Monday, July 30, 2007

Look, Ma, no hands!

I was at the movie theater this weekend watching a triple feature (in order from worst to best, I saw "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry", "License to Wed", and "The Simpsons Movie").

In between movies I made my way to the restroom and happened upon an old man at one of the urinals. He was standing there like Superman, proud and with his hands on his hips. ON HIS HIPS.

I don't know about you, but it's been my experience that you just don't do that. It's a good idea to always keep at least one hand in charge of aiming. And I would think that is doubly important at this guy's age, what with unstable stream strength and sudden hacking coughs that could pop up to throw a monkey wrench in the business.

But there this guy stood, looking around, as if to show everyone what he was up to. I figured his wife was probably passed away, because otherwise he would know better than to try a stunt like that (unless she likes a toilet seat, stand, and bathroom floor covered in pee).

As he stood there, hand firmly on his hips, and just being cocky about it (pun sort of intended) I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to go to the urinal next to him and pretend like I was peeing but instead reach up with both of my hands and streeeeetch. And then I wanted to put one hand extended in front of me and one behind, as if I were going into a yoga warrior stance. I wanted to clap my hands and do jazz hands and pound on the walls, just to show him what I can do with my hands free.

But I didn't. Instead I picked the urinal furthest away from him to avoid any overspray.

Stupid old man.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

A Mushy Blog

This was actually a message I left on Sarah's Facebook page, but thought it might be a nice entry here as well. It's a bit mushy (but 100% sincere) so be warned.

There are countless things I love about you. But this past week when you came to visit, I discovered a few new ones. Here are some of them:

1. I love how you take pictures inside of stores, even though it upsets the staff.

2. I love how you narrate interpretive dance.

3. I love how I got to help pick out what you wore when I proposed to you.

4. I love how, when you were trying to figure out what to wear, you made everything look amazing.

5. I love how you smile when you meet someone new.

6. I love how you give people the benefit of the doubt, even when they don't deserve it.

7. I love how impulsive you are, even in a crowd, and it makes me laugh.

8. I love how you can be yourself because you know nothing you do will ever embarrass me or make me think any less of you. In fact, it only makes me love you more.

9. I love how you can't wait for the future to start now.

10. I love how a ring looks on your finger.

Monday, July 23, 2007

How I Spent My Week

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Ok, yea, I've been noticeably absent for a bit (and if you're reading this on MySpace, it's not only because I have jumped ship and abandoned Tom for Facebook.

Sarah came to visit last week and to say I've been a little preoccupied would be an understatement. And because people want "the whole story"...here it is. A little condensed. But just a little.

Sarah got in last Wednesday afternoon. Her train ended up getting into town about an hour late and we crossed the street to go to A Loaf of Bread, a wonderful bakery here in town owned and operated by Sadie, Phil's wife. It was a lot of fun to hang out with Phil and Sadie and to say Phil gave Sarah a welcome she won't soon forget would be putting it lightly (it included Phil opening the door of the bakery and screaming to the people outside "Sarah's here, everybody!!").

That night Sarah and I drove out to Chester county to visit The Whip, an English pub out in the middle of the Pennsylvania countryside. The food was incredible and when we left that night there was a beautiful mist in every direction.

Thursday Sarah and I visited the gang at work at WJTL and lunched at the Lancaster Coffee Company. That night got together with Chuck & Ann, Lisa, Stacey, and Mindy for dinner and conversation. At one point during the evening, as we were all seated around the dinner table enjoying our grilled burgers and salmon, I commented that I felt like I was in a Woody Allen film. Everyone agreed. After dinner we enjoyed a rousing game of Celebrity.

Friday afternoon Sarah and I ran around downtown Lancaster, taking in the sites, the market, and the sun. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed a great lunch at the Prince Street Cafe. That night we hung out with Tom & Mel. We had some great food, enjoyed a lot of heartfelt laughs, and watched "Freedom Writers" to wind up the night.

