Could it be? Really? A post?

Yes, it could be. In fact, it is! Everyone and their mom is blogging more than I am. I feel like a dunce. So many times I have thought about fun stuff to post but, honestly, Facebook is way easier. And less meaningful, I recognize that.

So, how have you been? I'm relatively not unwell, thank you for mentally asking. We had a good day so far (hopefully there will be no problems in the next four hours before bed). Chatted with Douglas Nagy this morning, enjoyed the sermon at church, went out for lunch with Matt & Jess (whom we have missed greatly over the summer), checked out some junk at the mall, Melanie mauled a kitten in the pet store, watched half of 'Solaris' but turned it off because Melanie lost interest (it was quite slow moving) and then picked up some groceries for a dinner we're hosting tomorrow. We're also having Todd and Bridget over on Friday for dinner. It's been way too long since we have seen them. And, honestly, I don't know if I've been able to hang out with Todd in a quiet, non-communal setting more than a couple times for as long as I have known him. Shame on me. I'm really looking forward to it.

The only bummer for today so far is that I tried to order some shirts and music from P Is For Panda and the blasted site told me it wouldn't ship to me. I've e-mailed them to see if we can't work something out. Lucky for me, I got to chat briefly with Craig Douglas, who was watching 'Oldboy' at the time. That movie (save the one very uncomfortable scene - do you know which I'm referring to now, Craig?) is awesome.

We've done a lot of travelling this summer. In May, we visited Bill & Ronee Lynn in Nashville for a week. We saw the sights of downtown, visited the Frist and the Loveless Cafe, ate plenty of BBQ, took a road trip to Atlanta to hook up with the wonderful and generous Chad & Candy, toured The King Centre (and saw Ebenezer Baptist Church - at least from the outside), CNN and the World Of Coke. The latter two were fun and full of propaganda!

The World Of Coke was fun because it had all-you-can-drink Cherry Coke. Mmmm, Cherry Coke. Here's Bill doing a suicide (that's what the Americans call 'swamp water')...

Then, in July, we travelled to Portland to see Whitney and Matt tie the knot, which was excellent. Both of them are fabulous. We visited Imago Dei, I lost my debit card, got to spend time with the marvelous Jenn Moreton, Lindsay Kunkel, Natalie & Mark (I still don't know their last name), saw the Masters clan and ate twice at Helser's. While in the state of Oregon, we travelled to the coastal town of Astoria, best known for its role in 'The Goonies'. We tried to see as many of the places they filmed as possible. We saw the house, the museum, the county jail and Cannon Beach. Awesome trip.



Melanie went to see Catherine and Mark get hitched (congratulations!) in B.C. a week after we came home from Portland. She had a lot of fun while I starved at home and cried a lot from loneliness.

In August, I travelled with Taxman and Chad to Purple Door Festival in Lewisberry, PA. They went to see a lot of bands that I did not. Hahaha. I went to see two people - Denison Witmer and Derek Webb. Along the way, I got to meet Conrad & Julia, Scott Hatch and Greg from Foxhole. Taxman and Chad were gracious to put up with my "boring" music and they shared a bed for old times' sake. Chad also enjoyed the all-you-can-eat waffles. Well, until he ate all the waffles he could then it wasn't such a great deal. Though he didn't have to use the porta-potty at all, so that's a small victory! It was great to catch up briefly with Denison, hear his new songs, meet Scott for the first time, meet Derek Webb and learn that he is friends with Mindy Smith but has never heard her music and see that Christian kids are still trying hard to fit in with their heathen peers (even if they're going about it in many of the wrong ways). Doug Van Pelt made a great comment when he introduced The Showdown, as the kids booed him for giving the band's latest album four out of five in his review. He said that, if the kids still liked it in five years, he'd reconsider. Hahaha.

I've posted all the songs from Denison's set on YouTube. Here's the first song for your listening pleasure. The new album, Carry The Weight, comes out on November 11, 2008. The first single, Beautiful Boys And Girls, is on his MySpace page and it's dreamy. You can also hear a new cover tune he posted of a Bonnie Raitt song.

I suppose I should spend some time with Melanie now, as I've been posting here for about an hour. I'll talk more about our time at the cottage and other junk that pops into my mind next time. I promise, it won't take ten months. Maybe eight. No more than nine.

Until then, enjoy Blondel's new site. Listen to my hilarious, rambling messages on his voicemail.