Today My Heart Is Big and Sore (Thanks, Patty Griffin)

Nina: "We both need to take up cigarettes. What are you doing tonight? Can you treat yourself to some sort of indulgence?"

Erin: "I am going caroling at an old folks home tonight. Does that count?"

Nina: "For you, yes."


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Let's see if I can make it through this chorus without crying:

"O come, O come Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
Who mourns in lonely exhile here
Until the Son of God Appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel"

Yeah right.

Add this one to the list

We all know that we evangelicals are known for our witty and cutting edge, post-modern church names: Crosscurrent, Glide, Wave, Equilibrium, Guts Church and the like. Well I stumbled upon another such church this past weekend. Take a look at this little gem:

Yep, you read that right, "Suck Creek Baptist Church Family Life Center." I would like to point out it's right down the road from Fingerville, South Carolina and I'm not even kidding.

My roommate, Amber had this to say about the above church sign:
"Hey if you start a church anytime soon, don't name it this." And then she said, "All the other church names in town must have been taken."

Bravo, Suck Creek Baptists... standing firm in your commitment to Generations X and Y. They'll be flocking to your congregation with a catchy name like that.

A gchat that would make Glenn proud... if only he knew what a gchat was

?

ssspoonah gchat status:

N: "Who is #90? Isn't he Darius Rucker?" Sarah: "Um...Darius doesn't play football. He's the lead singer of Hootie and the Blowfish." N: "Oh. Coulda sworn he played for the panthers."

1:47 PM me: please at some point tell S about this conversation with N he loves Darius Rucker

1:48 PM ssspoonah: N doesn't know football players names. ever.

me: ha

ssspoonah: I was like, "That's Julius Peppers. Not Darius Rucker." And he didn't believe me.

1:50 PM me: i thought he is a basketball player; me and N ought to get together and talk sports

1:51 PM ssspoonah: you'd drive S and I crazy I guess. This is why I manage N's fantasy football team and everyone else in the league can't figure out why he's doing so well this year

1:53 PM me: The Puppeteer

Are you sure Julius Peppers never played college basketball? Like for North Carolina?

1:54 PM I just feel like there was someone named "Peppers" that played for the Tarheels at some point

ssspoonah: pretty sure he went to UNC so maybe

1:56 PM just looked it up--well done with your NCAA info

1:57 PM me: Hey! I am so proud of myself! My dad would grin and pat me on the head

1:58 PM Maybe I will post the text of this gchat on my blog

ssspoonah: proof that you know stuff about sports!

me: a little bit at least

1:59 PM ssspoonah: enough to know that Darius Rucker is not a football player for the Carolina Panthers. That's a start.

2:00 PM me: Ha. Nope, Darius Rucker is a real musical-genre-crosser from Hold My Hand to cowboy hats and Burger King commercials

ssspoonah: making south carolina and mid-90's band nostalgia proud

2:02 PM me: and now he's on the country charts. heard him twice in the car yesterday betw fredericksburg/richmond and again near williamsburg

2:03 PM ssspoonah: lord save us all

me: the soundtrack of my life (if ever you make me a mix cd titled "the soundtrack of your life" please exclude DR)

Librarians of the World Unite!

... To change the world.

My favorite spot on NPR airs on Friday mornings: NPR's Story Corp. A project done in conjunction with the National Library of Congress, NPR is on a quest to preserve oral history in the United States. I love hearing peoples' stories. The narrative from this morning was particularly lovely at like 6am on I-64 headed back to VB from the U2 extravaganza last night in Mr. Jefferson's town. Enjoy!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113357239

Really?

“ACCIDENT: In insurance, an accident is an event taking place without one’s foresight or expectation. It is a fortuitous (unexpected) event that is unforeseen and unintended, fixed in time and place, that leads to a financial loss. For example, Mr. Walker’s auto colliding with a tree on May 15, 2005 at 5:00pm at the intersection of Main and South Streets is an accident.”

p. 10, Virginia Property and Casualty Insurance License Exam Manual, 3rd Edition
2007 Published by the DF Institute, Inc.
Printed in the Unites States of America

"So a knowledge manager, a lieutenant, and business insurance specialist walk into a bar...."

