Here's the next part of A Very Deuce Christmas Story, chronicling the events of Christmas week in 2000.
You can read Part One right here...
Then you can read Part Two right here...
8... CLEANING
Tommy stood on a hill.
He glanced down the slight incline where Amy Wible stood, staring off into the distance. He looked farther down the hill and saw Tom and Drew helping to pull down part of a wall from a house which had a large tree in its living room. Still farther down, Shawn and Wookiee were chopping up branches and timber, working with two other guys he didn't know. The tree was lying in the middle of the street, and was by this time in hundreds of pieces, pieces that Stephanie and Leslie were carrying to the large flatbed truck parked in the cul-de-sac. He noticed how the flatbed, empty upon their arrival several hours ago, was a lot more full now. "But where is Michael? Ty? Matt?" he thought for a second, doing a quick scan of the area.
He looked across the hill to his left, seeing Justin and Jennifer working together, both using small hatchets to take out small branches here and there. Tommy thought to himself randomly that he never knew she was so adept with a hatchet.
He glanced back at Amy, who hadn't moved. She once again looked at her watch, then appeared to stare up at the sky. Tommy looked in the same direction and saw the same dark gray clouds. He didn't move, however, as he his ears tuned in to a radio about ten feet away, next to a short guy in overalls who was using a shovel for something.
Amy stood still, and was in fact, worried. One p.m. and still no David, no Michael, no Matt, no Ty, no Ginger, and she was beginning to worry. Looking at those gray clouds, though she was no meteorologist, but she knew it wasn’t going to be a pleasant evening, weather wise.
“Amy, I think we might have a problem,” Tommy said as began walking towards her.
“What’s that?” she asked, not looking at him, still staring at the sky.
“I was just listening some guy’s radio, and the weather isn’t looking too good. That winter storm they were expecting for tonight is moving much faster than expected. If we are here past, say, four o’clock, we might be here all night.”
“Have you seen Michael, or David?”
Tommy paused for a second, surprised. “They still aren’t here yet?”
“No. I’m beginning to worry a bit.”
“I’m sure they are fine, Amy,” Tommy tried his best to sound reassuring, but he also was a bit concerned that an hour drive had lasted almost four hours.
“Alright," she sighed, looking at him finally. "Well, keep listening to the weather, and I’ll make sure we are all out of here by two-thirty or so. I don’t want anyone driving home in that storm.”
“Okay.” Tommy turned and headed back to towards the yard he had emerged from.
Amy sighed again. She put her gloves back on and picked up the branches and wood she had been carrying.
“Where are the others working?” Shawn yelled over the roar of the chainsaw as Amy approached, "Mikey and Dave and the rest?"
“They aren’t here yet, Shawn,” Amy replied, walking past him with her load in her arms.
“What do you mean they aren’t here yet? They were supposed to leave right after we did!” He quickly powered down the chainsaw engine.
“I mean they aren’t here, and no one has heard from them.”
Shawn looked over at Wookiee, who had not heard the conversation and was still continuing to cut the large tree that they had worked on for the last hour.
“Hey Chris!” Shawn yelled. He had to yell it two more times to get Chris’ attention.
“What?” Wookiee turned off his chainsaw. “Dude, man, I was in the zone! I was almost done cutting through this thing!”
“Is your cell phone in your truck?”
“Yeah, why?”
“I am going to try to call Michael. They haven’t gotten here yet.”
“Well, the truck is unlocked. They are probably just over the hill working somewhere else. If Michael was giving directions, they probably got lost or something.”
“I hope they are just lost,” Amy said, walking back, arms empty this time.
9... PREDICAMENT
“What’s the plan?” Michael yelled from the bottom of the hill.
“I don’t know yet. I have your jackets, I’m going to throw them down to you!” I yelled back.
“Good! I’m freezing!” Ginger yelled.
“Here is Ginger’s!” I wrapped it up tightly into a ball, tying it together with the arms. I threw the ball high into the air so it wouldn’t have a chance to hit the wet ground.
Remarkably, it fell close to Ginger, and she was able to snatch it off the ground a mere second or two after it hit. She untied the arms and put the jacket on, then snapped and zipped every button and zipper she could.
“Better?” Michael smiled.
“Not really, but it helps,” she replied.
“Michael! Here comes yours!” I repeated the procedure I had done with Ginger’s jacket, by rolling it up and tying it into a ball. Again, I threw it high, and again, it landed close to the designated person.
Michael grabbed it before it had a chance to soak up hardly any of the wet ground, and untied it.
“Your cell phone is in the pocket!” I yelled to Michael.
He perked up, and reached into the pocket. He put his jacket on quickly, and then began to dial numbers on the cell phone.
“No signal!” he gritted to no one in particular. “Son of a…” and then he mumbled something I couldn’t hear and Ginger couldn’t understand. “Freaking’ BellSouth!” Michael then kicked a nearby rock in anger.
“Settle down, Michael,” Ginger said. She looked up, thirty feet higher, at me. “Are we going to just stand here and wait for Matt to come back?”
“No!” I replied loudly. “We are going to walk back to that gas station we stopped at earlier. It’s going to be about a six or seven mile walk, but the walking will keep us warm.”
“Which way? That way?” Ginger asked, pointing west.
“Yes! You guys walk down there, and I’ll walk up here. This hill has to have a starting point, and we’ll meet up there.”
Ginger and Michael both nodded in agreement, and we began to walk. Suddenly, my face felt a bit colder than it had in the hours spent on top of the hill. I touched my cheek and it was wet. I looked up and around, and realized it had begun to snow.
10... LEAVING
“Alright guys, I don’t know what to do about the others, but it’s past 2:30. You need to get out of here,” Amy said, walking up to where Drew and Tom were still cutting wood.
“Yeah, that storm is coming fast. It’s going to get really cold in a little while,” Tommy added, pulling his gloves off.
“I don’t know about you guys, but its pretty darn cold now,” Justin responded, putting his hatchet into the ground.
“Still nothing from the other guys?” Jenn asked.
“No,” Amy replied. “Now I’m really kind of worried, but if you guys don’t leave in a few minutes, you’ll be here until tomorrow.”
Drew and Tom nodded in agreement, as they began to assemble their tools they had been using. Jenn and Justin both threw the rest of the debris they had gathered into the large flatbed trailer the entire community had been using for just that purpose.
Drew held his hand out and watched as a snowflake landed on his skin.
“Guys, it’s snowing,” he announced. “I would really like to leave now.”
“Oh come on, its just snow,” Jenn laughed. “You should try Chicago right about now.”
“Well, being from Birmingham, I am obliged to lose my ever-lovin’ mind at the thought of snow.”
Amy walked to where Wookiee and Shawn were still cutting the same tree. They had made remarkable progress but she knew they wouldn’t get finished in the next few minutes, as they had to cut the tree trunk into several more pieces before it could be moved. Leslie and Stephanie were working together to roll a rather large, but conveniently circular, piece of the trunk to the debris truck.
“Guys, we have quite a storm on our hands coming, and we need to get out of here,” Amy told Shawn and Wookiee. “There’s still no word on the others.”
“My brother’s not here yet?” Stephanie asked, walking up behind Amy.
“Not yet,” was the reply. “But we still have to get out of here, at least to some sort of warmer climate.”
“Alright,” Wookiee looked at Shawn, “how long do you think it would take for us to finish this trunk?”
“About twenty minutes,” Shawn guessed.
“Cool,” Wookiee revved his chainsaw and then yelled, “Give us ten minutes!” He then drove the blade deep in the wood, grunting with glee.
“Give a Wookiee a chainsaw, he’s happy all the live long day,” Leslie laughed.
“You mean you didn’t know that?” Steph replied.
Drew pulled right up behind where the girls were standing, and then rolled down the window.
Leslie walked over to the passenger side where Tom sat.
“We are outta here,” Tom said. “We are going back to The Deuce, Jenn said she would fix us some hot chocolate, and we’ll have some waiting for you guys when you get back.”
“Drew, you have my cell phone number, right?” Leslie asked, looking past Tom.
“Yeah,” he replied. “Call me when you find out where Dave, Mike, Ty, Matt and Ginger are.”
“Have you tried Ty’s or Michael’s cell phone?” Justin asked, peeking from the backseat.
“Shawn tried it earlier,” Steph answered. “Michael’s just rang and rang, and we got Ty’s voicemail. There was no response from Matt or Ginger’s.”
“Does Dave have one?” Jenn asked.
“Heck no,” Amy said as she walked up. “He always says he refuses to get one.”
“Well, they really aren’t doing much good now,” Tommy replied.
“We’ll keep trying their phones all the way home, and we’ll pay attention to the roadside in case Matt’s truck broke down on the side of the interstate,” Tom said. “We’ll call you if we find anything.”
“Cool,” Amy said. “Thank you guys so much for helping. Now get out of here, it’s starting to snow harder.”
“Your welcome!” was the general statement from Drew and his passengers. Tom rolled up the window as they began to drive away.
Amy turned back to Leslie and Steph, and the three walked back to where Wookiee and Shawn were working hard on the tree trunk they were tackling.
“I’m going to go call them again,” Leslie said, as she turned to Wookiee’s Explorer parked nearby. She opened the passenger side backseat door, and reached into her jacket. To her surprise, it was ringing.
“Hello?” Leslie answered out of more surprise than a greeting.
“Who is this?” asked the static filled voice on the other end. “Is this Leslie?”
“Matt?” Leslie exclaimed. She held the phone down for a second to yell to the others. “Matt’s calling! It’s Matt Latta!”
Steph and Amy both turned quickly towards Leslie. Shawn and Wookiee both noticed the girl’s quick movements, and shut their chainsaws off.
“Where are you?” Leslie asked.
On the other end, Matt stood in a hospital lobby. He tried to speak slowly because he heard the static between the two lines.
“Leslie! We were in an accident! Ty is hurt, David and Michael and Ginger are stranded about twenty miles outside of town!”
Leslie put one hand over her left ear and pressed the phone hard onto her right, so hard that it hurt. She could only catch bits and pieces of what Matt had said.
“You were in an accident? Where are you?”
“At the hospital!” Matt again tried to speak slowly.
“Wait there! We’ll be there in a minute!”
“But I have to go back for Ginger and the guys!” Matt replied. He was speaking so loudly that a nurse came around the corner to find out what the commotion was.
“No! Wait there! We’ll be there…” Leslie lost reception. “Crap! Stupid Bellsouth!”
She looked over at Amy, Steph, Shawn and Wookiee who all stood anxious at the results of the conversation.
“They were in an accident?” Amy asked.
“Are they okay?” Steph added, frantically.
“I don’t know,” Leslie sighed, “I just know they are at the hospital. We’ve got to get over there!”
“Get in!” Wookiee walked quickly to the driver side of the truck, starting it and ready to leave before Steph and Amy could pile in the backseat with Leslie.
Matt hung up the phone and put his head on the black phone box on the wall. His mind began racing, first to "Go after Ginger and the guys", followed by "What happens when Leslie and the others get here, and no one is here to explain whats happening?" then followed by "Wait for the others, get help" then finally, "And thats wasting valuable time..."
Finally, he just sat down on the end of a row of chairs, waiting for them to find him. He glanced at the clock. It was about ten after three. He decided he would give them until 3:40, thirty minutes, and then he was out of here.
He leaned over rested his forehead in his hands, his elbows on his knees. Silently, he prayed Ty, then for David and Michael, and then Ginger. Aloud, he said to no one in particular--no one tangible, at least--“Please God, let her be safe. Let them all be safe.”
11... DECISIONS
“Holy Slash, it’s snowing!” Drew exclaimed, holding tightly to the wheel as his car crept along the interstate, moving around 10 to 15 miles an hour.
“It’s like a blizzard here,” Justin added, looking out the windows all around him. The wipers on the car were running full speed, but the snow and sleet was piling up as fast as the wipers could knock it off the windshield. "I've never seen this, not here in Alabama."
“Drew,” Tom spoke up, “how long can you drive in this?”
“I dunno, Tom,” Drew answered. “If it doesn’t let up some, not much longer.”
“How far is Birmingham from Tuscaloosa?” Tommy asked.
“About 45 minutes in normal driving conditions. At this rate, it’ll take us about four or five hours to get there,” Drew said. “This is insane.”
“Do we need to pull off somewhere and wait it out?” Jenn suggested, though she had no clue where they would go and stay warm.
“If we pull off anywhere, we are there for the evening,” Justin responded. “The forecast is freezing temperatures when the snow passes, which means the roads will be just about undrivable.”
“Your call, Drew,” Jenn said. “I’d really like to go home tonight, but I don’t want to do it dead, or with hypothermia because we slide off the road into a ditch.”
“Drew, if you can’t drive in it, don’t risk it. We’ll get to an exit and pull off at a rest stop or gas station or something,” Tommy said.
“We could get a hotel or something,” Drew suggested, not really wanting that to be the final answer. Like Jenn, he really wanted to get home. "I mean, not that I have any idea where a motel might be."
“Don't think that matters. We have about 8 dollars between us,” Tom observed. “We’ll just do what Tommy said, and stop somewhere really soon. We’ll wait out the storm, maybe a few hours or so, and then go home. I don’t think the roads will be as bad as everyone says they are.”
“Fine,” Drew sighed. Through the snow, he could make out a large blue sign indicating an upcoming exit. “There is an exit up here. I think I saw a restaurant there, so we can hole up there for a little while.”
The car slowly rolled to the exit, and Drew carefully steered it onto the exit ramp. He had a tight grip on the wheel, as every few feet the car jerked a little due to the slick ice and snow that had built up in the last hour.
Justin looked around out the windows, amazed that they were the only ones on the road. That, he thought, or he just couldn’t see anyone because you couldn’t see very far ahead. He did, however, see a yellow sign that looked very, very familiar. Jennifer saw it too, as he saw her grinning.
12... CREEK
The snow was coming down in thicker flakes, and much more heavy than a mere thirty minutes ago. I was freezing. I made my hands into fists in my jacket pockets, moving my fingers every few seconds to make sure I still had some movement in them.
I kept watch over Michael and Ginger who were still walking below me, both tightly wrapped up in their jackets as well. Ginger had a hood on, but I kept mine off so that I could hear Michael in case he yelled.
As we were approaching a bridge, I breathed a sigh of relief. I remembered this bridge being close to the interstate, so I knew we were very close to I-59, which would put us only two miles or so from the gas station where we were supposed to meet up with Matt. I hoped he wasn’t there waiting on us, in the cold. And I hoped that Ty was all right.
I had started to walk across the bridge, when I looked down and saw water. I turned around and looked back, and saw Michael and Ginger standing on the bank, Michael with his hands out, giving me the “what do we do now?” signal.
I held my hand up, motioning for him to hold on. I peered out over the edge, studying the bridge. It was only about 15 yards long, with the water below it not more than 5 yards wide. On the other side of the bridge, the embankment rose up to the roadside. I knew if Michael and Ginger could get to the other side, they could come up to where I was, where it was safer and more level ground.
“I’m going to the other side of the bridge!” I yelled down to Michael. I quickly walked across the bridge, stepped over the low metal barricade and looked at the hill leading down to the water.
I began to work my way down the hill, one foot after the other, sideways. There were rocks embedded all the way down, so I had solid footing, but the ice and snow made the trek down very slow. Finally I stood on the other side of the creek, facing Michael and Ginger. We were about 15 feet apart, closer than we had been in about four hours.
“How are we going to come across this water?” Michael asked.
“I have no idea,” I replied, looking around. There were small sheets of ice beginning to form on top of the water along the sides of the bank, but nothing substantial that would hold up either Michael or Ginger.
“Hey!” Ginger exclaimed, pointing to a small sandbar jutting through the water down the creek. “We cross right over there.”
We walked down the bank about ten yards until the sandbar was directly between us. It was just a small patch of wet sand about four feet long and two feet wide, and I would guess five feet from me. That would put it about ten feet from them.
“What do we do, jump?” Michael looked at Ginger. She looked around at a small patch of ice formed from the bank, jutting out about four feet into the water. She looked around again, this time spotting a thick branch on the snow. She walked over and picked it up, then walked to the ice.
She speared the ice with the stick, and then was pleasantly smiled when the ice was only scraped and not cracked.
“Okay, Michael, here’s the deal,” Ginger instructed. “Jump on the ice, to the sandbar, then the sandbar to the other side.”
“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, Ginger,” he replied. “That ice won’t hold either one of us.”
“Don’t stand on it, silly. You use it like a… well, a launching pad.”
I watched Ginger carefully, not hearing their conversation, but as she took a few steps back and turned, I could guess what she was doing.
“Oh boy,” I sighed, putting myself in a position to catch her when, and if, she came across.
“Can’t we talk about this?” Michael asked, as Ginger readied herself to run.
“I’m cold. The sooner we get to that station, the sooner I can be in the warm arms of my boyfriend.”
“Fiancée.”
“Whatever. To do that, we have to cross this creek. And that’s what I’m going to do.” Ginger paused for a second and then added, “When you run, plant your heel with each step for traction. It’s slippery.”
She stepped quickly to the bank, being careful with each step as so not to slip. When she reached the end of the bank, she planted her right foot on the ice and leapt two feet onto the sandbar, then in one continuous motion, thrusted herself up with her left foot and over the remaining four feet of water.
I caught her as she hit the other side of the bank, and kept her from falling over.
“Nice jump,” I said.
“Thanks for the catch,” she smiled.
“Don’t tell Matt,” I replied, looking back across the creek. “Your turn, there, Mikey.”
“I know, I know,” he called back. “I’m harnessing my chi.”
“Shut up and jump,” I laughed. “It’s cold out here.”
Michael started where Ginger did, and then three steps later he planted his left foot on the ice. As he made the jump to the sandbar, the ice fell beneath the water, splashing water on his foot and in his shoe. He leapt again off of the sandbar, landing on the bank, catching himself before he fell over.
“Dude, how come you didn’t catch me?” he stammered, brushing himself off.
“Mikey in my arms, Ginger in my arms, which do I choose?” I mockingly moved my hands up and down as to weigh my options.
“Good point,” he said, as he looked down at the dark, damp stain on the cuff of his pants. “Crap! My left foot is wet, and its cold!”
“Come on, we are thirty minutes from Matt’s truck and a heater,” I said.
PARTS 13 - 15
Monday, December 15, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
A Very Deuce Christmas (Part 4 thru 8)
A Very Deuce Christmas Story... recalling the incredible events that took place over a few days during Christmas of 2000. You can read the first 3 parts, including the exposition by clicking here.
