i am person obsessed with making lists. i mostly use lists to help organize my day. though, i also use lists to plan larger projects. say, my holiday lists. there was one for christmas cards. one for the christmas mix. one for gifts.i even make lists on days that i have very little to do. at times, it may simply be comprised of:

-wake up
-check e-email
-exercise
-shower
-watch movies
-internet shopping

of course, my lists are more helpful (as you can see from above) when i have more to do. so during the semester when i'm teaching about 300 students, these lists help me keep everything organized. during the busy part of the semester, i make several lists a day. they become very detailed including exact times, even scheduled meals. throughout the day, i go through and cross off the items i've completed. it gives me a sense of accomplishment.

so here is the dilemma. my life has drastically been altered in the last week. i have gone from having a very busy, full schedule to having absolutely no structure to my day. now i just have vague suggestions for how to fill my day. now, you might be thinking- but what about all the holiday lists? yes, i'm done. i've even already wrapped my presents.

so, now i'll fill my days with watching movies, reading books, and working on my book project. i know, i know- what am i complaining about? i'm not. it is just difficult to go from being extremely busy to being extremely not busy. don't worry- i'm adjusting.

what is on the agenda today?
-watching flight of the conchords (again)
-rent some movies
-read some of Klosterman's IV
-work on writing up my musical history for the book
-go to the book store to buy a couple of Woody Allen books (Mere Anarchy and The Insanity Defense)

now i just have to figure out how to sleep past 7:00am.

oh yes, the new website is up and going....check it out

www.musicismemory.com

Why I Teach...

hi ms. everhart,
yes will you please email me my grades. i just wanted to tell you that
i really enjoyed your class you made issues of the world interesting. i
never thought i'd be interested in politics but now i am, and i will be
voting in the upcoming election for the first time. so thank you for be
such a good teacher and making things that could be boring interesting.
thank you


Sometimes it is nice to be reminded of why it is you do what you do...

An Inverse Correlation

I'll be honest...I haven't thought about whether or not a correlation is direct, positive, indirect, inverse, negative in almost a year. Today as I went for my walk, I discovered...I'm experiencing an inverse correlation.

As the number of exams left for the semester decrease, my life satisfaction, creativity, and happiness all increase.

Is there causality you propose? Perhaps.

december 13th. my holiday break officially begins. i'm at the tail end of the semester and i couldn't be happier. one last week of lecturing and one week of exams and i'll finally be able to spend my time as i see fit.

this last weekend was completely indicative of the end of the semester. completely chaotic and frustrating. it all began with a crazy dream of spiders. it was sort of kathy in wonderland type of dream. the one thing that stayed with me the longest was the image of a white spider. the first morning, i didn't think too much about it, but when i had the dream for a second night- i thought there might be something to it.

there were a couple of very large white spiders. they were noisy. they were trying to wrap their spinning thread around me. it was scary, but i thought i was able to avoid getting completely captured by the spiders. so what does this spider dream mean?

it can mean any variety of things...such is the case with symbols in dreams. perhaps i'm anxious, perhaps i'm worried about being stuck, perhaps it is a sign of creativity, or i could use the Jungian archetypal analysis...which believes that spiders call for greater self-understanding and encourage us to derive meaning and satisfaction from the intricate framework and interplay of life...

certainly.

so, things would have been fine until saturday when i had an interaction with a different type of insect. a gnat. not in a dream, but unfortunately in real life. early in the morning, tim and i discovered quite a few gnats in our house. upon further inspection, we started to notice there were more and more of them. i quickly surveyed the house for a piece of fruit gone bad. nope. starting to use my powers of investigative research...i began to deduce that perhaps that gnats were finding their way into our house from the air conditioning unit...

tim and i quickly dealt with this infestation by removing the air conditioning unit, which as tim adeptly carried this huge monstrosity around the house...i ran through the house to the back door, where we planned to store the unit. i tried to open the back door to help tim, which gave some resistance. so i pulled it again- at which time a huge cast iron pan that we store above the door came cascading down, only stopping to hit my hand and then my shin.

the day did get better. and i haven't had another dream of spiders.

what else is new?

i'm working on a new blog for my book on music, so i'll be sure to update you on the status, as soon as it gets up and running.

i've applied (formally) to graduate school. yes, more school and more debt.

and i'm thinking of quitting one of my many teaching jobs, so i can spend more time working on my book and yes, you know, spend more time enjoying myself.

