Back to school, and this time, I'm jumping right in.

Well, I'm a second-semester freshman now. I had my first day of classes (and it was a full day) today, so the semester's already off to a rolling start. In 26 hours back, I've already

• Watched football with some great friends.
• Eaten three cafeteria meals.
• Reconnected with many, many people.
• Unpacked, completely.
• Made a CD exchange.
• Participated in a Rave.
• Lent a book.
• Attended three classes.
• Consumed copious amounts of caffeinated beverages.
• Requested three transcripts
• Purchased two books
• Prioritized.

I'm really excited about that last one. I've got a list going of things I need to do today (Should be headed to dinner in about ten minutes, so I've gotta hurry up writing this blog entry), and a list of "To Do" things in my free time. I'm hoping I can keep this up past day one, but a start is better than I've done in past semesters, both of college and high school (Middle and elementary schools too, for that matter).

Today started with a 7:50-ish wake up call. After showering, I found myself eating breakfast in the caf for the first time since September, and made it with ample time to spare to my CA class. I think I'm going to find it much less challenging than my last attempt at CA 102. My teacher is one of those that will sap up every last second of class time, though. Being a 9:15er, that will be a little tough for me. But I'll deal with it. After about a 75-minute break, I found myself right back in the same classroom for CP. It'll take another class to get a good feel for the class, but I like the literature we're going to be reading. After lunch, I got a really great price on one of my CP books, and comparison shopped for several others. Then for the 3:00 class. Ugh. But it's JMC, and it's my best bet for something so late. I shudder to think about CA at 3. Or CA at anytime for that matter, but I digress.

Anyway, the primary reason I'm writing this blog this afternoon is that one of my primary assignments in my JMC class is: writing a blog! Right up my alley, right? Chances are it won't be located here, but I might just use this one as much or more frequently from now on. I'll keep all six of you that might ever read this (if you are one of the lucky few, do leave a comment and let me know what's up with you! Or, have an idea of what I should blog about? Tell me!) posted as to where you might find this new, professional-like blog once it is created.

Of course, I would be remiss not to mention the big sports news of the day (Other than Jay "Ouch, that really hurt" Cutler), and that is Carson Palmer wanting out of Cincinnati. Hey, the Titans are looking for a new QB. One stipulation, Carson, you gotta switch your number back to the 3 you wore at USC (Incidentally, that's where Coach Fisher played his college ball, if you'll remember). Ain't nobody gonna take Air McNair's number. That's sacred. Well, football sacred at least.

Lastly, on the terrorist attacks in Moscow today, be in prayer for the family of those affected, and the Russian government as they try to deal with an unspeakable tragedy.

Well, that's it. I'll keep you posted on the new blog, and, in case you were the wondering, I'm pulling for the Packers to win the Super Bowl, although I have a feeling I'll be disappointed. Sorely disappointed.

-c

Just a small tidbit about myself....

I'm an includer. I try my hardest all the time to make sure others feel involved. There's a guy sitting over there by himself, I wanna be the first to go over and make sure he's doing alright. I enjoy having conversations with just about anybody. I guess that might a part of why it always seems like I've "liked" or commented on facebook posts immediately after they are posted, because I like to let folks know they're being recognized and read and such. And it's not just because I'm being nice. If I include you in stuff, chances are I regard you and/or your opinions very highly.

I don't know, but it seems like no one tries very hard to extend the same favor to me. Too often I feel left out of events, conversations, etc. These same people that I have high regards for seem sometimes to not even notice me, as if I don't count, my opinion doesn't matter, or I'm just generally disliked. I don't like that. Maybe I'm just overreacting, but it would be nice, you know, just every once in a while, if people don't hold conversations right in front of me without my involvement, and little things like that.

Let me get this straight, this definitely does not apply to all my friends. There are some of you that always know that I'm around, and let me know that you know. To those friends, that just increases my respect towards you. Know that.

But just as a general thought, I'm feeling left out if you see me doing one or more of the following, especially in a group setting.

• Staring off into random space or searching the area for something aimlessly
• Pull out my headphones and start listening to music
• Get out my phone (I'm normally looking at the text messages I received days ago, because very rarely does anyone except for maybe two or three people ever text me)
• I start blurting out random things that typically pertain in some way to a conversation that is happening around me.
• I just have this miserable, downtrodden look about me.

Again, it might just be me overreacting, but it would be nice if you notice I might be feeling un-included, as it were, to say "hey" or ask how my day's been or something of the sort. Who knows, that might just make my day.

And I really do enjoy it when days are made, whether they're mine or someone else's.

I feel like I should blog again some more.

I think I need to catch you up on my life, and all its many twists and turns.

Number one: College. Many of my younger viewers may ask, "Why, Clayton, how's college?" Of course, now I think about it, many of my older viewers and viewers within my peer group may be wondering the same thing. And my answer to you is: College is great! Here's a flash of my typical Samford week:

Sunday: Wake up, 8:30ish. Why I am up this early after likely staying up until one or two reading Harry Potter or watching college football highlights is beyond me. There is a knock on the door and there is a friend who I arranged to take me to church. The church in question is massive, as are many of the Baptist churches around Birmingham. The service was nothing remarkable, and then was Sunday School. I have not attended a Sunday School session outside of HFUMC since, oh I don't know, eight or ten years ago, probably. It was a very enjoyable experience, I think I might go back just for the Sunday School hour sometime. Arrive back on campus around 12:30, grab some lunch in the caf, then back to the room for an afternoon of NFL football. That's basically what Sunday consists of every week. Lots of football. Then to sleep for class.

