Tami’s Neighborhood

For the wife who says, “It’s hot dogs tonight.”

Because she is home with me and not out with someone else.

For the husband who is on the sofa being a couch potato,

Because he is home with me and not out at the bars.

For the teenager who is complaining about doing the dishes,

Because it means she is at home, not on the streets.

For the taxes I pay,

Because it means I am employed.

For the mess to clean after a party,

Because it means I have been surrounded by friends.

For the clothes that fit a little too snug,

Because it means I have enough to eat.

For my shadow that watches me work, 

Because it means I am out in the sunshine.

For a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and gutters that need fixing,

Because it means I have a home.

For all the complaining I hear about the government,

Because it means we have freedom of speech.

For the parking spot I found at the far end of the parking lot,

Because it means I am capable of walking, and I have been blessed with transportation.

For my huge heating bill,

Because it means I am warm.

For the lady behind me in church who sings off key,

Because it means I can hear.

For the pile of laundry and ironing,

Because it means I have clothes to wear.

For too much e-mail,

Because it means I have lots of friends who are thinking about me.

For weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day,

Because it means I have been capable of working hard.

For the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours,

Because it means that I am ALIVE!

COOL!

 

 

 

 

 

I know what I'm going to go see over the Christmas holiday!

 

This video is long (1 hour 20 minutes), but is worth watching.  It is also a couple years old.  The Kyoto Treaty is dead, and we have a new President.  But the new President's Global Government agenda is even more radical than past Presidents, and I have no doubt that he will sign the Copenhagen Treaty which is 10 times worse for the US than the Kyoto treaty was.  Please be diligent.  Do not allow your Senator to ratify the Copenhagen Treaty in December of this year!  Call him/her!  Stay on them!  Stop them from destroying our country and our freedom through global warming propaganda!  Please share this information with everyone you can!

Another good reference for arming yourself against the GW radicals is this: Not Evil Just Wrong.  It is an excellent and informative video about the true human cost of this hysteria.  It was created by two former liberals who believed the Green-Peace-type environmental hype, until while making a documentary on the "evils" of mining and free enterprise they saw the actual devistation brought to poor communities by the activism of radical environmentalists.

My first trip to St. Louis ever began when my friends Kyle T., Ben G., and Shannon H. came up to my apartment in Jackson around 11pm so that we could sleep and then leave together early in the morning to go to St. Louis for the Brand New concert. The day started with us going to sleep around 2am and then proceeding to wake up at 6:30am and leaving by 7:15am. (We would have left by 7, but Kyle wouldn't wake up and take his shower, but I digress.) We got some breakfast at Chick-fil-a and then we got on the road. We stopped at a Target/Starbucks and they got some drinks and Kyle bought me a blueberry muffin. [Note: I am reliving all the memories, so if there is something random and trivial such as mentioned blueberry muffin, don't judge...it's my memory] We made it to St. Louis in good time arriving around 11:30-11:45 if I can remember correctly. We had found out that if we get there early and bought something at the coffee shop that was adjacent to the concert venue, we would be able to get in early. We all purchased a drink or something cheap and we got our bracelet to get in early. We were numbers 13-16, which was awesome. We headed up the street to where we also had heard that they were going to be doing an acoustic show that afternoon at a local record store. We found out that we had to buy either the CD or the vinyl version of Brand New's new album, so we all got the vinyl and another bracelet to get into the acoustic show. We were hungry, so we then went to a local eating place called Blueberry Hill. It was very cool, good food and great atmosphere. After lunch, Scratch that, I can't believe I forgot to mention something. So we are walking down the street and we see on the other side of the road riding bikes were Jesse Lacey (Lead singer of Brand New) and Andy Hull (Lead singer of Manchester Orchestra, who was one of the opening bands for Brand New). So we saw that they had gone into a game store and we (let me rephrase that, Kyle and Ben) wanted to go meet them so we all went into the store like loser fans. We acted awkward for a minute and then Kyle walked over there and shook their hands and introduced himself. Andy Hull was a total jerk and blew him off, which Jesse Lacey did as well, but after further evidence gathering, which I will share later, we realized he didn't do it on purpose and is not, in fact, a jerk. I will never buy a Manchester Orchestra cd because of Andy Hull being a jerk, though I acknowledge that he is a great musician and performer. Now back to after we left Blueberry Hill. We were walking around and we saw a cameraman and a reporter chick walking down on the other side. We crossed over and they asked us if we wanted to get interviewed. We were asked how we thought the St Louis Blues (NHL) were going to do this year. Seeing that none of us are from 4 hours of St. Louis, I made up an answer which made the girl happy and we went on. (It was funny because I asked her if Chris Pronger was still on the team, which I found out that he hadn't been on the team in a couple of years...whoops, sorry that I don't pay attention that much to the NHL) So the acoustic show at Vintage Vinyl was at like 4, so they were letting people in at 3:30, so we didn't want to go do anything, so we just hung around and Shannon and I started the line about 2:30 for the show. So we were the first couple in and all four of us were on the front row about give-or-take 5 feet from where they played. It was a decent set. They seemed like they had just woken up from a nap, so it was a little rough, but still very, very cool.

