Stories from an unmarried guy navigating through dates, owning a couple of dogs, being a brother, son, and friend, and looking for adventures along the way.
I like to find out little tidbits of info about music videos that come out, and more specifically the (possibly-) lesser-known stars of music videos. Here are a few I’ve researched in the past:
Well, I forged ahead to tackle the lead actress in Brett Eldredge’s music video “Somethin’ I’m Good At”…
…but sometimes it’s hard, y’all! In all my efforts to find more about her so you, as a fan, can share in the knowledge, I’ve come up empty. Sometimes that’s the way it goes.
I’ll keep searching but all I have so far is that the video was shot on January 31 and released on Feb 27, all in 2017, and it was directed by Ethan Lader. A couple of street addresses seen in the video are 19816 and 19825.
I searched Instagram and Twitter, no luck. I’ve Googled with no luck. If you have any info, please do share in the comments below! 🙂
I don’t consider myself a morning person. Sure, when I was young I loved waking up on Saturday morning to watch A Pup Named Scooby Doo, Muppet Babies, Tiny Toon Adventures, Bugs Bunny, Alvin and the Chipmunks, all the amazing shows back then.
After these messages, we’ll be riiiiiiiiight back!
But because I’m a man now, I put that childish behavior behind me. It has completely nothing to do with those shows not being on anymore. Not that I check the TVGuide every Friday night or anything. So Saturdays I am free to sleep in.
My dogs love to sleep in, too. I think they’d sleep till noon if I wasn’t so noisy in the morning. But don’t take their side just yet. Sure, they might sound like good little companions, but no, no, no, not so fast mi compadre!
You know how they say nothing good happens after midnight? Well, it’s true. Especially around 4am when my dogs wake me up because they’re hungry for breakfast. What do they think this is, Waffle House??
This behavior is not something I agree with. In fact, I disavow it on many sides. But they have the power, call them tri-color supremacists, because beagles, if nothing else, are stubborn and persistent. They don’t let the white man sleep.
Wake me up, before you go, go.
It starts as a whimper as if to say, “HE FORGOT THE LAST TIME WE ATE WAS ALL THE WAY BACK YESTERDAY!!!!!!!!” So the whimpering will continue till I adhere to their evil plan.
Piper is almost 8 years old so we’ve been getting up in the wee hours of the night for many moons. That’s only half the problem, though. I also let them outside when we wake up, and this is where I’ve been outsmarting them for about a year. The usual routine was to wake up, feed them, then let them outside. They’d get to carrying on and quite selfishly stay outside till they felt like coming in. Sometimes it can be 2 minutes (if, Lord-willing, it’s raining), or 20 to 30 minutes if they want to punish me. So I’d lay down on the couch and wait.
But I hear sounds in my mind, brand new sounds in my mind.
Sounds of trumpets and confetti because I started thinkin’, and now I trick my dogs into doing this whole morning routine the way I want. Hey, it’s 2017 and “dog owner lives matter,” too!
Well, they still get what they want because we still wake up around 4am for breakfast. But after waking up, they go outside then it’s time to eat. Beagles are so food-driven that once I let them outside and they do their business, they greyhound it back to the door to be let inside. This nearly eliminates all they time they spend outside smelling the grass, or wandering around, or pooping.
And this is how I trick my dogs. Until they read this and start waking up at 3am just to keep the white man on his toes.
In the wake of the horrible event that took place in Virginia last weekend, I was reminded of a couple of things. #1 Sometimes people can be atrocious maggots, and I’m speaking of the one guy who drove his car into the crowd. And #2 How much I love the police department here in Nashville. In my experience, they’ve been nothing but top-notch, literally the guardians of the city.
One story I can share happened a few months back on a Thursday I went downtown to watch the Predators play in the Stanley Cup finals. I’ll admit I was a bit nervous because the crowds there were so big. Someone might have seen it as a perfect opportunity to inflict harm on people. But I decided to go anyway, so I met up with a friend a couple miles from downtown. We walked from Centennial Park all the way down Broadway to set up our camping chairs at one of three giant screens they erected for fans to watch. As we neared the organized chaos of that night (CMA Fest was also happening at the same time) and saw thousands of people scattered throughout the downtown streets, we also noticed something else.
