Trav's Thoughts

I need a short break gang. I'll be back soon.

Welcome to another Manic Monday with Morgen. Today's theme is Faith. Don't forget to cruise by MM HQ at It's A Blog Eat Blog World.

As a son, I learned to have faith in my mom. As a brother, I learned to have faith in my sister. As an athlete, I learned to have faith in my teammates. As a student, I learned to have faith in my teachers.

The knowledge that someone is there to catch you when you fall, to guide you when you lose your way, to help you when you stumble...it gives you confidence to take steps and make decisions.

I think that shaken faith disturbs the journey of the mind and soul. So when my father broke faith with me, it took a long time to understand that it was his flaw and not mine.

So as a man, I have learned to have faith in myself and to take responsibility for who I am and what I've done. And I have faith in the love that I share with Pam. The road we are on together is full of joys, both large and small.

FAITH
by Travis Cody

Belief my suit of armor
With joy in self greet the day

Hope my shield of honor
My eyes to lead the way

Peace my sword of might
To battle in a sea of night

Truth my shining banner
With knowledge as the word of light

Each to each promise offered
Trusting e'er in choice of right

The breath of my voice sung on high
Faith in I alone shall be my guide

I'm far from perfect. But I think that having faith in the path I'm on helps me to grow every day.

I just watched a great Little League baseball game. Dalton Carriker of Georgia hit a walk off home run in the bottom of the 8th to give the US the championship. As his teammates exploded out of the dugout in joy, the boys from Japan collapsed all over the field in agony.

As a group of boys cried in defeat, another group cried in victory.

And then...the magic of youth sports. The champions went to the defeated and embraced them in sportsmanship. There would be time to celebrate after consoling the boys who came up one run short.

There are no losers in Little League.

Check out the fun tonight at 8pm EST, when Turnbaby Talks live about her interesting world on Blog Talk Radio.

It's a hi-lite of my week y'all.

It's been awhile since I tended to my side bar links. I've been visiting some new sites, and some old friends have gone missing. So time to tidy up.

I wait and I wait, and I keep checking, but when there hasn't been a post in more than three months...well I guess that means the blogger has had to move on with a new phase of life. I hope that's what it is. Fortunately there were only a couple of links like this, which sadly have been deleted.

There are a couple other links to blogs that seem to be inactive...but I'm aware of the situations with those folks and I'll hang in there and wait to see if they return to blogging.

On a happier note, I've added some blogs I've been enjoying. If you have time, and if they aren't already on your rounds, check out:

Are We There Yet - Linda has a pretty solid readership. I'd seen her comment on many of the blogs I visit regularly and finally through Manic Monday I cruised on over.

Jantics and Jantrails - These two blogs are from the lovely Janna. I don't know how she finds time to be zany on three blogs, but she definitely gets it done.

The 108 - Kyra will tell it like she sees it in plain language and pulling no punches.

The Mo Show - I am a proud FOMo. But beyond that, Morgen uses this blog to promote his Blog Talk Radio show as well as to review books, movies, television, and theatre.

Time With Shelby - Is it law school or grad school? Well, right now it's a class or two that Shelby had to fight to be allowed to take. And law school or grad school still looms in the future.

I love good writing, whether it's in books or magazines or on blogs. In fact, I've got a special section of links to writers who also blog. I've added a few links here as well:

A Walk on the Weird Side - Kate S writes "A blog for speculative fiction fans and writers".

Cursuum Perfidio - Fans of Flash 55 fiction (a story told in 55 words) will enjoy this blog. Pauline is a talented writer of short fiction and poetry.

EDog's Everything Page - My pal Turn turned me on to Ian Healy's page. He just shared a tidbit from the sequel to his book The Milkman.

Mischief & Magic - This is the blog home of paranormal and erotic romance writer, Kate Sterling. Yes, this is the second Kate S blog I visit.

Razored Zen - Charles Gramlich is a teacher and author, and his posts are really educational for would-be writers. I feel like I'm stealing an education when I read this blog.

You can see how long it's been since I linked 'em up. Thank you all for your entertaining posts.

I made some rounds tonight but I didn't get to all of y'all. I'm tired so I'm calling it a night.

I'm off to zzzzzzz-ville.



Oh...this is for Bond, but y'all make sure he shares.



Later babies.

I just realized that there's no dancing. Dangit.



We're in the home stretch with my author list. I've been getting some updates on Good Reads, which reminds me that I need to pay a little more attention to my "to read" list. I've seen some good recommendations recently too.

I'm still involved in Harry Potter at the moment. I'm reading through Half Blood Prince in preparation for a second reading of Deathly Hallows. Of course, that means I have a stack of books waiting for me. That's a good thing.

So here's my latest list of 13 authors from my library. If you want to review previous lists, click here.

As a reminder, here are the ratings: (NR) Not Recommended, (R) Recommended, (HR) Highly Recommended, (RR) Really Recommended. If I haven't read the book, I won't put a code for the author unless I'm familiar with other work.

1. Martin Cruz Smith (R) - Gorky Park
2. I have 81 Star Trek books by various authors. I recommend them all if you like Star Trek.
3. John Steinbeck (R) - East of Eden
4. Roger Stern (R) - The Death and Life of Superman
5. Judith Tarr - The Hound and the Falcon Trilogy
6. Keith Taylor - Bard I and II
7. Sheri S. Tepper - The True Game
8. Josephine Tey - I have two anthologies of three stories each.
9. J.R.R. Tolkien (RR) - The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, The Book of Lost Tales 1 & 2
10. Nikolai Tolstoy - The Coming of the King
11. Robert Traver - Anatomy of a Murder
12. Margaret Truman - Murder at the Watergate
13. Harry Turtledove - Guns of the South, The Videssos Cycle 1-4

I didn't make it around to blogs tonight. Mr Tucker required my attention, and how would you say no to this face?

Tonight's the night when we break the silence about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. All bets are off as Mo & The Potter Moms (Christine, Desert Songbird, and Neila) delve into the final book of the most beloved fiction series in recent memory.

Listen to the show LIVE
7 - 8 pm EST
by clicking here

Pssssssst...If that proMo looks familiar, it's because I swiped it verbatim from The Mo Show. Sorry Mo!!

I'll be checking out the archives later this evening.

The $50,000 Question

Tiggerprr tagged me for this interesting new meme. Here's what she has to say:

Michael over at Valtool’s Box created a meme and I have to say, it’s very thought provoking. I’ve been feeling very introspective (moreso than usual) lately. Let’s see what we shall see about the ol’ tiggerprr, shall we?

