Meow, Baby.

Our cats have been acting normal for about two weeks now. We had Jackie spayed and declawed and Reagan declawed at the beginning of November. They are back to their loving selfs. Jackie still has bad breath though. And I can't help but notice.
It's almost Thanksgiving-a holiday Amanda and I didn't have to endure this time last year because we were on our honeymoon. Welcome to 2007, and now we have to figure out how to handle all the family plans so nobody feels left out. Pretty normal for most married couples, yes?
I thought so.

It hasn't been bad so far actually. But Christmas is around the corner (don't get me started on why people are already wearing snowflake necklaces in mid-November) and we will have to partition out our time once more. We can be grateful though, we do have family that wants to see us - and that is a blessing.

Classes for this semester are drawing to a close and I couldn't be happier. I hope to do fairly well in all 4 of my classes this time around. I need it for sure.

I have had a cough for the past two weeks or so. I made a doctor's appointment for Monday. I just hope it's not something serious. I didn't until Amanda mentioned the word 'bronchitis'.
And now I'm worried.

I'm Not Sure If a Straight Man Singing "It's Raining Men" Will Ever Be Appropriate

I think the soil here in Tennessee is saying, "Okay. I give up. Please stop raining." There was a cold snap yesterday night that caught me off guard. However, I do appreciate the chance to wear my jacket seeing as how it is the end of October.
I was starting to think I wouldn't get my moneys worth out of it this year.

I've been very sleepy lately. Usually I wake up before the alarm goes off up to an hour before it goes off, but with the rain and the time change approaching, my windows stay darker longer and I keep pressing the snooze button - not like me at all.

Thank you for the rain, by the way.

I'll Reach My Destination

I've been at home for almost 48 hours straight. I think I've caught up on my sleep too. Today alone, I think I took 3 naps. Pretty awesome if you ask me. My love of loves is on her way home now and we plan to have a good evening of resume creation, church attendance, bible reading, and other things. I'm glad I have a wife who knows how to do things I don't. She is a pro at all things financial. She is the development queen. And at the same time a very humbling woman.

The big man did a great job of pairing us up - I'll tell you what else...he always knows what is best for us all.

My wife and I had a excellent conversation, it's been almost ongoing since Sunday on the way back from her mom's house. I am confident that she knows what is best for me and always puts us first above all others. I may be taking a new direction in the new year. I am excited and not at all scared. I will finish my goal as I have set it right now and then begin a new journey in the winter months.

I want to hear God's voice and follow his words to my destination. I cannot handle myself and my goals alone. It is in him that I will rest. He is my protector and defender, my ever constant friend. A listening ear.

He is showing me his love through my wife and her love for me. I have received a wonderful gift this week.

Yeah, I Eat Organic-lly

I've talked this over with the wife and I feel I should share it.
Kroger really has pushed my buttons with their new Organic Foods billboard campaign.
I'll have to get a picture to post of it, for my retelling is insufficient.

Kroger is advertising Organic foods for their stores on these billboards. I guess they are trying to get people to stop shopping for Organic goodness at Publix. Anyway, the pictures of people on the billboard have giant heads and these strange expressions like, "I can't believe I found Organic food at Kroger!" or "I'm crazy looking because I buy Organic food!"

I know I'm exaggerating. I just find it amusing. Oh, and the billboard closest to our house has a hippie on it. Come on guys. I'm no hippie. Appeal to me by other means than making me look crazy for buying food that's actually worth buying.

If Randy Spivey Digs It, Why Can't I?

I just have one question. And maybe nobody has the answer.
Am I really supposed to like Bruce Springsteen or am I Un-American because I don't like his music?

I mean, who still buys this guys records? Really...

The Internet As A Proper Pronoun

The internet seems to be running slower than normal.
Why does this irritate when it should actually deter from from using the internet. And who actually capitalizes "internet". I mean just because Al Gore invented it doesn't mean it needs to be capitalized. Is it because the internet is bigger than one person?
I wonder if Wikipedia knows why...

It turns out, they do know why : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet#The_name_Internet
They also have a picture of the internet. Yeah.

I have listened to a new record that I have fallen in love with. At first, these tunes made me uneasy. I found them boring and not progressive. This partially is due to the fact that the copy I got was mixed poorly which, to any audiophile would make them shudder.
Regardless, I was ill impressed. It turns out, that this record is (and I hope I'm correct) a 90's record.
This makes sense - this record doesn't sound like their past offerings because they've only been around this decade and were not formed last decade.
It's MAE - Singularity

This record will not disappoint - it may take a few listens, but it will grab you as it did me.

