Musical Seasons of September

Someone actually told me that they were anxiously awaiting what was being chosen for September... so, uh... here we go!

I will say this... some music, like some great movies, have a few concepts which aren't necessarily on the up and up. So for some of you, especially you EMMY TURNBOW, when you hear the words, "Hello daddy...", its time for you to skip to the next song. And I think if you hear the fiddle and bluegrass, you'll want to do the same.

"You're So Vain" by Carly Simon... of course. This stays.

"Learn to Fly" by The Foo Fighters... Just awesome. Epitome of the 90s rock sound, and just a fun driving song.

"Seasons of Love" by the Cast of Rent... I have to say that I liked the show, I didn't love the show. I also enjoyed the movie, perhaps because I think Idina Menzel is as hot as rock fire, in a Jennifer Herndon sort of way, and I've always liked Anthony Rapp, who you might recognize as Daryl from "Adventures in Babysitting". This song, however, is magnificent.


Here's the video from the movie, and yes, its That Guy from Law & Order. Personally, I like the Broadway version better, but this is still a pretty good version. Also, I recommend Anthony Rapp's biography.

(SOAPBOX ALERT!!) Can I tell you why I like this show, as a Believer and Christ Follower? This show is a great example of who we are supposed to be about. Its easy to sit in church, and pray and encourage each other, and love on each other, and fellowships and so on... and yes, that is what Jesus wants us to do. But you know what else He wants us to do? Love on the people who aren't Christ Followers. And that means more than the potty mouth guy in your office, or the somewhat promiscious secretary down the hall... but it also means the people in Rent. The bisexuals. The transvestities. The drug addicts. The lesbians. The straight people. All of them. Every one of them. So when Angel dies of AIDS in this show, I can only think of how many Angel-type people in this world die everyday without the full knowledge of The Gospel, because people like me don't care enough to deal with them.

Oh, and I don't mean The Angel, because that's Heather Hanson. I mean Angel Schunard, in the show, the transvestite. There is a difference. We'll be back to The 700 Club after this break.

Where was I?

"You Give Good Love" by Whitney Houston... For Michelle. Inside joke.

"Better Man" by Pearl Jam... For KT, though its not an inside joke. We just both like this song.

"Sitting, Wishing, Waiting" by Jack Johnson... one of those elite few artists who can continually be popular and much loved without ever having much mainstream success. Good tune.

"Best of My Love" by The Emotions... Disco at its finest. Well, "finest" might be the wrong word, but Disco at its best... hmm, "best" might also be a strong word. Um, how about, a great example of Disco. I love this song. It makes me smile, and any song that can make me smile is worth it for me.

"Push" by Sarah McLachlan. This one might be for The Lovely Steph Leann. "You stay the course, you hold the line, you keep it all together. You're the one true thing I know I can believe in." Well, her and The Messiah. And since I'm not a Democrat, I mean Jesus, not Barack Hussein Obama. Just sayin'.

"Who Am I/Grace Flows Down" by Watermark. One of my all time favorite worship songs, from a band thats a guaranteed future Dave Hall of Famer.

"Live Like You Were Dying," by Tim McGraw. The Lovely Steph Leann and I went out the other night (how old are you when date night includes a stop at Wal-Mart?) and we were joking around and listening to the radio and talking and what have you... and this song came on. And we both sang. Its such a simple, perhaps silly song, but its really genius.

"This Song Remembers When" by Trisha Yearwood. In May of 2006, on this very blog, I ranked this as the saddest song ever written. I stand by that assertion. How painful is it when you think you've gotten over someone, and a song comes on that takes it all back for you? Ouch.

"Sin Wagon" by The Dixie Chicks. I'll admit it... I'm a fool for chicks with guitars and fiddles, and this has both. Another song I love to hear in the car, as I beat my steering wheel with reckless abandon, and move my head unintentionally. With any luck, you'll hear "Who Am I/Grace Falls Down" immediately after this, just to keep you straight.

"Hook" by Blues Traveler. I thought perhaps of "Run Around", and thats on the list for October, but I really liked this one too. John Popper is pretty talented on the harmonica.

"Someone Saved My Life Tonight" by Elton John. This is The Lovely Steph Leann's favorite Elton John song, and thought I was a fan of "Tiny Dancer" and "Take Me to the Pilot", I have to admit, this is right up there. Great piano, great tune, great voice.

"Loungin' (who do you love?)" by LL Cool J. I'm a huge Cool J fan, always have been, even with the crappy stuff from the 80s ("I Need Love"? Puh-leez...). Anyway, the song officially has no dirty words in it, though it has a few (!) innuendos. So, this is the PG-13 part of the blog.

Again, with any luck, you'll hear "Sin Wagon", followed by "Who Am I/Grace Falls Down", only to finish with "Loungin' (who do you love?)"... because that's what just happened to me. I'm so conflicted.

Got a song you'd love to hear in October? Let me know.

She Might Be a Prostitute... and other ramblings tonight

I'm walking. I'm walking down a covered path, not covered by any manmade roof, but by a thatch of branches, shadowing the path from trees to the left and right. There's a small hut up the way a little. Men and woman are walking past me, behind me, in front of me. As I approach the hut, I see a table, a long legged, small surface table. It stands tall, at the back of the small hut. I can see plainly the book, as the day is warm and sunny, the light creeping through the branches of the trees into the open walls of the hut.

There's a book on the table. Its made of leather and parchment... its obvious its been man-made, but it has been beautifully crafted. As I open it, it strikes me as odd... this is a book... a book of... prostitutes? There are names of women of the night in this book. Many, many names. I recognize one of them. I know her! I know who that is! But certainly, she's not a prostitute? I mean, I would have heard of this... I would know this, right?

This can't be. This mustn't be. Not her. No. NO! I throw the book down, and race back down the path... I've got to find her... I've got to ask her... I've got to know, "Are you a woman of ill repute???" I've got to discover, "Are you a lady of the night???" I've got to find out, "Are you in the oldest profession???" And I've got to know why, according to the book, her prices are so cheap!

There she is... I'm going to ask her. But I see light. Bright light.

For some strange reason, The Lovely Steph Leann has turned the light on. Please understand, I'm exhausted, getting only a few hours sleep the night before... and I have to open at Starbucks the next morning. I've gone to bed at 10:30, intending on at least 6 hours of solid sleep... but the lamp wakes me up. I lift my head to look at my lovely wife, who, mind you, has come to bed maybe an hour after me... she looks at me and screams. Now I'm really awake. Completely awake.

"What the heck?" I ask. "What's wrong?"
"Uh... you scared me..." she says in a stupor
"Scared you? What? I've been in bed for two hours now... you came after me... how did I scare you?"
"You just... you just did... I dunno..." The Lovely Steph Leann struggles with comprehension for a minute, then turns the light back off.

You know how, when you're really tired, and you end up sleeping for only 2 hours, and you wake up still exhausted? Like, your eyes hurt, your arms are sore, you just feel like dying kind of exhausted. This was me after The Lovely Steph Leann turned on the light, screamed, stared at me, then turned the light off, and was asleep within five minutes. Not good times. Bad times, bad times.

And I don't know if she was a prostitute!!!

$$$$$$$$$$

We were a part of the job fair at UAB, recruiting for The Happiest Place in the Mall. Dan, the Other Happiest Assistant Manager at The Happiest Place in the Mall, and Yours Truly set up a table, tablecloth, a few Mickey & Minnie items, and some applications. And we waited.

I had observed some of the other tables around the perimeter... there were about 34 or 35 other businesses that were also hitting the freshman and upper class pool of people, which is ingenius, because they are all in college and broke.

The McWane Center was a hit. They had the table in front of the door, so as you walk in, you see them, and many people went straight there. We were diagonal from McWane, so you passed by The Happiest Table in the Job Fair on your right as you came in the room. Across from us was Alabama Telco Credit Union, which, though they were nice, I gotta say wasn't the most entertaining, fun idea for a part time job.

Don't get me wrong, I think you do what you gotta do when the time arrives, but if I walk into the job fair such as these kids did, I'm looking at McWane, or The Learning Express (complete with their lot of fun toys on the table) or Ross Bridges Golf Course or something like that. The Credit Union, be it Alabama Telco or Legacy, cause they were both there, wouldnt be my first choice. And who wants to work at freakin' Newk's Express Cafe? Or Panera Bread? Or a dental office?

Victoria's Secret was there, and I'll be honest with you... if I ever walk into that store again, and they've hired some of the people that I saw apply, trust me, I will not want to think about women's underwear. Not in the slightest.

International students can't work off campus, so half of our morning was spent telling Habeeb and Ismish and Rjnrnwvn that we were located at the Galleria Mall, about 10 miles from campus. I'm not sure some countries actually know about vowels.

The result is that I've got 9 interviews on Monday set up. I expect a few of them to not show up, there are one or two that I'm hoping will work out cause they were awesome, and there's some that I could go either way on.

$$$$$$$$$$

I did my first interviews for The Happiest Place in the Mall last week, and really, sometimes its just funny. One girl was so quiet, I had to lean forward to hear anything she had to say... "So what are your favorite Disney characters?"

