Archive for March, 2008
The other day I told you about some of the stuff Mike sent me in advance of the new Dave Barnes album coming out on April 1. What I didn’t tell you about was the poster. You see, it came in this big padded manila envelope, but all I found in it at first was the CD and some stickers. I’m like, “That’s a lot of envelope for a CD…”
Then I noticed the poster. There was this little Dave Barnes poster in there. I didn’t really know what to do with it, because I don’t really celebrate celebrity in a normal way. I don’t think Dave (or any singer, actor, etc.) should be idolized or imitated or fawned after. He’s just a good singer and guitar player and I really like his CDs.
So last night I was sitting around with my roommate Matt. We were talking about the stickers and the blog, and somehow I thought of the poster. Trying to be funny, I said something like, “I’ll take it to school and put it in my locker.” Well, in about two seconds I realized that I actually do have a locker, kind of. (A locker at work, not at school.) Where most people have a set of four drawers to file things in, that space in my cube was empty when I was hired for this role. I looked around and found this storage cabinet instead — it’s very handy since I have almost zero files. Sooooo I brought the poster to work today and put it in my locker. I never did put anything like this up in my locker in high school, who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks!
My Life
03/05/2008 at 09:49 ET
The other day a very strange thing happened to me. I got a completely unsolicited e-mail from a guy who wanted me to send him my home address. “Delete it,” right? That’s what I thought at first, but, internet safety rules aside, I gave it a second look. I’m kind of glad I did — it’s pretty cool.
The guy was a representative of a company who produces my friend Dave Barnes (which you know if you’ve read this blog). I’m using “friend” in the pedestrian here — we’ve never met before. I’ve just listened to his music a lot. Anyway, Dave has a new album (Me + You + the World) coming out on April 1. This guy (let’s call him Mike, ’cause that won’t be confusing) sent me an album sampler, a poster, and some stickers. The stickers are that red picture up at the top there.
So I listened to the CD. I was specifically asked not to post the songs (not that I would do that, ever) but I think I’m supposed to tell you about the new album and hopefully you’ll want to buy it. Well, I’ll do my best, here goes… There were three songs: #1 is “Until You.” I don’t get this, because it was on Brother, Bring the Sun. Moving along… #2 is called “Brothers & Sisters.” This is a fine song, and I’m pretty sure Mike M. and I heard it when Two Birds, One Stone was in town, but it’s kind of pop-ish. #3 is called “When a Heart Breaks.” I like this one the best on the little CD. I’ll be listening to it more.
So that’s my story. Pretty cool. In the past week I got confirmation that two people are (kind of) reading my blog. That’s more than I thought…
If you think you’d like to buy the album, check these out:
My Life
03/03/2008 at 19:38 ET
Mike M. got me a gift certificate for Christmas for IKEA. The opening of the store in town has somehow turned me into a little more of an IKEAphile than I think I really am, but I didn’t complain. Mike knew I wanted a few things, but he was pretty sure he knew what I would do with the gift — get new bookshelves. Now, there are a few Christmas gift certificates I haven’t used yet, but I actually went to IKEA (can you say a little too excited about the store or a reason to go there) and got the shelves and brackets. That was a bit of a thing, because after laying out the exact right pattern with the shelves standing on end on the floor with Mike, I found out that three of the brackets I needed were out-of-stock and discontinued. Thankfully, my sister is in Atlanta and within a few weeks I had all the pieces and parts.
It’s taken me weeks to get this project finished, but today I finally have new bookshelves. I’m very excited. I like owning a house and making my room the way I want it. Mike was great. In addition to actually getting me the gift, he went with me to pick out the shelves, came over yesterday when I really needed a hand, drove me to Lowes to get the right anchors, and even came back today to make sure the project got finished-up. I’m really glad he’s my friend :)
My Life
03/02/2008 at 16:36 ET
Wow! I’m still at 100%. I went so much further today than the other days and walked for a lot less. I’m pretty sure I easily jogged over 1 mile. That’s a good place to start!
Today when I was jogging I got to thinking about this site. It’s been getting more attention than I expected these days (i.e., someone’s been reading it, two people actually) and I feel I owe an explanation. An explanation to what? Why to the oldest question in the history of this blog — “why innerturtle?” • • • OK, in reality, I don’t think anyone has ever actually asked me that question. I’m not sure why — if I were you I know I sure as heck would want to know. I’ve offered the answer several times, and always to an un-enthused crowd. Nonetheless…
I thought the idea was pretty clever when I came up with it. First of all, I really like turtles. That’s a whole other story, which I promise to tell some day, but doesn’t have any direct bearing on this story. One day I was trying to think of a new place to become the home of my web presence (my old site had my last name in it, which I decided was too gauche and a little unsavvy in a world of online predators and all that.) I thought, “it could be something to do with a turtle.” Then, of course, I tried a lot of ideas involving “turtle” in some way and let godaddy suggest some for me too. Hhandsometurtle was leading the pack and then somehow innerturtle popped into my head. It made sense to me right away.
All people have the qualities of many different animals as a part of us. This is both because the qualities we identify animals with are often just projection as well as due to our inexorable link to all other lifeforms as the most highly evolved species. As such, I wanted people to think much more seriously about their inner turtle and what he has to say.
My friend the turtle beat the hair — we all know this lesson and I hope you thought of it right away. That’s a good place to start. His story has much more to tell us than just about a metaphorical race. At least, I mean, you can apply this metaphor very widely. The turtle is long-lived, exceptionally long lived for his size in the animal kingdom. I honestly believe his deliberate steadfastness has a lot to do with his longevity and that many people could take a lesson here. I believe he’s also the most well-armored of the creatures on land: there are two lessons here. First, he’s cautious and careful and is not ashamed to know when it’s time to take a step back and wait for a more opportune moment. Also, he’s prepared. I was a Boy Scout (and a Cub Scout and WEBLOS before) so I truly believe in the power of being prepared.
Today I jogged as far and as long as the first two days combined. It was almost tempting to push myself to the limit (which I generally think isn’t a bad idea), but then decided to take a lesson from my turtle. I pushed myself hard, set a goal, and then gave myself a little walk break at the point I was reaching out to. I didn’t walk for long and went back to jogging more quickly than anticipated. I went far, but I didn’t wear myself out. I really want to be successful at jogging and increasing my healthiness — I want to go a little farther and a little longer each day. I can’t do that by going as far as possible each day — some days would be slower than others. I think slow and steady might get me there, and when I arrive I expect that being more healthy will only be one of the benefits.
Exercise Journal
03/01/2008 at 17:43 ET
My mom’s birthday is February 18. This year all the kids decided to surprise her by showing up at her house. She had no idea what we were planning. See my pictures, video and my brother’s pictures.
My Life
03/01/2008 at 17:41 ET
Next Posts