the vegetarian on display

yes, i've missed all of you too. i haven't had the time to respond the emails, return phone calls, much less write on my blog. regardless, this also means that my life has mostly been filled with teaching, as opposed to what i'd prefer to do with my free time...which involves writing my book and engaging in functional alcoholism.

some fun times have been had in the last month...we went to the bright eyes show in charleston at the beginning of november. as always a good time (from what i remember)...i do know there was a late night party that involved a mechanical bull. also, tim long came to visit, which was good times as usual, with late night beach walks and inexpensive brunches.

i have decided after much deliberation that i am in fact applying to a doctoral program for next fall. this wasn't my first choice, but seems to be a good idea for me now. of course, i change my mind just about every day and one of the lasting dreams is to be a tour manager a la murray from the flight of the conchords.

moving on...this is my first thanksgiving as a vegetarian. i made the fatal flaw of mentioning this to one of my classes...and then spent the next 15 minutes trying to explain to my curious class what a vegetarian eats. "uh, duh, vegetables?" regardless, it reminded me of the scene in everything is illuminated (see below)...as someone actually asked me "do you eat turkey?"




something else you should check out...tim has a new food blog, you can check it out here: www.biscuitblog.com

I heart tomatoes.

now i know it seems silly. but honestly, growing up i was a meat and potatoes girl. like, literally. i would eat a hamburger, steak, chicken, pork, etc....with potatoes. okay, i'm being dramatic, but i remember my friend meredith's mom use to laugh about my meat and 2 sides...only 2 sides, never more.

i didn't eat alot of vegetables when i was younger. i actually hated them. which was funny because i was friends with many vegetarians. but that was me, chain-smoking, coffee drinking, beer guzzling, meat eating kathy.

man, things have changed...well not all of them, i retain my beer guzzling and my coffee drinking for sanity.

i made a conscious effort almost 3 months ago to stop eating meat. i had a difficult time to begin with...faculty meetings with only meat sandwiches, restaurants with only fish options, but starting on august 22nd...i haven't had even the slightest amount of meat. now this isn't a blog about how pretentious i've become with my non-meat eating ethos, but rather my wonderful discovery of food.

when you eat meat as your main and most important centerpiece of your meals...you forget there are wonderful, exciting items out there.

did you know that zucchini is EXCELLENT?

what about tofu? its awesome if cooked up crunchy in a stirfry...and then, its awesome not too.

i discovered a myriad of foods, including: bok choy, avocado, green beans, squash...and it continues.

last night, tim and i had dinner and we ordered bruschetta...and before i knew it, i scarfed down two pieces. this from a gal who has NEVER liked tomatoes. yes, i like ketchup, tomato soup, marinara sauce, but i have never liked tomatoes on sandwiches, tacos. after one bite, i said, "now, wait, this is a tomato right?" i simply couldn't believe it. it was fucking delicious. see, i save it for the right moment.

i even called my mom to tell her my good news.

so, i guess my point is that without eating meat i've been able to explore a whole new world of food. those that had been relegated to merely my side items.

The First Hoodie Of The Fall

last night was the first night it felt like fall to me. and before tim and i went out for dinner, i went sifting through my closet looking for it. looking for the first hoodie of the fall.

yeah, i know. it is completely a cliche...the indie rock hoodie. it is a subcultural must. but see, i just don't care. there is just something to me about slipping it on, zipping it up, and putting my hands in the pockets...something that feels like fall is officially here.

A Mysterious Band of Horses Microchip

i'm absolutely sure of it now. when tim and i spent the night with the horses folks, while we were passed out- they must have implanted a microchip that plays their music in our brains, fucking constantly. it is sort of like a birthday card that plays music when you open it. as soon as i step out of bed in the morning for the last week or so, i've heard any combination of songs from the horses. at first i thought it was just me, but i asked tim...and it was happening to him too. so the only logical conclusion i can make at this point in time is that there was some late night surgery taking place in that house.

that being said, most of what i'm hearing is off the new album, which comes out tomorrow. i urge you to get this album. if for some chance there isn't a microchip in my head, then this is one of the catchiest fucking albums i have ever heard.

apparently they also imprinted on the microchip the need to say the f-word over and over again too. but seriously, buy the album.

other than that....i want to say "WELCOME HANK!"