Monday: My first class, JMC 200, begins at 10:30. I wake up at about 9 or 9:15, hop in the shower, head to the food court for a chick-fil-a biscuit breakfast, and head on over to class. Take some notes, fight some sleep, and then to Latin. Much of the same, although instead of the "take some notes" part, it's more "try to figure out what in the heck this thing means". Latin ends at 12:50, and that's class on Monday. After Latin, I hit up the caf for lunch, and head back to the room. Once back in the room, I open facebook (which will remain open long into the night), check emails, and get whatever work I have to get done. Today I'll get all my laundry done. I'm thirsty, so I walk to the mini-fridge and pull out a can of Canada Dry Ginger Ale. On this particular Monday afternoon, I pull up the 104.5 The Zone radio broadcast online, because Randy Moss is holding his first media meeting as a Tennessee Titan. I listen to 3hourlunch until 3, and then turn on the TV to NFLNetwork. I throw on my freshly-laundered band t-shirt, a pair of socks, and some tennis shoes, and head over to the band room. I then catch a ride to the gym because I'm playing for the basketball game. I play some music, shout a lot, and eat some pizza. Four hours later, I go back to the room, where I'll play on the computer, watch TV, and do some reading until I fall asleep at about midnight.

On Tuesday, I have one class. However, I am determined to make Convo this morning, even if I sleep through it. I get a can of lemonade from the room, and a chicken biscuit from the food court (I'm trying hard to cut down on my Bulldog Buck spending, I'm fast running out from my Chick-fil-A consumption), and head over to Reid Chapel for the Convocation. Today's convo speaker was surprisingly interesting, a United Methodist clergywoman and yet another great storyteller. Having not gotten my nap or the last four pages of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in, I go to my Tuesday/Thursday class, CP. I get that essay back that I slaved over on the previous Wednesday night. "This is surprisingly well-written," I find Dr. Putt has written on it. "First semester freshmen usually do not write this well. I even suspected plagiarism at first because it is so clearly written! Excellent work!" This brightens up my day immensely, even more than my first convo credit in two or more weeks did. I take about a page-full of notes about Gothic architecture and culture, and then we get out of class at around noon or 12:15. I head straight to the caf for lunch this day, and then after chilling back in the room for a couple of hours, go to band practice. It's our first Christmas band practice, and as I note to the facebook world, "I am fully aware of the irony of the fact that we're practicing Christmas music, and I'm wearing a tshirt and flip flops." The music is different, and moderately challenging. After dinner, I come back to the room, and Patrick is watching the new 30 for 30 film on ESPN about former superstar running back Marcus Dupree. It's a nice little piece, and I enjoyed it. After that, I make sure everything's ready for my Wednesday classes, read some Harry Potter, and go to sleep.

Wednesday is the day I buy my Harry Potter tickets. There's some finagling with Fandango, but eventually everything works out and I'm ready to go. Both of my Wendesday classes included getting tests back. My JMC grade, though not stellar, is still a solid B, which I will take. In Latin, I was expecting bad things from the test, but I end up earning a similar B. While in Latin, unbeknownst to me, there is a bit of a flash-mob rave dance in the caf in order to advertise tomorrow night's freshman class rave. Sadly, I miss it. After lunch, I head to the library to put in a couple hours of work-study time. In the end, I am not able to continue, and I end up staying for only an hour and a quarter. Dinner is yet another caf affair, and I return to the room with just enough time to watch yesterday's episodes of both Glee and NCIS. After my hour and a half of online TV dosage, I head to my small group meeting. It's a particularly good group meeting for me, and I do a little more reading before I go to sleep.

Thursday is a triumphant morning. For the first time in over a month, I am able to wake up in time to get to the caf for breakfast! I also make it to Convo, which is a very nap-worthy lecture about the church in China. Perhaps it goes too long, for I am still in a lethargic state when CP rolls around. The Renaissance is the topic of this class, and it goes until about 12:10, I think. I go back to the room for a 30-minute power nap (haven't had a good one of those in a while, either...) and then lunch in the caf. An hour and a half after I get done with lunch, and it's band practice time again. I'm not really feeling too well during practice, but I manage, and suffer through a small dinner just to keep my appetite regular. By the time I get ready to go to the aforementioned rave, I'm feeling much better and ready for a fun night of dancing. Well, except for the fact that after about forty-five minutes of constant jumping and moving, etc, I felt like my lungs were about to explode, so I headed back to the dorm for a couple puffs of the asthma inhaler and I was generally back to normal. Great dance, then I feel like staying up even later to get in some Harry Potter reading. I decide that I'm not even going to eat breakfast Friday morning, as I only have one one-hour class that day. I go to sleep, exhausted from an exciting day.