A philanthropist awards you $50,000 with the stipulation that you may use half of it for yourself and the other half you must use for the benefit of others. By “benefit of others” it can mean anything really, buying a gift for a family member or donating to a charity.

A. How do you spend the money on yourself? I complete the rest of my home improvement projects up to and including new floors, upgrades in the bathroom, upgrades in the kitchen, and several other small projects.

B. How do you use the money for others? My charity of choice is Muscular Distrophy Association, and I would contribute money to summer camps. Research into cures and providing wheelchairs and braces are critical to quality of life, but I've seen these kids at camp.

C. If you were to spend part of your money to have a performer do a show for you, who would it be and why? Taylor Hicks with The Little Memphis Blues Orchestra, his old band. Elliott Yamin would be the opening act.

D. If you were to use it on a new vehicle for yourself, what kind? I don't have a Jones for any new vehicle at the moment. I'm happy with my Jeep Liberty. Instead I would find a fully restored 1956 TBird.

E. If you spent part of it to go to a “fantasy” camp, what type would you choose? I would go to LA Dodgers fantasy baseball camp.

F. If you were to use it to buy season tickets for a sports team, what team would it be? I would buy LA Dodgers season tickets. I would not buy Oakland Raiders season tickets because I prefer to watch football on TV.

G. If you were to use it to go on a cruise (assuming you like cruises) where would you cruise to? This would be an Alaskan cruise.

H. If you were to use it to go to NYC to see a show (or shows) what would you see? Young Frankenstein would be first on the list for next season. But rather than list any other specific shows, I would like to take several weeks and just go to a bunch of different shows.

I. Totally off subject (but since Fall is coming) what is your favorite carnival food (I was watching “Big” while writing this and saw them at the carnival)? I think this would have to be elephant ears.

Thanks to Tiggerprr for this tag. There are no instructions on whether to tag, or the number of people to tag, so there are no rules for me to break. Instead I shall tag Julie, Dana, Lisa, Mags, and Morgen.

Welcome to another Manic Monday with Morgen. Today's theme is Deal. Don't forget to cruise by MM HQ at It's A Blog Eat Blog World.

Press me for one, and I'll tell you that my favorite song from Taylor Hicks is The Deal. But only if you press me. The Deal is a favorite of mine by a very small margin. It is one of Taylor's original songs, and that makes it special.



The Deal
by Taylor Hicks

The sun's shining and it's raining
No better way to describe my feel
When you left my heart was complaining
How a couple of days can act like years
I know living with me ain't easy
When I tell you how I feel
A simple phrase,
Hard to put into words

Let it grow
Let it show
Let it flow

I'm here to show you, baby,
This love is real

Wherever you go
My heart's bound to follow
Wherever you go
Then I'll be there

This being gone's
Been a tough pill to swallow
I hope you can feel me in the air
Now I don't mind a whole lot of waiting
If this is truly how you feel
I'm tired of scratching those reservations
If I just might, tonight, then all right

If it's real, then go on baby
And let's make that deal
Mmmmmm

I've given you the best I've got to offer
'cause there ain't no more in here to see
This premonition I have is awful
Thanks to the moonbeams' generosity

Now I don't mind a whole lot of waiting
If this is truly how you feel
I'm tired of scratching those reservations
If I just might, tonight, then all right

If it's real, then go on baby
If I just might, tonight, then all right
If it's real, then go on baby
Let's make that deal, mmmmmmmm
Let's make that deal

Although, you could press me further and I might tell you that my favorite is any other song, like one of his other original tunes called Soul Thing or Hell of a Day. I could also say that my favorite is Just to Feel That Way or Places I've Been, both from Taylor's major label debut.

The truth is that I don't really like to choose a favorite. So many of Taylor's songs have a meaning for me, whether it's just that I enjoy the melody or whether it speaks to something in my life.

The Right Place is one of those songs that speaks to something in my life. This is from an appearance on The View, 18 July 2007.



Later babies!

The illustrious Mimi Pencil Skirt, Queen of Memes, has charged me with playing the Peculiar Aristocratic Title meme as Presented by Lady Fortune the Absurd of Greater Internetshire. Since I am afraid of dark dank dungeons, I will most certainly comply with this request.

Being also afraid of the wrath of luggage carrying, hot boot wearing, Sexy Foreign Hoochies - that would be my dear Ann of Anndi's Luggage - I must first acknowledge that she procured a special title for me a couple of weeks ago. This is what she sent me...

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: His Eminence the Very Lord Travis the Tenuous of Midhoop St Giggleswich Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to hold two titles at the same time. But if you were me, and you risked offending either a Sexy Foreign Hoochie who could kick my ass or a Regal Queen who could toss me in a dungeon and forget I was there, what would you do?

Me? I post the second title of course! This is the one I got for myself at Mimi's direction...

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Duke Travis the Lachrymose of Bampton Underhoop Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

At Lady Fortune's site you can also get your own fortune cookie. I don't actually understand mine, so perhaps you can help...

My Fortune Cookie told me: The sandcastle and the parsnip are sleepwalking towards your submarine. Get a cookie from Miss Fortune

Is that something kinky? Should I be afraid or excited?

Don't forget to check out Manic Monday tomorrow! The theme is Deal.

Well gang, this morning my lady and I enjoyed a coffee on our wonderful new screened in balcony.

The folks came up Friday morning - Mom and Pam went one way while my stepdad and I went another. After a couple hours at Home Depot gathering materials, we headed back to the condo and began.

The first part was building two box frames. This was slightly complicated by the fact that the open balcony isn't the same width on each side. So we had to very carefully measure it so the framing fit snugly. That took most of the afternoon. After we had it finished, we spray-painted it to match the house. It looks like it's always been there.

Yesterday we got up bright and early and began screening. That was pretty simple. We had made the frame into four 36" panels. All we had to do was staple the screen to the top, and then stretch it taut to staple it down the sides. Then staple it to the bottom, cut off the excess, and move on to the next one. The trick was to keep it stretched taught.

After the screen was up, we screwed the trim to the frame. Then we built shelves on either side of the balcony, one long one to the right and a short one to the left. We used cedar for the shelves - bugs hate cedar and you know how I am about bugs. We also sprayed for spiders once we had everything cleaned up.

Big time lesson if you do a home improvement project - measure twice and cut once. We only took one bad measurement in two days of work. That came when we were building the bar shelf...we were tired and a little punchy. I had made the correct mark for the measurement, but I guess there must have been a blemish on the board and we ended up cutting it short.