"Oh, I likes Mickey. He's so fun..."
"What about your favorite Disney movies?"
(thinking, and it looks as if it takes effort) "I like Winnies the Pooh"
I then ask, "Tell me about your shopping habits. What do you look for in a store?" (now, I know she might not understand this question, so I clarify) "I mean, not really what you are shopping for, but what makes a store or shop stand out to you?"
(thinking again) "I like... I like to shop for shoes. And jew-ree. And clothes. And ak-cess-rees."
(pausing a second to remove the blue, fine point sharpie out of my eye) "Okay... well, give for me a great shopping experience you've had in the past. When you went shopping and was just made very happy with the whole time. What happened?"
(thinking again) "I like... I shop at May-says... and Pennies... And Sears--I love Sears"
(pausing again to pull the paper clips out from under my fingernails) "Okay, well, tell me what you think will be the most challenging thing about working at our store..."
(thinking again) "The register. Probably working the register."
(nodding, for once, as she gives a sensable answer) "Tell me what you think will be the most enjoyable part of the job?"
(thinking one final time, as this might be all she's got) "Um... probably the register"

She didn't get the job

$$$$$$$$$$

You know, I want to like the Olympics... I really do. I mean, the gymnastics are unbelievable, even if they are a little creepy, and the track is awesome, cause its simply, "Who can run faster?" and the swimming is fun, because its simply, "Who can swim faster?" But overall, its hard to get all excited for most of the Olympics, because none of you... and I mean NONE OF YOU care about fencing, nor water polo, nor women's sand volleyball, nor the decathalon, nor the trampoline, nor handball except for every four years. And let's face it, you take out swimming and gymnastics, then you lose 58% of your chick audience.

Don't get me wrong... I love my country, and I'm proud of the fact that as of this moment, we've to 107 medals, and am second--and a distant second--to only China in gold medals. Michael Phelps? He's a beast, seriously. Possibly the world's greatest athlete, until we find another one who is just as good, next week.

But really, will you remember anything beyond Michael Phelps? Maybe, and that's a solid maybe Nastia Liukin, but only because of her name. I mean, who remembers Carly Patterson?

And is it just me, or did Nastia and Shawn Johnson's Gold and Silver medals feel tainted, as both have heavy foriegn influences? Nastia was born in Russia, and brought to the US but trained under Muther Rusha's reign of premature growth. Shawn Johnson was born here, grew up in Iowa and trained under Laing Chow, from China.

Which led to this exchange with Mikey Nipp over lunch:
Mikey: Nastia is kinda hot
Me: Yeah, but dude... she's like jailbait
Mikey: Oh no she's not. Shawn Johnson is, but Nastia is 18. She's totally legal, dude
Me: Oh yeah...

Did you know, though, that softball is coming out of the Olympics in 2012? The rumor is, because the US Girls have won the gold every single time since it was introduced in 1996, though they just lost this time. And no lacrosse, no rugby... but there's badminton and handball.

Personally, I think they should make MMA an Olympic sport, and have countries that don't get along face off. Can you imagine the scene when Russia's Olympic MMA champ Igor Krhrzaovic takes on Georgia's MMA champ, Viktr Lozrovich? Or Israel's Ismael Epstein up against Palestine's Mahmeed Amajendade? THAT would be something I'd be up for.

$$$$$$$$$$

The Lovely Steph Leann is home. She's lying on the futon behind me, in the guest room here, and I'm web surfin'. On the blogsite here, comes Carly Simon's "You're So Vain". Whether we meant to do it or not, I'm not sure, but we both end up singing the first line...

"You walked into... the party... like you were walking onto a yacht... your hat strategically placed below one eye... your scarf it was apricot..."

Then, the next line. She sang, "With one eye in the mirror, you watched yourself go by..." and I sang, "With one eye in the mirror, you watched yourself cravat..." She looked at me, and said, "That's not what she's singing." I said, "It's something like that... I mean, I know its not 'go by'." She looked puzzled. "But that doesn't make any sense, does it? I mean, a cravat? That's a scarf, I think."

I replied simply, "Well, whatever it is, I know its not 'watch yourself go by.' I know that because that used to be the line I used, but I looked it up one day and found out I was wrong about that." And this was true.

She replied, "Well, I can't imagine she would sing 'you watched yourself cravat'. That makes no sense whatsoever." So, I turned to look it up. And the line? "With one eye in the mirror, you watched yourself gravotte..." I read the line to The Lovely Steph Leann, and she sat up. We both wondered... what's a gavotte?

Turns out, its a french dance of some sort. Apparently, in this context, it means pretentious or egotistical style of dancing.

You wanna know what else about this song, which is my Dave Hot 100 Ever? "then you flew your Lear Jet up to Nova Scotia to see the total eclipse of the sun..." stems from the fact there were 2 solar eclipses in Nova Scotia in the 70s. It's also noteworthy that Warren Beatty, who has been rumored to be the subject of this song, has a mother who lives in Nova Scotia.

And, when "I hear you went up to Saratoga, and your horse naturally one...", it refers to the Saratoga Race Course meeting held in late July, August and early September in Saratoga Springs, New York. The meeting is known to be frequented by the rich and famous of New York and other places on the East Coast.

I had some dreams, they were Clouds in My Coffee, Clouds in My Coffee...

$$$$$$$$$$

And, finally... I'm behind the Box Office, at The Happiest Place in the Mall last week. Up walks three guests, one with the merchandise, one who apparently is her son, and another who seems like the son's friend.

She is buying some Tinkerbell pajamas, a Tinkerbell shirt and a little soft baseball with Tinkerbell on it. I chat with her for a moment, mostly about Disney and Tinkerbell, whom I admit I've got a cartoon crush on--she's silent, and 2D hot... and yes, I'm in therapy right now--and she tells me how she's loved Tinkerbell for years and years and years.

She pays with a credit card, and I ask for ID. The son pipes up, and says, "Wow, rough joint, you get carded here!"
And I smile and reply, "Well, you know, I have to make sure she's 21!" to which the mom grinned.
The friend looks bewildered. "You have to... show ID here to buy stuff?"
The son looks at his friend, with surprise, but I don't miss a beat, "Yep. You have to be over 21 to buy stuff here. It's the law."
The friend looks at me, then looks at the son, then back to me, and whispers to the son, "Really?"

I said, "Yeah... its to make sure you don't Tink and drive."

Thanks. I'll be here all week.

heading to the ham... '98 through '03

I wanted to go to Nashville. I wanted to go to Atlanta. I really wanted to go to Mobile. Perhaps I could go to Knoxville. Or maybe Savannah. Best laid plans work out, sometimes... and sometimes, they don't.

As much as I'd like to say that it was fate that led me here, or that it was chance, or a job, or something else, I really have to put the blame on two entities in my life... God and Amy Wible. I thought Birmingham was terrible. It was a big, convoluted city, comprised of about two dozen small towns crammed together to make one big metropolis. I didn't want to be here. But I kept feeling it. And finally, about a month before the move, I was driving down I-65... actually in Birmingham, for some reason, and it just clicked. I nodded my head, and said, "Okay, God. I'll do it. This is what You want, and I guess I'll have to comply."

Here's what I wrote, in an essay called "A Love Story In Three Acts", and this was Act Two, Scene Two. (for the whole thing from the beginning, you can click here... its quite a great story, methinks).

June passes and July is almost over. Though I really, really want to go to Mobile, I feel God is calling me to Birmingham. I'm fighting it in my prayerlife, not wanting to admit this is what God wants for me, even though it was pretty evident, since none of my interviews in Mobile was going to lead to anything. Through some random conversation with Amy, I mention a possible move to Birmingham, possibly working for this new Christian station starting up called Reality Radio 101.1. She tells me how great that would be, because with her in Tuscaloosa, I'd only be 45 minutes away, not two hours, and how great it would be dating the DJ for a Christian radio station. Much like God led me to Christian drama through Chrissy, God finally sealed the deal with me for Birmingham through Amy. --July 7, 2006

So, randomly, Claire Baldwin and I drove up to Birmingham to find me an apartment, and I managed to find a small, two bedroom loft apartment for only $475 per month. I'm imagining this apartment's rent has gone up slightly. Anyway, I paid the deposit, and was excited to finally move!

So, on August 17th, 1998, Shelby Logan, Eddie Hamner, Troy McConnell, Allyson Guy and a select few others helped me load up the vehicle(s), drive to Birmingham, unload the stuff, drive BACK to Troy, then drive back to Birmingham to unload the rest of it. My friends rocked. They still do. Allyson, I still miss you, friend...

Anyway, they stayed the night, Eddie and Troy at the Loft, the girls at Allyson's home in Alabaster, and they left early the next morning. And... I was alone. It was hard for the first few months... the job that I thought would be my ticket here in Birmingham ended up being a disaster, after a week....

And that led me to the Adecco Temp Agency, where I met a temp consultant named George Marling, who, after hearing I had just moved to Birmingham, said, "Have you found a church yet? (I nodded my head no) Well, here... (setting down a green pen in front of me)... this is my church. Valleydale Baptist. You should give them a call. You might like it."

I tried it a few times over the course of the next few months... and liked it. I was officially baptized in January of 1999, and for the first time in my life, I became a church member. Several of my closest friends--Troy, Allyson, Shelby, AmyAlex, Melanie, etc--were there, and it was amazing.

