TJ in 20 years

NO- its not me- its Rick Rockwell, 4th rate celebrity from 1999's "Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire?", but, as I was horrified to find out, we look a lot like each other. Brandon sent out an email our freshman year- alerting every friend I had of the coincidence. Yeah- I know- its funny, but kind of creepy, too. Not sure why I was thinking about it this weekend- but, here we are. It really does look freakily like me.

If you see me singing in the car...

Ok- After being tapped by BSC, here is the list of what I have in my car at the moment.

Toad the Wet Sprocket- Dulcinea


Great album from a consistently good group that is no more. Glen Phillips went out on his own and i dont like it as much.

Ray Lamontagne- Trouble


I talked about him a few days ago, but he is soo good. When I first heard him, i was driving through Minneapolis, and really thought they were playing some forgotten Bside from 1973. "Jolene" is the best cut, i believe.

Rich Mullins- A liturgy, a Legacy, and a Ragamuffin Band


This guy continues to redefine they way I think abou God- he is so strong, lyrically and he really goes for interesting instrumentation in his songs- mountain hammered dulcimer? The world lost a lot when he died in 1997. His life is even more compelling than his music- he was one of the biggest stars in Christian music and lived on a reservation teaching kids music. Wow

Josh Rouse- 1972


Not a great album, singer, songwriter, or musicican, but it is easy to listen to. Much better is "Nashville"- (2004)

Derek Webb- I see things upside down


Again, great lyrics that make you think hard about the Christian life. This album is really concerned with what it means to be in a Christian culture that worships its own righteousness rather than showing the brokenness that God wants from us.

Ray- The Soundtrack


Im not going to tell you I was the biggest Ray fan since forever and everyone else is a posuer, but i have loved Ray Charles for a long time. What I did not know until the movie came out, was how important he was to music and culture in America and that he did not ever record a song that I dont like. Now that is amazing.

I now tap Gsub and the Juice to tell us what is in their ipods at the moment. Thats about it- more to come- until next time, Buenos Noches, America!

drinks blood, yet still polite

Holly and I have a guest. To be specific, we are subletting our front porch to a large garden spider. Usually, this would send me into spasms of fear and horror... and it did, at first.

You see, I am unaccountably terrified of spiders. I have no idea why. There is no traumatic incident in my past involving arachnids, and I am not, generally, squeamish about any sort of creepy- crawly. There is just something about spiders. They are so, so fast. They have eight legs. They wrap other things up in webs and drink thier blood. They have tons of little eyes to watch my every move.


However, this spider is different. Every night, he sets up his web, stringing it across our front eaves, directly in front of our porch light. This in itself is amazing to me. He knows that the bugs like the light, so he builds a web in front of our light source, which is only sometimes on. Who knew the little buggers were that smart? Also- every morning, I come out of the front door expecting a face full of web, and find that he has taken his little shop of death down. Sets it up at night, takes it down for the day. Amazing! He is, literally, the most polite spider I have ever known. Charlotte would love this guy.

I have claimed him as our very own spider. His name is "Ocho, the polite arachnid", but just Ocho, for short. He will not change my mind about his cousins, but I can handle a spider that is considerate.

P.S- In researching Ocho, I have found that he is actually a "she", and that right now, she is looking for a mate. There is a 50/50 chance that she will eat her husband immediately after sex. 'Atta girl, Ocho!

Ray LaMontZane

For an early birthday present, my beautiful and thoughtful wife, Holly, presented me with tickets to see our new favorite artist, Ray LaMontagne. He was grrrreat!


This guy is such a poet- listening to his album for the first time, I nearly cried after hearing " Jolene". Still get a lump in my throat when I hear it. Not only does he have the smooth, smoky voice of a white Al Green or a young Van Morrison, but he is utterly, and completely down to earth. Looked as though he would rather be anywhere else than on stage, in front of 1200 people. Amazing to see someone so talented, yet so uncomfortable with his gift and the audience's appreciation of it. Endearing, to say the least.

While getting into line, we also bumped into one of our other favorite artists/friends, Zane Williams.


He fell back in line with us and we talked all night. He, on the other hand, is an amazing performer, and has a heart of gold as well.

Good concert, good company, good wife. All combine for a great evening, even though I am an old man who had to leave a little early to wake up for work.

So Friday morning wasnt the most relaxing.

I walk out- find my tire is flat. Ugh. No big deal, but ugh. Ok- lets change a tire. Ive done it a few times in my life- shouldnt be a problem. BUT- i dont have a jack for my car- only Holly's car, the Jetta. I take out her jack, crank the car up a bit, then realize that I dont have a tire- iron that fits my car. Hmm. OK- AutoZone is down the street. I drive over, grab a tire iron and a jack (since I dont have one), and head back to the house. Put the car down, loosen the lugnuts, crank up the car again, take the tire off.... then.... well... Im quite embarrassed about this one- dont tell my father in law... the car, which was too heavy for the Jetta jack in the first place, starts to lean out and fall over. I scramble out of the way and watch the car fall onto the brake cylinder.

At this point Holly comes out, and politely asks if she needs to call AAA. Are you kidding me? I got me into this mess- im gonna get me out. I take the new jack, realize that it is too short for my car, go get some bricsk to set it on, crank up the car again, realize that the jack is still set too far back on the frame and is starting to lean..... take it down, put the Jetta jack back on (just for a second), crank back up the new jack closer to the wheel well, check the brake cylinder (as if I could tell if there was something wrong...) and put the tire on. This only took two hours. I only cried once, out of frustration and self loathing.

I think Dale Jr needs a new pit crew member. Maybe Ill apply.

I then go to work, late, and jump on a mower. I take one swipe across the lawn and run over a nest of ground bees. I have never ran so fast or been so angry at the air around me in my life. I left the mower running,blades spinning and headed for a ditch, as I ran like a girl, kicking and screaming and cursing and swatting. I was stung fifteen times, all on my legs- because I was late for work, I wore the only thing clean... shorts.

As I am recovering my senses, scenes from "My Girl" start to run through my head. I dont even know if Im allergic to bees- im allergic to everything, surely bees are included.... but to my relief, minutes passed and I didnt stop breathing or go into anaphylactic shock, so I guessed I was fine, other than the overwhelming desire to cut my legs off.

This is what it is like to be TJ for a morning. Amazing I got to 24, huh?

new song lyrics

Not much is new- but this song is kind of new- no mp3file yet, just words for now.

We Are Fallen, (mccloud)

Who are we to come to you
When we’ve taken our inheritance
When everything we’ve had- we lose
You give yourself as recompense

For every time we bow to you
There are more times we bow to ourselves
And when our desires come crashing through
You stoop to fill these empty shells

And does this love---- have no end
Can it put our hearts back together again?

Cause we are fallen,
We are broken
We have thrown your love away
But Merciful Father
May our hearts open
And be made anew in your grace

I have never seen a love like this
You are faithful to the end
And when Im tempted by this world’s dark kiss
You have carried me again and again and again

Cause we are fallen,
We are broken
We have thrown your love away
But Merciful Father
May our hearts open
And be made anew in your grace