But a good carpenter always has a solution, and my stepdad is a Master Carpenter. So he taught me about a gusset, which we fashioned and installed to reinforce the joint where we extended the short board.

Anyway, the balcony came together quite nicely. Mr Tucker is still a little scared of it. There was a lot of banging and sawing and coming and going, which he doesn't care for at all. So he is now hiding under the covers. We'll let him explore this new world at his own pace.

Now for the ladies...they decided that we needed to update some bathroom fixtures. So I replaced knobs and drawer pulls with new hardware. Plus I learned how to install a new faucet for the bathroom sink, with matching towel racks and toilet paper holder. We bought new light fixtures as well, but the installation of those will have to wait. We went from bright shiny gold colored fixtures to Venetian bronze. The change is remarkable and we like it much better now.

I'm tired! But thoroughly satisfied with what I learned to do this weekend. And the result is wonderful. I would share photographs with you, but my camera still refuses to turn loose of any picture I take. I need to make some time to reinstall the software and see if that fixes the problem.

Today is for relaxing on the balcony and enjoying the lovely rain. We've got the door open and the breeze is flowing through the condo, clearing out all the stuffiness from not being able to open that door for so long.

Later babies!

Tune in at 8pm EST. You can scroll down to the button on my sidebar, or take this shortcut.

...I don't know yet!!!!! I do know that now we celebrate dance.

We couldn't decide who to vote for, so we voted for all four of them. They are all our favorites now. We know that someone has to win the grand prize, but we just couldn't choose.

Apologies in advance...there's a lot of video in this post. Judges and choreographers are choosing their favorite routines, and I'm sharing them here. If I posted a video before then I linked back to it.

We did have a favorite performance from last night. It's Lacey and Neil dancing the Lindy Hop.


We also loved the Broadway...


And this was terrific too...


OK...on with the results. It's two hours now until we know who the winner is.

The Top 20 returns to perform Tyce Diorio's Lion King routine and it's fantastic.

Mary Murphy's favorite routine of the season is Lauren and Pasha dancing hip hop. And the two of them finally get the ovation they deserve after the lockdown Thursday night results show. Check it out here.

Nigel decides he'd like to see Wade Robson's brilliant routine featuring Jamie and Hok. See it here.

Jean-Marc Genereaux wants to see Sabra and Dominic dancing a Shane Spark's hip hop routine. This is the one.


Adam Shankman selects the disco routine from Sara and Neil as his favorite moment.


This is Bryan Gaynor and he is amazing...


Wade Robson wants to see Lacey and Danny Samba...me too!


And with that, Lacey becomes the first of the final four to be eliminated. So America's favorite is Danny or Neil or Sabra.

Shane Sparks wants to see Sara and Pasha doing the west coast swing, choreographed by last season's champion Benji Schwimmer. We loved this dance! Relive it here.

Tyce Diorio's favorite was Anya and Danny's foxtrot. Pam and I believe that this was when Danny really began to connect with voters. It's the first clip here.

Tony Meredith wants to see another Wade Robson routine featuring Sara and Jesus.


Mia Michaels choice for most memorable number is Sabra and Neil and their table dance.


Here comes another elimination...Neil is eliminated. America's favorite dancer is Sabra or Danny.

Dan Karaty wants to see is Mia Michael's special routine, dedicated to her father and featuring Lacey and Neil.


Now let me take this opportunity to thank you for sitting through yet another of my little obsessions. Pam and I have enjoyed sharing this with you.

America's favorite dancer is...Sabra Johnson!!!



Pssssst...Dancing With the Stars premiers Monday, Sept 24. Heehee!!

For those of you here to see another list of authors from my library, scroll on down for Thursday 13.



The Final 4

Judges tonight are Mary Murphy, Nigel Lithgow, and Dan Karaty.

Woooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!! We get another season of dancers next year!!!

Everybody dances with everybody tonight in a two hour performance finale.

We begin with a Tyce Diorio Broadway routine for the final four and they are excellent dancing to Liza Minelli singing Mein Herr from Cabaret. Based on what we just saw, any of the four of them could win and we can’t pick a favorite just yet.

Lacey dances her solo in a very odd costume. But regardless of what she’s wearing she is a sexy hot performer. She is a natural on stage.

Sabra and Neil dance hip hop choreographed by Shane Sparks. That really didn’t show off their skills. They had energy, but you could tell that they don’t dance hip hop. The choreography was good, but they weren’t up to it. It was fun, but it’s not a winner of a dance for either of them.

Lacey and Danny dance Viennese Waltz choreographed by Jean-Marc Genereaux. That was really beautiful. That was so well done. Lacey corrected most of her technique issues with her hand extension. The spins and turns were gorgeous and the lines were tremendous. That’s one of my favorite dances of the season.

Neil dances his solo. This young man has grown so much during the course of this program. He’s gone from an after thought for us to a dancer we truly enjoy watching.

Lacey and Sabra dance a Wade Robson piece. Unfortunately it was difficult to understand the dance, although I think they interpreted the choreography as well as they could. We did enjoy the performance. It was art.

Danny dances his solo. I’ve run out of ways to describe how amazing this kid is. Remember the name Danny Tidwell.

Danny and Neil dance contemporary choreographed by Mia Michaels. Outstanding. It was very interesting to see the two of them together, because we’ve always believed that Danny was a professional dancer and Neil was still a few steps behind. But this routine proved that they are both pros and of equal ability. Neil is raw whereas Danny is polished and we think that is the only difference in their dancing.

Sabra dances her solo. She dances with such passion and joy. It blows my mind that she’s only been taking formal training for four years.

Lacey and Neil dance Lindy Hop choreographed by Nick Williams. I was nervous for them the whole dance but they really pulled that off!!!!! That’s not easy to learn in just a couple days if you’ve never done it before. Fantastic energy and amazing performance to do that at the end of the show.

Sabra and Danny dance Cha Cha Cha choreographed by Melanie LaPatin. We were actually disappointed in that dance. They didn’t have the energy or speed it needed. We thought it was awkward in spots and the technique wasn’t good. However, they looked like they enjoyed dancing with each other. That’s a tough dance for them to end on and we hope that voters take the body of work into consideration tonight.

And that’s it – the competition is over. Pam and I are in voter brain lock. We can’t decide. We like them all.



I've got another list for you.

As a reminder, here are the ratings: (NR) Not Recommended, (R) Recommended, (HR) Highly Recommended, (RR) Really Recommended. If I haven't read the book, I won't put a code for the author unless I'm familiar with other work.