I still didnt have a lot of local friends, though, as I made frequent weekend trips to Troy, staying with Joey Hinton and Tad Roose (whom I know I annoyed after a while, crashing on their couch...), but I did have one friend that I grew close too... a chick in my singles class, Rebecca Jourdan.

I met her not only at Valleydale Baptist Church, but also figured out we worked together at Parisian Corporate, the job I took after being hired on through Adecco. She was five or six years older, but so darn good looking. In October of 1998, I had my wisdom teeth removed, and Rebecca volunteered to take me to the dentist, wait for me, and drive me home. It's important to note that I had quite a crush on Rebecca at that time, so when she took me, full of drugs and gauze, home, and helped me to my couch, I vaguely remember expressing my true devotion to her, and I vaguely remember her smiling.

Not too long after that, early 1999, I was hanging out with the high schoolers and Big Eddy Mac, and Downtown Jerry Brown at the house across from the church, when I met the high school intern, Tom Johnson. It felt like a "Anakin... this is Obi Wan Kenobi" kind of moment. Unbeknownst to the church, but beknowst to many of us, Tom was liking this chick named Stephanie Nipp.

It was at a party that I first heard about Michael Nipp, who went to school in North Alabama, and was managing a band called Soul Pilot. His parents told me that I should meet him, and not too long after that I did. And it was Michael who took me to Sybil Johnson's Bible Study, where I met Meredith Quintana, Shawn Sharp, Jill Berthon, Amy Valdmanis, Jennifer Pritchett, Ty Coffey and so many more, people who would add to the backbone of influence already given by Troy, AmyAlex, Shelby, Claire, the BCM, Cristie Wright, Chrissy and so many more.

Michael and Tom decided to move in together... they invited me along. I jumped at the chance. So for the summer, it was Michael in one room, Tom in the other, and me on the couch of our apartment in Pinebrook, on Little Valley Road. When September came, Tom moved to Samford, I moved into Tom's room, and Shawn Sharp moved into Michael's room, with Michael still there. When Christmas rolled around (and we had our first Apartment party, a precursor to big parties to come) Tom moved to the couch. It was here that I met Tommy McLeod, mostly because I came home one night and he was randomly sitting on our couch, watching tv. I'm not sure Mikey was even there, or if he was, he might have been asleep.

And then... one day in May, Michael came home and said, "Hey Dave... I found this four bedroom apartment not too far from here, over behind Ellis Piano. What do you think?" And so it was. The Deuce was born. The legend was made. Common Ground was born not too long after that.

Passion One Day was in May of 2000. Incredible event. Will never forget it, or the fact I spent a month going out with Jill Berthon.

My dad passed away in 2000... it was a devestating blow to me in so many ways. The hardest part was that I didn't cry at the funeral. I had so many mixed emotions. And I remember, a week later at Thursday night Bible study, when Nathan Tutor was teaching, we were in prayer... and I just fell apart. It was terrible, and yet, wonderful. I remember Ty Coffey putting his hands on my feet, and Amy Valdmanis and Meredith Quintana both leaning over and touching me while we prayed. It was beautiful.

Speaking of beautiful, Wookiee, Yours Truly, Michael, Shawn, Tom, Jennifer Hudson, Tommy, Brook DeRamus (our downstairs neighbor--he was an oceanographer who spent alot of time in Mobile, so we didn't see much of him), Matt Latta, David Mark Osborne and Daniel Powell started this football game... we called it The Deuce Football Championships, or The DFC, for short. We figured we'd do it this year, and just have fun... I mean, who expects this to go past a single football season?

I let go of Amy Wible in 2001. The closure wasn't there, at least all the way, but it was finally over. My heart begun to heal... and I had already been introduced to Stephanie Campbell. That was a saga over the next two years I won't recount fully, but during such time, The Deuce lived, survived, and stayed strong. I witnessed Stephanie Nipp break up with Tom, which was rough on all of us. We watched Ginger and Matt get married, which was blessed on all of us.

I started a new job in May of 2001, hired away from Parisian to Cox Radio, to work with 106.9 Oldies, WZZK and Rock 97.3. I met Michelle Carr, who would quickly become one of my heroes. Plus, she's a great chick.

WalkAbout was going strong too... started in 1999, it had begun to be a major part of my life, as it is now. And in 2001, the first ever WalkAbout dinner theater was presented, starring Meredith Osborne, Andrea Brobst and Katie Noland, among others. Sometime around 3 in the morning, on July 4th, I also had my first kiss with Stephanie Campbell. She was, and still is, fantastic.

September 11th happened. It was tough on everyone, as we all sat mesmorized by the footage. I wrote about it here (part one) and here (part two), and then again in 2006, here and here.

In 2002, we knew The Deuce was bigger than itself when I came home to find Mikey sitting on the couch, watching tv... nothing unusual here, except for the five or six Samford students sitting around the kitchen table, playing cards. "Dude, who are they?" I whispered to Mikey, sitting down beside him. "I dunno... I thought you knew them..." he replied.

I went out with Amy Vos once, on a single date. Seriously, she was just so awesome. I was quite disappointed, at that time, that things didnt lead to a second date, though I look back and see all the things going on at that time in both of our lives was truly God making sure she would end up with Tommy... a relationship I saw born in and around The Deuce, just like I had seen Justin and Jennifer's relationship born in a conversation on The Deuce floor.

My friendship with Melanie Dill grew, and then, over the course of the summer, faded, just like my friendship with Allyson had done a few years go. My friendship with Stephanie was still there, though. I went on the toughest mission trip ever, to NYC, with Melanie, Alex, Fish, Liz, Chad, Mark and several others. And when I came back, my head was spinning. I sat down with the guys during our weekly Bible study, and said, "Um... I think I'm going to go out with Stephanie Campbell. Like, seriously, chase her. This is what I'm supposed to do."

Once the meeting was over, I was in my room, and Michael came in, closing the door behind him. He told me how happy he was about me and Stephanie. He told me that he had been praying for us, how he had--and all the other guys--had been hoping that something like this would happen. And it did. Tom had already started dating Jill Berthon, Tommy and Amy were together, Michael had already met Ashley O'Neal, Justin and Jennifer were going to be together forever by now, and somehow, it was my turn.

Our final Deuce Christmas bash was in December 2002... it was a grand gala, complete with performances by Ben Caver and Joel Blount, and we had an attendance of over 70 people. This success was truly why we never planned a DeuceFest Eye Vee (IV) or a Christmas bash in 2003... I actually didn't want to face the idea that we might not have that many people come. The Deuce was beginning its slow decline, a graceful, gentle drop. We knew when to stop, and we did.

February of 2003 is when the Challenger exploded. It was also my very first day on the job at Starbucks. I was hanging out with Katy Scott, one of my favorite people ever, and a possible first ballot Dave Hall of Famer (when I finally open the doors) and we were at Starbucks in Mountain Brook. Her friend Kerry Walls was working, and being d$, I had to admire that Kerry was really quite cute. Kerry says, "You should apply for the new store... in Vestavia!" So I did.

I worked four nights per week, for over a year, earning money for debt, comic books, a possible proposal, and more. April 2003 found me in kinda hot water, though... I had an expired license. And a ticket from 2000 that I somehow forgot about. No, I'm serious, I actually forgot about it... and the officer who pulled me over for the tag reminded me.

Mind you, I am headed to work at Starbucks. I get pulled over, then quickly arrested and put into the back of a police car. Randomly, Ty, Mikey, Wookiee and Tom are leaving together, and pass by, only to see me on the side of the road in the backseat of a police car. No kidding, the officer looked like Eddie George, and I told him so. For the next twenty minutes, I sat in the back of a car, handcuffed, talking through an open window to the arresting officer about the Titans chances that fall.

Yes, yes, I was taken to the station, fingerprinted, and booked. I never saw the inside of the cell, though, as the Dolla' Posse, made up of several of the guys, bailed me out quickly. Laughing. I went to work, ink still on my hands. Boy, I learned alot from my time in prison. Don't drop the soap.

Summer came, and I was able to save up enough for a ring, to which I quietly and unceremoniously gave to The Lovely Steph Leann. And now we planned for a wedding, while attending Tommy's and Amy's in the fall. Wookiee was now engaged. Tom was now engaged as well. Mikey and Ashley were heading that way.

And this is where we'll leave it... a quick recap of the first five years in Birmingham, with the next five to come later... Sunday, August 17th, 2008 celebrates 10 years in the city, after a plan of only being here 1 to 3 years somehow doesn't work out like I planned.

The Happiest Thoughts in the Mall

For research purposes, really, I tried watching Hannah Montana the other night. Not only did I feel sort of creepy, the show wasn't really that funny. I know, I know, I shouldn't be expecting Emmy worthy acting, but still, Billy Ray Cyrus is a pretty terrible actor. How he made all those years of "Doc" on PaxTV (now ION) is beyond me.

Miley Cyrus... I can't look at her without thinking Courtney, one of my WalkAbout alumni. She and Miley look much alike, though truly, Courtney is and will be much prettier. And with her mom, Paula, I don't expect many Vanity Fair cover shoots in Courtney's future.