On Friday, I stumble out of bed a little before ten, take a shower, and find my way to my JMC class. It's a nice lesson about cable, I jot down a few key points, and class ends. I head to the caf, and have about an hour-and-a-half long lunch (not so much eating as the social aspect of lunch in the caf). After lunch, I spend a while in the room, before choosing to throw in a little bit of work-study in the library before it closes at 5. After I finish in the library, I run into Corey and Clayton playing frisbee. I play with them for a while, and then we all three head up to the caf for dinner. There we meet the likes of Patrick and Josiah, and after a nice evening meal, we decide to head up to the volleyball game, Senior night, at the gym. We are joined by Jamieson and Red Sea points leader Throck (it's a nickname, his last name's Throckmorton). We watch the volleyball girls fall to Georgia Southern 3 sets to 1, but in a valiant effort nonetheless. Some fingerfoods follow, and then Patrick and I so choose to head back to the room and chill for the rest of the night. I find myself, once again, in the midst of a very good Harry Potter Book (Goblet of Fire, which I've been working on the majority of the week) before going to bed once again.

Saturday gets a late start from me. I wake up shortly before 11, shower, watch some college football, and then head to the caf for brunch. There are some conspiracies regarding a birthday party, and I head back to the room. Corey comes in, I end up taking a run to Taco Bell with him and Zach. After we get back and while we are consuming our Taco Bell, Jamieson enters, detailing us about a certain prank to go down. I spend a large part of my afternoon on that effort after my weekly phone call to the parentals. After dinner, I anxiously await the next step of the prank, but we are foiled by someone close to a victim. I have a nice facebook conversation with this un-named source, and find myself compromised somewhat in the war of pranks that is happening throughout Samford. I suppose it feels a little like when countries entered the World Wars a while after they started. I await my just rewards. Meanwhile, I watch the fourth Harry Potter movie, and end up having to stop after a while, because it is so horrendous. I then watch the South Carolina-Florida and Alabama-Mississippi State games before catching the ridiculously awful ending of the fourth Harry Potter movie. Around this point, Patrick returns from the dorm lobby, and we watch SNL and some football and basketball highlights before he calls it a night and I turn to this, my blog.

Well, that's a sample week. Now that you know that, I'll just go on about some trivial stuff...

1. CUPCAKES. And I'm not talking about that thing that looks like a muffin but is much better. I'm talking about teams, like Louisiana-Monroe, like Georgia State, like the University of freaking Notre Dame, that college football teams play two, three, seven games against each season. Those ones that scream "easy win, let's get in here, play a little ball, throw our bench in, and get the hell out of here" on the schedule. It disgusts me. Every team in the SEC has played at least three, and while I'm a big fan of the SEC, I think they need to play easy-win teams that are a little more competitive by name, like Big Ten and ACC schools. Those of you that have been following all my crazy facebook action know my obsession with cupcakes and their complete lack of benefit.

2. We've got Randy freaking Moss!!!! Thats right, boys and girls, Randy's a Titan. Get excited, it's going to be a great ride in Nashville for the second half of the season, and--dare I say it?--playoffs?!?

3. Oh, I gots me a youtube channel now! You can find me at http://www.youtube.com/user/churdle76. I may or may not eventually be posting videos, but it's really just a thing for me to use for comments or liking videos or stuff like that.

4. And I've also gots me a tweeter!! Although I myself am not a twit, and do not tweet, I felt like I should get a twitty-thing to follow some other twits that like tweeting. So if you want me to add you to my followees, tweet me up @churdle76. If you want to add yourself to my followers (or, as I prefer, twitstalkers), just do whatever you do to follow a twitty type by searching the same tweetie-name.

5. What else, what else? Oh, I'm annoyed by Christmas coming before and above Thanksgiving again, I'm in the middle of a little No-Shave November action, and I get some more money in the bank this week. Also, my midseason NFL Picks are as thus: Titans, Texans, Colts, Jaguars AFC South; Steelers, Ravens, Browns, Bengals AFC North; Chiefs, Chargers, Raiders, Broncos AFC West; Jets, Patriots, Dolphins, Bills AFC East; Falcons, Saints, Bucs, Panthers NFC South; Packers, Vikings, Bears, Lions NFC North; Rams, Seahawks, Cardinals, Niners NFC West; Giants, Eagles, Redskins, Cowboys, NFC East. Playoff seedings will be Jets, Steelers, Titans, Chiefs, Ravens, Texans in the AFC; Giants, Falcons, Packers, Rams, Eagles, Saints in the NFC. Wild Card games: Titans over Texans, Ravens over Chiefs, Packers over Saints, Eagles over Rams. Divisional games: Ravens over Jets, Titans over Steelers, Eagles over Giants, Packers over Falcons. Conference championships: Ravens over Titans (you don't know how much it hurts me to say that), Eagles over Packers. To keep to my original pick of Super Bowl Champion, Ravens over Eagles.

Oh, last but not least, congrats to the San Francisco Giants for bringing home the World Series championship for the first time since your west coast move over fifty years ago.

That's it for now, folks, I'll be back with more action sometime later.

-clayton

I just feel like ranting.

*RANT RANT RANT RANT RANT RANT RANT*

There. It doesn't make me feel much better, but I'll keep writing for a while.

Please, please, excuse any vulgarities that might escape my fingers in this blog. I'm THAT upset.

And there's really no need to be, which makes me even more irate.

It's those damn Yankees. Yeah, hate them more than I have in a while. It's just...grrrrr.

