What Might Have Been...

If The Shining had been a family comedy, the trailer might have looked like this.

(It may take a few minutes to load, but believe me, it is so worth it!)

Oblivious Blogger Syndrome...

So, this blog thing has obviously become really popular lately, especially among the EC crowd. I have really enjoyed getting back in touch with friends. I like reading the funny stories and especially trying to figure out the "big" questions with all of you. Some of what I've read has been eye-opening, some of it challenging, and some of it thought-provoking.

And then there's the rest. There seems to be a condition running rampant among several frequent bloggers and particularaly some frequent commenters. I'm going to call it the Oblivious Blogger Syndrome (OBS). Those who suffer from OBS tend to forget that what they're posting is on the Internet for anyone to see. They also ignore the fact that people who read blogs don't always comment, so you really never know who might be reading. In addition, EC is a fairly small community and word gets around pretty quickly (even among alumni). Believe me when I say, you have no idea who is reading your posts and comments.

People with OBS post the first thing that pops into their brain without thinking through what the impression of the reader may be. They use foul language, spout controversial opinions, and share really personal information. They forget they're on the World Wide Web and think they're writing in their journal or talking over a private Instant Message.

I have been to blogs where I literally felt uncomfortable and a bit embarrassed for the person posting or commenting. I'm not asking anyone to be fake or change themselves, I'm just saying...be aware. Don't be so naive to think that no one of consequence is reading. And please, for all of us, proofread.

Peace. Out.

Congratulations Demi and Ashton!

No, seriously, I'm really happy for them. They seem to really love each other and I wish them all the best.

I promise there are more serious blog posts coming soon...these celebrities are just keeping me on my toes lately! :)

Congratulations, JD, you are right for their band, INXS!

So, last night was the Rock Star:INXS finale, and it was quite an event (thanks, Amy, for the cake!!!). JD, MiG, and Marty ended up in the final three, and JD won the honor of becoming the new frontman for the band. I have not been a fan of JD's, but I have to say, last night he really impressed me. His rendition of "You Can't Always Get What You Want" was really good (especially the beginning when he toned it down a little) and I can't imagine Marty or MiG doing better on the new INXS song, "Easy, Easy."

I'm actually glad Marty and MiG didn't win, because I will anxiously await their original albums! And I may even check out the new INXS, you never know! :)

As you wish...

This Friday, EC is starting a new regular event called "Reel Theology." We'll be watching a movie and then having a discussion about the spiritual lessons/parallels we can draw from it. I'm so excited about this!! Our first movie will be The Princess Bride and I'll be leading the discussion. This post will hopefully serve two purposes...

1. If you have any ideas about spiritual lessons/parallels that are evident in The Princess Bride, please share. I would love as much input as possible before going in!

2. I'm assuming everyone has seen The Princess Bride. If you haven't, go see it. Now. Stop reading and go to the video store. Seriously. For the rest of us, I offer a place where you can share your favorite quote from the movie...and there are many to choose from!!

So, I'll start with one of the best insults ever. This quote is preceeded, of course, by phrases like "miserable vomitous mass" and "warthog-faced buffoon"!! Here we go...

"Wrong! Your ears you keep, and I'll tell you why. So that every shriek of every child at seeing your hideousness will be yours to cherish. Every babe that weeps at your approach, every woman who cries out 'Dear God, what is that thing?' will echo in your perfect ears. That is what to the pain means. It means I leave you in anguish, wallowing in freakish misery forever."

"Freakish misery"...HA!!

Best in Show...

Saturday night, Paul and I went to see Lovedrug and The Juliana Theory at the Masquerade in Atlanta. This was one of the best rock shows I've been to in a LONG time! I'm a big fan of both bands, but had never seen TJT live.

Lovedrug has always been good, but it's amazing what a year on the road will do for a band! They were so tight and Michael Shepard's voice never fails to amaze! He may have the best live singing voice ever!! If you don't have their album, Pretend You're Alive, I would highly recommend it. They also played a lot of new stuff that was at least as good as the old and maybe a little better.

As I said, this was the first time I had ever seen The Juliana Theory in concert, but had heard they were really good. I had also heard they came off really snobby live. I would say both of those statements are true!

I so wish that I had had a camera, because I don't know if I can truly capture the look on the lead singer's face with words. When he's not singing, he looks very confidently into the eyes of the audience. His stare never wavers. He waits for applause with a knowing look. "I know you love this song. And if you've never heard it, you're going to love it. So, I'll just wait here until you realize that yourself."

I'm usually really critical of front men, but, oddly enough, I wasn't put off by that look at all. Perhaps it was because I did love that song (and that one, and that one, and that one...) and the performance completely backed him up. He was spot on all night vocally and the band was amazing! Their new stuff was good, but my favorite stuff is from "Love".

All in all, it was an awesome show. I couldn't have been more pleased with the experience. Plus, I never get tired of feeling like the oldest person at these concerts...except, of course, for the Dad who brought his emo kids! Paul and I said that will be us in 15 years...except we'll be making our kids go with us rather than the other way around!!

Crash into me...