Oh, and if you're interested in previous lists, click here.

1. Erich Maria Remarque - A Time to Love and A Time to Die
2. Anne Rice (HR) - Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, Queen of the Damned, Tale of the Body Thief, Memnoch the Devil, Pandora, The Vampire Armand, Blood and Gold, Blood Canticle, Violin, Cry to Heaven, Servant of the Bones, Vittorio the Vampire, The Feast of All Saints, The Mummy, The Witching Hour, Lasher, Taltos
3. H. Jay Riker (R) - Silver Star
4. Jennifer Roberson (R) - The Chronicles of The Cheysuli series
5. Joel Rosenberg (R) - Guardians of the Flame
6. J.K. Rowling (RR) - Harry Potter series
7. Salman Rushdie - Satanic Verses
8. Fred Saberhagen (R) - The Complete Book of Swords, The Lost Swords
9. Melissa Scott - The Kindly Ones
10. Leonard B. Scott (HR) - The Last Mile, Charlie Mike, The Expendables
11. William Shakespeare (RR) - The Complete Works
12. Irwin Shaw (R) - Rich Man Poor Man, The Young Lions
13. Clifford D. Simak - Where the Evil Dwells

Before we get to my Words on Wednesday, I just want to make sure you remember to tune in this evening at 7pm to The Mo Show. Mo will be talking about his fantastic trip to Egypt, and describing what it was like to land in an Arab country on 11 Sept 2001.




Now, I've posted a couple chapters of my children's story A Quest for Special Friends, and I've gotten some pretty good feedback. So I'd like to say thanks for that.

Here are a couple more chapters. I'm considering getting this story ready and finding a place to submit it. I've also been reading about self-publishing as well, although I don't know that this would be the right story to go that route.

If you need a refresher on how our story begins, you can click here.

Chapter Three

In ten minutes time, Sir Michael the Gallant arrived at the gates of the Pink Castle with Erik the Wonderful and the Great Cat Shelley. As they dismounted and Shelley settled down to a nap, a chilling scream came from high up inside the castle.

Sir Michael and the Great Magician Himself, fearing the worst, charged up the pathway to the castle, bashing down the door that the magician had fixed and would need to fix again. Sir Michael followed the sounds, which had gone from screaming to wailing, a chorus of voices that gradually worked to stand his hair on end. He knew what had happened. He knew he was too late. He knew he had failed once again.

Sir Michael reached the top of the stairs. He had to stop and clap his hands to his ears. The screeching and sobbing threatened to deafen him. All about, the poor maids wailed and cried and carried on. It was more than he could stand. With his hands pressed to his ears, he searched for his Beautiful Princess, for surely her despair would be the most heart-wrenching and the most in need of his comforting presence.

Meanwhile, the Great Magician Himself had climbed to the top of the stairs and was having a similar struggle with the noise. He busied himself among the poor maids, distributing hugs and smiles and little reassurances. He spoke from experience, having been bereft of his own Special Friend. Slowly, order and quiet was restored.

Sir Michael was able to concentrate better as Erik the Wonderful worked his Mr. Fixit magic on the poor maids. Finally, the Knight spotted Princess Tonya’s golden head. She was huddled in a heap on the floor at the foot of her pink canopy bed. She sat deathly still, her arms wrapped about her drawn up knees. She stared straight ahead, her eyes unfocused. A single tear tracked a path down her cheek.

“Princess Tonya?” called Sir Michael softly. He knelt down beside her and laid his hand gently upon her shoulder. She still did not move. “Princess Tonya, are you all right?”

The question finally released her from her shock, and the Beautiful Princess Tonya began to sob. Sir Michael the Gallant gathered his Princess in his arms and rocked her gently.

After several moments, the skies darkened. Clouds rolled about the sky, lightening flashed and thunder boomed. A great wind whistled in the chimney, and the castle creaked and groaned against its force.

Sir Michael knew that the weather was reacting to Princess Tonya’s despair, but he could think of no way to reassure her. Erik the Wonderful had calmed most of the poor maids, but he too was at a loss for what to do for the Princess.

Suddenly, Sir Michael felt something warm rub his ankle. He looked down and saw Shelley, shrunk down to normal house cat size. The cat purred at him and rubbed her head repeatedly against his leg. Sir Michael did not understand what she wanted, but he wished she would go away. She interfered with his job of comforting the Princess. He shook his leg to drive her off.

Shelley, exasperated with her hints so rudely ignored, hissed and spat and swatted Sir Michael’s ankle. The Knight yipped in pain and moved backward, upsetting his balance and putting a space between himself and the Princess. Shelley, with regal grace, purred contentedly and eased herself into Princess Tonya’s lap. The Princess, with something soft and cuddly before her, made the appropriate response. She hugged Shelley and stopped crying.

The storm lessened, but loomed ominously, for the Beautiful Princess still was not happy. She was able to explain what happened.

“I came upstairs to change my clothes for the banquet. I picked out my favorite pink dress, and pretty pink shoes, and my pink bonnet with the pink and white ribbons. When I asked Kesra the Gnome which dress she would like to wear, I saw that she was gone!”

Princess Tonya’s eyes misted and her lower lip quivered, and the storm boiled threateningly. Shelley shoved her face into the Princess’ neck. The Princess was forced to deal with the tickly whiskers, and for the moment was distracted from crying. The storm, poised, waited to unleash its fury at a moment’s despairing notice.

“We’ve all lost our Special Friends, Princess Tonya,” said Sir Michael, hoping the shared grief might help the Princess.

“Oh dear,” cried Princess Tonya. “You mean you don’t have Biff Bear?”

Sir Michael shook his head no.

“And, is Mr. Fuzzy Blanket gone too?”

The Great Magician Himself pouted, and his grip on his fix it magic loosened. The poor maids all at once burst into fitful tears.

Instead of giving in to her grief once more, the Beautiful Princess Tonya scratched Shelley behind the ears. Then she dislodged the warm fur ball from her lap and stood. The Princess stomped her little foot and put her fists on her hips.

“This is no time to go carrying on like a bunch of babies,” she announced. “We’re all terribly upset, of course, but crying about it will not solve the problem. We must find out what has happened, and we must find all of our Special Friends, and we must do so at once!”

She stomped her little foot again, just so everyone understood that she was serious.

