Don't Give Up On Me Yet

During my posting absence, several events and ideas popped up that are deserving of a post or two. I don't have the time to catch them all right now, but here's a brief rundown. I'll soon have plenty of free time on my hands to possibly flesh these out. And yes, I'm copying a page from Josh's book, 'cause he's a busy guy, too. He calls them blogules, which seems as good a name as any:

• First, Gerritt and I saw Chris Thile & Mike Marshall in concert this past Friday. Gerritt wrote a Mando-tastic review of the show, with which I completely agree. He found out some interesting things about the "mando" instrument family and cellos. I specifically never knew the mando-cello existed before Friday night, but I instantly knew that I wanted one.

  As for the show itself, I hadn't heard their mandolin-duet album before, but when these two musicians took the stage, I was impressed, floored, and amazed all at once. They played everything from Bach to Monroe to Bulgarian fiddle tunes in 25/16 time. And of course, they're both among the top players of their instrument. Regardless, fans of instrumental music of all kinds should pick up their CD or check these guys out while they're on tour. Chris is in Nickel Creek, another outstanding group, and Marshall has been a session mandolinist for years.

• Second, the Wesley gift exchange was on Sunday, and I didn't end up with some kind of food this time. I love food, but that's exactly what I've been left with for the first three years (as far as I can remember), so the acquisition of my Nerf basketball hoop (complete with its BIG BAD BACKBOARD) was a personal victory. This is one of Wesley's best programs. It's also when we give our gift to Glenn, the campus minister and his wife, LaVina. This year's surprise was our own hand-crafted edition of Clue. The suspects were comprised of, among others, the last four Presidents of Wesley. Just call me Colonel Salmons from now on.

  Gerritt also wrote about the exchange and the hilarity that ensued.

• Third, I'm definitely a last-minute Christmas shopper. I'm about to go pro at it if all goes well. Monday, I finally got Gina's present after weeks of deliberating what to get her. I had it narrowed down to one of a few choices, but I ultimately settled on a second betta to go along with the one she recently bought. In a two-hour span, I fought off crowds at Wal-Mart, the NRV Mall (which has the butt-ugliest color scheme on its homepage), Wal-Mart again (when I forgot to get wrapping paper), and finally the pet store. I named the new guy Firecracker, but I was afraid he was going to fizzle out in the bag when I first accidentally punched a hole in it, spilling out some of the water on my futon, and later when Gina and her mom kept delaying the opening of the Christmas presents. I'm proud to report that it all worked out fine, however, and both he and Sapphire (the first fish) are alive and well. Waiting until the last minute is the best.
• Fourth, I realized lately that I don't post often on real, engaging current events. I'm not political enough to compete with the big dogs, nor do I feel the urge to make this forum that political. My views on most current events are pretty moderate. I always tend to put a positive spin on everything, whether that's good or bad. I guess I'm trying to make up for the fact that I feel like other sites are way better or way more important than mine, which could be true or could be bull. I suppose if people are getting enjoyment out of reading about my life, then that's all I should really worry about for the time being. I have enough on my plate to keep me writing about semi-interesting things, after all!
• Fifth, I do want to comment that getting Saddam will hopefully be a great morale booster for our troops over in Iraq, because I think we've still got a long way to go before the situation there is under wraps.

Well, dang if that didn't turn out to be pretty in-depth after all. Be watching out for a possible mild facelift to the site over break, as well as further picture gallery updates. I am committed to bringing the best possible Project BS to you, my faithful readers.