Tonight's baseball scores of course top off the 0-3 start to my preseason predictions, first with the cowboys beating cincy in the hall of fame game last sunday, and then with New England beating the Saints and oakland coming from behind in a lack of offensive production from dallas, which enabled the raiders' 17-9 win. Last time I put my faith in that "America's Team" this preseason. field goals the rest of the way for them.

Please help me remember the nation's favorite basketball and hockey teams so I can start rooting against them too.

gasjdpidajpogoajpgpjogdpjogpjogpojgsdapjogsdapjoga

On top of that, no one's playing in what should've been a glorious last three weeks of my lyric game.

I don't know what is up with that. Because no one's letting me know, except for Janie, their intents to stop playing. I'm considering as of now just stopping and not awarding any prizes.

But that conflicts my sense of commitment.

I think it's starting to sink in how close I am to being gone from Hville for an insanely extended length of time for the first time since 1996. I think the longest I haven't been home consecutively is about two weeks, and I'm about to spend two months in birmingham before fall break.

Wait, what!

Yeah, that can make a guy miserable.

On top of that, ***** GRAMMATICAL AND SPELLING ERRORS NEED TO STOP! I will go on a frenzy before long correcting everyone, especially those that are in school already. Bane of my existence.

hmmm...meteor shower tonight. I think I'm going to see if I can't see anything through the bright city lights of middle Tennessee.

And maybe make some sort of wish. Or refuse to believe in such poppycock.

Whatever.

I'm out.

"I like your beard"

Yeah, too bad I shaved it.

Our next blog---one I’m just rolling with, I might have you know---will encompass moving, transition, and “New Directions” (not the McKinley Glee Club).

So, yeah, there’s been some crazy stuff going on this past month.

Guess really it all started a while ago, one could argue as soon as my great-great-great-great-great grandparents were conceived. (OK, I’m stretching it a little.) But anyway, I’m entering a rather exciting and interesting time in my life. And there’s lots and lots of change going on for that. In addition, on the homefront there’s been some major disruption of normal life, so to speak. We’ll just rock with it, and maybe there’s a moral at the end that I’ll come to.

So. Let’s start with the personal (It’s all rather personal, but we’re talking me being the person with the greatest effect). I’m in the process right now of moving into the other “slave” (aka not master) bedroom. I now live in the smallest bedroom in the house, and I’ve still got all the clutter of the last room (which is really what I should be working on instead of this blog, but, you know…). It’s also starting to hit me that I’m leaving Htown for the bright lights and rolling hills of Birmingham in only two weeks. I’ve been worried about when and how I’m going to get everything done that needs to be done before then, but now I’m stopping and thinking how much I’m going to miss everyone here. It really was a great run, and a blessing to have such great friends here. That kinda sorta brings me to my next paragraph.

So, it’s been an interesting month or so for the youth of HFUMC. When we got back from choir tour (a really falsely dramatic trip. Like, it wasn’t even funny how petty all these people’s “drama” was), Tiffany, our director, was fired. In this exact same meeting that they got rid of Tif, they told Gavin, our youth director, that he had ten days to make improvements, and after apparently changing their minds and not even seeing the improvements Gavin made, fired him the next Thursday. So, the church is in a bit of a transition as well. We are all trying to figure this situation out, and (this is strictly in my opinion) clinging to the past when we need to move on. It’s human nature, we can’t be blamed for it, but either way. So it’s tough. I’ve got a boatload to say about it; if you know me and are interested in what I have to say, feel free to call, email, or fb message me (there’s too much for text message).

But, yeah, it’s been strange. We’re all going in a bit of a different way now. I have faith it’ll all turn out for the better, because that’s just one of the things I believe fully.

Wow, that was intense. Cool. Well, on to more exciting things. Like, maybe some sports.

-c

YouTube

So, recently, I’ve been spending ungodly amounts of time (mostly after 10pm) on the famous video sharing website YouTube (you know, Broadcast yourself and all that crap).

Well, I’ve come across some very funny, musical, and otherwise just pretty darn good videos in my recent youtube binges.

Among them would include the absolutely fabulous Meekakitty, whose “I hate sporks!” video appears in the “Clayton striped polo urinal collection” page of http://clayton4ever.tk/. I’m officially a big fan of Tessa (heck, I “like” her on facebook, that’s gotta mean something) and watched all of the 142 videos she’s posted in her time on YouTube. She’s really random, quirky, and fun, something I feel I can relate to. So, check out her channel. She just did a phenomenal music vid for a rather catchy song, that I’ve probably watched five times since she posted it two days ago (yes, I have no life. Ha.)

The next youtube venture I took was exploring mashups of Katy Perry’s California Gurls (great song btw) and Ke$ha’s TiK ToK (another great song). If you’ve been living under a rock for the past year, they’re pretty much exactly the same song, with a couple of tune differences and different lyrics. Anywho, about the second or third vid I came across was a group of six girls doing an acapella mashup. If you know me, you know that I’m a sucker for three- and four- part harmonies (and pretty girls :P), so I was really impressed. Anyway, these are the Cimorelli sisters, and they’ve got a little album out on iTunes and such. Check ‘em out, they’re pretty cool.

Lastly, several several months ago I started watching A Very Potter Musical, and finished up the other night before watching Act One Part One of the Sequel. Last night, I watched the entire rest of AVPS, and I must say, it was quite enjoyable. WARNING: This play would totally be rated PG-13, possibly even R with its language. So you little five year olds trolling the internet, this one isn’t for you. (as an aside, when I was five, I had no peers trolling the internet, much less knowing what it was.)