Princess Tonya’s declaration quieted everyone. The poor maids were ashamed. All of them had special feelings for their own Special Friends, but they also knew that Princess Tonya’s relationship with Kesra the Gnome was extra special. As the Princess had overcome her heart stopping grief, so must the poor maids behave with equal strength of will.

Sir Michael was proud of his Princess, and his love for her grew even stronger. He also knew how to make up for his failure to defeat the mackerel fish, and his worse failure in protecting the Special Friends of Yesumay Land. He spoke strongly and confidently.

“I know what has happened to Kesra the Gnome, Biff Bear, Mr. Fuzzy Blanket, and all the other Special Friends.”

Everyone grew still and quiet at this announcement, and all eyes turned to Sir Michael the Gallant. He could feel Princess Tonya staring at him, and he felt the confidence in her gaze. What he was about to say would frighten them all, but it would also prepare them for the difficult task of recovering their Special Friends.

“Well, Sir Michael?” prompted Princess Tonya. “If you know, then you must tell.”

The Gallant Knight nodded. “I do know. The Evil Sourpuss, Mr. Blotchy, has kidnapped our Special Friends.”

Princess Tonya gasped and the Great Magician Himself dropped his tools. The poor maids sniffled and nearly began to wail again. Even Sir Michael momentarily lost control, his armor clanging has he folded his arms across his chest and lowered his head.

Princess Tonya silenced the poor maids with a frown, and then shooed them all out of her room with orders to go ahead and prepare the macaroni and cheese feast. Then she asked, “Mr. Fixit, didn’t you say that Mr. Blotchy had probably been behind our broken can opener?”

“Yes, I did indeed,” the Great Magician Himself replied as he picked up his tools and stuffed them back in his pockets. “No one else could be that nasty. The missing parts could only be removed with tools, and I’m the only toolman in Yesumay Land. I didn’t take the parts.”

“Mr. Blotchy, the Evil Sourpuss!” exclaimed Sir Michael. “But why would he break the can opener and send the mackerel fish?”

Princess Tonya snapped her fingers. “To keep us busy while he kidnapped the Special Friends!”

“Of course!” agreed the Great Magician Himself. “We were all so worried, and Princess Tonya was so upset, about the mackerel fish, that nobody noticed that the Special Friends were missing until it was too late.”

“But why would he take the Special Friends?” Princess Tonya demanded. Her sadness was becoming anger.

“Just because he’s a mean, nasty, evil old sourpuss,” declared the Great Magician Himself, making a face.

“That can’t be the only reason,” Sir Michael disagreed. “But it doesn’t matter now why Mr. Blotchy did it. What matters is how we get our Special Friends back. We must go to the Black Glass Castle With Streaky Windows and demand the release of our Special Friends.”

Princess Tonya pursed her lips and shivered. “But, it’s rumored that the Black Glass Castle With Streaky Windows is surrounded by a sour green bean moat. Gack! I couldn’t go there. . .it’s much too nasty.”

“And what about Kesra the Gnome?” Sir Michael reminded her. “If Mr. Blotchy has her, he could do anything. He might drown her in the sour green beans.”

Princess Tonya was horrified. The thought that Kesra the Gnome was held captive in the Black Glass Castle With Streaky Windows, surrounded by a sour green bean moat, was too much for her to bear without a fight.

She drew herself up to her tallest height, tossed her golden hair, and crossed her arms in front of her. She declared bravely, “I swear by pink rose petals, sour green beans or no sour green beans, we are going to that nasty castle, and we are going to stop Mr. Blotchy from pestering us once and for all. Sir Michael the Gallant, I’ll need your help. And you too Mr. Fixit. And the Great Cat Shelley. We won’t rest until Mr. Blotchy is defeated and our Special Friends are returned!”

Chapter Four

They took two days to prepare for their journey to No No Corner, where Mr. Blotchy lived in his Black Glass Castle With Streaky Windows. The Beautiful Princess Tonya hated to wait so long, since she missed Kesra the Gnome tremendously. Tempers were short throughout Yesumay Land, since all of the Special Friends had been kidnapped. There was no one to talk to, no one to advise what might be best to take on a long and hazardous journey. Most glaringly wrong was the absence of a Special Friend to take along on the dangerous trip.

Nevertheless, Special Friends were the reason for the quest. Though confusion ruled the planning and chaos caused delays, Princess Tonya gradually strengthened her resolve. She watched as the Great Magician Himself mindlessly packed his pockets with tools and gadgets that only he knew the uses for, his eyes dull with the emptiness of the loss of Mr. Fuzzy Blanket. Her heart nearly broke at the sight of Sir Michael the Gallant absently walking round and round the Great Cat Shelley, searching for the extra saddle that she already wore, and the armor that the Knight had already donned.

The poor maids who packed the provisions for the journey were no better than those who would attempt the rescue. They went about their chores listlessly, barely speaking to one another. It was a sorry state of affairs, and Princess Tonya had just about had her fill of it.

Normally, when her dark moods loomed, she sought a secret corner of her Pink Castle and ranted at Kesra the Gnome. The Special Friend never talked back and never scolded the Princess for her foul temper. Eventually Princess Tonya was able to control herself. She usually laughed after one of these little fits, and wondered what could possibly have made her so angry.

Kesra the Gnome was gone, however; kidnapped by the wicked Evil Sourpuss. Princess Tonya stomped her little foot, scrunched up her face, and began to fume. She was ready for a major tantrum.

“Enough is quite enough!”

The poor maids in the kitchen jumped in fright. The Great Magician Himself dropped all of his tools on his foot and howled in pain. Sir Michael shook so hard his armor rattled. The force of Princess Tonya’s anger was felt throughout Yesumay Land, rippling outward from the Pink Castle to the Red Castle to the Blue Castle, and to every other place in between. Everyone felt the tremor when the Beautiful Princess stomped her little foot, and all of Yesumay Land fell immediately silent.

Princess Tonya’s eyes glared out from her scrunched up angry face.

“I have sworn to stop Mr. Blotchy and rescue the Special Friends. I am afraid, and just as lost as you without them. But I am ready to go and face whatever Mr. Blotchy can throw at me. I expect some help. It’s all right to be afraid, but we can’t let it keep us from doing what must be done.”

Sir Michael the Gallant was ashamed of his behavior. “Princess Tonya is right. It’s time to snap out of it, people. We can’t lose sight of what we must do. Of course we’re worried about our Special Friends, and of course we don’t know if we can possibly rescue them. But we have each other to lean on. We know what we can do; we’ve done it before with confidence and our Special Friends. We have to find the strength they would give us, and go and get them back!”

