Bella.

This is the best film of the year. Please go see it.

Gotta Love Itunes.

Browsing through the "Just For You" on Itunes, a feature which suggests albums based on previous purchases. And, they were so right! I love these albums especially...check them out!

Introducing Elyza Bo Qian

DOB: June 24, 2007
Province: Jiangxi, Poyang SWI

About her:
A deep sleeper
laughs aloud
fond of listening to music!
has a ready smile
sometimes obstinate
fond of playing with toys

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

From Courtney & Jay (the new parents):

We have a daughter!!!
Here is what we know so far...
Name: Bo Qian
DOB: June 24, 2007 YES, SHE IS 6 MONTHS OLD!!!
Province: Jiangxi Province, Poyange SWI (Poyang Lake is the largest fresh-water lake in China)
Weight: 11 pounds, 58 cm length (TINY)
We'll have pictures and more info tomorrow afternoon.
Check back!

Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! 2 Cor. 9:15

My friend just told me that Bo Qian means "Precious Beginning".

Imagery.

I love to drink a cup of coffee in the morning. My favorite thing is to watch the cream cloud and fold in from the edges of the cup. Sometimes, I think I can see something in it. Like an image of a sasquatch. But it's so fast, it's difficult to identify. Or sometimes it's an image of the sun, so I turn my face really quickly so I won't go blind. This morning I didn't have a round cup, so it was a little harder to see, but, I think it was this:

An image (from google images) from the movie Koyaanisqatsi, which is a Hopi Indian word meaning "life out of balance." It is a really great film that is worth watching.

Stopped in for a photo at Jubilee!

If you don't already have it.

This album rocks! Your tree and garland will be happy as you swing around them in gladness to this amazing music. And you will smile. All year long. Don't think you are the weird one out when you feel an urge to slip it on for a few happy tunes this spring either. It's the Sufjan Stevens Christmas album. It's so good!

Christmas Past.

I found this file while looking for photos...one of my favorites. Click the images to read. It's pretty funny. My Christmas card from '05, the year I was homeless for half of it. Katrina had left no available apartments in Jackson. I was living with friends. It was fun, but a tough 6 months. I hope I never forget the feeling I had when I got the home I have now. All the fun of fixing it up (THANK YOU!!! Mom and Dad!) , and how my sister and I had prayed for the right price, and God made it available in all of His perfection (THANK YOU!!! Father!). I went from living, literally on friends' couches to having an entire house. It was/is great.

I really miss my Sony.

I had a sweet Sony camera, and then, it quit. First, lines formed across the screen and across photos. Then one day, the screen was black. Don't leave your camera in the car. Or it will surely go. I left it in the car, during the hot summer and the cold winter. I did not know.

Holiday Message From Buddy.

gfhhhhhhhhhhhhioppppppppppppppppppppppp

This Ain't Aunt Edina's Green Bean.

So you won't have to pucker up this year when she comes at you with those hot pink lips and coffee breath, waving her heaping spoon at you, to see if you want another serving of her frightening concoction. Since you lied and told her you liked them so well that you had already finished them from your plate before you even got to sit down. This year you'll have your own. "Right back at ya Edina!" with a smile you'll say. This recipe kicks and it's so easy. I got it from the Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook.

MAKE AHEAD

prep: 42 minutes :: cook: 12 minutes :: chill: 1 hour

3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 pounds green beans
1 small purple onion, thinly sliced
1 (4-ounce) package feta cheese, crumbled
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted

• Whisk together first 5 ingredients.
• Trim stem end of green beans, snap into thirds, and steam until crisp-tender (10 minutes). Immediately plunge into cold water to stop cooking process. Drain. Pat dry.
• Combine beans, onion, and cheese. Toss. Cover. Chill.
• Pour oil mixture over bean mixture and chill 1 hour before serving.
• Toss in walnuts just before serving.

Christmas Time's a Comin'!

