now where did i put that list?

so today i was/am looking through www.cdbaby.com for some new music. i had a list of some people i really wanted to get but now i can't find that list. where did i put it? maybe it is right...nope. ok..let me try....found it!!! hahaha...once again i come through for myself. earlier today i found a cd that i had been looking for. maybe this is what my fortune cookies was pointing to: Keep Up the Good Work. You Will be Rewarded. well...i am not really rewarded with anything, i just found what i had misplaced.

here is my horoscope for Dec 31st: You need to slow down today -- or you will miss out on some amazing scenery ( nice )

here is my chinese zodiac for Dec 31st: On the whole you will be feeling rather well, both physically and mentally. You will not be too inhibited this time and will communicate very easily with others. Try to make new friends in various circles. Your finances will be more solid, and you might enjoy a stroke of luck that will allow you to make money rather easily; but keep in mind that you do not let yourself indulge in extravagant spending. ( umm..that says i will be to inhibited...this should be interesting )

what a random post

what was i thinking?

what was i thinking? have you ever had one of those moment? i have many. like when i got a hammer stuck in a computer i was smashing ( the claw end somehow ended up on my head :). like when i shot myself in the foot with my paintball gun..twice. like when...ok i could go on and on with this one. i just tried, and acomplished, moving a big xerox printer/copier by myself. those things are heavy! i think i am the proud owner of a hernia now. i really think God loves to laugh at me. oh and one more what was i thinking...listening to I Want to Sex You Up by Color Me Badd...some songs should just be left in the past.

burn baby burn

is it wrong to download music? when napster first came out i downloaded a lot of music. not as much as some people but i probably got a good 600 songs off it. after napster closed i stopped downloading music, not because i thought it was wrong but i didn't like the other sites. they say i am taking away from the artist, that i am practically stealing money right out of his/her pocket. this is where i disagree. what i download a song for free and let a friend listen to it. that friend in turn goes out and buys the cd. here is a good example: my best friend derrick burned me a copy of Boy Sets Fire ( my favorite group at the moment ). he thought i would like it and boy was he right. i have since then bought around 5 cds of theirs. sounds like a fair trade to me. i buy cds all the time because i love the art work and extra stuff that is found in the original cd. there are some cds that i would never buy on my own. so is it wrong for me to burn that cd? i don't think so. i wasn't going to buy it anyways so no money lost there. now i can see if everyone just downloaded songs and nobody bought the cd then that would be bad but that isn't the case. music artist are putting more extras in cds, bonus features for buying it. also i think that one of the best ways a new artist can get on to the scene is by putting his/her stuff out there for download. sure you might not make any money but people will hear of you, hopefully grow to like you. another thing...i love to find random people to listen to. and nothing sucks more than buying a cd that is terrible. most ( i assume ) people don't buy cds like this but i do sometimes. i have on more than one accasion downloaded a song and then rushed out to buy the cd. once again fine trade off. well...lunch calls.

the glas..half full or half empty...stay tuned for more

merry christmas everyone! i was going to write something "deep" but i couldn't put what i wanted to say in words. so i leave you with this song by Something Corporate

"I Woke Up In A Car"
i woke up in new york city
from my sleep behind the wheel
caught a train to Poughkeepsie
and time stood still

she wrote me a letter from san diego
to qualify her luck
these flights connect through arizona
but i think i'll stay stuck
so here i am
here i am
well i woke up in a car
i traced a way the fog
so i could see the mississippi on her knees
i've never been so lost
i've never felt so much at home
please write my folks and throw away my keys
i woke up in a car
i woke up in a car

i met a girl who kept tattoos for homes
that she had loved
if i were her i'd paint my body
until all my skin was gone

she wrote me a letter as we passed through rockford
she said she won't forget
maybe i do maybe i don't
but i know i haven't yet

so here i am
here i am
well i woke up in a car
i traced a way the fog
so i could see the mississippi on her knees
i've never been so lost
i've never felt so much at home
please write my folks and throw away my keys
i woke up in a car
i woke up in a car

and maybe i could live forever
if that ever i had known
that you'd be waiting there whenever i'm alone
but here i am
well i woke up in a car
i traced a way the fog
so i could see the mississippi on her knees
i've never been so lost
i've never felt so much at home
please write my folks and throw away my keys

well i woke up in a car
i traced a way the fog so i could see the mississippi on her knees
i've never been so lost
i've never felt so much at home
please write my folks and throw away my keys
i woke up in a car
i woke up in a car
i woke up in a car

the 3 billy goats gruff

i was just thinking about favorite stories and books. here are a few:

The Three Billy Goats Gruff - whenever we would go visit my grandma Tompkins in princeton, ky. she would read my this story. She would use different voices for all the characters. Plus the moral of the story is to not be greedy, you should be happy with what you are given.