Anyway, there’s my YouTube ventures recently. Blogs about Michael Crawford, Glee MashUps, and possibly more coming later tonight. Oh, and football. Ha.

NEW WEBSITE!!!

http://clayton4ever.tk

Here’s the coolest website in the history of the world.

Not really, but it is pretty nifty.

It came about as a bit of a joke/competition/etc

One night as we were playing the lyric game I posted a link as a lyric. The link was http://mattl.tk, and created by Merrol Hyde (and fb lyric game)’s own Marton. You’ll have to follow the link to understand what happened as a result, because I’m not telling :P But anyway, Marton, being the nerd and lyric game player he is, then created another site, posting it on my facebook wall with the comment, “Bonus Points?”

I didn’t give him any points, and he has also been outnerded. By the one and only David.

I told David and Andrew all about this story, and David decided, “Hey, I could make a ten million times greater site than that.” So began his task of building an astounding website that would make me sound conceited talking about it. As clayton4ever.tk continued to grow with each Barack Roll, cat, and spork, I became more and more impressed. So, it’s definitely not done improving; like ye olde faceybook, it’ll probably be making constant changes.

If you have any comments about the site, shoot us an email at clayton(at)clayton4ever.tk. Or, if you want to get directly in touch with the wonderful webmaster, he has a separate address which is sitemaster(at)clayton4ever.tk. Or you can always feel welcome to leave a comment on the blog.

Toodles, for now.

-c

I'm having babies!

That title caught your attention, didn't it? (teehee). The babies I'm referring to are in the nest on my windowsill. The nest and eggs had been sitting there for about two weeks; momma robin had been hanging around, so I knew the eggs would hatch. Today went up to put on some jeans so I could mow the yard, looked out the window, and there's a baby robin. Ran down and told dad, came back up after posting it on facebook (I named the bird Christopher), and when I got upstairs, a second egg was hatching! Decided to name that bird Larry, and last time I checked, he's still covered by eggshell, but out of the egg. Waiting for the third and final one to hatch. More will come on this blog, including pictures and stories of my growing babies.

-cth

I really need to get back to this...

Hey, blog buds, I'll be a little more active on Blogger now that my two big classes are done this year; after seeing how college goes this fall, I may or may not continue being active as the next NFL season comes around. Be sure to check out my facebook lyric game this summer. (All credit for the creation of the lyric game goes to Joey Meyer, but I'm doing it now.) I'll see ya'll later on the interwebz, so, TTFN.

-c

Let's completely change the pace...

Thanks to the immortal General Larry Platt, I became a fan and follower of American Idol, Season 9. Now that we're down to the top 8...I mean...9 (again)...here's the rundown

Aaron- His performance of "Long and Winding Road" last week was, as Ellen said, a "long and winding song". He didn't sound great and the song was quite dull, so I was for sure that he would be gone last week. I haven't seen a really great performance from Aaron yet, so if he doesn't step it up, he doesn't have a chance of winning

Andrew- He's got a unique voice and style...I question him sometimes, but I do think Garcia's got what it takes. He's a fan favorite in Hollywood, and although he's not the best in this competition, he'll stick around at least for another couple of weeks. His performance of "Can't Buy Me Love" was definitely unique, and fun.

Casey- What many people raved as the best performance of the night was by far my least favorite. I was cringing the entire time, he was completely off key the whole song. I don't know what kind of charm he has that he can be horrible and still be loved, but it needs to stop.

Crystal- She should change her last name to Bowersux, because that is exactly what she did Tuesday night. Not only was she nowhere near perfect where key is concerned, she was the only contestant in the group to botch her lyrics. However, she also seems to cast a spell on everyone else, because the judges and fans loved her. I don't see how it's possible, but I definitely see how many people don't think this is a very good season. If two people with horrible performances can be the best two contestants on the show, there's something going on here.

Katie- The only thing wrong with Katie at this point is that, according to her Idol profile, she cites Taylor Swift as one of her musical influences. But she is my favorite of season 9 despite this. She can sing, and sings well. Her performance of "Let It Be" (btw, my favorite Lennon/McCartney song) was absolutely astonishing. And the fact that she's my age but has that kind of voice just makes me love her more.

Lee- That bagpipe was cool. How it fit in to "Hey Jude" was anyone's guess, but it worked. It was original, and Lee did a great job with the song. Plus, just his name...it's got this roll-off-the-tongue quality to it. Just try saying "Lee DeWyze" once. You'll have to say it a couple of times, because it is such a flowing name, and you're going to have to try to figure out how it flows so well. He's been a wild card for me before Tuesday; he needs one more good performance to hit my good list.

Big Mike- He's one of my favorites too, and he deserved to be saved, but his performance of "Eleanor Rigby" was shaky at first, and never really recovered, so I understand why he was in danger of going home. He rocked it near the end, which is normally what he does, and his save performance won everybody over. He needs a great performance tomorrow night to stay in the competition.

Siobhan- Another cool name, Siobhan Magnus really, really, impressed me with her performance of "Across The Universe". Siobhan has a great voice, and she's a really unique personality. I look forward to her covering Elvis tomorrow.