On Saturday Sarah and I went to the Park City Mall to kill time before heading up to Nissley Vineyards. We met Ethan & Aubrey and some friends of theirs as we settled in to enjoy a night of wine, cheese, and a live band playing both swing and latin music. It was a perfect night and Sarah and I found ourselves alone for a short bit. Ethan is a very talented photographer and I mentioned to Sarah he brought his camera along. I suggested we ask him if he would take some pictures of us while there was still sunlight. When we returned to where the group was picnicking, Ethan asked if we'd seen the inside of the winery. I told him no, and asked him if he would bring his camera along to take some photos of us.

The three of us headed inside the winery and I motioned to the racks of wine that stood before us. "Maybe we could stand in front of these for a good shot?" Sarah and I made our way further in and Sarah began to look around.

"How should we pose?" she asked, "What should we do?"

Sarah was facing away from me when I answered, "Why don't you stand there and I'll give you this?" Sarah turned back to me and saw I was holding a small box with a ring inside.

I asked Sarah if she would marry me and her face lit up. It was beautiful; SHE was beautiful. She answered "yes" and we hugged and kissed and hugged some more. The energy was amazing and all the while, Ethan continued to click away on his camera.

Hours after the events of that night Sarah was still beaming, still glowing. It was amazing and couldn't have been any more perfect.

Yesterday we spent the day at HersheyPark and this afternoon Sarah got back on the train for the return ride home. I put a bunch of pictures from the week on my Facebook page. It was a great week; An amazing week. I'm in love with my best friend and I'm going to marry her.

Friday, July 13, 2007

My Ghostly Plan

I was walking in downtown Strasburg PA last week and came across a small group of people gathered on a street corner. They were being led by a woman who--in any other situation--would not garner a second look. But on this occasion she did. Because she was wearing a long black cape.


It turns out it was a walking "ghost tour". You know, you pay 15 bucks and they take you around and tell you about all of the old houses that are haunted. My friend Ann's mom is on the Strasburg city council and she told me that all of the stories they tell are made up.

I was amazed. I COULD DO THAT! Why am I not doing that? I could totally charge people and make up stories about old houses!! But I would do it way better. And, I'd only charge 10 bucks instead of fifteen. And I would wear a cape with sparkles. And let the tour-goers carry lanterns.

Yea, I could totally do that. I asked Ann's mom how much it was to get a license to do that. She said it was only TWENTY BUCKS A YEAR!! I pay twenty bucks and then I could charge people money to lie to them!!!

Why am I not doing this?

Thursday, July 12, 2007

So...

In general, things are good. I love my girlfriend. I love the people I work with. I have no legitimate complaints. But something tells me I'll still find plenty to whinge about. Stay tuned...

Tact

This is actually an old story but one that I was recently reminded of, so I thought I'd share it with you.

It all takes place about 6 months after my divorce was finalized. I was visiting people I hadn't seen in about 4 years and it was the first time they had seen me since the separation. Sometimes you just don't know what to say (if anything) and so you'll just say whatever pops into your head. Like the lady in this tale.

I found myself talking with someone whose daughter was recently engaged...and this woman was none too happy about it.

She thought that if I would email her daughter I could talk her out of it. Naturally, since I didn't really know her daughter or the situation, I didn't want to get involved. This woman continued to try to talk me into it by pleading her case with this gem:

"I just thought you could talk from experience and let her know how horrible marriage is."

Ha ha ha, yea. I thought that was awesome, too.

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

"Sicko" sickos

I went to see the new Michael Moore documentary "Sicko" today. I'm not always a fan of Moore as a celebrity or personality, but I have to admit he knows how to put together a film, whether I agree with his point-of-view or not. In his latest outing he takes a stab at the state of America's health care coverage. Don't worry...it's not nearly as boring and banal as my description makes it sound. In fact, it's probably my favorite movie by Moore, besting even his "Roger & Me" debut. By the end of the film I found myself wondering the same thing I've been wondering for some time now:

1. Why DOESN'T America have free universal health care?

2. I now have yet another reason to go to Europe.

I was also very impressed with Lancaster today. At the 1:00 showing the theater was almost to full capacity and a large portion of the audience appeared to be teenagers. I have to admit I was sure they would cause a ruckus during the movie after learning they weren't in the theater showing "Transformers" but I was pleasantly surprised. You couldn't have asked for a better crowd.

