A day in the life

Things that happened today:

1. They announced the Grammy nominees... and we got a nomination for Song of the Year! We also got noms for country song of the year, female country vocal performance, and male country vocal performance. A great way to start the day.

2. Over lunch I went to a store I saw the other day called Lee's Hair and Dollar. "What could they sell at a place called Lee's Hair and Dollar?" you may ask. Well, turns out they sell hair, hair accessories, and cheap crap. What did I expect? It's right up there with the sketchiest places I've ever been, but it was absolutely worth it.

3. Jessica Simpson is working on a country album; hence, she needs country songs. The publishing side got a writing session lined up with her and my boss for next Friday at our office! Just as I was getting excited about this, I realized I will be in Arizona. Not that being in AZ will be unfortunate, just makes for some unfortunate timing.

4. NEVER JOIN STAMPS.COM! Complete and utter ripoff. I joined to print off postage for a package at the end of October, and realized this week that they charge 15.99/month to be a member. AND, when I went to cancel, they charged me for the next billing period even though I'm only 3 days into it. AND they don't prorate the fee. About the lamest thing I've ever experienced.

5. By the way, we now do admin for Billy Ray Cyrus. Yes, that Billy Ray Cyrus.

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1:59:41

That's the unofficial time for my first ever half marathon, which I ran by myself this morning.

And now my legs feel like they're going to fall off.

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We put on our winter skin and walk

The end of my probationary period at Big Loud Bucks is rapidly approaching, and this past week was basically my final exam.

First, I woke up on Sunday with the beginnings of a cold. By Monday, my entire head was clogged, and yet I had to go to work, what with final preparations for the end of the quarter taking place. My boss graciously let me leave early on Tuesday, since by that time I looked and felt quite miserable.

Wednesday was the big day. We had meetings with clients virtually all day long, with a break for lunch. Thursday was slightly better, with meetings spread out over the day that accounted for half my time. Meanwhile, I was working to get our numbers lined up and getting ready for the start of next quarter. During all of these meetings, my job was to explain our royalty statements to the client and tell them why they're getting the check they are. Some were disappointed in the amount, but all seemed to genuinely appreciate the time we took to explain everything to them.

So that was basically the focus of my week: survival.

Because of all the work I was trying to take good care of myself, and thus took full advantage of not having to be at work til 9, and thus did not go running this week. Until today, that is, when I woke up and decided that, instead of my planned 7.7 mile run, I would go closer to 10 miles. Somehow I finished (still not sure how), and now, 6 hours later, I'm still pretty exhausted. But it does feel good to know that I can go that far, especially considering that at least a mile of the distance I added was uphill. I think I would like to try to run the Country Music Half-Marathon route sometime soon, maybe even next Saturday. We shall see.

I got the sudden urge to do two things today: 1. Write a screenplay (a persistent dream that I vow will someday become reality) 2. Make chicken and sausage gumbo. The latter of those is a bit more achievable, I may even attempt it tomorrow (although next weekend is looking more likely).

I need to start working on a Christmas list. And getting a Christmas tree! I really want to get a real tree for our house this year, and I should start preparing for that now, seeing as the only thing I have are lights. Something to put on the list (more of a metaphorical list than anything else).

Wow, so much.

OH! I went to a high school football game last night! It was a ton of fun, hanging out with Jon, Matt, Jess, and Tracy, with McDougal's before and Starbucks after, and it was just about the best way to spend the first Friday evening in November.

And again, if you haven't started listening to Christmas music yet, you are missing out.

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Collecting my thoughts...

...is getting harder these days for some reason.

I'll give you three points of interest in my recent life:

1. I went to my first real industry event on Monday, the ASCAP Country Songwriters Awards, which was held at the Ryman. It was tons of fun, my boss won songwriter of the year and one of our writers won song of the year, so that was a great start to the night. After that, we spent a couple hours at the AT&T Tower (formerly Bell South Tower (aka the Batman Building)), which included a view from the 27th floor that is breathtaking. Nashville really is a gorgeous city.

After that, we went back to the office, where we had a surprise party set up for the writers: The reception desk was transformed into a bar, there were candles all over the place, and the conference room was full of really comfortable couches and everyone decided we should leave it like that (didn't happen, but I wouldn't be surprised to show up to work one day and have all the furniture back in place permanently). A great night all around.

2. I just finished The Kite Runner, which I thought was quite good, particularly early on. The middle got a little tedious and some of the plot revelations were kind of transparent, but I loved the ending in all of its unconventional splendor.

3. Two new Christmas albums came out yesterday, and they are both excellent. The first is the new Michael W Smith, It's a Wonderful Christmas. I absolutely love his first two holiday albums, and this one follows in that grand tradition quite well. The instrumentation is grand and elaborate, bordering on cinematic at times and full on embracing the genre at others. There is the right combination of instrumentals, choral numbers, and solos, and almost all of the music is original, with the traditional "What Child is This?" the one exception.

The other is Jars of Clay's Christmas Songs. I have been waiting for this album for quite awhile, ever since they recorded "Bethlehem Town" for the City on a Hill Christmas record, and there were high expectations for this album that could have easily gone unattained. Thankfully, they were at least met if not exceeded, as Jars has created a very unique album that is both reverent and playful, traditional and modern, and all Jars of Clay. The album flows along quite effortlessly, and one song blends into the next, not in the bad way where everything sounds the same, but in the way that everything seems to fit together perfectly.

I highly recommend both for anyone who even just sorta likes Christmas for a couple weeks in December. Definitely worth the money.

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It's that time of year

It's official: as of Monday night, the Christmas season has begun... in my head.

I was beset with an intense desire to listen to Holiday tunes during Monday Night Football (a classic game, btw), and since we don't actually get audio on ESPN I turned on my "Best of Christmas" mix. Pleasure followed as I escaped into a winter wonderland. 76 days and counting...

In other news, I rented my first tuxedo this afternoon from Men's Wearhouse. I need to have one for the ASCAP Country Music Songwriters Awards on Monday. A word of advice: if you're renting a tux, do it at least a week in advance, since it saves you $20 on a "rush fee." The more you know.

Rummikub tonight, The Office and cards tomorrow.

Oh, and we just hit a big milestone at work today, so I get free lunch at a nice restaurant tomorrow. Suh-weet.

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Huh...

That's where I am right now.

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Say your goodbyes if you got someone to say goodbye to

I am officially addicted to the new Matchbox Twenty single, "How Far We've Come." The driving beat, sing-along chorus, and Rob Thomas just make me want to put it on repeat all day long. The rest of their new album/greatest hits compilation Exile on Mainstream is good too, worth spending $10 at Target or Best Buy for.

It is October, and by the start of next week it might finally start to feel like it around here. I support that completely.

We watched the first movie from my new Blockbuster subscription last weekend, Se7en. It was good, I enjoyed how the movie flowed, and thought all the acting was great. I thought the story was clever in a twisted way, but it could have been better (as all stories and plot lines can).

Next up is Zodiac, which I've heard mix reports on but I think I'll watch it tomorrow evening.

Oh, and The Office returned to television last Thursday. All I have to say is it looks to be the beginning of another beautiful season in Scranton, PA...

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