Leah is my roommate. She is demure, generous, and caring. When meeting her one is instantly charmed by her beauty as well as her kind and subtle grin. There is a sincerity to Leah that encourages one to like her instantly. She comes across meek and gentle and mild. All these things are true of her, and yet Leah can most likely kick your butt. That's you - all six of you who read this blog. Let it be known that, to civilians, Leah is a closet bad ass. To the 65 men who call her "Lieutenant" or "Ma'am" on a daily basis, I imagine her bad ass qualities are not so coyly hidden. I would like to point out that Leah graduated number 2 in her flight class in Pensacola. She is a helicopter pilot in the Navy.

My very tough roommate was a finisher in the Lake Luke Triathlon just over a week ago. (Where we met Bill. See below.) I always LOVE an excuse to cheer for things and celebrate people. This Triathlon provided just such an excuse. I was surprised to find that we were the only fans at the race with a poster and pom poms. What is wrong with those loved ones? Not nearly enough spirit.

The Lake Lure Triathlon also provided the perfect opportunity for Hatcher and Spooner to be silly and reunite. "We haven't seen each other since Paris," was an oft' heard statement. See below for a photo essay as well as quotes from 'Trip Minutes' to document Lake Lure as well as our Tour of Ashevegas and Spooner's very exciting life contained therein. Bill! Sailing!

Saturday, August 29, 2009

5:54am Leah comments on her new butterfly saddle, "I hope this thing doesn't kill me."

So this guy is THE guy in the entire United States with the IRONMAN license plate. Of course he drives a red corvette.

6:47am Confusion over where Tri begins. Spooner checks GPS. Amber says, "OK, what information do we have?" Spoken like a true Knowledge Manager.

8:13am
E: "There's always time for pom poms."
S: "I'm writing that on your tombstone."

-

S: "I generally try to be in the funnest group anywhere. Like at weddings I always try to be at the fun table."
A: "That's like whenever I'm with Erin. I feel like I'm at the fun table."
E: (Gasps with delight) "Aww," (hand over heart) "thank you, Amber."

9:09am, Erin: "I'm using these sticks to trick the gnats."
(Duh, everyone knows the folklore of the gnats and the 'highest point')

11:09am
Bill: "You never know where life's gonna take you."
Erin: "Right, like one day you could be tending bar and the next day you've sold all your stuff, parked your miata, and you're off to New Foundland."
Bill: "Yeah"
Amber: "Always take a juicer."

11:49am "Pull up to the little foody-food-spot i.e. Gas station."

12:12pm " 'Look at the teets on that' comment on the big-teeted mutdog on the back of the truck that just pulled up"

For Mike Koch. We love that guy!

8:56pm: "Previously unfound pile of guacamole (20:56, for Leah). Amber, document her hand-model abilities"
8:57pm: "Rigel - all sorts of water skills"

9:29pm: "Overhear Rigel list all things restr (called SALSA'S) is now out of: rice, beans, plantains, almost all salsas, tamales, churizo. Group notes many of these items seem very *key to Salsa-mex-type Restr)"

Asheville Randoms

[Sidebar, Most/Least favorite sign of road trip: "Greensboro Next 11 Exits"]

Bill! Sailing!

Reasons to like Bill:

1. Sailing!

2. Bill is boldly friendly.

3. Bill reads my blog.

4. Sailing! (Frequency of mention denotes sincerity)

5. Bill fled convention, a miata, and bar-tending to secure the rigging via New Foundland.

6. Bill was not afraid to hold us to our pledge to provide pictures from last weekend's Triathlon before offering a date and time for sailing.

7. Bill was easy to spot after the Rock N Roll Half Marathon and conceded to a pinky swear, cementing his promise to take our little group sailing at least a second time since I cannot accompany Amber, Leah, and him (our Captain) on the maiden voyage next weekend. Thanks, Bill!