If your a 15 year old boy, what do you do? One is richer. One is prettier. The answer? You do nothing because, alas, both are out of your league.

Also watched The Wizards of Waverly Place. Thought it was rather funny, actually. The whole concept is that there are this family of Hispanic kids who are also wizards, and they are in training to take some life test (which I can only assume will be in the final episodes of the series). Now, while the show is also poorly acted, it was still rather clever.

Watched the cartoon Phineaus & Ferb... now this show is hilarious. Two step brothers who go one impossibly ridiculous missions (Hey Ferb, they closed the mini-golf course! Let's just build our own! I'll get the crane), their sister Candice, who's life mission it is to get them in trouble, and Perry the Platypus, who is not only Phineaus & Ferb's pet, he's also a secret agent--Agent P. Ridiculous, but its quite clever. It might be worth the whole episode just to hear Ferb speak.

Weirdest feeling, ever... walking through the mall, towards the food court, and glancing over to see one of your middle school students in Victoria's Secret. I shuddered. I threw up in my mouth. I ducked the Dateline crew, headed towards Libby Lu, and went to lunch.

Let me answer the question that is on everyone's... okay, well not everyone's, but many people's minds. Okay, maybe not many people, but a few have asked...

"How are things at The Happiest Place in the Mall???"

And my answer typically is... "Magical."

The truth is, it has been magical. Its been wonderful. Its been so great to not wake up three or four times per week at 4am, or get home at almost 11pm. Its been great watching the kids play, or trying out the new Wall-E foam rocket launcher, or tossing the Power Rangers soccer ball around with another Cast Member, or even doing stock in the back, which is like Christmas sometimes.

The challenge is, that The Happiest Place in the Mall recieves anywhere from 40 to 100 packages of shipment... per day. Per day. And our backroom is not very big. So many a'day I am out there, sweat pouring off my face, box cutter in my hand, cardboard stacked around me, opening up Mickey Lunchtotes, or Cinderella backpacks, or Dalmation snowglobe tumblers, or whatever. So, the organizational skills come in handy.

There is alot to learn, though. The cash register is not as up to date as I'm used to, with Starbucks's systems. So, doing a refund is alot of work sometimes, but I'm getting it. The Cast Members are great--I've taking a liking to Audrey, whom I've enjoyed picking on (those of you who know me know if you get picked at, that means I genuinely like you) and our managers have been very welcoming and helpful and gracious. Another I've taken a liking to is Crystal, whom I've worked with several times, is great on the floor as well.

There are several I haven't worked with, or worked with much to get an impression of, but I'm usually pretty good at reading people. I tossed a beachball at one girl, not aggressively, not mean, just fluttered it up playfully. She swung wildly and tried to duck and looked affronted. I could see I had to be on eggshells around her.

Of course, there's Stephanie... not The Lovely Steph Leann, mind you, but another Stephanie, that I really need to come up with a nickname for, if she's going to make the blog on a regular basis. I thought of "My Friend Stephanie", only I had a feeling that most people wouldn't remember that as the name of a Christian rock band from about 14 years ago. I'll come up with something. Anyway, she's just a... well, a really cool chick.

The other day I was back at Plush Mountain, the big pile of stuffed characters--which sits on a shelf, mind you, so don't let any child just run and jump it, because they could hurt themselves--and I was straightening a rack... this cute little girl, maybe three or four, comes running up. She stops, suddenly, and stares, open mouthed at what must seem like a fifty foot high mountain of Mickey, Minnie, Nemo and all her favorites. She then yells, "MOMMY!!! I'VE HIT THE JACKPOT!!" It was precious.

I frequently see friends of mine come into The Happiest Place In The Mall. Jeremy Jones, and his wife Chrystal, came in last week. Got to say hello to them, and their two little girls. Not too long after that, here comes Vaughn Barron, and his wife Currie, and their kids. A day or so later, I see Jaime Echols... all friends of mine from college. A few days ago, I get a message from Tiffany Abbott McCauley, saying she's swinging through The Ham, and wanted to stop in and say hello. So she did, she did, and it was awesome.


This is Tiffany and me, after 12 years of not seeing each other. She hasn't really changed much since Troy. By the way, you can see another version of this pic, with a better pic of me, in my Facebook "Me and..." album. Now, if I could just get The Angel to come visit.

Perhaps its just the "honeymoon" period, because I did have that at my last Starbucks store. Leaving there was difficult, but I think it was the right time. I'm working now, part time, at Starbucks in Homewood, the SoHo area (stands for So Homewood). Its a beautiful store, and its a shame its closing too. I was there last Tuesday night, and at that point, had gone about 13 days without making a single drink--the longest such drought since I started in 2003.

I stood there, behind the counter, steamed milk pitcher in one hand, making a latte, and it felt... strange. This wasn't Vestavia, this wasn't 280, this wasn't Cahaba, this wasn't 20th Street... this was a different store, but not only that, this was a different role. I'm not manager, I'm not assistant manager and I'm trying not to be either. I'm just a simple barista making a simple drink. And it was so freeing. I was just able to make drinks and not worry about anything else.

Where was I? Yes, The Happiest Place in the Mall. Did you know that Christopher Robin has been replaced? I'm rather torn by this, because while I was never a CR fan, he's been there a long, long time. My guess is, he grew up and left 100 Acre Wood, because they have this chick named Darby there now. I haven't gotten used to Darby yet. I'm currently watching her and the Pooh crew in "My Friends Tigger & Pooh", and the animation is weird. Its not 2D animation, and its sort of CGI... like, cheap CGI, I think.

I've got a button on my Facebook page with Pooh on it. He's dressed all gangsta, and the caption says, "Tigga, Please". Its hilarious.

Saturday night was my 33rd Birthday Extravaganza, and you can tell you are getting older when the party is over around 930 or 10. Lil' Sister Ashley stayed until about 1030, watching the Olympics with The Lovely Steph Leann and myself, then left. We were just getting up to go to bed, around 1105, when I flipped the channel to The Happiest Channel on Cable, and Camp Rock was on.

I've been meaning to watch Camp Rock for a week or so now, having it on DVR, because we're currently pre-selling the DVD.... only 19.95, and you get the Jonas Brothers folder set that you can't buy in stores, plus a 15% off coupon you can use... but we kept it on. And maybe it was because we were tired, maybe it was because The Lovely Steph Leann took a liking to Joe Jonas, maybe it was because I took a creepy glance at Meaghan Jette Martin... for whatever reason, we stayed up to watch the whole thing.

And its rather fun. There weren't as many songs as I thought, and most of them fit into the movie (rather that just randomly bursting out in song, like we do in real life). Some of the songs i knew already, having heard them about 13,000 times in The Happiest Place in the Mall.

Well, its time to go get ready to make smiles!

August and Everything After

If you've come to the blogsite, you might wonder if that song you are hearing (if you do listen to the music) is something you've just missed. Well, no, its a new song. In fact, I've already decided that at the beginning of each month, there will be a new playlist for your perusal.

The only song that stays is "You're So Vain" by Carly Simon, mostly because its pretty much the lead in to this site... I say that if you are reading this on Clouds In My Coffee. If you are in Facebook, I've got my blog imported, and you can hear the same playlist, but I'd love for you to go over to my real site, where the magic really happens. Anything to make my daily counter go up, and anything to hit that golden 14,000 page loads.

Anyway, here's the new stuff that I chose for the site--and since its on random-play, you probably won't hear them in this order.

After "You're So Vain"...

"The Last of the Mohicans Main Theme" by... well, the song says Trevor Jones & Randy Edelman, but who knows? I'm not really sure this is the official title of it, but this song is just awesome. Its... well, its the main theme from a movie that is not only in The Dave100, but in The Dave20 as far as I'm concerned. How can you not be pumped after hearing this tune? Right now, I want to go run and jump over something, then throw a tomahawk into the head of a rogue Indian named Magua.

"Jimmy Olsen's Blues" by The Spin Doctors. From the album "Pocket Full of Kryptonite", they did a Superman song before Three Doors Down (is that who sang that "if I go crazy will you still call me Superman" tune?) ever did. Thanks to "Attractive Sorority Girl" Kelli for this one.

"Rock Your Body" by Justin Timberlake. Somehow its cool to like JT. It just is. And this is my favorite of all of JT's stuff.

"Clarity" by John Mayer. After really enjoying "No Such Thing" and "Your Body Is a Wonderland", somehow this song just creeped up through everything and became a John Mayer staple on my iPod. The trumpets close to the end are just great.

"Whole Again" by Jennifer Knapp. From the album that changed my life. I'll probably put a Jennifer Knapp song up every month or so, starting here. "I seem to find myself in need to be forgiven, is there still room upon that knee?" I love my grace-giving Jesus.

"Real Love" by Mary J. Blige. I used to sing this song as a senior in High School. However, I'm not black. Rodney Hornsby was (and I'm sure still is) though, so he always laughed hard when I would see him and say "we are lovah's true and tho' we made it thru tha storm...".

"Cable Car (over my head)" by The Fray. One of the most played songs on my iPod, like, top three, and the 6th coolest thing about 2007. Great stuff.