4... CLEARANCE
“Are we all set?” I asked, climbing into the backseat of Matt’s Explorer. Matt Latta was a young guy, fresh out of high school, attending college at Lee University. About my height, he was a somewhat thinner, and had dark brown hair like his girlfriend, Ginger, who sat in the other front seat. Though I could remember when they were with different people, that memory has been slowly and steadily fading over the years--eventually, it will be that none of us could remember a time when they were together.
“I think so,” Matt replied, starting his truck. Wookiee was in the truck ahead of us, and had just left the circular parking lot of The Deuce a few moments before.
“How did the fat guy get stuck in the middle?” Michael asked. Michael wasn't exactly "fat", but he was quite hefty. Michael had been my roommate for a while now, along with Tom and Shawn in the other vehicles, and he outweighed all of us. Stocky would be a good word. Husky might be better.
“You whine too much, Michael,” Ty laughed as he got in the other side of the backseat, with Matt leaning up to let him in, then closing the driver door. Ty had been a part of the Deuce for a long time as well. A Samford student, at the time we thought he might be a future president, though I've always maintained his assassination would be immenent were he to be elected. Over the years, politics had given way to evangelism, but he never has lost his flair for people.
“How cold is it supposed to get today?” Ginger asked. Out of this entire group that I knew and had met over the last two years (I moved to Birmingham in 1998) Ginger was one of the first people I had ever met. A very pretty girl, she was a year older than Matt, though complimented him perfectly.
“Cold,” Matt answered, shifting into reverse. “Its expected snow flurries and drizzling rain all day today.”
“Great,” Michael smirked. “We go to help others and we get sick and die. Yeah boy.”
“Do we know where we are going?” Matt looked at me through his rearview. “I thought Amy was supposed to come last night to the dinner, and then we would follow her.”
“She was,” I replied, “but she couldn’t get away from her family. I’ll call her when we get close to Tuscaloosa and find out how to get where we are supposed to be. Don't worry, though. I have directions."
“Can we even get in there?” Michael asked. “I thought they shut places like that down to the general public.”
“Hold on, guys,” Ty picked up his cell phone. Ginger, Michael and I watched Ty as he dialed a number and then held the phone up to his head.
“Ty, what are you doing?” Matt laughed.
“Just wait,” Ty smiled, turning his attention to whomever answered his call. “Yes, this is Senator Nicholas Coffey from Samford University. May I speak to Officer Garnett, please? Thank you.”
Michael and I looked at each other, then to Ginger who just rolled her eyes, then back to Ty as he began to speak again.
“Officer Garnett? Pete, this is Ty, how are you? Oh, I’m good. Yeah, my parents are great, and yours? How’s Denise and what’s your new daughter’s name? Oh yes, Candy.”
Michael looked at me, mouthing the words “Candy?”
I shrugged my shoulders. Ty continued.
“Cutting teeth already? Wow! Yes, I’m still a sophomore, but ready to graduate already. Well, right now I’m on my way to Tuscaloosa… yes, I thought they would have shut the area off, but there will be three vehicles coming through that area that need to get through. We are doing clean up in one of the neighborhoods. Can you make that happen?”
I rolled my eyes as Ty then proceeded to describe each vehicle, each driver and each license number. He had the license numbers stored in his cell phone, which didn’t surprise me.
“Thanks, Peter. You too. Goodbye.” Ty closed his cell phone, then looked at all of us. "We have clearance now."
5... WOOKIEE
“Ty just got us clearance to enter the area,” Shawn said as he closed his cell phone. Shawn was the oldest of the Deuce guys, though only by a few months over me. He was my height and build, though our personalities were quite different. He was a DJ on the side, with a love for music in general. “Now I’ve got to call Amy and find out where we are going.”
“Look at that storm cloud,” Leslie said from the backseat, pointing towards the horizon. “That looks mean.” Leslie was also going to Lee University, like Matt and Ginger, and was known for her thick main of beautiful hair.
“What’s the weather going to be like?” Steph asked. Stephanie Nipp, Michael's sister, was close to Leslie, and especially Ginger, as they all graduated high school together the year before. She was thin, blonde, funny and though she maintained many of Michael's facial features, in my mind at least, she was a thousand times better looking than Michael.
“Supposed to be really cold,” Wookiee replied, looking to his right as he merged onto I-20. Wookiee, also known by his given name, Chris, stood 6 feet, 9 inches tall. He was a tower of a man, but really nothing but heart and fear of mice. Wookiee had been my roommate for most of my college life, and we had known each other at that time for about 8 years. I was one of the main reasons that he was in Birmingham, as he bonded well with the group. “There is actually supposed to be a pretty major winter storm tonight, with snow and sleet and all the trimmings, but I am hoping we can get out of there before that hits.”
“And if we don’t?” Shawn asked.
“We will.”
“Famous last words, Wookiee.”
“Shut up.”
6... DREW
“That was Ty on the phone,” Jenn laughed as she hung up her phone. Jennifer Hudson--Jen Ernst as she would later be known--was thin, very blonde and very awesome. She attended Northwestern University, and we only knew of her really because of Tommy. “He said when we get off the exit and run into the barricade, we should ask for Officer Wes Gray, and tell him who we are. They’ll let us through.”
“So like, does Ty know everyone, or just everyone that makes a difference?” Tommy asked randomly. Tommy, also attending Northwestern, was also very thin (I hung out with lots of skinny people), but was known for four main components, all working hand in hand to create Tommy McLeod--his paleness... his bushy hair... his glasses... and his dry, dry humor. He was the kind of guy who would tell a joke only once--if you heard it, you heard it, if you missed it, then you missed your shot.
“He just knows everyone that makes a difference,” Tom replied. “He figures its good to know everyone, no matter their lot in life, but if they have some power, all the better.” Tom was the youngest guy in the Deuce, tall, thin blond hair and a deep, deep voice. At the time of these events, he and Stephanie Nipp had recently split from a rather lengthy relationship. There feelings toward each other on this particular day are really not for me to say, and since they have no bearing on what I have to tell, it doesn't matter.
“Did you hear that?” Justin piped up from the front seat. “Listen.” He reached out and turned the radio up. Justin Glenn was not one of the skinny people. He wasn't fat by any means, he was just truly stocky. Built like a football player, he was often seen with a ball cap and a slight gotee, and usually seen with a guitar in his hand.
“A large storm system is moving through central and northern Alabama,” said the announcer’s on the radio, “bringing with it more snow than many of us have seen in a long time. Expect the high today to be only about 25, while the low tonight will fall down to about 8 degrees. It will be rainy in patches all over central Alabama practically all day long today, with the snow hitting tonight about 6pm. This is Mark Prater for 95.7 Jamz.”
“So what you guys think? Are we going to die?” Drew laughed as he merged onto interstate 59. Drew rounded out this group headed towards Tuscaloosa. He was known for his long, shaggy hair and love of Guns N Roses, particularly Slash, and like Justin, was also seen more often than not with a guitar in his hand.
“I hope not,” Jenn replied. “I’ve got stuff to do this weekend.”
The group in the car began to chatter aimlessly, as groups of friends tend to do, when suddenly...
“Watch out!” Justin yelled out of nowhere, pointed to the car directly ahead. As the vehicle ahead swerved suddenly to the right, Drew swerved directly to the left. His car zoomed around the swerving vehicle, narrowly missing it as the second car came back to the left.
Drew watched in his rearview as Justin, Tom, Tommy and Jenn turned around to see the other car’s front left corner ram into a passing car’s front right. Drew slammed on brakes in the middle of the interstate, looking to see if they should stop.
They watched as men got out of each vehicle, and a police car came across the median from the other side. Several cars pulled off to the side, and several people were getting out to see the fender-bender. They could see the cars beginning to slow down and line up behind the wreck as well.
“Do we stop?” Drew asked his passengers.
“Nah,” Justin answered. “The police are already there, and both of the drivers look fine, the way they are up in each others faces. Just go.”
“Good driving, Drew,” Tommy said. “That’s the way to not kill us all.”
7... WRECK
It was a little after ten thirty, and we had just left a gas station for Ginger to use the bathroom-The Tide Pride Gas and Deli--when five miles down the road, we were stopped again.
“Great,” Matt smirked. “The interstate is jammed.”
Michael, Ty and I all peered from the backseat through the windshield to see the line of cars in front of us.
“Must be a wreck,” Ginger suggested. “Surely they wouldn’t be working the day before Christmas Eve. The conditions are prime for bad driving.”
“Are we close to Tuscaloosa?” Ty asked.
“Yeah, about ten miles outside of the city.” Matt replied.
“Take that exit right there,” Ty pointed to an approaching exit about 50 yards down the road. “It’s a back road into Tuscaloosa, and we can bypass all of this traffic.”
“Looks like a pretty barren road,” Michael observed. “Is there anything up there?”
“Not much,” Ty answered, “but it’s a little traveled road that dead ends into another road. Take a left, and that will take you straight to the interstate right at Tuscaloosa.”
It took about five minutes to creep to the exit, and Matt veered to the right. We were the only vehicle to do so, and Matt took off instantly.
We began to feel the effects of the road in the backseat, as the road Ty had directed us to quite possibly was the worst, most twisted road I had ever been on.
“Matt, you really should slow down a little,” Ginger whispered.
“I’m fine,” he replied.
Ty and I both held onto the plastic bars above the doors, while Michael just sat in the middle, wobbling back and forth from the bump of the truck.
Every few hundred feet was another bend in the road, and several times, I felt the wheels under us give a little against the slick pavement. We were on a road that was lodged between a steep tree-covered hill on the left and a drop-off on the right that looked to be about 30 feet or so.
Not wanting to be one to caution from the backseat, I leaned forward and spoke softly. “Matt, its raining, dude, be careful on the turns,” I said, then looking out my passenger window. “There’s a nice drop-off here on this side we don’t want to go spilling into.”
“I got it Dave, I got…” Matt was cut off when the Explorer suddenly jerked to the right. Matt yanked the wheel back to the left in an instant, sending the front in sharply in the direction of the hillside.
“Crap,” Michael whispered.
“Hold on!” Matt gripped the wheel tightly trying to gain control of the truck again. The yank to the left sent the entire vehicle into a spin, with the back end whipping around a full 180 degrees. In the commotion, I could hear Matt pumping the brakes over and over--but by the time all of us realized that we weren't hydroplaning on water, we were skidding on ice, it was all over.
The truck spun again a second later, putting the front back to the original direction. Matt yanked the wheel again to the right to gain control, somewhat over compensating, as he entire vehicle went up into an embankment. For a second it felt as if we were going to tip over, as Michael and Ty both almost fell over on me. Then, in an instant, the truck skidded down the hill in a spin, and with a metal crunching scream, slamming its left passenger side directly into a tree.
I heard Ginger scream as Michael and I both put our heads down and our hands over our faces to protect it from any glass. Matt turned his face to the right side, and moved as far as his seat belt would allow him in that direction. The truck slammed into large tree, as glass sprayed everywhere and we heard the deafening sound of metal crunching and folding.
Though it seemed like an eternity, not more than ten or eleven seconds had gone by from the time Matt lost control to the time it came to a stop.
For another few seconds, again like an eternity, we just sat there in silence. The only sound was the suddenly rough sound of the truck’s engine running. I didn’t look around, I just stared straight ahead, focused on the back of the seat Ginger sat in. My head and neck pounded, and I stared only to keep from passing out.
“Matt?” I asked slowly.
There was a pause, and then Matt, not moving, said, “Yes?”
“The truck is still running. See if you can turn the wheel a little to the right. Maybe we can roll back to the road. We are still on an embankment. I could really use some level ground right now.”
“Oh… okay,” Matt hesitated, as if trying to take in the instructions, then slowly, as if all the words had finally seeped in, turned the steering wheel to the right, and tapped the gently tapped the gas. The truck turned a little, and we rolled off of the slight hill onto the road.
“Let me out, now!” Michael demanded. Ginger quickly opened the door and stepped out. Michael crawled over me and out the front door, sprinting to the other side of the road, overlooking the steep hill. He then leaned over and threw up.
I walked over to Michael and put my hand on his shoulder.
“You okay there, paco?” I quietly asked.
“Yeah, just give me a minute,” he replied, bent over with his hands on his knees. He looked at the scrapes on his hands, and wiped the little beads of blood that were appearing on his pants.
Apparently Ginger had the reaction to the wreck, because she appeared from behind me and threw up, with her breakfast landing close to Michael’s.
“Ging, you okay?” I asked, looking over to her.
“Yeah,” she wiped her mouth and stood up. “I really didn’t enjoy that.”
“Which part?”
“Guys!” I heard Matt call from the truck. “Come here!”
“You go see what he wants, I think Ginger and I are going to stand here and throw up for a moment. We’ll bond,” Michael said.
I walked back to the truck where Matt stood. Inside the truck I saw Ty against the smashed side, not moving.
“Guys,” he said quietly, “I think I broke my leg.”
Ty’s left leg above the knee was jammed under the caved metal, while his calf was bent almost in a 90-degree angle. Right below the knee, I could see a small peak in the leg of his pants, which I can only assume was a bone.
Then behind me, came a scream. Matt and I both turned around to where Michael and Ginger stood a few seconds ago. We both looked out over the empty space instead. There was rustling sounds and another yell from both Michael and Ginger.
“Oh, what now?” Matt gritted, as we both ran to the edge of the drop-off.
Michael’s tumble down the hill came to a stop, but before he catch his breath, Ginger fell on him, rolled over and stopped with her head on his stomach.
“Ginger…” Michael said very plainly, “I don’t like pre-engaged girls heads on me.”
He lifted his head up to see Ginger almost break into a half smile.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, you?”
“I would really like to be at The Deuce right now in my underwear, but other than that, I’m fine.”
Matt and I both watched them get up 30 feet below us, and we knew they were okay.
“Matt, you figure out if the truck is drivable. We have to get Ty to a hospital. I’ll figure out what to do about your chick and my roommate at the bottom of this hill.” I directed.
“Yeah,” Matt turned and ran back to the truck. He grabbed a blanket from the back and reached in to cover Ty.
“Hey Michael!” I yelled from the top. “You guys okay?”
“Yeah, we’re fine. I slipped, grabbed Ginger’s arm to steady myself and she came with me.”
“That was pretty stupid.”
“Man, shut up! We have a problem here!”
“Yeah, I know. Ty is hurt!”
“Is he dead!?”
“No, but he has a broken leg! He needs to get to a hospital!”
“What about us?!”
“Can you climb back up?”
Michael and Ginger both looked around the hillside for anything to grab onto. It had its fair share of trees and brushes, but mostly it was covered in ice and snow. He reached up and grabbed a tree, and started to pull himself upwards. When he planted his feet down, he slipped, and fell back down again.
“I don’t know if this is going to work, Ginger,” Michael stood up and tried again. Again, he lost his footing on the slick snow and fell.
“Try over there, the bare spot, where you and Ginger slid down!” I pointed.
“Nice thinking Dave!” Michael yelled back up, “There is nothing to hold on to!”
“David,” Matt came up behind me. “We have to decide something here. Ty is unconscious.”
“Is he dead?”
“No, he's freezing. And bleeding. And he's got a freakin' bone sticking out of his leg.”
“Does the truck run?”
“Yeah, I think so. We somehow managed to hit that tree between the wheels, so there is no axle damage on either end, I guess. But some of the passenger side is caved in, and there's a piece of metal hanging over Ty's leg, which means I can’t move Ty without…”
“…Without possibly damaging his leg further.”
“Right.”
“Hey Dave!” Michael called from down the hill. “What are you guys doing?”
“How’s Ty?” Ginger yelled up.
“Hold on!” Matt responded to them, and then turned back to me. “Now what?”
“Ty said that this road goes to another road, where, if you turn left, you can get to Tuscaloosa. You need to drive him to the hospital.”
“What about Michael and Ginger? I am not leaving Ginger here in this cold weather! Let me grab my cell phone and we can call an ambulance and…”
“Man, do you know where we are?”
“No.”
“Neither do I. By the time we figure out how to get an ambulance here, Ty could already be at the hospital in town. Matt, you’ve got to take him. I’ll stay here. Michael and I will be here, nothing will happen to Ginger, I promise.”
“So am I just going to send someone back for you?”
“That’s a good idea. We’ll walk back to that gas station we stopped at earlier, it can’t be more than a few miles. We follow this road, I’ll walk up here, they’ll walk down there… eventually we’ll meet up. You can send for us at that gas station off of I-65.”
“Okay, but don’t think that I like this very much.”
“Hey, I don’t like it either. It’s cold out here. But Ty needs medical attention, and right now, Ginger, Michael and I are cold, but we’re okay. Let me get their jackets out of your truck.”
I walked to the door and pulled out Ginger’s, Michael’s and my jackets from the back. I felt horrible for Ty, who sat there motionless. Just to be safe, I stuck my fingers on his neck to make sure there was a pulse. Whew! I thought, as I felt his heartbeat on my middle finger through his neck.
“I’m not dead, David…” Ty mumbled, eyes still shut. “I’m just in a tremendous amount of pain. Whoever put that tree there must have been a Democrat.”
He then fell silent again, presumably because he passed out.
“Get Michael’s cell phone too” Matt instructed. I checked his jacket and made sure it was in there and it was.
“He’s got your number, and you’ve got his, right?” I asked.
“Right,” Matt answered as he climbed through the passenger side door to get behind the wheel. “Remember, take care of her.”
“Matt, I’d rather throw Michael to the wolves than let anything happen to Ginger, and I’m sure he would say the same about me,” I close the door. “Now get Ty some help.”
“I’m dropping him off with the doctors and coming straight back!” Matt said as the truck began to move. In an almost comedic fashion, his back fender fell off as he drove away. I could see the impact of the tree on the side, and that not only was it caved in on Ty, all the glass was completely gone. Looked to be a cold ride for Ty.
“DAVID!” I heard a scream from Michael from down the hill.
I walked to the edge and looked down at Michael and Ginger, who just stood there looking up at me.
“Alright,” I said to myself, “now what happens?”
PARTS 8 - 12
4... CLEARANCE
“Are we all set?” I asked, climbing into the backseat of Matt’s Explorer. Matt Latta was a young guy, fresh out of high school, attending college at Lee University. About my height, he was a somewhat thinner, and had dark brown hair like his girlfriend, Ginger, who sat in the other front seat. Though I could remember when they were with different people, that memory has been slowly and steadily fading over the years--eventually, it will be that none of us could remember a time when they were together.