Mr. Chismo Presents: The News

In technology news, Mrs. Chismo got a new iPod (which means I got mine back thank goodness).
In exercise news, now that I have an iPod again expect Mr. Chismo to run more often.
In education news, Mr. Chismo took a test today and has two tests on Thursday.
In iPod battery news, mine is dead thanks to forgetfulness to recharge.
In unrelated news, Mr. Chismo pops his neck a lot.

Mr. Chismo Presents: The Typer & The Typee

I've taken several tests over the past week. It feels good knowing the answers.
I type this to you, The Typee. I, being The Typer, do this, not in order to confuse The Typee, but to see how many, if any, commas I can properly include in one sentence that still includes grammatical validity.

I'm a horrible typer, ask my wife. She's really fast.
Maybe, I should just leave things uncorrected and see how they go.
But isn't this a horrible way to live? It is for me anyways.
But see, I'm bad about typing just in spurts and then correcting those short spurts instead of typing a whole paragraph and correcting it afterwards. I have to see the big picture and be able to analyze it before I can move on. The small pieces have to make sense before the big picture will make sense.

This was not supposed to be about typing - I very much went off on a rant.

I had the chance to sit down and read this weekend. Although it was not as much as I find useful. I didn't have a single book checked out from the library for at least three weeks and then I finally found it appropriate to begin checking out new material. School was my priority. I had to get back in the flow of the semester.

Typee, hmm. It sounds smart.

Mr. Chismo Presents: The Stream

It rained today for a very long time. My shoes are wet as well as the lower half of my pants legs.
I feel like I'm running behind, but I'm right on track.
Homework to do.
There's chocolate on my pants that I didn't see til on my way to school - but it didn't bother me.
Some new things popped up on my radar. I hope I get to listen to some music soon. The family iPod is not Mr. Chismo's favorite.
Something smells funny and it may be my shirt.
How many right angles are present between 9:40 and 11:05 on a clock? Can it be determined? (that's part of my homework).
I wish I knew some kind of code...like if I typed "lts rn t th strt nd nt gt ht by crs" people would know what I typed.
Because I know what I typed.
Mahi x 2 tonight.
A warm drink and a fireplace sounds nice.
I need to write in my journal. Maybe I should write some music.
I want to borrow my dad's banjo and record something.
"Ambient" is the new cool word for music. People use it a lot now when really they mean "instrumental" or "wordless/lyricless" when actually it has a different meaning.
But I digress.

Back to work Mr. Chismo.

1:10 PM - 0 Comments - 0

My summer's off to a good start. Well, I mean, it's June I know. I was expecting to be taking a class starting on Monday, but that didn't come through. The merry month of May was merry in the fact that I got to do lots of things with my family and Amanda.
Well, what have I been up to?
Julie, a friend of Amanda's from Mercy, and her fiance, Joe, came down from ole NYC to stay for a few days and we got to hang out and play our Wii together. We also went to see Pirates 3. Oddly enough, Amanda hadn't seen the first two films so I was updating her throughout the movie as to who were good and bad guys. She seemed to enjoy it despite her (in)experience with the previous chapters. Joe drove us back home and he let me borrow his iPod. I grabbed some stuff off there and was very pleased. At first I was listening to a few songs, then I changed my mind and started grabbing everything I could - I had to return it the following morning. I have a few tracks I really dig...especially this band called Anathallo. They are kinda mellow version of Broken Social Scene with horns and stuff like that. They have these parts where a gang of peeps start singing together. I'd call it a chorus, but it's more like a choir with shouts. They also have a righteous percussion section too.
And another band called Bernard. Bernard is neo-Coldplay/Keane except spiritually inclined. I couldn't sit and listen to Keane all day, but Bernard is another story. I guess you could say they are Keane, except they're good. Sheesh I sound mean.

Feel sorry for me won't you?
I have no AC in my truck. Yeah, it feels like the AC monster has taken away my chilly breezes which rise from my beautiful truck just like all my other vehicles. This will be summer #3 of no AC, if we don't get to fix it. But I think we're heading in the direction of replacing it.

Feel sorry for Amanda won't you?
She was in a car wreck on Thursday afternoon. She is okay thank goodness. A truck rear-ended her and aused her to hit the car in fronf ot her. Her Neon may be totalled. She has a rental for the time being. She has been sleeping long an often. She's feeling better.