"at the end of the night, we'd all seen better days"

as promised, i took a trip at the beginning of this week down to the charleston area to interview ben bridwell of band of horses for the book. this was not the original intent of the trip, as we also had tickets to see the watson twins and magnolia electric company.

the show itself was fantastic. i got the opportunity to meet jason molina. as some would say, "it came full circle"...at least the idea for the book, music, memories.

overall, i found it awfully refreshing to spend time in the company of some really fucking cool people. and i'm not sure what i had expected otherwise, but there is something i love about meeting folks from a band you admire...and finding out that they really are as down to earth and nice as you had always hoped.

it was a long evening, but yes, as the lyric reads, "at the end of the night, we'd all seen better days..."

i'll save my abstracted, foggy memories...but there is one line from the evening i'll never forget. stamped on my memory of the trip, of the music, of the adventure.

"1, 2, 3, 4...5 pussies"

The rationalists...

A clip from the latest Bill Maher...


And finally, New Rule: Just because the Constitution doesn't have a religious test for office, doesn't mean I can't. This past Monday was Constitution Day in the U.S. And while I was going over the Constitution with my two adopted kids—[laughter]—Zack Ono and Mogadishu—[laughter]—I'm home schooling them—[laughter]—I was struck again by Article 6, Section 3. It says, "No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office." And I agree. No one should ever be disqualified for their religion. Even the funny ones. [laughter] Like all of them. [applause] [cheers]

But, the problem is that there is a religious test in this country. According to a recent poll, seven in ten say it's important to have a president with strong religious beliefs. The other three couldn't take the poll because it was Friday night and Yahweh wouldn't let them answer the phone. [laughter]

But, fair is fair. So, for myself and the other 15-20% of American who the majority call "non-believers," but who I call "rationalists," [applause] here is our religious test for office: if you believe in Judgment Day, I have to seriously question your judgment. [laughter]

If you believe you're in a long-term relationship with an all-powerful space-daddy—[laughter]—who will, after you die, party with your ghost forever—[laughter]—you can't have my vote, even for Miss Hawaiian Tropic. [laughter] [applause]

I can't trust you at the levers of government because there's an electrical fire going on in your head. [laughter]

Maybe a president who didn't believe our soldiers were going to Heaven might be a little less willing to get them killed. [applause] [cheers]

Candidate Mitt Romney, a Mormon, believes in spiritually-blessed underwear that can protect him. [laughter] He seemed like a nice man, and so do his sons, Wally and the Beav. [laughter] But, I'm sorry, their religion is bat-shit. [laughter] It's like Scientology without the celebrities. [laughter] [applause] And he has every right to run for president while believing in magic underwear, and believing that Jesus survived his own death and will return during an Osmonds' concert in Branson. [laughter] And I have every right to take that into consideration in the voting booth.

And at the end of the day, is magic underwear really that much crazier than giant arks or virgin births or talking bushes? You're either a rationalist or you're not. And the good news is, a recent poll found 20% of adults under 30 say they are rationalists and have figured out that Santa Claus and Jesus are really the same guy. [laughter] [applause]

Now, 20% is hardly a majority, but it's a bigger minority than blacks, Jews, homosexuals, NRA members, teachers or seniors. And it's certainly enough to stop being shy about expressing the opinion that WE'RE NOT THE CRAZY ONES! [applause] [cheers]

Just because the vote is 4-to-1, it doesn't mean the minority is wrong. People who were against this war from the start were a minority. The majority used to believe the world was flat. But if you believe that today, you'd either be packed off to Bellevue or asked to co-host "The View." [laughter] [applause] [cheers]

Hipster Olympics

awwww. thanks to glover for this video. i just had to share it with the rest of the world (those four of you- wait, three, exempt of glover)...

My suggestions for legislation on clothing...

i'm sure you've all heard by now about the latest "baggy pants" ban...where they are passing legislation (i think it has only passed in a small town in Louisiana) to ban pants that are too baggy and sag down. what the fuck? not only do i personally think this is crossing some boundaries in who is being targeted here, but this just doesn't seem to be the most pressing issue in our society, does it?

but i figured i should jump on the band wagon, if we are going to start legislating the clothes that people can wear...then good goddamn, let's make some changes. we all know there are lots of clothing and styles that should be outlawed. and i believe this presents the perfect opportunity to start over in fashion.

1) CROCS...please. let's just do away with this. its awful. and no, i don't care how comfortable they are.

2) TINY MINI-SKIRTS. see...now, if the baggy pants are an issue of indecent exposure, then we need to start making some women cover it up. one of my students came to class last week wearing the shortest skirt i've ever seen. why?