This is what happens when people stop being polite, and start being real. Paul, Amy Harper, and I watched the movie Crash last night. If you haven't heard of it, it's a movie about race relations in LA. It involves a lot of characters whose lives intertwine in interesting ways. It's one of the best and most difficult movies I've ever watched.

Right from the beginning, you just can't believe the racial slurs and race-based insults that are hurled about. Even having been raised in the South, it is still so hard for me to believe that people can really be so biased against another human being for no other reason than the color of their skin. Or that people truly believe that stereotypes are representative of every single individual who happens to be part of a particular group.

This movie broke my heart in places. My heart just hurts for people who live in such a narrow-minded reality. It was also really challenging to me to think about how I incorporate stereotypes into my own assessment of people. I don't think it's possible to live without them, but the way I handle them should be representative of my relationship with Christ. I should be loving people because they're people, not because they do or don't fit into a certain category.

**10 points to the person who can tell me where my opening line comes from. :)

Celebrity News Update...

I know it's what you guys come to my blog for, so here you go! :)

*Britney named the baby Sean Preston Spears Federline. It's not my favorite, and it certainly wasn't my pick. I actually think it's a little disappointing. I was hoping for something that would be interesting to talk about, but this leaves me kind of cold, unlike...

*Henry Gunther Ademola Dashtu Samuel, which is what Heidi Klum and Seal named their son, also born this week. Now, that's a name!

*In couple-related news, the Ches-wegers have called it quits. That's right, Kenny Chesney and Renee Zellweger are no longer married. They made it a whole four months, though, so that should get them something, right?

*And finally, Tom Cruise has called off the wedding to Katie Holmes, saying he'll wait for Dakota Fanning, no matter how long it takes!

Okay, I made that last bit up, but you have to admit, that would be a great story!

A Boy for Britney...

Congratulations to Britney Spears and Kevin Federline on the birth of their new baby boy! There's a note on Britney's website saying everyone is happy and healthy. While there's no official word yet on the name, most people expect to hear "Preston Michael Spears Federline" as the choice. I, however, am still holding out for London!

Thanks, Leah, for sharing the news. I can't believe I was scooped! :)

I'm so tired...

Not of being admired and not of love uninspired, just...tired. The pace I'm keeping these days is wearing me out. I feel like everything is urgent, so therefore nothing gets the attention it deserves. Part of the problem is that I'm still trying to have some sort of life outside of my responsibilities. It's starting to stress me out that the Fall TV season is upon us and I may not have time to watch the things I want to watch. Hey, hey, hey, don't judge me. I'm a Telecommunications major, for Heaven's sake. Watching TV is like doing homework! :)

Seriously, though. I'm really enjoying all the things I'm involved in, but doing them doesn't leave much time for anything else. What's my husband's name again? (Just kidding, I know it's Peter... Patrick?...wait, I know it starts with a P...)

So, this is me whining a bit about how hard my life is. I mean, I have to sit in a fabulous institution of higher learning two days a week under experts in the field I'm interested in, teach a subject that I really enjoy another two days a week, and try to form meaningful relationships with girls I really like the rest of the time. Poor me!

I think if I could fit some quality time in with ol' what's-his-name, things would be much better. Hmmm...here I am, not reading, not teaching, not relationship-ing...could it be the blogging is interfering as well? Certainly not! But, just in case...

On a lighter note...

Thanks to all who have been commenting on my last post. There's been some great discussion there. Keep those comments comin'!

For something more along the lines of mindless entertainment, I offer Dictionaraoke. This site promises the most exciting dictionary music on the web...EVER! You can find some of your favorite songs (and some naughty ones too...don't say I didn't warn you!) as sung by vocalized online dictionaries. You really have to hear it to believe it. So far, my favorites are "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion and "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen. Enjoy!

These are my confessions...

I don't want to dwell on morbid topics here, that's not really what my blog is all about. But I think the purpose of having a blog is two-fold...to have a place to air my opinions and start conversations on topics I find interesting, and to act as sort of a catharsis for the stuff in my head, particularly the stuff I don't know what to do with. This post meets both of those criteria.

I was watching Oprah the other day, I believe it was Monday's show, and she was doing a special report from the Astrodome in Texas regarding the after-math of Hurricane Katrina. She was up in a balcony and on the field behind her you could see thousands of people milling about. She had just been to New Orleans and the surrounding areas to see for herself what was going on.

Let me interrupt myself here and say I have been sporadically watching the news coverage of HK. I've heard the reports that the people were starting to go a little crazy and were becoming violent. I've heard the blame game being played over and over. I haven't been paying close attention. Why would I? I don't know anyone in New Orleans. I wasn't personally affected by this tragedy.

So, I'm watching Oprah, and she goes to the New Orleans Superdome where the most people were sheltered and the most violence has occurred. She was talking to the mayor who strongly advised her not to go into that facility. She insisted. He told her he wanted her to say on camera that she was releasing them of all liability if anything should happen to her inside. She did so.

