Archives for April 2008

This Is Practically, Like, Five Thousand Words

18 April 2008 by

Now that I’m home again and have access to my camera’s USB cord, I thought I’d post some of my pictures from Nashville.

Which is pretty convenient since HEY, Y’ALL, I CAN’T THINK OF NO WORDS RIGHT NOW.


Here are my fun friends Keely and Chris when we met for coffee (and pie! and brownies!) in Franklin this past Tuesday.

Both of these sweet people were on the Compassion trip to Uganda. I heart them a whole bunch.

Chris’ husband Randy also met us for coffee. But he was late because he was trying to take a photograph of a mother robin feeding her newly-hatched baby bird in the nest outside his kitchen window.

And if you know Randy, you’ll recognize that this was really no different than any other day for him.

Because I think he could stare at All The Nature while saying the word “awesome” over and over again for pretty much the rest of his life.

So anyway. Where was I?

Oh yes.

Right here:


Say it with me, internets: “KEELY IS SASSY.”

So we went to an adorable restaurant and sat down and I got very, very tickled when I saw everyone texting and Twittering. Because my phone and I, we can barely text. In fact, we just te-.


I’ll give you one guess as to which phone is mine.

Oh, I am very techy.

I seriously think that my phone had developed an inferiority complex by the time our coffee (and pie! and brownies!) date was over.

Because I’m telling you: those iPhones and Blackberrys can do some TRICKS.

Anyway, coffee was so much fun that we followed it up with supper.


These boys make me laugh. And they LURVED it when I snapped their picture in the dimly-lit restaurant. Because they weren’t briefly blinded by the flash OR ANYTHING.


And you know, I wish I could rock a FundanaTM as effectively as Keely rocks her Funbeanie.TM

Perhaps that will be my fashion goal for spring.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Filed Under: My Friends Rock

It Was Like Talking To The Sweet Old Lady On The Bus

17 April 2008 by

So Michael’s personal life has definitely taken a turn for the MORE PAINFULLY AWKWARD THAN USUAL in the last two episodes of “The Office,” but there was a welcome hint of sweetness in the last half of tonight’s show.

And as an added bonus: CREED!

My favorite moments?

1. “Please write legibly.”
2. Andy dancing in the parking lot – IT MADE ME SO HAPPY.
3. “Some people sweat too much for comfort.”
4. “I am a man of intensity. Of cool and youth. And passionately.”
5. JIM WITH THAT RING – OH MY WORD AT THE SWEETNESS.

Yours?

Filed Under: TV Is My Friend

American Idol – Top 7 – Better Late Than Later

17 April 2008 by

So I’m two days late to the AI party, but here we go.

(By the way, I heard through the grapevine that Mariah Carey is the guest mentor on this particular show. And I don’t know if y’all know this, but Mariah and I are about the same age, and we, like, TOTALLY dress the same.)

(It’s uncanny, really.)

David Archuleta – “When You Believe” – This is actually his first performance in SEVERAL weeks when I’ve felt like he lived up to all the David Archuleta hype. Really well done. And I think it helped that he sang a modern song. I would also like to say, on a note that is completely unrelated to his performance, that THE PEOPLE IN THE FRONT NEED TO PUT DOWN THEIR ARMS, OH THANK YOU SO MUCH.

Carly Smithson – “Without You” – Okay, I LOVED hearing her sing in that lower range (as opposed to screaming at me in her upper range). It also struck me that she didn’t try to oversing this song at the very beginning. I think this was one of her strongest performances so far. Very compelling.

Syesha Mercado – “Vanishing” – Wow. I think Syesha made a believer out of me this week – mainly because I didn’t feel like she was doing an imitation of another singer. For the first time, I felt like I saw a glimpse of who Syesha really is. And that was refreshing.

Brooke White – “Hero” – As always, Brooke’s performance was very genuine. But there wasn’t anything extra special about this particular song for me – it felt very plain, for lack of a better word – like she wasn’t sure how to put her own spin on it. It just felt a little generic to me. But I have big hopes that next week will be better.

Kristy Leigh Cook – “Forever” – I think the low notes were a little much for her – and a real reminder of how huge Mariah Carey’s range is. But once she got going, it wasn’t so bad. She actually sounded confident on the chorus, and had the song been a little more fast-paced, those low notes probably wouldn’t have stuck out so much.

David Cook – “Always Be My Baby” – LOVED THIS. Loved the arrangement, loved the performance – and what was so cool was that it sounded like something that could be a hit right now. You’re a clever fella, David Cook. Oh yes you are.

Jason Castro – “I Don’t Want To Cry” – I thought this was a neat song for him – and it also showed how much he has improved as a vocalist since the show started. I loved the acoustic feel to the whole thing – I thought he did a great job.

I won’t do the should go / will go thing because I already know. But given that, I definitely think that the right person went home, because we’re left with a really talented top 6 – maybe the strongest yet.

Also, tonight’s show gave me a whole new appreciation for Mariah Carey – she is quite the songwriter, oh yes she is.