3) OVER-DONE CLEAVAGE. while i'm bagging on women...cover it up. seriously. if you've seen the commercials for the new tim gunn show...he says it best when he says, "no, not sexy. not at all..." (i'm paraphrasing)...but you really don't have to put it out on the table to be sexy...and if you are, you are probably not getting the right type of attention for it either.

4) SANDALS/FLIP FLOPS WITH SOCKS. wrong. always wrong. i think i broke up with a guy for doing this once. that's right. once. and i never got the image out of my head.

5) WHITE, OLD ATHLETIC SHOES. you know the ones. they are crusty. they bow up at the toes. from the passage of time, and the washing machine. please...don't wear these unless you are running, mowing the grass, or otherwise out of the public eye.

6) SHIRTS THAT ARE TOO SMALL FOR YOU or TOO BIG FOR YOU. i know. i'm getting picky here. but i am simply tired of walking outside to check the mail to find a slew of construction workers with tight white t-shirts on (i know, you'd think they were in the band hot hot heat or something)...well, wait, i suppose they are in hot, hot heat weather-wise...oh damn. regardless, i do not need to play peek-a-boo with your belly. so cover it up.

7)OVERSIZED SUNGLASSES. okay, i know...very few of you can get away with this. my mom is one of them...she looks like a movie-star in them. the rest of you look like bugs.

8) GAUCHO PANTS. always wrong. particularly when the attempt is made to dress these up to wear out to the club. bad idea.



hmm. what else...do you have any suggestions? i'm sure i'm missing tons of them.

Guitar Girl?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD_wjAZfC8o

Are you kidding me? I remember dubbing this gal "guitar girl"...I also remember her asking if she could play the open mike at Cafe Bisous that I use to help organize. Oh yeah...and dragging her guitar around with her everywhere. Perhaps that would have made an interesting American Express commercial...or at least Mastercard.

Does anyone find it somewhat odd that these commercials show these people jet-setting around the world? Like Shaun White and such. I understand people have to travel...but its almost as if they are boasting about taking a plane to one continent and then to another in the same day, just to play a show or snowboard or whatever.

Is it just me or isn't there an environmental crisis going on? Maybe American Express should make one showing someone using their card to switch their diesel to running on vegetable oil...just a thought.

i know. i'm a fucking hippie now.

Falling in Love

Indeed, I've fallen back in love with the beach. The tourists have all gone home after Labor Day. I walked out on the beach (twice) on Wednesday to celebrate my impending pensive daily walks...

There is tons more to say. I've started classes. Perhaps the most challenging, but invigorating semester and students so far. More on this later.

Onward to good news about my book project...I'm in the process of securing interviews with folks from Elf Power and Band of Horses. That makes me almost as happy as the empty beach.

Yes, I'm busy as can be right now. I promise to save some time this weekend to share my wit and anecdotes with you.

Dear Senator Obama,

I am writing to tell you how much I enjoyed your latest visit to Horry County. A couple of comments for you...

1) I suppose I must be an idiot to not realize that politics is the world of "putting on a show"...but I think I'm consistently baffled and somewhat sickened to watch how the people surrounding politicans go to great lengths to "create" a visual. I shouldn't have been surprised when your people started circulating the room passing out "handmade" signs. This came as more of a face slap when everyone was informed to leave their handmade signs outside, only to be handed campaign made ones on the inside. Very odd to me. But yes, I must be delusional to think everything about an event like this would be authentic.

2) I would be careful using the substitute of Carolina for either North Carolina or South Carolina. I have found people to be very sensitive to this overstatement. Of course, you could have been confused by the Coastal Carolina signs too.

3) One of my favorite "slogans" you espoused was in regards to building from the ground up. I'm always trying to express to my students the importance of grass roots social action...and I feel like you might be someone who understands this. I think I even got chills when you went through different examples of this building from the ground up...women's right to vote, civil rights movement. good job of building it into something great.

4) I think you may have won over a majority of the crowd when you spoke about having a glass of wine. sometimes, we just want to know that you are human...and I think you did a great job of admitting that with the wine comment. I go to great lengths to do this with my students...as I think the distinction made between roles puts us at great lengths from one another.

5) I'd chill it out with the Warren Buffet story...apparently Edwards is telling the same type of story.

6) The story you finished with was spellbinding. I looked around the crowd and you had everyone captivated...again, human qualities with the tiredness and grumpiness...which was excellent to hear. You are a great storyteller. "Fire it up!" and "Ready to go?" will always be stuck with me...and ending with a question and answer of these two...excellent. I'd give a raise to whoever came up with this idea, whether it was you or one of the suits behind you.