She walked inside. Immediately, she was overwhelmed by the stench and the trash that was piled up everywhere. She walked from the foyer area into the dome and was struck by the darkness. She (and I) had never thought about the fact that those people in there were not only stuck for several days without food or water, they were also in complete darkness because there are no windows in a stadium. She spoke with several people and they told her they had decided to leave the Superdome and take their chances on the streets because it was so dangerous inside. The police told her that the gangs of New Orleans were no longer fighting each other, they were uniting to make the most of their resources. Children were being raped. People were being murdered. Others were dying because they were sick before HK and were now left with no medicine or medical care. There was no way to remove the dead.

I was overcome with emotion watching this. I started to realize that in the deepest, darkest, blackest places of my heart and mind, I had been thinking..."Well, those people didn't get out when they had the chance, so in a way they're just getting what they deserve." Or "They're poor and stupid and stubborn." Or "We can't help it if no one could get through because their city was laid out in such a ridiculous way." I am a horrible person. I am dirty and nasty. It was so easy to be blasé about something I really knew nothing about. No one, no matter what their situation, deserves to be left in the dark, without food, without water, surrounded by dead people and people who want you dead, for days on end. Who wouldn't go crazy in conditions like that?

I am so ashamed to have even had a hidden thought that they might deserve what they were going through. I am so ashamed that I dismissed the seriousness of this disaster because I wasn't "personally affected." That I was not more concerned as a human being and particularly as a Christian about what they were experiencing.

I have no idea what the federal government was doing during the last week, but after seeing the inside of that Superdome, and hearing some of the people talk about what’s been going on, I can say with confidence...it wasn't enough. If you want to argue that they didn't have proper planning in the city of New Orleans, and it was their own responsibility to be prepared for hurricanes considering where they live, I won't disagree. But to leave people, human beings, Americans on their own soil, in those conditions for that long is unacceptable.

I don't know what could have been done. I don't know what can be done now. I'm not a structural engineer or a political analyst. I just know that I had to face some serious facts about myself and my own heart this week. I had to admit that just when I start to think I've arrived as a Christian and that I'm doing pretty well, I discover that I am still truly black on the inside. Not the immediate inside, but the really deep place that I rarely acknowledge and never let people see. It amazes me that Jesus, who is perfect and holy, would accept someone like me. It hit me like it has never hit me before that I am so not like Jesus. I may be better than I once was, but I have, by no means, arrived. God, forgive me for being so cocky before and for not caring about people the way You do.

Sending happy thoughts...

As Paul and I were driving home tonight from NC, we frequently ran into military convoys carrying medical supplies, water, and presumably food and other goods. I can only assume they were headed to the Gulf Coast to help out. There were so many of them. I was wishing there was some way I could tell them how much I appreciated their effort. I thought about giving the "Peace" sign, but was afraid it might be misinterpreted. I considered the "I Love You" sign, but thought that was a little too personal. I didn't have any paper to work up a "Thank You" sign, so that wasn't going to work. The best I could come up with was to send out my happy thoughts, well wishes, and appreciation into the cosmos and hope that somehow those thoughts reach them.

So, with the click of my "Publish Post" button, I am thinking of and praying for all who are involved in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Whether you be soldiers trying to distribute supplies and keep the peace, or the residents of the affected area who have lost some or all of their material possessions. I wish you whatever good can come of this situation and will help in whatever tiny way I can.

Are they cute or what?

Here's the latest picture of my sister, Ashleigh, and her son, Gabe. I know we are each entitled to our own opinion, but I have to say, I still think he's the cutest baby ever! (Ashleigh, I still think you're cute too!)

Brangelaniston...

Thank you, Melissa, for letting me steal the title of this post!

Here's what I think about the Brad/Angelina/Jennifer triumvirate. I think it's okay for Brad and Angelina to be together. Whether she's just a rebound or a midlife crisis or a true relationship, they make a darn good-looking couple and they seem to be happy. I'm all about the celebrities being happy. If Brad needs to be a daddy, she comes with built in kids, and I wish them all the best as a happy little family. That reads like I'm trying to be sarcastic, but I'm truly not. I think Jennifer Aniston should go for Vince Vaughn. Sure, he may not be as traditionally handsome as Brad, but he's a heck of a lot funnier, and I think she needs funny more than good-looking. I think Brangelaniston have the right to privacy and it's okay if they don't want to talk about their private lives. I think they've all done an admirable job of keeping the whole thing pretty clean and not pulling each other down into petty games. I hope that continues. I don't think it was a good idea for Brad to immediately shack up with Angelina, but that's really a personal choice, so what can you do?

I know there are many of you regular readers who have husbands who think you're a little (dare I say it??) silly because of your celebrity obsession. My good deed for the day will be providing you an outlet for all of your celebrity-induced frustration! :)

Peace. Out.

Rock Star:INXS

From Iris on another post...

"What is the problem with INXS? When are they going to let go of JD?! Must we suffer through him yet another week?"

I have no idea what's going on here. I wasn't a huge Ty fan, but I'm way less of a JD fan (Shut up, JD). I don't understand why they like him and I can't believe they kept him around after how unprepared he was for the recording session. Who needs or wants a diva like that in their band? I feel almost positive that the producers are intervening and asking INXS to keep him around as long as possible because he makes good TV.