Harold and the Purple Crayon - this is another childhood favorite. i loved this book so much that my wife and i are going to use it in the baby's room

Watership Down - i read this book one summer at soccer camp. i never thought a bunch of rabbits could make me almost cry.

Where the Red Fern Grows - i read this book in 8th grade. wow. the teacher would assign about a chapter a night but i would go ahead and read way ahead. i think i finished the book in about a week ( i am not a fast reader )

Ender's Game - this is the story about a boy that is picked to go to a school in space. there he is pushed to his limits because they think he might be able to save the world from an alien race. this sounds cheesey but it is a really good book and very thoughtful.

this is just a few of the many books that i have read and loved. what are your favorite books?

list of christmas

1. COLORED OR WHITE LIGHTS? colored. growing up we always had the assorted colored lights. i think that lights of the same color ( white ) usually look better but the other is more fun.

2. REAL OR FAKE TREE? once again growing up we always had a fake tree ( my dad was alergic to the real stuff ). plus that pine smell isn't my favorite

3. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT THE HOLIDAYS? not getting to see my family. there is always at least one person a year ( this year it was my dad ) that i don't get to see.

4. WHAT IS THE ONE THING THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE UNDER THE TREE THIS YEAR? The Complete Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson. i guess i should of asked for it

5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING TO DO/BUILD IN THE SNOW? sledding!

6. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE HOLIDAY DRINK?Hot chocolate with the little marshmallows

7. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE HOLIDAY SMELL? i don't know if i have one...i do like the fireplace but we never had one during the holidays.

8. WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE REINDEER? Blitzen. his name means lightning...must be pretty fast

9. WHAT IS YOUR CHRISTMAS EVE RITUAL? we usually go over to grandmas and eat bar-b-que sandwiches that she makes. then around 9pm we open our presents. we open our presents from santa on christmas day

10. ARE YOU A FRIDAY AFTER THANKSGIVING SHOPPER? nope. but i have found some pretty sweet deals.

11. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE HOLIDAY FOOD? boiled custard. this is the only thing i can actually get during the holidays. P.S. don't try to drink the jones soda holiday flavors...not that good

12. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT SANTA WASN'T REAL? when your parents don't have a lot of money and your mom is crying saying that she is sorry and sad that santa couldn't get us more, you figure things out.

13. WHO DO YOU WANT TO BE UNDER THE MISTLETOE WITH YOU? my wife jaclyn. i wonder why somebody thought that it would be a good tradition to kiss under a poisionus plant.

14. HAVE YOU BOUGHT ALL YOUR PRESENTS YET? i would guess that most men that are married don't do a lot of the shopping. but i am almost finished buying for me wife ( just have to pick up some small things ).

15. DO YOU SPEND CHRISTMAS WITH A LOT OF FAMILY? on my mom's side i will spend it with about 8-12 people. on my dads side it ranges from 5-20ish. on jac's side it is between 6-9. so no...i don't spend it with a lot of people ( i have small families )

16. DO YOU STILL MAKE SNOWMEN AND SNOW ANGELS? you know i do. what better way to act like a kid than to make a snowman or lay down and make a snow angel.

17. DO YOU STILL HAVE SNOW BALL FIGHTS? whenever i can. just don't aim for the ears..that hurts

18. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CHRISTMAS MOVIE? The Chrismas Story. "...deck the harr with bounds or hory..."

19. WHAT DO YOU PLAN TO DO FOR NEW YEAR'S EVE? going to get drunk and smoke...oh wait i mean just hangout with friends

20. WHAT IS THE MOST EXPENSIVE THING YOU'VE GOTTEN FOR CHRISTMAS? maybe my playstaion2. actually my aunt gave me the money to go buy one

21. HOW EARLY DO YOU WAKE UP ON CHRISTMAS MORNING? i still get up somewhere between 5-7am. and usually i won't go into the living room ( the tree is in there) until my mom is up and everyone is ready to open presents ( i want to be suprised ).