The Great Magician Himself straightened up. “It’s not like our Special Friends are really gone, you know. We always have them with us, in here.” He pointed to his chest and put his hand flat against his heart.

“That’s right,” said Princess Tonya, her face bright and her Smile there for all to see and draw confidence. “I may not be able to hold her, but I can still find the courage that I normally only get from Kesra the Gnome. I just have to hug myself.”

And she did.

An amazing thing happened. A glow began around Princess Tonya’s ankles. It rose and grew brighter, until it encompassed her entire body. Once the glow engulfed her, it expanded out from her in a circle, like the ripples of a pond. It touched Sir Michael and his silver armor gleamed and sparkled. The glow brushed the Great Magician Himself, smoothing the wrinkles in his overalls and organizing his pockets. The Gallant Knight no longer creaked and clanked, and the Great Magician Himself’s tools and gadgets all found their proper places.

The glow that started with Princess Tonya’s hug of herself spread throughout Yesumay Land, just as the force of her anger had moments earlier. Strong emotion, genuinely expressed on behalf of Special Friends, galvanized into solid motion. Princess Tonya, Sir Michael, and Erik the Wonderful mounted the Great Cat Shelley and began their rescue mission, still basking in the afterglow of The Hug, as ever after that moment would be known.

Skittles has come up with a weekly feature on Tuesdays called Heads or Tales. She'll come up with a topic and people can post about it. I may not participate every week, but this first topic kind of fits in with what I had intended to post today.

The first topic is Beginnings.

Today is my 300th post. On Sunday I hosted my 6,000th visitor.

Back on 28 Oct 2006 when I posted my first thoughts, I didn't really know what this place was going to be. I've posted poetry and stories and rants and random thoughts. I've followed the links and found so many interesting blogs written by extraordinary people.

I've learned how to post videos and fill up my side bar with links that are important to me. I've read posts and stories from truly talented and inspirational writers. I've been pleased to have my work read by these people, and honored that they have taken the time to help me with comments and even personal emails.

Blog friends have given me awards and that makes me smile. I've gotten to pass some of those awards on, which makes me smile even more.

I have learned that the proper pronunciation of Meme rhymes with Theme. And I have discovered that it is fun to be tagged, to tag, and even more fun to break the rules and not tag or to alter the premise of the meme while keeping watch for the Queen of Meme's and her dungeon master!

And most recently I've enjoyed this thing called Blog Talk Radio, which is something Pam and I can do together.

So as the summer begins to wind down and I consider the beginnings of this place, Trav's Thoughts are starting to turn toward where he wants to take this blog next. I'm getting a general idea of a direction, but I expect it to continue to evolve.

So I toss flaming walnuts in your general direction in thanks for being one or more of my 6,000 visits and reading some of my 300 posts.



Well! I love me some football, but look how long we had to wait for Dance results!! Sheesh!

Here's our encore from last week's performances. It's Lacey and Pasha dancing a smooth Waltz. We loved this dance for the drama and the passion, and the pure fairy tale.



Yup! I'm a romantic bastard!

Pam and I have no idea how the results are likely to play out tonight. Pam chose her favorite...she voted for Sabra last week. I voted for Pasha - yes I know! He's not the best dancer on the floor. That's Danny. But Pasha is just my favorite. I couldn't hope to dance like Danny or Neil, but I can aspire to dance like Pasha.

Now that was a strange opening choreographed by Wade Robson.

One guy and one gal will come up short tonight as only four dancers move on to Wednesday's performance finale.

Yet again we get to see each dancer perform a solo that has no bearing on the results.

Sabra: If I lose Pasha tonight, this gal gets my votes. And maybe even if Pasha makes it through.

Lauren: We think Lauren has come the farthest on this program. I suspect she will be out tonight.

Lacey: What she lacks in technique sometimes she makes up for in sexy performance. We think she's a star for sure.

Pasha: He just told another story in his own style...just charming.

Neil: He has such amazing control over his spins and tricks and jumps.

Danny: Again, the only thing I can say is that this guy is a pro.

Results time for the gals: Lacey is in the performance finale, which means either Sabra or Lauren is done tonight.

Results time for the guys: Danny is in the performance finale, which means either Pasha or Neil is done tonight.

I'll be damned! They recorded the results show last Thursday, and cleared the studio so the results wouldn't leak! Well, it was also so the dancers would have the most rehearsal time for the performance finale.

Sabra makes it through to the performance finale, and Lauren is gone. Now here's a drawback - she doesn't get her ovation from the crowd!

Neil makes it through to the performance finale, and Pasha is gone. That's fitting I think, because Danny and Neil are the two best male dancers.

I think they've got the best four dancers in the finale.

And guess what? Here's Lauren and Pasha together...



Thanks again for cruising by my place y'all!

Welcome to another Manic Monday with Morgen. Today's theme is Drop. Don't forget to visit MM HQ at It's A Blog Eat Blog World.

US Army 82nd Airborne


Water bombers


This is the Berlin Airlift Monument in Berlin-Tempelhof, dedicated to the 39 British and 31 American airmen killed during the massive effort to drop supplies to the citizens of Berlin who found themselves cut off by the Russians after the end of World War II.


For 321 days in 1948-49, British and American air forces teamed with pilots from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa to make 278,228 flights and drop 2,326,406 tons of food and supplies, including more than 1.5 million tons of coal, to Berlin.



The dedication of the west to this effort was a key step in preventing a complete communist take over of a defeated Germany. To read more of this massive airlift, click here.

I'm told you can click on the picture above and it should take you on a journey through the bloggosphere, where you will land instantly at Turnbaby's Blog Talk Radio page.

Just in case the magic doesn't work - hey, even Harry Potter's spells sometimes go awry - you can click here and find the place the old fashioned Muggle way.

My lady and I are off to a car show today. YAY for classic cars!! I'm late with rounds, and I've got no ideas for posts over the weekend. The sun is shining, the sky is blue, the weather is fine, and WE GOTTA GET THE HELL OUTTA TOWN!!!!

So do forgive me please. I'll catch up with y'all soon. Or hop in and let's hit the road!



Turn up the radio babies!



Happy Weekend y'all!! Later!

Starrlight tagged me first, and then Morgen tagged me again for the Middle Name Meme.

Here's the rules:

1. You have to post these rules before you give the facts.
2. Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of their middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.
3. When you are tagged you need to write your own blog post containing your own middle name game facts.
4. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

My middle name is Alexander.

Since I've been tagged twice, I'm going to try and come up with two facts per letter.