“I think so,” Matt replied, starting his truck. Wookiee was in the truck ahead of us, and had just left the circular parking lot of The Deuce a few moments before.
“How did the fat guy get stuck in the middle?” Michael asked. Michael wasn't exactly "fat", but he was quite hefty. Michael had been my roommate for a while now, along with Tom and Shawn in the other vehicles, and he outweighed all of us. Stocky would be a good word. Husky might be better.
“You whine too much, Michael,” Ty laughed as he got in the other side of the backseat, with Matt leaning up to let him in, then closing the driver door. Ty had been a part of the Deuce for a long time as well. A Samford student, at the time we thought he might be a future president, though I've always maintained his assassination would be immenent were he to be elected. Over the years, politics had given way to evangelism, but he never has lost his flair for people.
“How cold is it supposed to get today?” Ginger asked. Out of this entire group that I knew and had met over the last two years (I moved to Birmingham in 1998) Ginger was one of the first people I had ever met. A very pretty girl, she was a year older than Matt, though complimented him perfectly.
“Cold,” Matt answered, shifting into reverse. “Its expected snow flurries and drizzling rain all day today.”
“Great,” Michael smirked. “We go to help others and we get sick and die. Yeah boy.”
“Do we know where we are going?” Matt looked at me through his rearview. “I thought Amy was supposed to come last night to the dinner, and then we would follow her.”
“She was,” I replied, “but she couldn’t get away from her family. I’ll call her when we get close to Tuscaloosa and find out how to get where we are supposed to be. Don't worry, though. I have directions."
“Can we even get in there?” Michael asked. “I thought they shut places like that down to the general public.”
“Hold on, guys,” Ty picked up his cell phone. Ginger, Michael and I watched Ty as he dialed a number and then held the phone up to his head.
“Ty, what are you doing?” Matt laughed.
“Just wait,” Ty smiled, turning his attention to whomever answered his call. “Yes, this is Senator Nicholas Coffey from Samford University. May I speak to Officer Garnett, please? Thank you.”
Michael and I looked at each other, then to Ginger who just rolled her eyes, then back to Ty as he began to speak again.
“Officer Garnett? Pete, this is Ty, how are you? Oh, I’m good. Yeah, my parents are great, and yours? How’s Denise and what’s your new daughter’s name? Oh yes, Candy.”
Michael looked at me, mouthing the words “Candy?”
I shrugged my shoulders. Ty continued.
“Cutting teeth already? Wow! Yes, I’m still a sophomore, but ready to graduate already. Well, right now I’m on my way to Tuscaloosa… yes, I thought they would have shut the area off, but there will be three vehicles coming through that area that need to get through. We are doing clean up in one of the neighborhoods. Can you make that happen?”
I rolled my eyes as Ty then proceeded to describe each vehicle, each driver and each license number. He had the license numbers stored in his cell phone, which didn’t surprise me.
“Thanks, Peter. You too. Goodbye.” Ty closed his cell phone, then looked at all of us. "We have clearance now."
5... WOOKIEE
“Ty just got us clearance to enter the area,” Shawn said as he closed his cell phone. Shawn was the oldest of the Deuce guys, though only by a few months over me. He was my height and build, though our personalities were quite different. He was a DJ on the side, with a love for music in general. “Now I’ve got to call Amy and find out where we are going.”
“Look at that storm cloud,” Leslie said from the backseat, pointing towards the horizon. “That looks mean.” Leslie was also going to Lee University, like Matt and Ginger, and was known for her thick main of beautiful hair.
“What’s the weather going to be like?” Steph asked. Stephanie Nipp, Michael's sister, was close to Leslie, and especially Ginger, as they all graduated high school together the year before. She was thin, blonde, funny and though she maintained many of Michael's facial features, in my mind at least, she was a thousand times better looking than Michael.
“Supposed to be really cold,” Wookiee replied, looking to his right as he merged onto I-20. Wookiee, also known by his given name, Chris, stood 6 feet, 9 inches tall. He was a tower of a man, but really nothing but heart and fear of mice. Wookiee had been my roommate for most of my college life, and we had known each other at that time for about 8 years. I was one of the main reasons that he was in Birmingham, as he bonded well with the group. “There is actually supposed to be a pretty major winter storm tonight, with snow and sleet and all the trimmings, but I am hoping we can get out of there before that hits.”
“And if we don’t?” Shawn asked.
“We will.”
“Famous last words, Wookiee.”
“Shut up.”
6... DREW
“That was Ty on the phone,” Jenn laughed as she hung up her phone. Jennifer Hudson--Jen Ernst as she would later be known--was thin, very blonde and very awesome. She attended Northwestern University, and we only knew of her really because of Tommy. “He said when we get off the exit and run into the barricade, we should ask for Officer Wes Gray, and tell him who we are. They’ll let us through.”
“So like, does Ty know everyone, or just everyone that makes a difference?” Tommy asked randomly. Tommy, also attending Northwestern, was also very thin (I hung out with lots of skinny people), but was known for four main components, all working hand in hand to create Tommy McLeod--his paleness... his bushy hair... his glasses... and his dry, dry humor. He was the kind of guy who would tell a joke only once--if you heard it, you heard it, if you missed it, then you missed your shot.
“He just knows everyone that makes a difference,” Tom replied. “He figures its good to know everyone, no matter their lot in life, but if they have some power, all the better.” Tom was the youngest guy in the Deuce, tall, thin blond hair and a deep, deep voice. At the time of these events, he and Stephanie Nipp had recently split from a rather lengthy relationship. There feelings toward each other on this particular day are really not for me to say, and since they have no bearing on what I have to tell, it doesn't matter.
“Did you hear that?” Justin piped up from the front seat. “Listen.” He reached out and turned the radio up. Justin Glenn was not one of the skinny people. He wasn't fat by any means, he was just truly stocky. Built like a football player, he was often seen with a ball cap and a slight gotee, and usually seen with a guitar in his hand.
“A large storm system is moving through central and northern Alabama,” said the announcer’s on the radio, “bringing with it more snow than many of us have seen in a long time. Expect the high today to be only about 25, while the low tonight will fall down to about 8 degrees. It will be rainy in patches all over central Alabama practically all day long today, with the snow hitting tonight about 6pm. This is Mark Prater for 95.7 Jamz.”
“So what you guys think? Are we going to die?” Drew laughed as he merged onto interstate 59. Drew rounded out this group headed towards Tuscaloosa. He was known for his long, shaggy hair and love of Guns N Roses, particularly Slash, and like Justin, was also seen more often than not with a guitar in his hand.
“I hope not,” Jenn replied. “I’ve got stuff to do this weekend.”
The group in the car began to chatter aimlessly, as groups of friends tend to do, when suddenly...
“Watch out!” Justin yelled out of nowhere, pointed to the car directly ahead. As the vehicle ahead swerved suddenly to the right, Drew swerved directly to the left. His car zoomed around the swerving vehicle, narrowly missing it as the second car came back to the left.
Drew watched in his rearview as Justin, Tom, Tommy and Jenn turned around to see the other car’s front left corner ram into a passing car’s front right. Drew slammed on brakes in the middle of the interstate, looking to see if they should stop.
They watched as men got out of each vehicle, and a police car came across the median from the other side. Several cars pulled off to the side, and several people were getting out to see the fender-bender. They could see the cars beginning to slow down and line up behind the wreck as well.
“Do we stop?” Drew asked his passengers.
“Nah,” Justin answered. “The police are already there, and both of the drivers look fine, the way they are up in each others faces. Just go.”
“Good driving, Drew,” Tommy said. “That’s the way to not kill us all.”
7... WRECK
It was a little after ten thirty, and we had just left a gas station for Ginger to use the bathroom-The Tide Pride Gas and Deli--when five miles down the road, we were stopped again.
“Great,” Matt smirked. “The interstate is jammed.”
Michael, Ty and I all peered from the backseat through the windshield to see the line of cars in front of us.
“Must be a wreck,” Ginger suggested. “Surely they wouldn’t be working the day before Christmas Eve. The conditions are prime for bad driving.”
“Are we close to Tuscaloosa?” Ty asked.
“Yeah, about ten miles outside of the city.” Matt replied.
“Take that exit right there,” Ty pointed to an approaching exit about 50 yards down the road. “It’s a back road into Tuscaloosa, and we can bypass all of this traffic.”
“Looks like a pretty barren road,” Michael observed. “Is there anything up there?”
“Not much,” Ty answered, “but it’s a little traveled road that dead ends into another road. Take a left, and that will take you straight to the interstate right at Tuscaloosa.”
It took about five minutes to creep to the exit, and Matt veered to the right. We were the only vehicle to do so, and Matt took off instantly.
We began to feel the effects of the road in the backseat, as the road Ty had directed us to quite possibly was the worst, most twisted road I had ever been on.
“Matt, you really should slow down a little,” Ginger whispered.
“I’m fine,” he replied.
Ty and I both held onto the plastic bars above the doors, while Michael just sat in the middle, wobbling back and forth from the bump of the truck.
Every few hundred feet was another bend in the road, and several times, I felt the wheels under us give a little against the slick pavement. We were on a road that was lodged between a steep tree-covered hill on the left and a drop-off on the right that looked to be about 30 feet or so.
Not wanting to be one to caution from the backseat, I leaned forward and spoke softly. “Matt, its raining, dude, be careful on the turns,” I said, then looking out my passenger window. “There’s a nice drop-off here on this side we don’t want to go spilling into.”
“I got it Dave, I got…” Matt was cut off when the Explorer suddenly jerked to the right. Matt yanked the wheel back to the left in an instant, sending the front in sharply in the direction of the hillside.
“Crap,” Michael whispered.
“Hold on!” Matt gripped the wheel tightly trying to gain control of the truck again. The yank to the left sent the entire vehicle into a spin, with the back end whipping around a full 180 degrees. In the commotion, I could hear Matt pumping the brakes over and over--but by the time all of us realized that we weren't hydroplaning on water, we were skidding on ice, it was all over.
The truck spun again a second later, putting the front back to the original direction. Matt yanked the wheel again to the right to gain control, somewhat over compensating, as he entire vehicle went up into an embankment. For a second it felt as if we were going to tip over, as Michael and Ty both almost fell over on me. Then, in an instant, the truck skidded down the hill in a spin, and with a metal crunching scream, slamming its left passenger side directly into a tree.
I heard Ginger scream as Michael and I both put our heads down and our hands over our faces to protect it from any glass. Matt turned his face to the right side, and moved as far as his seat belt would allow him in that direction. The truck slammed into large tree, as glass sprayed everywhere and we heard the deafening sound of metal crunching and folding.
Though it seemed like an eternity, not more than ten or eleven seconds had gone by from the time Matt lost control to the time it came to a stop.
For another few seconds, again like an eternity, we just sat there in silence. The only sound was the suddenly rough sound of the truck’s engine running. I didn’t look around, I just stared straight ahead, focused on the back of the seat Ginger sat in. My head and neck pounded, and I stared only to keep from passing out.
“Matt?” I asked slowly.
There was a pause, and then Matt, not moving, said, “Yes?”
“The truck is still running. See if you can turn the wheel a little to the right. Maybe we can roll back to the road. We are still on an embankment. I could really use some level ground right now.”
“Oh… okay,” Matt hesitated, as if trying to take in the instructions, then slowly, as if all the words had finally seeped in, turned the steering wheel to the right, and tapped the gently tapped the gas. The truck turned a little, and we rolled off of the slight hill onto the road.
“Let me out, now!” Michael demanded. Ginger quickly opened the door and stepped out. Michael crawled over me and out the front door, sprinting to the other side of the road, overlooking the steep hill. He then leaned over and threw up.
I walked over to Michael and put my hand on his shoulder.
“You okay there, paco?” I quietly asked.
“Yeah, just give me a minute,” he replied, bent over with his hands on his knees. He looked at the scrapes on his hands, and wiped the little beads of blood that were appearing on his pants.
Apparently Ginger had the reaction to the wreck, because she appeared from behind me and threw up, with her breakfast landing close to Michael’s.
“Ging, you okay?” I asked, looking over to her.
“Yeah,” she wiped her mouth and stood up. “I really didn’t enjoy that.”
“Which part?”
“Guys!” I heard Matt call from the truck. “Come here!”
“You go see what he wants, I think Ginger and I are going to stand here and throw up for a moment. We’ll bond,” Michael said.
I walked back to the truck where Matt stood. Inside the truck I saw Ty against the smashed side, not moving.
“Guys,” he said quietly, “I think I broke my leg.”
Ty’s left leg above the knee was jammed under the caved metal, while his calf was bent almost in a 90-degree angle. Right below the knee, I could see a small peak in the leg of his pants, which I can only assume was a bone.
Then behind me, came a scream. Matt and I both turned around to where Michael and Ginger stood a few seconds ago. We both looked out over the empty space instead. There was rustling sounds and another yell from both Michael and Ginger.
“Oh, what now?” Matt gritted, as we both ran to the edge of the drop-off.
Michael’s tumble down the hill came to a stop, but before he catch his breath, Ginger fell on him, rolled over and stopped with her head on his stomach.
“Ginger…” Michael said very plainly, “I don’t like pre-engaged girls heads on me.”
He lifted his head up to see Ginger almost break into a half smile.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, you?”
“I would really like to be at The Deuce right now in my underwear, but other than that, I’m fine.”
Matt and I both watched them get up 30 feet below us, and we knew they were okay.
“Matt, you figure out if the truck is drivable. We have to get Ty to a hospital. I’ll figure out what to do about your chick and my roommate at the bottom of this hill.” I directed.
“Yeah,” Matt turned and ran back to the truck. He grabbed a blanket from the back and reached in to cover Ty.
“Hey Michael!” I yelled from the top. “You guys okay?”
“Yeah, we’re fine. I slipped, grabbed Ginger’s arm to steady myself and she came with me.”
“That was pretty stupid.”
“Man, shut up! We have a problem here!”
“Yeah, I know. Ty is hurt!”
“Is he dead!?”
“No, but he has a broken leg! He needs to get to a hospital!”
“What about us?!”
“Can you climb back up?”
Michael and Ginger both looked around the hillside for anything to grab onto. It had its fair share of trees and brushes, but mostly it was covered in ice and snow. He reached up and grabbed a tree, and started to pull himself upwards. When he planted his feet down, he slipped, and fell back down again.
“I don’t know if this is going to work, Ginger,” Michael stood up and tried again. Again, he lost his footing on the slick snow and fell.
“Try over there, the bare spot, where you and Ginger slid down!” I pointed.
“Nice thinking Dave!” Michael yelled back up, “There is nothing to hold on to!”
“David,” Matt came up behind me. “We have to decide something here. Ty is unconscious.”
“Is he dead?”
“No, he's freezing. And bleeding. And he's got a freakin' bone sticking out of his leg.”
“Does the truck run?”
“Yeah, I think so. We somehow managed to hit that tree between the wheels, so there is no axle damage on either end, I guess. But some of the passenger side is caved in, and there's a piece of metal hanging over Ty's leg, which means I can’t move Ty without…”
“…Without possibly damaging his leg further.”
“Right.”
“Hey Dave!” Michael called from down the hill. “What are you guys doing?”
“How’s Ty?” Ginger yelled up.
“Hold on!” Matt responded to them, and then turned back to me. “Now what?”
“Ty said that this road goes to another road, where, if you turn left, you can get to Tuscaloosa. You need to drive him to the hospital.”
“What about Michael and Ginger? I am not leaving Ginger here in this cold weather! Let me grab my cell phone and we can call an ambulance and…”
“Man, do you know where we are?”
“No.”
“Neither do I. By the time we figure out how to get an ambulance here, Ty could already be at the hospital in town. Matt, you’ve got to take him. I’ll stay here. Michael and I will be here, nothing will happen to Ginger, I promise.”
“So am I just going to send someone back for you?”
“That’s a good idea. We’ll walk back to that gas station we stopped at earlier, it can’t be more than a few miles. We follow this road, I’ll walk up here, they’ll walk down there… eventually we’ll meet up. You can send for us at that gas station off of I-65.”
“Okay, but don’t think that I like this very much.”
“Hey, I don’t like it either. It’s cold out here. But Ty needs medical attention, and right now, Ginger, Michael and I are cold, but we’re okay. Let me get their jackets out of your truck.”
I walked to the door and pulled out Ginger’s, Michael’s and my jackets from the back. I felt horrible for Ty, who sat there motionless. Just to be safe, I stuck my fingers on his neck to make sure there was a pulse. Whew! I thought, as I felt his heartbeat on my middle finger through his neck.
“I’m not dead, David…” Ty mumbled, eyes still shut. “I’m just in a tremendous amount of pain. Whoever put that tree there must have been a Democrat.”
He then fell silent again, presumably because he passed out.
“Get Michael’s cell phone too” Matt instructed. I checked his jacket and made sure it was in there and it was.
“He’s got your number, and you’ve got his, right?” I asked.
“Right,” Matt answered as he climbed through the passenger side door to get behind the wheel. “Remember, take care of her.”
“Matt, I’d rather throw Michael to the wolves than let anything happen to Ginger, and I’m sure he would say the same about me,” I close the door. “Now get Ty some help.”
“I’m dropping him off with the doctors and coming straight back!” Matt said as the truck began to move. In an almost comedic fashion, his back fender fell off as he drove away. I could see the impact of the tree on the side, and that not only was it caved in on Ty, all the glass was completely gone. Looked to be a cold ride for Ty.
“DAVID!” I heard a scream from Michael from down the hill.
I walked to the edge and looked down at Michael and Ginger, who just stood there looking up at me.
“Alright,” I said to myself, “now what happens?”
PARTS 8 - 12
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Hot Chicken Showers (and Golden Globe noms)
New to the blog? Click here to find out what Clouds in My Coffee is all about...
Some signs our world is becoming a very, very strange place....
ANDERSON, Calif. — Three employees of a Kentucky Fried Chicken have been suspended for bathing in a deep sink used to clean dishes. The prank was discovered after one of the young women posted photos on a social networking site of the trio posing and cavorting in the steaming water in their underwear and swimwear.
Click here for photos.
The photos were filed in a gallery called "KFC moments." Captions included "haha KFC showers!" and "haha we turned on the jets." A manager of the fast-food restaurant said the three were reprimanded and suspended Tuesday. She said no manager was on duty when the photos were taken as the three had closed the restaurant for the night.
Some signs our world is becoming a very, very strange place....