And, I can't wait! You'll even catch me in June jammin' to these great Christmas tunes. Here is a "best of" list. For your Thanksgiving road trip or just to help you get your Christmas spirit flowing early! All available on iTunes:

Amen : : Take 6
Blue Christmas : : Elvis Presley
Christmas Time's a Comin' : : Del McCoury, Doc Watson & Mac Wiseman
Christmas Wrapping : : The Waitresses
The First Noel : : Yellowjackets
Good Morning Blues : : Ella Fitzgerald
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas : : Hem
Last Christmas : : Wham! (for nostalgia only)
Merry Christmas, Baby : : Christina Aguilera Featuring Dr. John
Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer : : Billy May
Santa Claus : : Sonny Boy Williamson
Santa Claus Is Back In Town : : Jonny Lang
Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town : : Johnny Mercer & The Pied Pipers
Silent Night : : Emmylou Harris
Snoopy's Christmas : : The Clumsy Lovers
Soulful Christmas : : James Brown (loves ya!)
The Little Drummer Boy : : Etta James
This Christmas : : Donny Hathaway
What You Want for Christmas : : 69 Boyz, K-Nock & Quad City DJ's
White Christmas : : Diana Krall

Virginia Taylor.

I found a photo album when I lived in Nashville from the early 1900's. It belongs to Virginia Taylor, who was 6 and 1/2 in 1935, and lived on 2112 Irving Ave. S, in Minneapolis Minnesota. The book is full of family photographs, friends from Camp Lake Hubert, her counselor, Constance Lane, Connie the nurse, the cabin she stayed in. Fishing with her father, cousin, Bill and Rex the dog on East Twin Lake, Susan's cottage there. It goes on and on. Each photo with a description, and list of where and who.
About a month ago I decided to google (sorry purists, I know "Google" is a proper noun, not a verb) the address, and see if there was still a home there. And, there was. I sent the current resident a letter, asking if she knew Virginia Taylor or her relatives. Yesterday, I got a letter back from her, and she was very curious too, and asked if her house, which she described to me was in any of the photos. I looked when I got home, and I did find several photos of family members, including Tippy, the dog posed on the front porch of the house. Perhaps I shall return them.

image: photobooth.net

Everybody Wang Jung Tonight.

Some synchronicity for a Monday: As mentioned in an earlier post, my sister and I are pretty consistently on the same thought wave, though it's frequency and significance varies. But, this one was pretty fun, so I thought I'd share:
We found out late last week that she and Jay would not get the early adoption referral they had hoped for, so I bought her a book, Parenting from the Inside Out, to read, in hopes that it would help pass the time as well as help prepare them for Elyza. Saturday, I went to the post office to mail it to her. And, tonight, I had a voicemail from her thanking me and telling me that just yesterday, her friend Cochet, had called to tell her about this great teacher at her child's school. She as a parent as well as her child had learned a lot from the teacher, and she recommended Courtney check out her book. Her name is Mary Hartzell but that she could not remember the name of the book that she had written. Today, after opening her package from me, she saw the name Mary Hartzell on the book and after doing a double take on who the package was from, called to hip me to this latest. hahahahah. Dang, quit stalking my mind, yo. hahhahha, just kidding. Hope ya'll enjoy the book.

"When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God’s praise than when we’ve first begun."

Usually, I can hardly sing this part, especially when it gets to the part about, "no less days...than when we first begun." This is the final verse of Amazing Grace, and my most favorite.
A few weeks ago, a lady I know, told me that her daughter was getting married at the end of October. Somewhere on the coast, I think she said. I've heard that it rains and showers frequently on the coast. And, after almost a full week of heavy rains here, it came to mind, that it could possibly rain at her daughter's wedding. I don't know her daughter, but I suspected there was only a small chance that she would prefer rain at her wedding, and felt several urges throughout the 3 days prior to it, to pray for beautiful weather. Not that the music would be great. Or the guests would all be able to attend. Or that the priest would say the right things. Though I hope all these things were true as well, it was only an urge to pray for this, nothing else, but that the weather would be perfect for her/them.
I didn't think about it after that, until I saw the lady again a few days ago, and of what I can remember of our brief conversation about the wedding, she didn't talk about the music, or the guests, or the priest. She talked about the weather! She said briefly that she was glad to be barefoot on the sand, something about dolphins in the ocean behind them, and went on and on, saying three times how beautiful the weather was.
I can't tell you how much my heart smiles, that our Father in Heaven would reveal His love for us in so many ways great and small. And, I can't wait until we can praise Him in the never ending daylight.

