Here's the news from Countrymusicland....

Well, it's still August, so that means I'm up to two posts per month thus far. Much better than my stats throughout the whole of summer.

Nick and I packed up our life into a 16-foot Penske the morning of August 8th. With the help of our faithful friend, Lucas Weeks, we were able to hitch my 15-year old Camry in tow. As far as time goes, we were really stretching it, as we left Bloomington about an hour later than planned. But as usual, God was gracious, and got us, our life in the truck, and my car to 2108 Hayes Street in Nashville just in the nick of time. We pulled into meet five of the congregants from our new church, Reformed Baptist. We were tired and ragged and almost didn't get to the apartment office before they closed so that we could actually get our key. Later that evening, after our new friends moved us in (all the way up to the sixth floor!), we were relieved to see a familiar face at our door- Archie Ummel, who is the son-in-law of our pastor from Bloomington. He helped us return the moving truck and then treated us to dinner. We were ever grateful.

As of now, our apartment is about 98% moved in and in order. It is about a block and a half from the law school, and it is actually called "The Historic Lee Apartments." The only thing I know so far about its history is that it is over 100 years old. The high ceilings and hardwood floors make for a really charming home. Even the elevator door is one of those old-fashioned, bronze-wired things.

The catalyst that got us moved in even as quickly as we did was Nick's mom and stepdad coming for the weekend. I had never had "the in-laws" come for a visit before, so I was a little panicked as we did a blitz unpack and clean 24 hours before their arrival. We had a great weekend, though, and went "honkey-tonking" on Saturday night. Everybody who wants to be somebody in the country music world was singing their hearts out in all the bars along Broadway, the main drag that runs through downtown Nashville. We found a place that wasn't too crowded and played pool while a young woman sang everything from Janis Joplin to Alison Krauss. She was quite good, and I had the chance to talk with her a bit after her performance. A few more Nashville traditions of which we took part were going out for barbeque and eating breakfast at the Pancake Pantry. The barbeque was quite good, and we had some live music to boot. The Pancake Pantry was worth the wait....we waited about 25 minutes on a Monday morning! We tried to go Sunday morning before church, but the line was out the door and halfway down the block....no foolin'.

Before returning to Michigan, Mom and Carl helped me do some things around the house. For instance, Mom brought her posh knife sharpener. Not only did we sharpen my knives, but she told me exactly which one was for which use. For instance, I've been doing it ALL wrong this whole time. I've subjected my paring knives to just about everything that has needed to be sliced, chopped, or just plain butchered. The bigger knives have always sort of scared me, so they've just served as decoration up until now.

I've two nanny job offers in the wings as I write. This is a real blessing, as I will be the "breadwinner" while Nick slaves away in the "lawbrary" all day. Speaking of, Nick really loves law school so far. He is already burning the candle at both ends and comes home each evening completely exhausted, but as he puts it, "it's a good tired." There's nothing like taking care of a tired and needy man:)

We've kind of been shut out from the rest of the world, though, as my computer has been doing some funky things within the last day or so. Also, as of now, we've only one cell phone between us, and it is refusing to work. We plan on getting some new ones within the week.

On a final note, I was getting ready to go to one of my interviews this morning, and I opened our medicine cabinet to find the biggest cockroach I've ever seen on the Q-tip box. I recoiled immediately and slammed the door shut. I haven't opened it since, and am leaving it to Nick to take care of when he gets home. I'm sure he'll love doing battle with the monster coackroach after spending the whole day in somberness at the "lawbrary." :)

Return from blogging stupor and Homestarrunner

I know, I know, I know...it's been three months. I've had so many ideas/rough drafts in my head all summer, but for some reason, wasn't able to finish them. I really think I need to just blog anyway, and not care so much about "refinement." I've gotten into the habit of being in awe of everyone else's entries, which creates further disdain for my potential musings. So, stop being so eloquent, everybody!

Soooo...I've been wanting to do a plug for homestarrunner.com. I know, it's been around for years, and everyone who will ever care about it has already seen it and a.) continues to be a regular weekly fan or b.) visited it once or twice and said, "This is stupid," or "I don't get it..."
(It took me a little while to warm up to it.)
My suggestion for the homestarrunner rookie is to click on the little icon that says "First Time Here," where you'll get a little introduction from Homestar (of whom the cartoon is named) and Strongbad (who is, as he tells you, the real star of the show). Next, my suggestion is to go to the "Characters" icon and spend some time there. I think avoiding this step is why most people never go back or say "I don't get it." Like me, they immediately went to the Strong Bad emails, where the bulk of the humor is in reference to other characters and their particular idiosyncracies, and because they didn't have a grasp on the basics of the particular personalities, didn't get it and moved on. After viewing the characters' bios, I would suggest emails such as "some kinda' robot," "dullard," "sisters," "kid's book," "autobiography," and of course, seemingly everyone's favorite, "dragon." Another venue at the site is their "toons" or "shorts" icons. These take a bit more time, as they are a little more in-depth than a typical strong bad email.

An interesting bit about the creators of this site (Mike and Matt Chapman..aka. The Brothers Chaps) is that it all started sort of by accident. They were learning some computer things that I know absolutely nothing about myself (so I won't even attempt to say what it is or was), and they dedided to try it out by writing a children's book. This is how they came up with the main characters for the cartoon. After some time and development of skill, the site grew and became more refined. They did absolutely NO ADVERTISING for it. The popularity grew by word of mouth. If I'm not mistaken, the site started in 1999, and today, they make a good living just by T-shirt sales. They sell a bunch of other paraphernalia, too, such as sweatshirts, backpacks, frisbees, cd's and DVD's, and even action figures! (The fact that they sell action figures might seem a little ridiculous, but after getting to know the site, one most likely gets it.)

In an interview, the Brothers Chaps stated why they created the site and how it was different from many others. One distinct factor is their use of wit via pop culture without succumbing to the typical lewd humor and profanity. They explained that several years ago, everyone was creating a "new and funny website," but they were all laced with vulgarity, trying to serve that up as humor. All of these sites, aside from being incredibly distasteful, were all boringly the same. They wanted to provide entertainment that used clever wit sans sleaze. So, my hat is off to Mike and Matt Chapman for rising above the typical, pop-culture fare and still giving us something to laugh about each week!

www. homestarrunner.com