask in the luxury of having an extra $200 to spend every month - or 2) take advantage of my imminent pay increase to saddle myself with the even greater burden of buying something new. Place your bets now on which one that will be.

Also, yesterday I told the students in the youth group that I would be leaving at the end of the month. I was semi-nervous, but not as nervous as when I had to tell the preacher. I made a joke thatI have my work cut out for me, because there are lots of successful churches with successful youth ministries in the country, and that somebody has got to be there to run them into the ground, like I did this one. The kids took it well, with no small amount of tears from the girls, but eventually, smiles all around. All of a sudden, everyone seems to have a sense of the value that every day now holds. Funny what it takes to give us a sense of urgency like this. Note to self: remember this feeling in your new job, and in all your relationships from now on.

All in all, it wasn't a bad time. I knew that no matter how the day went, at then end of it there was a big steaming pile of LOST waiting for me on my DVR when I got home. *Sigh* Thank God for LOST. It's a rock for me. Anybody notice Walt's picture on the milk carton during Hurley's dream sequence at the beginning? Attention to detail, and little gifts like that are what make this the best show on TV. Well, now that the West Wing has taken a turn for the LAME.

Today I'm cleaning up my office. Not out - up. Getting it ready to be cleaned out. It's complicated, I know. Something tells me an ounce of prevention of this mess, would be worth a pound of cure for it.

Something tells me that I'd blog more often if I could keep every post to about this length.

**edited to add: Looking for tickets to Saturday's LSU game vs. Florida. Any ideas?

"Leaving home ain't easy.... but may be the only way" - Queen

Finally. I've been holding off posting, until I had something official to say, and now I guess I can let the cat out of the bag.

I'm moving to Houston. It's official. I submitted my resignation to my pastor today, and let him know I'd only be staying through the end of October. This Wednesday I will face the daunting task of having to tell the group of students I've grown to love that I won't be their youth minister anymore. This weekend, I'll tell the church, and next week, they'll publish my letter of resignation in the church newsletter. I'm not sure how people will react. Some will probably be angry. Some will be disappointed. Some will be relieved. I must admit I've never really had close friends at the church aside from some teenagers, and kids who are now in the college group. I wonder if they will decide to go ahead and pretend I've already left. This could be a very lonely three weeks. While I'm excited about the future, everything I do at Jefferson for the next 3 weeks will have a sort of bitter taste to it - all the "lasts".

However, I am hopeful, and optimistic about starting something new. I am throwing in my lot with a church in Houston where my aunt, uncle and cousin go. Copperfield Church is much larger than any church I've been involved with before, and comes about as close as I can imagine to what I would call an "ideal situation". After several visits, to interview, to teach Sunday School, to attend a couple of student events to meet kids, and to get interrogated by parents, the church voted on me yesterday morning. Rumor has it, the results were 189 to 5 in my favor. Those five people have been summarily executed. Seriously though, I am going to be the Sr. High School Minister, on a team with several other top-notch folks, including a Jr. High Minister. Both the Sr. High and Jr. High youth groups have about 150 kids each, so this will be no small task. The magnitude of this responsibility - especially in comparison to my present responsibility - is not lost on me.

The next couple of weeks will involve getting the house in order at Jefferson, packing, and finding an apartment in H-town. I think the part I'm least looking forward to is cleaning out my office. Ugh. Maybe I could just take what's mine and skip town with piles of paper and mail on my desk and a five gallon bucket of plastic flamingos in the middle of the floor. But probably not. Do any of you know anybody in Houston? I don't know a lot of folks, but let me tell you this - I'm getting just enough of a pay increase to spring for a 2 bedroom apartment, and if you can read this I expect you to fill half of it at some point. No, really. I need your company.

Alot of posts in the near future might trend toward the cathartic - me quoting Donald Miller, whining about leaving, starting over, moving on, family, friends are friends forever kind of crap. Just play along. I'm sure I'll be letting you know which LOST character I am, which Napoleon Dynamite character I am, what my emo name is, and which High School stereotype fits me.

Your thoughts?