Tim- This guy's got some talent. Quite possibly the best guy performance of the night was his interpretation of "All My Loving". It was fun, upbeat, and he sang very well. His everpresent smile is contagious, and I think he'll fit right in to this week's theme.

Going into the next round, in which two people will be voted off, here's my favorites in order
1. Katie Stevens
2. Siobhan Magnus
3. Tim Urban
4. Lee DeWyze
5. Michael Lynche
6. Andrew Garcia
7. Crystal Bowersux
8. Aaron Kelly
9. Casey James

So, there's the Top 9 recap. Until next time...

-cth

a very thought-provoking video...

in my drive group, we've been watching the movie "everything is spiritual" a rob bell video. I'm going to try to post it all from youtube not sure if its got all of it. be sure you have two hours to committ to watching before you start. my apologies for the spanish subtitles...

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpaYNeScbJ4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9E4gzbfPtw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G9CtaqxojU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgwwG8M8Lxg

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=165CCqzEFkg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TM9QCay7BGI

That's all of them.

it's been a while...

happy march everyone! there's some stuff I want to talk about today...mainly sports, but hopefully some more important stuff too...

firstly, congratulations, william hayes, you're the titans' new starting defensive tackle! i think he'll do fine filling the hole left by albert haynesworth, who i'm still having trouble seeing in a redskins uni. cutlers mad at the broncos for trying to trade him for cassel, who the pats franchised away to the chiefs. speaking of franchised, the titans are still waiting to sign bo scaife, but as we all know by now, "wait" is mike riendfelt's favorite word during free agency.



in my top five list, we've resigned collins but lost haynesworth and brandon jones. we have not got anyone from anywhere else. so we're just losing players. what is mike riendfelts problem!?!?!?



so anyway, what else was i gonna talk about?



my life is pretty crazy right now...school, church, scouts, you know, the normal times about four. i actually have homework now, and i'm getting more piled on every night. it's not really good, especially since i enjoy putting stuff off as long as i can. latin and precalc are the big ones. hopefully i'll get it all taken care of soon.

just finished the latin outline...waiting for the printer to work...and for itunes genius to update...

so i should talk about all the stuff going on at church...everyone's getting excited about safe sanctuaries...well...mostly everyone. drive group's dwindling at best and once the policy's in place we will be in jeopardy of not existing at all. choir's getting to be easier than it's been in a while because we're just singing songs from five and six years ago which i already know for the most part, and because i'm getting alot better at reading, that helps too.

speaking of reading, i'm doing the pit orchestra for hello dolly @ jpII. the music is really easy, once i figured out, "hey, i'm playing in like six songs. and they're all in C# so i'm basically playing everything sharp. wow this is lame. but fun!" i did all county last weekend (was it really just last weekend?) and i'm ready for more extracurricular sax!

i alluded to something i did recently in the last paragraph, and practically alluded to another. the first would be all county the second (though not chronilogically) is bye bye birdie.

all county was extremely fun. there was alot of inside jokes that me christopher and brionna allude to twice or three times daily during band class. andrea also went, but she skipped out of band this semester to take accounting. swagger was a big inside joke, and so was the first chair tuba/downbeat/etc. oh and justin.

secondly, christopher and dad were in bye bye birdie last month and i was at six of the thirteen showings of it, i think most of any non-cast member, musician or director, other than mother. it was a really good show everyone who missed it missed a good one.

i don't think i've had a post yet this year...i lost my job and dad is officially unemployed as of last night so the economy's hitting us hard.

other than that, life's pretty much the same...

well consider this blog over.

later,

-cth

well...not much...but...here it is in all its shining glory...blog number 23

i take time out of my busy schedule to honor all the great number 23's:

Michael Jordan (started the number's status as that of superstars)
LeBron James
Don Mattingly
Ryne Sandberg
David Beckham
Devin Hester
Marshawn Lynch
Ronnie Brown
Cadillac Williams
Erin Malone
Julio Lugo

i probably have missed many...but these are some notables....however, there is one more:

THIS BLOG!!!

so anyway, just got through espn's lastest tmq and found it an enjoyable read...lots of good stuff in it...also the new mayne street...not as good as some others but it's okay...it's got some pg-13 moments, but overall as long as you are mature enough to handle it...it's good.

go titans! i was thoroughly upset by the loss to the texans, and then by pittsburgh winning. my pick is still titans over panthers in the super bowl. we'll see...but i repeat GO TITANS!!!! AFC SOUTH DIVISION CHAMPS, BABY!!!!!!

how bout them celtics! i think that's all i have to say about that

baseball winter meetings...hope sox get away with texeira...that would be awesome.

my new favorite song: live your life by rhianna and t.i.

that's it for now

-cth

So…random nfl stuff

To start out, i discovered this video today of al davis discussing lane kiffin’s firing. Kinda redundant, kinda redundant (oh did i mention it was redundant?), kinda funny. It was interesting…al davis has def lost his brain

Also…how bout them titans! An amazingly hilarious yet pitiful 47-10 domination of Detroit was just the start of the routs to see that weekend, dallas 34-9 over seattle, philly 48-20 over Arizona, ole miss and Alabama shutting out msu 45-0 and auburn 36-0, respectfully in the egg and iron bowls. Texas ran over a&m and the gay-tors beat fsu 38-15 i believe…other nfl creaming were Baltimore 34-3 over Cincinnati giants 23-7 vs Washington, Pittsburgh beating the pats 33-10, and minnesota’s 34-14 defeat of Chicago.

