It's beginning to sound a lot like Christmas

I'm still blogging my trip over at an audience of me and posting photos on flickr.

If you've got a hankering for some Christmas tunes, check out this little project my son's friends put together for the holidays. It'll make you smile! Bunch of talented kids, they are. I can't swear to it, but I'd imagine all the instrumentation is original, nothing canned. A little traditional stuff, a little funky stuff (I Saw Three Ships like you've never heard it, maybe!). Ryan's friend Kristin does an absolutely gorgeous O Come, O Come Emmanuel, too.

Ryan sings number 4 -- You Gotta Get Up, a cover of a Rich Mullins song, also recorded by the immortal Five Iron Frenzy. (Well, I guess logically Rich Mullins is the immortal one now, may he rest in peace!) We used to pull out the Mullins recording to wake the kids up on Christmas morning. (YES ... we had to wake the kids up. We are a bunch of undying night owls in this family, even as little children.) I can almost picture Ryan's three or four-year-old wonder at Christmastime when I listen to him sing here.

I'm back from my trip to the UK and I'm blogging it over at my other blog.

Hope you'll take a peek now and then. It'll take me a while to get all my thoughts down since I spent all my time there walking, looking, shooting photos, and not writing a bit!

Redirect

If you're yearning for an update, check out the latest over at my other blog, where I share about our star sighting on the way OUT of Los Angeles.

Just saying

I'm still alive, I'm just in ...

Where my brother just escaped ...

Just kidding. He's really a pretty normal guy.

Spending time with him and a few more of my favorite guys ...

And one of my favorite girls ...

Not to mention the scenery.

See you when I get back.

A travelogue in several parts

We took a little family trip down to the Hill Country over Memorial Day weekend, mainly to see Ryan play in the Kerrville Folk Festival, but also just to hang out together and make each other crazy for three days, because that's how we roll.

There was much eating, fighting amongst ourselves, sweat, and also many laughs. I had my trusty camera, so I thought I'd share a trip report over the next several days, or however long it takes me to get the pictures posted, depending on Blogger's mood. (She was not pms'ing tonight, and I uploaded 10 shots!!! Wowsers. That's a record.)

So, day one was a fun look at the "real" Texas. We live in fake Texas. In DFW, we are a pretty accurate microcosm of the rest of the world. Other parts, well, they're more Texas, if you know what I mean. If not, well, you've come to the right place.

The blue highways are long and winding, but there are lots of pretty wildflowers to entertain. And fence posts, and poles. (Click on pics to see full-size)

You might have heard we don't have hills in Texas. That is unequivocally untrue. See? Here's one:

And here's the backside:

I guess the Christians weren't too crazy about Cheap Charlies. He must have been a little too bizarre. (You have to click.)

In Texas, we even have outlet malls for RVs.

Nothing like downtown, Main Street Texas. Every business serves two purposes, at a minimum. The restaurant has its own ATM--they probably don't take credit cards.

All are welcome at the Koffee Kup. Bring your Harley, definitely.

Ribeye cookoff? I'm there. Oh, darn, it was LAST weekend. That's an awfully big sign to forget to take down, guys.

Little house on the prairie

We do deer meat? I'm not even going to ask.

Tomorrow, the great festival.

Embracing the present

And we've come a long way. One of my favorite singer/songwriters now is Jake Armerding.

And he has a fun show on Acoustic Long Island that was podcast(ed?) here. (I think you can even watch a bit of video, too.)

I tend to plan travels around concert dates for the (relatively) obscure musicians I listen to. Sad, but true. Todd and I saw Jake at the Somerville Theatre near Harvard when we went to Boston a few years back. Together with two other folky/bluegrassy combos who were wonderful, but whose names are failing me at the moment.

This was the trip where we drove down to Newport, RI, for a few days, then back for the concert and our flight out the next morning. Seemed easy enough when we bought all the tickets.

We learned our lesson about driving in Boston that night. Don't. Do. It. Ever. Driving into or out of Boston is ok, but don't bother to drive in town, and heaven forbid, NEVER TRY TO PARK.

We finally found a parking space when the concert was half over. After driving past a million and one "parking for residents only" signs, we ended up sitting in the tiny public parking lot waiting for somebody to leave. But, we walked in just in time for Jake to perform, and the other two groups each did a few more songs, so it was still a great experience.

I had never seen him live, and it was worth the headache ... and the drive back to the hotel. It was about six miles, and took us about two hours. I can't even remember why now. But it had something to do with those reasons you shouldn't. ever. bother. to drive in Boston.

We checked into our hotel at about 1:30 a.m., slept for about 2 hours, then got up to catch our 6 a.m. flight make it home in time for Kristen's one and only ever cheerleading competition. Eesh!

Overheard in DC

(Well, Bethesda, if you wanna get technical.)

While exiting Ruby Tuesday restaurant at about 9:30 p.m. Two employees sitting on bench taking a break.

Female RT employee: What happened?
Male RT employee: I don't know what happened. All I know is I woke up and he was lying on the counter. Dead. With his eyes wide open.

What the???