I think I may take a nap now.

Busyness, or Business

Business has gotten the best of me. Not my business, as in a store or a resteraunt - just me being busy, busyness (sp?).

Oh well. So it goes I guess. So now I'm married and happy. I have never been so content with another person. I have never felt so full of life. I have a new desire for the small things in life like taking walks, sitting under a tree, reading a book with a purpose, friends I never see, wanting to buy a bike to traverse the urban countryside that is Nashville.

School is going well. As it stands right now I will be graduating in May of 2008. I am currently doing very well in my classes. Summer classes, my new poison, are lining up (I'm taking 3 this summer again - much the same as last summer).

I am a substitute for Metro Nashville Public Schools and am loving it. Each new day brings new challenges (some of which have been shared).

Not much else is going on. Amanda and I are always filling up our days with our family and friends. My music preference is changing. I am an old man.

Welcome back.

Let's Go Outside

I like rocks. I like trees too. Basically, I like manly things.
My fiancee has even found out lately I enjoy football, baseball, and other very sweaty sports. I guess it all busted out of my subconscious when I attended The 1st and Quite Possibly Annual Brothers Spivey Pigskin and Meatfest.

This was my first time to feel manly in a while. The entire premise of this day was to get all the men together and play flag football (another first for me) and then later on in the day eat meat and watch whatever football game happened to be on television.

This turned out to be a blast. How so? Well, despite only being thrown a pass (make that an incomplete pass) I awakened a part of myself that had for far too long laid dormant.

I am man. I like football too. I may have good tastes in household decor, an uncanny sense of pitch, and a killer music collection...But that doesn't mean I don't like to watch the World Series. Or for that matter, watch Peyton Manning do an excellent job every weekend.

My Car, It's A Not-So-Beautiful Thing

If there is one thing that irritates me more than anything - it's my car. I love you DateMobile, really I do. But there's just something about you that drives me crazy...

Maybe it's the lack of Air Conditioning or Heat. Maybe it's the incessant grinding noise you make when I want you to go in reverse. Could it possibly be the lack of shocks and thereof for the past year and a half I've been driving you. What about the tires that are almost balled in the rear? Maybe it's the cracks in the front windshield. Or perhaps the mileage..

Oh the mileage. There's something very humbling about a car that lasts for sixteen years on the road and has put over 307,800 miles under its "belt" (that was a pun about the different belts under the hood just in case you missed it).

Despite all these things, I still love you and cherish you DateMobile. Man you are so hot. You know how to turn the ladies on, or at least one lady I know. She's told me flat out that she'd much rather take you, DateMobile, to a fancy resteraunt on any given basis.

Well, your days may be coming to an end. That's all I can say right now. I just need some time apart. I just need some time for me, ya know. It's not you, it's me...that kind of deal.

I mean what more could I ask for?
My first car was a 1989 Pontiac GrandAm. Sweet stuff. I bought it my junior year of High School for $1000 bucks.
I burned up the motor when antifreeze got mixed in with the engine oil. Don't ask me how.
Then it was another gift to receive a 1994 Saturn 2 door coupe from Amanda's mom for free by golly! I loved this car except for the constant oil-burning engine that had to be refurbished after every 300 miles or so with fresh oil. But man it had leather seats and tinted windows. It was the deal!

Now it's you Mr. Corolla. A 5 speed stick I learned to drive in an hour to get to work at Sam's Club in Murfreesboro. At first we had good times, then summer rolled around and...well, I guess I wore out the AC(blower motor) cus I was oh so hot in my DateMobile so you decided to slowly begin your descent into the heaping mass of metal and plastic pushpinned-ceiling you are today.

I see you there...lonely in the parking lot, begging for the clutch to be repaired.
But no. I won't succumb to that. I checked your Kelley Blue Book value and I found out the truth. You're not worth anything more than $400 bucks!! There's no way on earth I'm gonna replace the clutch, especially when I get it priced from an honest mechanic for $800. You gotta be kidding me!

I've gotten two free cars in the past 5 years - talk about a deal!
However, you let yourself slip Corolla. How could you do this to yourself?
I've held back on this intervention for far too long now.

This might be the end.
Just give me some space for now...

