Random...

I went to the Jack Daniel's Distillery for a visit yesterday, it's a very long way off the interstate. In other news....

I could survive for 1 minute, 25 seconds chained to a bunk bed with a velociraptor

Created by Bunk Beds.net

TOP 3 #5

This weeks top three is a topic near and dear to my heart...

TOP 3 Karaoke Songs

You know you always wanted to know! When you find yourself in a Karaoke establishment, what do you sing to bring down the house. Well this is my definitive list after extensive and exhaustive research and trial and error and more than a few bombs like Purple Rain by Prince and Ordinary People by John Legend...both great songs, but likely to leave the crowd in silence! What we are looking for here is a song that people want to get involved in and sing along!

#3--I've Got Friends in Low Places by Garth Brooks, this is a very country song, but people who end up in places where karaoke is happening (usually dimly lit bars) relate and enjoy the idea of having friends in LOW places.

#2--Don't Stop Believing by Journey, let's be honest, who doesn't enjoy belting this one at the top of your lungs!

#1--Sweet Caroline by Neal Diamond, an odd choice to some of you I'm sure, but trust me, do this one and the crowd goes wild EVERY time...DA DA DA.


Honorable Mention--Margaritaville by Jimmy Buffet, if done well this one also elicits great audience participation.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything." --Joseph Stalin

Top 3--#4

Here we are again for another ranking of the Top 3...this week a subject that is near and dear to my heart...

TOP 3 1980's cartoons (for boys)--

"Back in My day" you looked forward to getting up early on saturdays to watch all the cartoons and you better not sleep in, no DVR and no Cartoon network! I threw in the caveat about being for boys so I don't get a bunch of hatemail from all the My little Pony and Care Bears fans out there but here are the best as I remember them, of course they must have memorable lines and a great song and the all important toy line tie in to keep your parents in the poor house trying to help you buy all the characters.

3. HE-Man

By the Power of Greyskull...

2. Transformers

Maybe it wasn't much more than met the eye, but it was fun and not a bad movie either.

1. G.I.JOE

Okay, so maybe I'm tainted by growing up in military communities, but what 8 year old didn't love it?

Honorable Mention--Thundercats!

So there it is my childhood glory remembered, now you know....and knowing is half the battle!

Quote of the week

In honor of my trip to his hometown...

"He who blinded by ambition, raises himself to a position whence he cannot mount higher, must thereafter fall with the greatest loss."
--Niccolo Machiavelli

Reading List

So far this month I've read a few good books including...
Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson
Tribes by Seth Godin
God wants to Save Christians by Rob Bell
To Own a Dragon by Donald Miller


I'm planning to read the following while on planes, trains, and in hotels in Europe the next few days...
I became a Christian and all I got was this lousy T-Shirt
Made to Stick
The Love Dare
Spiritual Leadership

Wish me luck!

I love my Wife!

Today I'm headed to Europe. I will be leaving shortly for the airport and I'll arrive in Munich, Germany, at around 8 a.m. tomorrow morning local time. What is a little unusual about this trip is that I'm leaving my increasingly pregnant wife and wild three year old son in Tennessee while I go. Oddly, I haven't really gotten much questioning about it from people who know about the trip. That worries me a little, I wonder if they aren't asking because they don't think it's weird to leave your family for ten days or if it's just not weird for me to do it, either way...a little unsettling.

I won't go into all the details about the how this unfolded as it has or why I find myself on a plane alone. But I do want to take a moment to cover my itinerary and then talk about the best wife in the world.

As I've already mentioned I will arrive in Munich and drive over to Augsburg, where I was born 30 years and 2 months ago. I'll spend the day looking over the city I left when I was not quite as old as my own son is now. From there I'll head to Garmisch for a few days, should be cold!

On Monday morning I'll head through Austria and down to Florence, Italy, for a couple days. Florence might be my favorite city in the WORLD! My grandmother was from the Naples area, so I'm drawn to Italy, but I'm also a HUGE fan of Renaissance History and Nicolo Machiavelli...so Florence is pretty much the center of the universe for all things me.

After a couple days in Florence, and since it's on the way back, I'll head to Venice, which is way too romantic to visit without my wife, but I'll bring here something nice! After that, it's a drive back to Munich for the Hofbrauhaus and an early flight home the next morning...all in time to go Trick or Treating with the family on Halloween night...as long as my flights aren't delayed!

So now that I've rubbed a little salt in the wound...

My wife is many things, smart, funny, tall, sexy, confident, talented, and an awesome wife and mom. Probably her greatest gift is her ability to blow up in fits of rage like none other I've witnessed and then be totally ok within ten minutes. Seriously, this is a one of a kind women with the ability to love a guy who goes on trips to Europe without her and I am a better man because she is a part of my life.

When I first met her almost nine years ago, I never could have imagined that I could love anyone as much as I do her now. With every test and trial, I come out loving her more. The night we met, I asked her a question "Why haven't I met you yet?" I'm so glad she answered!

While I'm away, I will eat good food, see great sights, read, pray, journal, maybe even blog, but more than anything else, I will love and miss my wife!