"Miss You Much" by Janet Jackson. I had to make the decision of, do I replace them all, or do I leave a few up? Originally, I was going to replace five per month, but I always remember the phrase "leave 'em wanting more", meaning it would be better to take off a song then to leave it up for months, making my readers tired of it. I mean, as great as "100 Years" by Five For Fighting might be, you can only hear it so many times.

Another song that gave me pause was last months Janet selection, "Love Will Never Do (without you)". I almost left it up, until I made the uniform decision that it all comes down and changes, save for Carly.


The video for Miss You Much is completely 90s. Hair. Outfits. Even the dancing is dated... cool as grits, but still dated. I miss the days when the Jackson family was semi-normal.

Anyway, I will probably have some sort of "waiting period" for a song to re-appear, maybe two months, maybe six months, whatever. But for August, I wanted to continue the Rhythm Nation 1814 groove, so you get this fantastic tune.

"Train Wreck" by Sarah McLachlan. Ran into the same problem as Janet with Sarah. Wanted to leave my favorite song, "Possession" up, but it too came down. Here's a great one, though, from her last CD, "Afterglow".

"Moratorium" by Alanis Morissette. Wow this song is great. And wow, her new album is great too. I've missed the Jagged Little Pill Alanis.

"Waterloo" by ABBA. I had a hard time with ABBA, only because there were several songs I considered... "SOS", "Mamma Mia", "Dancing Queen"... ulitimately, I went with one that isn't on the "Mamma Mia!" soundtrack. I dare you to not smile during this song--its just too fun.

"Hard Luck Woman" by Garth Brooks. Its difficult to pick out Garth in this song, because it just doesn't sound much like him. This is his cover of the KISS song, for the KISS tribute album of the 90s, "KISS My A**". Siobhan Stewart and I were both fond of this song, or at least we talked about it on that one date we had in August of 1994.

"You and I Both" by Jason Mraz. I like the guy. "Geek in the Pink" was an option, but I have heard that song many, many times, with it being on a popular playlist on my iPod. So I chose this one. Enjoy.

"Don't You (forget about me)" by Simple Minds. In honor of my 86th favorite movie ever, and a dedication to the founder of The Dixon Brock Theory, I thought it fiting. Go ahead. Sing it loud. Hey Hey Hey Hey! Ooh ooh, whoaaaa!

So, that's my choices for August. What do you think? And, do you have any requests? What music do you want to hear while surfing Clouds In My Coffee?

(KT, I have Eddie coming in September).

PS... I posted this, then went to check the posting as I always do to make sure it all loaded correctly. And as the page came up, the beats of "Rock Your Body" came out, and Justin started with, "...don't be so quick to... walk away (dance with me)". Its going to be awesome for someone to come to my page and have that be the first thing that they hear. Well, actually, I find it awesome that anyone comes to my page, period.

The Dave100... #89. Jerry Maguire

Jerry Maguire, 1996, Rated R. Stars a pre-Scientology-crazy Tom Cruise, Renee Zellweger in her breakout role, Cuba Gooding Jr before he started mailing in all his roles, Mrs. John Travolta, and the underappreciated Bonnie Hunt.

Plot... Jerry Maguire works for a sports agency, gets a conscience, and decides to write a memo addressing the dishonesty in the business. Though lauded, he's fired, with the firing carried out by former protege-turned-rival Bob Sugar. Racing back to the office, Jerry has decided to branch out on his own, and gets stuck on a lengthy conversation with Rod Tidwell, lengthy enough that Bob Sugar is able to grab all of Jerry's clients while Jerry is left only with Rod.

As he leaves, he asks who is daring enough to come with him, and only Dorothy Boyd stands up. While Jerry and Rod have a rocky relationship, as Rod proves hard to please, he and Dorothy eventually get close enough to fall for each other, though Jerry is more enamored with Dorothy's son, Ray.


"I LOOOOOVE BLACK PEOPLE!!!! YOUR MY MOFO!!!!"

Anyway, along the way you hear stuff like "Show me the money!", "I love black people!", "Quan" and of course, the final scene, which brings us, "You had me at hello". And the award winning actor Jonathan Lipnicki, who plays Ray, says, "Bees and dogs smell fear."

Why Its In the Dave100... I mean, I don't know. Should it be? Is it a sports movie? It can be. Is its a chick flick? It qualifies. I just genuinely love this movie. The performances are great all around, even Jerry O'Connell turns up pretty good as Brian "Cush" Cushman, a hot draft prospect that Jerry Maguire is trying to woo. Its just such a fun film, even though its been ruined by the repeated overkill of the now-famous catch phrases. Oh, and beware of "that scene" between Tom Cruise and Kelly Preston. You know it.

Tom Cruise had a string of hits back in the day, back when he made sense, wasn't hopping off couches and wasn't leaving the incomparable Nicole Kidman for the likes of butt-ugly Penelope Cruz. And Renee in this flick is just so darn cute. Seriously. It was also a good time for Cuba Gooding Jr (who won an Oscar for this film, and had a hilarious acceptance speech), before he started make crap, more crap, and even more crap (this link takes you to a film that landed on the Bottom 100 movies of all time on IMDB). And of course, I love Bonnie Hunt.

Oh, and Bruce Springsteen's song, "Secret Garden", is immaculate.


"Secret Garden" by Bruce Springsteen, intersparsed with some Jerry Maguire. See the video here too. This song was my Amy Wible song for a long time... until, of course, The Lovely Steph Leann came around.

Random Trivia... saw this movie on Christmas Day in 1996 with Heather Howell. Also, did you know that Tom Hanks was offered the lead role, and turned it down? John Travolta was also pursued, but really, this is one of those type flicks that was cast perfectly.

Dave Tells You How To Do Disney

About a week ago, Jill Johnson called me, leaving me a voice mail to the effect of, "Hey, I know you and The Lovely Steph Leann are big Disney fans! My sister and her family are going for the first time, and I wanted some Disney tips from you... you know, where to eat, the pin trading stuff, what there is to do for kids, etc. Call me."

A week later, I sat down via email to answer, and realized the request of "Give me Disney tips" without knowing specifics--how old are the kids? have they already booked the trip? how many people are going? how long will they be there?--is a broad, vague question. And it required a broad, long answer.

And I liked it so much, I decided to post it... so here's a quick (I say quick, even though its about 65,000 words) overview of random and various things you need to know. You can email this to your friends if they are going to Disney, or just read for yourself, and comment on some tips that maybe I forgot to add!

Walt Disney World truly is the most magical place on Earth. I mean, yes, you can get more coasters at Six Flags or Universal, and maybe Atlanta is closer, but nothing is like Disney World. Its the whole environment, the meticulous attention to detail, the love and warmth of kids and families and adults alike... its a place you can have fun when you are 5, or you are 35 with a 5 year-old, or 33 and 32, like we'll be when we go in September, with no kids.

But if you've never been, or never been properly, there are some things you just have to know... dinner plans? Characters? Character meals? Fast passes? What about where to stay? You ready? Here we go. Take notes.

Invest in the Disney Dining Plan
If you are going more than just a day or two, this will save you a ton of money and hassle. How it works is, you are allotted a certain number of meals per day per person. Now the temptation is to get the plan with three full meals per day, but do not do this. We have found that three full meals is not only expensive, but it wears on you as you run and gun through 4 million miles of parks per day.

What we have done in the past is get the dining plan that allows for one table service (like a sit-down, nicer restaurant) per day, one counter service (like a walk-up, burger, hotdog, etc) kind of place and one snack (which can include a bottle water, or ice cream, or pop corn). We would have maybe a counter service in the morning, go to the parks, have a snack sometime during the day (keeping ourselves hydrated) and then have a great dinner somewhere... or we would have a sit-down breakfast, like a character breakfast, do the lunch snack, and then grab pizza or a burger for dinner. Either way.

Character Dinners
These are just awesome. Pick them carefully, though. I think that everyone should go to the Princess Breakfast in the Cinderella's Castle. Its a tasty breakfast, and all the princesses come out one at a time--Mary Poppins, Belle, Aurora, Snow White, Jasmine, others--and go table by table, taking pictures and such. Granted, sometimes you get princesses that just aren't very good looking, but still, it's just a magical way to start your day. Whats good is that most character meals use the Disney Dining Plan... though sometimes, they require "2 Meals", like this one does. No matter, though... at the end of our week last year, we still had three snacks and two counter services left, because we planned carefully.


I'm in one of the shops on Main Street, when I get this call from The Lovely Steph Leann, frantically telling me to come outside to Town Hall. Hurry! Hurry! When I ask her why, she almost yells into the phone, "Because Jiminy Cricket is out here, and I'VE NEVER SEEN HIM!!!"

Another one we loved was the Supercalifragilistic Breakfast, held at the 1900 Park Fare Restaurant in the Grand Floridian Hotel. Mary Poppins, Alice, The Mad Hatter, Tigger and Pooh came around at that one. A great dinner idea is the Cinderella Storybook Dinner, also held in The Grand Floridian Hotel, at 1900 Park Fare Restaurant, featuring the cast of Cinderella, an incredible buffet and some great strawberry soup. Yes, strawberry soup. Its incredible.


This would be the chilled strawberry soup at 1900 Park Fare that The Lovely Steph Leann raves about. Notice the other great looking junk on her plate around it.