ANDERSON, Calif. — Three employees of a Kentucky Fried Chicken have been suspended for bathing in a deep sink used to clean dishes. The prank was discovered after one of the young women posted photos on a social networking site of the trio posing and cavorting in the steaming water in their underwear and swimwear.
Click here for photos.
The photos were filed in a gallery called "KFC moments." Captions included "haha KFC showers!" and "haha we turned on the jets." A manager of the fast-food restaurant said the three were reprimanded and suspended Tuesday. She said no manager was on duty when the photos were taken as the three had closed the restaurant for the night.
NEW UPDATE!!! Apparently, those KFC Sink Bathers were fired... also, read the result of the fiasco at Burger King (one of the last lines of the story update) Oh, and try not to lust. Or poke sharp toothpicks between your fingers.
Also--other fun stuff around our great nation...
Georgia School staffers in trouble for gettin' it on at school...
Crap until your kidneys fail... good times!!
Jennifer Aniston looks better than Angie Jolie ever, ever, EVER could...
And now, the Golden Globe nominations...
Best movie, drama
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,”
“Frost/Nixon,”
“The Reader,”
“Revolutionary Road,”
“Slumdog Millionaire,”
“The Visitor.”
Best Movie d$ Hasn't Seen, But Will
"Revolutionary Road"
"Gran Torino"
"Australia"
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Actress, drama
Anne Hathaway, “Rachel Getting Married”
Angelina Jolie, “Changeling”
Meryl Streep, “Doubt”
Kristin Scott Thomas, “I’ve Loved You So Long”
Kate Winslet, “Revolutionary Road.”
Actor, drama
Leonardo DiCaprio, “Revolutionary Road”
Frank Langella, “Frost/Nixon”
Sean Penn, “Milk”
Brad Pitt, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler.”
Best movie, comedy or musical
“Burn After Reading,”
“Happy-Go-Lucky,”
“In Bruges,”
“Mamma Mia!,”
“Vicky Christina Barcelona.”
Actress, comedy or musical
Rebecca Hall, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
Sally Hawkins, “Happy-Go-Lucky”
Frances McDormand, “Burn After Reading”
Meryl Streep, “Mamma Mia!”
Emma Thompson, “Last Chance Harvey.”
Actor, comedy or musical
Javier Bardem, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
Colin Farrell, “In Bruges”
James Franco, “Pineapple Express”
Brendan Gleeson, “In Bruges”
Dustin Hoffman, “Last Chance Harvey.”
Supporting actress
Amy Adams, “Doubt”
Penelope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
Viola Davis, “Doubt”
Marisa Tomei, “The Wrestler”
Kate Winslet, “The Reader.”
Hottest actress in Hollywood
Ashley Judd, "Ashley Judd"
Debra Messing, "Debra Messing"
Anne Hathaway, "Anne Hathaway"
Amy Adams, "Amy Adams"
Kate Winslet, "Kate Winslet"
Supporting actor
Tom Cruise, “Tropic Thunder”
Robert Downey, Jr., “Tropic Thunder”
Ralph Fiennes, “The Duchess”
Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Doubt”
Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight.”
Best Movie d$ Has Seen This Year
"Iron Man"
"The Dark Knight"
"Wall*E"
"Role Models"
"Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian"
Director
Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”
Stephen Daldry, “The Reader”
David Fincher, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Ron Howard, “Frost/Nixon”
Sam Mendes, “Revolutionary Road.”
Screenplay
Simon Beaufoy, “Slumdog Millionaire”
David Hare, “The Reader”
Peter Morgan, “Frost/Nixon”
Eric Roth, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
John Patrick Shanley, “Doubt.”
Foreign language movie
“Baader Meinhof Complex,”
“Everlasting Moments,”
“Gomorrah,”
“I’ve Loved You So Long,”
“Waltz With Bashir.”
Animated movie
“Bolt,”
“Kung Fu Panda,”
“Wall-E.”
Original score
Alexandre Desplat, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Clint Eastwood, “Changeling”
James Newton Howard, “Defiance”
Hans Zimmer, “Frost/Nixon”
A.R. Rahman, “Slumdog Millionaire.”
Original song
“Down to Earth” (performed by Peter Gabriel, written by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman), “Wall-E”
“Gran Torino” (performed by Clint Eastwood), “Gran Torino”
“I Thought I Lost You” (performed Miley Cyrus and John Travolta, written by Miley Cyrus and Jeffrey Steele), “Bolt”
“Once in a Lifetime,” (performed by Beyonce), “Cadillac Records”
“The Wrestler” (performed by Bruce Springsteen, written by Bruce Springsteen), “The Wrestler.”
TV series, drama
“Dexter,”
“House M.D.,”
“In Treatment,”
“Mad Men,”
“True Blood.”
TV actress, drama
Sally Field, “Brothers & Sisters”
Mariska Hargitay, “Law & Order: SVU”
January Jones, “Mad Men”
Anna Paquin, “True Blood”
Kyra Sedgwick, “The Closer.”
Best Wife Ever
Stephanie Dollar, "Wife"
Steph Dollar, "Best Friend"
Steph Campbell Dollar, "The Lovely Steph Leann"
Stephy C. D., "Life partner"
S C Dollar, "Soul Mate"
TV actor, drama
Gabriel Byrne, “In Treatment”
Michael C. Hall, “Dexter”
Jon Hamm, “Mad Men”
Hugh Laurie, “House M.D.”
Jonathan Rhys Meyers, “The Tudors.”
TV series, comedy or musical
“Californication,”
“Entourage,”
“The Office,”
“30 Rock,”
“Weeds.”
Best TV Show of the Year, According to d$
"CSI: Crime Scene Investigation"
"Grey's Anatomy"
"Anything on Investigative Discovery"
"The Starter Wife"
"Survivor"
TV actress, comedy or musical
Christina Applegate, “Samantha Who?”
America Ferrera, “Ugly Betty”
Tina Fey, “30 Rock”
Debra Messing, “The Starter Wife”
Mary-Louise Parker, “Weeds.”
TV actor, comedy or drama
Alec Baldwin, “30 Rock”
Steve Carell, “The Office”
Kevin Connolly, “Entourage”
David Duchovny, “Californication”
Tony Shalhoub, “Monk.”
TV miniseries or movie
“Cranford,”
“Bernard and Doris,”
“John Adams,”
“A Raisin in the Sun,”
“Recount.”
TV actress, miniseries or movie
Judi Dench, “Cranford”
Laura Linney, “John Adams”
Catherine Keener, “An American Crime”
Shirley MacLaine, “Coco Chanel”
Susan Sarandon, “Bernard and Doris.”
TV actor, miniseries or movie
Ralph Fiennes, “Bernard and Doris”
Paul Giammatti, “John Adams”
Kevin Spacey, “Recount”
Keifer Sutherland, “24: Redemption”
Tom Wilkinson, “Recount."
TV supporting actress
Eileen Atkins, “Cranford”
Laura Dern, “Recount”
Melissa George, “In Treatment”
Rachel Griffiths, “Brothers & Sisters”
Dianne Wiest, “In Treatment."
TV supporting actor
Neil Patrick Harris, “How I Met Your Mother”
Denis Leary, “Recount”
Jeremy Piven, “Entourage”
Blair Underwood, “In Treatment”
Tom Wilkinson, “John Adams.”
Cecil B. DeMille Award
Steven Spielberg
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Clumsy
This is what I studied tonight in my quiet time. Normally, I would leave it over in Delaware but tonight I just felt like there was a Coffee Drinker out there who might be a little encouraged that no, they are not alone in the sometimes troubling pursuit of Christ.
It brings to mind Amy McL... I've said this before, but its so relatable, I'll repeat it... we were discussing sin and the mire it causes, and she said (paraphrasing), "Sometimes I feel like I'm just so terrible, I want to sit in my sin and pout. All the while, God is saying, 'You are forgiven. Keep moving' and I say, 'Don't you understand what I've done?! How can you tell me to keep going when you know who I am?!' and God replies, 'I know who you are. I know what you've done. I know what my Son did for you. Now get your happy tail up and keep moving."
So, here's my thoughts on the whole matter...
Paul gets it. I would say "Paul got it", but I think while at Home, he gets it. Romans is great evidence of that.
To suggest I am anything like Paul would be a farce... his faith and obedience stood more on a random Tuesday than perhaps I've done in my entire life up until this very minute. But one of my favorite passages is in Romans 7... its like, a Well Intentioned Christ Followers Lament...
Paul writes:
Yes, I'm full of myself. I've spent alot of time in sin's prison. What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So, if I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God's command is necessary.
But I need something MORE! For if I know the law, but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin in me within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes, I can will it, but I can't DO it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.
It happens so regularly, its predictable. The moment I decide to do good (like quiet times every night) sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but its pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.
I've tried everything and nothing helps, I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question?
The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contridiction where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different. (The Message)
Story of my life, really. This is who I have been and I'm guessing that many of you can relate to just such a thing. But there is hope. It's actually the passage I'm going to (re)read and (re)study tomorrow night--but for now, take heed in The Wonderful Cross, which bids you to come and die so that you can truly live.
The perfect song for this particular night, and passage, is from Chris Rice, one of his greatest and earliest hits... "Clumsy".
Think I'd have it down by now. Been practicing for 33 years.
Should have walked a thousand miles, so what am I still doing here?
Reaching out for that same old piece of forbidden fruit,I slip and fall and I knock my halo loose
Somebody tell me what's a boy supposed to do?
I get so clumsy, I get so foolish, I get so stupid that I feel so useless
But Your saying You love me, and You still gonna hold me
That You want to be near me, cause You're making me holy
Still making me holy, yeah
Gonna get it right this time, I'll be strong and make You proud
I've prayed that prayer a thousand times, but the rooster crows and my tears roll down (again)
You remind me that You made me from the dust,
and I can never, no, never be good enough, but that You're not going to let that come between us
Cause I get so clumsy, I get so foolish, I can get so stupid that I feel so useless
But Your saying You love me, and You're still gonna hold me
And that You wanna be near me, cause You're making me holy
Still making me holy
From where I stand, Your holiness is up so high, I can never reach it.
My only hope is to follow Jesus
Cause I get so clumsy, and I get so foolish
I can get so stupid sometimes, and I feel so useless
But You're saying You love me
And Your still gonna hold me
And that You wanna be near me
Cause Your making me holy
Still making me holy
Keep making me holy, yeah
You guys feel me on this one?
It brings to mind Amy McL... I've said this before, but its so relatable, I'll repeat it... we were discussing sin and the mire it causes, and she said (paraphrasing), "Sometimes I feel like I'm just so terrible, I want to sit in my sin and pout. All the while, God is saying, 'You are forgiven. Keep moving' and I say, 'Don't you understand what I've done?! How can you tell me to keep going when you know who I am?!' and God replies, 'I know who you are. I know what you've done. I know what my Son did for you. Now get your happy tail up and keep moving."
So, here's my thoughts on the whole matter...
Paul gets it. I would say "Paul got it", but I think while at Home, he gets it. Romans is great evidence of that.
To suggest I am anything like Paul would be a farce... his faith and obedience stood more on a random Tuesday than perhaps I've done in my entire life up until this very minute. But one of my favorite passages is in Romans 7... its like, a Well Intentioned Christ Followers Lament...
Paul writes:
Yes, I'm full of myself. I've spent alot of time in sin's prison. What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So, if I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God's command is necessary.
But I need something MORE! For if I know the law, but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin in me within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes, I can will it, but I can't DO it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.
It happens so regularly, its predictable. The moment I decide to do good (like quiet times every night) sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but its pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.
I've tried everything and nothing helps, I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question?
The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contridiction where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different. (The Message)
Story of my life, really. This is who I have been and I'm guessing that many of you can relate to just such a thing. But there is hope. It's actually the passage I'm going to (re)read and (re)study tomorrow night--but for now, take heed in The Wonderful Cross, which bids you to come and die so that you can truly live.
The perfect song for this particular night, and passage, is from Chris Rice, one of his greatest and earliest hits... "Clumsy".
Think I'd have it down by now. Been practicing for 33 years.
Should have walked a thousand miles, so what am I still doing here?
Reaching out for that same old piece of forbidden fruit,I slip and fall and I knock my halo loose
Somebody tell me what's a boy supposed to do?
I get so clumsy, I get so foolish, I get so stupid that I feel so useless
But Your saying You love me, and You still gonna hold me
That You want to be near me, cause You're making me holy
Still making me holy, yeah
Gonna get it right this time, I'll be strong and make You proud
I've prayed that prayer a thousand times, but the rooster crows and my tears roll down (again)
You remind me that You made me from the dust,
and I can never, no, never be good enough, but that You're not going to let that come between us
Cause I get so clumsy, I get so foolish, I can get so stupid that I feel so useless
But Your saying You love me, and You're still gonna hold me
And that You wanna be near me, cause You're making me holy
Still making me holy
From where I stand, Your holiness is up so high, I can never reach it.
My only hope is to follow Jesus
Cause I get so clumsy, and I get so foolish
I can get so stupid sometimes, and I feel so useless
But You're saying You love me
And Your still gonna hold me
And that You wanna be near me
Cause Your making me holy
Still making me holy
Keep making me holy, yeah
You guys feel me on this one?
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Hannah Pruitt, Matt Damon, The Lost Boys and Other Random Things
It's midnight, I'm done with Day 5 on my 30 Days of Him Journey... you can enjoy this shameless self promotion and read about it over on Welcome to Delaware, where I know you've traveled far... so I thought I'd give you whats rolling around in my head tonight...
Song playing right now: "Secret Garden" from Bruce Springsteen, the Jerry Maguire Mix
First stop... Hannah Pruitt. Final destination, sleep. Stops along the way, Matt Damon, vampires, Lindsay Lohan, Twilight, Fracks and Leann Corby.
I thought I'd mention to you that tonight's songs are coming from a playlist entitled "Hannah Pruitt". I have funny musical tastes... sometimes I want to hear Jodeci, a few minutes later I want some Jars of Clay, then I'm in the mood for LL Cool J, and right after that, classic Clint Black.
So I put together a playlist of about 60 songs that I could, at any time, want to hear. As the playlist evolves, I'll take some off (like tonight, I removed Celine Dion's "To Love You More" and "If You Asked Me To" and The Atlanta Rhythm Section's "So Into You", and added Dino's "I Like It" and "Sail On" by Lionel Richie & the Commodores). See, random.
Song currently playing: "Close of Autumn" by Caedmon's Call
Anyway, it gets the name "Hannah Pruitt" because, while I was making this playlist the other day, I was actually talking to Hannah Pruitt via gMail chat. And I have also determined that Hannah might just be the coolest person I know. Seriously. She's a really cool chick. I've actively tried to find things that would make her uncool, and I haven't come up with anything yet. I'm working on it. For now, "Hannah Pruitt" plays via iTunes.
So, Sean Penn and Lindsay Lohan showed up to the same party. They nuzzled. Right now you are trying to decide whether you actually care enough to click on this link to read about it. I mean, right after you are done throwing up in your mouth.
"The Bourne Ultimatum" is on Starz right now. Well, it is, but I just turned the tv off... anyway, I was commenting to The Lovely Steph Leann that Matt Damon is actually a pretty good actor. I mean, he's big and bad and very believable as a dude that can rip your head off and hock a snot rocket down your neck in the very, very good Bourne trilogy (though it might become a four-logy, as I've heard they are making another one...) but when you watch him in the Ocean's films, he's a dork.
Song currently playing: "Touch Me (all night long)" by Cathy Dennis--this is sometimes odd, as it tends to, even on shuffle, follow Caedmon's Call or a Christy Nockel worship song. Hmm.
Personally, I didn't care for "Good Will Hunting", but Damon has done some good stuff... "Rounders" works because of him and Edward Norton's ability to pull off a pretty lame script... well, them and John Malkovich's portrayal of Teddy KGB, on my short list of favorite movie characters of all time. You can also check out Matt in Kevin Smith's "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back", where he's hilarious, as well as "Dogma", my 98th favorite film of all time.
McQ has finally written a book. Its called "Strength in the Struggle", and its a composition of her essays, poems, devotions and photography from the past several years.
Song currently playing: "Wicked Game" by Chris Isaak. Ironic. Ha!
She's self publishing, which is why a paper back costs close to $40 bucks... the hardcover is even more, but how often do you know someone who has their name on the spine of a book on your bookshelf.
Personally, I've had an idea rolling around my head for about 11 years. One of the characters--bear with me, I've already decided this--is named Daily Johnson.
Song currently playing: "Good Run of Bad Luck" by Clint Black
Daily was supposed to be named Daisy, but her mom's "S" looks like an "L", and that's what the nurse put on the birth certificate. She's short, short hair and glasses. She looks like what my friend Devan Craddock looked like in school. There are other characters in my little story, but Daily is the one that sticks out.
Song currently playing: "We Danced Anyway" by Deana Carter
(helping The Lovely Steph Leann with the weather in Pensacola, where she's headed for a few days)
Song currently playing: "Tortured, Tangled Hearts" by The Dixie Chicks
This next little blurb goes straight out to Katy Sexton--though I'm sure there are many out there who love "The Lost Boys" (and, unfortunately, many out there who said, "Huh?" when I mentioned "The Lost Boys"), she is who I think of when I think of Lost Boy Fans.
Cracked.com gave 8 things that today's modern vampires could learn from The Lost Boys. And its hilarious.
Song currently playing, after realizing my iTunes wasn't on shuffle: "How Do You Mend a Broken Heart" by Al Green
My favorite is "Vampires Can Really Do a Number on Your Plumbing", which says, "Vampires, on the other hand, will emit a bloodcurdling scream, their flesh will melt, blood will shoot out of all of your sinks and pipes, and your toilet will violently explode for no good reason whatsoever.
With that being said, you may want to avoid this method of vampire slaying altogether unless it can be executed in a kiddie pool in the backyard, or somewhere else that isn’t hooked up to your house’s pipes. After all, in these tough economic times, who wants to have to hire a plumber to scrape melted vampire out of their pipes?"
By the way, did you know they did a sequel to this movie? It actually shouldn't count, because only one of the Two Coreys was involved. I'm not sure if Feldman was in the right by being in it, or Haim was more right by NOT being in it. Then again, what else does Corey Haim have to do right now?
And you know they had to call Kiefer Sutherland. You know they did.
"Yes, Mr. Sutherland, um... we wanted to know if... well, if you'd be interested in... being... well, being David the Vampire again?"
"I'm sorry, being who?"