22. WHAT DO YOU USUALLY GET IN YOUR STOCKING? my grandma gives me desperatly needed boxers and socks. my mom will give me the most random fun stuff. jac's mom will give us candy and usually a little present. my grandma tompkins will always put at least one box of raisins and some other fun stuff. i love those little dried grapes

23. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CHRISTMAS SONG? little drummer boy. i really like the jars of clay version. i also want to hear a purely acoustic version

24. WHAT DECORATIONS ARE ON YOUR TREE? lights, and random ornaments

25. WERE YOU EVER IN A CHRISTMAS RECITAL? yes. i am trying to block that out of my memory. i think that when i was younger ( before puberty ) i could sing half way decent. anybody that has been around me when i try to sing knows this is not the case now.

i don't agree pastor

this weekend my wife and i went up to effingham to have christmas with her family. it was a good time and i had lots of fun. on sunday we went to church. the church that we go to up there just had a major addition built on ( put them $1 million in debt ) so it is nice and big and dark. there are more lights than any church could really need. they are trying to be a MEGA church but it is in effingham. EFFINGHAM IS A SMALL TOWN!!! anyways...the message this week ( and aparently ) and the past few weeks was about end times. the whole "teaching" was interpurting what Daniel dreamed. now i don't know the exact location but it does say in the new testament that nobody, not even Jesus, knows when the end will be. so in reallity we were tyring to figure out when the raputre and end of the world will be based on an interpurtation of a man's dreams that didn't know when it would be ( i hope that makes sense ). as you can probably tell i don't agree with this. if you really want you can read anything into the prophecies. if one says there will be evil then right now we look to iraq. but what about germany in WWII? what about rome? even for us the british were a main enemy. now i am not saying that the end times are not upon us but if they are i can't do anything about it anyways. besides i would rather God come back and take me away than dying before that happens. but i am not saying they are upon us either. the current generation always thinks they are the best. that everything will happen with them. they are the know all and end all of everything. then the next generation comes around and does the same thing. what do you think? please leave a comment after the beep.....*BEEP*

pictures

here is my first attempt at putting pictures on here.

this one reminds me of jack johnson

i want to hear this one pronounced on espn

my dad's back yard in NY

i sooo want to learn how to surf

that looks like the perfect weather to me

you have got to be kidding

AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
today is one of those days where it would have been better to stay in bed. one of those days where nothing goes your way. one of those days that makes you remember all the crap you have gone through in your life. one of those days that breaks you down and makes you feel worthless. one of those days where you just want to cry. even as i tried to make my first post i went to check the spelling and it erased my entire post. icing on the cake right there.

cold sore, cold sore go away

these things suck. you can't eat, talk, laugh, sing, or anything else because it hurts soo bad. i accidently hit myself in the mouth and i got teary eyed because it hurt so bad ( and i am not a crier ).
but on a side note i am getting a "cell" phone for work. this should be interesting.
well...i was going to write this big long thing about the war and iran but i decided i am not going to. instead i am going to post some lyrics to a song:

form jason mraz:
it takes a crane to build a crane
it takes two floors to make a story
it takes an egg to make a hen
it takes a hen to make an egg
there is no end to what i'm saying
it takes a thought to make a word
and it takes a word to make an action
it takes some work to make it work
it takes some good to make it hurt
it takes some bad for satisfaction

la la la la la la la life is wonderful
ah la la la la la la life is full circle
ah la la la la la la life is wonderful
al la la la la

it takes a night to make it dawn
and it takes a day to make you yawn brother
it takes some old to make you young
it takes some cold to know the sun
it takes the one to have the other
and it takes no time to fall in love
but it takes you years to know what love is
and it takes some fears to make you trust
it takes those tears to make it rust
it takes some dust to have it polished

ha la la la la la la life is wonderful
ah la la la la la la life is full circle
ah la la la la la la life is so full of
ah la la la la la la life is so rough
ah la la la la la la life is our love
ah la la la la la

it takes some silence to make sound
it takes a loss before you found it
and it takes a road to go nowhere
it takes a toll to make you care
it takes a hole to make a mountain

ah la la la la la la life is wonderful
ah la la la la la la life goes full circle
ah la la la la la la life is meaningful
ah la la la la


it is wonderful
it is meaningful
it goes full circle

news of the weird

ok...time for some fun here are my favorite News of the Weird articles this week:

-Are We Safe? In October, the federal Department of Homeland Security announced a $36,300 grant to the state of Kentucky, earmarked to prevent terrorists from using charity bingo and other games of chance to raise money. (One astonished bingo worker in Frankfort told the Associated Press that the need to protect bingo parlors from terrorists "would never even enter my mind.")