A - I'm an Aggressive driver. I make decisions quickly and move, and I don't have a lot of patience for drivers who make bad decisions on the road. I am also an Aries.

L - People often tell me how Lucky Pam is, and I usually respond that I'm the Lucky one. But I think we're both Lucky to have found each other, to have fallen in Love like we have, and to really need nothing but each other.

E - I Eat CAKE! I also enjoy Eggs in just about any style. Scrambled Eggs with cheese and mushrooms is my favorite.

X - X is a ridiculous letter to have in a name. Although, dear Julie did remind me that Pam and I are creating our own little Xanadu here at our condo.

A - Circus Animal cookies rock! I think that someday I would like to own a suit of Armor.

N - For purposes of this meme, my middle Name is too long! I like Neopolitan ice cream sammiches.

D - I keep a Dictionary nearby at all times. I enjoy watching Design shows on HGTV.

E - I suffer from insomnia, so I'm usually awake until very late and then wake up very Early in the morning. Emergency! was one of my favorite shows when I was a kid.

R - As you can see from my sidebar, I am a proud member of Raider Nation. And I have been given permission to tell you that Pam's middle name is Rene.

Dang! That was harder than I thought it was going to be. You'd think that after struggling with this most of the evening that I would follow my meme killer instincts and not tag.

HA! I'm tagging 9 of y'all!

Dana, Turnbaby, Coco, Gail, our new blog friend Ambre, another new friend Shelby, Gracie, Tiggerprr, and Alice.

This is pretty important to me, so I've decided to make it a sticky post for the week. Please take a few extra moments while you're here to send an email to the address you'll find below. Then scroll on down for things like Manic Monday, a meme tag, Dance recaps and results, and Thursday 13.

I really appreciate your help with this.



I just paid a visit over at The Ice Box, where Desert Songbird has posted about a project to send email to Marines.

She writes:

I received an e-mail from hubby last night with news that I thought needed passing along. From the blog "Atlas Shrugs" comes this request:

"US Marine Colonel Simcock, the commander of USMC Regimental Combat Team 6 in Iraq, is asking for 6,000 positive emails to his Marines. That's one email for each Marine in his RCT command. COL Simcock is concerned about the effect of the negative barrage that those Marines are getting through the electronic media. I've attached an excerpt from an interview with him. So far, they've only mustered 2,000 emails. That's a crying shame compared to the amount of crap I get daily in email. "This is a legitimate request. It's not one of the "little Johnny wants to break the world's record in Christmas cards" situations. It takes only 30 seconds of your time. Here's the address:

RCT-6lettersfromh@gcemnf-wiraq.usmc.mil

It doesn't have to be the Gettysburg Address. Something as simple as "Hello, Marine. We thank you for what you're doing. You are in a noble task. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Best wishes & get home soon" is more than sufficient.

I sent an email. Won't you take a few minutes and do the same? These Marines are in service to us, doing their duty and making sacrifices to serve. Whatever your feelings about the war in Iraq, please set them aside and thank the Marines who go into harm's way when ordered to do their duty.

Semper Fi.

We're a week closer to discovering who is America's favorite dancer. If that doesn't interest you, then please scroll on down for yet another Thursday 13 list of authors from my library.

If neither of those things interest you, oooops! Sorry! That's what I got today.



The Final 6

Judges tonight are Mary Murphy, Nigel Lithgow, and the most excellent Debbie Allen.

Dancers perform two routines in pairs and a solo in their own style for votes to advance four to the finale.

The first dance:

Lacey (swing and Latin) and Pasha (ballroom) dance Hip Hop choreographed by Dave Scott. We’ve been waiting for this pairing – but not for Hip Hop, although we liked that! Pasha always surprises us at how versatile he can be. And Lacey’s movement was sharp and precise. They had a few issues with synching up the side by side movement, but it didn’t matter. They danced well, they performed well, and they had great energy.

Sabra dances her solo – beautiful, joyful, and dramatic movement as always.

Lauren (contemporary jazz) and Danny (classical ballet) dance contemporary choreographed by Mia Michaels. That was perfect for the two of them. They had wonderful fluid movement with amazing technique and energy. We really liked that. All of the movement was so powerful and looked so effortless. That was a professional dance. Wow.

Pasha dances his solo – he has told a complete story in about 30 seconds.

Sabra (contemporary) and Neil (contemporary) dance Jazz choreographed by Mandy Moore. There was quite a bit of gymnastics in that choreography, which we liked. They showed power and control, and made the movements look sharp and effortless. But we did enjoy the dance much more when they finally got away from the table.

Lauren dances her solo – we have enjoyed her journey on this program.

And the second dance:

Lacey (swing and Latin) and Pasha (ballroom) dance smooth Waltz choreographed by Hunter Johnson. We would have preferred a swing or a jive, or even a Broadway, but we will take that one. We couldn’t take our eyes off of it. It was beautiful and passionate and absolutely lovely. It was like a fairy tale, as a Waltz should be.

Neil dances his solo – we love the way he is able to control his movement in the air.

Lauren (contemporary jazz) and Danny (classical ballet) dance disco choreographed by Doriana Sanchez. We didn’t care for that at all. We’re not fans of disco. And the camera moving around so much really bothered us. I will give them props for performing very difficult choreography. This is just not a style that appeals to us. The judges were very complimentary, and I must say that the dance did have lots of energy and performance.

Lacey dances her solo – she’s a tremendous performer, hawt and sexy!

Sabra (contemporary) and Neil (contemporary) dance Paso Doble choreographed by Tony Meredith. Neil kept his hips centered and that’s not right for Paso. You must lead with your hips in every movement. The final lift was outstanding. Sabra was tremendous. The screams and cheers for that dance were somewhat overdone. It wasn’t worth that kind of response. The judges were a little too effusive in their praise – the choreography was wonderfully difficult but Neil’s technique wasn’t up to standard for a Paso. Sabra was fantastic.

Danny dances his solo – only three words will do: brilliant professional dancer.

The choreography and the dancing were excellent for the most part tonight. And now Pam and I must each decide who we want to win and cast our votes. No more splitting.

We rank the dancers tonight from best to not best – because they are all outstanding at what they do. There’s no “worst” in this group of six.

1. Danny
2. Neil
3. Sabra
4. Lacey
5. Lauren
6. Pasha

We have no idea if that’s how they will ultimately rank. It’s up to the fans now and if you’ve watched these kinds of reality shows before, you know that the best isn’t always the winner. It comes down to the dancer who has connected most with voters.