"You know, David, the lead vampire in... The Lost Boys. We are doing a sequel and we thought if you could help, I mean, you could lend some credibility to our project... even Haim won't do it and..."
"Dude. Do you know who I am?"
"Yes sir, you're Kiefer Sutherland and..."
"I'm 'effin Jack Bauer. Don't ever call me again. Or I. Will. Kill. You."
--click--
Song currently playing while I formatted this post, and added links:
"You and I Both" by Jason Mraz
"I'll Be Okay" by Amanda Marshall
"I Guess The Lord Must Be in New York City" by Harry Nilsson
"Circle" by Sarah McLachlan
"Speechless" by Steven Curtis Chapman
So, here's DNC-TV's list of The Lamest Blogs on the Internet. No doubt, The Anonymous Poster would have put mine on this list, but she keeps coming back, doesn't she? As for the list, some actually look amusing enough to check out for a minute.. except anything using the words "Hilton", "Kim", "Paris" or "Kardashian", and that freaky looking Pepsi-KFC blog. Weird.
From the More Random Than d$ Department...
So, a week or so ago, I posted the music list for December, my Christmas favorites, along with the hideously awesome video to "Last Christmas" by Wham!.
Well, there's a website out there commited to this song so much, they do nothing but post covers to the song... 360 of them... and counting. No, I'm being totally serious.
Song currently playing: "Love Shoulda Brought You Home Last Night" by Toni Braxton
Something tells me The Lovely Steph Leann would LOVE ELL OH VEE EE her a Frack. Just sayin'.
Song currently playing: "Bye Bye" by Jo Dee Messina
"Twilight" was terrible. Seriously. I went into it, having not read the book, trying to be as open minded as someone who had never read the Harry Potter novels, yet was walking in to see "Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone" (you can't say "Goblet of Fire" or "Order of the Phoenix" because if that's your first Harry Potter movie, you won't have a clue whats going on. Its like jumping in to 4th episode of Season 3 of Lost. Heck, even someone watching every episode of that show won't know whats going on... where was I?)
And it was terrible. I was so bored. It was weird seeing Mike Dexter from "Can't Hardly Wait" try to be this older father figure.
Song currently playing: "Running on Empty" by Jackson Browne
Anyway, I almost fell asleep... when Edward Patterson appeared onscreen, the girls behind me actually when "Ooowww! Hottie!!" Seriously, there was about 10 good minutes of this film, minutes that made me think, "Okay, this might be good", and then it just flailed and flopped and sucked. Terrible.
Now, before you get all "Oh, you didn't like it because its a chick movie!" on me, just remember... "Notting Hill", "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and "Steel Magnolias" all rank highly on The Dave100. Love those films. Because they are actually good.
Finally, wanted to shout out to Leann Lawerence--my very first Troy State University date. Leann Corby (then) was this chick I met...
Song currently playing: "Sail On" by Lionel Richie & the Commodores
...at our Troy State orientation in July of 1993. I thought she was beautiful. I asked her out, she said yes (there's much more to the story, but really, when you're married to The Lovely Steph Leann, its all just inconsequential) and we went to dinner and a movie, "The Man Without a Face" starring Mel Gibson.
We didn't go out again, as I turned my attention to Wisconsin Ginny, then to Kat Gates and so on, but Leann and I remained friends through college. She was that kind of friend I would run into, or we'd have lunch here and there, and we'd catch up, and then another month or two would go by before we could speak again and so on...
Leann and Dave... 15 years later...
Well, I graduated, she did too, she went one way, I went another. Lo and behold, The Lovely Steph Leann and I are at the wedding of one of my high school friends, Stephanie Phillips, and Leann Corby is there! Her fiancee (could have been husband by then), David, knew Stephanie and her groom, Perry, and it was like, "Wow..."
Song currently playing: "Slide" by The Goo Goo Dolls
If you told me at the beginning of the day to name 10 people that I never thought I'd see in The Happiest Place in the Mall, I'm not even sure Leann would have come to mind. And she came in, husband and children in tow.
And it was just awesome to see them both. Leann still looked great, we swapped quick stories and catch-up tales and they were on their way. But it was great to see her! So Leann, hope to see you soon.
Songs playing while I wrap up:
"Callin' Baton Rouge" by Garth Brooks
"Sweet Surrender" by Sarah McLachlan
"Sunday Afternoon" by Joel Blount
and appropriately... "Kiss and Say Goodbye" by The Manhattans
I'm going to bed now, to my own Leann. My The Lovely Steph Leann, that is.
Song playing right now: "Secret Garden" from Bruce Springsteen, the Jerry Maguire Mix
First stop... Hannah Pruitt. Final destination, sleep. Stops along the way, Matt Damon, vampires, Lindsay Lohan, Twilight, Fracks and Leann Corby.
$$$$$$$$$$
I thought I'd mention to you that tonight's songs are coming from a playlist entitled "Hannah Pruitt". I have funny musical tastes... sometimes I want to hear Jodeci, a few minutes later I want some Jars of Clay, then I'm in the mood for LL Cool J, and right after that, classic Clint Black.
So I put together a playlist of about 60 songs that I could, at any time, want to hear. As the playlist evolves, I'll take some off (like tonight, I removed Celine Dion's "To Love You More" and "If You Asked Me To" and The Atlanta Rhythm Section's "So Into You", and added Dino's "I Like It" and "Sail On" by Lionel Richie & the Commodores). See, random.
Song currently playing: "Close of Autumn" by Caedmon's Call
Anyway, it gets the name "Hannah Pruitt" because, while I was making this playlist the other day, I was actually talking to Hannah Pruitt via gMail chat. And I have also determined that Hannah might just be the coolest person I know. Seriously. She's a really cool chick. I've actively tried to find things that would make her uncool, and I haven't come up with anything yet. I'm working on it. For now, "Hannah Pruitt" plays via iTunes.
$$$$$$$$$$
So, Sean Penn and Lindsay Lohan showed up to the same party. They nuzzled. Right now you are trying to decide whether you actually care enough to click on this link to read about it. I mean, right after you are done throwing up in your mouth.
$$$$$$$$$$
"The Bourne Ultimatum" is on Starz right now. Well, it is, but I just turned the tv off... anyway, I was commenting to The Lovely Steph Leann that Matt Damon is actually a pretty good actor. I mean, he's big and bad and very believable as a dude that can rip your head off and hock a snot rocket down your neck in the very, very good Bourne trilogy (though it might become a four-logy, as I've heard they are making another one...) but when you watch him in the Ocean's films, he's a dork.
Song currently playing: "Touch Me (all night long)" by Cathy Dennis--this is sometimes odd, as it tends to, even on shuffle, follow Caedmon's Call or a Christy Nockel worship song. Hmm.
Personally, I didn't care for "Good Will Hunting", but Damon has done some good stuff... "Rounders" works because of him and Edward Norton's ability to pull off a pretty lame script... well, them and John Malkovich's portrayal of Teddy KGB, on my short list of favorite movie characters of all time. You can also check out Matt in Kevin Smith's "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back", where he's hilarious, as well as "Dogma", my 98th favorite film of all time.
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McQ has finally written a book. Its called "Strength in the Struggle", and its a composition of her essays, poems, devotions and photography from the past several years.
Song currently playing: "Wicked Game" by Chris Isaak. Ironic. Ha!
She's self publishing, which is why a paper back costs close to $40 bucks... the hardcover is even more, but how often do you know someone who has their name on the spine of a book on your bookshelf.
Personally, I've had an idea rolling around my head for about 11 years. One of the characters--bear with me, I've already decided this--is named Daily Johnson.
Song currently playing: "Good Run of Bad Luck" by Clint Black
Daily was supposed to be named Daisy, but her mom's "S" looks like an "L", and that's what the nurse put on the birth certificate. She's short, short hair and glasses. She looks like what my friend Devan Craddock looked like in school. There are other characters in my little story, but Daily is the one that sticks out.
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Song currently playing: "We Danced Anyway" by Deana Carter
(helping The Lovely Steph Leann with the weather in Pensacola, where she's headed for a few days)
Song currently playing: "Tortured, Tangled Hearts" by The Dixie Chicks
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This next little blurb goes straight out to Katy Sexton--though I'm sure there are many out there who love "The Lost Boys" (and, unfortunately, many out there who said, "Huh?" when I mentioned "The Lost Boys"), she is who I think of when I think of Lost Boy Fans.
Cracked.com gave 8 things that today's modern vampires could learn from The Lost Boys. And its hilarious.
Song currently playing, after realizing my iTunes wasn't on shuffle: "How Do You Mend a Broken Heart" by Al Green
My favorite is "Vampires Can Really Do a Number on Your Plumbing", which says, "Vampires, on the other hand, will emit a bloodcurdling scream, their flesh will melt, blood will shoot out of all of your sinks and pipes, and your toilet will violently explode for no good reason whatsoever.
With that being said, you may want to avoid this method of vampire slaying altogether unless it can be executed in a kiddie pool in the backyard, or somewhere else that isn’t hooked up to your house’s pipes. After all, in these tough economic times, who wants to have to hire a plumber to scrape melted vampire out of their pipes?"
By the way, did you know they did a sequel to this movie? It actually shouldn't count, because only one of the Two Coreys was involved. I'm not sure if Feldman was in the right by being in it, or Haim was more right by NOT being in it. Then again, what else does Corey Haim have to do right now?
And you know they had to call Kiefer Sutherland. You know they did.
"Yes, Mr. Sutherland, um... we wanted to know if... well, if you'd be interested in... being... well, being David the Vampire again?"
"I'm sorry, being who?"
"You know, David, the lead vampire in... The Lost Boys. We are doing a sequel and we thought if you could help, I mean, you could lend some credibility to our project... even Haim won't do it and..."
"Dude. Do you know who I am?"
"Yes sir, you're Kiefer Sutherland and..."
"I'm 'effin Jack Bauer. Don't ever call me again. Or I. Will. Kill. You."
--click--
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Song currently playing while I formatted this post, and added links:
"You and I Both" by Jason Mraz
"I'll Be Okay" by Amanda Marshall
"I Guess The Lord Must Be in New York City" by Harry Nilsson
"Circle" by Sarah McLachlan
"Speechless" by Steven Curtis Chapman
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So, here's DNC-TV's list of The Lamest Blogs on the Internet. No doubt, The Anonymous Poster would have put mine on this list, but she keeps coming back, doesn't she? As for the list, some actually look amusing enough to check out for a minute.. except anything using the words "Hilton", "Kim", "Paris" or "Kardashian", and that freaky looking Pepsi-KFC blog. Weird.
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From the More Random Than d$ Department...
So, a week or so ago, I posted the music list for December, my Christmas favorites, along with the hideously awesome video to "Last Christmas" by Wham!.
Well, there's a website out there commited to this song so much, they do nothing but post covers to the song... 360 of them... and counting. No, I'm being totally serious.
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Song currently playing: "Love Shoulda Brought You Home Last Night" by Toni Braxton
Something tells me The Lovely Steph Leann would LOVE ELL OH VEE EE her a Frack. Just sayin'.
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Song currently playing: "Bye Bye" by Jo Dee Messina
"Twilight" was terrible. Seriously. I went into it, having not read the book, trying to be as open minded as someone who had never read the Harry Potter novels, yet was walking in to see "Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone" (you can't say "Goblet of Fire" or "Order of the Phoenix" because if that's your first Harry Potter movie, you won't have a clue whats going on. Its like jumping in to 4th episode of Season 3 of Lost. Heck, even someone watching every episode of that show won't know whats going on... where was I?)
And it was terrible. I was so bored. It was weird seeing Mike Dexter from "Can't Hardly Wait" try to be this older father figure.
Song currently playing: "Running on Empty" by Jackson Browne
Anyway, I almost fell asleep... when Edward Patterson appeared onscreen, the girls behind me actually when "Ooowww! Hottie!!" Seriously, there was about 10 good minutes of this film, minutes that made me think, "Okay, this might be good", and then it just flailed and flopped and sucked. Terrible.
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Now, before you get all "Oh, you didn't like it because its a chick movie!" on me, just remember... "Notting Hill", "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and "Steel Magnolias" all rank highly on The Dave100. Love those films. Because they are actually good.
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Finally, wanted to shout out to Leann Lawerence--my very first Troy State University date. Leann Corby (then) was this chick I met...
Song currently playing: "Sail On" by Lionel Richie & the Commodores
...at our Troy State orientation in July of 1993. I thought she was beautiful. I asked her out, she said yes (there's much more to the story, but really, when you're married to The Lovely Steph Leann, its all just inconsequential) and we went to dinner and a movie, "The Man Without a Face" starring Mel Gibson.
We didn't go out again, as I turned my attention to Wisconsin Ginny, then to Kat Gates and so on, but Leann and I remained friends through college. She was that kind of friend I would run into, or we'd have lunch here and there, and we'd catch up, and then another month or two would go by before we could speak again and so on...
Leann and Dave... 15 years later...
Well, I graduated, she did too, she went one way, I went another. Lo and behold, The Lovely Steph Leann and I are at the wedding of one of my high school friends, Stephanie Phillips, and Leann Corby is there! Her fiancee (could have been husband by then), David, knew Stephanie and her groom, Perry, and it was like, "Wow..."
Song currently playing: "Slide" by The Goo Goo Dolls
If you told me at the beginning of the day to name 10 people that I never thought I'd see in The Happiest Place in the Mall, I'm not even sure Leann would have come to mind. And she came in, husband and children in tow.
And it was just awesome to see them both. Leann still looked great, we swapped quick stories and catch-up tales and they were on their way. But it was great to see her! So Leann, hope to see you soon.
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Songs playing while I wrap up:
"Callin' Baton Rouge" by Garth Brooks
"Sweet Surrender" by Sarah McLachlan
"Sunday Afternoon" by Joel Blount
and appropriately... "Kiss and Say Goodbye" by The Manhattans
I'm going to bed now, to my own Leann. My The Lovely Steph Leann, that is.
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
All Things New II: Welcome to Delaware
A few days ago, I wrote "All Things New", a sort of different blog for Clouds in My Coffee. While I am a Christ Follower, and have never backed down from what I believe, at the same time, direct ministry has never been the aim of Clouds in My Coffee.
Having said that, I do want to make it clear that as Christ Followers, I think everything we do is a form of ministry, because with our salvation secure and our hearts a home for the Holy Spirit, we are, for lack of a better phrase, Christ Ambassadors... but here, its not just Biblical scripture, prayers, Jesus, The Messiah (no, not Obama, I mean the real one), God and so on... I've read sites like that. While inspiring, it can get a little tedious. I enjoy what I write here, and enjoy the comments I get on all sorts of things.
Now... having said THAT... I wanted you to know about a "sister" site I have created. Its called "Welcome to Delaware"... while I would love to drive as many people to Clouds as possible--and would love for you to do the same--I'll only mention Delaware in this post, and it will be listed among the Recommended Blogs in the links to the right.
I'm sure you have two questions... the first being, why did you create another site? What is it even about, and why should I care? (that's three questions, but I kinda condensed them into one inquisitive string). The second being, what is with that name??? Who gives a rip about Delaware?? (again, more than one, but you get the gist.)
I created another site because while I love to journal--hence, Clouds in My Coffee--I tire quickly of writing on paper. My brain works too fast, though I'm sure The Lovely Steph Leann might disagree, for me to write down what I want in a legible manner, and it ends up scribbled... however, I type pretty doggone fast. In Mrs. Rials typing class in 11th grade at Samson High School (go Tigers!) I was top in the class, reaching 75 perfect words per minute
So, if I'm going to continue on my journey that I call "30 Days of Him"...
(I got that catchy little name from the movie "30 Days of Night", though thats where the similarilies end, I think--never pictured God as a vampire zombie. Randomly, vampires have been prevelant around my life lately... not that I know any, but I just finished reading "Salem's Lot" by Stephen King, an excellent vamp novel, I talked to Amy McL today about reading vampire novels, and I somehow ended up watching "Twilight" this afternoon... bored to tears. Seriously. There is about 10 minutes of that movie that I thought was enjoyable and... where was I?)
...I figured it would be better to type it out than write it. Plus, it would give me an outlet to start reprinting some of the "Random Emails of Encouragment" I used to write, long long ago. And Delaware will be simply that. God stuff. That's why I wanted to keep it separate from Clouds...
Don't fret, though, Coffee Drinkers. This will be my main site.
Now, why should you care? You don't have to, actually. You can visit every day, you might never go there. Its okay. I might mention it from time to time, but over all, its not a big deal.
Now... the name...
You've probably heard me mention "Welcome to Delaware" as a song, or that it is the title of the d$ Life Soundtrack, the double disc edition... well, I guess I should explain. McQ asked me tonight the perfect question... what does it mean to you?
"Welcome to Delaware" is a song from the former Christian duo WaterMark. I say "former", though Nathan and Christy Nockel are still together. They performed for years as WaterMark, now do separate projects, he as a worship leader for Passion, a writer and producer, and she as a worship leader for Passion and a solo artist.
The song is the 7th track off their 1998 self titled debut (you'll see from the link its now out of print), and its one of those hidden gems that few people even know about. It just stuck with me. When I was working at WTBF in Troy (Go Trojans!) I interviewed Christy for Sunday Night Power, my Christian Music show on Sunday nights, and I asked her the meaning behind the title...
She said, and I'm paraphrasing, "We had a concert in Delaware upcoming at the time, and neither of us had ever been there. We were nervous about it, about the area, it was winter, it was cold, it was unfamiliar... and it just kind of became a prayer. Its about God taking us to places we have never seen, cold places, unfamiliar places. Places we are not comfortable with."
Such is my life. I moved to Birmingham in August of 1998... I didn't know a soul, Amy Wible had abandoned me, I had an apartment I couldn't afford, my job I moved for was kaput after a week... and God was saying, "All you really have here now... is Me".
Well, its bitter cold December, and the leaves are falling true, and I do believe I'm still in love with You. Yeah, my scenery keeps changing, and sometimes its hard to view, but You've let me see so much since I've known You. But I headed to what seemed like nowhere (Birmingham?) but You told me to come, You told me You'd meet me here.
You were here to say, "Welcome to Delaware, I know you've traveled far. And its a lot colder here than what you're used to. And I know that in the wintertime, things aren't what they used to be, all you really have here now... is Me. All you really have here now is Me.
(by the way, the next verse is one of the most beautiful, deepest, sweetest verses to me in all of Christian music... I'm not kidding... as I sit here and think about how it applies to my life, I just wiped a tear away... man, its dusty in here...)