Our favorite restaurant is Le Cellier in EPCOT, located in Canada. Its can be a little pricey, but its also accepted with the Disney Dining Plan. Be proactive though. These things fill up quickly. As a matter of fact, some of them start booking reservations as much as 180 days out--six months. The Lovely Steph Leann and I are going at the end of September, and the Princess breakfast, Le Cellier and the Storybook Dinner are all booked up, every day of our trip.

Character Sightings
Much of it is just waiting, and watching. Now, in EPCOT, they've got the Character Spot where you'll find Mickey, Minnie, Pluto and Donald usually, and sometimes Chip & Dale, and in Toontown, in the Magic Kingdom, they've also got a Character Barn. Remember, many times this is standing in line, so be wary of the children--we were in line at EPCOT for almost an hour for Mickey, because he's the Big Cheese, but we didn't mind it. Three year olds might mind it alot.


We randomly found Piglet in EPCOT's England. Pooh and Tigger had just left, but The Lovely Steph Leann loves her some Piglet, so this was a great moment.

You can always ask your local cast member where the characters will be, because at different times of the day, a certain group of characters may be scheduled to be in different areas. You'll likely find characters with their rides, like we found Aladdin and Jasmine at the Magic Carpet ride, we found Pooh and Piglet in the England area of EPCOT, we found Buzz Lightyear by the Tomorrowland rides... Hollywood Studios also has a special place for Lightnin McQueen, Mater, Sully & Mike, Woody & Buzz and a few others.

Its always great when the characters really, really give you alot. We had a great time with Genie, and The Mad Hatter was awesome. Peter Pan was as fruity as a four dollar bill, but still, he was perfect into character.

With the Cars, if you know they are coming, get in line. Even if you have to wait an hour, get in line. Make sure you know where the line starts, and make sure you are following cast member orders. We missed the Cars in the morning (at Hollywood Studios) but were told they'd be reappearing at 3 that afternoon. At 2pm, we got in line, where we were fifth or sixth. By 230, the line was already closed, and people were mad--but they didn't get there in time. And when Lightnin McQueen and Mater came 'round the corner, we were giddy. It was worth the wait.

Autographs are big for the kids, and even some adults. Almost all characters will do either autographs or at least ink stamps onto a page. Some characters, like King Louie, who just has dangling arms (and no control in the costume) couldn't do it, but most can.

Pin Trading
Ah, the pins. First and foremost, understand, this can be a very, very expensive hobby. Depending on when you are going, you might want to look on eBay for a $50 lot of 25 or 30 pins to trade. Here's how it works... cast members have either blue or green lanyards around their neck, or they might have a blue or green cloth patch on their belt. If you have a pin you'd like to trade, simply walk up to the cast member, ask to look at their pins, and you can trade pin for pin.
Etiquette dictates that you pull yours off, put the rubber back back on, hand it to the CM, and they'll reciprocate. They cannot accept a pin, however, if they already have it on their lanyard (this is important, and I'll come back to this).

The blue lanyards can trade with anyone, adult or child, The green are only supposed to be for kids, but some will take a "all of us are kids at heart" approach, and trade with adults. Some, however, are stickler for the rules. And guests can trade with other guests--I traded several times with kids that came up to look at my pins. Usually, it was a pin I didn't care about much, and would trade just to make the kid feel happy--I always said, "Now, make sure its okay with mom and dad first."


This is right outside of The Teacups. A little girl had approached me about pins, and I think I traded her one, but I don't remember. Its important to be good to the kids, yet make sure they don't take you for a ride and manipulate you for your good pins.

They do sell pin "sets" in the Disney stores there. Usually, a 4-pin set will run around $20, and an 8-pin set can run from 30 to 40. These are good ways to start, because you guy multiple pins at a time and trade them off one by one... however, many, many people do this, so if you've got a Halloween Pooh out of the set, and you want to trade it, you might find that same Halloween Pooh on a ton of cast member lanyards, and you wont be able to trade it.

Many pins have "hidden mickeys" in them, which are little tiny mickey ears on the pins somewhere, and these are usually pins that you cannot buy, but are given to the cast members just for trading. Its always good to pick a theme, like "Monorail Pins" or "Beauty & the Beast Pins" or what The Lovely Steph Leann collected, "Disney Topiary Pins", and I got all the "Disney Dollar Pins". Or, you can just find characters you like and go for them.


A gander at our pin board. We have more than this now, as we've added several since I went to work for The Happiest Place in the Mall.

Accommodations
Are you staying on the resort? I hope so. If so, then take the bus and trams everywhere. Its so much easier. Yes, it might take a little more time, but its so much easier than parking and walking and blah blah blah. Also, if you stay on the resort, you are eligible for Magic Hours. Sometimes the parks open earlier, or stay open later only for those who are staying in one of the resorts.

Also, the All Star Value Resorts--All Star Sports, Movies, Pop Century & Music--work just fine for us. Yes, other, more expensive hotels are nicer, but we came to Orlando to spend time in the parks--the rooms are for sleeping and showering. So give me a $80 per night room at the All Star Movies, and keep your $250 per night Polynesian... it would be nice, one day, but today we're on a budget.


This is the All Star Movies Resort, where we stayed. Look in the distance, the building with the stars on it is the main court. Sometimes you stay farther back than what where we were standing.

When you book, though, you can ask for "Preferred Rooms", which are about 10 bucks more per night, but it puts you right up close to the food court. Otherwise, you might have to walk the length of a building or two to get to the food court, which leads to the bus stop.

Fast Passes
This is essential, so listen up. There are certain rides in the parks that basically sell out. In EPCOT, its Test Track and Soarin. In Magic Kingdom, its Space/Splash/Thunder Mountain, and for some ungodly reason, Peter Pan's Flight. In Hollywood Studios, its Tower of Terror and Rock n Roller Coaster. In Animal Kingdom, its Everest. Fast Passes are the answer to your prayers. Basically, its a pass that lets you come back at a later time. The trick is, you run into the park, get the fast pass for one, then go straight to the other.

At EPCOT this is crucial. Test Track is one of the most popular rides in all of Disney, so we raced to get Fast Passes for Soarin (another brilliant ride that YOU CANNOT MISS), then went to Test Track. The park opened at 9, we raced in, and by the time we were able to get fast passes for Soarin, the passes were for 1140am. They increase by 10 minute increments. We raced over to Test Track, got in line, and waited about 40 minutes. By the time we were out, Soarin fast passes were beyond 8pm that night, and within an hour, Test Track fast passes were gone for the whole day. And this is by 1030am.

Also, if it says "Return between 310 and 410p" then you cant go on until 310... but if you come after 410, its okay, they'll let you in. We learned this the hard way, as we ran across The World Showcase in EPCOT to the front of the park to Soarin in 20 minutes... The Lovely Steph Leann's feet hurt so bad.

Fast Passes can only be gotten one at a time--you get them by inserting your "Key to the World", or your park ticket card. Sometimes you can get passes for two rides, but many times that doesn't happen, so don't count on it. I've never gotten three rides on fast pass before the first ride time came up.

Rides
Soarin is a newer ride at EPCOT and is wonderful--make sure you do all you can to get on the front row. Toy Story Mania is brand spankin' new as well, and will be mobbed by people, so get the fast pass for that one too. Shows like Muppets in 3-D (Hollywood Studios), Its Great to Be a Bug (Animal Kingdom), Monsters Inc Laugh Floor (Magic Kingdom), The Energy Show (EPCOT) and PhilarMagic (Magic Kingdom) are audience type shows, and while it might take a few minutes to get in, they fit hundreds of people in at a time.

Peter Pan's Flight fills up like crazy, for some reason, so if the kids want that one, get it early, after Space Mountain. Exciting rides like Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, Rock n Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror--they fill up fast.

Closing Thoughts
You walk into The Magic Kingdom with a handful of kids and a "oh, we'll just go wherever" attitude, and your day is shot already. Now, this doesn't mean you should have a schedule on paper, never vary from it, and get angry when people do, but you do need to plan your "attack" when it comes to fast passes and your route. Do not expect to cover Magic Kingdom as a whole in one day, especially with a bunch of kids. If you've only got two or tree days, you need to decide what area of the park you will leave off, or what rides you will leave off BEFORE you go in the gate.

Look at the maps, have a decent route, and remember what times parades start. If you love parades, find a good spot early (the maps will tell you the routes). If you could care less about parades, its a great time to go ride some rides, because many people are watching the parade.

One More Note
We were standing in line to meet one of the characters, and we got into a conversation with this mother who had just brought their 3 year old to Disney for the first time. She got a once-in-a-lifetime snapshot of her daughter's expression the first time she saw the castle, which I'm sure was priceless and precious. Only problem was, she didn't have it, nor the camera. Seems she had lost the camera on Peter Pan's Flight, and three days worth of irreplaceable moments were gone.
Lesson is, if you bring a laptop or a storage device, unload your pics every day. She was so upset, she was even saying, "It's a $600 camera, but I don't care. I would take them turning in the memory card, and keeping the camera."

Now you know. And knowing is half the magic.

The Clouds are Singing

In case you've noticed, or haven't, there are a few new things added to the Clouds in My Coffee Blog... my ultimate goal is to make my site your one-stop shop for news links, weather links, sports links and other fun stuff to read, but that's farther down the road... we'll get there.