Finally: best of the night – David Cook

So I’m all done now – but be sure to check out everyone else’s opinions below!

Filed Under: TV Is My Friend

What I Owe The Internets: A Comprehensive List

17 April 2008 by

1. My post on Believing God, which is way harder to write than I thought it would be, but I AM DETERMINED TO WRITE IT, thank you.

2. My post on this week’s American Idol, which I still haven’t seen, but I’m going to try to watch it this afternoon if I can manage to stay awake, and if I have anything at all to add to the Idol conversation, I’ll put up a post as soon as I watch.

3. A winner for the Bonbon Charms Mother’s Day giveaway. That’ll be coming up soon. Stay tuned.

4. A post on last week’s episode of The Office, which I didn’t watch until Friday because of something that was going on at our house Thursday night, and come to think of it I owe y’all a post about that thing that was going on at our house, too, and OH MY MERCY I’m feeling a smidge overwhelmed.

(#4 sidenote: Just for the record, last week’s episode of The Office was the most delightfully awkward spectacle I have ever witnessed, and don’t even get me started about Jim’s reaction to the candle room. Because it made me cackle.)

(sidenote to #4 sidenote: I will not be posting about last week’s episode. Because there’s a new episode tonight. And if all goes as planned, I’ll be posting about tonight’s episode sometime in 2009. Be sure to check it out!)

5. I left out number five altogether the first time I posted this list. Don’t even pretend to be surprised by that. I CAN’T EVEN COUNT, PEOPLE.

6. More answers to more of your questions from a couple of weeks ago.

7. Some sort of new, original-yet-mediocre content that doesn’t involve a list and / or questions.

8. I probably wouldn’t hold your breath about number seven.

Filed Under: Rambling

Um, You Can Win A Thousand Dollars Over At Shannon’s Blog

17 April 2008 by

I’m not even kidding.

Filed Under: Rambling

As Michael W. Smith Plays Softly In The Background

16 April 2008 by

I’m in Nashville for a couple of days (not for the CMT awards, I promise), and yesterday afternoon I met Keely, Spence, Randy and Chris for coffee in downtown Franklin.

It was the first time I’d seen any of them since we were in Uganda, and I have to tell you: hanging out with them did my heart a world of good.

Because I enjoy All The Laughing.

I haven’t talked about the friendship side of the Compassion trip very much, mainly because it’s difficult to explain why I feel so connected to the people who were there. But there’s no question that part of the connection (now I’m feeling like a contestant on “The Bachelor” because I keep using the word “connection.” Next thing you know I’ll be using the word “amazing” repeatedly. And then I’ll be saying “amazing connection.” And then SOMEONE WILL HAVE TO MAKE ME STOP.) is just that we went through a very emotional experience in each other’s company. I think it’s normal to bond under those circumstances.

But there’s another part of it, too – for me at least.

Because what absolutely blew me away about the other people on the Uganda trip is how inspiring they are – and yet they’re completely unaware of it. They’re smart and creative and funny, and they love them some Jesus like nobody’s business. And because they’re all so totally humble, there was a freedom and an openness in all our conversations that sort of made me want to stand up and tap dance.

I think you’ll be relieved to know that I stifled that particular inclination.

And then to hear everyone talk about the creative outlets they love – songwriting, painting, worship leading, cooking, WHATEVER – well, I can’t even tell you how much it encouraged me.

The last day that we were in Africa, I sat on the balcony of the lodge where we were staying, I looked out at the Nile River, and I bawled my eyes out. I think we all have moments in our lives where it becomes crystal clear that ONLY GOD COULD HAVE DONE THIS THING, and that morning in Uganda was one of those times for me. Even in the midst of wrestling with the emotions that come from witnessing deeply profound poverty firsthand, I was completely overwhelmed by God’s grace. His mercy. His faithfulness.

And – even though I wasn’t expecting it at all – how He used all the people on our trip to show me more of who He is.

I will never get over that.

So last night, I sat at supper with Shaw-awn, Keely and Spence. And we talked about all the normal stuff: families and church and music and blogging and Compassion. We talked about the evil Ugandan stomach parasite that WOULD NOT LEAVE SHAUN AND ME ALONE AFTER THE TRIP, OH MY SWEET DIGESTIVE MISERY, and we talked about the carrot cake that we had for dessert that was really more like a doughnut dipped in butter and then covered with cream cheese icing.

THE CAKE, IT WAS TASTY.

And you know, I held it together really well at dinner, as I typically do in public settings. I held it together really well when we were having coffee yesterday afternoon, too. There was so much stuff I wanted to say, but I was scared that I’d go into the ugly cry, and really, nobody wants to see that.

So instead I had a little conversation with each of them in my head, and the very one-sided conversation went a little something like this: “You have no idea how much I love you. You have no idea how much you inspire me. You have no idea how profoundly grateful I am for the blessing of your friendship.”

That’s what I wanted to say.

And you know what?

I guess I just did.

Filed Under: Africa, Compassion, My Friends Rock
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