So I settled here, and that is that. For You to show me who I am, You had to take me to a place I've never been. And all the things I've dreaded most about the things unseen have now become the sweetest part of me...
Though I headed to what seemed like nowhere, I knew you would come, I knew You would meet me here.
You were here to say, "Welcome to Delaware, I know you've traveled far, and its alot colder here than what you're used to. And I know that in the wintertime, things aren't what they used to be. All you really have here now is Me."
Though I headed to what seemed like nowhere, I knew You would come, I knew You would meet me here. You were here to say "Welcome to Delaware... All you really have here now... is Me."
That song changed my life. No kidding.
That's why the site is called "Welcome to Delaware". Of course, it helps that its just offbeat enough to be memorable and quirky.
By the way, the line you see on the bottom of the title, "Thoughts of a Grace Abuser" comes from another song that changed my life. The song is called "Disappear", which was actually a consideration for the title of the site, from the band Out of the Grey, which was Christine and Scott Dente, another husband & wife duo.
The second verse--something about second verses and souls being stirred--says, "Given, I've been given so much freedom, Grace abounds and I'm the chief abuser..." That about sums it up.
Matter of fact, random Dave Trivia, years ago when I was about to leave AOL for good to get a Gmail email address, I was talking to Jessica Rogers about what my new screenname/email should be... GraceAbuser came up in the conversation, and she said, "That sounds cool, if you know what it means, but if you don't, it sounds like you are beating some girl named Grace." Touche. SuperDave it is.
Anyway, you can check the site out, or not, up to you. Bookmark it, or never look at it, its fine. I just did want to share, and let you know it was there.
But I'll expect you back here at least every few days.
Having said that, I do want to make it clear that as Christ Followers, I think everything we do is a form of ministry, because with our salvation secure and our hearts a home for the Holy Spirit, we are, for lack of a better phrase, Christ Ambassadors... but here, its not just Biblical scripture, prayers, Jesus, The Messiah (no, not Obama, I mean the real one), God and so on... I've read sites like that. While inspiring, it can get a little tedious. I enjoy what I write here, and enjoy the comments I get on all sorts of things.
Now... having said THAT... I wanted you to know about a "sister" site I have created. Its called "Welcome to Delaware"... while I would love to drive as many people to Clouds as possible--and would love for you to do the same--I'll only mention Delaware in this post, and it will be listed among the Recommended Blogs in the links to the right.
I'm sure you have two questions... the first being, why did you create another site? What is it even about, and why should I care? (that's three questions, but I kinda condensed them into one inquisitive string). The second being, what is with that name??? Who gives a rip about Delaware?? (again, more than one, but you get the gist.)
I created another site because while I love to journal--hence, Clouds in My Coffee--I tire quickly of writing on paper. My brain works too fast, though I'm sure The Lovely Steph Leann might disagree, for me to write down what I want in a legible manner, and it ends up scribbled... however, I type pretty doggone fast. In Mrs. Rials typing class in 11th grade at Samson High School (go Tigers!) I was top in the class, reaching 75 perfect words per minute
So, if I'm going to continue on my journey that I call "30 Days of Him"...
(I got that catchy little name from the movie "30 Days of Night", though thats where the similarilies end, I think--never pictured God as a vampire zombie. Randomly, vampires have been prevelant around my life lately... not that I know any, but I just finished reading "Salem's Lot" by Stephen King, an excellent vamp novel, I talked to Amy McL today about reading vampire novels, and I somehow ended up watching "Twilight" this afternoon... bored to tears. Seriously. There is about 10 minutes of that movie that I thought was enjoyable and... where was I?)
...I figured it would be better to type it out than write it. Plus, it would give me an outlet to start reprinting some of the "Random Emails of Encouragment" I used to write, long long ago. And Delaware will be simply that. God stuff. That's why I wanted to keep it separate from Clouds...
Don't fret, though, Coffee Drinkers. This will be my main site.
Now, why should you care? You don't have to, actually. You can visit every day, you might never go there. Its okay. I might mention it from time to time, but over all, its not a big deal.
Now... the name...
You've probably heard me mention "Welcome to Delaware" as a song, or that it is the title of the d$ Life Soundtrack, the double disc edition... well, I guess I should explain. McQ asked me tonight the perfect question... what does it mean to you?
"Welcome to Delaware" is a song from the former Christian duo WaterMark. I say "former", though Nathan and Christy Nockel are still together. They performed for years as WaterMark, now do separate projects, he as a worship leader for Passion, a writer and producer, and she as a worship leader for Passion and a solo artist.
The song is the 7th track off their 1998 self titled debut (you'll see from the link its now out of print), and its one of those hidden gems that few people even know about. It just stuck with me. When I was working at WTBF in Troy (Go Trojans!) I interviewed Christy for Sunday Night Power, my Christian Music show on Sunday nights, and I asked her the meaning behind the title...
She said, and I'm paraphrasing, "We had a concert in Delaware upcoming at the time, and neither of us had ever been there. We were nervous about it, about the area, it was winter, it was cold, it was unfamiliar... and it just kind of became a prayer. Its about God taking us to places we have never seen, cold places, unfamiliar places. Places we are not comfortable with."
Such is my life. I moved to Birmingham in August of 1998... I didn't know a soul, Amy Wible had abandoned me, I had an apartment I couldn't afford, my job I moved for was kaput after a week... and God was saying, "All you really have here now... is Me".
Well, its bitter cold December, and the leaves are falling true, and I do believe I'm still in love with You. Yeah, my scenery keeps changing, and sometimes its hard to view, but You've let me see so much since I've known You. But I headed to what seemed like nowhere (Birmingham?) but You told me to come, You told me You'd meet me here.
You were here to say, "Welcome to Delaware, I know you've traveled far. And its a lot colder here than what you're used to. And I know that in the wintertime, things aren't what they used to be, all you really have here now... is Me. All you really have here now is Me.
(by the way, the next verse is one of the most beautiful, deepest, sweetest verses to me in all of Christian music... I'm not kidding... as I sit here and think about how it applies to my life, I just wiped a tear away... man, its dusty in here...)
So I settled here, and that is that. For You to show me who I am, You had to take me to a place I've never been. And all the things I've dreaded most about the things unseen have now become the sweetest part of me...
Though I headed to what seemed like nowhere, I knew you would come, I knew You would meet me here.
You were here to say, "Welcome to Delaware, I know you've traveled far, and its alot colder here than what you're used to. And I know that in the wintertime, things aren't what they used to be. All you really have here now is Me."
Though I headed to what seemed like nowhere, I knew You would come, I knew You would meet me here. You were here to say "Welcome to Delaware... All you really have here now... is Me."
That song changed my life. No kidding.
That's why the site is called "Welcome to Delaware". Of course, it helps that its just offbeat enough to be memorable and quirky.
By the way, the line you see on the bottom of the title, "Thoughts of a Grace Abuser" comes from another song that changed my life. The song is called "Disappear", which was actually a consideration for the title of the site, from the band Out of the Grey, which was Christine and Scott Dente, another husband & wife duo.
The second verse--something about second verses and souls being stirred--says, "Given, I've been given so much freedom, Grace abounds and I'm the chief abuser..." That about sums it up.
Matter of fact, random Dave Trivia, years ago when I was about to leave AOL for good to get a Gmail email address, I was talking to Jessica Rogers about what my new screenname/email should be... GraceAbuser came up in the conversation, and she said, "That sounds cool, if you know what it means, but if you don't, it sounds like you are beating some girl named Grace." Touche. SuperDave it is.
Anyway, you can check the site out, or not, up to you. Bookmark it, or never look at it, its fine. I just did want to share, and let you know it was there.
But I'll expect you back here at least every few days.
The Apple Falls
My iPod has been dying. This has been a big deal for me, because I use it frequently, perhaps every day. With the end of the decade approaching in 13 months, I had already had preliminary thoughts of my possible Top 100 Coolest Things of the Decade, and had already decided the introduction of the iPod into my life had to be Top 10.
Not only do I listen to the iPod in the car, I listen to it many times when I'm out to eat my by myself... the other day I ate at Chipotle (I think) and it was a lonely, miserable lunch. Just me with my thoughts, and no ESPN College Gameday Podcast, or Rush Limbaugh 24/7, or PTI, or CarTalk or whatever audio book I'm onto next... I also listen to in while I'm in the shower. I have some iPod speakers, and I can plug it in and listen to whatever while I'm showering.
Heck, because of my irrational fear of the dark (irrational, because I'm entering mid-30s in a year or two), I plug it into the speakers so as to drift off to sleep to The Sports Guy or Dave Ramsey, so I don't have to hear every crack and crink of the house--normal sounds or otherwise.
My guess was, just the battery. When I plug it in, it says "Charged", but when I pull it off the wall charger, or from the computer after syncing, it goes out. "Low Battery". I've even had to pull out the car cradle, still leaving my ear buds in, because any frequency I use to try to play music through is all crackly and staticky.
This means I, who wears it while walking to work, who listens while shopping, or just goofin' around at Barnes & Noble, now have to be at my computer, next to a wall or in the car to listen to my iPod. I'm sure there are worse problems in the world, but this makes me sad.
Tyler the Sexy Beast, brother of The Lovely Steph Leann, had his crap out on him a year or two ago... he took it to Apple, they sent it in, he got it back after a few weeks... and it cost him (or his parents, anyway) about $80. Well, this is what I'll have to do, I guess. Sigh.
So, tonight, while out running errands--taking back some library books, doing some quick shopping, etc--I dropped by The Apple Store at the Summit. I'd been dreading this moment, as even being stuck to the wall or in a car for the last two weeks, at least I HAD the iPod... now? A few weeks without it. Might be good, I guess. I'll maybe listen to the radio... cause I know we all need to be keeping up with whats on 103.7 The Q--Birminghams station to hear Nickelback and Young Juc back to back!
Checked in at The Apple Store at The Summit, and somehow knew this would be a good night. You need an appointment to go to The Genius Bar (which, by the way is a new feature on iTunes--Genius--and while it might serve a great purpose later, its really annoying right now) and when I checked in with the concierge, she said, "Oh, we have one appointment left! At 7:50!" When I looked at my watch, it said 7:48! Rock on!
Walked to the middle of the store, looking around, piddling through the MacBooks that I can't afford, the AirBooks that I know I can't afford and the iPhones that I don't want, and looked up on the screen... "Next In Line (it said something like that) 1. david d. 2. s. else. 3. etc". Very exciting.
Finally, Adam the Apple Guy called for me, and I told him of my ills. He was impressed that my iPod battery had lasted almost 4 years (March would make it 4, methinks) and I told him how bummed I was that I was going to be without it for a few weeks.
Just a random question... who was reading the blog back when I had an RCA Lyra, and was loading all my CDs into my slow-as-molasses-on-a-cold-Alaskan-December-day computer, in anticipation of buying the iPod? Just curious.
Adam the Apple Guy said, "Well, that might not happen. If we have them in stock, we can give you a refurbished one, just trade them out. The battery and casing will be new, the hardware will be refurbished. Is that a solution?"
You mean I can walk out with this thing tonight? All bright and shiny? Heck yeah!
Adam the Apple Guy even did the registration online for me, with the new serial number and everything. And the price? Not the $80 or 90 I was planning on... but it was $59.99, plus tax. Total cost? $64.20. Love it.
So for the last few hours, my iPod has been plugged into my cOmputer, in iTunes... being a new-to-me iPod, it has to load EVERYTHING. And when you have over 10,000 songs and files, plus another 4717 pictures, it takes awhile.
Its going fast, though. When I started this blog, it was loading Jimmy Buffett's "Songs You Know By Heart" and right now its on Plumb's "Candycoatedwaterdrops".
And the cool thing is, my play counts stay updated... unlike earlier this year, when they were wiped out. Of course, it might be for the best that there is no substantial proof that I listened to "Fergalicious" 41 times.
And that is Good Times.
Not only do I listen to the iPod in the car, I listen to it many times when I'm out to eat my by myself... the other day I ate at Chipotle (I think) and it was a lonely, miserable lunch. Just me with my thoughts, and no ESPN College Gameday Podcast, or Rush Limbaugh 24/7, or PTI, or CarTalk or whatever audio book I'm onto next... I also listen to in while I'm in the shower. I have some iPod speakers, and I can plug it in and listen to whatever while I'm showering.
Heck, because of my irrational fear of the dark (irrational, because I'm entering mid-30s in a year or two), I plug it into the speakers so as to drift off to sleep to The Sports Guy or Dave Ramsey, so I don't have to hear every crack and crink of the house--normal sounds or otherwise.
My guess was, just the battery. When I plug it in, it says "Charged", but when I pull it off the wall charger, or from the computer after syncing, it goes out. "Low Battery". I've even had to pull out the car cradle, still leaving my ear buds in, because any frequency I use to try to play music through is all crackly and staticky.
This means I, who wears it while walking to work, who listens while shopping, or just goofin' around at Barnes & Noble, now have to be at my computer, next to a wall or in the car to listen to my iPod. I'm sure there are worse problems in the world, but this makes me sad.
Tyler the Sexy Beast, brother of The Lovely Steph Leann, had his crap out on him a year or two ago... he took it to Apple, they sent it in, he got it back after a few weeks... and it cost him (or his parents, anyway) about $80. Well, this is what I'll have to do, I guess. Sigh.
So, tonight, while out running errands--taking back some library books, doing some quick shopping, etc--I dropped by The Apple Store at the Summit. I'd been dreading this moment, as even being stuck to the wall or in a car for the last two weeks, at least I HAD the iPod... now? A few weeks without it. Might be good, I guess. I'll maybe listen to the radio... cause I know we all need to be keeping up with whats on 103.7 The Q--Birminghams station to hear Nickelback and Young Juc back to back!
Checked in at The Apple Store at The Summit, and somehow knew this would be a good night. You need an appointment to go to The Genius Bar (which, by the way is a new feature on iTunes--Genius--and while it might serve a great purpose later, its really annoying right now) and when I checked in with the concierge, she said, "Oh, we have one appointment left! At 7:50!" When I looked at my watch, it said 7:48! Rock on!
Walked to the middle of the store, looking around, piddling through the MacBooks that I can't afford, the AirBooks that I know I can't afford and the iPhones that I don't want, and looked up on the screen... "Next In Line (it said something like that) 1. david d. 2. s. else. 3. etc". Very exciting.
Finally, Adam the Apple Guy called for me, and I told him of my ills. He was impressed that my iPod battery had lasted almost 4 years (March would make it 4, methinks) and I told him how bummed I was that I was going to be without it for a few weeks.
Just a random question... who was reading the blog back when I had an RCA Lyra, and was loading all my CDs into my slow-as-molasses-on-a-cold-Alaskan-December-day computer, in anticipation of buying the iPod? Just curious.
Adam the Apple Guy said, "Well, that might not happen. If we have them in stock, we can give you a refurbished one, just trade them out. The battery and casing will be new, the hardware will be refurbished. Is that a solution?"
You mean I can walk out with this thing tonight? All bright and shiny? Heck yeah!
Adam the Apple Guy even did the registration online for me, with the new serial number and everything. And the price? Not the $80 or 90 I was planning on... but it was $59.99, plus tax. Total cost? $64.20. Love it.
So for the last few hours, my iPod has been plugged into my cOmputer, in iTunes... being a new-to-me iPod, it has to load EVERYTHING. And when you have over 10,000 songs and files, plus another 4717 pictures, it takes awhile.
Its going fast, though. When I started this blog, it was loading Jimmy Buffett's "Songs You Know By Heart" and right now its on Plumb's "Candycoatedwaterdrops".
And the cool thing is, my play counts stay updated... unlike earlier this year, when they were wiped out. Of course, it might be for the best that there is no substantial proof that I listened to "Fergalicious" 41 times.
And that is Good Times.
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Feelin' Good... December's Christmas Playlist
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Looking for The Day After Thanksgiving? Scroll down or click here
Thought since December had already started, I'd finally list the music on this months musical playlist... normally, I try to keep the list around 15, but its Christmas! That means a jumbo list of songs, all suited to keep you in the holiday spirit while you read The Clouds in My Coffee (and become a Coffee Drinker... it doesnt sign you up for anything, it only lets the world know that yes, you enjoy this blog!)
"Sleigh Ride" by Ella Fitzgerald. Is there a better way to start off a Christmas playlist that Ela Fitzgerald? This is one of my favorite Christmas tunes, and until I heard this one, Harry Connick Jr's version was the best... and then I discovered this Ella tune.
"All I Want for Christmas" by Vince Vance & the Valiants. This is truly my favorite Christmas song. Seriously. I don't know who Vince Vance is, I'm not sure who that actually is singing, and I've never heard of the Valiants--in fact, the rest of the album that I've heard is actually pretty terrible... but this countryfied, love-sick Christmas carol is just great.
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" by Judy Garland. The Lovely Steph Leann turned me on to "Meet Me In St. Louis", the musical starring the beautiful Ms. Garland. Its on my short list of movies that I really liked and just have to see again... I have a feeling a few viewings, and its probably going on The Dave100 2.0 in 2012.
Random trivia... Judy Garland refused to sing the original line, "Have yourself a merry little Christmas, it may be your last", as she regarded it as depressing and grim, and she was singing to Margaret O'Brien, then a child. She changed it, and the version she sings here is the one that everyone knows.
"Linus & Lucy" by Vince Guaraldi. You know this tune. You love this tune. This tune makes you happy, don't pretend that it doesn't.
"All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey. Perhaps one of the most overplayed songs this time of year... and you know what? I stop the radio every single time it comes on. I love this song. It makes me happy. This is Pre-Skank Mariah in her best form.
Even with the 1990s hair, I'd take pre-skank Mariah over skank Mariah any day of the week. She just sang better... "Vision of Love", "Fantasy", "Dream Lover", "Can't Let Go", "Emotions"... nothing in the last few years that she's released has come close to her early brilliance--and for whatever reason, every song has to have a "feat. (fill in rap/hip hop artist here)" tag attached to it. Is this necessary? Factor 7 never had a "Dusinane feat. RZA" or a "It Is Well feat. Missy Elliot with The Lox and Ray-J". When your "feat" tag is twice as long as your song title, its bad news. Where was I?
"Please Come Home For Christmas" by The Eagles. This is a fun song to sing. The piano keys echo to begin, then Don Henley's rasp comes... "bells will be ringin'.... the sad, sad news..."
