I have seen Ben Sollee in concert once. And it was beautiful. If you have a chance...

Dear Companion Tour featuring
Ben Sollee & Daniel Martin Moore
THE ORANGE PEEL
Saturday, February 27th
9:00 PM (8:00 PM doors)
$13.00 advance / $15.00 door

The Odds

Do we drive by the same people in their cars every day on our way to work or school or wherever we go day after day? Small town, few roads...Why don't we recognize their cars more often? I mean the odds have to be incredible. Why don't we go ahead and match up the driver with the car in our heads and see if we see them again tomorrow? That way if I don't see them I can say to myself...

"Hey! Where is tiny head big neck man red truck today?" or "Where in the hell is screaming mommy blue van?"

Drifty Sleepy

One of THE best things in life is what I like to call "Drifty Sleepy".

Drifty Sleepy is a feeling and a state of mind. And it happens the most clearest in the morning. Not so much at night. For example, let's say your alarm goes off, wakes you up and you actually start getting out of bed. Eyes open, feet on the ground, the whole bit. But then you decide you're just not quite ready to get up. You lie back down. You close your eyes. That's when Drifty Sleepy makes a visit.

Your eyes roll around your head and feel like there are two, big, soft marshmallows on top of them. Your arms and legs are enveloped in clouds make of Eygptian cotton. Your mind starts to take you on a journey through forests, beaches, visits with old friends, magic carpet rides and cotton candy trampolines. Your body is numb, your mind feels fuzzy and your eyelids feel as though they are glued together. It is so easy to go back to sleep during Drifty Sleepy. But Drifty Sleepy itself is so good that you can hardly let go.

A ZILLION!

Just add a zillion to it. Whenever you are describing something to another person and you want to kick it up a few notches, just throw "a zillion" in there as an adjective. For instance;

"I had a lot of people in my office today!" doesn't quite sound as spectacular as
"I had about a zillion people in my office today!" WHOA. That's a lot. I get it. I totally get it.

Or, whenever your bitching at your wife or husband, a zillion works wonders.
"You never take out the garbage! I have to remind you time and time again."
"You never take out the garbage! I have reminded you a zillion times today! Are you really that lazy? I mean come on!"

Ok, ok. So I added a little bit to that last one, but you get my point. So, whenever you are needing to add an extra punch in the face to a friend, coworker or loved one, rely on this.

False

Why have self check outs when you never open them for me to use? It's false hope. It's false advertising. It's FALSE. I see a square in the Walmart sky that says "Self Checkout 3" only to find that the light is not on. No one is around. The gates are up. The worn out rope is wrapped around the whole entire station. Like I am going to grab it and run. No, I don't want to take it with me nor do I want to break into the damn thing. I want to scan my junk and pay for it. Why won't you let me?

Come Sit With Me

Come sit with me
Let's watch our children grow
Let's watch our garden grow
I will make the food
You will work the field
I will clean the house
You will bring in the wood
We will end the day
By resting together

Going to the Altar

There I was - sitting in church one Sunday afternoon with my mom and my stepfather. My usual twice a month visit where I go and basically try to understand what I can do to make myself a better person. This particular Sunday's message was on marriage. The preacher had been doing about a month long series on it. I think I had caught the first one a few weeks before. It was a typical Sunday again but what happened on this particular day was beautiful.

He spoke about men and women and the ups and downs of marriage, something everyone that has been married knows about. He made the typical jokes about men not listening and women nagging - the usual. We all laughed at the right spots and nodded our heads to the stories. It was when he started talking about how couples are suppose to be that really touched off the wave of hopefulness in everyone.

The moment that I realized how important that partner is to each of us is when the preacher was closing the sermon. Every Sunday, he wraps up the sermon asking anyone who would like to come and pray, to do so, down at the altar. Usually about a handful of people go up, kneel and pray and go back to their seats. Not a lot of people at all. Most of the time I keep my eyes open just to check everything out - not to snoop - but it feels comfortable. On this day, the preacher asked the same thing he always does. Only today people stood up all around. They were holding their partner's hand. They were doing it together.

How brave they were with their partner by their side! It gave them courage and peace of mind to know that they were near and were going to come up with them! They were not alone...

I can relish in this because I now have someone in my life that will walk with me all of the way.