i love me some nashville star y'all

top ten reasons why

10. the panel of judges consists of phil vassar...and some other people
9. the quality of talent
8. lots of cowboy hats and belt buckles
7. casey rivers
6. actual song writers
5. a 6'5" rapping cowboy named cowboy troy
4. wynona judd's house coats and inability to read cue cards
3. chris young
2. phil vassar sings (to me) in every episode
1. jason aldean performing on the season finale

everyone needs a good laugh

have you guys seen this? holy cow, my stomach hurts!

united 93

in the span of two hours, in a darkened theater, nearly five years of memory and experience dissipated, and it was the morning of september 11, 2001.

since seeing the trailer for the very first time, i have been waging an internal battle as to whether of not i would see this film. the conflict is understood by many of you, i'm sure; truth v. fiction, hollywood v. humanity. but as i am a glutton for punishment (especially of the self-inflicted variety), when anne mentioned that she was going, somehow my decision was made.

i was not surprised at how vividly my own memories of that day came rushing back, but i was surprised at how incredibly well the movie was crafted. it was carefully pieced together as a collage of events that told a greater story. it did not demonize or glorify. it simply reminded. it maintained an incredible amount of integrity and told the story with poignancy and thoughtfulness. and it evoked a series of powerful emotions, that have lain dormant for some time.

if ever their was a movie deserving of a re-write, this would be it. but history writes itself, and this was one case in which there was no happy hollywood ending. at least by recreating a piece of that day, i felt the movie paid a high tribute to the lives that were lost and to the lessons that were learned.

a day at the beach

with jeremy out of town, corey and i decided it was the perfect weekend for playing hookey, and we headed to rehoboth beach, despite a forecast of 59 degrees.

the three hour drive went swiftly, and we stopped for an excellent mexican lunch before making our way to the beach. with chair and beach blanket in hand, we fought the wind and cool temps with bravado and near disregard, but before long, we gave up our courageous pretense and packed it in.

the truth of the matter is that i just needed to hear the ocean and smell the salt. i've been craving it for some time, and with the duck beach trip still a month away, i knew i couldn't wait. i had almost talked myself out of it when i casually mentioned it to corey, who quickly talked me back into it. and well, he agreed to drive.

at any rate, even though our sand time was short, we spent the rest of the day gawking at kitsch, chowing down on a few bites of funnel cake before beginning to feel nautious, and scoring big at the outlets. well, corey scored big, i just got my heart broken by a store known as 'coach'.

we ended up enjoying a long day at the beach, and getting the much needed escape we both needed. and the advantage of the weather conditions is that we are able to be much more patient in our wait for the 'real' beach trip.


be sure to check out corey's humorous account of the day, and for more pics, go here

more fun from the surrealist

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Tara!

1. Birds do not sleep in Tara, though they may rest in her from time to time.
2. If Tara was life size, she would stand 7 ft 2 inches tall and have a neck twice the size of a human!
3. Twenty-eight percent of Microsoft's employees are Tara.
4. Tara can not regurgitate.
5. The risk of being struck by Tara is one occurence every 9,300 years!
6. The first toy product ever advertised on television was Mr Tara Head.
7. While sleeping, fifteen percent of men snore, and ten percent grind their Tara.
8. About one tenth of Tara is permanently covered in ice.
9. Abraham Lincoln, who invented Tara, was the only US president ever granted a patent!
10. If you blow out all the candles on Tara with one breath, your wish will come true.

I am interested in - do tell me aboutherhimitthem