Biker Chick

Yesterday some friends and I went shopping and I bought a great new faux leather (can't afford the real stuff) jacket. When we got back from dinner and shopping we decided to stay up and watch a couple DVDs in honor of my receiving some bittersweet news from a friend. As we drove up to the DVD rental place we saw a girl talking to three guys in a truck. When we got out of the car we heard "Well, the nearest booze is an hour away, and the women there really aren't that beautiful." The guys seemed dejected and pondered for a moment what to do.  Then they saw me standing in my new jacket, and one yelled out, "Hey are you a biker chick?" The friends muttered something as well about looking cool. I quickly stammered a negative response, trying to do everything I could not to crack up.  The guys seemed dejected and drove off. We asked the girl what they had been looking for, and she responded they said they were from New York, and were looking for a gentleman's club. However, their lisence plates were from AR and they had other indicators that they were from the same college as us. We just shrugged it of, and said they were probably just some stupid freshman that had a little too much to drink. I must admit though it felt kinda fun to be hit on by them. Especially since that was the first time a guy has ever talked to me first instead of one of my friends. Granted they were probably just looking for something that I have nothing to do with, but it was still a hilarious situation. My friends all agreed I could pull off the biker chick look, and who knows what the future will hold...I'm still just really excited about my new jacket =D

A Moment in Time - KB

Thought I'd post some shots from an impromptu photo shoot we had this afternoon. These are just the first few of KB that I got edited. Let me know what'cha think!

Where's The Love?

Wednesday, I got the opportunity to speak at our Wednesday night church Prayer Meeting. This isn't really a big deal, but my boss/pastor wanted me to preach so he could critique me and help give me pointers to make me better in the long run. Unfortunately, on Monday I developed a sore throat and have yet to get rid of it. I felt so bad yesterday that I was to the the point I didn't really care what I said, I just wanted it to be over so I could go home and get back to bed. It didn't go as well as I had hoped, actually it was far from it, but it was a learning experience and I doubt I'll ever get a chance to speak when I feel 100% and can focus solely on that.

Our small town has recently been in the midst of some pretty strong controversy. There's been a racial divide in our community for a long time, but it has kind of bubbled up to the surface. There was a movement to rename the main thoroughfare in town Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard instead of the traditional Pine St. The biggest problem was touted as being the way the council members went about bringing this up, as a kind of back-room deal, but really the issue runs much deeper than this. The vote was showed to have been done against some of the city ordinances so they revoted and the issue didn't pass. The horrible thing in all of this is that some of the council members received death threats from some of the more redneck outspoken people of our town. The racism is just running rampant in our town, led by many of the fine outstanding "Christian" citizens. On top of that the county is voting in November on whether or not to allow the county to go wet (sell alcohol). These two issues have brought out the terrible side of folks in this city. It continues to amaze me how we get so bent out of shape over the little things. Are we on our deathbeds really going to look back and think, "Man, if only I'd kept the county from going wet."? Odds are we're not. A friend once told me to look at issues in light of their eternal relevance. This advice has helped keep me from sweatin' the small stuff, and trying to look at the big picture instead of getting bogged down in the little details. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we shouldn't have or express our own opinions because I fully believe we should do both, but I do think we should do so out of an attitude of respect and tolerance. Not the way the Rev. Terry Jones is professing to. Sorry for the soap box today, but this has just been really getting under my skin lately. I just can't believe that some folks feel the name of a city street is worth killing someone over.

On another note, something amazing happened the other day as well. Like I mentioned above, I'd been feeling sick all week, and had posted something on facebook to that effect. JC, my adopted mom, saw my post then sent me a text message (she's normally part of the non-texting crowd) and told me she was going to run to the pharmacy and get me medicine, checked if I had eaten, and that just completely overwhelmed me. It's been so long since I had a "Mom" to look after me. I was just taken aback at the love she showed, and it just filled my heart with joy and heartache all at once. While I mourned the lack of my own mother, I rejoiced at the care and tenderness JC showed. She has no idea how much better her simple action made me feel. And she also sat through my sermon Wednesday night, which is a loving act in and of itself. I just thank God for the blessing of my adopted family. I've been extremely homesick lately, and they have just taken me into their arms, fed me, and made me feel at home here in the foriegn land of Arkansas. The love they, and others, have shown me has helped balance out my frustration at all the junk that's been going on here lately. I really do love my adopted family! They'll probably both kill me if they ever read this though, and JC just hates this pic :)

Ageless Music

 This summer I started playing with a local community band. I say local, but it's really about an hour away. Every Thursday TC and I go up to band practice, and after every 2nd summer rehearsal we had a concert. The band is made up of mostly folks over 50, many of them retired music professors. The summer concert sets are all based around different themes (Gershwin, Song and Dance, Cartoon Kaleidoscope). I have really enjoyed being a part of the band, and the 4 hrs it makes me take off every week for rehearsal and drivetime. Sadly, tomorrow is our last summer concert. The theme is "All that Jazz" and is based off of all the old Big Band and Jazz Classics. Pieces from Louis Armstrong, Glen Miller, and a bunch of dixieland stuff mixed in for good measure. One of my favorite parts of this concert is the little dixieland solo group pictured to the right in the picture above (my apologies on the poor pic quality, I had to take it on my iphone).  These guys are all well over 60 years old.  The trumpet player sits next to me in the regular set-up and just celebrated his 84th birthday! The trombone player has arthritis, and loss of strength in his right arm, so he has a rig that sits on his chest to hold his horn up for him. That is real dedication. They don't always sound the best in the world, but man, they love every second of it! These guys have been playing since high school, and haven't given it up. For Bill, that means he's been playing trumpet for at least 70 years! I can't even fathom that. It's so great to be able to play alongside these guys and to pick up on their passion and zeal for life as well as for music. It's really a testament about how important it is to stick with something you love. Music is something that just reaches beyond age, race, and gender and connects us all. As I wrote in an earlier post, I'm just simply amazed at how we can find common ground in music, even though we may have different preferences. I just love music, and am grateful that my director spent the time to teach me to play trumpet, because otherwise I might resort to singing, and that would not be pleasant for anyone. I hope when I'm 84, I can still play like these guys, and more importantly, I hope I have as much joy and happiness as they do.