"The Christmas Song" by The Carpenters. This is one of two for The Lovely Steph Leann. My favorite version of this is from Hootie & the Blowfish, but I couldn't find their take on this classic on the playlist site I use. So, I went with The Carpenters.
"Grown Up Christmas List" by Amy Grant. Aw, this song makes me all warm and fuzzy and weepy. Well, not weepy, but warm and fuzzy. Amy Grant is awesome.
"You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" by Sixpence None the Richer. There are several versions of this song out there, including the immortal Boris Karloff classic from the actual cartoon... but I liked the Sixpence. Leigh Nash's voice is just amazing.
"Feelin' Good" by Nina Simone. Technically this isn't a Christmas song, but every year, Starbucks comes out with a Holiday CD with a mixture of old, classic and new artists--Ella, Etta, Frank, Tony, along with Sarah McLachlan, Aimee Mann, Jack Johnson and the like. Well, one one entitled "Sleigh Full of Songs", I found this gem buried between Bing Crosby's "Little Drummer Boy" and The Great Satchmo's "Cool Yule" (that's Louis Armstrong, fyi). And from there, I discovered the joy that is Nina Simone. She's freakin' awesome.
"My Favorite Things" by Lorrie Morgan. Another song that has been done a thousand times... and aside from the original from The Sound of Music, this is my favorite take on this one. Lorrie Morgan is a country star with very little success nowadays, but back in the early 90s, when I assume this was recorded, she wasn't too bad.
"Christmas In Hollis" by Run DMC. Ah, anyone who has seen DieHard will recognize this. Its the song that Argyle the Limo Driver puts in when driving John McClane to the Nakatomi Building. "Don't you have any Christmas music?" asked McClane. "This IS Christmas music!" Argyle responds. Right he is.
"O Holy Night" by Rebecca St. James. While working at WTBF in Troy during Christmas of 1997, Word Records sent me this demo sampler CD from Rebecca St. James forthcoming Christmas album. It had a few different carols and hymns, but this is what stood out. Arguably, the definitive "O Holy Night" is Mahalia Jackson, and I won't argue there, but this is good too... its different.
"The River" by Sarah McLachlan. This one isn't too old, I don't think. Its from Sarah's Christmas CD "Wintersong", one of the 100 Coolest Things of 2007. Sweet. Sad. Lovely.
"Same Old Lang Syne" by Dan Fogelberg. The other song I threw on here just for The Lovely Steph Leann. The late Fogelberg reminded me of REO Speedwagon, STYX and Toto... great artist, especially at melancholy, sad ballads, but shouldn't every try to rock out. Fogelberg never really did, saving himself the laugh that is "Renegade" from STYX. Don't get me wrong, its a fun song, but "Renegade" is a silly song, not a rockin' song. Anyway, enjoy The Dan.
"Christmas Eve-Sarajevo" by The Tran-Siberian Orchestra. Another one I came across in 1997. I was blown away by it. I immediately played it for Doc Kirby, our program director, and he loved it too. We started tossing it into rotation. I played it for the WKMX program director then, and he didnt think it was all that great. "Not sure that will be very popular."
"Christmas in Dixie" by Alabama. For me, Alabama is the quinessential Alabama group. And as much as I hate "Sweet Home Alabama" by Skynyrd, I love "Christmas in Dixie". Perhaps its because I grew up on old school country (I vaguely remember when this song was brand spankin' new).
"Santa Baby" by Kylie Minogue. I cannot hear this song without thinking of Stephanie Rector. Deuce Christmas, 2000, I believe. Maybe 2001. Stephanie, in a purple sweater and red Santa hat, takes the microphone and begins to sing "Santa Baby". Mikey, her brother, looked on in horror as his younger sister reduced every other guy in the room to a puddle of mush at her feet. She swore she'd never do it again. Now married, that might be a good thing.
"Last Christmas" by Wham! Featuring George Michael. How can you have a Clouds in My Coffee Christmas without this tune? Most people aren't even sure when this song was done, who did it and where it came from--well, it was released as the B-side of the record "Everything She Wants" in 1984.
Back in the day, when singles were released for purchase and to radio (back before the words "digital" and "download" were used commonplace), the actual song that was to be released was on the A-Side. Now, because it was an actual record, with two sides, they had to put something on the other side, and usually it was a "throwaway" song, one that really had no hope of being popular... on the 84 record, "Last Christmas" was the B-Side.
And for you, My Clouds In My Coffee Drinkers... I give you the video, in all its horrendous glory, to Wham! feat. George Michael's song that will undoubtably last forever... "Last Christmas"
"Santa & His Old Lady" by Cheech & Chong. After the video, I'm not sure anything could top that. Well, maybe this hilarious little bit by Cheech & Chong, discussing Santa Claus and his magical night over Christmas. Don't worry, its a clean comedy bit.
Looking for The Day After Thanksgiving? Scroll down or click here
Thought since December had already started, I'd finally list the music on this months musical playlist... normally, I try to keep the list around 15, but its Christmas! That means a jumbo list of songs, all suited to keep you in the holiday spirit while you read The Clouds in My Coffee (and become a Coffee Drinker... it doesnt sign you up for anything, it only lets the world know that yes, you enjoy this blog!)
"Sleigh Ride" by Ella Fitzgerald. Is there a better way to start off a Christmas playlist that Ela Fitzgerald? This is one of my favorite Christmas tunes, and until I heard this one, Harry Connick Jr's version was the best... and then I discovered this Ella tune.
"All I Want for Christmas" by Vince Vance & the Valiants. This is truly my favorite Christmas song. Seriously. I don't know who Vince Vance is, I'm not sure who that actually is singing, and I've never heard of the Valiants--in fact, the rest of the album that I've heard is actually pretty terrible... but this countryfied, love-sick Christmas carol is just great.
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" by Judy Garland. The Lovely Steph Leann turned me on to "Meet Me In St. Louis", the musical starring the beautiful Ms. Garland. Its on my short list of movies that I really liked and just have to see again... I have a feeling a few viewings, and its probably going on The Dave100 2.0 in 2012.
Random trivia... Judy Garland refused to sing the original line, "Have yourself a merry little Christmas, it may be your last", as she regarded it as depressing and grim, and she was singing to Margaret O'Brien, then a child. She changed it, and the version she sings here is the one that everyone knows.
"Linus & Lucy" by Vince Guaraldi. You know this tune. You love this tune. This tune makes you happy, don't pretend that it doesn't.
"All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey. Perhaps one of the most overplayed songs this time of year... and you know what? I stop the radio every single time it comes on. I love this song. It makes me happy. This is Pre-Skank Mariah in her best form.
Even with the 1990s hair, I'd take pre-skank Mariah over skank Mariah any day of the week. She just sang better... "Vision of Love", "Fantasy", "Dream Lover", "Can't Let Go", "Emotions"... nothing in the last few years that she's released has come close to her early brilliance--and for whatever reason, every song has to have a "feat. (fill in rap/hip hop artist here)" tag attached to it. Is this necessary? Factor 7 never had a "Dusinane feat. RZA" or a "It Is Well feat. Missy Elliot with The Lox and Ray-J". When your "feat" tag is twice as long as your song title, its bad news. Where was I?
"Please Come Home For Christmas" by The Eagles. This is a fun song to sing. The piano keys echo to begin, then Don Henley's rasp comes... "bells will be ringin'.... the sad, sad news..."
"The Christmas Song" by The Carpenters. This is one of two for The Lovely Steph Leann. My favorite version of this is from Hootie & the Blowfish, but I couldn't find their take on this classic on the playlist site I use. So, I went with The Carpenters.
"Grown Up Christmas List" by Amy Grant. Aw, this song makes me all warm and fuzzy and weepy. Well, not weepy, but warm and fuzzy. Amy Grant is awesome.
"You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" by Sixpence None the Richer. There are several versions of this song out there, including the immortal Boris Karloff classic from the actual cartoon... but I liked the Sixpence. Leigh Nash's voice is just amazing.
"Feelin' Good" by Nina Simone. Technically this isn't a Christmas song, but every year, Starbucks comes out with a Holiday CD with a mixture of old, classic and new artists--Ella, Etta, Frank, Tony, along with Sarah McLachlan, Aimee Mann, Jack Johnson and the like. Well, one one entitled "Sleigh Full of Songs", I found this gem buried between Bing Crosby's "Little Drummer Boy" and The Great Satchmo's "Cool Yule" (that's Louis Armstrong, fyi). And from there, I discovered the joy that is Nina Simone. She's freakin' awesome.
"My Favorite Things" by Lorrie Morgan. Another song that has been done a thousand times... and aside from the original from The Sound of Music, this is my favorite take on this one. Lorrie Morgan is a country star with very little success nowadays, but back in the early 90s, when I assume this was recorded, she wasn't too bad.
"Christmas In Hollis" by Run DMC. Ah, anyone who has seen DieHard will recognize this. Its the song that Argyle the Limo Driver puts in when driving John McClane to the Nakatomi Building. "Don't you have any Christmas music?" asked McClane. "This IS Christmas music!" Argyle responds. Right he is.
"O Holy Night" by Rebecca St. James. While working at WTBF in Troy during Christmas of 1997, Word Records sent me this demo sampler CD from Rebecca St. James forthcoming Christmas album. It had a few different carols and hymns, but this is what stood out. Arguably, the definitive "O Holy Night" is Mahalia Jackson, and I won't argue there, but this is good too... its different.
"The River" by Sarah McLachlan. This one isn't too old, I don't think. Its from Sarah's Christmas CD "Wintersong", one of the 100 Coolest Things of 2007. Sweet. Sad. Lovely.
"Same Old Lang Syne" by Dan Fogelberg. The other song I threw on here just for The Lovely Steph Leann. The late Fogelberg reminded me of REO Speedwagon, STYX and Toto... great artist, especially at melancholy, sad ballads, but shouldn't every try to rock out. Fogelberg never really did, saving himself the laugh that is "Renegade" from STYX. Don't get me wrong, its a fun song, but "Renegade" is a silly song, not a rockin' song. Anyway, enjoy The Dan.
"Christmas Eve-Sarajevo" by The Tran-Siberian Orchestra. Another one I came across in 1997. I was blown away by it. I immediately played it for Doc Kirby, our program director, and he loved it too. We started tossing it into rotation. I played it for the WKMX program director then, and he didnt think it was all that great. "Not sure that will be very popular."
"Christmas in Dixie" by Alabama. For me, Alabama is the quinessential Alabama group. And as much as I hate "Sweet Home Alabama" by Skynyrd, I love "Christmas in Dixie". Perhaps its because I grew up on old school country (I vaguely remember when this song was brand spankin' new).
"Santa Baby" by Kylie Minogue. I cannot hear this song without thinking of Stephanie Rector. Deuce Christmas, 2000, I believe. Maybe 2001. Stephanie, in a purple sweater and red Santa hat, takes the microphone and begins to sing "Santa Baby". Mikey, her brother, looked on in horror as his younger sister reduced every other guy in the room to a puddle of mush at her feet. She swore she'd never do it again. Now married, that might be a good thing.
"Last Christmas" by Wham! Featuring George Michael. How can you have a Clouds in My Coffee Christmas without this tune? Most people aren't even sure when this song was done, who did it and where it came from--well, it was released as the B-side of the record "Everything She Wants" in 1984.
Back in the day, when singles were released for purchase and to radio (back before the words "digital" and "download" were used commonplace), the actual song that was to be released was on the A-Side. Now, because it was an actual record, with two sides, they had to put something on the other side, and usually it was a "throwaway" song, one that really had no hope of being popular... on the 84 record, "Last Christmas" was the B-Side.
And for you, My Clouds In My Coffee Drinkers... I give you the video, in all its horrendous glory, to Wham! feat. George Michael's song that will undoubtably last forever... "Last Christmas"
"Santa & His Old Lady" by Cheech & Chong. After the video, I'm not sure anything could top that. Well, maybe this hilarious little bit by Cheech & Chong, discussing Santa Claus and his magical night over Christmas. Don't worry, its a clean comedy bit.
D.A.T.
Nothing you have ever experienced will prepare you for the absolute carnage you are about to witness. Super Bowl, World Series - they don't know what pressure is. In The Happiest Place in the Mall, on the Day After Thanksgiving, it's either kill or be killed. You make no friends on the stage and you take no prisoners. One minute you're up holding a Tinkerbell doll and a 25% coupon and the next, boom, your kids don't get a single Mater die cast car and the Cast Members are telling you they're out of Pink Minnie Mouse plush.
Think big, think positive, never show any sign of weakness. Always go for the throat. Buy quick, use the discounts. Fear? That's the other Guest's problem. -- Louis Winthorpe III, from "Trading Places", paraphrased.
This is The Happiest Place in the Mall, the day after Thanksgiving.
There were almost 100 people waiting to enter when the doors opened at the stroke of midnight on the D.A.T. And there, they came. Even at 2am, Jennifer has great hair.
From all reaches of the city, the county, the country, they came. With desires of Mickey Mouse plates and Tinkerbell pillows, they came. With yearnings for Junior to open up the infrared remote control Power Rangers car, $29.50 but 20% off the entire store until noon, they came.
Me: "So, you decided to pick up 'Sword in the Stone' and 'Aristocats', huh? Great films, though I really love 'Aristocats'"
Guest: "Oh, definately. I'm just glad you had them!
Me: "Me too! Okay, your cost is $42.60" (the cost is approximate, by the way, I'm just telling a story here)
Guest: "How much? I thought that the movies were $5 off?"
Me: "No ma'am, these are $19.98 each"
Guest: (impatient) "But the sign says 'Titles $5 Off!'"
Me: (smiling) "That's just for three titles--'Ratatouille', 'High School Music 2' and 'Pirates of the Carribean 3-Two Disc Edition'"
Guest: (now sorta mad) "But where does it say that?"
This is the point where I try to carefully point out the rather large sign close to the DVDs, the shelf card actually on the DVD shelf and the 8x10 sign at the register less than two feet from where me and the guest are actually standing... all of which boldly proclaim, "SAVE $5 NOW FOR A LIMITED TIME ON THESE TITLES:" and have pictures of the movies "Ratatouille", "High School Musical 2" and "Pirates of the Carribean 3 - The Two Disc Special Edition".
At 3am, they weren't coming. It was the calm before the storm. It was the time to rush the shelves, to put onto the walls and floors whatever we could. Princess vanities, princess thrones, Belle toddler dolls, Mulan dolls, Toy Story Buzz Lightyear laser guns, Ariel sweatshirts... we ran back and forth. We moved with purpose. We moved with feeling. There wasn't much time. The clock was ticking. We knew this was the eye of a hurricane, a hurricane who's high Guest winds we only briefly felt before the monster was truly to come ashore.
We were ready. Were as ready as we could ever be. And still, we knew nothing. We waited.
Me: "How are ya this morning? Are you finding all the magic you need here at Plush Mountain?"
Guest: "Oh yes, definately. I've got my basket here, almost full! But I have a question..."
Me: "I have an answer!"
Guest: "Wonderful!" (I realize they are holding onto a Daisy Duck plush) "Now, is this $10.00?"
Me: "Absolutely... well, no. Actually, it's on sale for $7.99, plus 20% off the entire store until noon, and since its only 405am, it'll be $6.39!"
Guest: "Which ones are that price?"
Me, looking at her funny, then glancing at the big red sign that says "Plush - $7.99" which sits right in the middle of the Happiest Plush Pile in the Mall. I am fighting the urge to say, "Well, we've mixed in the $7.99 plush with the more expensive plush, so you have to just guess which ones might be $7.99--that sign there only refers to half of them. We just don't tell you which half."
Its 5am. The rumble is beginning. I've taken my only break I'll get. I sat for 30 minutes, eating an Orange Moon Pie and drinking a Vanilla Starbucks Espresso Energy Drink. Seriously, that was my late dinner, early breakfast, whatever you call it.
I walk the floor, but movement is slower now. Not because I'm tired, not because I am running out of strength, nay, because I'm running out of room. The floor space has been significantly reduced now with new bodies, new people, new guests. Shoulders are bumping, feet are shuffling, tensions are beginning to run high.
Shelves are now beginning to empty. Those people counting on Junior to excitedly open Blue Jungle Fury Power Ranger with the Kung Fu Grip on Christmas morning are worried... there are only two left on the rack. Can they make it across the store in time? The Magic 8 ball says no.
Guest: "Excuse me?"
Me: "Yes ma'am?"
Guest (holding up a white, long sleeve Minnie Mouse shirt): "Can you tell me if you have any more Extra Smalls in the back? I can't find any here"
Me: "Wow, I'm sorry--all the shirts we have are out here on the table."
Guest (contimplating, putting down the Minnie Mouse shirt and picking up a Tinkerbell shirt): "Well, what about this one? I didn't see any XS here on this one either"
Me: "No, ma'am, all the girls shirts we have are out here on the table"
Guest (picking up a Jasmine shirt): "What about this one?"
Me: "No ma'am. We've sold through a ton of girls shirts, and we put all of them out today"
Guest (pausing): "Do you have any more girls shirts in the back?"
Its 6am. The storm is here. The storm is blowing through the store. This is what we've trained for, this is what we've prepared for, this is truly what we've spent our days and nights studying for. This is not a drill, this is not an exercise, this is The Day After Thanksgiving. Black Friday.
The line starts in the back of the store. Five feet up, you can go left, and stand in a line headed towards the front register, the Box Office. You can go right, and stand in a line headed towards the back box office.
Brad Latta, resident Atty General for Clouds in My Coffee, and his wife, Another Lovely Stephanie, make an appearance. They pop in, say hey, pop out. They knew of the circumstances.
The store is so full, the store is so packed at this very moment, rather than work my way to the front of the store actually going through the store, I head out the backstage door, into the parking lot & parking deck, go right, go back into the mall's double entrance doors and go into the front of The Happiest Place in the Mall. I talk to some Guests, I talk to a few Cast Members, I get a feel that things are going great up here, and I leave the same way... out, around, through the back door and back into the front of the store.
And still they come.
Joe, another Cast Member: "Hey Dave, just wanted to let you know that some of the Guests are complaining about the long lines in the store."
I glance back to see Jillian and David on the two back Box Office registers, with Kourtney bagging. I look over to see Kristen, Tiffany and Melanie on the other registers, with Joy bagging.
There is nothing that can be done.
Me: "Dude. I don't know what they were expecting. Its the Day After Thanksgiving."
Its 7am. The storm is in full stride. The lines are long, the money is flowing, the inventory is disappearing.