Anyways, thanks for your visit. I was completely star struck getting to see you. Come visit us again, Barackstar.
Katherine

The Storm

i woke up in the middle of the night last night because of a storm. i woke up to the sound of my house shaking with thunder. then i looked out the window and there were lightening storms all over the sky. as i got back into the bed, i had trouble falling asleep. the storm reminded me of another time period in my life. it was one of those dark periods in my life (as others have called it).

i remembered a night many years ago, when i was living in charlotte and there was a similar storm taking place. i think they may have been predicting a hurricane or tropical storm that night. they advised for everyone to stay inside, if possible. i chose to go out. i remember picking up a friend and sitting out on the porch at fat city (an old charlotte bar).

what bothered me and kept me up a bit longer was not this particular story, but more so...who i was at the time. i was in a dark place. see, for three years consecutively, i lost someone close to me. the first year, it was a friend who died of a drug overdose. the second year, it was my father who died with multiple sclerosis. the third year, it was an ex who died of a brain aneuryism. so yes, i had some dark years. but i was thinking about how difficult it is to experience the death of people you care/cared about. more specifically, how i responded to this.

it seemed like with each year and with each passing, i started caring less and less about everything around me. i gave up. i think the image that stuck with me was an image of myself at that time. i was completely out of control. i drank as much as possible. i took pills. and for the sake of sounding completely over dramatic, i was essentially hoping that in some way the universe would take me back. yeah, it was a dark period. i remember not being scared of anything at all.

i remember also feeling terribly alone at that period. there were very few people who could stand being around me. and those that were around me, completely took advantage of the fact that i didn't care about anything. you could always count on me to go out and stay out late. you could always count on me to blow an entire paycheck on drinks, for myself and them.

now, i'm not trying to glamorize it. in no way do i find it glamourous. it wasn't at the time and in retrospect, it certainly isn't now. i find it sad that i was self destructing. i'm awfully thankful that those years passed. i remember thinking i would never move past those moments while they were happening. i'm happy that i made it through those years and grew out of my young adult angst. i slowly learned how to find joy and happiness.

as i sat awake in bed, i thought how different i feel now. how that sad girl didn't feel like me at all. how i couldn't believe i actually was ever that person. i hesitated (as i am now) about writing about this, but at the same time that you outgrow the person you were...it is still part of your history. and since i don't write sad songs to recollect about those moments, this is one of the few places that i have to reflect on these experiences. and hell, this blog can't always be happy go lucky, now can it?

Groundbreaking Study...

today is my last vacation day before school officially starts. so far...i've sat on the beach for a couple of hours reading. isn't it sad that reading is something i have to find time for? and probably equally sad to you non-readers that reading is something i want to do when i have a day off? i also exercised...ha. again, probably not the top of a list for most...but i love when i have the time.

i was breaking my vacation rules and checking my email and i came across this groundbreaking study...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070821/ap_en_ot/youth_poll_race_4

wait....minority youth aren't as happy as white youth? what genius conducted this study? yes, i'm being tongue in cheek, but with everything we know about race...is this a huge surprise? it just stunned me that this is a study that is breaking news on yahoo's homepage. oh well...

i think i'll go delve into a world of cinema for the rest of my afternoon. i've been debating seeing the movie Superbad or staying home and sitting in my underoos on the couch watching hbo. i'll report back later.

Engagement Party

yes, tim and i had an engagement party of sorts this past weekend. i was nervous as all hell about the impending meeting of our families. we had lunch with our families at mert's. everything went brilliant. it was wonderful to see everyone again and spend the time with them in one of my favorite restaurants. my only complaint was that the time was too short.

later we met up with some friends at cuisine malaya for some sushi and drinks. there couldn't have been a better evening. i made the unfortunate mistake of taking part in all the drinking, but none of the eating. at the end of the evening, we ended up at tim long's place...and as usual, things start to fade. i remember going to the store for a second beer run of the night. i remember tim davis and i trying to convince tim long of the sheer genius of darren hanlon and david dondero (no doubt fresh on my mind because of the interviews). i remember some air guitar (not mine of course)...and i don't remember, but have the pictures to prove it...well actually i have about 30 pictures to prove it...but i went on a drunken picture taking spree...that's right, i even took one of my shoes...ha.

so, you've got the pictures to check out. there may be more added to the album, once my mom sends them on...click on the album below and you should be able to view all the photos from the evening.