Lens Shift.

I met an excellent photographer at a going away party last week. His name is Roy Adkins. His work can be viewed here: www.lightandglass.net
On his blog at http://www.vindaugagallery.com/?p=343 he has the photoshop action for Lens Shift. A technique mentioned on my sister's blog a few weeks ago. Thanks Roy!

Buddy and I were just hangin' tonight, we rarely get girl time, away from when I'm zzzzin' or on the computer. Like now. She's cool though, just hangs out with me on the desk here. I blog for her sometimes, she writes the stories for the most part. I usually just take pictures. Thanks for the pics, Bud.

The Crystal Awards.

At the car show this weekend.

"The Longest"

"The Weirdest" (watch out...it goes down the road on 3 wheels only)

"The Shiniest"

"The Coolest" (non-import) An original Hazard car, signed by the cast. The drivers exited the car this morning in DOH style, through the window.

Box Tops.

Sweet.

We listened to the Box Tops (4 originals in the band) in an open field Friday night. The show was great. Mom and I tried to stay warm.

No Less Than Best In Show,

Of Course he is! Dad won the top award for Imports at the Scarecrow Car Cruise this weekend. 307 cars were in the show. Way to go Dad! And the motley crew...

Lake Lorman.

Soul Sighting

I saw these paintings made by local high schools on my way to a meeting. They are so great! All are inspired by the new "City With Soul."

I love all of them...

What Is Your Beer, Bate & Tackle?

Marc's Pub.
About a year and a half or so, ago, Mom and I were at my friend's pub, hanging out with neighbor's. And, it was mentioned that a past pub-goer and dear friend of ours had decided to quit his job as a retail manager and fulfill his dream of owning a Beer, Bate & Tackle store, on the county line near Memphis, just down from the water.
Wow! What an inspiring story, to hear that our friends dream was a real possibility. And, that he had made the commitment to quit his "day job" in pursuit of it. So, a round was in order, and in honor of him, each of us raised our glass, and individually, announced what our own "beer, bate & tackle" would be. That is: what would each want to do with his or her life if income was not a factor?
Each of us (about 16 total) took a turn and went around the pub sharing what would fulfill us. As if no one had ever asked it before, each person, gave a genuine and joyful response. I can't remember each one, but I do remember the excitement and energy as we paused and listened. My mother, said she wanted to be a ballet dancer. I never knew this. How neat to imagine, my mother, in a tutu and sequins? Then I went, and had difficulty articulating a title for what I wanted to do, just that it involved being a sort of wise man. To help people who wanted guidance in making big life changes, or help in determining what their own calling in life was. And also to listen to the problems and offer prayer and encouragement for them. And, to read and study in down time. I wasn't sure if there was a job with this description, until several months later, when I was sitting beside a girl at BEER:30 who said she was a psychologist, it dawned on me! I'd thought of it several times, and how wonderful it would be to have this job, but being unable to articulate it, not knowing exactly what it was. Of course!