On the way out I was walking behind an elderly couple and the woman commented on how she too was surprised at the large number of young people in the audience. Her (I assume) husband harrumphed in response, "Young people aren't going to change anything. It's the old people who will."

An oddly pessimistic reaction from someone who, judging by his snail-like walking pace and trembling voice, only has about 4 months to start changing things before he drops dead.

Monday, July 02, 2007

THE GUYS - "The Coffee Shop"

After weeks of babbling on and on about it, my first video in THE GUYS series is complete and ready for viewing! It stars Matt Stine and David Beaman and also has a special appearance by the girl who inspired the short film, Sarah. The short film also features music by the incomparable Steve Bridgeman.

Enjoy!

Ed





Snip

I went to get a haircut today. That's one thing about moving to a new place...finding someone who can cut your hair. I went into a salon in the mall and asked about getting a haircut. When the lady told me "Robert will be right with you" I was glad. I have had a lot of success with gay barbers in the past.

Not so much anymore.

Sunday, July 01, 2007

Creation 2007

I just returned from the Creation Festival this morning and to say I'm tired would be an understatement. And all I did was film people. I can't imagine how tired the people are who actually worked.

I could go into the details of everything that happened. I could. But I won't. Instead of yakking here about what went down, I'll show you in a series of forthcoming videos on the WJTL YouTube page. Check back often, as I will be adding new videos as fast as I can get them edited.







To give you a sneak preview of things that may (or may not) be coming, I'll list off what I have written on the DV tapes (some of these identifying notes may only make sense to me, but I guess that will add to the mystique):

TAPE 1
Bethany Dillon. Tarps. Britney Mosher (Kutless Girl). Frankie. Mindy crowd. Skillet/Crowd. UMC Potty. Stacey/Gates. Traffic Control. Britt Nicole live. Kids' Tent. Bob Larry & Kristi. Girl Sleeping. Lunch w/us kids. Family Force 5 live. Monsterpod. Aaron Shust Pt 1

TAPE 2
Aaron Shust Pt 2. Mindy & Kristi eye check. Britt Nicole. I Heart Eddie. KJ-52. Lisa Landis. David Crowder. Monsterpod. Hot dog vendor. Rain crowd. Barbel. Salvador. Night crowd. Girl sleeping

TAPE 3
Outhouse shot. Shoes outside bus. Baked potato. ??? Storyside B. Casting crowns. Grits live. Aluminum foil girl. Gibson family. CSK winner. Shuttle bus line/golf cart view. Teron. Girl sleeping. Leeland

TAPE 4
Over ashes. Hawk Nelson. Creation crowd. Thousand Foot Krutch. tobyMac live. Casting Crowns live. Night. Compassion. Candlelighting.

TAPE 5
Phil Wickham live. Mandisa live. Phil Wickham. Newsboys trailer. Behind the stage. House of Heroes. Creation crowd (boy with ball). Hot dog vendor. Kutless. John Reuben.

TAPE 6
Caleb K (Kutless). Creation crowd. Barlow Girl. Hot dog vendor.

Despite all the obvious good times (interviews, concerts, free hot dogs) the best part of the week was seeing people I missed. A majority of them I hadn't seen since I was still working at Gotee Records and it was great to hang out and catch up with Gabe Patillo, John Reuben, Teron, Anita Crawford, and the Relient K guys.

Of course, as good as it was to see all of them, my favorite part of the week was spending time with Sarah. That's right. She hopped in an RV with her mom, her sister Stacy, and Stacy's two daughters and they made the long trek to Pennsylvania for the festival. Whenever I had a spare moment I would run outside and catch a few minutes with Sarah. Being with her again was amazing and, as much as I already knew I loved in missed her, it only served as a confirmation as to how much. She got to meet the whole JTL gang, we got to witness the candlelighting service together, we climbed to the top of the lookout, I asked her mom and her sister a question, and I got to hold hands with Sarah again.

Really, can you beat that?