Engagement Party

thanks to all our friends and family members who made our engagement a memorable day/evening.

A complete upheaval...

so, yes, i've had a complete upheaval...what does that mean? well, last week while walking, it dawned on me that there are moments when i feel a sense of urgency. what is the current sense of urgency? it involved my book project. i was feeling frustrated. i was having trouble getting in touch with one of my potential interviewees. and i received my first rejection. who would reject me? billy bob thornton. thats who. so i was walking out my frustration and it dawned on me...there is for 1) no reason for the urgency, as this project will probably be with me for a year or so...and 2) no reason to try to interview people i could care less about, even if that means having to self publish my book.

in that moment of clarity, i realized that i would rather collect stories from a wide variety of people. people that i'd like to hear about. people that i'd like to talk with...and so that is where i am now. then, once i had this moment of clarity everything started to fall into place. i suppose that is how it happens. now i'm on a rollercoaster of interviewing and planning.

then...last weekend...as my stepdad likes to say, "we had the broken family tour"...as my mom came to visit me (see the picture below) and then most of the rest of my family came to visit (dad, taylor, and jambe). it was so much fun to have mom visiting. we took an evening up at rockefeller's...then the next day spent on the beach trying to wear off a hangover. the next night, the whole "broken family" came together for a lovely, but stressful dinner. afterwards, tim, mom, and i stopped by a swanky bar to hear our friend, sam, play some jazz music. it was a grand time, though that hangover was still suspiciously around. well, and a sunburn too.

on sunday, tim and i drove down to wilmington so i could begin the interview process. i had plans to interview david dondero before his show. if you haven't heard him, well, go here and watch this video:



and then go buy his latest album from team love, called simple love. i swear you'll love it.

my interview went very well. then dave introduced me to the fella he was playing with that night, darren hanlon. darren is one of the coolest mother-uckers i've met in quite a while. and likewise, you should certainly check him out...i'm currently obsessed with his song, hold on...



as if these two interviews weren't enough to make me happy...on wednesday, i drove to DC for my interview with Bob Boilen. i had a wonderful trip, visited with some family members, visited the National Gallery of Art, and spent about 3 hours at the NPR studios being overwhelmed and amazed. my interview went great and again, i was reminded of just how cool this bob boilen is. if you don't about him...or his work with npr...go listen to some of his shows. you'll be happy that i told you about him.

http://www.npr.org/programs/asc/



so at the moment, i'm getting ready to make some tofu stir-fry. tim and i have a big weekend planned in charlotte...so there will be more to follow next week.

Happy Anniversary Myrtle Beach!

That's right, this weekend I'll be celebrating my one year anniversary here at the beach. I can't believe a year has already passed.

I've decided to create a top ten of my last year. The top ten experiences of the last year. I didn't rank them... I just didn't want to put that much energy into it.



1)When I accidentally said orgasm instead of organism my first day of class here.

2)Finding the North Myrtle Beach flea market for postcards and photographs

3)Rockefeller's...every single time. Is putting a bar on here weird?

4)The Flaming Lips show at House of Blues

5)The Sparklehorse show in Charleston (with my mom)

6)The Bright Eyes show in Atlanta

7)Spring Training, of course

8)All the new babies in my life...Emmett, Laila, and Paige

9)New friends (the few) and old friends.

10)Tim and I's engagement

Damn it, I thought I'd be able to fit it into 10, but I've got the runner up...which some may argue is the most important...

11)Discovering that I'm satisfied with life while walking the beach


What should I do to celebrate? Well, my mom is coming to visit this weekend. I'm so very excited. She hasn't been here before, so I'm full of ideas...I know for sure we'll be taking her out to hear some jazz music. I'm pretty damn sure we'll have to show her off at Rockefeller's. And well, there is the OCEAN.

What else is happening in my life? I've started working on a project for a book. I'm keeping it top secret right now, but I am working on some interviews. Just chew on this..I'm going to DC next week to interview Bob Boilen from All Songs Considered on NPR.

Besides the interview, I'm looking forward to some time on the road. I'm thinking of checking out UVA in Charlottesville for a potential school for 2008. I use to travel just about every weekend when I was younger. Listening to music as loud as possible, while smoking and drinking (ha, kidding....just wondering if you are still reading...yes, i do this to my students too).

That's it for now...I'm watching the after shock of the AFL-CIO Presidential Forum...and I'm feeling distracted.