Its 8am. The storm, while subsiding, is still dangerous. My body has now informed me, "Dave, man, you are tired. You are getting too old to do this. Why don't you just go lie down in the back?" I can't. I musn't. I must press forward. Junior needs his Club Penguin Firefighter, Juniorette needs her Aurora Rag dolls.
Its 9am. The clock is running. I can see the daylight now. Not the daylight that is streaming through the backdoor--that's been visibile for three hours now--but the daylight that is at the end of the tunnel. The tunnel that is marked 1030am on it.
Its 10am. One burst of energy left. I have a half hour. I press on. I move on. I walk, I run, I smile, I clap, I laugh, I dance.
Its 1030am. I've made it. While those Cast Members who have just arrived are beginning to form their own memories, for me, The Day After Thanksgiving has become one. I walk around The Happiest Place in the Mall, which has now just trickled to a busy Saturday crowd. I put one arm into my zippered sweatshirt, I slip the other arm into the sweatshirt, I zip it up, Eeyore half smiling at me from the breast pocket.
Its done. I walk out the open back door, smell the fresh carbon monoxide from the cars, take in the dreary day, and smile. The Day After Thanksgiving has now become a Day For Relaxation and Sleep.
Now, its on to Best Buy to find a good deal on a Blu-Ray player.
Think big, think positive, never show any sign of weakness. Always go for the throat. Buy quick, use the discounts. Fear? That's the other Guest's problem. -- Louis Winthorpe III, from "Trading Places", paraphrased.
This is The Happiest Place in the Mall, the day after Thanksgiving.
There were almost 100 people waiting to enter when the doors opened at the stroke of midnight on the D.A.T. And there, they came. Even at 2am, Jennifer has great hair.
From all reaches of the city, the county, the country, they came. With desires of Mickey Mouse plates and Tinkerbell pillows, they came. With yearnings for Junior to open up the infrared remote control Power Rangers car, $29.50 but 20% off the entire store until noon, they came.
Me: "So, you decided to pick up 'Sword in the Stone' and 'Aristocats', huh? Great films, though I really love 'Aristocats'"
Guest: "Oh, definately. I'm just glad you had them!
Me: "Me too! Okay, your cost is $42.60" (the cost is approximate, by the way, I'm just telling a story here)
Guest: "How much? I thought that the movies were $5 off?"
Me: "No ma'am, these are $19.98 each"
Guest: (impatient) "But the sign says 'Titles $5 Off!'"
Me: (smiling) "That's just for three titles--'Ratatouille', 'High School Music 2' and 'Pirates of the Carribean 3-Two Disc Edition'"
Guest: (now sorta mad) "But where does it say that?"
This is the point where I try to carefully point out the rather large sign close to the DVDs, the shelf card actually on the DVD shelf and the 8x10 sign at the register less than two feet from where me and the guest are actually standing... all of which boldly proclaim, "SAVE $5 NOW FOR A LIMITED TIME ON THESE TITLES:" and have pictures of the movies "Ratatouille", "High School Musical 2" and "Pirates of the Carribean 3 - The Two Disc Special Edition".
At 3am, they weren't coming. It was the calm before the storm. It was the time to rush the shelves, to put onto the walls and floors whatever we could. Princess vanities, princess thrones, Belle toddler dolls, Mulan dolls, Toy Story Buzz Lightyear laser guns, Ariel sweatshirts... we ran back and forth. We moved with purpose. We moved with feeling. There wasn't much time. The clock was ticking. We knew this was the eye of a hurricane, a hurricane who's high Guest winds we only briefly felt before the monster was truly to come ashore.
We were ready. Were as ready as we could ever be. And still, we knew nothing. We waited.
Me: "How are ya this morning? Are you finding all the magic you need here at Plush Mountain?"
Guest: "Oh yes, definately. I've got my basket here, almost full! But I have a question..."
Me: "I have an answer!"
Guest: "Wonderful!" (I realize they are holding onto a Daisy Duck plush) "Now, is this $10.00?"
Me: "Absolutely... well, no. Actually, it's on sale for $7.99, plus 20% off the entire store until noon, and since its only 405am, it'll be $6.39!"
Guest: "Which ones are that price?"
Me, looking at her funny, then glancing at the big red sign that says "Plush - $7.99" which sits right in the middle of the Happiest Plush Pile in the Mall. I am fighting the urge to say, "Well, we've mixed in the $7.99 plush with the more expensive plush, so you have to just guess which ones might be $7.99--that sign there only refers to half of them. We just don't tell you which half."
Its 5am. The rumble is beginning. I've taken my only break I'll get. I sat for 30 minutes, eating an Orange Moon Pie and drinking a Vanilla Starbucks Espresso Energy Drink. Seriously, that was my late dinner, early breakfast, whatever you call it.
I walk the floor, but movement is slower now. Not because I'm tired, not because I am running out of strength, nay, because I'm running out of room. The floor space has been significantly reduced now with new bodies, new people, new guests. Shoulders are bumping, feet are shuffling, tensions are beginning to run high.
Shelves are now beginning to empty. Those people counting on Junior to excitedly open Blue Jungle Fury Power Ranger with the Kung Fu Grip on Christmas morning are worried... there are only two left on the rack. Can they make it across the store in time? The Magic 8 ball says no.
Guest: "Excuse me?"
Me: "Yes ma'am?"
Guest (holding up a white, long sleeve Minnie Mouse shirt): "Can you tell me if you have any more Extra Smalls in the back? I can't find any here"
Me: "Wow, I'm sorry--all the shirts we have are out here on the table."
Guest (contimplating, putting down the Minnie Mouse shirt and picking up a Tinkerbell shirt): "Well, what about this one? I didn't see any XS here on this one either"
Me: "No, ma'am, all the girls shirts we have are out here on the table"
Guest (picking up a Jasmine shirt): "What about this one?"
Me: "No ma'am. We've sold through a ton of girls shirts, and we put all of them out today"
Guest (pausing): "Do you have any more girls shirts in the back?"
Its 6am. The storm is here. The storm is blowing through the store. This is what we've trained for, this is what we've prepared for, this is truly what we've spent our days and nights studying for. This is not a drill, this is not an exercise, this is The Day After Thanksgiving. Black Friday.
The line starts in the back of the store. Five feet up, you can go left, and stand in a line headed towards the front register, the Box Office. You can go right, and stand in a line headed towards the back box office.
Brad Latta, resident Atty General for Clouds in My Coffee, and his wife, Another Lovely Stephanie, make an appearance. They pop in, say hey, pop out. They knew of the circumstances.
The store is so full, the store is so packed at this very moment, rather than work my way to the front of the store actually going through the store, I head out the backstage door, into the parking lot & parking deck, go right, go back into the mall's double entrance doors and go into the front of The Happiest Place in the Mall. I talk to some Guests, I talk to a few Cast Members, I get a feel that things are going great up here, and I leave the same way... out, around, through the back door and back into the front of the store.
And still they come.
Joe, another Cast Member: "Hey Dave, just wanted to let you know that some of the Guests are complaining about the long lines in the store."
I glance back to see Jillian and David on the two back Box Office registers, with Kourtney bagging. I look over to see Kristen, Tiffany and Melanie on the other registers, with Joy bagging.
There is nothing that can be done.
Me: "Dude. I don't know what they were expecting. Its the Day After Thanksgiving."
Its 7am. The storm is in full stride. The lines are long, the money is flowing, the inventory is disappearing.
Its 8am. The storm, while subsiding, is still dangerous. My body has now informed me, "Dave, man, you are tired. You are getting too old to do this. Why don't you just go lie down in the back?" I can't. I musn't. I must press forward. Junior needs his Club Penguin Firefighter, Juniorette needs her Aurora Rag dolls.
Its 9am. The clock is running. I can see the daylight now. Not the daylight that is streaming through the backdoor--that's been visibile for three hours now--but the daylight that is at the end of the tunnel. The tunnel that is marked 1030am on it.
Its 10am. One burst of energy left. I have a half hour. I press on. I move on. I walk, I run, I smile, I clap, I laugh, I dance.
Its 1030am. I've made it. While those Cast Members who have just arrived are beginning to form their own memories, for me, The Day After Thanksgiving has become one. I walk around The Happiest Place in the Mall, which has now just trickled to a busy Saturday crowd. I put one arm into my zippered sweatshirt, I slip the other arm into the sweatshirt, I zip it up, Eeyore half smiling at me from the breast pocket.
Its done. I walk out the open back door, smell the fresh carbon monoxide from the cars, take in the dreary day, and smile. The Day After Thanksgiving has now become a Day For Relaxation and Sleep.
Now, its on to Best Buy to find a good deal on a Blu-Ray player.
Monday, December 01, 2008
All Things New
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And I'm so thankful for this life that I know That I am no longer what I was Because of Your love And the beauty of the cross I can see Your work in me
Man, I need a quiet time.
Seriously. I was thinking about it today, and its been a while since I've had a seat with my Jesus, dug into his Word and just... well, just been.
My problem isn't a want-to, its a do. I do want to. I just never find the time to do it. Then, I feel bad because sometimes when I do it...
...for those of you who perhaps are a little confused by the term "quiet time", its simply a time alone with God. It can be praying. It can be reading. It can be worshipping somehow. It can be studying--though some people say that "studying" isn't a quiet time, its Word Study, because a quiet time is supposed to be a time of peace and... quiet....
...anyway, sometimes when I do it, its kind of a guilty feeling, because I'm not doing it out of a desire to be closer to Him, I'm doing it out of... well, obligation. And it shouldn't be that way, should it? So, I say, "forget it. I'll do it later", and then turn to read the book, watch the movie, write the blog, update the DFC, visit the Chipotle Grill, listen to the song, live the life, walk the walk, but not with Him.
And I've just got to simply change that. See, I want to be that guy that people say, "Wow, he's all about some Jesus, ain't he?" Not that I want to be a "look at me! I'm kind of a big deal around God's Kingdom here" kind of guy, but if people say things like, "Ya know, that guy has some Jesus in him," then it means I'm doing something right.
I was thinking about it at work today, and at Starbucks tonight. So what if I just dove right in? What if I just said, "Ya know what, for the next week, I'm just doing it. Ten minutes per day. Fifteen. Whatever. I'll make it work." Then I thought, "Well, lets make it a month. Thirty one days, I'll start when I get home."
Of course, I only got to chat with The Lovely Steph Leann for a few minutes tonight, so to ensure that I can get up early enough to do this, plus spend some quality time with my life partner and best friend, it might be best to start tomorrow. That being Tuesday. The obvious question, is of course, "Why December? Dude, its going to be really busy, you'll never keep that kind of committment", and the answer simply is, "Why not December? Its the busiest time, which makes it the time I need the Word most."
I'm going to call on some of you to hold me accountable, and I'm going to write a daily blurb about it on another blog site I have semi-set up. I'll update that tomorrow night, though.
Anyway, wanted to post this song... its the song I was listening to on the way home. (stick around at the bottom for the random story)
From the album "All Things New", its first ballot Dave Hall of Famers WaterMark. You may want to cut the playlist music off for this.
Blue skies that take me back to being a child, trees with leaves that turn the colors I love.
A heart that's beating to Your melodies ringing, and I am a miracle 'cause heaven is a part of me
and You are the song that I'm singing
I was created to love You, I was created to need You
I was created to know You and I am a miracle 'cause heaven is a part of me and You are the air that I'm breathin'
Because of who You are and who I am in you
You make all things pure
Because of who You are and who I am in You
You make all things true
You make all things new
I was created to love You
I was created to need You
I was created to know You and
I am a miracle 'cause heaven is a part of me and
You are the air that I'm breathin'
And I'm so thankful for this life that I know
That I am no longer what I was
Because of Your love and the beauty of the cross
I can see Your work in me
All things new
All things new in me
All things new
All things new in me
Random Story That Somehow Fits:
So, my iPod is dying. The battery is dying, and its very painful, because I can only listen to it when its hooked up to a power source, ie, I'm close to a wall or in the car. No walking around. It really stinks. I know, I can get it changed for about, I dunno, $80 or something, and since I just have that right around here somwhere, I'll do that.
Anyway, its been bothersome because I've been re-reading/listening to "'Salem's Lot" by Stephen King, and after getting all excited and tense in the car, I would absent-mindedly take it out of the car cradle and just listen to it in the house... and after about, maybe six seconds, it would die.
Tonight, I'm driving home, listening to my favorite WaterMark songs, with this whole Quiet Time every day concept application in my head, and I was listening to All Things New, which is just a powerful song... I am a miracle, cause heaven is a part of me... and when it says "I'm so thankful for this life that I know, that I am no longer what I was, because of Your love and the beauty of the cross..." wow, it just gets me.
I listen to the whole song, and flip back to hear it one more time, really just praying the lyrics, concentrating hard, when I get to The Cabana. Still a 1:44 left in the song. Its cold, so with sigh, I gather my junk up, pull it out of the car iPod cradle, and head inside. And it doesn't die. In fact, it played the rest of the song... the iPod died with :02 left in the song. Just in time for me to turn around and see The Lovely Steph Leann at the sink.
Maybe it was nothing. Maybe it was God wanting me to hear the lyrics again. I dunno. But I'm always struck something I heard Marla Ingram say, back in 1994 at Troy... we're sitting around the table eating lunch, and Marla walks up. Thin, pretty red head, bouncy, she drew all of our attention--the guys, anyway--as we all conversed with her. Finally, she said, "Well, I gotta go!" with an excited voice.
"Class?" I asked.
"No! I always spend time with God around this time of the morning, in between classes, and I'm excited!" And with that, she walked off.
One day soon. All things new.
And I'm so thankful for this life that I know That I am no longer what I was Because of Your love And the beauty of the cross I can see Your work in me
Man, I need a quiet time.
Seriously. I was thinking about it today, and its been a while since I've had a seat with my Jesus, dug into his Word and just... well, just been.
My problem isn't a want-to, its a do. I do want to. I just never find the time to do it. Then, I feel bad because sometimes when I do it...
...for those of you who perhaps are a little confused by the term "quiet time", its simply a time alone with God. It can be praying. It can be reading. It can be worshipping somehow. It can be studying--though some people say that "studying" isn't a quiet time, its Word Study, because a quiet time is supposed to be a time of peace and... quiet....
...anyway, sometimes when I do it, its kind of a guilty feeling, because I'm not doing it out of a desire to be closer to Him, I'm doing it out of... well, obligation. And it shouldn't be that way, should it? So, I say, "forget it. I'll do it later", and then turn to read the book, watch the movie, write the blog, update the DFC, visit the Chipotle Grill, listen to the song, live the life, walk the walk, but not with Him.
And I've just got to simply change that. See, I want to be that guy that people say, "Wow, he's all about some Jesus, ain't he?" Not that I want to be a "look at me! I'm kind of a big deal around God's Kingdom here" kind of guy, but if people say things like, "Ya know, that guy has some Jesus in him," then it means I'm doing something right.
I was thinking about it at work today, and at Starbucks tonight. So what if I just dove right in? What if I just said, "Ya know what, for the next week, I'm just doing it. Ten minutes per day. Fifteen. Whatever. I'll make it work." Then I thought, "Well, lets make it a month. Thirty one days, I'll start when I get home."
Of course, I only got to chat with The Lovely Steph Leann for a few minutes tonight, so to ensure that I can get up early enough to do this, plus spend some quality time with my life partner and best friend, it might be best to start tomorrow. That being Tuesday. The obvious question, is of course, "Why December? Dude, its going to be really busy, you'll never keep that kind of committment", and the answer simply is, "Why not December? Its the busiest time, which makes it the time I need the Word most."
I'm going to call on some of you to hold me accountable, and I'm going to write a daily blurb about it on another blog site I have semi-set up. I'll update that tomorrow night, though.
Anyway, wanted to post this song... its the song I was listening to on the way home. (stick around at the bottom for the random story)
From the album "All Things New", its first ballot Dave Hall of Famers WaterMark. You may want to cut the playlist music off for this.
Blue skies that take me back to being a child, trees with leaves that turn the colors I love.
A heart that's beating to Your melodies ringing, and I am a miracle 'cause heaven is a part of me
and You are the song that I'm singing
I was created to love You, I was created to need You
I was created to know You and I am a miracle 'cause heaven is a part of me and You are the air that I'm breathin'
Because of who You are and who I am in you
You make all things pure
Because of who You are and who I am in You
You make all things true
You make all things new
I was created to love You
I was created to need You
I was created to know You and
I am a miracle 'cause heaven is a part of me and
You are the air that I'm breathin'
And I'm so thankful for this life that I know
That I am no longer what I was
Because of Your love and the beauty of the cross
I can see Your work in me
All things new
All things new in me
All things new
All things new in me
Random Story That Somehow Fits:
So, my iPod is dying. The battery is dying, and its very painful, because I can only listen to it when its hooked up to a power source, ie, I'm close to a wall or in the car. No walking around. It really stinks. I know, I can get it changed for about, I dunno, $80 or something, and since I just have that right around here somwhere, I'll do that.
Anyway, its been bothersome because I've been re-reading/listening to "'Salem's Lot" by Stephen King, and after getting all excited and tense in the car, I would absent-mindedly take it out of the car cradle and just listen to it in the house... and after about, maybe six seconds, it would die.
Tonight, I'm driving home, listening to my favorite WaterMark songs, with this whole Quiet Time every day concept application in my head, and I was listening to All Things New, which is just a powerful song... I am a miracle, cause heaven is a part of me... and when it says "I'm so thankful for this life that I know, that I am no longer what I was, because of Your love and the beauty of the cross..." wow, it just gets me.
I listen to the whole song, and flip back to hear it one more time, really just praying the lyrics, concentrating hard, when I get to The Cabana. Still a 1:44 left in the song. Its cold, so with sigh, I gather my junk up, pull it out of the car iPod cradle, and head inside. And it doesn't die. In fact, it played the rest of the song... the iPod died with :02 left in the song. Just in time for me to turn around and see The Lovely Steph Leann at the sink.
Maybe it was nothing. Maybe it was God wanting me to hear the lyrics again. I dunno. But I'm always struck something I heard Marla Ingram say, back in 1994 at Troy... we're sitting around the table eating lunch, and Marla walks up. Thin, pretty red head, bouncy, she drew all of our attention--the guys, anyway--as we all conversed with her. Finally, she said, "Well, I gotta go!" with an excited voice.
"Class?" I asked.
"No! I always spend time with God around this time of the morning, in between classes, and I'm excited!" And with that, she walked off.
One day soon. All things new.
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