This…
Images courtesy of my friend Greg
Images courtesy of my friend Greg
Images courtesy of my friend Greg
Those are a dump trucks. Those are giant dump trucks lined up back to back. This was at the intersection of Broadway and maybe 10th or 11th Avenue. From there down the rest of Broadway was all blocked from vehicle traffic and these giant blockades would prevent any sort of “terrorist” from driving anything smaller than a tank into the crowds that night, and the entire weekend. It made me so proud. SO PROUD. Our police department, and city officials, plus CMA and Predators folks as well, were thinking ahead and planning in ways I never thought of to protect me and everyone else who just wanted to have a fun, safe night.
Awesome, awesome, awesome.
I know this is just one example and I’m sure there are plenty of other stories about the police here. We’ll never know what possible barbaric acts were prevented the nights Nashville hosted the Stanley Cup finals and the CMA fest on the very same nights. But my memory from those nights will be how Metro Police officers were our guardians.
A few months ago the buzz around town was the Predators playing the Stanley Cup. Now what’s cooler than ice is actually hotter than hot, literally. The sun! On August 21st the sun will be blocked by the moon for a period of time in what’s called a total solar eclipse. How this natural occurrence can be predicted is beyond me but I do think it’ll actually happen.
Solar sunglasses are pretty much sold out all across town. I, personally, have been to Kroger, Lowe’s, Wal-Mart, and the public library, all without success. I’ve heard there are still glasses available at the city’s science center so if I can score a pair from there, I’ll add a pic at the bottom of this post.
The news has been covering the upcoming event in most, if not all, broadcasts, adding specials here and there throughout the weeks leading up to the event. Now I’m sure we can all agree that starting on the evening of August 21st images will be flooding the internet. I’m sure there will be video clips, too. My goal on that day is to record something, or take pictures of something less obvious. Maybe time-lapse of the crowds watching from a park? Or a time-lapse the Nashville skyline? I haven’t fully committed to one idea yet, but I’m hoping to get something good on that day, and also get a look at the eclipse myself, that is, if I can get my hands on the hot commodity called solar eclipse sunglasses!
UPDATE: I got a pair of sunglasses from the Adventure Science Center, thanks to a dog-sitting client!
This is… American Idol.
I was working at a camp with no TV, no news, basically cut off from the outside world. So when I returned to civilization, I didn’t know how big American Idol was that first season. As you know, it went on to be an extremely successful reality/singing show.
Little rascals with big voices.
It was somewhere around 2001 and I had a friend I worked with that loved country music. Well, I didn’t really know that till she said one day that she loved a band called “Rascal Flatts.” I had no idea who they were. I still vividly remember wondering who this band was. Fast forward and well, they’re one of the biggest country bands ever. I was definitely late to the party on that one! But they’re such nice guys and hey, one of their wives was even kind enough to promote my book (scroll down to ‘reviews’ on this link), so how could I not be a big fan!
Can you hear me now?
I remember when I first heard of Verizon. I was determined to pronounce it “Vare ih ZON” because I was annoyed at how close Verizon was to “horizon.” I didn’t know their company name was a combination of veritas and horizon. My commitment didn’t last long since everyone else was saying it the way it was supposed to be said. Anywho, they’ve been my carrier since the mid-2000s and I don’t think I’ve ever regretted it!
Great, I’ll see you at 4am.
The term “Free-lance work” was about as foreign to me as Zimbabwe before I moved to Nashville. I mean, I’d heard of it but didn’t really know much about it, except that as a newbie in video/TV production, it was intimidating. But after working here for a few years, the term became as common to my life as breathing.
What? Our whole history is in this house. You can’t just sell it out from under us and act like it’s not a big decision. -Crosby I thought, what’s the big deal, ya know? It’s a TV show. It’s about a family. OK, that’s been done before. But whoa, was I wrong. One of the best, if not the best show I’ve ever seen. From the topics, to the humor, the soundtrack, it’s so good. Now when I hear someone mention the show, I don’t snort a snarky reply. My eyes widen and I smile!