So everything’s going great…just finished duty roster for room in the inn and final English paper…about the bcs and a possible playoff situation…cloning paper got a 100 so i was pretty pumped about that. Christmas tree’s up…not ornamented or anything…gonna wait til after Saturday (12/13) to do that. My schedule’s pretty much booked up til then.

Other than that i’m takin it easy not stressin to much…well, that’s a blatant lie. I’m totally worried about midstate Sunday…my sax teacher randomly decides he has something to do on the day of my lesson three days before auditions…so i’m freakin out about that…and practice didn’t go to well yesterday…so yeah…

Guess that’s it for now…

Until later

-cth

my worst week (really not that bad, and i know exactly why

i take some time out of my routine sports blog to have a more serious entry.

these past two weeks have been the longest in my life.

since oh say monday, it's gone down from there

or at least it looked like it was going down

way down

but just when i thought it couldn't get much worse, my spirits were lifted.

the Holy Spirit is a very powerful force.

very powerful indeed

just when it looked grim, i realized that it really wasnt that bad.

the week started just like normal, and right now i can't really remember everything "bad" that happened.

i just know that it's all come out alright

today was blood drawing day, and i was freaking out pretty much as soon as i woke up. but i survived, and i guess i'm no worse for the wear.

just think my readers should be re told that God is there to answer prayers and to stick with you through the rough times. basically that's the purpose of this blog. i'm signing off for tonight, God bless.

-cth

florida rant (blog one of who knows how many tonight)

so i'm sitting @ work w/ nothing to do..so i'm blogging...

my first topic is the florida gators...

can't say much becase they are three times better (yes i did the math, 42/14=3) than my vanderbilt commodores...but i've gotta say what i've gotta say...

first, my favorite thing about the gators fans is that it seems the only thing they know how to do in a football stadium is the gator chomp. sure, the've got varying speeds (even during the same pep band song), but that's about the only variation on the thing. i was so tempted to do a tomahawk chop, but refrained...at least tennessee fans can sing in the same tempo...but anyway, it started getting annoying and i didn't see much of the game...five minutes at most...

now that i've gotten that out, i really don't have much more to say...pretty much, tim tebow is a beast...Tebow:college football::Michael Phelps:olympic swimming...he's got a hard task ahead of him in the nfl though...traditionally former heisman winners (Jason Campbell, Chris Wienke, and ERic Crouch for example) and former Florida qb's (chris leak and rex grossman, for example) have had troubles in the bigs...

i had a load of fun mouthing off with a florida fan i had never met before...i said "tim tebow's overrated!" just to get a rise out of someone...he said "Yeah, does vandy even have a football team? or is it just vanderbilt high school!" i couldn't think of a comeback fast enough...so that was that...i guess it was all for the better...

anyway, i'll continue to root for my vanderbilt commodores, pulling for an 8-4 season and a trip to the peach or liberty bowl...maybe even cotton or outback...but definitely a bowl game...

next blog: how bout them (wyoming) cowboys!!!

stuff

titans are 8-0!!!!!! i'm super pumped and ready to see the bears get destroyed. it's gonna be no contest...grossman won the game for chicago last week, so naturally he's gonna suck this week. he's consistently inconsistent! so anyway, it's great...election's coming up today and i don't have a favorite i'm gonna go along with what everyone here says...mccain wins tennessee, obama wins the nation. i'll be playin around w/ the magic map on cnn.com...here's the link: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/calculator/. we'll see what happens...blog to come probably thursday on the result...all i know is that whoever wins, he's my president, and i will support him. so that's the long and the short of it.

iverson traded to the pistons, billups goes to denver...really i don't care about the nba until the playoffs...and then only with mild interest...so it's really no big deal to me.

otherwise, guess everything else is going just fine, visited tech on thursday and wasn't all that impressed...but i got out of school, so it was worth it! saw several mhms grads and that was nice. halloween was fun and so was this weekend....but now that i'm thinking saturday, i'm thinking college football, which reminds me...

FULMER'S LEAVING UT!!!!!! that was very shocking. that man has been the face of tennessee football for two decades now, and his leaving means that that will no longer be the case. i'm more of a vandy fan now, but it still hurts. firing a coach with several conference championships and two national championship appearances after one bad season...even though they tentatively have one of the best recruiting classes in the nation for next year...doesn't make sense...next thing you know they'll fire bruce pearl for not making it to the final four. oh, well, stuff happens...

vandy plays florida next week...make it four losses in a row...after a 5-0 start...classic vandy football in the second half of the season. until next time, i'll be rejoicing, comiserating, and remembering some more stuff to write about...