-A new land speed record for a blind driver was set in September (Mr. Hein Wagner, 33, reached 160 mph in a Maserati V8 GranSport on an airstrip in Mafikeng, South Africa, with help of a navigator).

-Harvard's libraries contain at least four books bound in human skin, including a treatise on Spanish law with an inscription calling the binding "all that remains" of a fellow named Jonas Wright (according to research by student Dan Alban, writing in the Harvard Law Record in November).

-Bryan Perley, who apparently held a grudge against a child-support caseworker, was charged in Orlando, Fla., with several felony counts when he tried to arrest her by impersonating a military officer and holding a fake, handwritten arrest warrant. When the woman's colleagues would not cooperate with him, Perley actually called for police backup, according to a report by WFTV-TV. He told the dispatcher, "(The colleagues) don't understand the chain of command in government. I've warned them." [WFTV-TV (Orlando), 10-11-05]

-In October, the Tennessee Supreme Court finally dashed Knoxville prosecutors' hopes of convicting Thomas "Zoo Man" Huskey as a serial killer in a case News of the Weird first mentioned in 1992. Courts had tossed out Huskey's confession (the centerpiece of the case), finding that the incriminating statements were made not by Huskey but by "Kyle," his alter ego, and although Huskey himself had been given a Miranda warning, "Kyle" had not. ("Kyle" supposedly had a grudge against Huskey.) "Zoo Man" (named because a zoo was the venue for some of the crimes) is nonetheless serving 66 years in prison on other charges. [Knoxville News Sentinel, 11-1-05]

does anybody else have some weird stories? what is your favorite weird story you have heard?

what support?

I HATE TECH SUPPORT! being on hold is not fun. i would rather ram my shins into a coffee table over and over than be on hold for someboby that more than likely will transfer me to somebody else because they do not know what they are doing.

a little quote

"You will find that it is all very familiar...the strange and faraway places where you've nver been. The wild unknown leads you to a place just around the corner. Take a picture when you get there...the road is you." - The Road by J. Bebe - R. Hammond

"turn on ignition. begin your journey and do not skip ahead." - from the elizabeth town movie

so many times i turn the ignition and try to get there as fast as possible. i skip ahead and only worry about my destination. the ironic thing is that once i get somewhere i am already thinking about the next destination. sometimes it is the journey there that really matters.
one of these days i am going to drive and just go. i might go by myself, i might invite others. all i know is that i need to turn that key. after that my only rule is don't skip ahead.

dance unashamed

so today was, for the most part, pretty fun. one of my favorite parts of the day was this morning. i put in my matt costa cd and just felt like dancing. i didn't care if my wife made fun of me, i just danced. it felt soooo good. if you have never done this then you need to. whenver i get this urge i think about the movie elizabethtown ( if you haven't seen watch it now ). after being wonderfully foolish i went to nashville with some of my best friends and wife. this was great! it did turn a little crappy but i still had a blast. i love getting to know my friends just a little bit more, even if it is the small things. well...i need to go play my games so i can go to bed. i hope this made sense

just music, sweet music

why is music so addicting ( for lack of a better word ). why does it fill me with this energy? what is so special about those simple notes and complex melodies? today i have been listing to different songs i have bought and found over the years. i can remember each word and every inflection that is sung yet i have a tough time remembering what i had to eat that morning. so what is it about these sounds that makes them so potent? is it that i have very little musical ability so i live through others? could it be that i just have nothing better to remember so i just fill my brain up with this stuff? i don't think it is either of these but maybe. i don't know what it is but i want to hope that it is something deeper. something almost magical. something that is infused into the grain of every living and non living thing. i know this is more questions than answers but sometimes we don't have all the answers. i know i don't have all the answers and i don't really want them either. a little mystery is always good. enough babbling from me...i have some more music to sing along to ( poor coworkers )

the end of the day is only the start of another

this week has been super busy for me. you know when your so busy you don't even know where to start? yeah, one of those. anyways, sitting here getting ready to go home i realized that at least i have a job and home. my worst day at work is better than not having a job at all ( at least until i retire ). how did i get so lucky?
i also realized that when i sit down to do "nothing" i always end up doing something. either watching tv, reading, playing games, or just fidgetting with anything i can get my hands on. even when i am sitting down trying to listen in church or to someone talk, i am usually bouning my foot on the ground or tapping or something to that nature. i can't sit still!

it starts

well...here is my first post. this is more of a test than anything else. !warning! randomness and personal thoughts will be coming in the near future