Read Larry Brown.

image source: www.olemiss.edu

This weekend, I went camping at "Lake Sardis". My non-native friends say it this way. Otherwise called, "The Dam". I've adopted the charming new name which sounds exotic to me.
LARRY BROWN was a writer from Oxford.
I thought of his book, FAY and what might have inspired his story while I was staying in the area that he wrote about.
Weaving my bike across the back of the camp grounds in and out of the sounds of other campers offered some clues:
"Woke up 3 or 4 times this morinin', I mean wringin' wet"...
"What's real fun is goin' down there where they got the"...
"reckin' we kin fry ish catfish, wool I got sum innare froze"...
As I rode past huge uniform piles of chopped down trees other campers had brought from home, I felt I'd cheated myself, having bought my much smaller pile from Tater Bug's country store located just a few miles up from the lake, right next to the church made from two trailer halves. Recounting the five dollar bill I'd handed over to his lovely wife for my little bundle of sticks.
No singing joyfully around little bundles of burning wood, or telling big fish stories to one another. Just bursts of fragments, loud like honking horns, whipping through the oak trees above, dragging squirrels along by their tales, sacheing in persistence down to my ears with a well deserved slap in the face.
Tater, must have been touched by the generosity of Spirit of the Lord swelling over from the church next door, when Dad came back that morning with his $3 bundle of sticks, twice the size of mine. My humbleness grew.
Keith, a local, pastor, prayed a few nights ago, that we would all see that, each of us come to God, from different walks of life. None better or worse, just different backgrounds and different places along the journey.
Larry Brown wrote so wonderfully about people and their stories and places. Tater Bug. The little white church next door to Tater Bug's. The two double wide trailers joined together to make the church marked by a steeple on the roof. The precious souls gathered there. Maybe like Fay, to meet Jesus for the first time. The seemingly shallow conversations, and my inability to process my surroundings as articulately as Larry Brown did, reminded me that I should read more of his books. I would highly suggest reading Fay. Then, visit Lake Sardis where you'll find many of his characters, appreciate the brilliance of how he told their stories, and hopefully begin to appreciate the differences.

Mayes Lake, Sunday

Fall!

With wind, He causes each leaf to dance, and with His Spirit, moves praises in us. How would we know to praise our Creator, without His first moving us? How would we be forever blessed if not for Him?

He who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals his thoughts to man, he who turns dawn to darkness, and treads the high places of the earth— the LORD God Almighty is his name. Amos 4:13

Welcome back Fall!

From The Maker.

"The Lord by wisdom founded the earth;
By understanding He established the heavens;
By His knowledge the depths were broken up,
And clouds drop down the dew.
My son [daughter], let them not depart from your eyes—
Keep sound wisdom and discretion;
So they will be life to your soul
And grace to your neck.

Then you will walk safely in your way,
And your foot will not stumble.
When you lie down, you will not be afraid;
Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.
Do not be afraid of sudden terror,
Nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes;
For the Lord will be your confidence,
And will keep your foot from being caught.

Proverbs 3:19-26

Strange Seeds.

City With Soul.

I found this photo online of an outdoor board that Marc Leffler and I did last year as part of a campaign for the city of Jackson. I hadn't seen any of them yet. What a fun campaign! One of my favorites to work on for sure! And, Austin Cannon did a great job creating a website.
Gone an gitcha sef sum sowe: www.jacksoncitywithsoul.com

Like Sista, Like Sista

Is it possible that twins could have been born 6 years apart? It's mystifying how in sync mine and my sister's daily life is. Though we live hundreds of miles apart, it seems we are constantly tripping over one another in thought or action, deed or dilusion. When we're together, we say things, totally off subject, in unison, as if given a cue. When we're apart, we do things like both decide to join a gym or pick the same new hobby without the other knowing. It happens in the car, we have a bizzare thought at the very same moment. It happens on the phone, she calls with a random product she wanted to tell me about, only to find that I was just about to call her to tell her the exact same thing. Lately it's been the same ailment: So, we just have to decide which one of us wants to go to the doctor. She's probably adding this very phenomenon to her own blog right now.
Cheers to ya, Sis! Thanks for being such an amazing, brilliant, brave, and tallented person for me to look up to. Thank you for all of your love, patience, thoughtfullness and inspiration, be it by telephone or telepathy, through the fluid brain waves that break the laws of time and speed as they catapult between us.