Added a new blog column to My Recommended Blogs list. Heather "The Angel" Hanson (now Conkle... and The Lovely Steph Leann thought she had it bad going from Campbell to Dollar...) writes a blog--I managed to find Heather via Facebook. In fact, Heather plays a role in the most embarrassing and at the same time most hilarious moment of my Troy life involving boxer shorts, but that's for another day. Her blog is entitled "Tell Me the Old, Old Story", and you can find it here... or on the links on the side. Show HH some love.

I've added a couple of widgets to the side--a "widget" is a little block of links an info--that you might find fun... one is Birmingham's weather, another in the sports section is the ESPN widget, for sports. Near the bottom, under my facebook widget, is The Sports Guy, who is one of my favorite columnists. Not too far under that is an iTunes widget, followed by a Pop Candy link to USA Today's Pop Culture columnist, Whitney Matheson.

And thanks to Heather "The Angel" Hanson, there's now music playing on the Clouds In My Coffee Blog.

You may be enjoying it, or you might have immediately gone to find it and shut if off. Right now I've got it autostarting, and randomly playing the list... if you are like me, when you visit a blog page, you are usually not there long enough to get through more than one or two songs, much less an entire playlist. With that in mind, I wanted to make sure the songs on the bottom got some love too, not just the ones near the top.

The fun part of doing any kind of playlist like this is... what do I put on here? You can put up to 100 songs on the list, via the site I used--Playlist.com. But really, I don't know that I want a playlist of 100 songs on any site, and definately not mine.

So I chose music that I really enjoyed, music that perhaps wouldn't rank in my top ten, but nonetheless that I loved, that I knew, and styles that I felt would represent who I am. Much of it is from the 90s, during music was at its peak, but there is some earlier and some later stuff.

This might be the closest I've done to an iTunes Celebrity Playlist... Here's what I chose, let me know what you think...

"Little Green Bag" by The George Baker Selection. Featured prominently in "Reservoir Dogs" during the brilliant opening sequence, its fun, its catchy, and its a great way to kick off the Clouds In My Coffee music list.

"You're So Vain" by Carly Simon. How could a blog entitled "Clouds In My Coffee" not feature the song that the words came from. This song is truly amazing, a song of anger, yet sadness. And Carly has never been better.

"Possession" by Sarah McLachlan. My. Favorite. Song. Ever.

"100 Years" by Five for Fighting. The more I hear this song, the more I like it. The opening is just hypnotic, and the lyrics just make you think about your life. Maybe thats a good thing, maybe not, but it only takes 100 years to live.

"Running from an Angel" by Hootie & the Blowfish. Make fun of it if you want, but if you were in high school or college from 1993 to 1996, Hootie was one of the biggest bands around. This is my favorite song off of one of my favorite albums ever, "Cracked Rear View"

"Time After Time" by Nichole Nordeman. The Cyndi Lauper version is really good. There's another out there now with both Lauper and Sarah McLachlan... but this one, this version off of Nichole's live concert CD is a masterpiece. Seriously, I almost cried when I heard it for the first time.

"I'd Die Without You" by PM Dawn. This was my favorite song ever, until earlier this year, when "Possession" finally took it over and ended its 15 year reign at the top. So it resides at a very close #2.

"Callin' Baton Rouge" by Garth Brooks. Garth is just awesome, and this is my favorite country song ever. This is perfect to be sung loudly while traveling 78 on I-65 heading to Montgomery. Or wherever.

"Full Moon" by Brandy. Being born a poor black child, I'm a fan of R&B, and it doesn't get any more R&B'ier than this joint from Brandy. Dis juke is my jam, boo.

"The Remedy" by Jason Mraz. As much fun as this is to sing, its more fun when you can nail all the lyrics. That slammin' part in the second verse? Uncovering the ways to plan the next big attack they were counting down the ways to stab the brother in the be right back after this, the unavoidable kiss, where the minty fresh death breath is sure to outlast this catastrophe, dance with me, because if you've got the poison, I've got the remedy

"Love Will Never Do Without You" by Janet Jackson. Its hard not preceeding this song with "Miss You Much" because on Janet's "Rhythm Nation 1814", another one of my favorite albums, they go right together. But, in an effort to not feature two songs by the same artist, I picked this one. Mostly because... well, it makes me happy. We all have songs that just make us happy, for no reason other than it does. This is one of those.

"Stay" by Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories. This is the most. fun. song. to. sing. ever. Seriously, this is the song that, when you walk into a room and start it, someone in that room will join you, if not multiple someones. "You say... I only hear what I want to, I don't listen hard, I don't pay attention to the distance that you're running to anyone, anywhere, I don't really care, I'm only hearing negative no no no baaaaaadddd...." NYCJenny is rolling with this song right now.

"Come and Talk To Me" by Jodeci. If I were a pimp, this might be a theme song for one of my ho's. Just sayin'.

"In the Light" by dcTalk. This is one of five songs that define my life as a Christ-Follower. Powerful and convicting, I dare you to find harmony as good as this.

"My Favorite Mistake" by Sheryl Crow. Off another one of my favorite all time albums, "The Globe Sessions". We all have our favorite mistakes, don't we?

So there it is. How'd I do?

Taking the Mouse, Leaving the Bean Place

So... I'm a full time member of the Walt Disney World Company. The House of Mouse. By last Saturday night, maybe before Mikey's 30th birthday extravanganza, maybe after, I'm not sure, but sometime in there, I decided that I wanted to be a part of The Disney Store and the Disney Company. I'm sure its in no small part due to the little plastic card I get that allows me and The Lovely Steph Leann (and two of our closest friends) access to the World anytime. Alissa and Joey, you are on our list for next spring, after the wedding.

By Sunday, I was at peace with it. There's some turnover issues at The Disney Store, and I get the sense there's a morale or unstability issue. There was at Cahaba Heights when I went there in March of 2007... let's just say leadership there was... off. And if you are the leadership I speak of at that time, and you reading this, going nuts on me for cleaning the desk is not the way to get a favorable response on The Clouds in My Coffee Blog, read by dozens of people across this great land of ours.

Anyway, I like to think that in six months, I had helped put that team together--that team that included Peter, Chris, Katie, Greer, Tracy, Kelly, Buttahs and more--and that team rocked. I have a knack for hiring, somehow.

The fact that I'm going to get to help do the same thing at The Happiest Place in the Mall... well, thats a challenge I look forward to facing. Then a series of events happened this week, one after the other, that made me go, "Well, hey now... God might just have an idea what up it is after all..."

Monday... called The Happiest Place in the Mall, and confirmed that yes, I would be accepting the position. I now planned to be the assistant manager for the store. I had also referred My Friend Stephanie, a different Stephanie from The Lovely Steph Leann, mind you, to go apply for a job there. She applied at Target, and apparently, they have no idea whats going on... they hired her, and yet never called her, never scheduled her and told her nothing.

Tuesday... I had the evening off, and was set to put together some furniture bought at IKEA, with the help of Croyle. I was at Hallmark, shopping for a birthday card for Britlicious, the wife of said Croyle, when I get a call from another Starbucks manager. "Did you hear about the conference call?" Um... no. What conference call? "The one starting at 530..." We had one today at 3p, there is another one? "Yeah, this is being held by Special K, about store closings." (Now, she didn't say Special K, but thats what I like to call him. He's the regional director for Alabama, Mississippi and some of Georgia's Starbucks. Brilliant guy) Well, what time is it now? "Um... 512." Well, crap.

So I rush home to The Cabana, grab my phone, dial in, and hear the announcement that is currently all over the news and internet. Starbucks had already announced it would close 100 licensed stores--those are the stores that "Proudly Brew Starbucks Coffee" in Targets, Barnes & Nobles, airports, hospitals, etc--and just this instant, they were announcing the closings of 500 more stores--600 in all. Averaging 20 partners per store, there would be 12,000 positions eliminated, 12,000 partners that would either be transferred, displaced or leave the company.

Wednesday... I start answering questions to our team about the closings. "Are we on the list?" is the first question I get from everyone. The first 50 stores in the country would be closing by the end of July, but I hadn't gotten a call from our district manager to tell me our store would be one of them, so at least for now, we're safe. As a manager, I've got to do damage control, however, and make our partners and customers feel at ease. I leaned on Matt, one of our stars at the store, who I'd met with the previous night.

Thursday... My boss comes in at 9 to meet with me. Drops the news, news that didn't surprise me in the least, yet saddened me to a deep end. Our store, located at University and 20th Street, would be closing. Not now, not at the end of July, but sometime in the next 9 months. And with it, about 15 partners would be transferred to other stores, some of which will hopefully go on to be assistant managers, some of which will leave altogether. The sad part comes in when you know that many of these people have been together for a year or two, and its like a family split up. Like a foster home shutting down, sending its kids all over the place.

Bottom line is, Starbucks Coffee & Tea is fine, and will be fine. In 1999, Just For Feet was atop the world. They had just had one of the most buzzed about Super Bowl commercials in memory, and were opening franchises everywhere. Within 2 years, they collapsed amidst fraud and overexpansion. Krispy Kreme was also a media darling for a few years, but rapid expansion led to their stock price plummeting, and many franchises in the western states filed bankruptcy.

