Yesterday...

Yesterday morning...I heard a new song and it made me laugh. It's a song titled "Cleanin' My Gun".

Chorus:

"Come on in boy sit on down
And tell me about yourself
So you like my daughter do you now?
Yeah we think she's something else
She's her daddy's girl
Her momma's world
She deserves respect
That’s what she'll get
Now ain't it son?
Y’all run along and have a little fun
I'll see you when you get back
Probably be up all night
Still cleanin' this gun"

Yesterday afternoon...I all but finished my paper. I only have a paragraph or two to add (appendix), two references to look up (forgot to write down the page numbers), and a picture or two to add. That's it!

Yesterday evening...I realized formatting my paper will likely take three-four days. ugh.

October 17th...

QUESTION: "What is October 17th?"

ANSWER: My defense date.

I had two meetings with committee members today. The first, was with the folklore specialist from the English department. She commented that the chapters she reviewed (on Paul Bunyan) flowed well and were well written.

NOTE TO SELF: Savor the moment because on October 17th this will be a distant memory.

The second meeting was with my advisor. She started out by saying "You're ready to defend."

Today was a very good day.

The man they call "SAUCE"...

To say I demand commitment may be an understatement. It's a bit ironic given my allegiance to things such as political parties, but when it comes to friends, I like to think "I'm there!"

Over the past four years, I have found a handful of friends to exercise with at the Rec (my friends jokingly refer to it as my weightlifting ministry). They know I'll be there and I expect (read: demand) they be there as well. My current lifting partner has taken this to a new level.

We, his friends, refer to him simply as "Sauce". He's a young, godly man with a heart for the nations. He may not be the most athletic of individuals, but he tries and I respect him for that.

Sauce and I have set up a routine where we work out Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. It's a great way of getting to know someone as we more-often-than-not grab a bite to eat after hitting the Rec.

A couple of weeks ago, Sauce was presented with a dilemma. He received an e-mail Tuesday reminding him of worship practice that coming Saturday. We met as usual on Wednesday and he said nothing. After mulling over his options for a couple of days, he contacted the worship leader--who is a close friend of mine--to let him know he would not be able to make worship practice. When asked "Why?", Sauce simply replied "Because John (The Bearded) is expecting me."

Choosing the medicine ball over worship practice. Some may describe it as a cult following. I call it commitment.

You're a good man, Sauce.

(ps--Sauce felt so obligated he had the worship leader explain to me why he wouldn't be able to make our workout time...and, yes, he made the right choice)

My car died...

...and then it came back to life!

...and then it died.

...and then it came back to life?

Such is the story of my clunker. A while back I was missing Little Smokey (my Nissan pickup) and my friends thought they could cheer me up by coming up with a name for my car. They christened it "THE Babe Magnet!"

Why would anyone name a car "The Babe Magnet"? My car has a lot of hail damage and my friends thought it could be from all of the women pounding on my car in a desperate attempt to have me give them a ride.

I didn't buy it either.

Still, I have had a number of adventures with this little car. We've endured hail storms, blizzards, and showers of human saliva. Last week, I went to the Rec to work out (unlike some who read this blog and are no longer man enough to face the medicine ball!) and afterwards my car wouldn't start. I received a jump and decided it would likely be best to drive it to my mechanic since he's open Saturday mornings until noon (it was around 10:30am).

So I drove on out, parked the car, and went inside...or at least tried to go inside. Turns out my mechanic decided to take the day off. And then...as you may have guessed...my car wouldn't start.

Because I didn't have any tin cans with me (no cell phone for this woodsman), I had to walk to the nearest business to call Ryan.

Did I mention this was the day before my birthday?

Actually, this was a blessing in disguise. My friend, Alex, has a Nissan 4x4 extended cab (sound familiar?) that he wasn't using for the weekend. He let me borrow it for my birthday which was one of the nicest presents ever.

I still miss Little Smokey.

In other news...

MY PAPER...Today, I turned in a complete draft to my advisor that is likely my last draft before I turn in the copy I defend.

FASHION NEWS...This is cool! For someone who loves flannels and sports a beard, this is as close as I get to caring about fashion.

Best Music Video EVER!!!

There are a number of music videos I have enjoyed through the years. Some relate well to the music: Silence on the Line, Whiskey Lullaby, Settle for a Slow Down, to name a few, while others are so visually stunning the video becomes a form of art.

The following is a masterpiece:

DREAM ON!

According to Jim...

Sometimes I am so consumed by what I'm doing that I completely loose track of time. Usually, it involves doing something trivial and fun, while other times it's something much more important such as reminiscing about major sporting events of the past 25 years or creating the best team ever with Ryan.

Today, I experienced one of those moments where I was completely consumed with what I was doing. This time, oddly enough, it was with my paper. Had my friend Alex not stopped by, I may have worked non-stop through dinner without realizing it.

Not sure where I'm going with this other than to say this...I treated myself to a an hour-and-a-half of According to Jim afterwards and loved every minute of it.