You spin me right round, baby, right round.
A couple of neighborhood kids came over to the fence to pet Piper and Asia. One of them had this little trinket. I asked and he said it was a “fidget spinner.” I thought, “Hmm, that’s a clever little toy. I wonder if anyone else has seen these things.” I think you know the answer to that. I can’t remember the last time something blazed through the country like fidget spinners did. Maybe beenie babies?
Let’s go!
The latest addition to my list of things I’ve never heard of till they’re already everywhere is “Dude Perfect.” If you haven’t seen them yet, check out any of their crazy trick shot videos (like the one above featuring fidget spinners) or their stereotype videos and you’ll be hooked. They’re so good, some folks think it’s all set up.
What are a few things you hadn’t heard of till the explosion already happened?
My dad likes to fish. And by “like,” I mean if he could be on the water every day, I think he’d do it. Something about the call of the grouper, the invitation of the red snapper, not to mention the quietness of the wild blue yonder, beckons him. Sometimes I hear that call, too, but I’m pretty much ready to hang up after a couple of hours. And by “couple of hours,” I mean 1 hour. But when I’m out there, sometimes 15 or 20 miles out, there’s nothing like it.The water is a deep, sparkly, dark blue. The boat rocks back and forth, all the while rising and falling on swells unlike what you seen near a shore. There’s an exciting, and sometimes eerie, mystery to what’s below the 23-ft Boston Whaler because while the water is clear, what’s 90 feet down remains unknown.
So we tie off the anchor. We drop the lines. There’s a variety of bait samples used in hopes of hooking the big one. I might be on the bow of the boat. My dad at the stern. My brother starboard. My brother-in-law port side.
Because of my dad’s expertise, we are usually on top of rocky ground, which if you have fished before, you know the most elusive fish and the ones you want are tucked in the holes and crevices of the jagged edges there.
And the bite? When these fish bite, you know it! There is rarely ever a nibble that prepares you for what’s to come. These fish pack a wallop! It could be a 20-pound grouper, or a 2-pound rock bass, but the moment they bite you could swear you’ve hooked a whale. That’s part of the adventure. And boy, is it a thrill!
“There are plenty of fish in the ocean.”
Dating is lot like fishing. Emotions rising and falling like ocean swells. The mystery of who you’ll meet, when you’ll meet them, the chase. The ones that are worthwhile are usually harder to find, and don’t just go after the first bait that comes along. So you drop your line and hope to God to get a bite. All kinds of fish, all kinds of people that could potentially turn into your happily ever after.
But you may have to wait a while or reel a few in only to throw them back because they’re not right for you. You might need to pull up the anchor and find a new ledge. Then you drop your line in again… and wait.
Well, when I started dating the girl I’m writing this and the previous post about (and for what it’s worth, other posts like this and this), I thought I’d hooked the big one! At times it was a struggle. At times I wondered if it was worth the fight. But when it was good, it was really good. She was unlike any other I’d dated before and while it wasn’t always easy, it was worth it in the end. But then there was the end. The end of the dating relationship, the end of a friendship. I wasn’t prepared for losing my friend.
Since then, I’ve missed her. I’ve wondered where she was and what she was doing. I thought about the places we went, the conversations we had, the dreams we had for the future. Songs came on the car radio and I either had to change the channel or dive into the deep and mysterious feelings of loss and doubt. Which isn’t always smart when, ya know, you’re supposed to be paying attention to the road!
Time went by and I never told anyone about any of this. I was supposed to get over her. I was supposed to be over her. Whatever rule that said after a certain amount of time, a person needs to move on didn’t work for me. But it stayed hidden because I didn’t want to admit I still missed her. That is, until I was riding in a van to Missouri with my brother, to whom I confided in with these feelings that kept me unsettled all this time.
Talk about a boring conversation for my nieces, right?
Well, they were asleep through most of it, so they were spared the Hallmark-worthy retelling of my dating life.