The closing of our store, plus three more stores in the city is a wise business decision. Starbucks voluntarily does it now, so they aren't forced to do it later. If I was at Cahaba Heights still, or Hwy 280, the University and 20th Store would be just another store I barely know, and I would just shrug, shake my head and say, "Too bad. But its the right choice." However comma I'm the manager of this particular Starbucks, and whether they like it or not, these are my partners, so instead I say, "This sucks. This really, really sucks. But its the right choice."

Just so you know, when you read the headlines that say, "Local Shops Run Big Coffee Giant Out", don't believe it, because crap isn't reliable. Lucy's Coffee and Tea, right around the corner from us, didn't run us out of business. O'Henry's, located in Homewood, didn't run the Soho store out of Soho. It was Starbucks stepping back, viewing their options and realizing that we have two stores that aren't quite pulling their weight, and don't seem as if they will be able to in the near future, regardless of team, manager, product or whatever. Be it a victim of circumstance, location or the terrible economy that we actually don't have, but the liberal media insists we do, there are some locations that just don't make sense. And Starbucks sees this.

Friday... I've submitted my resignation at Starbucks, stepping down as manager. I'll be taking on part time work as just a barista for a while at another Starbucks. No schedules, no deployment, no target reports, nothing to do but make lattes and talk to people, what I love to do the most.

I went by The Happiest Place in the Mall. The Lovely Steph Leann has already informed me that My Friend Stephanie has already been hired by the store, which I'm excited about. In the same manner it was great to have Lil Sister Ashley, a close BFF, working with me at University and 20th, it will be great to have a familiar, friendly face at The Happiest Place in the Mall.

Anyway, I gave my starting date as July 28th, even though I'll be picking up some shifts all along here and there, just to get acquainted with the store. I'm nervous about the new start, naturally, because who knows how they'll receive me? Even The Lovely Steph Leann admits sometimes that upon first impression, I can come off as kind of a flake. But thats okay. I'm there to see Mickey, help make Magical Moments and basically be happy... which I can do fairly well.

I came up with a list, my favorite eleven people to work with at Starbucks, spanning three stores--Vestavia, Hwy 280 and Cahaba Heights... I left off University and 20th just because if Jess or Carla or whoever reads this blog, how do I look at one and tell them they didn't make it? My list, in no particular order... Susie Franks/Weetman (Vestavia), Luna (Vestavia), Hannah (Vestavia), Megan (Vestavia) Joey Towey (Vestavia), Nall Wall (280), Rocky (280) Tiffany Alexander (Cahaba), Kelly (280 & Cahaba), Amanda (280 & Cahaba) and Schottsy (Cahaba). I'm sure another name will come up later that I'll wish I had added... Kat, maybe, or Karen, or Theresa, who knows.

Well, there's your answer. I made the decision to step away. Four days later, I find out my store will close. I would have been fine as a manager, I would have just been moved... but to who knows where, and who knows how long I might have had to share a store. Remember my blog, back on June 12th? The Virtues of Summer's weekly challenge was to take each of the fruits of the spirit, and spend a week practicing them. Love was the first week. I had to find my Joy in Him during all the chaos of job decisions. This week? Peace. Peace with my decision, peace with what's happening.

Next week? Patience. Crap.

Between a Mouse and a Bean Place

Very rarely are any of us blessed to be in a position that, either way we choose, we win. Or we lose. Either I stay and win, or go and win... or I stay and lose the opportunity, or go and leave an opportunity. Is it a blessing or a curse?

So..... I got offered a job by The Disney Store to be their assistant manager. Long story, which I'll condense here, but bottom line is, its been a week of ups and downs, highs and lows, stress and wonder.

They made the offer, its about 9% more than what I make now at Starbucks as a manager, and at first, I just didn't know. I counseled with some good friends of mine, including some people who worked at Starbucks, getting Godly advice and wisdom.

Being debt free, we're in a position where money isn't the main factor... lets be honest, its always a factor, but its not the main factor, for the first time in my life, and thats refreshing. But here's what I consider the main factor... where am I going to go? At Starbucks, I'll be a manager for a while and then... well, nothing. Unless I either a) move our family to Atlanta on hopes that I can get a corporate job or b) wait for corporate to come here. Or, I could be a district manager, but I didn't list that as "c" because that's not a possibility--I am not going to be a DM, at least, not for Starbucks.

What about The Disney Store? Well, the obvious step is, if I can prove my mettle, I would move up to manager, obviously. After that, there is the step of Disney DM... which I'm not sure I want... or don't want. I dunno. And if I have to relocate, I'm going to Orlando a thousand times or more before I go to the Ay Tee Ell.

However, I've been at Starbucks five years. I started at the barista level, 22 hours per week, worked my way up and now am a full time, salaried manager. Go to Disney, start all over. The benefits are comparable, the 401K is better with Starbucks than Disney, though not significantly enough to sway me one way or the other.

I had pretty much decided that The Disney Store was right for me, and then I had... well, kind of a weird experience there on Friday, something that made me step back and go "hmmm.... is this what I want?" Kinda freaked me out a little, and my buddy Jason said, "you know when you pray about missions, you tell God that you are going to plan to go until He tells you not to? Maybe this is God telling you not to go with this."

Then on Saturday, it all was fixed and cleared, at least mostly. My role there was more explained, offering a challenge to which I am kinda excited about.

Bottom line is, I don't have a passion for coffee. I don't drink it. Yes, I like a good iced coffee con leche, but I have never been a straight coffee drinker. My passion is for people. My passion is to help people succeed, to encourage people, to help people be better than who they are. And I do have quite a fondness for The House of Mouse.

But what happens if it doesn't work out, you say? What happens if this is a job that turns out to be a disaster? This is also a consideration. I have a great job, and keep in mind, I went to The Disney Store to look for part time work to save money for a Disney vacation in February, to take The Lovely Steph Leann as a part of a 5th year anniversary celebration. The manager from The Disney Store calls me, asks me to meet with their DM, which it works out that I can...

You know, when our bigwigs come in, typically they spend about 10 or 20 minutes in our store. Our district manager is actually around a lot more, but I'm comparing the Disney DM to someone above the Starbucks DM, perhaps like a regional director. I'm thinking I'll walk in, get a handshake, ask a few questions, answer a few questions, and then have a job interview for the Cast Member position.

What happened? Met with the guy for almost 2 hours. And because I wasn't looking for a new job, I answered all of his questions honestly, with not a hint of the "say what they want to hear because I want this job" that typically is in an interview. And towards the end, he told me he wanted me to consider management there, gave me the weekend to think about it. The following Monday, they made the offer.

Plus, there's a free silver pass that gets me and three other people into the parks anytime, plus we get up to 50% off on resorts and cruise lines, and everything in the store and parks (including food) is 35% off. Lil Sister Ashley says thats perfect because, "You and Steph are so Disney retarded."

Funny story... last night, we're having dinner with Mikey and his family and a bunch of other people for Mikey's 30th birthday, and someone comes over and asks me a Disney question, which I answer easily. As they walk away, The Lovely Steph Leann looks at me with incredulity, with an offended look on her face that says, "Uh... I know that... I know Disney... I know more than my husband does!"

Yes, the discounts will be nice. But is it worth it? Can I walk away from FIVE years of building relationships and working my way up in Starbucks? I left a fabulous job at Cox Radio, and all its perks, to take a job at NBC 13, with all of its promises of growth and opportunity for more money, which at the time was the main reason. It was a disaster, with NBC 13 being one of the worst jobs I've ever had. The money wasn't worth it.

Plus, at Starbucks on University and 20th, I've got a great team... Matt, Jessica, Megan, Katie--some of the best people I've ever worked with. Seriously, they know their job, they know their responsibilities and they know what they are doing, which is refreshing. I'd also be giving up great customers like Stacy the nurse, who in some strange way is kinda hot, plus Kevin & Sandy, plus Carla, Matt's boo and baby mama, who is just fabulous and... I could go on and on. This is also the only time I get to see Lil Sister Ashley on a regular basis, and thats a big plus, cause I'll be honest, I love that chick. She's awesome.

So here's where I stand. I was about ready to take The Disney Store offer, then some stuff happened that made me think I wasn't, then some stuff happened that made me think I was and... after almost 10 days of going back and forth, seeking God's will, looking for guidance from Him and from other people, and really stressing out about it, and being completely overwhelmed and...

...by the way, The Lovely Steph Leann is the most wonderful chick ever. She wasn't giving me any indication of her desires for me to go to Disney or her desires for me to stay at Starbucks--she would only tell me she wants me to be happy. Sometimes that's maddening, but its moments, hours, days, weeks like this that make you grab your spouse, hold them tightly and thank God that you have someone you are so close to and that would support you in any and everything. I love My Lil Sister Ashley, and I love my friends KT & Jason and others, but The Lovely Steph Leann is the greatest.

...anyway, after all that, I've decided. I want to do what glorifies Him the most, which is really what we're all here for... and I know what that is. I feel it. I sense it. I'm at peace with it.

Actually, its Sunday night, and I've known my answer since yesterday (Saturday) evening.

If you want to know what happened, you can read the follow up post...