Mayonnaise. (revised and spellchecked)

When I was home visiting Mom and Dad and making my way into town with them to check on some rental property, we drove past a fellow, who's struggle in life had become a series of accounts that had found itself in a small town legend, and after a few times around, became he, who was walking down the street as we made our way past the square towards our destination. "There's Mayonnaise!", Mom said, interrupting her sermon about needing to find a new painter, and how the last renters absolutely trashed the apartment, and she's not sure if she'll ever be able to get that carpet back like it was, swirling her finger in the air towards a harmless looking older gentleman, who seemed like he was continuing his quest for something from his younger days, but now, just out of habit and having forgotten what his pursuit was, had fixed himself to strolling along his course at a slow and steady pace, making shapes out of his progress throughout the town streets. As I looked in on his life from the backseat car window, watching it like an an old silent movie, I could have kept time by the gentle steady commitment of his worn shoes to the pavement below.
I found it strange that such a skinny man and such an old age would have the demeaning name of a substance that is made purely of fat and is a staple in every good person's gross potluck dish.
"Why Mayonnaise?", I proceeded.
"Well, ask your daddy." She looked at Dad who passed on it. "Well," she said, "Mayonnaise was a womanizer." "Well. A peeping tom. He used to look in on the women around town."
"So, why Mayonnaise?", I didn't understand.
"Well, he's afraid of mayonnaise."
"And?", impatiently.
"Well the women started putting mayonnaise on the windows of their home."
"Like a jar of it?" I said. "Like, they'd set an open jar of mayonnaise in the window and off he would go?" "What about flies?", I carried on cautiously, smiling and looking around as if I was feeding a practical joke.
"Well, the women would smear mayonnaise on the windows and he'd see it and run off."
"Really?, and that's it?"
"Yeah, he didn't like it. He hated it. He hated mayonnaise." Breath. "Yep, they'd smear it. And he wouldn't come around it."
"Like smear it all over the window? Like, making it so you couldn't see in through the window?"
"Yeah, but it was the mayonnaise that he hated." "You know. It was mayonnaise. Smeared. He could have still seen through it. If he got close enough to it. But he was scared of it." Her sentences short and breathy like a smoker's, blowing words out with a sudden gush, and adding a few at a time with each quick inhale, and repeating herself nervously.
Dad put the car in park and snapped the key out.
"You coming in?" she asked.
"No. I'll stay here." I replied.
"It's hot in this car. I don't know why you want to sit out in this car. If that's what you're gonna do. Don't overheat. Why don't you come in? Don't you overheat out here girl. You can die. Here. Here's the keys. If you're gonna sit out here roll down the window." mom said.
I measured the air as I breathed rationing it as if I were lost in outer space and I had only a 3 day supply of it, and watched them go inside. I continued my commitment to the car window, trying to soothe myself with it's rounded-squarish corners, and questions of whether it was Hellmann's or Blue Plate.

Sam On!

Below is a great recipe Courtney recently shared with me.

Asian Grilled Salmon
Copyright, 2001, Barefoot Contessa Parties!, All Rights Reserved

1 side fresh salmon, boned but skin on (about 3 pounds)

For the marinade:
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons good soy sauce
6 tablespoons good olive oil
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

Thanks CoJo! You rock!

London Branch at Fusion Coffee House

Throwing To The Winds

"We have to somehow become capable of throwing all our limitations to the winds, so that the Holy Spirit can do through us works that are inconceivable."
--Thomas Merton

There is great pleasure in throwing to the winds. I've always enjoyed the act of disposing of freshly gutted watermelon. Carefully balancing it's heaviness all the way out to the edge of the yard, hoisting it above my shoulder to cast the slippery carcuss as hard and far as I can over the barbed wire fence into the pasture, and then watching it wobble clumsy and heavy and disappear into the yellow grass that grows there as high as my thigh. A spirit of enormous satisfaction and graditude follows the act of returning to earth, what it had first given me. I try and sneak an apple's core or an orange rind down into the creek behind my house nearly every day. God calls us to practice the same with Him. He gives us gifts, and we must enjoy the response of hoisting them back towards Him, and with them, "throwing all our limitations to the wind" as an act of obedience and faith.