There is a video of the song "Jesus Christ" from the acoustic show, which we were standing to the right of the guy that is on the front row. After the show, they were signing autographs, so each got our vinyls signed by all of them. It was really cool. They were nice and when Kyle got up to Jesse Lacey, Jesse Lacey smiled and said "how you been" to him, which was funny and nice at the same time. We had to jet from Vintage Vinyl back to The Pageant where the concert was going to be. Like literally, I ran 5 blocks in as dead sprint as I could possibly go. We got in line and went in and go on the second row down in the pit. It was an awesome location, like literally one person was in front of us in the middle of the stage. The stinky part was that we had to get there so early to get such good places, so we had to wait an hour and a half before the first band played. We got to know some of the people around us, which was cool. Sypris was the opening band. They were decent. Kyle and Shannon liked them a lot more than me. I think the lead singer (who was a female) was drunk, but whatever. Manchester Orchestra was next. I knew of them because they are from Atlanta and when I was back home, I was in the "scene" somewhat. (I saw Cartel like at skateparks and small venues before they became really big.) Man Orch was pretty good. I dislike Andy the lead singer (see above) so it wasn't awesome, but they were really good. Then...BRAND NEW! They were awesome, though more screamy than I expected them to be. They looked exhausted, but they gave a really good show. Here was the set list if you really want to know, which "You Don't Know" was their opening song. Here is somebody's video for it, which you can see our hands in the air right below the microphone when the song gets going.

It was awesome down in the pit until it became pretty much dangerous for the fact that dumb people in the back of the pit began pushing forward. You were so close to people that you like couldn't breathe. I had to spend half my time keeping my balance and bracing myself and could barely enjoy the songs because I was afraid if I fell, I would get trampled. We left to the back of the people around the 6th song. At some point, we did see one girl get carried out of the pit, so it was pretty crazy down there. After the show, we really wanted to get White Castle, just because of the fact that I have never eaten at White Castle before. We almost died getting there, with Ben driving we almost had 2 head on collisions when he decided to first, try and go down a one way street the wrong way and second, correct his mistake by going in the other lane on a two way street. We walked in to the White Castle, which it smelled and was nasty, so we scratched that idea. We drove past Busch Stadium and the Gateway Arch (The Gateway to the West) going out of town and we stopped and ate dinner/supper at Waffle House (mind you, it was after 11:30, so (a) it was the perfect time to eat there and (b) we ate dinner at 11:30...). We decided to drive back to Jackson/Henderson because Ben had an 8:30 class (which he proceeded to skip this morning), so we left St. Louis around 12:30. I drove so Ben could sleep, Shannon napped a little bit and Kyle was a trooper and did his best to stay awake with me, though I would sometimes ask him a question and he would fall asleep before he could answer it, which was really funny to watch. I (being the safe person that I am) stopped twice and took two 30 minute catnaps, but otherwise, it was a crazy, late drive back. After we got on the road after my second nap with about 2 or 2 1/2 hrs left, Kyle and I decided to just shuffle the iPod and jam out to every dumb song we could find. We found a lot of dumb songs, which Shannon woke up and joined us, but I think by far my favorite song was "Burn" by Usher. I really didn't know that Kyle was such a huge Usher fan. We had fun. Got back to my apartment around 5:15 and back to Henderson around 5:45am. I actually was listening to Mike & Mike on the way to Henderson. I have never listened to sports radio that early in the morning. It was a crazy awesome trip. I am sure I missed a number of laughs, but I wanted to write down all that I could remember. Brand New is great in concert, and our trip to see them was one that I will remember forever.