-cth

and another blog...

starting off...i'm pumped that the phillies will be winning the world series tonight. it serves the devils right for beating boston. also, code blue tonight for the titans game! i'm already wearing my light blue polo/long sleeve tshirt combo at school. calico jersey's going on as soon as i get home. GO TITANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! biggest game in titans history since super bowl xxxiv. only this time we're gonna DOMINATE!!!!!

so my weekend consisted of this
schs lost on a last second failed two-point conversion
vandy got smoked by duke (sure, it was only 10-7, but that's getting smoked when you play duke as badly as vandy did)
ut got destroyed (which i didn't really mind, they're not ranked, and bama's better anyway)
and some random nfl stuff

so really, all either disappointing or merely trivial games. didn't even care that i was watching the london game...didn't realize that that was this week anyway...guess it's always raining there...cause it was a pretty sloppy game last year too if i remember correctly. commish goodell wants a nfl team in europe i disagree...eight teams would have to travel oversees one week and one team would have to travel overseas eight weeks. so i dont think thats a great idea...sorry comish.

fall fest at church yesterday...nothing too extravagant, but i liked it nonetheless. think i forgot to mention in my last blog that i'm not too excited about the choir tour show this year, and we STILL don't know where we are going on tour! we performed a really cheesy song from vbs yesterday during the service...everyone in the congregation loved it...i can't stand it. but anyway, this week's gonna be normal outside of the game tonight...i'll get another blog out thursday maybe....

-cth

a blocked punt! to beat the cowboys in overtime! and other football stuff

to start off, I CAN'T BELIEVE that VANDERBILT lost to MISSISSIPPI STATE!!!!!!!!!!!! that and the red sox going up 1-0 over tampa in the alcs were the only news i had this weekend, thanks to being in the middle of nowhere at an amazing retreat (more to come on that). so anyway, po'd in one way, elated in the other. after the vandy game, the next football i got was at 1:30 pm sunday...cause i fell asleep while i was unpacking...so i watched a bit of indy destroying the ravens...and then the new york titans (still cant get over brett favre in navy and gold) defeating the woebegone (retreat memory!!!) cincinnati bengals 26-14. here's what marv lewis was telling his boys in the fourth quarter:

ok, we're only down six points. the other team's driving...lets' hold 'em to nothing defense, but don't use any timeouts cause we'll need them later..."

after the titan's td:

"well, we're down twelve now, but we can still come back...just don't use more than one timeout...cause we'll need them later..."

for what? the week 10 bye???? neway, enough for that game.

next game: falcons-bears.

just another reason the bears aren't playoff-worthy again...yet. they should've been defending all the receivers double-teamed but jenkins was able to get the catch made and out of bounds with one second left. and then more elam heroics...but really that's commonplace now...bottom line: good game, fantastic ending, and can't wait to see the falcons make the playoffs (whenever they do). matt ryan is the new face of the falcons franchise. he's a better player and person than mike vick.

texans-dolphins.

matt shaub is the best qb to ever play for the houston texans. not only did he set a passing record for the texans, but he got the game winning score rushing. pretty sweet. good game again.

cowboys-cardinals.

awesome ending! and that play in the first quarter where romo lost the ball after being called down...totally a fumble. whatever the refs were thinking was wrong. so that was sweet

rams-redskins.

congrats rams on your first win. firing linehan was probably the best move they've made for a while.

red sox

game 3 of the alcs tonight. series tied 1-1 time to come home to boston. can't wait to see my boys win it all. go red sox!!!!!

retreat

it was awesome. started out friday evening celebrating joes' big 6-oh. connecting with friends was great. then we had a good night's sleep.

saturday was great. "boom chicka boom" started the day, then a lot of activities. tossed footballs, frisbees, and flying rings. lots of discussion, both religious and non religious. then went to the nursing home in dickson. guy with demientia told us a story...twenty times...it went kinda like this.

"God said i don't know what you stole, but whatever it is both of you, you and the thing you stole, wherever i am, both of you will be also. it's written in red, and i believe every word of it. and then i turned the page...and two women walked down buck nekked. and two minutes later, three more women walked down buck nekked. i had to put three cloths on 'em and take their shoes off. and i turned the page and one of 'em said well i don't want you to take my shoes off. and i said i don't care what you don't want, i've been demanded to take your shoes off and i'm gonna do just that. not later, but right now. and it was written in red and i believe every word of it. and then i turned the page and whatever you stole, both of you wherever i am you will both there be also..." and on and on it went.

so after that we went back to garner creek and hung out and ate some more, then bonfire, and matt christopher and i played an awesome game of apples to apples. the favorite word/phrase was "my body." the first green card we drew while christopher was in the shower was "sensual", and the first red card was "my body". it just continued from there. the best play though was on the green card "temperamental" and i put down the red card "women" great cause it was all guys playing and we shared the same sentiment. so that was fun.

sunday morning was worhip. then we left and got home, football, and today. got a shot and blood drawn. not fun, but it was necesary. had an awesome time playing with the birch babies allie and aubrey, and the eaton twins josh and andrew, and judy jones' granddaughter sarah. all little kids. but also enjoyed some quality time with the youth at the retreat: christopher, matt, lyndsay, jonathan, and tristan. and the youth leader from rehoboth philip. so it was all good. until next time.....

-cth

yep...

this has been the slowest day ever...and i really have done nothing productive...just sat around watching tv and doing the facebook thing...so...yeah...it sucks to be sick...i want to do some stuff (such as predictions email and english essay that's due monday...) but i'm not...and i'll be gone most of the day tomorrow...so basically i don't know how i'm gonna get stuff done...but hopefully i'll manage.

basically what's wrong with me is your typical viral crud...so i really can't do much about it...

later all...

go red sox, bison, and commandos tonight.

-cth