Six Feet Gone

Nathan was always meant for Brenda.
Community is something we as humans require. However, it is a hard for me to want community. I feel this way because sometimes I find myself seeking solace in a cup of coffee or a quiet hole in the library. I would much rather not bother myself, or others for that matter, with mere talking. Sometimes I feel like I need no other humans to keep me sane. Better yet, I would prefer it if no one bothered me with petty drama (which thankfully does not exist much in my life), boring conversations which lead nowhere, or a person's constant need for fulfillment through mere presence.

Community is complicated. Community means people. And by association-people are complicated. This fact is obvious. This is what makes 'community' hard for me to grasp.

However, like I said before community is vital. I need the relationships I have in my life to keep me sane. As hard as I want to fight it, I can't get away from these people in my life. Maybe I'm done adding friends in my life. Maybe this is a reaction to the fact that I don't get to see all the friends I have very often.
This is my observation nonetheless.

I would like to think I do not need anyone else. Or think that I am self-sufficent. But this is not the case. God built us to require others. He built us to need Him. He instilled a need for community in us because He knew we would be lonely otherwise. He created Eve because Adam was lonely.
This is something I can live with. For the time being, I don't mind community at all.

Digging Deeper Into The K-onspiracy

The power punk-pop-prowess (try saying that three times fast) of fabled band Relient K is coming to a head, so to speak.
I was very excited to hear about a new project by these fellows to be released in November by a teeny-tiny one-line ad on the back cover of the second latest issue of RELEVANT Magazine.
It simply stated:

NEW RELIENT K IN NOVEMBER

Now I admit Relient K has achieved a much higher status than I once would have believed they could. This fact alone however will not deter my joy of listening to them any time soon. Granted, Amanda knows every word to, I assume, every song. This is a talent I have yet to acquire. I can sing you all the separate parts (in their proper key, mind you) but lyrics never have really been my thing. Now I am moved by lyrical expression, but the memorization thereof is quite impossible for me. I begin to make up lyrics, hum, sing the guitar solo to make up for my inadequacy.

I was researching the Relient K website last night to see they are pushing back the release til February. This is sad. I will say that have yet to see any press for this release which scared me. Relient K are on Capitol Records, a big budget record company - no press made no sense.

But I digress.
It will be titled Five Score and Seven Years Ago.
I am excited about this record. I was hoping to take it for the plane flight/car ride on the honeymoon, but this will not come to pass.
Until then I will have to settle with the new Copeland releasing on Oct. 31 Eat, Sleep Repeat.
Have a pleasant afternoon.


http://relientk.com/blog.aspx
http://zilchonline.com/journal.htm

Play Me a Song Mr. Ben Folds Man

In the process of completing my laundry I have stumbled across some information. From what I hear, Ben Folds is throwing an in-studio concert on the 24th of October. This, as exciting as it is, will be something I'll have to miss. I love Mr. Folds. Witty, prolific, and Nashvillian. The performance is for the release of his new LP which combines all his internet EPs and some b-sides. This sounds like it'll be good. They say some parts have been re-recorded and everything has been remastered. Sign me up.
Despite my future plans for today, which consist of mainly working, I have unearthed my Ben Folds collection and am listening to him right now.

Now don't get me wrong, I think Ben Folds Five was a great enesmble - a supergroup if you will. Everything seemed to melt together to create this pop masterpiece that has yet to be replicated. However, I think Ben Folds' solo work far supercedes his previous work. Maybe it's the Nashville air (as congested it may be) that has changed his production or maybe it's just him getting older.
I do know I enjoy Ben Folds.

There are a few guilty pleasures I enjoy in this life, Ben Folds is not one of them. He should be enjoyed by many more then presently do.

Introductions Are Always My Downfall

Hello all.
In a vague attempt to chronicle all the goings on around these here parts I want to introduce you to this blog.
Say hello.


Now wasn't that nice?

I hope to analyze the world around me with a positive spin.
Included in posts to come:
- Possibly some social commentary
- Things I am excited about
- My meandering humor
- And the continuation of my blogs hence forth.

It seems that I grow tired of different journals/blogs.
At first I started off at DeadJournal (this was back in the dark ages (2002, 2003)- you totally had to have a friend give you a passcode to be considered part of this "elite"). Next was my movement to LiveJournal - it seemed happier. This made sense because I was happier (2003, 2004). After that, I heard about Xanga. Man, this seemed cool...not so much (2005). Then after a purposeful delay, I bridged the gap to that there MySpace.
Needless to say I 'use' my blogs.
To be honest, I despised "blogging" back at its advent.

Therefore, I welcome you to my blog.
WILLCHISMO's blog.

It's WILL-CHEESE-MO if you were wondering.