You have to have seen the Will Farrell "Healthcare Reform PSA" to really appreciate this.  It's hilarious!

 

And one more...(PJTV.com, ya'll!  You gotta check it out!)

 

 

 

So there comes a point in a man's life where he goes out and spends a ridiculous amount of money on something that he probably doesn't need. Today was that day in my life. I am not sure if there will be more days like this, but let's just say the feeling is...interesting. So today marked the one month "anniversary" of me working at Best Buy, which also that is the first day that I can get employee pricing. Ever since I went to college, I have owned a 20" television. It was not more than a week ago that the television gods told me that it was about time to get a new one when the color at the bottom of the screen started to mess up. That being said and the fact that I have a very nice employee discount, I proceeded to plan on getting a new television. I initially started looking at a 32" inch television, which proceeded to go up to a 37", because currently my girlfriend has a 32" and I have to get at least one that big or better. I came to a conclusion that I was going to get a 37" LCD television. Then I started looking at plasma televisions (which if I had to choose between the two, I would definitely go with the plasma, if any reason the blacks are blacker and skin tones look real...but I guess that officially makes me a geek). The smallest plasma television that is made is 42". So I told myself, "Michael, you can splurge just a little bit to get something that you really want." I listened to myself, and decided on getting a 42" plasma (it was still a really good deal with the employee discount). I was telling one of the managers yesterday about my future purchase and he told me that Panasonic (the brand that I was getting) had some rebates for Best Buy employees and we checked that out. I found out that I could buy a 50" plasma for only $30 more than the 42". Did I buy the bigger television? Yes. That my friends is the story about how I now currently have a 50" Panasonic plasma television in my apartment. Was it too much? Probably, but I am going to enjoy this television for a LONG time. I mean, seriously, I upgraded my television by 30 inches, more than double what I had before. Now, if I could just figure out a way to pay for it...(just kidding)

I have learned this year that you really don't have control over your own life. On of my favorite quotes from my favorite sports radio talk show host says "It's not how you act, its how you react." That quote is so true in life. So many times it is the way the person reacts to trouble that leaves him in much more trouble before. I am blessed to have had people in my life that have taught me how to "react". I may not always do it right from the beginning or know how to do something, but as my mom says, I am like a cat in the sense that she doesn't ever fear that whatever situation that I am in that I won't land on my feet. I knew last year was going to be tough, living in a far-away place (though that sounds magical, Statesboro, GA is far from that), working/going to school, and dealing with relationships and other things, but I didn't know what would happen with all of that. A year later, I am back in Tennessee, in a different relationship (almost 6 months in!), two great jobs working with Roan's Creek and Best Buy, and a minor league baseball internship away from getting my masters. I think I have reacted well, though I am sure that in this next year I will be having to react and learn from many more challenges, but for me, it is good to sometimes look back and see how I have persevered through some trouble times and appreciate where I am. By no means am I going to become complacent of where I am now, but it is encouraging for me to press on with confidence that no matter what happens, I can do it. I did it, but let me give credit where credit is due. God has worked awesomely in my life. It was all him that got me to where I am at Roan's Creek. I love my church family so much there and I have learned as much as hopefully I am teaching. My goal is to be a man, and I am on my way there.

If you haven't visited Pajamas TV (www.pjtv.com) you should.  There are some great pundits, including my personal favorite, AlfonZo Rachel ("Zo") at ZoNation (formerly known as "MachoSauce" on YouTube).  They have some free videos like:  this and this and this which are hilarious and full of wit & sarcasm.  But it's worth the $5/month subscription to support one of the few anti-MSM news and commentary sites out there.

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I've posted Easter pictures to Vox since I joined, how could I have forgotten this year?  My profile picture is Xander's 1st Easter!  Plus, I got a ton of great ones this year.  But, better late than never...