Everybody Hates You.

Recently I had the awesome pleasure of meeting one of the great musical geniuses of jazz, Alvin Fielder. He is a drummer. And, he plays the instrument quite well. He is a master articulator of music, making his most indelible statements by merely suggesting them. Which brings me to something he said that has left me inspired for weeks now.

While at the show, I also had the great pleasure of sharing a table with another great musical genius, Raphael Semmes. So, while listening, I got to attend which musical phrases paused for weighing in Raphael's mind as they swung by us. It was usually the ones that held back and let the listener infer. After the last set, I asked if Raphael could introduce me to Mr. Fielder. He agreed and approached it by asking Al how he was doing, who, in a vigorous grumble replied, "Man, Everybody hates me. How you been?" and then, before and answer was found, looked up from his drum set, and replied to his own question. "Raphael, man, you know, Everybody hates you too!" After resolving the initial shock of a seemingly rude insult, I sat there in my grin, adding nothing, occurring that I had just witnessed a great compliment.

I love how Al said so much with so little, and like his drumming, he always knows where the tempo is, so he can afford to let the music breathe in places. In a recent quote Al says, "Music is like painting a portrait or creative writing" adding, "Drumming is not beating on something. Like writing, there is form to it. There has to be a vocabuary to have good music." Thanks for saying it that way, Al. Everybody hates you, and now I've had the great pleasure of hating you too. :)

If you'd like to hate Al as well, check him out in a live recording from Fusion Coffee House in Ridgeland by visiting on the web at http://www.fusioncoffeehouse.net/events.html#

Oh, yeah, and you can also hate Raphael there too, just scroll down until you see his name, click on the pod cast symbol.

Random findings

Sometimes, I find the strangest things when I return home...

Like this skirt from the 10th grade. I found it in a drawer this weekend. It's so funny, that I had to tribute a full on Sting jump for it.

Mom is the bomb.com

While mom was in town last weekend, we visited Hancock Fabric's. She has an interest in sewing and wanted to attempt a suit for me. We chose fabrics and looked at patterns. When I went home this weekend, she had already made a suit! Wow, I knew you were talented, Mom, but I had no idea you were "sew" genius. You rock! Thank you for making this awesome suit for me.

Hot Tamale!

This weekend was my sister's birthday! So, in celebration of her 32nd we made tamales. They were soooo good. Watch out Tony, that's not chile powder bringing on the heat–You've got some serious competition. But, don't sweat it, we're pretty small staffed...Tiempo De la Cena!

Signs Abound

It's hard to believe it, but after 27 years in the real estate and appraisal business, my father is retiring. And, after a trip home this weekend, I've witnessed the evidence and have come to believe him this time. Yes, there's the Sedona inspired fringe he's recently added to his Vespa, the retro camper he finally got for mom. And while looking for some jewelry to go with my dress Sunday, I spotted an ear ring, yep, that's right, not a two-pack, left and right, or sparkling dangley pair, no way. Just one single, tiny little silver square. Go ahead Dad, get that ear "peered",(btw dad: I think it goes in the left). You can nolonger say that it doesn't go well with a suit. I look forward to seeing you and mom experience all those things you've been talking about since Courtney and I were children. If you need help remembering, I'm sure we can help. God only knows how many times you mentioned them at the dinner table. All the wonderful things you would do if you didn't work, could roll off my tongue like the Lord's Prayer, or rattle out like the Pledge of Allegence. So, here's to it, cowboy and dame, with my hand on my heart...I wish you the time of your lives! And, yes, you can park your camper in my driveway, so long as the neighborhood association's cool with it.

Signs of Retirement