Results are next Monday, because tonight is FOOTBALL!!!



Woooooooooooooooooo!!!

Yeah I know, it’s only the first pre-season game. But it’s football and I’m ready for it. Tonight it’s Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts vs Dallas Cowboys.

I get bored very fast with pre-season games. But it's only a month now until the real deal. And that's worth one more...

Wooooooooooooooooooo!!!



I've hit an interesting section of my library. This group of 13 authors consists of several books that I've inherited from various sources. Some I haven't read, so applying the rating system is problematic.

As a reminder, here are the ratings: (NR) Not Recommended, (R) Recommended, (HR) Highly Recommended, (RR) Really Recommended. If I haven't read the book, I won't put a code for the author unless I'm familiar with other work.

Oh, and if you're interested in previous lists, click here.

1. John Milton (HR) - Paradise Lost
2. Margaret Mitchell (NR) - Gone With the Wind
3. Nicholas Monsarrat - The Cruel Sea
4. Ewan Mantagu - The Man Who Never Was
5. Robin Moore - The Fifth Estate
6. Michael Moorcock (HR) - The Elric Saga, The Nomad of Time
7. Anton Myrer (R) - Once an Eagle
8. E.M. Nathanson - The Dirty Dozen (I recommend the movie!)
9. Andre Norton - Chronicles of the Witch World
10. Leslie O'Kane (R) - Play Dead
11. Boris Pasternak (R) - Doctor Zhivago
12. James Patterson - Jack and Jill
13. Mario Puzo (NR) - The Godfather (see the film)

My friend Vinny over at The Big Leather Couch is #1! You may or may not know about the Bestest Blog voting. The results are in and Vinny made top of the list! Congrats dude!

**tosses confetti, flaming walnuts, and assorted Southern Rock tunes**

There are many of my favorite places to visit on this list, as well as some new friends that I've recently discovered. You can check out the results here.

And if you scroll down to the 18 spot, guess who you'll see??



To those who voted, that means a lot to me. For those who visit and comment, that means a lot to me as well.

C'mere babies...lemme hug ya!

Now to all the FOMo's out there - we still don't have a dang badge!! But we do have Mo in prime time on his new day...Wednesday...and that's today!!

Tune in live this evening to The Mo Show from 7-8pm eastern. The topic tonight is Classic Sitcoms. Call in or send Mo an IM with your favorite shows or characters or episodes or theme songs.

If you're like me and can't listen live, be sure to catch the show on archives. Click here to go straight to the show or to find recordings of past shows.



The graphic for the show was designed by Janna. Visit Jannagraphics to get cool graphics and buttons and banners for your blog.



Thanks to everyone who has paid it forward to the Marines of Regimental Combat Team 6 in Iraq.

Later babies!

Well gang, I didn't get much sleep last night so I'm giving up early tonight. Of course, this puts me behind in my rounds again.

**sigh**

Skittles tagged me with this. I didn't forget about it, I've just been thinking and thinking of what nights to share. Finally, with a little help from a friend - thank you Anndi - I figured it out.

Here are the rules: List the top 5 best nights of your life, with a little explanation about each. Then you must tag 4 other people.

And here are the nights:

1. The last first date I ever want was a night in June last year. It was the first date with Pam, and you can read the story here.

2. I've been dancing since I learned how to walk. Mom taught me how to jitterbug and to do all the dances she enjoyed when she was a teen in the 1950's. And Gram taught me to lindyhop. I've always enjoyed music and dancing, and I've always been pretty good at it. But the prospect of my sister's wedding was a little unnerving. I took ballroom classes so I could learn how to waltz. It was important for me to be able to dance properly. Sure, we cut loose and had one fine party. But I will always remember the progression of waltzes - first with my Mom, then with my sister, them my aunts. The only thing that could have made it more perfect? Dancing with my grandmother.

3. At my cousin's wedding last year, I did finally find the perfect night of dancing. This time, the ballroom classes were with Pam. And the progression of waltzes was Pam, Mom, Sis, my newlywed cousin, and both of my aunts. This was also Pam's introduction to the rest of the family. Naturally they loved her.

4. In my first three years of HS, we never beat our cross-town rivals in football. All three teams - frosh, JV, and Varsity - lost every year. My senior year had been like a fairy tale. We were playing well, had a .500 record, no chance to make playoffs but a decent shot at a winning record, and I was being recruited along with several other guys. Our cross-town rivals were undefeated and next on the schedule. And in that game, from my free safety position I had 9 solo tackles and assisted on a bunch more. I sacked the QB 4 times because they couldn’t block me on the safety blitz. I intercepted 3 passes and ran one back for a TD. I recovered a fumble. I felt light years faster than anyone else on the field that night. And we won the game to spoil their perfect season.

5. A certain gray-haired soul singer is responsible for so many things. He came along at just the right time, and it seems like so much of the joy and happiness I've experienced over the last year and a half points to that one moment when I heard his voice for the very first time. It seems silly, I know. But January through May 2006 was a special time. One of my best nights was one of his best nights, the night Taylor Hicks was crowned the Idol, 24 May 2006.



Sorry - I still get chills. My Soul Patrol brothers and sisters will understand. A group of people came together through the months of watching this show that will not be named. We were touched by this man and his voice, his passion for music, and the genuine feeling he brought to every performance. And even though it might be silly, I'm well known for my silliness anyway. Hey, I toss flaming walnuts while juggling leprechauns and mittened kittens and singing in the rain. What's sillier than that?

Thanks to Skittles for tagging me for this. I'm such a meme killer - I won't be tagging anyone, but consider yourself tagged if you decide to relive your 5 best nights.

I'll leave you with one of my favorite Taylor Hicks performances from the show that will not be named.

Welcome to another Manic Monday with Morgen. Don't forget to visit MM HQ at It's A Blog Eat Blog World. Today's theme is Lie.

This is the first thing I thought of when I saw the MM word.

Would I Lie To You, Eurythmics


This is the second thing...Mr Tucker lies about with his 1,000 yard stare.


And this is another thing I thought...Young George Washington Would Not Tell a Lie, as told by Parson Weems. Click here to view the little story most Americans know.



Oh! And then I thought of this...being from California and then residing outside of Seattle, I'm hyper-aware of earthquakes. There are 13 known major faults in the Puget Sound area. Here's a map showing where those faults actually lie.



So that's my lame post for Lie. Be sure to go visit some of the other Manic Monday regulars because I'm sure they did much better with this word than I did.

Later babies!