Our conversation moved on to other stuff and we didn’t talk about her again till the trip back to Florida. This leg of the trip included one of my sisters. She and my brother challenged me to write my feelings down, try contacting her, and pursue what was clearly heavy on my heart. For the most part, I was on board, with the intention of being cautious as I didn’t know a whole lot about her current dating situation.
We arrived in Florida for a week with the rest of the family. I knew there wouldn’t be time to give appropriate attention to what I wanted to say in the letter because, well, the house was full of 8 wild kids, 8 adults, and 4 dogs. I’ll write when I get home, I told myself. So when I got back to Nashville, I dove in head first. I started with writing part 1 of this rekindling story.
“It’s time to fish or cut bait.”
I’ve totally dragged this out and by now you’re borderline postal wishing I’d get to the part where I reveal that I wrote the letter, she got it, and…
A. We chatted, she’s married with 9 kids, but has fond memories of days of yore.
or…
B. I showed up to her house with five thousand roses, she welcomed me with open arms and we’re now married with 15 kids.
Well, put away your Scantron® because this isn’t a test! I can say for certain neither A. or B. is the right answer, anyway. There’s always a secret third option– in this case, not writing the letter, which is the decision I settled on. Yep. The romantic gesture intended to express my feelings for a woman I haven’t spoken to in a long time is not happening. I considered writing the letter. I really did although I didn’t have a clue where to start. But after time, prayer, and a considerable amount of peace I have about it, I’m cutting bait.
I will always be thankful for the Missouri trip even though it’s hard for me to exactly define what changed for me. All I can say is that when I got it out, when I actually talked about it out loud with human beings, therapy was happening. And even though I didn’t write to her directly, I did write.
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
― Maya Angelou
Now I feel relief, a weight lifted off my shoulders, closure or a chapter ending, whatever you want to call it. My steps are lighter and my heart feels untethered. I haven’t felt this free in years and I gotta say, I’m thrilled at what the future holds as far as relationships go. It’s scary to admit that in any relationship I’ve been in since she and I broke up, she was always in the back of my mind. I’m grieved to think of wonderful women (except this one) I missed out on because I wasn’t fully present. But I think that’s a thing of the past now.
I feel a release I can’t explain well.
It’s peace about the decision to let go. Finally letting go for good. Forgetting the past and moving forward to the future God has for me. And I’ll say this, too… I believe in a God that is bigger than me. His ways are higher than mine and his thoughts higher, too. He’s the great conductor and if, in the masterpiece He’s creating, He chooses to have her and I cross paths and He knows we’re better together than we are apart, then so be it. Amen.
So that’s how it’s going to be for me now, in this moment, and tomorrow and the next day and the next day. Happy for what God’s brought me through, and with the rise and fall of the ocean swells, my line is in the water. The anchor is tied. The sun is shining.
Let’s play a little game called “Have you ever?” And here’s your host… me!
Have you ever:
A. Been really sleepy driving your car
B. Fallen asleep at the wheel
C. Had the car next to you wake you up
D. All of the above
If you answered A or B you are one of 25 people that have done the exact same thing in the last 30 days according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And no, driving drowsy is not a disease, I guess the CDC had budget money to spend or something?
If you answered D, then you would be… me! It happened a few years ago coming home from work. I was really tired the entire week and that day, I was stuck in stop-and-go traffic. I could feel myself drifting off and there for a second or two, my eyes were completely closed.
I woke up to a car of folks next to me yelling to get my attention. Wow. What just happened? I mean, I’ve been sleepy before but never this. So I pulled off the road into a Kroger parking lot.
I’m grateful that:
A. I wasn’t driving fast
B. I didn’t hurt anyone
C. I didn’t buy anything at Kroger and get a 1-mile long receipt
The water is a deep, sparkly, dark blue. The boat rocks back and forth, all the while rising and falling on swells unlike what you seen near a shore. There’s an exciting, and sometimes eerie, mystery to what’s below the 23-ft Boston Whaler because while the water is clear, what’s 90 feet down remains unknown.
